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Say it with flowers!
by Miss Terry Diner
The
Amari Orchid Resort had as a centrepiece the insignia of the Chaine des
Rotisseurs comprised of different coloured flowers. The resulting work of
art took one week to finish, but the result was spectacular.
The local Chaine des Rotisseurs gourmet dining group
went floral last weekend with a festive dinner titled “Flowers of the
World”. The concept was the result of the meeting between Marion Vogt,
the “Bailli” of the Bailliage of Pattaya (the correct name for the
Pattaya branch of this very ancient organization), and Stefan Heller, the
executive chef of the Amari Orchid Resort.
 The
local Chaine des Rotisseurs gourmet dining group went floral last weekend
with a festive dinner titled “Flowers of the World”.
The use of flowers in cooking is far more widespread
than most people would imagine, with the very common ingredient saffron
coming from flowers, and even banana flowers being a common menu item with
Thai food.
At the champagne reception were all the Pattaya food
lovers, including top restaurateurs and chefs such as Bruno Forrer
(Bruno’s), Hans Frei (Little Hill), Walter Thenisch (Royal Cliff Beach
Resort), Ib and Kannikar Ottesen (Captain’s Corner), Tony Coolen (PolTony’s)
and Pascal Schnyder (Casa Pascal). The hospitality industry was also well
in evidence, with Sutham Phan tusak (Woodlands Resort) and Ingo Rauber (Dusit
Resort) present, along with such notables as the past Chonburi governor
and election commissioner Yuwarat Kamolwej, and long term residents Hans-Joerg
Leser and Dietrich Sarx.
 Bailli
Marion Vogt presented the Amari’s executive chef Stefan Heller with
certificates of appreciation for a superb meal.
In keeping with the floral theme, the Amari Orchid
Resort had as a centrepiece the insignia of the Chaine des Rotisseurs
comprised of different coloured flowers. The resulting work of art took
one week to finish, but the result was spectacular. On the tables were
arrangements of white roses, and even the butter came in specially made
rosettes, rather than the more usual “curls”.
Marion Vogt, in her opening address to the packed Rim
Suan Ballroom, advised of a slight change to the dinner format, pointing
out that rather than the guests slipping furtively out between courses for
a cigarette, she had, on a trial basis, scheduled a “smoking break”
after the sorbet half way through the evening. A most practical approach
to a sensitive area which has always been regarded as a small problem of
etiquette. The smokers in the room were most appreciative of her
cognisance of their plight!
 (L
to R) Pascal Schnyder, Bruno Forrer and Walter Thenisch, three of the
finest men in the restaurant business in Pattaya.
Husband Michael Vogt, the GM of the Amari Orchid, was
the entertaining MC for the evening, who pointed out that, “Not everyone
is ready to put their garden on the dinner plate!” However, the
assembled gourmets had no fears, after he reported that dandelions were
first used in 140 BC, this being mentioned in the Old Testament, and
chrysanthemums were considered to be the flower of longevity.
The Pattaya Bailliage began their feast with a saut้ed
duck liver on a spring flowerbed with a light strawberry vinaigrette and
homemade brioche. The duck liver was served warm with the vinaigrette and
was a wonderful start to the floral evening. The wine chosen to go with
this was a Gewuerztraminer from Hugel & Sons 1999.
 Pattaya
Mail MD Peter Malhotra talks with Khun Yuwarat Kamolvej about the finer
points of fine dining.
The next course was a Stefan Heller special – a
pumpkin cream soup with a honey infusion served inside a scooped out baby
pumpkin. Visually attractive and a wonderfully smooth taste. It reminded
me of the iced papaya soup served in a hollowed out paw-paw, one of the
highlights of Stefan’s Amari Sunset Dinners, with the same concept being
applied.
The following course again showed the creative
abilities of this young chef with seafood grilled on a skewer of
lemongrass with saffron sauce and blue potatoes. By this stage the wine
was changed and we were given a Chardonnay Medrano 2000, from the Mendoza
Valley in Argentina. (With the plummeting exchange rate for the
Argentinean peso, there should be some cheap wines from this region
shortly.)
A sweet sorbet of rose flowers, served with a rose
liqueur was the palate freshener (and the signal for the smokers to
adjourn for their sanctioned break).
(L to
R) Jack and Kamala Heller, Elmarie and Bob Lee stand up for a moment to
chat and let the food settle before beginning the next course.
The next course was a roasted whole veal crown with
zucchini flower stuffed with chopped mushroom and a rosemary risotto. The
wine chosen to accompany this was a 1997 Longridge Bay View Cabernet
Sauvignon and Pinotage from South Africa, a fairly strong wine which the
Chaine members either loved or hated. For the latter, the two white wines
were served again.
To round out the evening was a plate with goat cheese
with a vinaigrette of oregano flowers, onion flowers and pepper, and then
finally a Grand Marnier cream with orange flowers, coffee/tea and
pralines.
It had been a sensational evening, and one which
brought lavish praise from the critical gourmets of Pattaya. As a culinary
“event” it was a novel start for 2002 for the Chaine des Rotisseurs,
and as a culinary experience it was superb and one which brought accolades
for both the Bailli Marion Vogt and the chef, Stefan Heller.
If you interested in becoming a member of the Chaine
des Rotisseurs, the best known gourmet group in the world with a history
that can be traced back to 1248 AD contact Marion Vogt through Massic
Travel, 038 426 240 or email [email protected]
Waste Management Siam opens ESBEC - first privately owned, environmentally friendly waste facility in Thailand
In the middle of last month, Waste Management Siam, the
Thai subsidiary of US-based Waste Management Inc., opened the Eastern
Seaboard Environmental Complex (ESBEC), the first privately owned,
environmentally friendly waste facility in Thailand.
Located on 75 rai of land in the Hemaraj Industrial
Estate, ESBEC’s services will cover the disposal of municipal waste,
commercial waste and non-hazardous industrial waste. It will also carry
out waste segregation, materials recovery, composting, leachate treatment,
landfill gas management, recycling and environmental monitoring.
 Edward
Corcoran (center), US Ambassador Darryl Johnson, Ms. Anchalee Chavanich
and other dignitaries launch the first privately owned, environmentally
friendly waste facility in Thailand.
Although the facility has been designed to be able to
treat hazardous waste, it will only accept non-hazardous waste from
factories.
The ESBEC is expected to accept 2,000 tons/day of waste
and has an operational life expectancy of 20 years.
Sutthida Fakum, public relations manger for Waste
Management Siam said that it took only ten months to build the facility,
but a lot longer to get local communities to warm to the idea. “We
started knocking on villagers’ doors in 1997. We made sure our site was
locally accepted and would not be a target of protests before we signed
any business deals,” she said.
 (L
to R) Santsak Ngampiches, advisor to the Minister of Science, Technology
and Environment; Ms. Anchalee Chavanich, governor of the Industrial Estate
Authority of Thailand, and United States Ambassador Darryl Johnson
presided over the grand opening of Eastern Seaboard Environmental Complex
(ESBEC).
Waste Management Siam set up a community development
fund to make sure the community has long-term development when the
landfill closes down.
Edward Corcoran, president and CEO of Waste Management
Siam, said that with the opening of the facility, the administration can
now begin to close down some of the illegal waste disposal sites in Rayong
and Chonburi provinces.
In the past, General Environmental Conservation (Genco),
the sole hazardous waste treatment provider, was the only legal
alternative for industrial waste. But their services are costly, and many
factories turned to using illegal dumps in the Eastern Seaboard area.
Protests over one of these sites, Pluak Daeng, have
featured often in the Pattaya Mail.
Edward
Corcoran (center), president and CEO of Waste Management Siam, explains
the workings of the new project over a built-to-scale model of the ESBEC.
Thai-German Institute announces new industrial efficiency improvement program for technicians
Chakrapong Akkaranant
TGI directors Walter Kretschmar and Narong Ratana
announced the Thai-German Institute has begun a new training program to
increase proficiency among industrial technicians.
 German
director of the Thai German Institute Walter Kretschmar
The new government supported training program is part
of a larger program designed to help stimulate the economy. This is being
achieved by providing higher quality skills demanded by employers in the
industrial trade, with the ultimate aim of increasing business
productivity.
 Thai
director of the Thai German Institute Narong Ratana
Technical training areas include electrical control
system maintenance, servicing and maintaining machinery, computerized
machine design, tool and die casting CNC, production quality control,
computerized production aid (CAD/CAM), plastic mould design, and other
related subject areas.
 Automation
technology is part of the program at the Thai German Institute.
The training costs are completely covered by the
combined cooperation of the Thai and German governments. Qualified
instructors use modern equipment during the course of training. The ISO
9002 certified training material was previously presented in Italy and
received high acclaim from the World Bank who applauded the independent
institutes’ exceptional organization along international standards.
Industrial businesses and the private sector are
invited to apply for the training. For more information contact the
Thai-German Institute at 700/1, Moo 1, Amata Industrial Estates, Bangna -
Trat Highway (at KM 57), Khlong Tamru Sub-district, Chonburi 20000, tel.
038215033-44 ext 1605, 1607, or fax 038743433, 038743466, or see the
firm’s website: http://www.tgi.or.th.
The
Thai German Institute at the Amata Industrial Estates, Bangna - Trat
Highway (at KM 57), in Khlong Tamru Sub-district, Chonburi.
PolTony’s Mini Golf Tournament raises over 150,000 baht for HeartT2000
Assisting treatment of HIV and AIDS in Thailand
A sponsored mini-golf tournament at PolTony’s
Restaurant and Mini-golf raised over 150,000 baht recently, giving a
healthy boost to HeartT2000 (Help Ensure Aids Rescue Together in
Thailand).
The event included a 2-day mini golf competition
followed a charity buffet style dinner at PolTony’s.
 (L
to R) Dr. Jureerat Bowonwatnuwong of Chonburi Regional Public Hospital,
Dr. Philippe Seur and Peter B, one of the organizers of the event and a
close friend of Dr. Seur.
Organizers of the event were extremely pleased to see
the amount of support given by the Pattaya Gay Festival Committee and the
local business community to raise funds for this worthy cause.
Most of the money was raised through cash donations,
but a good amount was also raised through a raffle with the grand prize
being a vacation to any number of 4 to 5 star resorts around the world,
donated by the Horseshoe Point Resort and Country Club. The crowd cheered
when Dr. Seur, founder of HeartT2000, won the grand prize, as obviously
there was no one more deserving than the good doctor. Coincidently, Dr.
Seur was also to celebrate his birthday later in the week.
In all, 152,000 baht was raised for HIV and AIDS
treatment.
HeartT2000 is a project of Dr. Philippe Seur, whose
life changed forever in 1998 when he was approached by an acquaintance who
had a Thai friend infected with HIV. The friend was suffering from the
first stages of AIDS and the opportunistic diseases that come with the
condition. Dr. Seur treated him free of charge, for the patient was unable
to afford hospital treatment. This was to be the turning point and as word
spread patients from around the country began seeking treatment for their
condition.
Since then, Dr. Seur has dedicated his work to treating
HIV and AIDS infected people. He works closely with Dr. Jureerat
Bowonwatnuwong of Chonburi Regional Public Hospital. Together they now
treat up to 900 people per month in the outpatients ward and an additional
120 that must be hospitalized.
Treatment is expensive, however, costing between 1,500
to 30,000 baht per month. “The patients are treated on a case by case
basis, as everyone is different,” said Dr Seur. The cost is born by
HeartT2000, as most of the patients are unable to afford regular medical
care.
The disease still very much has a stigma; local
communities often ostracize people with HIV, and they often die a social
and emotional death long before the physical one. This is changing with
education in Thailand, albeit quite slowly.
Prevention of disease transmission is now the group’s
current focus. The majority of cases are sexually transmitted, followed by
intravenous drug users and the remaining numbers are generally children
born with the disease.
Dr Seur used this analogy, “It’s like a race, and
everybody must network and spread the message of prevention faster than
the disease is transmitted. If we are too slow then HIV will win. It is an
important factor for survival that we, as people, must act faster than the
disease. Otherwise the winner is... It is everybody choice; make sure
it’s the right one!”
Royal Cliff Beach Resort to host “A Night at the Opera”
Royal Cliff Beach Resort in association with D&M
Music Studio, Pattaya Mail and the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya, proudly
present a gala dinner concert titled “A Night at the Opera” on
Wednesday, March 13th, 2002 at 7 p.m. in the grand
ballroom of the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel Pattaya (please see ad on page 9).
The evening will feature a troupe of Korean opera
singers, members of the National Opera Company in Korea; namely Bae Ki-nam
(soprano), Jin Kwi-ok (soprano), Kim Un-jiu (soprano), Yu Heui-up
(mezzo-soprano), Lyu Jae-gwang (tenor), Kim Hong-tae (tenor), Park Soo-kil
(baritone), Kim Bum-jin (baritone), Lim Hae-chul (bass) and Park
Seon-jeong (pianist).
The audience will be treated to the most popular operas
and worldwide acclaimed selections from “The Magic Flute”, Samson et
Dalila”, “Don Giovani”, “Tosca”, “The Barber of Seville”,
“Don Carlo”, “Il Trovatore” and excerpts from “La Traviata”.
The ticket is priced at 1,200 baht (for a five course
set dinner). Advance bookings are available by calling the hotel at tel.
(038) 250 421-40.
TAT to host “Pattaya Music Festival” March 21
Part of TAT “Touring Thailand Every Month” Program
A free concert has been organized by the Tourist
Authority of Thailand in conjunction with the Grammy Music Company
scheduled on March 21 starting at 3.00 p.m.
The planning committee, chaired by deputy mayor Nirand
Watanasadsathorn met recently to discuss the location, which has yet to be
confirmed. Locations under consideration are across from the Nova Lodge on
Beach Road, the temporary boxing arena on North Pattaya Road, and the
vacant area behind the city health center on Soi 6 off of 2nd Road.
The free concert is part of the Thais Tour Thai concept
drafted by the TAT with the objective of attracting more people around the
country to visit events occurring in Thailand each and every month.
The concert on March 21 is called the “Pattaya Music
Festival” featuring top bands. It will start off in the daytime with
“bop and dance” bands including “Am” - “China Dolls” -
“Tui” - “Moss”, and later in the night “Loso”, “Y not 7”
and more.
Pattaya just gets better and better
by Bruce Eggleton
There have been many changes in Pattaya over the last
sixteen years since I first visited. Even in 1986 it was suffering the
effects of maintaining its infrastructure whilst catering for its growing
population.
On many occasions I thought about living here
especially after getting back to the UK in winter but certain things put
me off.
No not the smelly drains or pollution in town caused by
diesel when your eyes sting all the next day. Missing home comforts were
my main concerns and why I had not moved here before. Everyone’s idea of
what they can or cannot live without is different but for me these were
the important things.
Foremost was “The Box”. Of course TV’s were
available but then the stations showed old films, cartoons and bits of
news so was only worth watching in the height of the monsoon season.
Has that problem been solved? You bet, and we now have
most of the important English language channels that I watch at home. Lots
of films showing even ahead of the UK, The Discovery, National Geographic
and Animal Channels along with general entertainment. The BBC and CNN for
up to the minute news every hour and many sports channels with live events
from around the world. Last year my son stayed in a Jomtien hotel and
picking him up one evening I was surprised to find the seats in the lobby
set out in rows facing a large projector screen. The dozen or so tourists
watching were outnumbered ten to one by Thai Liverpool or Man United fans.
The commentary was in English but they followed the game with lots of
shouts and arm waving so it might be fair to say that the locals enjoy
this new amenity as well.
Food had to be at the very top of my wish list. Yes you
could get food, even then, but although I enjoy the odd Thai meal, no pun
intended, my favourite delicacies were not on the menu. Being a meat and
two veg man totally reliant then on hotels and restaurants, my choice was
small. I tended in those days to eat at either The Shamrock Bar or a year
later The Sportsman, who both did a good breakfast and still do. Everyone,
however, was restricted by a severe lack of western produce. Shop sausages
were awful and the bacon was skinny slices of rubbery streaky. At least
marmalade was here but the bread available was little improved by a
toaster. To my taste, the bread then was little better than cardboard and
although now improved many hundred percent the main bakeries still in my
opinion have a little way to go. Even this problem is now surmountable and
a trip to The Dusit Hotel bakery will get you bread to equal some of the
best in the world. We go there once a week for their crusty French sticks
that go well in the freezer and come out tasting like they have been baked
that day. I know of other specialist bakers as good but I am not telling
you where they are lest I find the shelves as empty as Dusit’s might be
next time we visit.
So bread and breakfast problem now solved with rashers
of prime back bacon along with sausages sometimes as good as home to be
found. Restaurants that serve excellent breakfasts have multiplied ten
fold and most serve a very passable roast dinner complete with Yorkshire
pudding, and stuffing to boot. The Yorkies can be massive but I find they
are sometimes served cold which is a bit strange in my book. All that
followed by apple pie, custard and vanilla ice cream is my idea of heaven.
Who would have thought fifteen years ago that I would be sitting in an
Irish pub having a pint of Guinness with my traditional Sunday roast
whilst watching Man United, but now you can at Shenanigans.
All that is OK for a tourist but when you live here the
old saying, “man can not live by French sticks alone” hits close to
home. Our final decision to move here resulted from a three month stay
when we rented a condo in Oct 2000. This was our first experience of
self-catering and I must admit it took a while to find all the places that
there are to buy the food that we needed for my home comfort.
Some things like decent tea bags we brought with us, as
they are still surprisingly impossible to get here. Ask any ex-pat to make
you a cuppa and chances are all he has is the ones in the little yellow
bags. Personally I would rather drink dishwater. His private stocks
supplied by friends from overseas are locked in the safe only coming out
when no one is looking. Come on Tesco’s we need teabags. Assam would be
nice but PG Tips will do.
Now there is an interesting addition to Pattaya
shopping. I could hardly believe it when we saw the sign for Lotus/Tesco
and taking our life in our hands crossed the Sukhumvit central reservation
to their car park. The store is much larger than our one at home selling
just about everything. The food selection still lacked many brand names
that we wanted, so back in the UK and before moving to Thailand I
contacted Tesco’s head office in Scotland and asked them to consider
increasing their range to include things like Branston Pickle and Silk Cut
Ultra which are ten times milder than any cigarette in Thailand and my way
of convincing myself that I have nearly given up the evil habit.
Their manager in Thailand is also a Brit who replied
direct telling me that the things on my list were on his list and his
wife’s also. He told me that it had taken many months to get agreement
from the authorities for the last dozen or so new items he had imported
and it could be a while yet before many other things he wanted to import
are available. It seems partly that the reason that many European products
are not available in the shops is because of regulations, but he promised
me he was on the case.
We now tend to shop at Foodland on Central, which has
most of the things that we need and a good bakery. My English girlfriend
loves their Sunflower bread, and wine, although expensive by European
standards due to the high import duties, is pretty fair. We also have
outings to Big C, Tesco’s and Tops looking for new ex-pat lines that
appear out of nowhere.
“Eureka,” my girlfriend shouted one day whilst in
Foodland, excitedly holding up a packet of sage and onion stuffing.
Another first for Thailand and it turned out to be palatable but not quite
as good as Paxo back home.
Back home - what am I saying? This is home now.
Then we discovered Pattaya’s “hidden link”. We
had driven many times down South Road and past that oriental looking
building on the left, decorated with gold paint, and assumed it to be a
temple. We only stopped there to look at Decorum, a furniture shop sighted
on the same car park, and seeing a constant flow of shoppers realised that
the place was actually the Friendship supermarket. We now shop there for
things like frozen soft fruit from Europe and great ice cream as well as
frozen pastry and pies that are really good.
Then one day I spotted the ultimate luxury. There
sitting on a shelf so high were six of them lined up like soldiers and the
front one had Crosse and Blackwell emblazoned proudly on the bottle. Yes,
I had discovered my Branston Pickle and not the Chilli one I may add. I
took all six bottles, mindless of the 180 baht price tag, and after hiding
them in my trolley I arranged them so they were far apart at the checkout
desk. The checkout girl spotted my deception and put them all together
before scanning one times by six. I stood there guiltily, knowing I had
deprived the rest of the ex-pat community of a great culinary moment to be
shared with a lump of cheddar, pickled onion and a Dusit French stick. I
need not have bothered as a week later the shelf was full again and I have
now gone off Branston with four full jars still in the cupboard.
So Thailand is changing and it’s more fun going
shopping here than at home where we knew what we would buy in advance. You
never know, next week, we might find a jar of Marmite or even a box of P.G.
Tips.
Now where have they hidden Sainsbury’s?
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