It wasn’t a round number or milestone year, but friends organized a birthday bash for Pattaya Blatt Executive Editor Elfi Seitz anyway, celebrating renewed health after heart attacks and surgery. As Elfi put it, after finally resolving her health issues, “This is like year 1 in my new life.”
The Thai Garden Resort, where she once worked as guest service manager, was a fitting venue for the Sept. 11 celebration. General Manager Rene Pisters, Manager Danilo Becker and owners Anselma und Gerrit Niehaus did their best to make the day a memorable one. The weather gave some pause, but the day remained dry.
A great party with great friends!
About 80 people attended the buffet party and waiters kept glasses topped off.
Among the guests were the Pattaya Mail Publishing Group’s Malhotra family, which owns the Blatt, plus friends from the YWCA Bangkok-Pattaya Center, Rotary Club, Plauderstunde, and area churches.
Candles on three birthday cakes were waiting to be blown out, thanks to the Thai Garden, Hilton Pattaya and YWCA, and the hotel’s famed Filipino band sang “Happy Birthday.”
Elfi had tried to persuade people not to bring gifts, but some did, including Jan Olav Aamlid, who framed newspaper articles from the year Elfi was born (which she is still keeping secret).
Instead of presents, guests put some money in a basket, collecting 43,000 baht for a new women’s home for the YWCA.
