First monthly board meeting
Tourism is the life blood of Pattaya and its transformation over the last decade has been somewhat incredible, with not just new emerging international markets such as Russia, India, China and Japan, but also the way that Thais now perceive Pattaya. Long gone is the old image of rows of bars and clubs and that’s been replaced with five star hotels, first class shopping centers and restaurants to suit every budget and taste.
With this in mind, Skål Pattaya and East Thailand has been reformed and held its first meeting for its board of directors at the Holiday Inn Pattaya on Thursday 14th of March, kindly supported by Garth Solly, GM of the host venue.
(L to R) Garth Solly, Neil Maniquiz, Jeena Saguansap, Tony Malhotra, Ingo Raeuber, Paul Strachan and Peter Malhotra pause for the paparazzi during the historical first board meeting after the rebirth of Skål International Pattaya & East Thailand.
The president of the club is Tony Malhotra, deputy managing director of Pattaya Mail Media Group. He is assisted by the recently appointed general manager of the Holiday Inn Pattaya, Garth Solly, as his vice president.
Veteran Skålleagues and past president Ingo Raeuber, the GM of Pinnacle Grand Jomtien Resort & Spa, is holding the position of treasurer & membership director, whilst one of the founders of Skål in Pattaya, Peter Malhotra, managing director of Pattaya Mail Media Group, is the executive advisor.
The rest of the board consists of the International Marketing Department manager for Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, Neil Maniquiz; Jeena Saguansap, the manager of Tea Tree Spa Holiday Inn Pattaya as secretary and local media man Paul Strachan who will deal with PR & communications.
The aim of Skål Pattaya and the East is to be an effective conduit for doing business for those who work in businesses related to tourism. This of course covers hospitality, restaurants, shopping, airlines, travel agents and even medical tourism.
The timing for reforming the club is crucial: Hilton, Sheraton, Accor, Onyx, Centara, and Holiday Inn are here already and many new hotel projects are being planned. Plus, with the advent of the new ‘Superpark’ and ‘Million Island’ projects, it is projected that 3 million visitors annually will come to Pattaya and a record 20.5 million international visitors will come to Thailand.
This, coupled with upgrades in the infrastructure, including roads, rails and airline access, means that Pattaya has an even better future ahead.
Skål Intl Pattaya & East Thailand will hold monthly events that will alternate between lunches and dinners and will have guest speakers. Upcoming events will be announced in the following issues of the Pattaya Mail and on Pattaya Mail Television.
Joining Skål gives members access to a database of almost 20,000 members in 87 countries in 500 clubs; and this also includes Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Samui, Hua Hin/Cha-am and Bangkok.
Annual membership cost just THB 4,500 and more details can be found online at www.skalthailand.org.
Skål was founded back in 1932 and over the last 81 years many things have changed, but one adage that remains (to use the club’s motto) is that “Doing Business among Friends” is a sure way to develop relations, build trust and increase your own business.
