Each year in March, Rotarians elected to serve as presidents of their Rotary clubs in the upcoming Rotary year attend a training seminar known as PETS (Presidents Elect Training Seminar). This year the seminar was held at the Impact Muang Thong Thani Convention Centre with around 500 Rotarians attending the three day session.
They came from Districts 3330, 3340, 3350 & 3360 in Thailand. There, they learned the mechanics behind running their respective clubs and many other things, like obtaining overseas Rotary grants to supplement their Humanitarian Projects. It was also an ideas exchange and discussions about the way forward for Rotary in a changing world.
Past Rotary International President Bhichai Rattakul presents his keynote speech.
Pattaya has five Rotary Clubs of which Presidents elect Graham Hunt-Crowley of RC Jomtien-Pattaya, Nigel Quinnell of RC Eastern Seaboard and Otmar Deter of the German speaking RC Phoenix-Pattaya attended the 2-day event.
Bhichai Rattakul, past president of Rotary International, and former Democrat party leader, made the keynote speech. Whilst the speech was in Thai, a word-by-word translation was displayed in English on a large screen for non-Thai speakers.
(L to R) PE Graham Hunt-Crowley, Dr Margaret Deter, PE Otmar Deter, PE Nanthiya Weerapattarakul, and PE Nigel Quinnell.
On the 1st of July, these presidents elect will take over running their individual clubs, but will be working closely with each other and their respective club members, thanks to the friendship and understanding built at this conference.
The theme for the new Rotary year is “Engage Rotary, Change Lives” which they will certainly do, and make life better for many people.
