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Beach BBQ for the
UK Club - with weather from home
The UK Club of Pattaya held their monthly members’
function last weekend in the form of a beach barbeque at the Hill Beach
Resort.
The hotel put on a fine spread, and as club members
lapped up the afternoon breeze off Pattaya Bay, much of the talk centred
on the second letter received from the British Queen Mother, thanking them
for celebrating her 101st Birthday.
 Andrew
Hutchings and his guests settling in to enjoy some good old English
weather. Someone was heard to say, “UK does have a summer. Last year it
was a Wednesday.”
President of the club, Ron Hall gave a short speech,
wishing everyone an enjoyable afternoon. Some of the guests reminisced
about their beach vacations back in the motherland and before you could
say, “God save the Queen,” the winds changed, bringing in storm
clouds, and with rain pelting down almost horizontally, their wish had
come true.
Despite the change in weather, everybody enjoyed the
afternoon, for they just adjourned to bar (or behind for some), eventually
not giving the weather a second thought.
The next function of the UK Club of Pattaya is on
Saturday, October 27th where they will bring out the Halloween gear at
Henry J Beans.
Holiday Bazaar on
this Saturday!
Saturday, 6th October’s Pattaya International Ladies Club (PILC)
Holiday Bazaar in Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s PEACH facility will again be a
busy and fun packed day. PEACH provides excellent facilities for this type of
undertaking, and there is more than ample car parking underneath the facility,
so you don’t have far to carry all that heavy shopping!
The ladies of the PILC will again be working hard to ensure
that the day is a success; they will be taking ticket money (100 baht for
adults), modelling in the fashion show, attending to the vendors from early
morning, selling raffle tickets, supervising and judging children’s activities
and generally keeping busy.
The PILC’s own stall, selling Christmas crackers and other
novelties for the festive season will also be busy. PILC Welfare will be
represented, showing PILC projects and giving information about them, and
offering items for sale from PILC initiated self-help projects in the community.
It is through their hard work leading up to the bazaar and
also on the day which helps to ensure its success. All funds raised by the
bazaar are distributed to local Thai charities to help the needy.
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The program
for the day is as follows: |
| 9:30 |
Official opening by
Atchara Pachimnan |
| 10:00 |
Bazaar opens to shoppers
Children’s activities open |
| 11:00 |
Fashion Show - Hall
A |
| 12:00 |
First of 3 Thai cultural dance shows - Hall A
(12:00, 12:20, 12:40) |
| 14:00 |
Fashion Show - Hall A (repeat)
Children’s activities close |
| 14:30 |
Judging of
Children’s competitions and prize giving |
| 15:30 |
Grand Raffle Prizes
drawn |
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Raffle tickets are available at all PILC functions or
from Judy Clausen on 038-704-537, and will be on sale at the bazaar until
13:00.
If you would like any other information about the
bazaar, or the PILC generally, please don’t hesitate to contact Arlette
Cykman on 038-300-325 or Julie Garratt on 038-306-150. |
I’d like to teach the world to sing
by New Seekers
Rock n’ Roll is simply an attitude! You do not have to
play the greatest guitar, so said Rock legend Johnny Thunders of the New
York Dolls. This formed the basis of the recent training sessions titled
‘Rock Mania’ which was conducted recently for all newly recruited band
members of the Hard Hock Hotel Pattaya.
 Hard
Rock Hotel’s newest “band members”
‘Rock Mania’ was conducted by Hard Hock Culture
Training Manager, Iwan Setiawan, who is based at the Hard Rock Hotel in
Bali, Indonesia, and assisted by Somsakul Ponlachan, Thailand’s own
training manager for Pattaya.
Applying Rock n’ Roll terminology within the hotel’s
lingua franca with ‘Band Members’ (hotel staff) helped these sessions to
be entertaining and fun. With Iwan’s unique showmanship and knowledge of
both the hotel and music industry, the main objective is to inculcate band
members the philosophy and service standards of Hard Rock Hotel so as to
produce a unique, memorable and fun experience in the spirit of Rock’s
Roll and to encourage and empower band members within the boundaries of
professionalism to make everyone feel like a star.
Around Town : Muay Thai
by Lesley Warner
I went into the Pattaya International Muay Thai Training
School one day last week to ask if I could write about what they do there.
Paul (Phakphum Sakulvivat) the general manager was very helpful and
explained the aims of the school, “We cover training across the board to
include Thais, children, ladies, tourists, anyone of any nationality, and we
have short and long courses to suit the person’s timetable.” The
trainer, Yodthong Saenanund has been a Muay Thai instructor for 40 years and
is widely accepted in both local and international Muay Thai communities.
The
place was buzzing with excitement
Thai boxing is believed to have started in 1650 when King
Naresuen of Siam was captured by the Burmese and offered freedom if he could
defeat the Burmese champions. He successfully defeated 12 of the finest
Burmese boxers and become a national hero. This instilled the pride of Thai
people and made Thai Boxing a national pastime. However, because of Burmese
book burning in 1776, the actual origins may be dated back even further. In
its modern form, Thai Boxing is practiced by over 300,000 men, women, and
children.
 “The
Champ” - please hurry up lady, I’m shattered.
After a short praying ritual, the fight starts and the
music in the background changes tempo. The music adds to the general
excitement in the building and is as much a traditional part of Thai boxing
as the prayers and style of fighting. This, coupled with the frenzied yells
of the supporters, makes even the most mundane fight a thrilling event.
The elbows are wielded like hammers, raining hard blows
to the side of the body, head and knees and are used to jab viciously in the
stomach, solar plexus and ribs of the opponent. There is no “below the
belt” rule, so opponents can hit any part of the body. In spite of this
apparent degree of laxity, Thai boxing is a very skillful sport.
I had never been to a Thai boxing match, so when Paul
invited me along on Wednesday night I eagerly accepted.
 “The
ceremony” before the fight
I went quite early, as I wanted a good seat to get some
nice photos, and I found the atmosphere as I walked in was already buzzing.
It had already been explained to me that the boxing matches at the school
are for real - this is not a show. Men and boys come from all over Thailand
and other parts of the world to compete here. I sensed immediately the
seriousness of the occasion. At first I thought I was to be a lone farang
women but soon things changed and there were plenty of mixed races and sexes
along the benches and in the seats, all engrossed in what was going on in
the ring.
 Muay
Thai boxers in training
The competitions started with the young boys, who looked
about 8 years old but had muscles and strength that I know some men would be
proud to possess. These youngsters start their training at about 3 years old
and train every day. They are totally dedicated even at such a young age.
The prize money from the ring is quite considerable,
sometimes 100,000 baht for the winner.
The matches are on every Wednesday night and the school
can be found on Thepprasit Road (Sukhumvit end). For more information
telephone (038) 410111.
Updated every Friday
Copyright 2001 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand
Tel. 66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax: 66-38 427 596
Updated by
Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.
E-Mail: [email protected]
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