|
Siam Elephant storms into Pattaya
Miss Terry Diner
It was a musical opening at the Siam Bayshore Resort
with the owner and hostess Kamala Sukosol, the little lady with the big
voice and her daughter Marisa Sukosol Noonpakdi welcoming the guests,
while Group General Manager Hans Spoerri did the worrying for everybody.
However, he did not need to fret, as the opening of the Siam Elephant
Restaurant and Bar went very smoothly, with the staff entertaining the
guests in a most professional manner, while the 20 young ladies dressed in
gold were simply stunning.
 Kornchanok
Kavayatanik, CEO of Avatar Spa congratulates Khun Kamala.
After a mingle in the cocktail area, the Thai musical
ensemble, complete with long drums and cymbals, brought everyone outside
to the top end of Walking Street, next to the Bali Hai Pier, to then march
to the new Siam Elephant Restaurant and Bar, where the ceremonial ribbon
was cut by Pattaya Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn, Kamala and Marisa.
Those who stayed for dinner were regaled with another
concept in the art of fine dining Thai style, with individual servings
being placed just so decorously on the plates before us. It was also a
culinary expedition around Thailand, with items from all over the Kingdom,
including a Southern Massaman, and Eastern Yum Pla and other delicacies
such as a Mee Krob, a Tung Thong (golden parcel with shrimp and water
chestnuts) and a very flavorsome Ma Hor, which was a sliced pineapple
topped with saut้ed pork with ginger and fresh herbs. If it is on
the regular menu, do try it!
This new addition to Pattaya’s dining scene will add
weight to Kamala’s famous song, “You’ll fall in love in Pattaya”,
while the musical evening of the grand opening itself seemed to be more
from Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, with “Anything You Can Do, I
Can Do Better” being a clear message to the other establishments!
There will be a complete review of this new restaurant
shortly, but if you wish to be one of the first to try the Siam Elephant,
I would suggest a booking through the Siam Bayshore Resort on 038 428 678.
Marisa
Sukosol Noonpakdi greets Mayor Niran.
Mayor
Niran Wattanasartsathorn, Kamala and Marisa Sukosol cut the ornate jasmine
ribbon proclaiming the Siam Elephant open.
Kamala
welcomes Helena and Axel Schmidt.
Kamala
Sukosol and Hans Spoerri (2nd
left) group general manager of Siam City Hotels and Resorts, greet Chattan
Kunjara Na Ayudhya director of Tourism Authority of Thailand Central
Region 3, Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn and Kenneth and Maureen Williams.
Bruce
and Judy Hoppe in pleasant conversation with Kamala.
The
long drums procession led guests to the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Dr.
Iain Corness and Peter Malhotra of Pattaya Mail, enjoy Khun Kamala’s
flair for story telling.
Talented
staff of the resort perform exotic dances for the enjoyment of the guests.
Teaching the blind so they can fulfill their potential
Chatchanan Chaisree
Teaching the blind to read through Braille is a highly
specialized calling, and one that is very necessary if the visually
impaired are to fulfill their potential in society.
Aurora Sribuapan, a social welfare officer who gained
her master’s degree in the USA, is manager and director of the
Redemptions Blind School in Pattaya, and is a volunteer of the Thailand
Hierarchy Redemptions Foundation. She said that the school has an ordinary
course from kindergarten level to the secondary class. Subjects and tests
are no different from ordinary schools, but the blind students have
Braille training in Thai and English.
 Aurora
Sribuapan, Redemptorist School for the Blind principal, teaches Braille at
the school and hopes for a better future for her students.
The school takes care of its students and offers free
classes and accommodation until they finish the course. Many of the
students here are not only blind, but also have other disabilities. Many
of them are deaf and dumb, and some are autistic. When they reach 18-20
years of age the school will contact their parents to collect them, or
transfer them to the official welfare office.
Wanna Khumsuk, or Nong Poey, is aged eight and is in
primary school class 4. She has been attending this school from
kindergarten class 3. Her right eye is blind and the left eye is partially
blind. Nong Poey said that initially she didn’t know about Braille. Now
she trains to write the alphabet, vowels and tone marks, and reads every
day in the library. Nong Poey wishes to be a teacher when she grows up,
and will come back to teach in this school when she has graduated because
this place gave her knowledge.
Blind
students learn to read Braille at the Redemptorist School for the Blind.
The school is also very proud of its sports activities,
and was recently the relay team winner at the 24th Thailand Handicapped
Sports in Ratchaburi. Nong Damrong from Surin, who is blind, was
disappointed that he couldn’t bring the medal and certificate to show
our reporter. Nong Damrong also taught the reporters how to count from 1
to 10 in the Cambodian language.
Aurora said that the school’s plan is to open a blind
vocational class to support the students after they finish secondary
school. They don’t wish to continue in the ordinary classes, but wish to
have professional training for their future earning abilities, and to help
both themselves and their families. Computers, foreign languages, hotel
work, massage, domestic science, agriculture and music are all likely
subjects. This project needs about 7 to 8 million baht for a vocational
training building.
Blind
students can find happiness, and hopefully a good future at the school.
Anyone wishing to help the blind students by donating money for the
Training Building of the Construction Foundation Project can contact Her
Royal Highness Princess Foundation for the Blind (1993) direct, or they
can transfer funds to the Siam Commercial Bank (Pattaya Second Road),
account name: Her Royal Princess Foundation for the Blind (1993), account
no 669-2-10787-4.
Blind students give thanks to their tutors
Narisa Nitikarn
The Redemptorist School for the Blind held its annual
“wai kru” ceremony on June 30, with Fr Lawrence Patin, Redemptorist
Centre director and priest of St Nikolaus Church presiding. Joining him
were Uttraporn Boonak, Banglamung Home for the Elderly director, and
supporters of the centre.
 Aurora
Sribuapan, Redemptorist School for the Blind principal speaks on the
history and aims of the school.
Aurora Sribuapan, Redemptorist School for the Blind
principal, presented a brief history of the school, spanning 18 years, and
its aims at improving education for the visually challenged. She said the
school looks after and educates those from the age of three up to 20 years
old, providing room, board and education for all students.
The expenditure for 2004 was 9 million baht, which was
mostly contributed by local associations, service clubs and individuals
with the ministries of Education and Social Development and Human
Stability contributing 2 million towards expenses.
The annual ceremonies are held to pay respects to the teachers and
supporters of the centre. Students perform the “dok mai hai khun”
(flowers for you) ceremony. Teachers in return handed out awards to six
students for politeness, outstanding sports achievement, and academic
performance.
Uttraporn
Boonak and Fr Lawrence Patin receive flowers from the children.
It is
an exciting day at the school, as students pay respects to their teachers.
Students
perform the “dok mai hai khun” (flowers for you) ceremony.
The tsunami - six months later
Courtesy of the Pacific Asia Travel
Association (PATA)
While coastal industries struggle to recover, lessons
are being learned about the politics of development aid. June 26, 2005
marked six months since the devastating tsunami that swept the Indian
Ocean, often called the first major natural disaster of the 21st century.
The world came together like never before to alleviate
the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people who lost family, friends
and loved ones, as well as livelihoods and belongings. Large parts of
cities, entire towns and villages, shops, schools and infrastructure were
destroyed or severely damaged. Government administration and public
services came to a halt.
After
a long time, the children were smiling again.
Tourism was only one of many coastline industries
affected, along with fisheries, coconut plantations and other forms of
agriculture. The poor were worst hit, especially women and children.
With the addition of India, the Maldives and Thailand,
the total reconstruction costs over the next three to five years are
expected to be between USD 9.8 billion and USD 12.5 billion. By the end of
May 2005, USD 6.7 billion had been pledged by donor countries, private
individuals and corporations, of which about USD 5.8 billion was pledged
by governments. However, records show that as of May 2005, only about USD
2.5 billion of the total amount pledged has been paid up.
Rotarian
Marliese Fritz with local inhabitants.
Thailand, arguably the worst affected in terms of
tourist casualties, was seeing occupancies of only around 20 percent in
Phuket and the neighboring islands and coastal areas as of June 2005.
Airline capacity was down significantly. Officials were turning to the
domestic market to prop up business.
Thailand also sought to use the Miss Universe pageant,
held in Bangkok on May 31, to convince TV viewers in about 180 countries
of an ‘all-clear’ message. The 80 contestants were flown to Phuket to
be videotaped on the beaches there, scenes that were edited into the live
coverage of the finals.
Rotary
Clubs in Thailand have stepped in and provided a tremendous amount of
assistance. Shown here is a shot of how a boat looked after the tsunami
destroyed it.
Given the fact that disasters and crises will continue
to occur, one major issue that has emerged is the financing of
post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation programs. Developing
countries, already struggling financially, find themselves having to
divert their meager extra-budgetary resources to relief efforts. Developed
countries, which are already providing vast amounts in the form of other
aid packages, have to find additional funds, some of which then carry
strings attached before they are disbursed.
On January 12, 2005, the group of countries known as
the Paris Club announced a debt moratorium for countries impacted by the
tsunami. This means they will not expect any debt payment on eligible
sovereign claims from those countries until December 31, 2005. The
deferred amounts will be repaid over five years, including a one-year
grace period. Interest accrued in 2005 will be capitalized and paid as
deferred amounts.
With
help from the Rotary Club Eastern Seaboard, the same boat is now repaired
and able to provide this family with a hard earned, but nonetheless
welcome fishing income.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
French President Jacques Chirac came up with a number of other proposals
to raise funds. He noted that the turnover of the world’s leading 100
companies was over USD 7 trillion in 2004. The sum of the turnovers of the
top two companies alone is greater than the GNP of the entire African
continent. And yet, he said, “This globalized economy concerns only
one-third of the global population, a privileged minority in a world of
insecurity. In 2006, we will need to mobilize almost USD 50 billion of
additional official aid,” President Chirac said, noting that this must
not be done by creating new international bureaucracies, but by using
existing mechanisms, streamlining them, making them increasingly
transparent and increasingly efficient. Among President Chirac’s
suggested mechanisms include:
International financial transactions amount to some
US$3 trillion per day. An ‘international solidarity levy’ could help
raise US$10 billion per year. He suggested that it should be: 1) A very
low rate, of a maximum of one ten-thousandth; 2) Applied to a fraction of
international financial transactions; and 3) Based on the co-operation
between major world financial markets so as to avoid the effects of
evasion.
Capital flows/countries with bank secrecy: Ask
countries that maintain bank secrecy to partially compensate for the
consequences of world tax evasion, “which is so damaging to the poorest
countries,” through a levy on flows of foreign capital in and out of
their territory. This levy would be allocated to development.
Aviation and shipping fuel: A contribution levied on
the fuel used by air or sea transport. “The fuel used by these sectors,
which contribute to the greenhouse effect and the pollution of our planet,
is currently practically exonerated from all taxation,” President Chirac
claimed, a comment that many in the transport industry would dispute.
Airline tickets: Three billion airline tickets are sold
each year worldwide. A contribution of one dollar per ticket would raise
at least USD 3 billion, “without compromising the economic balance of
the sector,” according to President Chirac.
Coordinated tax incentives: Every year, US citizens
give more than USD 220 billion to charity, 3 percent of which goes to
international causes. Large developed countries should set up coordinated
tax incentives that encourage everyone from individuals to the largest
corporations and financial organizations to donate for development.
Many tsunami-affected communities are looking forward to a new future
as much as they are coming to terms with their losses. At the same time,
they continue to struggle to attract normal levels of travel and tourism
business, which makes both looking forward to a new future and coming to
terms with loss that much more difficult. PATA is working hard through its
chapter network and media contacts to spread the message that visitors are
welcome and needed. Visit www.PATA.org/tsunami for more information.
|
