(L to R) Dr Iain Corness,
Dr. William van Ewijk, Louis Noll, Dr Olivier Meyer, and Dr. Philippe
Seur - four doctors and an excellent host gather for the first time in
Pattaya.
As the world is familiar with Los Tres Tenores, on
Wednesday, March 16, Pattaya played host to Los Quatro Doctores: the
four active farang doctors of this city met for a special dinner
generously offered by the prize winning restaurant Mata Hari.
The friends and good colleagues Dr Iain Corness, Dr Olivier Meyer, Dr.
Philippe Seur, and Dr. William van Ewijk, for the first time had dinner
together as a foursome. Due to workload this had never happened before.
The doctors wanted to exchange thoughts about the changes in modern
medicine, and try to find consensus from the “think tank” about
controversial subjects and new developments in Medical care.
Dr. Iain, British, worked as a Family Medical practitioner in the U.K.,
Gibraltar and Australia, where he was also a founding member of the
Australian College of Occupational Medicine, and today is a highly
respected consultant at the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya. He writes for the
Pattaya Mail and is a presenter for PMTV. He is also the technical
editor of ASEAN Autobiz. Three years ago his first book “Farang” was
published (reprinted three times and translated into several languages,
and now an e-book available on Amazon.com). His latest book, “Farang The
Sequel” is now on the shelves.
Dr. Olivier, Swiss, has his clinic opposite Day Night Hotel. Many
farangs from all countries living here and tourists are his patients.
Some years ago he was sent by the Red Cross as an anesthetist to assist
in operations for landmine victims near the Cambodian border. Later he
decided to work in Thailand as a general practitioner. He is past
president of the Rotary Club Pattaya Marina, the only French speaking
club in S.E. Asia. He has what you may call “a good clinical eye” for
diagnosis and treatment of diseases. He was rewarded by Pattaya City
Hall for all his efforts to get a free operation in Bangkok for a
severely handicapped young boy.
Dr. Philippe, French, came more than a decade ago, sailing from
Versailles to Saudi Arabia and then Pattaya, to enjoy a well deserved
rest. However, that never happened. After his friend became HIV positive
Dr. Philippe started to help treat Thai patients with HIV/AIDS for no
fees, with the assistance of concerned sponsors through the HEARTT 2000
network and the donations of AntiRetroViral medicines from Europe. He
cooperates with the Chonburi Hospital Doctor and others to keep costs
low, though fortunately most medicines are free presently for Thais in
national schemes. He is recognized by the Thai Ministry of Public
Health, and documented and evaluated and his 1970 patients now
documented on an academic level, and he has given many presentations
about the subject. His biggest accolade must be that today some former
patients help him out in this project.
Dr. William, Dutch, third generation pharmacist, did many clinical
trials and research on new drugs and studied pharmacology at Stanford
Research Institute. He specialized in Clinical Immunology (vaccines) and
worked for the Pasteur Institute of Paris and Lille. He has been granted
many patents and developed several sublingual (under the tongue)
vaccines for children. He founded his own protein research laboratory,
successfully went public, and lived for 20 years in the Cote d’Azur.
Later he got his M.D., based on his thesis and book “Placenta, The Lost
Organ”, and due to his own prostate cancer, used all his knowledge in
non toxic tumor therapy with success. He still helps and advises people
for free, and is an honorable member of the Rotary Club Jomtien.
Restaurateur and host of the evening was Gastronome Louis Noll, a
Dutch/Indonesian, and was immediately enthusiastic about this idea “Los
Quatro Doctores in Pattaya”, seeing the fun of it, and the exchange of
items and philosophy what the four doctors have in mind. Louis is indeed
the perfect professional host, well trained in Hotel Academy and worked
in the famous Amsterdam restaurant Dikker En Thijs. Together with his
wife he manages an extensive menu with a consistent quality of exclusive
food. He has a wine list with real oenological diamonds in it, but his
motto has always been, “To balance performance and price”. He has been
able to create an atmosphere best described as “cozy”. The fact that
most of his professional staff have worked for him for many years in
Mata Hari, must be seen as a compliment for this remarkable personality.
And modest as he is saying, “I’m just an Inn Keeper”. Pattaya knows
better!
