President Saowanee Thongkum and members of the French-speaking Rotary Club Pattaya Marina welcomed the French Ambassador H.E. Thierry Mathou and his wife Madame C้cile together with the embassy entourage at a gala luncheon on July 8 at the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel.
The purpose of the French ambassador’s visit was to meet with French nationals residing in Pattaya and more importantly to meet with Rotarians who are working and assisting the local charities to help prevent and suppress human trafficking by supporting abused children who have been harmed physically and spiritually by devious men and women.
The gathering of diplomats and Rotarians from the many clubs in Pattaya also included government and law enforcement officers who are directly involved with human trafficking suppression and other criminal acts against women and children.
They included, Pattaya City Manager Pramote Tuptim, Pol. Gen. Titawat Suriyachai, Commander of Thailand Internet Crime Against Children, Pol. Col. Solos Aiemsa-Ard, Pol. Col. Damrong Eliampairoj, Michel Yves Bernard-Uguen, police attach้ of the French Embassy in Bangkok, Sudarat Sereewat, Director of FACE Foundation (Fight Against Child Exploitation) and many French dignitaries residing in Pattaya.
Past President Gerard Porcon spoke of his past work with helping women and children in Haiti. “I was the President of the Rotary Club of Argentina in France and together with members of our Rotary club we raised funds to build a hospital for children suffering from severe malnutrition. We also built housing and schools on the island.”
He continued to narrate his story saying that when he came to Pattaya and served as the president of the Rotary Club of Pattaya, he was introduced to Supagon Noja, director of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Abuse Centre. Together with French speaking clubs and associations in Pattaya they organized many fund raising projects to support the ATCC. “During this period, the French Embassy under the leadership and guidance of the Ambassador H.E. Thierry Viteau was one of our staunchest supporters.” he said.
Gerard continued, “Sadly, with time our cooperation slacked off and our projects came to a standstill. But today, I am very happy and encouraged that H.E. Thierry Mathou has shown a keen interest in our mission to help the abused children at the ATCC which has given us the will to move forward to do whatever we can to help the centre.”
H.E. Thierry Mathou said, “Following the visit of the Anti-Human and Child Abuse Center by Ambassador Thierry Viteau in 2013, through today’s event, the French Embassy wishes to reiterate its support to this type of humanitarian actions, to welcome the unwavering commitment of the director of the center and his team for over 15 years and to reaffirm the willingness of France to fight as well against online child pornography, with the observation of a disturbing increase in this scourge (live steaming) in recent years.
“Today is also an opportunity to reiterate the reinforced need for operational cooperation, for example for the ongoing identification requested of many victims of a French pedophile arrested in 2019 and during the planned travel of investigators for the execution of the rogatory commission. This cooperation also includes our support for training courses given by our experts. The last one was organized last November for the benefit of the Royal Thai Police and another one is planned for the end of the year for the benefit of another agency.
At a time when we are witnessing a gradual reopening of the country with tourist flows that will become denser, and with potentially the return of predators, we call for a continuation of the cooperation with the director of the center, a cooperation that in 2014 allowed the arrest of a French pedocriminal.”
Rolf Ruegg, a member of the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya and who is dedicating his life to help the ATCC develop its structures and to give the children a better life spoke of the need for a small pickup to use for the transportation of the children to and from school back to their home. After his moving plea, Rotarians and local businessmen pledged to help raise funds to buy one as soon as possible.
Later that afternoon, the French entourage visited the Anti-Human and Child Abuse Center where they observed the operations and the improvements made by kind hearted volunteers, pledging to help where and when needed.
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