The Eastern Seaboard networking was hosted by the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AustCham) and held together with the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AMCHAM), the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand (BCCT), the German-Thai of Commerce (GTTC) and the South African Chamber (SATCC).
The corporate sponsor for the evening was the Antares Group, whilst the corporate sponsor was Centara Grand Phratamnak with GM Carl Duggan and superb PR lady Amy on hand to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves. Carl is now a Group GM, with two more properties under his wing, including Pattaya’s only ‘Kosher’ hotel, complete with its own synagogue and Rabbi.
Centara Grand Pratamnak F&B Sales and Marketing Manager Supparatch “Amy” Piyawatcharapun greets Australian Ambassador H.E. Paul Robilliard.
With the principal sponsor being AustCham, the group was honored to have the Australian Ambassador HE Paul Robilliard and Ben Giles, the Australian Trade Commissioner, on hand to enjoy the evening sea breezes in the Centara Grand Phratamnak’s Breeze Beach Club. The Lindeman’s Chardonnay went down very well too.
With so many attending the function, Carl Duggan had arranged valet parking, which was a real boon and I very readily availed myself of the ability to leave my car parked in the middle of the road and then watch it disappear. It did reappear later in the evening!
Doing her best to nail everyone as they came in was Yala Srisung, the membership and communications manager of AustCham. With her delightful personality how could anyone say ‘no’?
One of the more interesting people attending was Carolyn Whitehouse, a career and success coach. She did not say that I was leaving my run a little late, but one could read between the lines.
As is normal at these events, representatives from other hotel properties were on hand, to see what the opposition is doing? This included Kate Gerits (GM Holiday Inn), Sirilak Khampan (Senior sales manager) from Siam@Siam and Mittana Chamoyknlang (account sales manager) from the Marriott Resorts in Pattaya.
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya is a regular at the networking evenings and was represented by Neil Maniquiz and Janya Ratanaliam from the International Marketing department, (and of course, Dr. Iain himself).
Other regulars included, President of Hemaraj, Simon Matthews with yet another floral creation and also chairman BCCT, and Leigh Scott-Kemmis the president of AustCham.
It had been another successful networking on the Eastern Seaboard with due accolades to Carl Duggan, Amy and his team.
AustCham President Leigh Scott-Kemmis welcomes guests to the Eastern Seaboard Sundowners event at the Breeze Beach Club, Centara Grand Phratamnak.
Alex Cullum, the new Executive Director of AustCham, was an interesting guest speaker at the Eastern Seaboard Sundowners event.
Centara Grand Phratamnak General Manager Carl Duggan gives a warm welcome to the guests and speaks about the progression of their projects throughout Pattaya.
(L to R) Kate Gerits, General Manager of Holiday Inn Pattaya; Nicolas Duke, General Manager of Air International Thermal Systems (Thailand) Ltd.; and Wasana, also from Air International Thermal Systems, exchange stories about living in Thailand.
Francis Vanbellen, Managing Director of Padaeng Industry Co., Ltd.; Ben Giles, Counselor (Commercial) and Trade Commissioner of the Australian Embassy Bangkok; Steven Reid from Bilateral Thais Translation Services; and Marc Dehertogh, Director of Faber Flags Asia Co., Ltd.
(L to R) Ekachai Thanapornwattana, Account Manager of Safe Coms; Janya Rattanaliam, Deputy Head of the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya International Marketing Department; Chanoknard Lertkongchai, Executive Secretary of Centara Grand Pratamnak Pattaya; and Neil Maniquiz, Head of the International Marketing Department at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya.
(L to R) Alex Cullum, Executive Director of AustCham; Carl Duggan, General Manager of the Centara Grand Phratamnak Pattaya, Simon Matthews, Chairman of the BCCT; Josh Hyland, Director of the AustCham; Leigh Scott-Kemmis, President of the AustCham; Simon Shale, Company Director of the Visy Packaging (Thailand) Limited; and David R. Nardone, President & CEO of Hemaraj Land and Development.
(L to R) PMTV Productions Manger Paul Strachan, Dr. Iain Corness, Carolyn Whitehouse and Peter Malhotra, Managing Director of Pattaya Mail Media Group form a lively quartet.
