Fun, games and joy presented to the Street Kids
Elfi Seitz
The new Street Kid’s Home now houses approximately 60
boys and 40 girls who live there under the guardianship of the Catholic
Church.
Father
Ray Brennan and his little angels.
The first home, located in Central Road, was founded by
Father Ray Brennan. Homeless children were brought there by watchful people,
but word got around and unwanted kids often found they own way there.
With the help of many charitable organizations, a new,
bigger and more comfortable home was built and since then, the poor,
homeless children are no longer homeless, and are being raised to become
precious members of society.
At least once a year, and especially during the Christmas
season, a big festival is arranged for the kids in this home. The children
practice for months in advance to entertain visitors with plays, singing and
dancing.
Last
adjustments before the play.
The
party group from Holland: Janie Hoekstra, Ad Simons, Jasper van Zoggel,
Patrick Hoogewijs, Bert Nelemans, Rien Heynen, Colin Young, Wim Proost, Babs
van Rongeren, Eric Oomen, Jan van Osch, Hennie Ver Mey, Nico Groot, Herman
van Gucht and Moyariz.
Well-known lawyer Premprecha Dibbayawan and a group of
local Dutch people were contributing sponsors for this year’s party.
Everyone was welcome and many guests turned up. Long rows of food stalls
were set up to feed the visitors, which included a variety of Thai food,
roast turkey and suckling pig fresh from the grill.
Then it was time for the children to entertain their
guests on stage with classical dances, songs and a nativity play. After a
burst of thunderous applause, the children received a lot of presents.
Bruno
Keller, President of the Rotary Club Jomtien Pattaya, and the father of the
home for street kids hand out presents to the children.
Elvis
Presley, aka Colin, in action.
The
performers of the christmas play.
“Let’s
do the boogie, babe.”
As a special treat, magician Mr. Tuxedo performed many
wonderful magic tricks to the delight of the crowd. And as soon as Elvis
Presley, alias Colin Young, entered the stage, the audience went wild. One
of Europe’s most famous Elvis impersonators, Colin gave such a convincing
performance, some of the children even believed Elvis had came down from
heaven.
Guests remarked that the smiling faces of the street kids and the warmth
and fellowship of the evening had brought home the true meaning of
Christmas.
Pattaya City turns colorful on national Children’s Day
The slogan for this year’s Children’s Day, presented
by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was “Life long learning, creative
thinking and up-to-date with technology”.
Police
Colonel Kamolchai Tienrungrot, Pattaya police chief, enjoys a moment
interviewing the children.
In Pattaya most of the activities were held on Friday
January 10th so that children could participate in the special functions
organized by their schools on a normal study day, and on Saturday the kids
could have a chance to spend the day with their families.
Among the many organized events was Fun Day in front of
the Pattaya police station led by Pol. Kamolchai Thienrungrot. Fun Day
included karaoke, games and gifts.
Pol. Kamolchai stated that it was very important that
police officers joined in the event to convey a message of a good
relationships between the officers and the public. The officers also gave a
talk on the dangers of drug abuse
Police
Lt. General Sakraphee Praewphanit, vice commander of the Pattaya police
station, hands out gifts to the kids on Children’s Day.
Smiles
make it all worthwhile...
Enjoying
a coloring contest at school.
At the Alcazar, the parking lot was turned into a huge
children’s playground, as thousands of children attended the event.
Activities included gift-giving, free food and drinks, free haircuts, a
mobile medical unit, a students drawing exhibition, and game booths which
were organized by the TAT Region 3, as well as a show from the Alcazar.
Not far away Tiffany also did their part for the
children. Tiffany organized a Lip Sync Contest for the youngsters with
prizes of scholarships, as well as a drawing contest, games and free
shooting practice closely supervised by their trainers. And not to be missed
was Tiffany’s special show for the day.
Free
haircuts for every kid!
“Kru
Tuy” Yodthong Senanant gives a present to one of the young dancers.
“Yes,
I’m good ... just ask me.”
“Pee
A”, master of ceremonies at Central Festival Center, interviews a very
young fashion model.
Dancing
with smiles at the Pattaya police station.
Further down the road Central Festival Center also
prepared their own fun for kids including a magic show and various contests.
Other communities also had their own children’s activities planned for
the day, including the Soi Post Office community.
H.E. Sonthaya Khunpluem weds Sukumon Khonjaem
Over 10,000 well wishers attend the wedding of the year
The Khunpluem and Khonjaem families arranged what
certainly must be one of the most elaborate wedding ceremonies of the year,
for their children, Sonthaya Khunpluem, Minister of Tourism and Sports, and,
his bride, Sukumon.
Sonthaya
with members of his family, at the start of the Khan Mark procession.
The
couple poses with relatives at the bride’s house.
General Prem Tinsulanonda, National Statesman, former
prime minister and head of the Privy Council presided over the ceremonies,
which were held at the Ambassador City Jomtien on the 8th of January.
The long list of honourable guests included Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Sanoh Thientong, president of prime
minister’s councillors, with his wife, Khun Uraiwan, Banharn Silpa-archa,
leader of the Chart Thai Party and his wife, Khunying Jamsai.
General
Prem Tinsulanonda imparts words of wisdom and wishes the couple a many happy
years of marital bliss by keeping faith in each other and staying united as
PM Thaksin looks on.
General
Prem Tinsulanond blesses the bride as Gen. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and elders
look on.
Somchai
and Satil Khunpluem receive tokens from the newlyweds.
Bride
and Groom receive gifts from the bride’s parents.
Shinakorn
Krailas, national artist, serenades the wedding party with traditional Thai
songs during the procession to the Grand Hall.
Other guests included deputy Prime Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh and a big contingent of ministers, politicians (at both
regional and national levels), business people, heads of civil service
departments and over 10,000 well wishers.
At 9.09 a.m. Somchai (Kamnan Poh) and Satil Khunpluem led
88 couples, including, the groom and other elders and relatives from the
Khunpluen family in the traditional “khan mark” (bringing of gifts and
dowry to the bride’s home) procession singing and dancing their way
towards the huge ballroom, where the ceremonies were to take place. The mood
was a very jovial one as national artist, Shinakorn Krailas sang traditional
Thai wedding songs during the long walk.
From 11.09 a.m. to 1 p.m. the pouring of lustral water
ceremony took place, presided over by General Prem Tinsulanonda, placed
sacred garlands on the couples’ heads signifying unity and then poured
lustral water from a conch shell into their palms. Thousands of well wishers
took turns in pouring lustral water and wishing the couple many years of
marital bliss.
The dowries included 4,444,400 baht gold, 20 baht gold,
and over 100 million baht worth of diamond jewellery.
The groom’s parents, Somchai and Satil Khunpluem
presented the couple with a Mercedes Benz E-280, a house, and the Khunpluem
family ring. The bride’s parents gave a plot of land worth hundreds of
millions of baht.
Decorations around the ceremonies were the highlighted in
pink and blue, which are the favourite colours of the bride and groom. Two
Thai singers, “Ford” Sobchai Krayoonsen and Kornpin Puangpo, sang a duet
especially composed for the bride and groom, “Fak wai nai mue”,
(In your hands for safe keeping). Meanwhile, around the hotel compound more
than 100 food and drink stalls catered to the guests. This was also a treat
for the hotel guests, who were seen enjoying themselves amongst the other
well wishers.
“With
this ring I thee wed”
Sukumon
wais Sonthaya as a sign of respect and gratitude.
General
Prem Tinsulanonda and PM Thaksin Shinawatra pose with the couple for
photographs.
Somchai
Khunpluem and General Prem Tinsulanonda pose with the happy couple for
photographs.
Sawang
Srisakun, Chonburi province governor presents the marriage registration
papers to the couple.
Sonthaya and Sukumon have known each for over 3 years.
They first met during Sonthaya’s election campaign.
Sukumon Khonjaem, 27, graduated from Assumption
University, majoring in Business Administration, and majored in hotel
management. She is the 5th daughter of the Khonjaem family, who own the Baan
Ampur Trading Ltd, a business selling construction material, in Sattahip.
Sonthaya Khunpluem, Minister of Tourism and Sports, 39, is the oldest son
of the Khunpluem family. He graduated from Sripatum University majoring in
the Faculty of Law, and finished his Master’s at Burapha University.
Scouts receive Nordic reception at the jamboree
Denmark, Faeroes Islands, Finland,
Iceland, Norway and Sweden joined forces at the Jamboree site to give a
reception to scouts and friends of scouting. The theme for the Nordic
countries was: “We are Similar-yet unique”. Nordic delights like
pancakes and salmon were served. There were artistic performances by scouts
from the Nordic countries, from skiing to car racing.
From
left Terje Ostby, member of the Norwegian staff, H. E. Norwegian Ambassador
to Thailand Ms Ragne Birte Lund, her brother and scout Birte Lund, the
Norwegian, Swedish and Danish Counsel Stig Vagt-Andersen, Thai scout leader
Jan Olav Aamlid and scout Jorgen Udvang from Too Small Company Ltd.,
Thailand at the Nordic reception for the scouts.
Camp
chief Yuwarat Kamvolvej and Thai scout leader Jan Olav Aamlid had a nice
talk at the Nordic reception about the ideals of scouting.
Terje
Ostby from the Norwegian staff paid a visit to the British pub at the
jamboree site. Terje was served, of course, a non-alcoholic “one of
each” in the same glass, a very tasteful drink.
TPG and UN World Food Program launch partnership
Mail, express and logistics company TPG N.V. and the
United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) have launched a partnership for
at least 5 years aimed to help in the global fight against hunger. By
becoming the largest corporate sponsor of the world’s biggest humanitarian
aid agency, TPG is committed to making available its people, skills, systems
and assets to support WFP.
Around the world, millions of people go to bed hungry
each night. Every five seconds a child dies from hunger or hunger-related
causes. As one of the world’s leading logistics companies, TPG has the
expertise to support WFP’s activities to help tackle the problem of global
hunger. By using its core skills, TPG aims to further enhance WFP’s
ability to feed the world’s hungriest people.
TPG decided to partner with WFP for a number of reasons.
WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization and the logistics arm
of the United Nations. With similar expertise in both transportation and
logistics, WFP and TPG share the common values of speed, reliability and
efficiency, as well as a ‘results based’ culture. WFP also has the
lowest overheads of any major UN organization, which enables it to ensure
that of every one US dollar it receives, nearly 91 cents goes straight to
purchasing and delivering food to the hungry. Finally, both TPG and the WFP
have truly global operations.
Drawing on the expertise of TPG’s subsidiaries - Royal
TPG Post, TNT Express and TNT Logistics - the partnership between TPG and
WFP will focus on 5 initiatives: Emergency Response, Joint Logistics Supply
Chain, Transparency and Accountability, School Feeding Support and Private
Sector Fundraising. These are areas that WFP and TPG agreed would be the
most effective for the partnership. TPG will direct 5 million euros to WFP
in the first year by providing a mix of expertise and financial resources.
TPG will also benefit from the relationship. TPG is aware
that its stakeholders - shareholders, customers, employees and the
government - are increasingly looking at social issues as well as economic
issues. As the largest single charitable commitment TPG has ever undertaken,
the company hopes to tap the proven dedication of its three divisions and
enthusiasm of its 148,000 employees to take on the greatest logistical
challenge of all: helping to feed the world.
Winfried Kiesbueye, TNT Thailand country general manager
said, “We are delighted that all our employees at TNT Express in Thailand
will have the opportunity to participate in this valuable program by
contributing their time and expertise for the WFP partnership.”
James Morris, WFP’s executive director says,
“Together I am sure we will be able to achieve truly great things - a
powerful partnership leading to benefits for all concerned. The partnership
with TPG is one of the best things that could happen to the World Food
Program. And given that the government of the Netherlands has always been
one of WFP’s strongest supporters, TPG - a global company based in the
Netherlands - is just another example of the extraordinary commitment of the
Dutch people.
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