(From
left) Kanpitcha Kongsombat
and Kenneth Whitty welcome the guests: “Prost!”
Peter Nordhues
Music, dance and beer heralded the grand opening of the
Royal Garden Plaza’s Paulanergarten beer garden, which just happened to be
on the day traditional German carnival season begins: Nov. 11.
A
lovely Kellnerin serves up ample amounts of Paulaner beer.
Managed by Irishman Kenneth Whitty and wife Kanpitcha
Kongsombat, the Pattaya Paulanergarten is the second location opened by
their Danmark Co., Ltd., the exclusive distributor of Paulaner beer since
1999. The other is in Bangkok. Both are Bavarian style beer gardens serving
Paulaner beer. On this special occasion, “Original Oktoberfest beer” was
also available from the Hacker-Pschorr brewery, which belongs to the
Paulaner group.
At Paulanergarten, celebrations began in the evening with
a welcoming speech from Kenneth Whitty, who told everyone, “I am delighted
to welcome so many guests ... Please drink and eat as much as you like and
enjoy an amusing evening.” His wife Kanpitcha translated his speech into
Thai, and then it was time for “Prost!”
“Smiley”
rips through the chords on his accordion.
When the Bavarian show band “Anton” took to the stage, it
didn’t take long for the festive mood to take hold with an international
crowd swaying to the music. Anton has been playing in Thailand for
Oktoberfest, with their tour sponsored by Air Berlin.
The highlight of the evening was the traditional
polonaise, a slow rhythmic dance that has its roots in Poland, but is
regularly performed at German carnivals.
Between the music sets organizers staged contests, such
as beer-drinking, sausage-eating and singing. Paulaner souvenirs were given
as prizes.
Paulanergarten is located on the third floor of Royal
Garden Plaza and offers both German and Thai dishes and nine types of
Paulaner beer (including alcohol free beer). The restaurant two sections,
one with air conditioning and a terrace under the sky with a view of Pattaya
Bay.
Everyone
is certainly having a good time.
Paul
Strachan (left), looking better than ever,
interviews Kenneth Whitty for Pattaya Mail TV.
The
Bavarian show band “Anton” entertains a packed house.
Guests
join up for a traditional polonaise dance.
Tony
Malhotra (2nd left), sales and marketing manager of Pattaya Mail Media
Group, presents a flower bouquet to Kanpitcha Kongsombat (3rd left),
executive director of Danmark Co., Ltd., on the grand opening of
Paulanergarten. Also on hand were (from left) Ingo Rไuber, general manager
Pinnacle Resorts, Sue K., director of communication Pattaya Mail TV, Kenneth
Whitty, managing director of Danmark Co., Ltd., Earth Saiswang, director PR
and communication Oasis Spa, and Peter Malhotra, managing director of
Pattaya Mail Media group.
