Now, on the eve of entering our thirteenth year of weekly productions, it is almost another world out there: as the city expands to the four cardinal points of the compass, the cityscape of the Pattaya-Jomtien area is unrecognisable from the days of yore and our beloved city-by-the-sea holds more than 200,000 residents in its thrall.

The Pattaya Mail has undoubtedly been the ever-measuring barometer of these phenomenal changes, some for the better, others for the worse. From our humble beginnings of 16 pages and a ‘skeleton’ staff, we have grown to a massive 56 pages, a staff of some 50. On Friday, November 23, 2001, we joined the Associated Press family. Thus began yet another new chapter in Pattaya Mail history. Every week from that week forward we brought into your home the best, most interesting news, features, science, entertainment and sports the world has to offer, which only the Associated Press can deliver.

A German-language edition, the Pattaya Blatt, was launched on the 7th of July 2002, the Chiangmai Mail started on the 26th of October that same year. In 1998 we launched the very first English language television programme broadcasting news, entertainment and public information service 5 times a day. The Pattaya Mail on TV new service – or, should that read “news service”? – now combines with the Associated Press Television News (APTN) the world’s leading video news agency bringing you up to the minute stories on world politics, economics, entertainment, sports, environmental affairs and medicine, crossing a new frontier in TV broadcasting, not just in Pattaya-Jomtien and around the burgeoning Eastern Seaboard and Industrial Estates, but nation-wide.

As a relative new-comer (new kid on the block syndrome), I entered the hallowed corridors of the Pattaya Mail and, since then, have been able to enjoy the company of some well-experienced, capable and qualified writers attached to their respective fields. Reports on medicine, haute cuisine, photography, the social and crime scene, environment, Formula One motor racing, tourism, charity, sports, economics and finance are all rendered by professionals in their genre.

Their lucid writings and musings have not only benefited our ever-increasing readership but I, too, entered a learning curve, still learning – and still curving!

Thus, from the fateful day, some seven years ago, when I was “press-ganged” on Pattaya Beach Road, to join the Mail, I was ushered in to the productive, precise and pulsating life of a living organ: the Pattaya Mail, the voice of the people, voted seven times as the best English Language newspaper in the East.

It has been, for me personally, working with these great, dedicated colleagues and, of course, the man who made it all happen, whose initials will be carried into perpetuity in the Pattaya Mail – Pratheep (Peter) Malhotra – an intimate journey into a city and way of life that would otherwise have left me as simply a spectator.

For the years that I have been photographing and featuring snippets of the life which make Pattaya so fascinating, I cannot recall one wasted moment.

As the idea of an English-language newspaper began to come into focus, we rented an office on Soi Diana next to the Cafe Kronborg and began to hire a team. An editor was brought aboard; unfortunately, he missed the first issue, so another editor came – one who was to shape and mould ideas, concepts and reports, into an actual newspaper.

A small sales staff was assembled, a photographer brought in (one with BBC credentials), a sports reporter hired, two Thai reporters joined and slowly the Pattaya Mail began to materialize.

Those first few months were anything but successful and if it had not been for the determination and downright stubbornness of the small but resourceful team, Pattaya Mail would not have lasted until Christmas, five months hence.

The offices upstairs occasionally looked more like the end result of a bar-room brawl than a business, as differing ideas and strong constitutions met head on. The most often question asked during the first, defining months was, “Will there be an issue next week?”

But the idea apparently was a good one, for once the first few issues were out on the streets there was no turning back. Causes were fought for and boundaries pushed, sometimes too far, but the news began to emerge.

And to our collective surprise, the reading public began to snap up our seven baht, 16 colour pages of local news, sports and features. Before long it even started to become fun to put our little newspaper together.

Over the first few months, we changed from full colour to spot colour, to all black & white and back to spot colour. We were proud when we were able to produce 20 pages and keep it there. The “will there be an issue next week?” question died out. Advertising sales began to pick up, and we were on our way.

The staff became regular employees and was expanded – a small but efficient production department was put together to help the overworked editor who, in the early days gathered in the news, sports and features from the various contributors (including Thai news being translated into English by a German), assembled it, designed the newspaper and laid out the pages, plus designed most of the artwork for the advertising.

He eventually burned out and left after a little over three years and his demise is reproduced hereunder. He now lives happily in Nakhorn Si Nowhere, far away from the trials and tribulations of man’s often futile endeavours.

There was an army of sceptics and doubters who never thought we would last out a month – let alone a year. Where are they now, twelve years down the line? With the introduction of our home page to the Internet in 1996, Pattaya Mail took your voice to the world and, at this point, we receive well over 25,000 hits per week. The Mailbag overflows with letters from the Americas, Asia, the Pacific region, Australasia and Europe, proving that we have indeed grown into a global market.

On the occasion of our fifth anniversary in 1998, Chuck Pringle, the newspaper’s editor from day one, saw it this way, “Five years on! There were many who, when they saw the first issue of the Mail five years ago, said, ‘They won’t last the year out.’ Perhaps, not surprisingly, there were some who still said something similar on our first anniversary - and even - but not so vociferously - on our second. By the third year, the doubters were drowning in our torrent of information

“But like any pre-pubescent, the Pattaya Mail was not without its growing pains. In fact, several times it looked as if it would be still-born, with the conceptual editorial staff themselves not even making it to the first issue!”

Founder, publisher and owner, Pratheep (Peter) Malhotra recalled those painful early days. “In 1991, I realized that Pattaya needed a ‘voice’ to protect ourselves (Pattaya City) from adverse publicity. I decided we needed a ‘proper newspaper’ in English since the national dailies were not serving the needs of Pattaya. In fact, in many cases it seemed they did not care about Pattaya, or that we were just too small to worry about.”

Application was made for the Official License to publish a newspaper, but that took almost two years to come through. By 1993, however, Peter was given the green light to go ahead and publish the first English language newspaper on the Eastern Seaboard.

Those pre-production days included settling on the name for the paper and the design for the “mast-head” at the top. The font used to proclaim Pattaya Mail is as original as the paper itself, “It was designed by a local artist who made up T-shirts,” Peter recalled, smiling. “Although it may look similar to other fonts, it truly is unique.” Such was the spirit as the pace continued and the date was set to publish Volume 1, Number1.

In the two weeks that it took to produce that first issue, Chuck Pringle had filled the gap as editor and a young American, Dan Dorothy, had been asked to step in to cover the sports writer’s position, as the original writer had been posted overseas. An even younger Austrian, Andy Gombaz, who was on his way to Hollywood to be a cartoonist, stumbled into the artist’s job after talking to the embryonic Pattaya Mail’s driver! That the first issue, dated July 23, 1993, ever made the streets is a miracle in itself.

Three weeks later, to coincide with H.M. the Queen’s Birthday, the second issue came out, and then it became weekly thereafter. Chuck did admit that “amazingly, every week there was a Pattaya Mail. Sometimes a day late, but it DID come out!”

Dan Dorothy remembers on occasion asking Chuck as he brought in his sports articles, “Do you think you’ll still be needing anything next week?” Of course, he did and, of course, Dan kept producing.

The early editions were actually printed in Bangkok, as there were no local printers then able to handle the job. Andy Gombaz’s memories of those early days included “catching the bus to Bangkok to take the artwork to the printers. This was sometimes after working all night.”

Chuck, too, remembers “18-hour days, day after day, problems with egocentric journalistic and inexperienced clerical staff, the nervous wait for the paper to arrive - hoping there were not too many mistakes this time. Not to forget the spats amongst the management and editorial staff, caused by the pressure under which both were working.”

Andy put it very succinctly, “They were tense times and we had apologies every Tuesday!” (This was the day after the paper went to the printers.)

However, Chuck still smiles and says, “Now, with the healing passage of time, we can look back and laugh at some of our agonies. But of this we can be proud, we maintained our stance and told the truth. There were times when that became very difficult. Pressure was brought to bear by corrupt policemen, influential persons upon whose toes we had stepped, disgruntled local politicians whose inefficiency or wrong doings we exposed, but we followed the principle of that great publisher Randolph Hearst whose immortal tenet was ‘Publish and be damned.’”

Peter Malhotra added, “It was not just the power-brokers who were occasionally upset. For example, in 1995, after publishing stories on the local ‘mafia’, I was the victim of a serious assault and battery attack. The Pattaya Mail had enough growing pains without giving me physical pains as well,” Peter surmised at the time.

Peter’s cousin and erstwhile crime reporter, Amorn Malhotra said at the time, that “Pattaya had gone from being the ‘Wild-West of the East’, to becoming a city with a semblance of order. The Pattaya Mail helped that progression, by working hard to instil and promote some discipline.”

Chuck Pringle agreed whole-heartedly. “We can also be proud that our aims were achieved. Campaigns initiated and/or supported by us, bore fruit and gradually Pattaya changed and the perception of Pattaya in the eyes of the world also changed.” But the rapid change brought its own price and, eventually the weekly workload became too much for Chuck.

This precipitated the next major change in the paper. Dan Dorothy dropped in his sports copy one evening to be met by Peter saying, “Hey Dan, do you want to be the editor?” Dan agreed he would try it for two weeks. That was nine years ago and Dan’s philosophy is that “There’s no paper like us in the world. It is unique in the fact that it is all locally written but with international appeal. We are not restricted like the ‘big boys’. We are restricted only by our conscience.”

Under Dan’s most able stewardship, the Pattaya Mail has grown and gained a large following and readership along the on the Eastern Seaboard. Dan feels that the paper has the potential to expand beyond our borders, by attracting good writers admitting, however, that some of the old ‘ad hoc’ methods are still with the paper.

Dan quotes an example of a true ‘hands-on’ approach when there was a change made to the mast-head. Dan described Peter sitting in a bar, chopping up the mast-head and sticking the words down on bits of paper to take to the printers that evening. The pioneering spirit is certainly not dead!

That spirit is, in many ways, the act of commitment by the staff to the paper and its ideals.

As Dan says it, “The opportunity the staff have been given here is such that it breeds loyalty,” adding with his infectious grin, “After all, I’m a lobster fisherman from Harpswell, Maine - where else could I be an editor?” Where else indeed?. Perhaps one could add to this, certainly in Dan’s case: Talent triumphed. Rather than hauling in lobsters in those inhospitable climes of the Northeastern United States, he was casting for linguistic purity. Why, he even caught a Tasmanian on Beach Road one day and this Antipodean ‘fish’ is still very much a dedicated Mail writer/photographer.

Peter Malhotra summed up the progress rather succinctly, “Dan has overseen growth and consolidation which has continued through to today. Our priority of presenting readable editorial material has helped maintain the quality of the paper. It has been my pleasure to be at the helm of this newspaper, only made possible by the support all our staff have given us over the past twelve. We all look forward to he next twelve”, said Peter, adding, “even our septuagenarian Tasmanian”.

The final quote came from ex-editor Chuck Pringle, “Our commitment remains. The whole truth, and by publishing this, to increase the awareness of Pattayans and visitors alike to the fact that we have a precious jewel here and we must guard and nurture it.”

That was how we saw our seventh birthday in 2000, with a huge party at the Dusit Resort. Now five years later, the Pattaya Mail continues to grow - both in actual number of pages and in its content. Executive Editor Dan Dorothy keeps an almost-avuncular eye over the entire paper every week, while trying to keep the sometimes unruly band of writers - both local and expats - under linguistic control. Faces change, but the concepts and the principles remain the same.

The stories of the early days, throughout the years, have been told over and over again, but they are very fond memories. Sometimes just reminiscing them had us in fits of laughter and more than once, close to tears. Each and every one of us has recollections of the times and life of the Mail and our own individual experience therein.

Some have been with us from the very beginning, like Dan Dorothy, who is now our fearless editor. Fearless in a sense that he has never ever let the company down. I remember Dan saying to me a long, long time ago. “Peter, you gave me a job as the editor and (by golly) I am going to do that job to the best of my ability. If we don’t see eye-to-eye sometimes, we’ll talk about it and we’ll find a way to come to an understanding. If ever I am not able to fulfill my responsibilities, I’ll quit.”

As Peter Malhotra said, “Dan’s words have been embedded in my brain ever since and I repeat them constantly, with all my staff, old and new, instilling into them the ethics of responsibility and integrity.”

“I have so many close friends in the Pattaya Mail. Not even for one moment have I ever considered them other than being part of my family. We have worked closely together through thick and thin, helping each other along the way. Now, my two elder sons are integrated into the management of our Pattaya Mail group of companies,” Peter continued.

“The helm of this undertaking has taught me to persevere and keep trying; never give up! The Pattaya Mail has given me the greatest opportunity to meet people from all echelons of society. My job has taken me to many places where I experienced the pain of people suffering, anything from hunger to sickness, to injustices caused by other human beings. The Pattaya Mail has been my vehicle to reach out and give any assistance that we possibly could give. How would I have been able to do that if it wasn’t for Pattaya Mail?

“Pattaya Mail does business with the highest levels of integrity and honesty. We assist those that need our help, when they are starting up new businesses, rarely worrying if, in fact, we would be repaid financially or rewarded socially. We believe in keeping the economy rolling. Let the people have an opportunity to trade their unwanted articles through the pages of our paper. This will in turn encourage others to do the same. The economy thrives.

“The Pattaya Mail is always at the forefront when it comes to serving the community, in any way or form. Our newspaper is made available, to be of use if it will help in any way, directly or indirectly to alleviate the hardships of others. This has been one of my greatest satisfactions. This is what keeps me going.

“The success of the Pattaya Mail, of course, bred contempt, competitors, imitators and detractors. In spite of this, however, we are, by far, the leader in readership (40,000 in Pattaya alone), sales, distribution and circulation (over 400 outlets in Pattaya, 100 outlets up and down the Eastern Seaboard, 34 locations in Bangkok and another 62 in Chiang Mai), plus the thousands of world-wide web network readers.

“There are so many facets to life in Pattaya, and the Pattaya Mail touches them all at some stage. The news sections inform the readership just what is going on, both from the municipal point of view, with our editors being invited for information sharing sessions with city hall. The police news reports on some of the more nefarious members of the community; the enlarged sporting section covers the local sports; the Mail Market has 16 broad based sections with items for sale, jobs, business opportunities, real estate and more, covering a dozen pages or more each week.

“Automobiles, films, TV and book reviews are there too, and not downloads from the internet, but reports of what is happening right here in Pattaya.

“With an English language newspaper, there are also international reports covering the English speaking world from films, entertainment and sports. International news is directed straight to the editorial news desk from the prestigious Associated Press, with the Pattaya Mail being a major conduit for transmitting this information throughout the Kingdom,” Peter concluded.

As AP Bureau Chief Denis Gray, a long-time colleague of several of us at the Mail, said it at the signing of the agreement on November 23, 2001: “The Associated Press has been around since 1848, has enjoyed a very strong presence in Bangkok for decades. But, it was not until we signed a contract (with the Pattaya Mail) did the world’s largest news organization enjoy full exposure in Thailand’s provincial areas,” said Denis. “That day we were proud to offer our news and photo services to this key and expanding news outlet on Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard,” Denis added.

He has written prolifically, through the pages of the Mail, numerous stories about the Royal Family, the King as a Gold-medal helmsman, birthday specials for Their Majesties on the occasion of their respective sixth-cycle birthdays (HM the King on December 5, 1999 and HM the Queen on August 12, 2004). Published by the Pattaya Mail, these publications have been distributed to the Palace, the international media, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Thai Government and Thai nationals resident abroad, through the diplomatic service. Copies have also been registered with the United Nations.

Experts like our own Dr Iain Corness write for the publication of medical matters, and experienced doctors and psychologists inform the readers every week of happenings in their fields, financial consultants help you keep your money, a restaurateur’s reviews showing the places to dine, and even Pattaya’s most famous (and most quoted) Agony Aunt Ms. Hillary is there with her inimitable advice for the lovelorn.

With many service clubs and charities in Pattaya, the Pattaya Mail covers them all, not just with a photo of an event, but with real positive assistance and promotion where needed. The charities know that even after 12 years they still have a true friend and ally in the Pattaya Mail. Just ask the people who have benefited from the Jesters Children’s Charity Fair!

However, one important – and ever-expanding – aspect of the Pattaya Mail has been its unwavering promotion of Pattaya and its tourist opportunities to the world. In 2006, the world congress of the largest tourism professionals group in the world, the Skๅl Club, is being held here. The Mail began lobbying for this event more than three years ago and was present at the world congress in Australia when the vote was taken, helping make Pattaya the most popular proposed venue for 2006.

The Pattaya Mail really IS Pattaya. Now here for 12 years, and the best is yet to come! Know that this weekly publication will continue to report honestly, with sensitivity, and uphold its responsibilities of teaching and inspiration for the years to come.

This, then, is an overview of the times and life of our Pattaya Mail and, more importantly, the dedicated crew who have ‘manned the ship’, kept her afloat and tacked, when directed by the skipper, into the innumerable wind-shifts driving her towards shoals.

One of the most significant contributions the newspaper has made over these 12 years, is environment protection, be it the natural ecology or the social milieu, events like the annual Pattaya Mail PC Classic Royal Cliff Beach Resort International Regatta fulfil both of these ideals. While a yacht race is the most environmentally-friendly pursuit, giving great exposure to Pattaya’s beautiful shorelines, beaches and waterways, the proceeds which emanate from this nature-loving pastime go directly to helping those denizens whom Nature has not blessed: the disadvantaged, the abandoned and the forgotten of our people, especially the young and the old.

Many of these dispossessed segments of our society have felt the warm embrace of the Pattaya Mail munificence: Father Ray’s Orphanage, the Redemptorist School for the Blind, the Old Age People’s home. The list is endless; the need is great.

The Pattaya Mail will be here to help physically and indirectly by bringing the plight of our less fortunate fellow human beings, to the attention of the world-at-large.

Friday July 22, 2005

Happy birthday, Pattaya Mail!
Children at Banglamung Home for Boys