As the world is familiar with Los Tres Tenores, on Wednesday, March 16, Pattaya played host to Los Quatro Doctores: the four active farang doctors of this city met for a special dinner generously offered by the prize winning restaurant Mata Hari.
The friends and good colleagues Dr Iain Corness, Dr Olivier Meyer, Dr. Philippe Seur, and Dr. William van Ewijk, for the first time had dinner together as a foursome. Due to workload this had never happened before. The doctors wanted to exchange thoughts about the changes in modern medicine, and try to find consensus from the “think tank” about controversial subjects and new developments in Medical care.
(L to R) Dr Iain Corness, Dr. William van Ewijk, Louis Noll, Dr Olivier Meyer, and Dr. Philippe Seur – four doctors and an excellent host gather for the first time in Pattaya.
Dr. Iain, British, worked as a Family Medical practitioner in the U.K., Gibraltar and Australia, where he was also a founding member of the Australian College of Occupational Medicine, and today is a highly respected consultant at the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya. He writes for the Pattaya Mail and is a presenter for PMTV. He is also the technical editor of ASEAN Autobiz. Three years ago his first book “Farang” was published (reprinted three times and translated into several languages, and now an e-book available on Amazon.com). His latest book, “Farang The Sequel” is now on the shelves.
Dr. Olivier, Swiss, has his clinic opposite Day Night Hotel. Many farangs from all countries living here and tourists are his patients. Some years ago he was sent by the Red Cross as an anesthetist to assist in operations for landmine victims near the Cambodian border. Later he decided to work in Thailand as a general practitioner. He is past president of the Rotary Club Pattaya Marina, the only French speaking club in S.E. Asia. He has what you may call “a good clinical eye” for diagnosis and treatment of diseases. He was rewarded by Pattaya City Hall for all his efforts to get a free operation in Bangkok for a severely handicapped young boy.
Dr. Philippe, French, came more than a decade ago, sailing from Versailles to Saudi Arabia and then Pattaya, to enjoy a well deserved rest. However, that never happened. After his friend became HIV positive Dr. Philippe started to help treat Thai patients with HIV/AIDS for no fees, with the assistance of concerned sponsors through the HEARTT 2000 network and the donations of AntiRetroViral medicines from Europe. He cooperates with the Chonburi Hospital Doctor and others to keep costs low, though fortunately most medicines are free presently for Thais in national schemes. He is recognized by the Thai Ministry of Public Health, and documented and evaluated and his 1970 patients now documented on an academic level, and he has given many presentations about the subject. His biggest accolade must be that today some former patients help him out in this project.
Dr. William, Dutch, third generation pharmacist, did many clinical trials and research on new drugs and studied pharmacology at Stanford Research Institute. He specialized in Clinical Immunology (vaccines) and worked for the Pasteur Institute of Paris and Lille. He has been granted many patents and developed several sublingual (under the tongue) vaccines for children. He founded his own protein research laboratory, successfully went public, and lived for 20 years in the Cote d’Azur. Later he got his M.D., based on his thesis and book “Placenta, The Lost Organ”, and due to his own prostate cancer, used all his knowledge in non toxic tumor therapy with success. He still helps and advises people for free, and is an honorable member of the Rotary Club Jomtien.
Restaurateur and host of the evening was Gastronome Louis Noll, a Dutch/Indonesian, and was immediately enthusiastic about this idea “Los Quatro Doctores in Pattaya”, seeing the fun of it, and the exchange of items and philosophy what the four doctors have in mind. Louis is indeed the perfect professional host, well trained in Hotel Academy and worked in the famous Amsterdam restaurant Dikker En Thijs. Together with his wife he manages an extensive menu with a consistent quality of exclusive food. He has a wine list with real oenological diamonds in it, but his motto has always been, “To balance performance and price”. He has been able to create an atmosphere best described as “cozy”. The fact that most of his professional staff have worked for him for many years in Mata Hari, must be seen as a compliment for this remarkable personality. And modest as he is saying, “I’m just an Inn Keeper”. Pattaya knows better!
