The American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AMCHAM) independence day picnic is a highlight of the year for the American expat population. A slice of old-school Americana, the day features the kind of events that are rarely found in the States anymore such as sack races, egg toss contests,a chili cook-off, pie-eating competition and more.
Coconuts Bangkok talked to people dressed in red, white and blue stuffing their faces with bbq ribs, burgers, hot dogs, apple pie and as many free Dairy Queen cones as they could eat. It doesn’t get more American than that.
The event, held in celebration of the Fourth of July American Independence Day, was hosted this past Saturday at NIST International School, on Sukhumvit Soi 15. AMCHAM was celebrating not only 240 years of American independence, but also the 60th anniversary of AMCHAM Thailand. The U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, Glyn Davies, spoke in honor of the occasion.
Paul Robere was dressed up as Uncle Sam. The 28-year member of AMCHAM explained that the event is more than just a day of fun for homesick Americans. The entry fee and raffle tickets raise money for the AMCHAM Thailand Charitable Foundation’s initiatives to improve education in Thailand. He said, “it raises money for foundations, school scholarships, and all kinds of programs to help kids.”
One guy at the picnic was all smiles as he had his picture taken in his Donald Trump 2016 shirt. When asked if he had to travel back to the states to buy it, he yelled, “No way! I ordered it from Amazon!”
Australian brothers Dylan, 20, and Nicky Whitcraft, 22, managed to nail down both first and second place, respectively, in the pie-eating contest. They hadn’t planned to enter and claimed they had never been in a food-eating competition before.
Pie-eating contest winners Nicky, left, and Dylan Whitcraft, right.
The brothers were surprised by their victories but Nicky said that it probably helped that they’d recently completed a long bike ride and were really hungry.
Dylan also noted that they had “lost the egg toss competition — to a 7-year-old!” so they were pretty set on winning at least one competition that day.
When asked if he could have a future in professional food-eating competitions Dylan thought for a minute and said, “Yeah, I probably could.”
