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Spirits are appeased in Naklua & Sriracha, as the communities observe ancient “Kong Khao” (Rice Festival)

St Andrews Summer Camp in full swing

Graham Sullivan joins St. Andrews group to spearhead expansion

Madrid World Assembly on Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity

BCCT enjoys successful networking evening in Map Ta Phut

Debut of a new Star Cruise Ship

Spirits are appeased in Naklua & Sriracha, as the communities observe ancient “Kong Khao” (Rice Festival)

Sonthaya Khunpluem (center), minister of science, technology and environment presided over the Kong Khao opening ceremonies in Sriracha.

Communities in Naklua and Sriracha celebrated their annual Rice Festival on April 20, and observed the ancient, ghoulish customs of appeasing the sprits that same night.

Our loveliest maidens bring their best food and desserts to appease the spirits in Sriracha.

The annual Kong Khao Custom follows an ancient belief that in order to have a successful year, one must pay respects to wandering spirits that have no living relatives. The custom of appeasing the spirits is thought to bring good luck and prosperity to the community.

Chonburi is the only province in the country where the annual rice appeasement ceremony is held. In the past, the festival would include inviting a spirit to enter a selected body at the Chonburi City Pillar Spirit Domicile for three continuous days.

Naklua’s best sharpshooters take aim in the slingshot competition.

In the Naklua and Nong Prue areas of Banglamung District, Pattaya Mayor Pairat Suttithamrongsawat presided over the opening ceremonies. During the day, the celebrations included a karaoke singing contest, sling-shot shooting competitions and a tug-o-war.

In Sriracha, the ceremony was held around the Koh Loy (Floating Island) area, as well as in front of the Sriracha municipality office.

Friends from the West enjoyed our unique festival in Sriracha.

This year in Sriracha, traditional activities such as ‘Tap Chak boxing’, traditional cock fighting, cultural music, improvised Thai Music, and the Miss Rice Festival contest were revived. Traditional sports like sword and baton fighting were also demonstrated, and the Eastern Seaboard Muay Thai Marathon and the customary cuisine contest were held.

Sriracha’s traditional rice parade began at 3:00 p.m. with floats, long drums, and marchers in traditional dress from 30 communities, and was over 2 kilometers long.

Waking up the spirits with long drums in the Sriracha Kong Khao parade.

In both Naklua and Sriracha, the Kong Khao ceremonies began at about 6 p.m. when young and old, rich and poor flocked to the area dressed as frightening spirits and lost wandering souls. They then circled the ceremonial location where foods and desserts had been set out for them.

Local and visiting schoolchildren take part in the festivities in Naklua, dressing up in their most “ghostlike” costumes.

As the skies darkened above, the spirits slowly moved in on the prepared foods and either devoured their selections on the spot or wrapped up the delectable delights and cheerfully returned to their spiritual abodes.

Once the spirits have been appeased, the community members joyfully sit down and devour the remaining foods with the feeling that the rest of the year will be free from unseen antagonists.


St Andrews Summer Camp in full swing

Getting set to tackle the countryside by mountain bike.

St. Andrews International School near Rayong, in conjunction with the Asian University of Science and Technology, is currently full of life with its two English Summer Camps for eight to thirteen year olds.

The two camps run over two, four-week periods and with one successfully completed, the second is now in full swing.

The Summer Campers take time out to cool off with a little Songkran fun.

Whilst the priority is for the students to improve their English skills, they have also been involved in a wide variety of additional activities. These have included swimming, baseball, football, canoeing, horse riding, golf, music, team building, volleyball, mountain biking, basketball and art. They have also gone on weekly excursions to local attractions including Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens, Ripleys and the Tiger Zoo. In the evenings the children are still kept busy with games, quizzes, karaoke, singing and theme parties.

Run by a specialist team of English teachers and activity instructors, the camps have proved a great success with the children and their parents. The team has been praised for the professionalism and attention to detail, especially when it comes to safety. Selected for their qualifications, experience and imagination, the teachers have used lots of different games and activities to ensure that the students learn English in a fun and challenging environment. Mark McTaggart, one of the English teachers said, “Whilst working on the Summer Camp is very hard work and long hours, I have loved every minute of it and find the enthusiasm of the children very rewarding.”

Canoeing - great exercise and one of the many activities at the camp.

The non-teaching staff has also worked extremely hard in setting up the camps and keeping them running smoothly. If it weren’t for their dedication, the camps would not be the success they are.

Whilst it took some children a while to settle in and there were the inevitable bouts of home-sickness, by the end of the first camp none of them wanted to leave and saying goodbye was an emotional and sometimes tearful event.

St Andrews English Summer Camp for eight to thirteen year olds is in full swing.

The students are expected to assist with the running of the camps and with the domestic chores around the campus. Whilst they have certainly been able to improve their English, they have also been able to improve their social skills, make new friends, learn new skills and find a little more out about themselves as individuals.

The main philosophy of the camp has been that the more the children are prepared to put into their stay, the more they will take away. Without exception, all the students have been putting in 101% effort into making the camp a success and it is hoped that they took away much more than they were expecting at the beginning.

Adam Scribbans, Head of Summer Camp said, “A big thank-you to all the team and students of Summer Camp 2002 for all their hard work and dedication that has made it such an outstanding success.”


Graham Sullivan joins St. Andrews group to spearhead expansion

Graham Sullivan, the former principal of Bangkok Patana School has recently joined the St. Andrews Group in Thailand as its new director of education. Before taking up his new assignment at St. Andrews, Mr. Sullivan was chief executive officer of the International School of Tanganyika (IST) in Tanzania, the largest and most well-known international school on the African continent.

In welcoming Mr. Sullivan to the group, Bob Kennett, the managing director of St. Andrews International Schools in Thailand said, “I am delighted that Graham decided to join us. He has extensive experience in the field of education, and will be able to add a fresh dimension to help realise St. Andrews’ ambitious development plans.”

Janet Wong, chairperson of PTG, together with the head of the school, Jill Thomas and the managing director, Bob Kennett, welcomes Graham Sullivan on behalf of all the parents.

The St. Andrews Group currently has four schools in Thailand. Three of these schools are located in Bangkok and the fourth is located in Green Valley, Rayong. All the schools have a homely, friendly environment in which students receive a quality education in well-resourced surroundings. The group’s philosophy is to offer multi-campuses of small to medium sized schools and the intention is to open more sites around Thailand in the next few years.

Mr. Sullivan, a former UK senior inspector of education in Sussex, England, will advise each of the campuses on their delivery of the UK curriculum in order to ensure the highest quality of education across all the schools.

Graham applied his extensive educational experience and knowledge to Bangkok Patana School when he became principal in 1992. At that time, Patana was a small primary school with fewer than 500 children. During his eight years at the helm, the school grew to over 1500 students aged 3 - 18 and gained the international standing that it now enjoys. He attributes much of Bangkok Patana’s success during that period to the mutual roles that he and Mr. Kennett played when Bob Kennett was chairman of the Bangkok Patana Board of Governors during his first five years as principal.

An adviser to the Rayong campus when it was designed and established in 1996, Graham has always retained an interest in its development. He was formally welcomed by the staff and parents of the Rayong campus during their recent parent-teacher meeting on March 13th.

“I am delighted to join the St. Andrews Group as its director of education,” remarked Mr. Sullivan. “Each campus has highly trained professionals. In my experience, the quality of education delivered in all the schools matches the best that is available anywhere in the world. This is a very exciting and challenging time for me to be here due to the exciting new developments that are currently being planned for the future,” he added.


Madrid World Assembly on Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity

by Dr Ioan Voicu,
Visiting Professor, Assumption University of Thailand

On all continents there are strong appeals for attaching more attention to the specific requirements of the older generation during the irreversible process of globalization. This is quite normal. There is no doubt that the ageing of the global population is one of the fundamental characteristics of our times. Population ageing in the last 50 years is the result of the combination of increased life expectancy and low fertility rates. As compared to 1982, when ageing was obvious in developed countries, in 2002 the majority of older persons live in developing countries. The recent Second World Assembly on Ageing (Madrid, 8-12 April 2002) as dedicated to that group of issues, being an important event within the general framework of the United Nations multilateral diplomacy.

The International Plan of Action on Ageing, which was adopted at the First World Assembly in Vienna in 1982, in the preparation of which I was actively involved, has guided the thinking and action on ageing over the past 20 years. However, great and visible demographic transformations are currently taking place, and by the middle of this century the old and the young are expected to represent equal shares of the world population. Globally, the proportion of persons aged 60 years and older is expected to double between 2000 and 2050. The greying population phenomenon is also affecting Thailand. By the year 2019, the number of Thai people over the age of 65 will rise to 10.7 million or 15.3 percent of the total population.

173 speakers took the floor in the five-day general exchange of views in the Madrid Conference, including 142 government delegations, four representatives of the United Nations family, 17 non-governmental organizations, five intergovernmental organizations. Four heads of state and government, one vice-president and 48 ministers attended the assembly.

A Political Declaration and a new Plan of Action were adopted by consensus by the Madrid Conference, in the officially proclaimed context of “a society for all ages”, illustrating a concerted effort to address the “demographic revolution” that is taking place all over the world. The letter and the spirit of the documents deserve to be well known and assimilated in all countries.

The two documents call for changes in attitudes, policies and practices at all levels, in all sectors, so that the enormous potential of ageing may be fulfilled. Four dimensions are covered: individual lifelong development; multi-generational relationships; the interrelationship between population ageing and development; the situation of older persons. 117 concrete recommendations for action in three priority areas were formulated: development for an ageing world, advancing health and well-being into old age, and ensuring an enabling and supportive environment.

Among the specific issues discussed in Madrid, one was crucial: the abuse of older persons. Perceptions of such abuse vary between groups across and within societies. One definition reads: “a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person”. Four categories of abuse have been identified: physical abuse, emotional abuse, financial exploitation and neglect. Other possible forms of abuse include: sexual abuse, spousal abuse, medication abuse, abandonment or desertion, loss of respect, systemic abuse, economic violence, scapegoating, social or domestic violence, community violence, political violence and armed conflict, and HIV/AIDS related violence.

Potential responses about how to fight the abuse of older persons have focused among other things on: public awareness programmes, new legislation, judicial action and intervention and prevention programmes. More specific measures may be envisaged like regulation of care, better identification of cases, care and treatment planning. Basic principles for guiding appropriate intervention encompass ethical concerns, human rights and values, freedom, autonomy, justice, accountability, privacy, respect and dignity. It sounds cogent and very humanistic!

The official UN reports show that the demographic changes are expected to be the greatest and most rapid in developing countries, where the older population is expected to quadruple by 2050. Therefore, the Assembly recognized the importance of placing ageing in the context of strategies for the eradication of poverty, as well as efforts to achieve full participation of all developing countries in the world economy. The texts promoted a new recognition that ageing was not simply an issue of social security and welfare but of overall development and economic policy. They also stressed the need to promote a positive approach to ageing and overcome the negative stereotypes associated with it.

A primordial issue addressed in the texts is intergenerational solidarity. The Political Declaration recognized the need to strengthen solidarity among generations, and intergenerational partnerships, keeping in mind the particular needs of both older and younger ones, and encourage mutually responsive relationships between generations. The Plan of Action is more specific in that stressing solidarity between generations at all levels - in families, communities and nations - is fundamental for the achievement of a society for all ages. Solidarity is also a major prerequisite for social cohesion and a foundation of formal public welfare and informal care systems. Changing demographic, social and economic circumstances require the adjustment of pension, social security, health and long-term care systems to sustain economic growth and development and to ensure adequate and effective income maintenance and service provision. In pragmatic terms, it is acknowledged that at the family and community level, intergenerational ties can be valuable for everyone. Despite geographic mobility and other pressures of contemporary life that can keep persons apart, the great majority of persons in all cultures maintain close relations with their families throughout their lives. These relationships work in both directions, with older persons often providing significant contributions both financially and, crucially, in the education and care of grandchildren and other kin. All sectors of society, including governments, should aim to strengthen those ties.

Nevertheless, the Plan of Action says, it is important to recognize that living with younger generations is not always the preferred or best option for older persons. While formulating the general objective of strengthening solidarity through equity and reciprocity between generations, the following actions are recommended in order to: (a) Promote understanding of ageing through public education as an issue of concern to the entire society; (b) Consider reviewing existing policies to ensure that they foster solidarity between generations and thus promoting social cohesion; (c) Develop initiatives aimed at promoting mutual, productive exchange between the generations, focusing on older persons as a societal resource; (d) Maximize opportunities for maintaining and improving intergenerational relations in local communities, inter alia, by facilitating meetings for all age groups and avoiding generational segregation; (d) bis. Consider the need to address the specific situation of the generation that has to care at the same time for their parents, their own children and grandchildren; (e) Promote and strengthen solidarity among generations and mutual support as a key element for social development; (f) Initiate research on the advantages and disadvantages of different living arrangements for older persons, including familial co-residence and independent living in different cultures and settings.

Intergenerational solidarity proved to be a most interesting issue considered by the Madrid World Assembly on Ageing. Therefore, while summing up the work of the Assembly, its President Ex Officio, Juan Jose Lucas, Minister of the Presidency of the Government of Spain, emphasized the link between the past, the present and the future that older persons represented. The Plan of Action was more than just a catalogue of good intentions - it was a framework of development and combating poverty, which emphasized the importance of active ageing, of intergenerational solidarity and the necessity of helping developing countries.

As a general conclusion it can be asserted that ageing is not a problem, but an achievement. The revolutionary demographic challenge of the current century, in both developed and developing countries, demands that concerted and strong efforts be made for putting ageing policies at the top of the social agenda during the irreversible process of globalization. All people in all countries from every sector of society, individually and collectively, are invited to join in a universal dedication to a shared vision of equality for persons of all ages. That is the humanistic message from Madrid.


BCCT enjoys successful networking evening in Map Ta Phut

The British Chamber of Commerce Thailand (BCCT) held it’s first networking evening in Map Ta Phut in over two years last Friday evening, April 26.

Katoen Natie MD Jim Howard with his pride and joy.

The response was outstanding, as more than 60 businesspeople from Map Ta Phut, elsewhere in the Eastern Seaboard and Bangkok enjoyed a great evening of networking - despite a few highly suspect direction maps.

Lead sponsors Katoen Natie Sembcorp (Thailand) Ltd., the Belgian logistics company led by managing director Jimmy Howard ensured plentiful supplies of food and liquid refreshment. Jimmy Howard also organised for one of the company’s trucks to come down for a working demonstration.

BCCT friends at KLM pictured with BCCT Eastern Seaboard Committee member Suwannah Viroonchan of the Travel Clinic.

Jimmy Howard received great support from Suwannah Viroonchan of the Travel Clinic. Suwannah also persuaded the airline KLM to come to the event. KLM supplied numerous prizes and discounts via scratchcards to add to the enjoyment.

Kasemsri Homchean, manager of the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate Office, was a generous and accommodating host.

Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate Office Manager Kasemsri Homchean (right) talking to Dow Chemical MD Richard Smith.

Graham Macdonald, chairman of the BCCT on the Eastern Seaboard, said that the night was a resounding success. “This is the first time the BCCT has come down here for quite a while now. A few of our members were complaining that they always had to travel to Pattaya or further to get to the networking evenings. So, Jimmy Howard suggested that we use the facilities on the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate. As you can see they really are quite excellent and can cater for even more people than have attended tonight as well as being able to host seminars and lectures. The response from our members and local businesses has been excellent and we will definitely be back in the near future.”

Members of the BCCT’s Eastern Seaboard Committee in triplicate - Chairman Graham Macdonald (left), Paul Dobbs (middle) and sponsor Jim Howard (right).

Yet again, the BCCT has proved that it is prepared to look after and cater for all types of business throughout the whole of the Eastern Seaboard.

BCCT hopes to arrange more events on the Eastern Seaboard and looks forward to more representatives from the Map Ta Phut and Ban Chang areas joining these occasions. Special thanks to Katoen Natie, IEAT and KLM for their support.

The next BCCT Networking Evening will be at the end of May at the Royal Cliff. The exact date will be published in the Pattaya Mail shortly.


Debut of a new Star Cruise Ship

By Gary Hacker

The majestic cruise ship “Superstar Capricorn” has just begun sailing from the newly built Star Cruise Terminal at Laem Chabang.

The majestic cruise ship “Superstar Capricorn” has just begun sailing from the newly built Star Cruise Terminal at Laem Chabang. Note to all expats living in Pattaya and surroundings: hey guys, this is a great way to spend three days cruising out on the Gulf, visiting luscious undeveloped islands and leaving the Kingdom to renew your visa. You will be amazed at the price and yes, you can take your lady along on the adventure. For the vacationing family, this is a great way to make your Thailand experience one that you will always remember.

I boarded at 4 in the afternoon traveling alone, with my goal to complete a business report that was long overdue. I had sailed before on California Cruise Ships but only once before in Asia. The magnificence of the Superstar Capricorn is overwhelming. The large white ship has 435 cabins with a lower berth capacity of 700 passengers and a crew of about the same number. All cabins face out onto the sea and several of the upper cabins have their own private outside deck. I needed motivation to finish this complicated report and I thought the isolation of this 3 day 2 night cruise to Cambodia and Koh Chang might provide it.

Stopping to enjoy the pleasures of a day on a secluded beach.

All meals are included aboard and you can eat as much as you like four times a day. Extravagant live shows are featured every night in the “Galaxy of the Stars”, which even features a colorful performance by the Alcazar Cabaret Dancers. My plans were to skip the shows and spend the time in my cabin polishing my presentation. The plans further included curling up on a deck chair in the afternoon and maybe even spending a few hours around one of the two pools aboard.

A daily program outlining the activities aboard is slid under the cabin door each day. Should I spend the evening dancing in the Disco Lounge, enjoy sushi and a cocktail at the Sushi Bar or watch another extravagant show? A good movie was scheduled; bingo in the Galaxy of the Stars and a karaoke competition in the Karaoke Hall was listed. I elected to find a seat in the library, order a cocktail, listen to the gentle piano music and work on my business report.

Extravagant live shows are featured every night in the “Galaxy of the Stars”, which even features a colorful performance by the Alcazar Cabaret Dancers.

The last night aboard, I wandered up to the front deck. There was a warm ocean breeze as the ship gently made its way through the sea on our way back to Laem Chabang. I strolled around the windward side and looked out at the twinkling lights abreast Rayong. The moon glistened across the Gulf of Siam. I couldn’t help thinking how lucky I am to be living in Thailand.

The Superstar Capricorn offers fares for a deluxe upper deck outside stateroom at about 10,300 baht for the 3 day 2 night cruise and also offers 4 and 5 day cruises to Cambodia and Viet Nam. Star Cruises, tel. 02-634-8255.


The Rotary Club
of Jomtien-Pattaya

Skal International

Pattaya Fun City
By The Sea

www.pattayarotary.org


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