Paul
Grimes and John Motar Hunter of Hunter Stoves Ltd. form the bookends for
Chizuko lnomata, Panitha Teerasorakai and Amornsri Mingkhwanrungrueng of
event sponsors KPMG.
Dr. Iain Corness
The British Chamber of Commerce Thailand announced its
presence on the Eastern Seaboard, with a networking evening at the Amari
Orchid Pattaya’s Tavern by the Sea, last week.
The principal sponsors were KPMG in Thailand and the
Amari Orchid Pattaya. For KPMG, it was the ideal opportunity to announce the
opening of their new branch office in Rayong province located at the ESIE
Plaza 2, Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate, Rayong. This office is
approximately 120 km from central Bangkok and 100 km from Suvarnabhumi
Airport, positioning it close to the heart of Rayong’s industrial area.
Happy to discuss its operations was Richard Rome, a long-time KPMG man and
Manager of the new office, describing it as the smallest office in the
entire world-wide group. For more information, or to set up a free
consultation, contact Richard Rome, Office Manager, E-mail: rrome@
kpmg.co.th or [email protected].
Not only was the office manager present, but the Tavern
by the Sea also welcomed the CEO of KPMG, a delightful Thai lady Kaisri
Nuengsigkapian, who said she was actually the Chief Enforcement Officer.
Another of the KPMG ‘heavies’ was Graeme Sheard, the
taxation specialist for the group, who advised that whilst Thai taxation law
is somewhat different from tax laws elsewhere, his function was to guide
companies through the maze.
Representing the Amari Orchid was its hard working GM
David Cumming. David revealed that December and January have been very good
as far as occupancy rates were concerned, but did say that he does not try
and forecast what will be happening for the rest of the year, preferring to
look at six week forecasts, rather than six months.
Mention must be made of the food. Once again the Amari
Orchid presented a very good range of culinary delights ranging from Beef
Wellington to a chocolate fountain with strawberries!
Catching up with friends was Paul Wilkinson from the
Australian Chamber of Commerce, who is now the Operations Manager of Kevin
Fisher’s dynamic CEA Projects (paul@ ceaprojects.com).
Showing just how the BCCT is known overseas was Paul
Grimes, the Director of Hunter Stoves in Devon in the UK. Considering that
Devon was under snow till last week, one could see why he was doing a
“business trip” to Pattaya.
Some of the many regulars at BCCT networking evenings
included Neil Maniquiz (Bangkok Hospital Pattaya), John Howarth
(Montpelier), Shaun Burke (Cromwell Tools) and Bruce Hoppe (Emerson
Technologies).
The BCCT management was represented by its Chairman
Graham Macdonald and the Executive Director Greg Watkins, and with the
annual elections up soon, there were many opportunities for pressing the
flesh, but no kissing of babies, or votes to be purchased, I was assured.
This was a most successful start to 2011 for the BCCT and
the date and venue of the next BCCT networking event will be published in
the Pattaya Mail.
Sutlet
Group’s Richard Prouse shares
a glass with Paul Flipse and Yasuhide Fujii of KPMG.
Gordon
May, Company Director of Baan Souy Siam Co. Ltd., left, discusses wine
matters with Pattaya Mail’s special correspondent Dr. lain Corness.
Mark
Butters, Director of RSM Advisory (Thailand) Ltd., left, exchanges gossip
with Sukhavichai Dhanasundara, the Country Manager of Brainforce
International (Thailand).
Neil
Farrell and Wayne Meaclem of Elastomer Products (Thailand) Ltd. enjoy a
drink with the Hilton Pattaya Hotel’s Panicha Thananaken and Elwin Kemmimg.
Shaun
Burke of Cromwell Tools relaxes with Renata Bromley, Director R2M Trading
and Sid Stone, Project Manager for S Thai Ltd.
Bruce
Hoppe, Vice President of Asia Operations Emerson, Dr. Iain Corness and David
W. Smith, Director Aqua Logic (Thailand) Co., Ltd., share a chinwag at the
meeting.
Paul
Melling, Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) and Gregory Pitt, Managing Director
Mackenzie Smith, chat over a beer with Civil Engineer Simon Matthews.
The ABC
Group’s Supawadee Rodvinit, Helmut Buchberger, Aleksandra Agapitova, Nirat
Seehanam and Sathit Muadkong show some support for the Reds.
BDP
Project Logistics’ Prapawadee Phothipraisiri and Putsadee Lamprecht.
The
Hilton’s Thitiporn Boonsuk poses for a photo with Dr. Lillian Fawcett
and Unchalee (Ashlee) Chamnithurakr.
Ian
Robertson from Grant Thornton Ltd. poses for a photo
with Raymond O’Reilly, a lecturer of art at the Asian University.
