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Beat the summer heat: follow Queen’s example
of planting trees
This year
Thailand wilted in what the Meteorological Department described as the hottest summer in
40 years, with temperatures ranging from 38 to 43 degrees Celsius in some provinces.
Rivers and wells dried up, leaving 69 out of the country’s 73 provinces in the grip
of drought.
This, after everyone thought that last year’s summer was the hottest
Thailand has ever had, when the temperature went up to 35-38 degrees Celsius.
What is in store for us next year? Is there a way to combat the summer heat and the
drought that comes with it?
Skeptics will tell you that what is happening in Thailand is part of the
global climate change brought about by the heavy concentration of carbon dioxide and other
gases in the atmosphere, or what scientists call the "greenhouse effect".
But if one thinks that Thailand — and the world — was much
cooler when it was half-covered by rain forests, then there might still be hope that we
could beat the summer heat.
How? By planting trees, lots and lots of them!
Forest trees are efficient natural reservoirs. They absorb water in the
rainy season and then gradually release it in the dry season, thus ensuring moisture in
the atmosphere and a steady supply of water in our rivers to irrigate farms and to meet
domestic demands.
Trees serve as buffers that prevent the rains from eroding the soil, thus
also keeping silt from building up in canals, rivers and dams, and preventing floods.
Siltation of waterways is often the cause of flooding in the rainy season.
Trees are excellent air purifiers: They absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. The less
trees to purify the air, the more carbon dioxide escaping into the atmosphere.
Then we should not forget that trees provide timber for all of man’s
construction needs, as well as fuel to cook his food.
These, and more, were foremost in Her Majesty the Queen’s mind when
she started a reforestation program ten years ago.
The Queen’s successful Pah Rak Nam (Forest Loves Water) Project,
which saw the planting of thousands of forest trees on marginal land in Sakon Nakhon
Province, and poor, landless farmers being hired to look after the trees, has been the
model of a rehabilitation program initiated by Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn to
help the victims of the floods that destroyed the livelihood of thousands of people in
Nakhon Si Thammarat in 1988. The project allows the farmers to plant fruit trees for food
and to augment their income while looking after the forest trees. In addition, each family
is given a house in which to live, fowl and livestock to raise, and seeds and tools
necessary to make a living.
Villagers were so inspired by the Queen’s reforestation effort that
landowners in Sakon Nakhon and adjoining provinces joined the program and planted forest
trees on their idle land without being hired to do so.
But that is not all. In Chiang Mai’s San Kamphaeng District, Her
Majesty initiated the rehabilitation of Mae Takrai Forest by having it developed as a
recreational park for the public and meditation center and retreat for monks as well as
lay-people. The conservation of Mae Takrai Forest for the promotion of religious practices
has helped protect not only the forest but also wildlife species, as hunting of wild
animals is forbidden in the area, which is now considered sacred.
Her Majesty did not stop there. Concerned about the destruction of forests
and depletion of water sources in many parts of the country, she enlisted the help of the
provincial governor and the regional office of the Royal Forest Department in reviving the
forests surrounding the villages of Moang Luang and Moang Noi in Tambon Tha Pha, Mae Chaem
District of Chiang Mai. The Queen’s objectives? To protect watersheds; to plant new
trees and revive deforested areas; to develop the villages and improve the villagers’
way of life; and to promote an efficient agricultural management among the villagers.
The program is aimed at improving the villagers’ standard of living
and quality of life, and at the same time making them aware of the importance of
watersheds and the natural environment, thereby making conservation more effective and
longer lasting.
To be implemented over a period of 19 years, from 1984 to 2002, the
project, known as the "Sirikit Forest Garden Project," will see the protection
and rehabilitation of 34,204.12 rai (13,340 acres) of rain forests, which represent 63.35
per cent of the total project area. The rest will be used for farming and for planting
fruit trees and cash crops, so that the villagers can earn a living without destroying the
forests.
Yet another project which her Majesty the Queen initiated to improve the
standard of living of villagers and at the same time protect the forest can be found in
Omkoi District of Chiang Mai. It all started when Her Majesty was on her way to visit the
villagers in Tambon Mae Tuen and Tambon Mon Chong in Omkoi. Looking down from the
helicopter, Her Majesty saw that the forest, although destroyed in some areas, was still
rich and fertile.
Aware that this same forest was the habitat of rare wildlife species and
home for poor villagers who eke out their living in the forest, the Queen decided to
protect and preserve it through proper management.
Following the Queen’s suggestion, a program was launched with three
main objectives: to protect that part of the forest that was still rich and fertile from
being destroyed; to reclaim and revive that part which had been destroyed by planting
trees, both for forest protection and for practical use as fuel and timber; and to improve
the livelihood of the villagers living in the forest.
The idea was to enable the villagers to continue to make a living in the
forest, and at the same time care for it. The project, known as "Little Houses in the
Big Forest," is therefore characterized by the concept of co-existence, with man
caring for the forest and the forest supplying some of man’s basic needs.
The Queen’s "Little Houses in the Big Forest" was carried
out with help from various government agencies, such as the Royal Forest Department, which
provided the villagers with tree saplings; the Department of Agricultural Extension, which
taught the villagers proper agricultural methods and cultivation of fruit trees and
vegetables in their own backyard; the Department of Livestock Development, which taught
the villagers to raise livestock and chickens; the Department of Fisheries, which gave
advice on aquaculture and provided fish fries for the village community pond.
The there’s also the Ministry of Public Health, which provided health
education and health care for the villagers; the Local Administration Department, which
gave support in digging well sand in building reservoirs for fish farming; and last, but
not the least, the Queen’s SUPPORT Foundation, which assisted in teaching villagers
to weave.
All of Her Majesty the Queen’s reforestation projects have shown that
man can exist without destroying the forests. But why leave all the work to Her Majesty?
The Queen has shown the way how to do it; Now it’s time for people in
all parts of the country to help protect what’s left of or forests and rehabilitate
what has been destroyed, but allowing farmers and villagers to eke out a living without
destroying the natural environment.
It’s only by helping make Thailand green with trees that we an ensure
our watersheds are alive again, to provide people throughout the country with much needed
water in the dry season — and moisture to ease the summer heat.
Her Majesty the Queen and Thai silk
conservation
During the first Royal visit to the people of the
North-Eastern provinces in 1955, Her Majesty was deeply impressed in "mat mi"
phasins worn by villagers coming to greet their King and Queen.
During the 1970 visit to distribute articles of necessity to victims of a
devastating flood in Nakhon Phanom Province, His Majesty the King remarked that such a
relief-effort was only a temporary kind and that there should be long-term to stand on
their own feet.
 His Majesty the King’s remarks and Her Majesty
the Queen’s admiration in the beauty of mat mi textiles led to Her Majesty the
Queen’s promotion of Thai silk weaving as a cottage industry for villagers to earn
their supplementary income that could support their families during hardship deriving from
drought or flood.
Later, Her Majesty assigned Thanpuying Suprapada Kasemsant, Private
Secretary to Her Majesty, and Khunying Charungjit Teekara, a lady-in-waiting to Her
Majesty, to travel to the homes of the villagers in the provinces of the north-eastern
region, such as Nakhon Phanom, Roi Et, Maha Sarakham, to buy mat mi textiles.
Her Majesty the Queen personally inspected the mat mi textiles that were
bought and encouraged the weavers to increase the number of their works. Her Majesty the
Queen also gave recommendations on silk worms, dyes, patterns and quality of mat mi
textiles to the weavers. Prescription eyeglasses and weaving instruments were usually
given to the weavers, reflecting Her Majesty the Queen’s concerns over them.
Her Majesty’s assistance for the weavers came entirely from Her
personal Purse until charitable persons expressed their desire to have an opportunity to
help assisting those people. Therefore, the Foundation for the Promotion of Supplementary
Occupations and Related Techniques (SUPPORT) of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand was
established in 1976, primarily aiming to increase the villagers’ income and later on
to conserve and promote Thai handicrafts. The name significantly reflects Her
Majesty’s dedication to the foundation. Apart from being the Foundation’s
president, Her Majesty also supervises the foundation’s working procedures.
Founded in 1979, the Supplementary Occupations Training Center in the
Chitralada Palace is a center for the promotion of Supplementary Occupations nationwide.
Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family select members of poor families to be trained
at the center. Not only gaining knowledge about handicrafts ranging from silver and golden
neilloware, silverware, goldenware to silk and cotton weaving, accommodation, and other
fringe benefits are also available.
Nowadays, handicrafts made by the trainees of the Supplementary
Occupations Training Center at the Chitralada Palace and by the local people all over the
country are displayed at a handicraft showroom in the compound of the Chitralada Palace.
Visitors are allowed to appreciate and purchase them during working hours.
It might be said that Her Majesty the Queen is the leader in the promotion
of mat mi textiles as she always wears mat mi silk clothing both in Thai and international
styles, and persuades her ladies-in-waiting to wear clothes of mat mi materials.
For further promotion, Her Majesty the Queen has many times given
instructions that silk and mat mi fashion shows and sales be arranged both in the Palace
and other places. Unsurprisingly, support comes from many charitable persons.
Her Majesty’s determination to assist the poor people and to revive
and conserve traditional Thai handicrafts is deeply appreciated by the Thai citizens.
ASEAN Tourism Chiefs Mull Launch of Visit ASEAN
Year II
by Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor, Travel
Impact, Bangkok, Thailand
ASEAN national tourism organisations (NTOs) are considering the
feasibility of launching a Visit ASEAN Millennium Year in 2002, exactly a decade after the
first one that marked the 25th anniversary of the regional grouping in 1992.
While the first VAY was affected somewhat by the 1991 conflict in Gulf,
the possibility of doing a sequel is overshadowed by the regional economic crisis and the
financial squeeze being faced by all the ASEAN NTOs.
The issue was discussed in detail at the 8th meeting of the ASEAN NTOs in
Chiang Rai last week. Politically, VAY II has been sent up for inclusion in the Hanoi Plan
of Action to be announced after the ASEAN summit conference in the Vietnamese capital in
December.
Practically, the ASEAN NTOs are still considering whether they will be
able to pool the funds for a three-year campaign to launch VAY II in 2002. The
Philippines, which presented a preliminary action plan on the event at the Chiang Rai
meeting, has been asked to come up with a more detailed proposal for discussion at an
August meeting of ASEAN tourism marketing officials in Kuala Lumpur.
However, all indications are that the event will go ahead. The year 2002
will mark the 35th anniversary of ASEAN’s founding. The region also needs a catalyst
to rebuild the ASEAN tourism brand-name, rally support for a whole series of travel
facilitation and liberalisation measures being discussed under other ASEAN forums and
cement strongly the role of travel & tourism as the region’s leading foreign
exchange earner at a time when the region needs to dig itself out of the economic hole as
soon as possible.
If approved and announced at the ASEAN summit in Hanoi, VAY II could
become the major focus at the ASEAN Tourism Forum, the region’s most important travel
trade show, in Singapore in January 1999.
The funding problem will no doubt be resolved through private-sector
sponsorship. There is expected to be no shortage of sponsorship offers from credit-card
companies and other travel industry multi-nationals, along with the thousands of ASEAN
hotels, tour operators and airlines.
One of the major differences between VAY I and II will be the absence of
the Europeans. In the late 1980s, the European Community funded a series of marketing
strategies that laid the groundwork for the promotion of ASEAN as a single tourism
destination, climaxing with VAY I.
However, all that hard work went to waste soon after with the decision to
dissolve the former ASEAN Sub-Committee on Tourism and its Kuala Lumpur based secretariat,
the ASEAN Tourism Information Centre. For the last three years, there has been no unified
global promotion of the ASEAN brand at international tourism events and trade shows.
The Europeans have turned their attentions towards promoting tourism in
other regions like the Indian Ocean and South Pacific islands. They are also hesitant
about doing anything that supports the military regime in Myanmar. As a result, ASEAN NTOs
are looking to foster closer ties with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and India.
VAY II is one element of a broader ASEAN Tourism Action Plan that the
regional NTOs are seeking to put together, the funds shortage notwithstanding.
One critical element of this plan is the promotion of intra-ASEAN travel.
Thailand has been assigned the task of researching how best this can be done and
presenting a study by the January 1999 ASEAN Tourism Forum.
A preliminary paper presented by Thailand at the Chiang Rai meeting showed
that there is tremendous scope for pushing intra-ASEAN travel. Nearly all the ASEAN
citizens enjoy visa-free status for visiting each other’s countries. Numerous
sub-groupings and growth-triangles like IMT-GT, BIMP-EAGA, SIM-GT and the Greater Mekong
Sub-region are working on plans to facilitate local travel, trade and investment.
At a broader ASEAN level, trade and financial liberalisation projects are
also under way under the ASEAN free-trade umbrella. The ASEAN Framework Agreement on
Services is seeking commitments from each country to facilitate travel and tourism.
The critical impediment to intra-ASEAN travel remains transport,
specifically air-transport. The vast majority of intra-ASEAN travel remains cross-border
traffic, mainly because people can use border-passes or identity cards. However, with the
region divided by vast tracts of water, closer air links need to be built between the
capital and secondary cities of ASEAN.
The problem here is that liberalisation of regional aviation agreements
has not made much headway. Moreover, the economic crisis has affected the rise of many
regional and commuter airlines which could have played a major role in developing smaller
feeder routes considered uneconomical by the ASEAN mainstream carriers.
There are numerous other issues to be addressed, such as bolstering
intra-regional cruise traffic, harmonising road-licensing agreements and signage and
developing rail travel. All these issues are being discussed under the aegis of the ASEAN
transport ministers.
A suggestion by the Tourism Authority of Thailand for the ASEAN tourism
and transport officials to hold consultations at least once a year was enthusiastically
accepted by the ASEAN NTOs at the Chiang Rai meeting. They have agreed to invite the ASEAN
transport officials for the first such consultative meeting at the January ASEAN Tourism
Forum in Singapore.
The ASEAN NTOs are also keeping a close eye on discussions taking place
amongst ASEAN finance officials on greater use of ASEAN currencies for intra-ASEAN trade
settlements, especially as greater use of local currencies could go a long way towards
promoting intra-ASEAN travel.
ASEAN is also looking to build tourism bridges with Australia, New Zealand
and India. Discussions with India are very much in a preliminary stage and focussing on
facilitation of investment, human resources development and reciprocal marketing
strategies.
They are somewhat more advanced with the Australians who have proposed
linking tourism statistical information through an electronic database, creation of joint
tourism packages to attract business from Europe and the US, and opportunities to develop
pre- and post-tours around the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.
Australia has also offered its experience in the field of travel &
tourism training in areas like theme parks, meetings and conferences, tour wholesaling and
tour guiding. In turn, New Zealand has already helped provide trainers for two ecotourism
workshops held in Khon Kaen last February.
Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor, Travel Impact
24 Soi Chidlom, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Tel: 2551480, 2537590. Fax: 2544316.
Email: [email protected]
Travel Impact specialises in global travel and tourism research,
communications and consultancy.
The Coffee Shop at Pinewood Condo Hotel
Pinewood Condo Hotel, built 1-1/2 years ago, is very
centrally located on 2nd Road opposite Sois 5 and 6. Still, not many people know about it
yet.The hotel has 102 rooms and apartments, all of them elegantly furnished,
available for short and long term rent at amazingly reasonable prices.
General Manager Udo Hartung has been operating Pinewood Condo for a bit
more than 6 months. He is a very experienced hotel manager, for he has worked in almost
every part of the world. He’s still planning to change a bit here and there and
believe me, he never runs out of plans.
Outside of his profession, he was once a fantastic sportsman, with silver
medals in a 2-seater Bobsled at the Olympic Games and World Cup to his credit.
He was given rather short notice before this Dining Out, and was only
contacted just before he left for a business trip to Bangkok. Yet, even though he
couldn’t be there with us, he took good care of us.
The 24-hour Coffee Shop at the hotel is located next to the pool.
It’s open air and breezy. The many fans keep lots of air flowing and the pool keeps
it cool as well.
The place is nicely decorated with plants, and has a waterfall that
highlights one side of the pool. Lots of other plants are in and around the coffee shop,
and wooden tables and chairs for four give it a rather rustic impression. All looks like a
genuine resort, a place one can relax. No wonder journalists in Pattaya and others from
foreign countries chose this place for their weekly get-together on Fridays. Probably also
because on Fridays Udo prepares a special BBQ with himself as the chef.
While we were waiting for our food, we noticed the overhead mirrors,
giving one the chance to watch yourself eating, or your husband flirting with somebody at
the next table. But beware, you might end up with a stiff neck doing so.
Breakfast starts at 7:00 a.m. and one can order until 12:00 p.m. - not bad
to drop in for a late breakfast. 4 different kinds of breakfast are available,
Continental, American, German and Thai, the prices being between 50 and 100 baht.
The menu itself is easy to be overlooked; for it’s not very big, but
for sure hearty. Soups, Sandwiches, Burgers, Pizzas, Spaghetti of all kinds and 7
main-dishes makes you choose fast. The food also arrives very fast.
The first dish we received was "Yam Wun Sen", a glass noodle
salad. My friend started to "oh, oh" after she took the first forkful and said:
"I have to come with Cindy, she’d just LOVE this stuff." Ok, Cindy, now you
know where you’ll be dining next time you come to Pattaya. Pat made another remark
about it, creating a new word. She said this salad would be the ideal
‘soberizer’ (soberer) after a few drinks too many during a long night. I wonder
when she’ll need it the first time!
The main course was served with French Fries and - in typical German style
- with the Tomato Salad. It was a Pork Steak, topped with Mushroom Sauce. I assure you, it
was very, very tasty and we didn’t leave a single crumb on the plate.
Ice cream with Fruit Salad, also exceptionally good, was our dessert.
Unfortunately for Pat, who was there for the first time, we couldn’t try a variety of
the other dishes, since Udo had planned our menu before he left. Lucky me, attending the
regular circle of cronies for journalists now and then, I have already had the chance to
try some other dishes. The portions are always big and all the food is tasty and hearty,
no matter what you order. The background music, tunes of the fifties, is soft, not
blaring, and gives one the chance to actually talk.
The Pinewood Coffee Shop is, besides regular eating hours, a good place to
have a late night - or early morning - meal. Where else is it possible to sit at a central
place in the middle of the happenings, yet still away from the crowd, and be able to order
good food all night long?
Drop in and try it out for yourself - lots of parking space is available -
right next to the coffee shop.
The address of Pinewood Condo Hotel: 28/3 Moo 9, Second Road, Tel. 361
403-8, Fax: 361 590.
Successfully Yours: Bill Burbridge
by Mirin MacCARTHY
Bill Burbridge, owner of Seafari, sure has some interesting stories to
tell. Born in Foxboro, Massachusetts in the United States, he has worked in many of the
more remote, wilder and woolliest parts of the globe, before making Thailand his home 32
years ago.
 Bill began his career in electronics installation.
For ten years he was involved with the building of a massive early warning defense system
(called the "Dewline") around Russia, Alaska, through Europe and on to Asia.
Bill is very proud of his part in its construction. "It’s considered to be the
8th wonder of the world. It’s really what prevented World War III," he says with
conviction.
It was while in Turkey that Bill became a diver. Coming across a mail
order catalogue, on a whim, he bought a diving outfit. It came complete with a typed four
page instruction manual! "This was long before PADI courses," said Bill. Leaving
his precious four pages on the beach, Bill walked into the sea! "My first dive was
frightening, in massive amounts of kelp, but I survived!"
Bill’s introduction to Thailand came with his secondment, in 1966, to
the electronics group Philco-Ford, ending up in an administrative position in Bangkok. It
was then that Bill realized that he just loved the outdoor life, and driving a desk was
just not his style. In 1970, he quit!
He then had to make several big decisions. The first was where he would
live. "I liked Thailand. It seemed stable and the government pretty democratic. Sure
they had a coup every so often, but it only lasts overnight! I liked the people,
they’re humble and polite and clean. So I decided to stay."
He spent the next few months looking for a suitable occupation, while
dating his future partner in life, now Pat Burbridge. Moving to Pattaya for more diving,
he met up with that well known Pattaya personality Alois X. Fassbind who offered Bill the
opportunity to set up an outdoor sports center at the newly constructed Pattaya Palace
Hotel. "He said to make him a proposal, so I thought - why not!" Bill’s
reasoning was that since he personally enjoyed climbing, skiing, skeet shooting, riding
and diving, why not go for a position being paid to do what he enjoyed most. This was the
start of "Seafari".
The man who had taught himself how to dive, quickly taught himself the
principles of staying afloat in the deep water of business. "I didn’t get the
equipment for the new shop till ten the night before the Grand Opening at ten the next
morning. We had to work all night but we made it for the ribbon cutting."
Through that potential disaster, and many others, Bill and his outdoor
recreation shop swam along in an association with some Pattaya hotels. However, by 1991 he
decided to take the big plunge and open up in his own premises, where Seafari is still
located today, in Soi 5.
After a somewhat turbulent past, Bill seems very settled today.
"Success for me is setting goals in life, and achieving those goals. Do that and you
are just as great a success as the President of the United States. Mine have been to own
my own business - not to make a million dollars, but to be one of the best - and to be
able to work my own hours!"
He advises those contemplating their own business to, "...set a
specific goal, not too diverse or so distant to be unobtainable. Then you need
perseverance, faith in yourself and be a self starter."
Bill has certainly done that. From those early days and his four page mail
order instruction manual, he now has so many PADI instructor certificates on his wall
there is hardly enough room for the poster of his daughter Cindy, Miss Thailand World,
1997. That poster is inscribed "To the best Daddy in the world." That, for Bill,
is probably the final success.
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