|
Charitable meals for Chonburi Children Center
Sikh community celebrates Gurpurab
Faced with a number of blank weekends in the Pattaya Panther’s sporting calendar, fixture secretary and master tactician Adrian Sparrow sent a team to the Bangkok 7s with the express instructions to lose as heavily as possible as often as possible. Having carried out these instructions to the letter, we now have several clubs eagerly hammering at the door of Delaney’s in search of a game. Recently it was the turn of the British Club from Bangkok. The Panthers sent out a team with possibly several changes from last time, however no one could quite remember. There were one or two enforced changes including stalwart scrumhalf Oink Quirke who was unavailable and so he was replaced by fellow Scot Steve Turner. Eco-warrior Dave “Rain Forest” Garred has returned from picketing The Beach and so resumed his place on the wing. A notable highlight of the day was the long-awaited debut of Fijian centre Jean-Paul Daniels, a French teacher at G.I.S. Despite joining the club back in September, Jean-Paul has yet to make an appearance in a competitive fixture for the Panthers. In fact, doubts about his Fijian heritage had begun to circulate at the club. It was rumoured that what he actually said on the day he first arrived was “I’ve been to Fiji” or the even more plausible “I’ve seen Mount Fuji.” In a last minute change of plans, the Panthers were able to include Thomas Paemeleir in the starting line-up alongside Ralph Mounty in the second row. In a somewhat fortuitous turn of events, Thomas accidentally turned up on time by arriving four weeks late for the Panther s previous fixture. In keeping with the Remembrance Day weekend, at 11am precisely referee Dave William’s whistle signalled a minute’s silence for those members of the British Club missing in action in Singapore. A further five hours of silence followed whilst we waited for the remaining members of the British Club to turn up for this fixture. Eventually, however, at 4 o’clock the match kicked off with the Panthers anxious to make up for lost time. In an amazing opening, flying prop-forward Dave Richardson twice broke through the frankly non-existent defences of the British Club and the Panthers were 14-0 up with barely five minutes on the clock. This set the tone for the rest of the half with the Pattaya forwards able to exploit their 80kg-a-man advantage in the scrum at will. Pete Lomu went on many a foray up field, swatting away the B.C. tacklers as if they didn’t exist. By now Pattaya were rampant and further tries were scored by Z.T. Greek & Cameron Highlands and the Panthers reached the interval leading 40-0. The only player reluctant to get involved in the action was Fergal O Neal who had modelling commitments later that evening. He also complained that the shocking pink of the B.C. shirts clashed with his socks. In a curiously eloquent and wide ranging half-time team talk, Fergal felt that the shirts were an affront to modern sporting haute couture “more Jasper Conran than Fran Cotton” as he put it. The Panthers made several changes for the second half, bringing on Pattaya Playboy and general man about town Phil Thompson at prop and wonderkid Paul Crouch, the Oklahoma farm boy, in the centres. Paul has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the rugby world since arriving in Pattaya. Only a matter of weeks ago he was still playing little league baseball on his parent’s farm in Gooberville. The break gave little respite for the beleaguered British as the Panthers continued the onslaught in the second half. “Man” of the match was surely Welshman Ceri Davies who, not to be outdone by his sister’s exploits in the Pattaya Panties fixture earlier, ran in a hat-trick of second half tries through a defence that at times was nowhere to be seen. The British misery was compounded by the accuracy of Charlie Nordchamps conversions which saw the opposition hopes sink “faster than the Rainbow Warrior” as, a rumoured, team francophobe was keen to point out. Charlie is one of a number of players who, due to recent French successes, have come out of hiding in Pattaya’s little known French quarter. We have also been joined by the back-row twins Laurant and Jean-Charles Lebouef who blockaded the midfield superbly to ensure the British Club never threatened the Panther’s line. There were further late tries for Hiro Kubota and Pete Bull who ran through the B.C. cover that was noticeable only by its absence. By the end the Panthers had amassed a totally unbelievable 78 points without reply. As the sun sank behind the I.S.R. tower the referee’s whistle signalled the last post for team captain and fitness guru Chris Bradshaw who leaves us for a recently vacated position with the All Blacks. All players then returned to Delaney’s where wingman Rob Oldfield showed excellent handling skills and was awarded a try that he was unfortunately unable to convert. The afternoon had been a spectacular success for the Panthers who provided a festival of running rugby. David McCallum, the B.C. captain, thanked the Panthers for the excellent spirit in which the highly entertaining game had been played. The Panthers now go into their next match against the Bangkok Japanese full of hope with one consecutive victory under their belt. See us in action or contact Dave Garred on (038)425611 ext. fitness club or Kim Fletcher (038) 710641-43. Training is on Tuesday nights at the Ambassador Hotel, Jomtien 6pm Panties, & 7pm Panthers.
Chonburi to celebrate “Handicap Day 1999” The Chonburi Handicapped Development President, Prakid Inthisit announced a combined activity between the Chonburi Handicapped Development Group and the Pattaya Redemptorist Center for the Blind. The two groups will be organizing a “Chonburi Handicapped Persons Day” at the Pattaya Redemptorist Center for the Blind on 4 December. Prakid explained that the activity is planned to encourage handicapped people in Chonburi and adjacent areas to participate in activities as persons having full rights, and to instill awareness in others that handicapped people are important individuals with rights just like everyone else. The activities of the day will include on-stage performances providing handicapped persons the chance to display their skills and improve their talents illustrating what handicapped persons can achieve. Krydsana Chayarat from ITV Television will be the moderator for the show entitled “Meet Famous People”. In addition, various agencies in the administration and private sector will be putting on other expositions. Handicapped people will also have the opportunity to register for employment. Over 2,500 handicapped persons are expected to attend and everyone is welcome. The day’s activities will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 4:00 p.m.
Copyright 1999 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd. |
Juvenile
and Family Court Associate Judge Sophin Thappajug visiting the children at
the Chonburi Observation and Protection Center in Rayong.
The
ladies of the Sikh community at the celebrations.
Expert
woodcarvers from Baan Chang Nak create life-like masterpieces of elephants
in intricate detail.
(L
to R) Gethin Thomas of Hercules Co., Ltd., Jill Thomas, Headmistress of St
Andrews International School, Tom Athey, Director of RAI Media Co., Ltd.,
and Nick Halliwell, Managing Director of Evergreen Comware “network” at
Henry J. Bean’s Bar and Grill.