To one degree or another, all ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have an ‘image’ problem. While some have a bad image, others have no image, but both can be equally serious in the highly image-conscious tourism industry. What potential visitors think and feel - based entirely upon what they read and view - about a country can make or break a tourism industry.

Thus, it was no surprise that ASEAN tourism ministers, national tourism organisation chiefs and their spin-doctors spent much time at the January 20-26 ASEAN Tourism Forum in Bangkok trying to either fix their country’s image, re-write it or create a new one. Indeed, the first item on the official programme of the ATF2000 was a communicators forum for the spin-doctors of each national tourism organisation. That was followed by the ASEAN heads of NTOs meeting at which the prime decision was a plan to strengthen the ASEAN ‘brand’ image. Next came the ASEAN tourism ministers who agreed to start swapping information on unsavoury social problems like pedophilia which are among the things that create a bad image in the first place.

Indeed, it became clear during the course of the ATF that all the ASEAN countries have something to consider: Indonesia is trying to recover from the Christian-Muslim riots; Singapore to create an image of a lively place with lots of things to do and see; Malaysia an image of a multi-racial country where all live in peace and harmony; the Philippines a place to be ‘Rediscovered’ regardless of hurricanes, sinking ferries and a half-operating airline; Burma, business as usual under a military dictatorship that tolerates no dissent; Brunei an ecotourism destination with an amusement park; and Cambodia, a crime-free haven and home to Angkor Wat. Laos and Vietnam are sort of lucky; they have no image to speak of. As for Thailand, it has reworked its erstwhile males-only image to promote its health and ecotourism attractions and now faces the ticklish problem of actually living up to that image.

Image building is an expensive and exhausting exercise. Many ASEAN countries have spent small fortunes over the years only to discover that images can be wrecked faster than NTOs can say Leo Burnett.

One big problem confronting ASEAN spin-doctors is what to do about it, especially in the age of global media when TV images can flash instantly worldwide. Perhaps more than any other, the Travel & Tourism industry is most sensitive to problems related to safety, security and sanitation. This includes political or religious riots, plane crashes, environmental disasters, health problems (like the mad-cow disease, AIDS or the coxsackie virus) and crime - precisely the stories that make the media salivate.

In Indonesia, they are trying another strategy - the seeing is believing approach. The Indonesian industry is stepping up its media familiarisation trips to bring more journos so that they can “see the reality for themselves”. True, TV images only provide a fleeting microcosm of reality and are not representative of business as usual in the rest of the country - the part which does not make news. This is what the Indonesians are hoping the visiting journos will tell their readers as editorial copy, not advertorial.

It was partly to learn how to manage the media marauders that the ASEAN communicators group organised a half-day workshop ahead of the main ATF programme. The speakers line-up included PATA’s communications director Lyn Hikida and IATA’s Asia-Pacific spokesman Tony Concil.

Ms Hikida told the delegates that in an age of instant communications, the NTOs had access to the same Internet tools that the media does. Learning how to use the Internet for distribution of public information is an art waiting to be mastered, she said, unveiling a series of tips on how to do just that.

For his part, Concil was more forthright. He gave ASEAN delegates a powerful reality check, noting that those who think they can ‘manage’ the media in times of crisis have another think coming. “You can’t,” he said, “But you CAN work with them. Companies and countries which communicate effectively during a crisis may emerge with new credibility and respect.”

One group of people listening intently to these presentations were the Burmese. They, too, feel short-changed by the media, except that the Burmese military junta, unlike the Indonesians, is unlikely to explain it as being part of the pangs of a transition to democracy. This leaves the Burmese tourism authorities in a difficult position; they cannot deny the media reports and yet have to be very careful how they dress up the reality. At least they are getting their views across; at both the International Travel Asia show in Hong Kong last year and at the ATF2000, the Burmese Ministry of Hotels and Tourism did give press conferences and take questions, a far cry from the previous flee-the-scene policy.

While addressing their own individual image is one thing, the wider problem is that ASEAN, the grouping they are all part of, today has virtually no image, at least not in tourism. However, now that economies are recovering and the ASEAN secretariat structure is in place with a specific desk in charge of tourism, the task of rebuilding the ASEAN image has begun. The original plan was to mark the grouping’s 35th anniversary in 2002 with a Visit ASEAN Millennium Year. The plan fell apart when Burma hummed and hawed about paying the US$261,000 each of the 10 countries were being asked to shell out. Other countries like Laos and Cambodia, too, expressed some reservations, noting that they get only a few hundred thousand visitors a year while the Thais and Singaporeans get millions. They suggested a pro-rata payment structure, which did not go down too well with the Thais.

Advertising reps who had been drooling at the prospects of picking up some of the US$2.61 million cried buckets when the plan fell apart and was replaced with a more modest no-budget target: Creating an ASEAN brand by using the tagline “Visit ASEAN” as a sub-brand in all tourism literature produced by NTOs, including collaterals, advertising, brochures, etc. Designing the logo is to be assigned to an ad or design agency. Airlines and the ASEAN private sector are to be asked to join in and use the tagline, too. The ASEAN NTOs estimate that as they alone spend about US$50 million on marketing, the new theme and logo should have quite an impact.

While it may build a tourism/cultural image for a grouping that has long been known as a political/economic entity, it may also backfire. For all the talk of ASEAN solidarity and the spirit of co-operation, the ASEAN countries are vigorous competitors and actually benefit from each other’s problems. It may not be in the best interests of say the Thais to be seen to be part of the same grouping as another country facing social, political or religious problems. When all is hunky-dory and a rising tide is lifting all boats, a single image may prove advantageous. But when the tide recedes, it quickly becomes each man for himself, as the recent economic crisis proved. ASEAN waters are still unsettled, and the single image the tourism ministers may want to create in the travel pages may still be obfuscated by the reality on the front pages.

The Pattaya International Ladies Club held their Annual General Meeting on February 1st, to give reports to the members about their activities and financial situation for the past year and to elect the new board.

The President for 1999, Carol Smith, thanked the members for their never-ending support and help during her year as president and expressed her gratitude to her board as well.

Pattaya International Ladies Club’s new board for the Year 2000.

Then, the new board members introduced themselves to the audience and asked for their support in the coming year, to be able to carry on the same way and in the same spirit as the board before.

The new president and board are: Ffion Mercer, president. Ginster Votteler, vice president. The Secretary’s post went to Tanya Brewer and the Treasurer is Julie Garratt. Membership is in the hands of Margaret Evans, while Janine Aeronouts will take care of the activities, assisted by Denise Danforth. Judi Clausen will be in charge of the newsletter and former president Carol Smith took over welfare. Katrina Hester, assisted by Brenda Varnado, is taking care of hospitality and Arlette Cykman is, again, in charge of special events.

Panga Vathanakul, Managing Director of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, was the special guest speaker of the event. Panga congratulated the new president and her board and then gave a very interesting speech about the history of “The Cliff” and the new projects they have done and will be doing in the future.

The members of the Jomtien-Pattaya Rotary Club were shown how to make a mint of money last week at their regular Wednesday evening meeting at the Royal Cliff Grand.

Numismatist Jan Olav Aamlid addressed the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya.

World renowned coin collector and Rotarian Jan Olav Aamlid brought a very small fraction of his collection to the meeting and in conjunction with an audio-visual presentation, took the members through the process of minting.

He showed examples of some of the first minted Thai coins, which were actually modelled on the English farthing. Even getting minting presses to this country in those middle 1800s was a problem, with both the British engineers who had been sent to install the machine succumbing to ailments before being able to commission the mint. The King of Thailand asked for volunteers to assemble and set up the press and the man who finally managed this task became the Head of the Thai Mint until his death.

With money being close to everyone’s heart, the assembled Rotarians and guests were soon seen checking their pockets to see if there was a coin of untold worth lurking in the small change. Jan Olav said that he was willing to buy as many one baht coins as they brought to him for 50 satang each!

However, even skilled numismatists such as he get caught out occasionally, Jan Olav relating how he sold a coin for what he thought was a premium $10,000 only to see it change hands for $100,000 two years later!

To see what coins are all about, consult the Pattaya Mail’s coin column, or call in and see Jan Olav at the House of the Golden Coin on Pattaya Tai, almost opposite the International Telephone Exchange.

So what is it all about, this Valentine’s Day business? A business it certainly is. Millions of tonnes of chocolate (the most popular gift in the rituals surrounding the day), red roses by the truck-load, rivers of champagne and wine, pages of cryptic (and some not-so-cryptic) love messages in the world’s press and enough Valentine’s Day cards to cover Monaco, are disbursed world-wide, in the name of love on the 14th of February every year.

The original story hovers somewhere between history, mythology and gallantry in acting out the legend that some historians claim originated in ancient Rome. This took the form of a “lottery” whereby young maidens dropped written messages into an urn in the public square and the young man who drew out that particular note courted his future bride until marriage the next year.

This somewhat jaundiced Pattaya Mail correspondent sees a lot of similar applications between the ancient Roman style of wife selection and today’s which, after all, is basically a lottery: one is never sure whether one wins a prize or not, and the cost of the “ticket” is horrendous. Or, as one of my equally-jaundiced friends remarked: “when I married, I thought my wife was ‘one in a million’; it was not too long when I realized that she was, rather, ‘won in a raffle’!”

But, back to the legend of St. Valentine. There have been several throughout history. One of the most revered of them, Valentinus, was beheaded on February the 14th 269 AD on Via Flaminia, outside Rome, the date corresponding to the pagan love festival, the Feast of Lupercalia. Dedicated to Pan, the god of fertility and Juno, protector of virgins and the goddess of marriage, Lupercalia’s day corresponded to the Spring mating rites of several species of birds in mid-February.

While languishing in jail for a year before his summary execution under the orders of Emperor Claudius II, the story goes that Valentine became enamoured of his jailer’s blind daughter and, on the eve of his death, sent her a farewell message signed “From your Valentine.”

No doubt the introduction of a postal service in the Eighteenth Century greatly enhanced the burgeoning Valentine’s Day card industry. Billions of cards are exchanged nowadays, across the village square to the extremities of the earth around the 14th of February each year.

One major effect that posting had was that it replaced, to a large extent, the personal hand-delivery and the sometimes embarrassing lack of reciprocity on the part of the receiver. On the other hand, a hilarious contrary development was that a spurned lover not only did not have to suffer a ‘loss of face’, but in many instances, was able to retaliate, via post, with a sometimes vicious retort.

One tradition practiced during Victorian England was that the first bachelor an unmarried lady met on Valentine’s Day would become her husband. One historian recounted the verse she would quote to the unfortunate fellow: “Good morrow, Valentine, I go today/ To wear for you what you must pay/ A pair of gloves next Easter Day.” Thus, the predator found her prey and he, dutifully, showed up on Easter morning - with the gloves.

Apart from the Valentine encounters, a suitor in those days would send gloves to his paramour as a marriage proposal and a PAIR of gloves was a regarded as a symbol of the purity of the wearer. (I wonder why, then, Michael Jackson wears only ONE glove?)

One can only imagine the myriad tricks these ladies would employ to capture the hapless male on those Valentine’s Days long ago! It would appear that not much has changed through the years - only the techniques, perhaps!

The press, on this day, is packed with messages of love, ranging from downright goofy sentimentality to something a little more commercial. An old Victorian-era card bore this charming inscription: “May love your footsteps sweetly tend/ And guide you ever, dearest friend.”

A more recent card from Marilyn Monroe to an anonymous suitor read: “My heart belongs to daddy, but I love you tonight.” Then, as one correspondent phrased it some years ago, “For every ten maidens insisting that it is the charm and the many other attributes of her beau which overwhelm her, there is at least one who has a beady eye on his pocket, exemplified in this message, culled from the press: “Be an angel, Valentine Honey/ Skip the card, just send me money!”

Valentine’s Day, indeed, means many things to many people. Some even associate it with the “Valentine’s Day massacre” during the Prohibition Era of the ’30s when Al Capone and his lads reacted rather strongly to some criticism from a rival gang in Chicago.

Regardless, Valentine’s Day, in spite of the rather gruesome event long ago which seems to have started it all, will be around forever, as a celebration of love. Or, to paraphrase one of J.K. Robert England’s lines from long ago, then, Valentine’s Day is not a day to “commemorate a massacre” but rather, a day to “venerate mascara”.

Finally, it would have to be the beautiful story of Romeo and Juliet which represents the apogee of romantic love. But, even here, I found a wonderful twist. It just happened that there is an Italian restaurant in Sydney called “Da Romeo”. It also just happens that his ‘amore’ is called Juliet who adores her Romeo and absolutely worships his food which she wolfs down at every chance. “Mama mia”, wails Romeo, “she’s a wonderful lady but she is so expensive to feed.” This prompts the obvious remark: “Romeowed what Julieate”.

Have a happy Valentine’s Day.

How do you write about a man whose passing brought forth obituaries in every publication in Thailand? A man whose passing brought hundreds to his funeral. A man whose passing caused tears to flow all over the world. A man who is remembered by thousands of people from all walks of life, and a man whose spirit is burned indelibly into the history of this city.

Louis Fassbind was called “Mr. Pattaya”. You do not get a name like this by doing nothing. Louis Fassbind believed so much in Pattaya that he promoted it as a tourist destination for over 25 years.

Louis Fassbind as most people remember him - jovial and benevolent - shown here at the Fassbind Medical Home within the Banglamung Old Peoples Home.

Certainly he was the Executive Vice-President of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort and had engineered the resort’s incredible growth in that time. But he did more than that. He was instrumental in so many Pattaya projects that his name became synonymous with the city itself. “Mr. Pattaya” was everywhere. When there was a problem that no-one seemed to know how to get over, he would say, “Let me handle it.” And he did, moving mountains when necessary. Using overseas friends if required. But he would accomplish the task, not for himself, but for Pattaya.

He was in service clubs like Rotary, he was in the Hospitality and Tourism organisations both local and overseas, he was a tireless representative for Pattaya. He earned the name “Mr. Pattaya”, he did not assume it for himself.

But there was another side of this man. A side that understood the problems associated with aging. A side that made him attempt to alleviate some of that pain. The Fassbind Medical Home within the Banglamung Old Peoples Home was his project. One that many people did not know that he financed himself. A project that was so dear to his heart that he even made provision for it in his will. No, the elderly will never forget their benefactor, Louis Fassbind.

And neither has the rest of Pattaya. This was shown by the hundreds of votes that came in for Louis Fassbind. He would have been flattered. Louis Fassbind has been judged by you, the people of Pattaya, to be one of the most influential people of Pattaya’s millennium.

He took the title of “Mr. Pattaya” with him when he died. It is unlikely that anyone in the future will wrest that away from his memory. RIP Alois X. Fassbind. You are not forgotten.