President Tony Malhotra presents a
membership certificate to Allan Riddell, director of SATCC.
Paul Strachan
Skål Pattaya & East Thailand held its regular monthly meeting at the Soul
Lounge of the Hard Rock Hotel on Thursday the 28th of September.
This meeting actually deviated from the more usual concept that Skål has enjoyed
over the last few months since its re-launch, moving away from the sit down
dinners and more formal events to a relaxed networking where Skålleagues enjoyed
the sounds of the house DJ and the free flow beer, red and white wine or soft
drinks.
The ticket price was a couple of hundred baht higher for this event to cover the
free flow of drinks and the chefs at the Hard Rock laid out a great buffet which
included a curious, yet delicious “Carbon black bun mini Wagyu burger”, Unagi (a
freshwater Japanese eel) with avocado ciabatta sandwich, onion mushrooms and
bacon puff pastry, foie gras, sweet potato samosa, shrimp and crab cake,
fragrant lamb Biryani and for dessert there was maple caramelized banana nutella
pizza, Strawberry mille feuille and a prosecco granita to help cleanse the
palette.
The lounge setting enabled those attending the event to enjoy the food and
mingle with other business professionals from the world of tourism and with over
fifty people in attendance it is obvious that Skål Pattaya has quickly become a
popular option for those working in hospitality and travel.
Janya Rattanaliam (left), Head of
Int’l Marketing and Ariya Chatsri, Marketing Executive for Bangkok Hospital
Pattaya.
President Tony Malhotra made a brief speech where he welcomed
everybody and made the traditional Skål toast. He went on to thank his board and
then, as is usual at Skål, the microphone was handed round so that everybody
could introduce themselves and state what company they represented, which also
gave them a chance to mention any promotions that may be of interest.
Among these were Allan Riddell from the South African Chamber of Commerce,
Marlowe Malhotra and his team from Massic Travel, Spuarmart Vajanarat and
Jurrasatree Suwannawong from Groupon, Dominque Ronge and his team from Centara
Grand Phratamnak Resort, Pattaya which will have its soft opening on the 15th of
October.
Along with Dr Iain Corness from Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, Angie Turton (former
guest speak for Skål Pattaya), Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya General Manager Jorge
Carlos Smith, Phillipe Delaloye, and the recently appointed general manager of
Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort, Pattaya Robert J Lohrmann, who stated that he
had worked in hospitality for many years and earlier this year had decided to
retire to Chiang Mai but found that he still had a lot to offer and took up the
reins of the magnificent hotel in Wongamart, which he dubbed as the Russian
Hotel.
Jarusatree Suwannawong (left), Head
of Travel and Accommodation, and Suparmart Vajanarat, Senior Market
Executive-Travel Thai Groupon Ltd.
The guest speaker for the event was the head of the Tourist
Authority of Thailand (TAT) for the Pattaya office, Auttaphol Wannakij, who gave
an overview of tourism in Pattaya, from its many attractions such as golf and
the calendar of festivals. He showed that in terms of international tourism, the
Russians still lead the way with the Chinese in second place. He also pointed
out that the domestic market was still increasing with many Thais coming to
Pattaya for the weekend.
He went on to state that the TAT promotes Pattaya and Thailand to many
international markets and had recently returned from a very successful
promotional tour of Japan.
This was followed by some entertainment by international celebrity magician
Howard Posener, who amazed the audience with his world class skills. Howard has
been a magician for many years and has worked for the likes of Tom Hanks,
Michael Caine and Leonardo DeCaprio. He performs close up magic at the table at
Mantra restaurant every Wednesday from 7-9 p.m.
Executive advisor for Skål Pattaya & East Thailand Peter Malhotra gave a vote of
thanks for Auttaphol Wannakij and for Howard Posener and also to the staff and
management of the Hard Rock Hotel for hosting the event and for their
cooperation and support of Skål in Pattaya.
There was still more networking to be done and the drinks and food were still
being enjoyed when Nick Pendrell gave a brief overview of a new magazine and TV
channel specifically aimed at the Chinese market. It is free of charge and can
be used in hotels in and around Pattaya. This is especially significant as the
Chinese market makes up a huge part of the revenue stream for the hospitality
industry, and the magazine and TV are the first to fill this niche.
Howard Posener amazes the audience
with his world class magic skills.
Since its re-launch earlier this year Skål Pattaya & East
Thailand has quickly made a mark for itself, and has grown quickly into a
welcome alternative to some of the other networking events across the city.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday the 17th of October at the Pullman
Pattaya Hotel G. Looking onwards, Skål will be at the new Centara Grand
Phratamnak Resort, Pattaya on November the 21st and rounding the year off with a
Christmas party on the beach at the Pinnacle Grand Jomtien Resort & Spa on
December the 19th.
The Skål motto is “Doing business amongst friends” and if your business is
related to tourism please keep up to date with Skål Pattaya & East Thailand on
their facebook page:
www.facebook.com/skalpattaya.
(L to R) Guest speaker Auttaphol
Wannakij, Director of TAT Pattaya Office, Elfi Seitz executive editor Pattaya
Blatt and Peter Malhotra MD of Pattaya Mail Media Group.
(L to R) Tony Malhotra, President of
Skål Int’l Pattaya & East Thailand, Robert John Lohrmann, GM of Centara Grand
Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya, Jana Kenton and George Kenton, Executive Assistant
Manager-Rooms Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya.
The Centara Grand Phratamnak Resort
Pattaya management (l-r) Luca Pulese, Executive Chef; Leon Berrange, F&B
Manager; Oscar Martin, F&B Asst Manager and General Manager Dominique Rongé.
(L to R) Esther Kaufman, MD of My
Office Travel, Kim and Pascal Schnyder, owners of Casa Pascal Fine Dining.
The beauty corner (l-r) Supparatch
Piyawatcharapun, Centara Grand Phratamnak Resort Pattaya, Dueanpen Thongsombut,
Asst Director Sales Amari Orchid Pattaya, Jitmanee Siravithayavanich, Hotel
Manager for Way Hotel and Urai Patenya, Sales Manager for Eastern Star Resort &
Golf Club.
(L to R) Marlowe Malhotra MD of
Massic Travel, Supa Kukarja director of PMTV and Vicky Malhotra, manager of
Massic Travel.
Holiday Inn Pattaya team (l-r)
Ireelda Jirachokchayanant, Meetings & Events Manager, Papakan Saguansap, Tea
Tree Spa Manager and Sipat Vongsakul, Revenue Analyst.
(L to R) Philippe Delaloye, Dimitri
Chernyshev, EAM of Pullman Pattaya Hotel G and Jorge Carlos Smith, GM of Hard
Rock Hotel Pattaya.