Bangkok Hat Tournament = Lots of Free Singha
This tournament was a wondrous free-for-all. There were 16 randomly assembled teams with players from across the region. One squad had 11 different countries represented, including Bangladesh. Most of the drunkards and partiers arrived from Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Australia and the like. A few stragglers and/or travelers were present from Japan, Canada, United States, the UK, Germany, Sweden, etc.
Basically the tournament is a giant meet-and-greet, with beer.
Friday Night Registration Party
A Texas Barbecue joint served as bar & restaurant host. Upon arrival, players paid their dues, received a drink ticket and a schwag bag with a disc, visor and sundry items like Thai-style Tiger Balm, ate some free appetizers and repaired upstairs for games of pool and table-top shuffleboard.
In other words, not much different from a tournament Stateside.
Saturday Play
Getting to the fields through the urban jungle of Bangkok involved a ride on the Skytrain before we hopped on the back of a for-hire motorbike for a brisk ride to the fields.
My team was light blue and so we nicknamed ourselves Captain Blueballs. I had nothing to do with this, but the name came with a nifty cheer: grabbing one's crotch and reaching for the sky with the other we would proclaim loudly, "Captain Blueballlllllls!"
Blueballs ended up with a host of players I would see at later tournaments: Howie from Jakarta helped organize Bali, Jyn went on to TD the Malaysia Open, Alex played for Freakshow so I saw him in Bali and KL. Lester recruited Jane and I to play with his team, Vudoo, at Bali. Robin was also in KL with Disc Knights, Trish was there with Satu Lagi. I didn't see little PK Nee at any tournaments but she was with me always: her family were the originators of the ever-useful Thai Tiger Balm. Our leader was a San Francisco veteran and former Singapore starter named Brad Smallwood (look for him in Huguenard videos, heh heh). He liked to huck a lot, was crafty on D and generally provided much of the huzzah for the team.
Other teams were similarly composed of veterans and rookies, indians and chiefs alike. Some were more manic while most were like us, a loose-fitting conglomeration of fun seekers.
We ended the day at 3-1, good enough for second in our pool and solid seeding for Sunday.
On the sidelines there was lots of cold, free Singha, Thailand's national beer. Since no one drove to the tournament, everyone was cleared to drink, except for at about 5:45 or so when the national anthem was played on loudspeakera and we all removed our hats, put down our beers, and took pride in a giant flagpole nearby.
Saturday Night Party
Bangkok is known for parties and partying with drag queens. This tournament in particular was known for costume parties and the merry theme this year was "Superheroes." We got to hang with the Ambigiously Gay Duo, Duff Man, Chang Man, Lara Croft, Batman, Robin and the Joker and lots of barely identifiable freaks of all stripes.
Once again the beer was free and flowing, the party venue had a pool which we could enjoy, lots of good food and TD Brian set up an ice luge for drinkin' the hard stuff.
The usual entertainment was provided by a Bangkok Ultimate player and resident ladyboy who performed a few stage numbers for the adoring crowd. Par for the course. The party ruled.
Sunday Play
Brackets were made, teams played each other, everyone had a good time. Most of the quarterfinal matches were decided on double-game point: teams were even across the board. Semifinals was Grey vs Green and Burgundy vs Blue & Yellow, I believe. Finals matched Burgundy, led by Steinar, and Green led by tourney MVP Neenah.
By the time the final began, our team having lost in quarters, I was more than tipsy. Fantasy league Ultimate was quickly begun. Heckling began in earnest.
That PA announcement you could only dream about at a carless tournament came across loud and clear: "Folks, we have two kegs left and we have to finish these. There are cups of cold beer already poured and circulating around. Everyone please do your part and help out."
And then they wisely decided to hold a tounament-wide boat race at halftime. I believe there were about 20 teams of 7 each lined up to slam down the frothy stuff.
Our team finished third, we were robbed, it didn't matter because I met so many people from so may places. Somehow I even won a small bottle of Thai whiskey as a Spirit Award and finished a close second in Show (also called Face).
Burgundy won the finals and I believe it was close. Later that evening I discovered that the TD and I were from the same Indiana city. Hmmm, cool.
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