Dear Pattaya Mail,
It came as quite a surprise to hear that you are celebrating your 25th anniversary. Is it really a quarter of a century ago that I was there to help and get this paper off the ground? Well, it feels like yesterday and I fondly remember the time spent in your editorial offices.
I feel very honored to contribute with these words to your celebratory issue.
Times have changed, the media world has transformed tremendously, which only proves that you have kept up with the changes, as you are still there and keep bringing the news to Pattaya’s community.
The editorial team back then consisted of very interesting characters, truly passionate to their cause, often with conflicting ideas, but nonetheless in the best interest of us all. I remember the arguments between our first editor Chuck Pringle and the investigative reporter Amorn Malhotra, or the vicious attack that Peter Malhotra, our fearless leader, had to take when he was attacked by a couple of thugs – all in the name of journalism.
After a few years, when Chuck was ready to pass on the baton to the next editor, Dan Dorothy, back then the sports editor, stepped up to take the reign and brought some order and structure into our hectic world. I can only imagine the stories Dan can tell after still being there. I also remember John, our English photographer with BBC experience shaping the paper in his own way through his pictures, sometimes in black and white, as full colour was only for the front page.
When it was time for me to leave, I handed my duties to a bright young man, Kue Sungwanlek, who performed the tasks of laying out the pages, graphic design and Website updates to raise it to a new level.
Elfie Seitz was there to support Peter and the paper whenever needed and played a vital role in establishing Pattaya Mail’s German language sister publication, the Pattaya Blatt.
Over the first few years, the different departments that a company needs to properly function were filled with talented people, from accounting to Peter’s chief secretary, P. Poo, not to mention all the delivery guys who were there sitting with us and waiting until the “hot-off-the-presses” paper came in from the printer in Naklua.
Once it got the nod, it was quickly distributed throughout the city in no time.
How much of this is still going on, I don’t know. As far as I know a new generation of the Malhotra family is taking over and will keep Peter’s dream of an independent English language newspaper for Pattaya and the Eastern Seaboard alive.
My sincerest best wishes to all of you, if you are still there or left for whatever reason as faith would have it.
Andy Gombaez
