Thai Fest by the Beach

I must have been living under a rock or something because I only recently learned about Thai Fest by the Beach. Apparently, it’s a festival that occurs at the Santa Monica Pier every year and this year was my first time attending it. What have I been missing out on? Let’s find out.

Thai Fest by the Beach is a free event. It was somewhat crowded and I guess it doesn’t help that the Santa Monica Pier tends to be a place that many people come to with or without an event going on. (I’m aware there was actually another event going on in the area on the day of Thai Fest by the Beach. I believe it was an art event.) I’m glad I took public transportation to the event because if the streets weren’t initially busy, it got busy rather fast afterwards.

There were booths that I didn’t exactly have a chance to peruse much simply because I thought I was pressed for time. In reality, I wasn’t pressed for time because the fest was running severely behind schedule. And that’s something I’m going to have to criticize. I know it’s a free event and I also know it’s a “Thai” (Southeast Asian) event where people can joke about not being on time but I personally find it to be disrespectful especially when it’s not off by just a 15 minute margin. And I’m not just saying it’s disrespectful to attendees that may be planning their visit based on the fest’s schedule BUT for the actual performers that are queued to be on stage. Their time is valuable, too. For attendees, we can get upset but can’t truly get upset since we know it’s a free event…

I actually saw performers from Thailand hanging out by the stage for a long time before actually getting up on stage to perform. I’m sure they’re used to this lack of punctuality being from Thailand BUT this is an example of how I feel it’s crucial to be as on schedule as possible in order to be respectful to every person set to go up on stage.

That aside, if I had known they were running severely behind schedule, I could have spent more time around the booths and could have stayed in line for ChaTraMue, although I guess it’s not a big deal since I could always get Thai Tea elsewhere and if it has to be ChaTraMue, I could treat myself to it when I’m able to treat myself to a trip to Thailand. (Considering the economy and this state’s high cost of living, I don’t know when that will be, though.)

I managed to do some quick shopping at a mart, smitten by the prices only to realize after of course that a lot of these products would cost less than $1 each if purchased in Thailand. But for the sake of convenience and consideration of exportation, I think my purchases were justified. It’s not like I went overboard with the shopping and I even got a free reusable shopping bag with my purchase. I was happy with the freebie but not too thrilled with how one of the employees seemed to be having a little too much fun with speedily plopping my items into the bag because I caught sight of it getting onto the ground. I know it was probably in good humor or to pass the time but I couldn’t help but to get cringed and find it disrespectful because it’s my food and even if all of these items are wrapped, if it fell on the ground, it’s not exactly as sanitary anymore…

Moving on, I had the opportunity to see Buakaw, a famous Thai kickboxer that many were waiting to see. Apparently, there was a booth where you could meet, greet and obtain an autograph from him but I felt it was more than sufficient to just watch him perform a muay thai demo. (I’m going to assume the line for the meet and greet was long.)

There were fashion shows from The Phukaw. The first fashion show contained women only. The second fashion show actually had men in it. And there was a male in green outfit that could easily pass as the male lead of a Thai drama series. Don’t believe me? Just look at the photo below.

I mentioned Thai performers earlier. These are students from a music institute that came straight from Bangkok, Thailand. They went on stage three times but I wasn’t able to see their final (third) performance since I had to leave the fest earlier. I kind of felt bad for one of the performers since he experienced sound system issues while performing and it was just him that experienced that. He managed to smile at the end of it all, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a, “Why me?” moment. Lol

Another singer practically owned the stage with just his presence. You could pick up on his charisma the moment he walked and talked on stage. He had fangirls ogling after him. Apparently, he was on a show and the fangirls knew him from there. I thought he was the only one that had this charisma but I was wrong.

I mentioned earlier that I didn’t stay at the fest until the very end. It was because I had another event to attend. When I hopped on public transportation to end my day, I kid you not when I say I encountered someone that looked like one of the performers. I’m pretty sure it was him but I was probably a tad bit confused because the dots were not connecting for me since it was only him as opposed to him and everyone else from the institute. Plus, he was wearing something different but of a similar vibe to what he’d wear on stage. He was smiling and his smile was the most beautiful, warm smile I’d ever seen. And he was glowing. I kid you not.

This was an opportunity for me to talk to him. And I really think that anyone else in this situation would use the opportunity to talk to him. It could have been something as small and simple as praising his performance but I never got around to uttering anything. I just didn’t want to be that creepy “nuna”. You know how girls get creeped out when guys, especially guys much older than them, talk to them? Well, I didn’t want to be the female version of that even if he wouldn’t have minded having a brief conversation with me. I’m pretty sure he remembered me since I was sitting in the front when he was performing, but I wanted to respect his space and I honestly may have overdid it by being completely mute in my process of overthinking things.

I will confess that he’s a very good looking person. He is blessed with his looks and voice. And that glow? He is meant for showbiz.

I am glad to have seen such an amazing and radiant smile from him because on stage, I don’t think he ever really smiled or at least not to that extent. I do not know what he was doing alone on public transportation but I’m assuming he has family or friends in the area. (I guess if I talked to him, I might have been able to find out, but then again, that’s not really my business, is it? lol) So, while he wasn’t oozing with charisma, there is something about this guy since he shines brightly when he smiles. And he is severely attractive. I have nothing (absolutely nothing) to criticize when it comes to his looks. I felt like a plain muffin compared to him. This was definitely a chance encounter and it’d be really something if we ran into each other again one day, whether it be in the states or in Thailand. Lol But if it were to happen, would I still be a silent weirdo around him? (Probably…) Anyway, I hope he didn’t take my silent awkwardness in the wrong way and that he ends up being extremely successful in showbiz.

Moving on. On brand with my need to rant about something, I’m going to talk about attendees and seating. Seating was restricted so if you wanted to see a performance, you had to stand around until a seat(s) became available. The thing with this is that there was an attendee I encountered that had a bit of entitlement when he all of a sudden “lost” his seat. Look, if you don’t tell anyone to watch your seat for you or you don’t put something on top of your seat, your seat will more than likely become fair game to someone else that wants to sit and watch a performance. So, please don’t come back and have an “attitude” all of a sudden because that’s your own fault. I had a number of people that would tell me they’d come back and I’m more than happy to watch their seat for them but you need to tell me (or someone else) in advance. Don’t get all high and mighty because it’s your own problem if you don’t make it obvious that the seat’s taken!

Rant aside, one of the biggest highlights of Thai Fest by the Beach was seeing Warbie, a yellow chick for the first time in the states. There was actually a booth selling Warbie merchandise but I didn’t bother with buying anything since I was on a budget and they wouldn’t have had what I might have wanted anyway. (An item I was interested in was “sold out” online and was not for sale at their booth.)

There were cultural performances and it got “weird” when some attendees started to give money to specific performers. I understand that it’s a way to show support or even to idolize and have a kodak moment with the performer BUT it probably comes off super “weird” to anyone that isn’t familiar with Thai/Southeast Asian norms. There could be someone that attends the event, unfamiliar with this norm that ends up misinterpreting it all. I also feel that it’s a tad bit unfair at times because maybe one performer gets something and another performer is left out. Of course, I don’t think the performers themselves care to that extent since I have a funny feeling that the average performer coming to the states from Thailand already comes from money or has a decent amount of money, meaning they don’t really need that money but are grateful for the support and hype.

Amyway, I actually have a video on Thai Fest by the Beach. If you’re interested in watching it, please click here to view it! (It’d also be great if you could like, comment and subscribe as a form of support.)