Bangkok—A video of four very drunk friends at a bar in Sukhumvit Soi 49 goes viral, causing a stream of memes and new calls for reconciliation. The four friends, two of whom are pro-protests and two of whom pro-election, are seen acting drunk and obnoxious, rehashing the same old arguments both sides have been repeating for months. But by their fifth martini, they become emotional and start to hug and cry, slurring that friendship is the most important thing in life.
Netizens have seen this as a sign Thais are just not drunk enough to move the political stalemate forward. The Bangkok Post published a front page chart, defining key moments in the video: “Here, you can see the Japanese barman carving his third handcrafted ball of ice, and by that point, the violence is at its peak. Mind even repeats one of Prayer’s points in a silly high-pitched voice to invalidate it. At that moment, the body language of their respective boyfriends indicates that they’re ready to pounce.”
Just when all hope is lost, the fourth martini seems to kick in and Nut decides to give Chai a hug. “Youv know what, bro, you’ff my bro,” Chai explains with difficulty. Both girls squeal in delight, accusing Nut and Chai of being gay before Nut asks the girls to make out.
One Facebook comment said, “I think there’s about two shots of vodka per martini in those drinks, from the video evidence. That would mean Thais mellow out around the eight shot mark.” While there was some debate over the actual figures, with some saying it really took a fifth drink to achieve true national reconciliation, others were not so serious about the details, with memes spinning off the video featuring superhero special effects.
The “Save Thailand with Five Stiff Drinks” page on Facebook quickly garnered over 10 million likes, with comments coming from both sides of the political aisle. While it originated in Bangkok, the movement was soon going viral nationally. One group of drinkers in Ubon declared, “Not only are we going to start drinking Singha again, as a sign of goodwill, but we’re going to drink much, much more than ever before.”
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