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Seven Rotary
Presidents installed at joint ceremony
Rotary Club members from Sriracha, Ban Beung, Phanat
Nikhom, Bangsaen, Laem Chabang, Pattaya and Chonburi celebrated the
installations of new presidents and administrative officers of all seven
clubs respectively on the evening of June 23rd at the Srivara conference
room on the 2nd floor of the Pattaya Town in Town Hotel. Guests of honor
included the Banglamung district chief Vichien Chawalit and Pattaya mayor
Pairat Suttithamrongsawat.
 Pres.
Yupin Sutamano
R.C. of Chonburi
After the ceremonial opening, Rotary Club District 3340
Governor Premprecha Dibbayawan welcomed the guests and congratulated the new
administrative officers, who were about to assume official duties beginning
July 1.
Premprecha praised the new officers and commended the
former officers, saying each has sincere dedication and provides help to
society whether at the district or local level, achieving the desired goals
with no regard for personal gratification. Recapping the establishment of
the first Rotary Club in Chicago in 1905, and the eventual establishment of
Rotary Clubs in Thailand, the district governor applauded the upstanding
moral integrity of the members of the International Rotarians around the
world.
The Rotary Club of Pattaya was chartered in 1972, and now
has 21 members meeting every Monday evening at 7.00 at the Town in Town
Hotel. New members are welcome; for more information call (038) 426350-1,
426352-4, or the local address is P.O. Box 100, Pattaya, Chonburi 20260.
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Pres.
Tawachai Somakasetrin
R.C. of Laem Chabang |
Pres. Kamnod Sophonwasu
R.C. of Pattaya |
Pres.
Pornchit Sophonpaisan
R.C. of Phanat Nikhom |
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Pres.
Manop Somneuk
R.C. of Bangsaen |
Pres.
Wilawal Aphichartwarapong
R.C. of Sriracha |
Pres.
Prayod Antathorn R.C. of Ban Bueng |
Alvi Sinthuvanik takes
over Rotary Club of Jomtien - Pattaya
A star-studded evening for members of the
community
 Tony
and Vikrom Malhotra carry the portrait of His Majesty the King into the
Grand Ballroom.
Rotarians and guests were entertained with a spectacular
light and sound show at the Grand Ballroom of the Royal Cliff Grand on the
occasion of the installation of Alvi Sinthuvanik as the president of the
Jomtien-Pattaya Rotary Club for Rotary year 2001-2002.
The high regard that the community has for Alvi was shown
in the attendance of such notable dignitaries as H.E. Sonthaya Khunpleum,
the Minister for Science, Technology and Environment; Vichien Chawalit, the
Banglamung District Chief; Chanyut Hengtrakul, Advisor to the Minister for
Science, Technology and Environment, Surat Mekavarakul, the president of the
Pattaya Business and Tourism Association; Mrs Sopin Thappajug, the Associate
Judge from the Chonburi Children’s Court, as well as Rotarians from all
over the Rotary International District 3340.
 H.E.
Sonthaya Khunpleum, the Minister for Science, Technology and Environment
delivers his keynote address.
Having a Thai lady installed as the president of the
English speaking Jomtien-Pattaya Rotary produced a very strong “Thai”
theme for the installation night, commencing with Achan Jumpot
Muangkling’s wonderful musical renditions on the uniquely Thai Bamboolin
(a violin styled instrument made from hollow bamboo).
As president Alvi’s family came from the south of
Thailand, the next item was a southern dance in her honour, called the “Patey”,
which was performed by Pattaya School Number 3 schoolgirls.
 Alvi,
you are the champion.
Again, as President Alvi is well known for her
championing of the cause of youth development in this country, the next
entertainment item was provided by the children from Pattaya School Number 7
performing the Kheta Muay Thai, a dance/exercise routine using the stylised
movements from classical Muay Thai boxing. This was followed by a dance
called the Somtam, performed to the musical composition written by HRH
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.
 President
Alvi is all smiles as she introduces her board of directors.
To the strains of the Star Wars theme, outgoing president
Erika Keller thanked her club and presented tokens of appreciation to them,
and a special commendation from outgoing Rotary International president
Frank Devlyn to honorary member Gerard Lemmers of the Ge Laurant Foundation.
Another from the Ge Laurant Foundation, Ruud de Vos was also inducted into
the Rotary Club as an honorary member. Finally, one of the supreme awards in
Rotary is the granting of a Paul Harris Fellow (in honour of the founder of
Rotary, Paul Harris) and this year that was given to past president Dennis
Stark for his many years of service to the local community.
 Achan
Jumpot Muangkling’s wonderful musical renditions on the uniquely Thai
Bamboolin
Then it was time for the outgoing district governor,
Premprecha Dibbayawan to install Alvi as the new president, who in turn
introduced her new board to help her run the club. As one of her first
duties she bestowed honorary membership to Wannapa Wannasri, a very well
known community worker, who was also co-emcee with past president Peter
Malhotra.
It had been a star studded evening, an evening that
reminded local Rotarians that they are indeed part of Thailand, and can
rejoice in that fact.
The Pattaya Mail adds its best wishes to those of
everyone on the installation night - congratulations, President Alvi
Sinthuvanik.
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| H.E.
Sonthaya Khunpluem with President Alvi Sinthuvanik and her board of
directors. |
A
bewildered Wannapa cuts her birthday cake cheered on by close friends. |
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Premprecha presents the “Most Outstanding Person of the Year”
award to Khun Sumalee Mak-udsa. Her dedication and hard work as a
teacher throughout the years has earned her the title of “Teacher of
teachers” |
President
Alvi’s first duty was to induct Khun Wannapa Wannasri as an Honorary
member of the Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya. |
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| Alvi
flanked by Jirarat and her daughter Nong Ob |
(l-r)
Sopin Tappajug Associate Judge of the Chonburi Juvenile Court, Vichien
Chawalit, Banglamung District Chief and Chanyudh Hengtrakul, advisor
to the Minister of Sceince, Technology and Environment. |
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| Past
President Dennis Stark receives his Paul Harris Fellow from D.G.
Premprecha Dibbayawan |
DG
Prem presents Gerard Lemmers of the Ge Laurant Foundation with his
R.I. commendation. |
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Pretty
faces all in a row. |
Khru
Oi with her talented dance troupe |
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Children of Pattaya School
Number 7
perform the Kheeta Muay Thai Dance.
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Buddhist and Christian
Friendship - A New world Vision
Business persons, educators and others seeking deeper
spiritual connection for effective daily living are invited to a one-day
meditation seminar, “Buddhist and Christian Friendship: A New World
Vision”, Thursday July 12 from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Father Laurence Freeman, a Roman Catholic priest whose
UK-based World Community for Christian Meditation has organized
Buddhist-Christian dialogues with HH the Dalai Lama three times in the past
10 years, will speak and demonstrate traditional Christian disciplines
centered on prayer and meditation.
Spiritual disciplines are not meant for religious
professionals only, according to Fr. Laurence, but for laypersons in any
spiritual community.
The event will be at the Student Christian Center, 328
Phya Thai Road (between Asia Hotel and the Elephant Head Bridge). Suggested
donation of 250 baht includes lunch. For details contact Emile Ketudat, tel.
271-3295, fax 271-2632 or Lance Woodruff at [email protected]
Who was Saint George?
by Suchard Krephitmai
You can’t write about Dragons without mentioning Saint
George, a well-known figure to those of us who are interested in legends.
The problem is the life of Saint George is told through
so many sources, one of them being the Acta Sancti Georgii (Acts of Saint
George) written at a very early date and outlawed by Pope Gelasius in AD
496. There was also the set of Acts written by the Greeks, which were
slightly more accurate and quoted by Saint Andrew of Crete.
 St
George
These mention his prowess in battle and bravery -
fighting dragons in ways that make it very difficult to distinguish fact
from fiction. We do know that he was born in Cappadocia of noble, Christian
parents and on the death of his father, accompanied his mother to Palestine,
her country of origin, where she had land and George was to run the estate.
He was martyred at Lydda in Palestine (Nicomedia). He was a tribune (which
possibly equates to colonel) in the Roman army during the reign of the
Emperor Diocletian (245-313).
From about 302 Dioclesian started persecuting the
Christians. George put aside his office and complained personally to the
Emperor of the harshness of his decrees and the dreadful purges of
Christians. For this he was thrown into prison and tortured. He would not
recant his faith, however, and he was dragged through the streets and
beheaded. It is uncertain whether he also tore down the Emperor’s decrees
as they were posted in Nicomedia. The Emperor’s wife, Alexandria was so
impressed at the Saint’s courage that she became a Christian and was also
put to death for her trouble.
One of legends concerning Saint George is the famous
dragon story, with which he is invariably portrayed. According to legend, a
dragon was terrorizing a pagan town in Libya. The locals kept throwing sheep
to it to placate it, and when it still remained unsatisfied, they resorted
to throwing it the odd citizen from the town. Finally the local princess was
to be thrown to the beast as a last resort, but Good Saint George came
along, slaughtered the dragon and rescued the fair princess. This made the
whole village convert to Christianity (a bad mistake at that time). The
origin of the legend came from the way in which the Greek Church honoured
George. They venerated him as a soldier saint and told many stories of his
bravery and protection in battle. The western Christians got together with
the Byzantine Christians during the Crusades and elaborated and
misinterpreted the Greek traditions and devised their own version. Which is
how we got the story we know today of Saint George and the Dragon dating
back to the troubadours of the 14th century.
The reason for his being adopted as the Saint of Battles
was partly because he was a soldier, but also because he is said to have
appeared to the Christian army before the Battle of Antioch. It is also said
that he appeared to the English King Richard I (the Lionheart) during his
Crusade against the Saracens, which served as a great encouragement to the
troops.
The cult of Saint George goes back a long way - certainly
to the 4th century. He became the English Patron Saint in 14th Century and
he became associated with the Order of the Garter. He is the Patron Saint of
Moscow in Russia and held in esteem by many other countries.
Visa runs - with
confidence
Pattaya certainly has a plethora of visa run services
these days. With many of the expat community needing to renew visas every
three months, the visa run services have sprung up to fill an obvious need;
however, there are some differences between them all.
One of the most usual areas of comparison for the average
border crosser is merely what time the service leaves Pattaya and what time
do you get home. While this may seem to be important, it is not necessarily
the most crucial factor. Of much more significance is the guarantee of
coming back with the required visa - more than once border crossers have
been stranded on the wrong side of the border!
When selecting your visa run service, it should be
ascertained that the service knows all the angles, understands the paperwork
and has the necessary “connections”. It is also important that your
service understands your language, yet at the same time can exactly
communicate your requirements to the Thai authorities, especially if there
are any problematical areas like overstays, for example.
One of the newer groups carrying out this work is Pattaya
Visa Service, operating from within the Pattaya Driving Range complex on
Pattaya 3rd Road. Whilst the company may be new, the staff behind it are not
new to the business and importantly - are well connected. The manager, Khun
Rang, says that with their collective experience you can be assured that you
will be given the correct legal advice to make the acquisition of the
appropriate visa a hassle-free occurrence, even for some of the more
difficult passport holders such as those from some of the former Eastern
Bloc countries.
Pattaya Visa Services also makes your visa run fully
escorted with personnel to meet and greet on the Cambodian side at
Aranyaprathet or Phnom Penh. VIP minibus runs are every day, commencing at 7
a.m. at the Pattaya Driving Range, or you can have hotel or residential
pick-up and delivery service. You can contact them on 370 462.
Give Rang a ring and you won’t go wrong!
Thai students say thank
you to U.S. Sailors
by JO1 Joseph Krypel
Seabees worked side by side with Thai Marines here to
make the lives of students and villagers a little better.
Not only did Sailors from Naval Mobile Construction
Battalion One, out of Gulfport, Miss., accomplish its mission, they went the
extra mile, building extra structures and making enhancements at the Bah
Koah Buy Sri School.
 Taking
a break to sing with the kids
“They are very honorable to build us this new building.
I think it will be great for me to learn and play. Thank you,” said
6-year-old student Nookul Taddee.
An American five-man team arrived at the school at the
end of May to meet with their Thai counterparts. Together, they mapped out
what 25 U.S. Seabees and 15 Thai Marines would accomplish during the annual
Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise.
CARAT is the Navy’s premier bilateral exercise in the
Western Pacific. It aims to enhance regional cooperation. In addition to
operational exercises that refine navigation and seamanship skills,
community outreach programs like the Seabees’ project round out the CARAT
plan.
“Our primary function as an advanced party was to
access the location and begin work on a new 25-by-75 multipurpose structure
for the school,” said project leader BU1 (SCW) Blane F. Meadows.
“Not only did we complete the structure early, but we
used leftover supplies and funds to move on to a couple of other projects
the school needed done.”
With one project down, the combined construction team
took on two more: a new three-toilet facility - complete with a water tank
and pump - and a 12-by-50 covered parking area. The school will share the
parking lot with residents of a local village.
“This accomplishment not only provides better education
facilities for our students - but a great boost to our school and village
alike,” said Getsara Pouknang, principal at Bah Soah Buy Sri.
The primary school has almost 300 students; some of them
are in the special education program. Children from pre-kindergarten to the
U.S. equivalent of the eighth grade attend there. Ages range from 3 - 12.
An official ceremony turning the completed projects over
to the school’s administrators took place June 27, near the end of CARAT
Thailand.
U.S. Sailors and Marines taking part in CARAT will work
with their counterparts in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia
and Brunei as well.
Updated every Friday
Copyright 2001 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand
Tel. 66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax: 66-38 427 596
Updated by
Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.
E-Mail: [email protected]
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The Rotary Club
of Jomtien-Pattaya
Skal
International
Pattaya
Fun City
By The Sea
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