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Wine Club members appreciating the Thai wine industry
Miss Terry Diner
The Royal Cliff Wine Club, under the stewardship of deputy GM Ranjith
Chandrasiri, invited its members to sample no less than 10 Thai wines
from the PB Valley Khao Yai winery last weekend.
 (L
to R) Prayut Piangbunta, Ranjith Chandrasiri, and Marco Casanova display
3 wines from the PB Valley Khao Yai winery.
Thailand as a production base does not have an immediate association
with wine growing, and in fact, some early attempts at wine production
over a decade ago did nothing to dispel the notion that wine should be
left to Europe and the upstart ‘New World’. Quite frankly, some early
bottles of Thai wine were suitable for hand to hand combat only.
However, there has been more than just the winds of change. Thailand
still is very much a newcomer in the wine field, but Thailand has become
smarter and is starting to look at its resources, both geographically
and in its personnel.
At the Royal Cliff Wine Club wine tasting was Prayut Piangbunta, the
young Thai winemaker from PB Valley Khao Yai winery. This young man was
both eloquent and erudite, and gave his background and training. “I’m an
old fashioned wine maker. I studied in Germany.” And this could be seen
in his wines. As opposed to the New World, where all vintages taste the
same, the Old World demands that the vintages should show their
individuality. This has been the route taken by this Thai winery, and
the members were exposed to at least two vintages of their Chenin Blanc
and Shiraz wines.
Prayut explained that not all varieties of grapes grow well in Thailand,
and they have spent much time (and money) finding out the most suitable
grapes. The Chenin Blanc and Shiraz grapes appear most favorable for
local wine production, though the Tempranillo variety is also
flourishing in the hills of Khao Yai, and the two vintages of these were
most interesting, with the 2004 vintage bottled at an amazing 14.7
percent alcohol.
One of his wines, the PB Khao Yai Reserve Shiraz 2002, has won an
international silver medal, and it was obvious that Khun Prayut was very
proud of this achievement. Having tried both his whites and his reds
that evening, I too was impressed with this wine, and even purchased a
bottle to take home for my own cellar.
There was no doubt in my mind that this Thai winery has come of age. Not
all vintages will suit all palates, but if you find a PB Khao Yai
Reserve Shiraz 2002, it is certainly worth keeping. The 2002 year was
very dry and this is reflected in the quality of the grapes. Very
smooth, good nose and full body. And worth laying down or drinking now.
Others that suited my palate included the PB Khao Yai Reserve Chenin
Blanc 2004 and the Pirom Khao Yai Reserve Tempranillo 2005.
While remembering that wine appreciation is a very personal matter, I
still believe that many of the PB Khao Yai offerings will turn out to be
very popular in the local marketplace, and many of the Royal Cliff Wine
Club members agreed with this.
I look forward to more of these informative wine tastings, but I have to
say that perhaps a choice of six wines would be better than ten! One had
to be very self disciplined to keep all of one’s faculties by the end of
the evening.
Bangladeshis celebrate national day
Two Bangladeshi children present bouquets to
Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn (above) and Farooq Wongborisuthi. (below)
Bangladesh traditional songs were sung
during the celebrations.
Women and children bedecked in their finest
traditional dresses.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Over 100 Bangladesh nationals celebrated their national day at the Town
In Town Hotel on December 16.
 A
beautiful girl performs a colourful classical dance.
Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn delivered a speech of congratulations,
and Farooq Wongborisuthi, member of Pattaya City Council was also
amongst the honored guests.
Approximately 50 Bangladeshi families from Pattaya City were
represented, most of them being owners of tailoring shops or
restaurants.
Bangladesh shares borders with India and Myanmar. The country was
formerly known as East Pakistan but gained its independence in 1971.
Today, Bangladesh has a population of about 142 million people, 80
percent of them Moslems. The economy is largely based on agriculture,
but there is substantial industrial production that includes textiles,
paper and sugar. Main trading countries include the USA, EU, Singapore
and China.
Bangladeshi men lead the congregation in
singing the national anthem and other patriotic songs.
Happy New Year 2007 from city officials
Year of the Pig
Niran Wattanasartsathorn
Mayor of Pattaya City
I send my warmest New Year greetings to
everyone in Pattaya City, local residents, Thai visitors and
foreign visitors alike. May you have success and great happiness
throughout the year, and may you and your families be content,
secure and prosperous. |
Verawat Khakhay
Deputy Mayor
of Pattaya City
I wish happiness and prosperity to all
readers of Pattaya Mail, and I send my very best wishes to you
for the Year of the Pig. I hope you enjoy good fortune and good
health, and success in all you do. |
Tavich Chaiswangwong
Chairman of Pattaya City Council
On the occasion of New Year 2007, I send my
warmest good wishes to all the people of Pattaya City. I hope
you will be happy and prosperous in your lives, and that
everything you wish for comes true. At this time, may we all
follow the wisdom of His Majesty the King, and in this way
achieve harmony and happiness throughout the year. |
Wattana Chantanawaranon
Deputy Mayor
of Pattaya City
I send my good wishes to everyone in Pattaya
as we see out the Year of the Dog and welcome the Year of the
Pig. May you have a happy and healthy year, may all your hopes
be fulfilled, may you have prosperity and the love of your
families, and may happiness follow you always. |
Wutisak Rermkitkarn
Deputy Mayor
of Pattaya City
As the year 2007 begins, we send our
blessings to our home Pattaya, and to Thailand, and to His
Majesty the King. My very best wishes go to all the people of
Pattaya for the year 2007, and may you all be happy, healthy and
prosperous. I hope you achieve all your hopes and dreams and
wishes. |
Itthipol Khunplome
Chief Advisor to the Mayor of Pattaya City
On this occasion, as 2007 gets underway, may
I send my very warmest greetings to the readers of Pattaya Mail.
May you and your families be happy and prosperous, and may you
have all your wishes fulfilled. My thoughts go also to Pattaya
City, may the coming year be a wonderful one for her. |
Pisai Panomwan
na Ayutthaya Pattaya councilor
As we enter the year 2007 I would like to
wish happiness and success to everyone in Pattaya. May all good
things come true for you this year, and may all the things that
didn’t go quite so well last year be forgiven and forgotten. A
very happy and cordial New Year to you all. |
Mrs Jidapa Suwattaporn
Pattaya councilor
Happy New Year to the people of Pattaya, and
may I wish you all health, wealth and happiness during 2007. May
all the best things in life come your way, and may all your
wishes be fulfilled.
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Chatchawal Supachayanont
General manager of the Dusit Resort Pattaya
President of the Eastern Thai Hotel
Association
At this time of the year, the beginning of 2007, let us send our
thoughts to the city of Pattaya itself. May Pattaya be full of
friendly visitors, full of exciting business opportunities, and
a city in which we can be proud and happy to live. My wish is
for contentment and prosperity for us all. |
Pol Capt Jirawat Sukondsap
Deputy Inspector of Pattaya Tourist Police
New Year greetings to everyone in Pattaya,
Thais and foreign visitors alike. On behalf of the Tourist
Police may I send warmest wishes to you all. May all your hopes
and dreams be fulfilled. Be safe and be happy during your stay
in our city, and may prosperity be with you all year. |
City hall officials gather with New Year greetings
Mayor Niran
Wattanasartsathorn (2nd left) leads the administrator’s in wishing
officers and Pattaya City employees success in 2007.
Narisa Nitikarn
Officials and employees at Pattaya City Hall visited Mayor Niran
Wattanasartsathorn on January 3 to bestow their greetings and good
wishes for the New Year.
Mayor Niran said that working with a team whose individuals gave
complete dedication and commitment to the wellbeing of Pattaya gave him
great happiness.
Each individual has only 24 hours in one day, said Niran, and the value
comes in knowing how to use those hours wisely and productively.
“Everyone has their goals in life, and those goals can be reached,” he
said.
Mayor Niran also welcomed the coming Chinese New Year of the Pig, saying
that his wishes are that it is a golden one for Pattaya and for everyone
in the city.
Sitthipab Muangkhum, deputy head of the city administrators also gave
his blessings, and there was a distribution of gifts.
Sitthipab Muangkhum
(left), deputy head of the city administrators, presents flowers to
Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn to wish him success in 2007.
Pichet Uthaivatananon
(right), director of Pattaya’s Engineering Department, presents flowers
to Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh to wish him a happy New Year.
Chanatpong Chuabmee
(right), Pattaya vice deputy mayor, presents flowers to Deputy Mayor
Verawat Khakhay to wish him the best in 2007.
Officials and employees at
Pattaya City Hall bestow their greetings and good wishes for the New
Year on the mayor and his deputies.
Taj Indian restaurant opens to fanfare of fine food
Narisa Nitikarn
The grand opening of the new Taj Indian restaurant took place on the
afternoon of December 29, with owner Binny Singh and his son, general
manager Karan Jit Singh welcoming the guests. The restaurant is located
opposite the X-Zyte discotheque on Pattaya Third Road.
 Amrik
Singh (center) gives his blessings to Binny and Karan on their
remarkable achievement.
After a religious ceremony and the offering of congratulations by
families and business visitors, a party was held with a huge buffet of
Indian cuisine.
Guests included Amrik Singh Kalra, head of the Sikh Community in
Pattaya, and Pratheep Malhotra, managing director of Pattaya Mail
Publishing Co Ltd with members of his family.
Pattaya’s newest Indian restaurant serves North Indian cuisine with a
selection of Indian-Chinese dishes, and has indoor and outdoor seating.
The restaurant is suitable for parties. Opening hours are 11 a.m. to 11
p.m. every day. For more information please call 0 38374744.
Andrew Khoo (right) leads
the Hard Rock team to congratulate Binny.
Gianiji Onkar Singh and
Ragees from the Sikh Temple perform religious ceremonies to bless the
new enterprise.
Family and friends join in
the grand opening festivities of the Taj.
The Park auctions 22 luxury condo units
Approximately 200 people attended the first auction
of luxury units in The Park condominium project, held on December 17 at
the Royal Cliff Beach Resort.
 Jordi
Quintana, Executive Vice President of The Park, follows the auction.
Gordon Gillen, owner and managing director of The Park, Mel Giller,
president of MGI Global Auctions, and Ning-Kamala Kamphu na Ayutthaya,
public relations executive of the project, conducted the auction.
22 condominiums were sold, without a minimum starting bid, without a
reserve and regardless of price. All 22 properties were sold in only one
hour and twenty minutes. On average, one condo was sold every 4 minutes,
making it the fastest paced auction conducted by MGI Global Auctions in
Thailand. In most other projects the average is between 6 and 7 minutes
per property (in the Jomtien Park Villas auction it took about 6 minutes
to sell each villa).
 Mel
Giller, president of MGI Global Auctions, the professional auctioneer,
controls the intense bidding.
The most expensive condo was the first one that was sold at the auction,
the duplex penthouse of 291 sq. m., which sold at 12,566,000 baht
(including the 3% buyers premium) and was bought by a very happy Thai
couple. This was also obviously the highest price per square meter, at
43.112 baht.
The cheapest property was a 1 bedroom unit which sold at 4,120,000 baht,
although the best deal for a buyer was one of the biggest units of 181
sq. m., which was grabbed for only 5,768,000 baht, just under 32,000
baht per square meter. The other two condos of the same type sold at
over 7.3 and 7.4 million baht. Nobody, including the auctioneers,
understands why, but at every auction there is some unit that becomes a
great bargain for some perceptive buyer. It has happened in more than
400 auctions for over 30 years.
The overall average price per square meter was 39,129 baht.
 Ning-Kamala
Kamphu Na Ayutthaya, PR executive of The Park, and Thai interpreter for
the co-bidding on The Park Condominium Building.
Total sales at the auction were just under 130 million baht, almost 1.5
million baht per minute of auction.
In the first three days after the auction, 5 more condos have been sold,
and there is strong interest both from people who went to the auction
and couldn’t win any of the condos and from people who could not attend.
Selected Real Estate Agents have now also been invited to sell the
remaining condos.
At the initial post auction price of only 40,000 baht per square meter,
The Park management expects a good number of sales in the next few days.
After the 6th of January they did their first price increase and around
the end of that month prices will go up again.
The construction of the second building will start right after the
holidays.
Mel Giller, president of MGI Global Auctions said, “As for our reaction
to the results of the auction, we are delighted. The average price per
square meter was slightly lower than we would have wanted, but this is
something we’ve heard from every single developer we’ve done auctions
for, so now that we’re doing them for own projects, we’re not going to
complain about ‘we could have got a bit more’. A bulk sale of this
volume is worth it.
“What really has made Gordon, myself and the rest of the team so happy
has been the extraordinary response we’ve got from every single visitor
to the project. Everyone just falls in love with the area when they
drive in and they all say that the units themselves are amazing. It is a
great feeling.
“The auction itself, as you could see, was a great show, very
entertaining and it showed that serious business can also be good fun.
The winners dinner party held right after the auction had a festive
atmosphere and all the lucky buyers and our team had a good time
enjoying the food, drinks and company.”
Approximately 200 people
attended the auction.
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