35,000 expected to attend Silverlake Music Festival

(From 2nd left to 2nd right) Silverlake Entertainment President Surachai Tangjaitrong, Jetsada Phathanabut, vice chairman of Silverlake Entertainment Co. Ltd., Athapol Vannakit, director of TAT Pattaya Office, Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh, and Sotkamol Worakyl, representative from Thai Beverage Co. Ltd, announce the upcoming event.

Phasakorn Channgam

About 35,000 people are expected to attend the Silverlake Music Festival when the curtain goes up on Thai and international bands Jan. 28 at the Pattaya winery.

Silverlake Entertainment President Surachai Tangjaitrong hosted reporters Jan. 10 to show off the venue’s final preparations for parking, refreshments, restrooms and drinking water. He said the large vineyard, with its backdrop of water and hills, is a perfect venue for an outdoor concert and expects that the festival will become an annual event.

Headlining the noon to 2 a.m. show will be western alternative-music acts Incubus, Owl City and Seether, along with 21 Thai and Asian bands including Anti-Flag, Akira Jimbo, Gray Gregson, FranKo, Young Guns, T-Bone, Modern Dog, Tattoo Color, Scrubb, Slot Machine, Stamp, 25 Hours, Mild, Singular, Silly Fools, Brand New Sunset, Joey Boy and DJ Spydamonkee. Manoj Phuttan and Phathita “DJ Pupe” Kantaamra of Met 107 radio will emcee the event.

Tickets are available for 1,500 baht each at ThaiTicketMajor .com or 02-262-3456. Sponsor Chang Beer is offering 20 percent discounts with redemption of five beverage bottle caps. Tickets are also on sale at Pattaya’s Dusit Thani, Hard Rock and Furama Jomtien hotels, as well as Major Cineplex at The Avenue Galleria.

Northumberland County - “The best kept secret in England”

“The best kept secret in England” is how Tony Heron described Northumberland County at the Sunday January 8 meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club. Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg introduced Tony noting that he had previously spoken to the Club about the ins and outs of the fur trade which was his vocation for many years before retiring and moving to Pattaya in 2005. This time he wanted to share the beauty and history of his birthplace in Northern England.

Tony Heron waxes lyrically about his home county, that of Northumberland, the northeastern most county of England. Said (by Tony) to be ‘the best kept secret in England’, Northumberland includes Hadrians Wall and 52 existing castles, and another 28 castle ruins. Other features are the beautiful coastline, and extensive lakes and woodlands.

Tony started by showing the geographical location of Northumberland, which is England’s northernmost county bordering Scotland. It is one of the most scenic areas in England. Also, because of its long history of border wars, it is home to 52 castles. Further, Tony said there were 28 more whose remains are ruins. It also has miles of North Sea coastline that has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and contains the largest manmade lake and manmade woodlands in England.

The scenic and historical tour started with Tony describing one of its most popular tourist attractions which is Hadrian’s Wall. Roman Emperor Hadrian began construction of the wall in 122 AD and it extends 73 miles across England. It was built by soldiers of the Roman Legions based in Britain and took 6 years to complete. Tony showed several pictures of the Wall and surrounding area; explaining its purpose and construction which included mile castles and turrets that extended above the wall. The mile castles were spaced about one roman mile apart and housed about 60 troops. Later there were forts constructed that housed about 800 troops.

Conducting the Open Forum, Roy Albiston allows ‘Hawaii Bob’ Sutterfield to get in a word about Frugal Freddy’s activities for the week, dining at 2 or 3 of Pattaya’s better value restaurants.

Proceeding further north into Northumberland, Tony showed pictures of several of the castles that can be visited along with their surrounding countryside and, for some, beaches along the coast. One of these castles was Alnwick Castle, the home of the Percy family for centuries. Tony pointed out that many should recognize it as it was the location for all the Harry Potter movies. It was also a locale for the 1998 film Elizabeth, the 1991 film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner, the 1982 film Ivanhoe, the 1971 film Mary Queen of Scots, and the 1964 film Becket with Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole. Another was Bamburgh Castle, an ancient site completely remodeled and rebuilt by Lord Armstrong in Victorian times, which looks out over the North Sea and the Farne Islands, which is home to thousands of different birds and in the winter Grey Seals come there to breed.

Tony’s tour stopped at many other beautiful locales including historic towns and country lanes. Tony concluded by showing one of the Lindsfarne area’s famous products, Lindsfarne Mead, a unique alcohol fortified wine manufactured on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. The honey which is used in the production is drawn from the four corners of the world and, on the island, it is vatted with fermented grape juice, honey, herbs, and the pure water of an artesian well and fortified with fine spirits. It is world famous and to many it is regarded as the “nectar of the gods.”

If nothing else convinced the Club members and guests to consider a visit, the lure of strong drink was an added incentive. But, then Tony dampened their enthusiasm when he demonstrated why he is living in Thailand instead of Northumberland by showing a couple of pictures; snow covered ground and the final picture being a snow plow. Even so, he said that Northumberland was still the best kept secret in England.

After answering several questions, Richard Silverberg called on Roy Albiston to bring everyone up to date on upcoming events and conduct the Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about expat living in Pattaya.

The Pattaya City Expats Club meets every Sunday at the Amari Orchid’s Tavern by the Sea Restaurant. Read more about the club’s activities on their website at www. pattayacityexpatsclub.com.

Securitas-led coalition continues flood-relief efforts

Members of the coalition deliver much-needed supplies to flood ravaged Prasart Thong School in Bang Pa-in.

Manoon Makpol

A local coalition of private companies and associations led by Securitas Security Service (Thailand) Co. helped flood-ravaged Ayutthaya begin to rebuild, delivering 300,000 baht in donated supplies to residents there.

The “Volunteer Spirit Organization,” comprised of Securitas, the Pattaya Lions Clubs, Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya, Y.W.C.A., Harmony Group, Pattaya International Hospital and other groups, delivered doors, ceramic fixtures, roofing materials, kitchen appliances, drinking water, dried food and three computers to Prasart Thong School in Bang Pa-in District Jan. 10.

Securitas information technology manager Samran Laepong said that while flood waters have receded, the months of inundation have devastated the Ayutthaya region which still needs help with food and infrastructure.

German-Thai dental implant congress meets in Bangkok

(From right) Dr. Thaweesak, president of TPDA and Dr. Bayer, president of DGOI. (Back row in the middle) Dr. Ramin Yachkaschi from Pattaya, with other participants.

With Thailand an increasingly popular destination for medical tourism, the country proved the obvious choice to host the first German-Thai Implantology Congress.

The Jan. 7-9 confab in Bangkok was attended by German Ramin Yachkaschi, the only non-Thai to pass the country’s Dental Board Exam, along with members of the German Society of Oral Implantology and the Thai Private Dentist Association.

Experts in dental implants came from around the globe to share knowledge with Thai specialists. More than 300 dentists, mostly from Thailand, updated their education in the many lectures.

Dr. Thaweesak (2nd right), Dr. Ramin Yachkaschi (2nd left) with his wife (far left) and a few Thai dentists.

Implants are artificial dental roots made from titanium or ceramic, which are inserted into the jaw to replace lost teeth. Normally, after a healing period of 3-6 months, a “supraconstruction” will be put on the implants, which can be crowns, bridges or even whole dentures.

One new trend highlighted was digital Implantology. After a CT scan of the jaw, a surgical guide is produced with 3-D modeling technology. The surgical guide will show the implantologist the exact position and angle of the implant, so the surgical procedure will be much safer with fewer complications.

Another trend is the so-called “immediate load.” In many cases, special surgical and reconstruction techniques can be used so that a provisory prosthetic can be put on the implants immediately in order to shorten or even avoid the healing period.