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‘Pattaya White’ project seeks to build stronger communities
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh
(center) with members of Pattaya city addressing the purposes of the Pattaya
White project.
Vittaya Yoondorn
Eschewing the color-coded politics that have scarred Thailand’s
societal landscape for years, city schools have launched the “Pattaya White”
project urging students, parents and community members to come together and
form tighter bonds.
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh kicked off the first in a series of “Pattaya
White: Come a Little Closer, Can You” campaigns at Pattaya School No. 7’s
gymnasium July 8. He and city council members took the lead, painting
Pattaya’s dolphin mascot on a white wall in the gym, then inviting 600
students, community leaders, parents and school officials to join in.
Students painting on the
‘white wall’.
Participants festively decorated the wall, took photos
and shared them on Facebook, and enjoyed musical and dance performances by
students.
Ronakit said the purpose of the “Pattaya White” project is to bring
community members closer, strengthen families and encourage all residents to
use their free time productively, learn the value of education and develop a
balanced and sustainable community.
The final project activity day is scheduled Aug. 5 at Pattaya School No. 10
on Koh Larn.
Children dancing to music.
Over 600 students attend the
Pattaya White event in theirs school’s gymnasium.
Taking pictures and sharing on
Facebook.
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Independent artists teach Pattaya students
portraiture, abstract art
It looks like these students might
have a future in creative art.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Area school children earned recognition for their creativity as independent
artists introduced students to abstract drawing, portraiture, composition and
other techniques at a free Pattaya workshop.
Mana Yaprakhum, president of the Pattaya Independent Artists Club, led the July
10 drawing and painting lessons for students at Pattaya School No. 9 for
students from several Pattaya schools.
The program follows on an independent art show held last year at Central
Festival Pattaya Beach. Artists tried to instill in the students senses of
goodness, imagination and happiness through art.
Judging commences in the abstract
category.
Art projects included portraits, caricatures, animals,
landscapes and mixed media.
Upon completion of the workshop, Banglamung District Chief Sakchai Taengho
presented certificates to the day’s top artists.
Duanguthai Lhokaew of Pattaya School No. 1 took first in creative abstract art,
Wannasiri Chomyo from Pattaya School No. 3 earned the best portrait award,
Sarawuth Kohuad of Pattaya School No. 4 won first in a 2nd abstract category and
the best caricature winner was Prissana But-ngern from Pattaya School No. 2.
Pattaya School No. 3 won the collective award for best composition.
Students show off their best
portraits.
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Our disabled girl, Fahsai, once neglected and abandoned, has turned 5 years old and life is good!
Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive 2013, Sponsored by Glencore International and Canadian Jackalope Open
Lewis Underwood
This is a story about an unassuming gentleman with a fascinating hobby, who has
built a replica of Jimmy Page’s early Dragon Guitar for our auction. When Niven
was looking for a charity to benefit here, he heard about Jimmy’s connection
with the Jesters. He then came up with the idea to reproduce his iconic Dragon
guitar to help raise money for children in need of safe shelter and an
education.
Niven Walters and the guitar he
built.
Niven Walters, who hails from Perth, Scotland, but works
abroad on a rotational basis, and builds guitars when he is home. To date, he
has completed 12 of them with 20 others in various stages. Some of his more
famous works, besides Jimmy Page’s, is Eric Clapton’s ‘Crash’ Stratocaster seen
in the ‘Concert for George’, George Harrison’s Rosewood Telecaster when the
Beatles gave their last appearance on the roof of Abby Road studio and Jimi
Hendrix’s White Telecaster that he smashed in Monterey in 1967. Another renowned
guitarist’s axe he wants to craft is Rory Gallagher’s battered old Stratocaster.
This brings up another intriguing aspect of his hobby; he not only builds
guitars but also incorporates their idiosyncrasies, and tries to duplicate the
condition they were in when with the artist in question. For instance, Gallagher
had a strong strumming style which meant his guitar had a worn out scratch
plate, which Niven would integrate into his model too.
The guitar in the sunlight.
At this point it would be better to let the man himself tell
you about the guitar he has donated:
“I started this project after reading in the Pattaya Mail about the Jesters Care
for Kids Charity Drive. On seeing that a certain Mr. Jimmy Page was involved
with the Jesters, the thought came into my head about possibly donating a guitar
to the charity. I then came across the Dragon Telecaster that Jimmy Page used in
the Yardbirds and also in the early days of Led Zeppelin. I then decided to
build a replica of this guitar.
“I browsed various forums and web pages to try and find out exactly what the
guitar was. From my research I found the guitar was a blonde 1959 Fender
Telecaster that had been left to him when Jeff Beck departed the Yardbirds.
Jimmy Page decided to sand the body down and hand paint the dragon design using
enamel paints. A pick guard was then made out of clear acrylic in a standard
Telecaster shape with the addition of a tail part between the bridge and control
plate. The pick guard was lined with Mylar film, which is reflective, the idea
being that this reflected different colours from the stage lights. The neck and
pickups were I believe the original parts.
Jimmy Page playing the guitar in
question in the early days.
“My starting point was finding an ash body with a similar
grain pattern as the original. I found the following body through Guitarbuild.
The blank body was coated using Wudtone before being hand-painted by a lady
called Ulianka in Aberdeen.
“The scratch plate I cut out by hand from clear acrylic and lined with Mylar
film. On the first attempt I cold see where the colours were reflecting, but
also that it was see through and therefore you see through to the wiring. I then
decided to put a layer of foil under the Mylar, which would help reflect light
and also keep the wiring out of sight.”
After that Niven decided on Don Mare Zepotone Live Set pickups from the States,
that are hand wound to get as close as possible of Jimmy Page’s sound in the
late 60’s.
For a suitable neck he settled on a Vintage Style Telecaster neck from The Music
Room in Clegheaton and for the bridge he chose Fender with 3 threaded saddles,
which was drilled in order to be a top loader as well as through the body.
Then came the final assembly when all of the electrics were wired using
‘cloth-covered’ wire, like those used in the 50’s.
Niven continues, “It was then that we plugged it in using just the two E strings
and already it sounded huge. The pick guard was then fitted and I strung it with
some old strings and tuned it. Even without any set up it played pretty good,
but I decided that as I had spent many hours (and money) putting this together,
it would be best to have it professionally set up and took it to Jimmy Egypt’s
guitar repairs in Glasgow, where it was strung with 9’s, checked the neck
alignment and intonation, adjusted the TUSQ nut and polished the frets.”
The finished product and traveling case has been handed over to us from Niven.
He too will be coming to the Gala Party Night at the Amari Orchid Pattaya on
Saturday, September 21st. He would like to see how the biddings go on his guitar
that night.
If Jimmy could be there too, we think he would get a kick out of it. But, as
much as Jimmy does for our charity drive, he is still a busy man, and we can
only hope that he might show on the night.
If you would like to make a bid on an auction item, such as Niven’s replica
guitar and/or learn how you can help underprivileged children, please visit
www.care4kids .info or www.facebook.com/jesterscare.forkids.
Please remember that our Main Events are coming up soon:
Children’s Fair: Sunday, September 8th, at The Regent’s School Pattaya;
Gala Party Night: Saturday, September 21st, at Amari Orchid Pattaya.
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Regent’s students celebrate IB Examination results
Three of the sixty students from The Regent’s who
received IB results last week.
Tim Eaton
Students from The Regent’s School Pattaya are celebrating following the
announcement this week of the International Baccalaureate Diploma results for
2013. Their excellent results have ensured that this year’s graduates will soon
be taking up places on degree courses at some of the finest universities around
the world.
The IB is considered the gold standard of pre-university qualifications, highly
regarded by university admissions tutors around the world. Currently there are
more than 1 million IB students at over 3,600 schools in 145 countries across
the world.
The average score for the sixty students from The Regent’s School who sat this
year’s examinations was 32 points, well above the worldwide average of 29.8.
Four of the school’s students scored 40 points, which is considered the
benchmark of an outstanding performance.
Their IB Diploma results are this generation’s passport to some of the finest
universities in the world. The Regent’s graduates will now go on to study a wide
range of subjects at degree level. The sciences are particularly well
represented this year, with students securing places to study Neuro-engineering,
Mechanical Engineering, Molecular Genetics, Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry,
Psychology, Physics and Computer Science. Economics and finance degrees have
also proved popular, whilst two of our graduates have been accepted to study
Music at university.
Principal Mike Walton commented, “Congratulations to the Regent’s graduates for
their IB Diploma results. The IB Diploma is a rigorous and challenging
qualification, but one which is ideally suited to helping young adults to gain
places at leading universities around the world. As a consequence of their IB
grades, our students will be moving on to degree courses at a wide range of
leading universities, from University College London to the Korean Advanced
Institute of Science and Technology to the University of British Columbia. I
offer them all my best wishes for the future and hope they will stay in touch
with all their friends and teachers here at The Regent’s School Pattaya.”
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1,000 kids helped to control emotions
Pol. Col. Pongsak Tangkhana (inset) speaks on
Marvels at Conquering Tension for students from Pattaya School No.11.
Warunya Thongrod
More than 1,000 Pattaya students heard advice on how to control their emotions
at the city and the Emotional Health Promotion Club organized a one-day workshop
aimed at boosting youths’ “emotional quotient.”
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay and officials from the National Health Security
Office’s Pattaya branch hosted the July 12 “Marvels at Conquering Tension”
seminar at Pattaya School No. 11. Police Col. Pongsak Tangkhana stood as the
featured speaker on ridding feelings of tension, having a positive outlook and
building self confidence.
 Verawat
said the plan was to help kids from Pattaya’s 11 schools to control their
emotions, avoid confusion in life situations and better understand others. He
said youths face many pressures, whether its due to family finances, safety, ill
family members, disasters, alcoholism, and relationships.
Therefore, the deputy mayor said, the city seeks to organize activities that
boost students “EQ” as well as their IQ, or intelligence quotient.
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