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Shenanigans doors blown off
Miss Terry Diner
Last Friday night, Shenanigans blew the doors off with
the rockfest to end all rockfests, as the Bangkok based Bastards and
Pattaya’s Pop and the Allstars had a double recording night in the popular
Irish pub.
 The
Bastards (Keith Goodburn, guitar and vocals; Alf Hodges, guitar and vocals;
Khun Prik, bass and vocals and Nigel Pike on drums and vocals) blew the
doors off Shenanigans.
The Bastards (Keith Goodburn, guitar and vocals; Alf
Hodges, guitar and vocals; Khun Prik, bass and vocals and Nigel Pike on
drums and vocals) can always be relied upon to crank up the volume, and
started their recording set with The Who’s My Generation. At the end of
the number, Alf was heard complaining he couldn’t hear himself play, but
the audience could and were clamoring for more.
In response the group played the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy,
at a volume that even Johnny Rotten would have been proud of. Next up was
Pantip, a great Thai number, with Khun Prik on bass letting it all hang out!
The Bastards are also one of the few groups in this
country penning original numbers, and these included tracks called Mobile
Phone Girl, Go Ask Alice and Jump. They finished their CD with Led
Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love and then drummer Nigel Pike’s rendition of
the Frank Sinatra My Way, but done as per Sid Vicious! Memorable music!
The recording night continued after midnight with the
well known locals Pop and the Allstars, joined by Harpic, who had the
audience really rocking on the dance floor, and Phill Dunn in his first
appearance.
The two CD’s will be released on June 18th at
Shenanigans, but landlord Kim Fletcher assured me that at 2.30 in the
morning, after four hours of frenetic music, they both sounded great!
The CD’s will be available for 300 baht each, or 500 baht for both.
Rock music fanatics will be well pleased with the music. Mott the Dog will
be reviewing the CD’s later.
Pattaya Sport Club promotes school’s sporting activities
Suchada Tupchai
The Pattaya Sport Club has donated equipment valued at
25,000 baht - including rattan balls and nets, petong instruments, footballs
and stopwatches - to Bann Mabprachan School.
Bernie
Tuppin (back row, center), Pattaya Sport Club charity chairman, Nawasu
Poopaijitkul (back row, 2nd left), director of the Sriracha Education
Department, and friends gather with teachers and students from Bann
Mabprachan School.
The club’s charity chairman, Bernie Tuppin, made the
presentation to Prasert Klinhuamhuan, the school’s director, on May 19.
Teachers said this was good news for the students, as the
equipment would be used in physical education and to encourage the children
to take part in sport activities.
The PSC has contributed to the school in other ways as well, providing a
building that can be used as a computer room, library and a place for
organizing many activities.
PILC and RLC to support 18 workshops for 800 children at risk
Location: the Remand Centre in Rayong
and the Huay Pong institution
Helle Rants้n
Welfare chairperson for PILC and RLC
On May 13 the first 4 workshops took place at the Huay
Pong Institution. I kept my fingers crossed, and it turned out a success. I
sat in on the girl’s workshop and could not help noticing the way the
nurse tried to make the girls relax before she started the actual workshop.
We wanted the children to feel they could ask anything they wanted and that
they were being taken seriously.
On May
13 the first 4 of 18 PILC and RLC sponsored support workshops for 800
children at risk took place at the Huay Pong Institution.
Being a child at risk means being very alone, without any
real help from a supporting family.
Before moving or being placed by the court/police in a
institution the child might have lived on the street or together with a
family member/caretaker who had been abusive to the child in either a sexual
or/and psychical way.
The child can also be at risk because the
caretaker/family is so poor that they can not provide for the very basic
needs, like food, clothing or a roof over their heads.
When the child arrives at the institution one of the
child’s problems can be that the child knows very little about general
health care - how to keep clean and where. How to brush their teeth - what
diet to eat and so on. They might not know because nobody has been able to
teach or show them.
Workshops about these subjects (among others) provide the
children with self-esteem, self-confidence and a sense of responsibility.
For the older children sexual education is needed. Quite
a few of the girls become pregnant very early (14-17 years old); every year
there are 300,000 illegal abortions in this age group.
Education about HIV/ADIS is also needed, simply because
it is must better to prevent teenagers from catching HIV than to try and
keep them alive though medication if they become HIV positive.
Why is this not taught to the children by the staff in
the institutions?
At each of the institutions the number of children is
large. There is not enough staff. Some work 24 hours and are off 24 hours -
and take care of a large group of children with a lot of very different
problems.
The staff working at each place very often does not have
proper training to work with trouble children. The salary is very low -
there is no prestige in working in these institutions.
There is neither time nor energy to take care of these
issues. It is not like living in a caring family - this is an institution.
The PILC and the RLC would like to educate the children
about general health care and sexual education by organising 2 workshops per
child per year. An additional 18 workshops will follow later in the year.
A female nurse from Bangkok Pattaya Hospital conducts the workshops.
PM concedes EGAT needs to raise power bills
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra conceded electricity
bills need to be adjusted to a change of power costs and fuel tariffs (FT)
no matter whether the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT)
would be privatized or not.
He said EGAT’s plan to raise power bills to match the
FT increase should be considered a normal matter. The public should realize
the power bill rise had nothing to do with the privatization of EGAT.
Rather, it depends on the change of energy costs and the weakening of baht.
“Many people say power bills will increase if EGAT is
privatized. Actually, it is totally separated. Whether the bills will
increase relies mainly on the FT change, which is regularly made every three
months, as well as the weakening of the local currency,” he said.
Asked how the government has prepared to cope with the
expected rise in product prices, the premier said, “We won’t allow
producers to raise product prices if their costs edge up marginally. But if
the costs rise sharply, we need to allow them to increase product prices.”
Thaksin said the government could not ask EGAT to refrain
from increasing power bills because the authority has debt burdens. What it
could do was to closely monitor product prices to ensure fairness to
consumers. He reiterated local prices of retail fuel would not increase for
the moment although oil prices in the world market continued to rise.
However, how long the government could cap local fuel prices at the current
level depends on many factors including the sufficiency of money used by the
State Oil Fund to subsidize the oil prices. (TNA)
Neramit Garden Home Pattaya - a fusion of traditional concepts and modern design
Baan Suan Neramit Pattaya, or Neramit Garden Home, is the
latest housing project in Jomtien. Situated 900 meters from Sukhumvit Road
in the middle of Soi Chaiyapruek 2, the project boasts modern Thai Style
homes and amenities set in natural surroundings.
The Neramit Garden Home is only minutes away from Jomtien
Beach, schools, hospitals and shopping facilities.
 Neramit
Garden Home Pattaya
The landscaped surroundings radiate peace and intimacy,
interspersed between the 12-meter wide entrance road and 9 meter wide sois
for added spaciousness.
All homes will include the MATV-system, which broadcasts
22 channels, and are completely fitted out with quality electrics, water
storage and disposal systems. Residents can enjoy the communal swimming
pool, public gardens and the jogging path.
Neramit Garden Home also has 24-hour security with guards
and electronic surveillance cameras to ensure security and safety for
residents.
These houses are a must see and plots are moving fast
since opening in February this year. Don’t miss the opportunity to own a
house at such a remarkable project.
Prices start from 1.58 million baht and include all
facilities the project has to offer.
Reservations can be made at both the Carrefour booth,
located on the second floor or at the site sales office in Soi Chaiyapruek
2.
To make it easier for foreigners, representatives of this
project can help process necessary finance packages with lending
institutions.
Visit the display house, before you make a life long decision. For
further information call 01 403 7885, 038 232 207 or email:
[email protected]
Jumpin’ at the
Jomtien Boathouse
Miss Terry Diner
Doc Houlind and his seven piece Dixieland Jazz Band (that
was only six as Banjo Bjarne was recovering in hospital after a bad attack
of the Syrian shivers) had the crowd at the Jomtien Boathouse tapping their
feet, clapping their hands and asking for more last Tuesday night.
Doc
Houlind and his Dixieland Jazz Band had the crowd at the Jomtien Boathouse
tapping their feet, clapping their hands and asking for more.
Doc Houlind (he is a Doctor of Philosophy), who seems to
have a limitless supply of energy, even if not a limitless supply of hair
(other than the sideburns), led the group through all the Dixieland
favourites, old and new, on trumpet and vocals. On his last trips to
Thailand, he was on percussion, but said this time, “I like the trumpet.
Anyway I’m a lousy drummer!” “New” drummer Uffe Dalsgaard showed
that by contrast, he liked the drums, and was probably a lousy trumpet
player.
Making up for Doc Houlind’s lack of tonsorial splendour
was Mike Owen from the UK on the trombone. Mike is making “hirsute” into
an art form, though someone did refer to his splendid foliage as a “hair
suit”!
The rest of the group tended towards the Houlind
hairstyle, possibly because most had seen several summers, but those were
several summers of practice for the annual ‘Big Gig’ at Ib and Kannikar
Ottesen’s Jomtien Boathouse - undoubtedly the ‘jumpin’est joint in
Jomtien!
All the Dixie enthusiasts were evident like Graeme and
Sam Moore and the “Admiral” himself, Bent Laasholdt (seen hiding in the
back corner), as well as other musicians who just appreciate people making
music, such as Rick and Harpic and Vicky, all sometime musicians with Pop
and the Allstars, the top Pattaya performers.
Others came along just to see what Dixie was all about,
and why it has lasted so long as a musical art form. These included the
Pattaya Mail’s yachting man, Peter Cummins (with people wondering just how
he has lasted so long as well), Pat Burbridge and former Rotary President
Alvi Sinthuvanik, Mio Aamlid, Graham Macdonald and May Nointara, complete
with pirate’s headscarf.
Another great fun night with Ib and Kannikar, who understand there is
more to the restaurant business than food, no matter how good it is! We look
forward to seeing Doc Houlind’s head of hair next year!
Royal Cliff Wine Club presents another splendid Australian wine maker’s gala dinner
Royal Cliff Wine Club will hold another exciting wine
dinner on June 5 in their Grand Ballroom featuring top notch wines from the
seemingly mythical Yering Station winery.
Wine connoisseur and international wine authority David
Andrews of Yering Station will fly in to present these award wining wines as
the guest speaker.
The Yarrabank Thibaut & Gillet Cuvee, 1998 sparkling
wine for reception - borne of the traditional method Champegnoise, and
praised by respected wine critic James Halliday as “a delicacy unmatched
by any other Australian sparkling wine...” is only a “moderate
achiever” compared to the other four wines which will be served during
this exclusive dinner.
Another glorious six-course menu from executive chef
Walter Thenisch and his team of culinary specialists will be meticulously
matched with five varieties of fabulous wines selected by the wine guru and
president of the wine club, Ranjith Chandrasiri in order to maintain the
world class reputation that the Royal Cliff Wine Club is renowned for so
far.
Good news for those who are interested in joining this
prestigious and award winning Royal Cliff Wine club is that it is still
accepting very limited memberships. For applications or inquiries, please
call (66) 038-250-427 ext. 2782 (from 09:00 to 18:00 hrs) or ex. 2007 or
2037, email: [email protected]
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