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Raising money for charity can be fun
If you thought that raising money for charity in Thailand
is hard work, you’re right. It is. But it can be fun, too, per Paul
Strachan, who spoke to the Pattaya City Expats Club on Sunday, January 26.
He is one of six well known members of the Pattaya expats community who
created TFi, the Thai Farang Initiative. TFi believes in having fun while
raising money for charity. TFi is relatively new. It organised its first
fund-raising event in August 2012.
Board member Roy Albiston opens the
26th of January meeting of Pattaya City Expats Club by inviting new members
and guests to introduce themselves. Note flag waving Koala celebrating
Australia Day!
The six expats wanted to do something different from what
other organisations are doing. Each of the expats brought different skills
to the party, such as logistics, promotion and graphic design. They wanted
to create an organisation that would be transparent in its operations, and
able to connect with both the community and its sponsors.
TFi has tried to make each of its fundraising events different. The first
event was a 80s music night. Over 230 guests paid 400 baht for three hours
of dancing and drinking, and raised 153,000 baht for various charities.
Paul explained that TFi distributed the proceeds from the event in different
ways. For example, TFi teamed up with the Rotary Club Eastern Seaboard. TFi
and Rotary each pledged 20,000 baht to buy 40 clean water filters for poor
families at Chumchim School near Mabprachan Lake.
TFi has joined forces with Pattaya Sports Club to rebuild a man’s sidecar so
that he could make a living and provide for his family. TFi also helped a
couple with three children build a new roof on their home; Paul showed a
picture of the house and mentioned since the couple didn’t own the land and
house, they did not try to build a better house as the owner might decide to
evict the family and sell the property since its value would have increased.
Pattaya identity, Paul Strachan,
one of the founders of the TFi (Thai Farang Initiative) was the guest
speaker at Pattaya City Expats Club on 26th of January. Paul’s topic was how
fundraising for charity can be fun, as well as helping the less fortunate.
TFi donated 50,000 baht to Operation Smile to help
children with facial deformities. Paul said that sometimes City Hall staff
gets involved in their efforts to identify people in need. In one case TFi
was helping a woman who had been bedridden and had had little to eat; when
the City Hall staff learned that her last meal was the previous morning,
they pitched in to immediately cook a nice dinner for her.
The second event, a disco evening, raised 70,000 baht. This event had a sole
sponsor - Compass Real Estate - so, the sponsor got to decide where the bulk
of the funds were to be donated. They selected Dr Philippe Seur who treats
people living with HIV. Dr Seur received 53,000 baht. Paul said that the
money would cover HIV treatments for 20 patients for one month. However,
Paul added, Dr Seur has 200 patients. That just shows how great the needs
are.
The third event was a jolly kids Christmas at Jameson’s. Even though the
event had no entrance fee, it raised 50,000 baht thanks to the sponsors.
Board member Lawrie McLoughlin
thanks Paul for his presentation and for his efforts for this very worthy
cause, presenting Paul with a Certificate of Appreciation.
Paul said that TFi will continue to make fun events for
charity in 2014. “We welcome all ideas for events and are seeking new
projects to support. We are also seeking new sponsors.”
In terms of promoting its events, Paul said that Facebook is a very useful
vehicle for getting the word out quickly. For more information about TFi,
visit their website at
www.tfi-events.com , youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11pCVO8b3SI or send an email to
[email protected]. For
their latest planned event, visit https://www.facebook.com/funcharityevents.
After Paul’s presentation, Master of Ceremonies Roy Albiston brought
everyone up to date on upcoming events and called on Tony Heron to conduct
the always informative Open Forum; an opportunity to ask and answer
questions about Expat living in Thailand, especially Pattaya.
For more information on the many activities of the Pattaya City Expats Club,
visit www.pcecclub.org.
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PCEC members give New Year
greetings to Chonburi’s Governor
On January 14, 2014, members of the Pattaya City Expats Club
presented Chonburi Provincial Governor Khomsan Ekachai with a traditional hamper
of foods for the New Year as part of the PCEC’s ongoing effort to maintain a
presence with local and provincial government Officials.
Those presenting the gift to the Governor were Club Chair Pat Koester, Board
Members Roy Albiston and Richard Smith (accompanied by his wife Janet), and
member Sermsakdi along with the Club’s special friend Radchada “Toy” Chomjinda,
inter-country adoption representative for the Pattaya Orphanage.
PILC holds delightful
wine tasting evening
(L to R) Gisela de Wit, Helle
Rantsen, Georgina Ong and Sue Tait enjoy PILC’s wine tasting evening, a
delightful gathering of people having a lovely night out whilst generating funds
for charity.
Sue Tait
On Saturday January 25th a wine tasting was held by Pattaya
International Ladies Club at a beautiful Villa in the grounds of Siam Country
Club. Our arrival was greeted by Helle with tasting sheets and information about
the wines for the evening.
The wines were provided by World of Wine, with a glass or two of bubbly
(Brokenhill Estate Charles Steiner NV Brut) as a welcome drink. Having seated
ourselves poolside on what proved to be a relatively cool evening we moved on to
sample a selection of wines. Australian and Chilean of both the red and white
variety were presented with water, cheese and walnuts to ‘cleanse’ the palate.
There was much discussion about the various merits of the wines tasted with many
opting to buy their favourite on the night.
After our ‘New World’ wine tasting presented by Darren and Louise we were ready
for the delicious buffet provided by our hosts, Christine & Neil and PILC with a
few extra items contributed by some of the guests.
Throughout the evening a silent auction was held featuring a gift voucher from
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, our sponsor. Additionally, hotel vouchers were on
offer along with various art pieces and, of course, a big basket full of great
wine.
We had a very entertaining evening, meeting new people, greeting friends,
sampling good quality wines and eating lovely savoury and sweet delights.
It was a delightful gathering of people having a lovely night out and enabling
us to generate some funds for PILC charities at the same time.
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Handicapped Tourism introduced to Skål
(L to R) Peter Strehlau, Dieter Maspfuhl, Uschy
Maspfuhl, Jens Maspfuhl, Boonyang Maspfuhl, Erika Strehlau and Peter Malhotra
enjoy the cool ocean breezes during the Skål meeting at the Centara Grand
Mirage.
Dr. Iain Corness
The Skål Pattaya and East Thailand monthly networking meeting for
January was held at the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya, and was one
of the best attended functions of the revamped club, under the presidency of
Tony Malhotra.
The guest speaker was Jens Maspfuhl, a man with some very different reasons to
have an association with Pattaya. Ten years ago, Jens was in a road accident on
his way to the Eastern Star golf course. In the emergency department, the
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya’s neurosurgeon Dr. Alongkorn found that Jens had
fractured his seventh cervical vertebra, a catastrophic injury which would
condemn him to being a paraplegic and in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
(L to R) George Kenton, Executive Assistant Manager,
Rooms, of the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya; Dominique Ronge,
General Manager of the Centara Grand Phratamnak Resort Pattaya; Tony Malhotra,
President of Skål Pattaya and East Thailand, Sirilak Khampan, Sales and PR
Manager of the Centara Grand Phratamnak Resort Pattaya; Robert John Lohrmann,
General Manger of the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya; and Carl
Duggan, EAM F&B at Centara Grand Phratamnak Resort Pattaya.
For many people this would be thought of as the end of the world. One’s mind
dwells on all the items in life that are no longer available to the newly
handicapped person. However this was not Jens Maspfuhl’s response to his injury.
He had been an excellent golfer with a handicap of 8.9, so he looked at ways for
him to return to the golf course.
The first need was a wheelchair that could let him stand up and swing a club.
Not an easy task, but one that he managed to find and then perfect a new
technique. Using one arm only, Jens’ handicap is now 23, considerably better
than a large percentage of able-bodied golfers.
Jens’ address to the Skål members was not designed to engender sympathy, but
rather to alert the members involved in the hospitality business that there were
a great number of active handicapped people able to travel these days, with the
major restriction being whether the destination’s facilities could be used by
those in wheelchairs.
(Back, L to R) Dr. Iain Corness, Chef Alberto Bruni,
and Boonyang Maspfuhl with the evening’s guest speaker Jens Maspfuhl (front).
Of course, there was also the responsibility which had to be taken up by the
city fathers to allow wheelchair access to pavements and shopping centers.
After Jens’ presentation, the Skål members continued with the excellent buffet
supervised by Chef Alberto resplendent in yellow with his trademark red shoes,
twins to those of Dr. Iain.
The next Skål meeting will be on Thursday 20 February in the ballroom of Bangkok
Hospital Pattaya, on the topic of ‘Medical Tourism’. To reserve you can contact:
[email protected]
or www.facebook.com/skalpattaya.
The night’s guest speaker, Jens Maspfuhl.
Tony Malhotra President of Skål Pattaya and East
Thailand, and Deputy Managing Director of the Pattaya Mail Media Group,
addresses the gathered Skålleagues.
Robert John Lorhmann (left), GM of Centara Grand Mirage
Beach Resort Pattaya chats with Tony Malhotra, President of Skål Pattaya and
East Thailand.
(L to R) Chonlatee Nakamadee, guru of the dusitD2
baraquda Pattaya, Tony Malhotra, President of Skål Pattaya and East Thailand and
Rungratree Thongsai.
(L to R) Elfi Seitz of the Pattaya Blatt has a nice
visit with her friends Peter and Erika Strehlau.
(L to R) Rene E.H. Pisters, GM of the Thai Garden
Resort Pattaya; Dr Iain Corness; Nattakarn Sinprasom; Peter Malhotra, Managing
Director of the Pattaya Mail Media Group; Ploy Pisters, Luciano Lillus, General
Manager of the Sunshine Hotels & Resorts Pattaya; and Danilo Bockert, Deputy
General Manager of the Thai Garden Resort Pattaya getting ready for the Skål
meeting.
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