HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

Bargains galore at the PILC Holiday Bazaar

Skål Pattaya October network meeting kicks off at Art Caf้é

Rotary Taksin-Pattaya holds fellowship party at Casa Pascal

The Montien Hotel Pattaya scoops up major prizes at this year’s Thailand Bartender contest: Shaking in the East

Rattana School of Technology students from Buriram visit Pattaya Mail as part of an educational field trip

Bargains galore at the PILC Holiday Bazaar

The Pattaya International Ladies Club plays host to two major fundraising events each year, the first being the annual Holiday Bazaar held at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort. Last Saturday morning the Royal Cliff Grand saw the ballroom and almost the entire second floor transformed from it usually calm and serene atmosphere into a throbbing hive of activity as shoppers from Pattaya, the Eastern Seaboard and as far away as Bangkok converged on the Royal Cliff in search of many bargains at this annual shopping extravaganza.

Shortly after 9.30 a.m. the official ribbon cutting ceremonies were performed by Samokhae Khetphasook, president of the Chonburi Red Cross and wife of the present Chonburi governor, and Panga Vathanakul, Royal Cliff Beach Resort managing director.

Once the formalities had been performed it was time for a tour of the shopping venue. Sandy Langford and the PILC ladies led the way for both the Royal Cliff MD and Mrs. Khetphasook as they toured through the grand ballroom and surrounding area.

The ballroom itself was lavishly decorated with numerous and delightful items on sale. Some of the more unique stalls had Japanese obis, Belgian chocolate, crystal glassware and some very loud hats - just the thing for the upcoming Melbourne Cup Day celebration held in November.

There was a distinctive family atmosphere at this year’s PILC Bazaar with the kids having one room set aside for a variety of activities while mums and dads went shopping.

Always a favorite at the event was the raffle draw and it proved very popular, evidenced by the 177,000 baht proceeds which exceeded all expectations.

All events require sponsors and it was Transpo to the rescue as the main sponsor, as Pat Gosset and his team set up their tiger stall and handed out promotional material to everyone and plenty of goodies for the kids too.

The Fountain of Life, one of the long-term beneficiaries, sold hand-made Christmas cards. The girls from the Eastern Child Protection and Observation home, Huay Pong baked up a storm selling their very popular wares including very delicious carrot cakes and cookies. Pattaya Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) promoted animal welfare for the city’s stray animals. The fashion-minded were given a large choice of clothing and silk to choose from.

In all, it was a wonderful and successful event for the PILC, yet again raising funds for their many charity projects. Special events organizer, Arlette Cykman and her team of helpers must be commended for the success of the event. They spent countless hours and days rounding up vendors, sponsors and prizes for the raffle, all for a good cause.

The next major event on the social calendar is the famous Gala Ball held at the Royal Cliff on November 22 where everyone can dress in their best eveningwear for a night of elegant fun and entertainment.

(L to R) Arlette Cykman, special events chairperson and Bazaar organiser, Sandy Langford, PILC President, Samokhae Ketphasook, Head of Chonburi Red Cross and Pangan Vathankul, MD Royal Cliff Beach Resort before the opening of the 2003 Holiday Bazaar.

Samokhae Ketphasook (center), performs the ribbon cutting ceremonies with Sandy Langford (left) and Arlette Cykman.

Pat Burbridge (left) and Chitra Chandrasiri (right) keeping a watchful eye at the entrance selling entry tickets.

Plenty of early Christmas shopping to done at the bazaar.

Raffle tickets anyone? This year’s raffle raised over 177,000 baht contributing to the success of the PILC Holiday Bazaar.

PAWS stall was promoting awareness and care of the city’s stray animals.

VIPs take the tour of vendors shortly after the opening ceremonies.

Pat Gossett (center) and his team from Transpo International were present for the day providing plenty of fun items for the kids and offering advice on those planning to move residence.

The girls from the Eastern Child Protection and Observation home, Huay Pong baked up a storm selling their very popular creations including very delicious carrot cakes. Bronwyn Little Carey (right) and PILC members were on hand to sample the goods and help run the stall for the day.

Skål Pattaya October network meeting kicks off at Art Caf้é

Marlowe Malhotra

It was agreed that instead of the usual lunch, an evening meeting would make a nice change, and Johanna and Jo Stetten hosted the Skๅl Pattaya and East Thailand Club’s monthly meeting at the elegant Art Caf้. The meeting was presided over by the club’s president, Murray Hertz and attended by committee members and a majority representation of ‘Skๅlleagues’.

The networking evening was well attended considering the time restraints facing many members. Lost of brainstorming went on and discussions revolved around ways to get a broader base of members, be they directly or indirectly involved in the tourism industry, and Skๅl is appealing to those in the industry to join them.

Skๅl Pattaya is intent on making the 2006 World Skๅl Congress, to be held in our fair city, a roaring success and make a good impression on the attending trade delegates. It is important that they see our city is sincerely dedicated in striving to be a world class holiday destination, and ensure they communicate this to their clients throughout the world.

(L to R) Ning, Binny, David and Elena are enthusiastic about the brainstorming and discussions revolving around ways to get a broader base of members.

(L to R) Hosts Jo and Johanna Stetten, and program chairman Bob Lee welcomed everyone to another productive Skๅl Pattaya and East Thailand Club monthly meeting at the elegant Art Caf้.

Club President Murray Hertz (left), and host Jo Stetten (right), despite the slight distraction to their right, thoroughly enjoyed the meeting.

(L to R) Clarisse Brundo, Alexander Haeusler, Bob Lee and Andrew Khoo are deep in discussion about how Skๅl Pattaya is intent on making the 2006 World Skๅl Congress a roaring success.

Rotary Taksin-Pattaya holds fellowship party at Casa Pascal

Elfi Seitz

Dieter H. Pr้court and members of the Rotary Club Taksin-Pattaya held their latest fellowship party at Casa Pascal Restaurant. Not only members of the club but also representatives of the Rotary Club Jomtien-Pattaya, Rotary Club Pattaya and of members of YWCA attended, since the diligent YWCA ladies have long cooperated to help the needy, the ill and especially children.

To raise more money, club t-shirts were auctioned off to the highest bidder. The t-shirts went like hotcakes and the tidy sum of 7,900 baht was raised. Stefan Ryser led the auction in his usually masterly manner.

Guests were treated to excellent food and drinks which left them in a festive and generous mood. As the night marched on some members were still enjoying a lively conversation with Pascal right up to the 2:00 a.m. closing time.

President Dieter H. Pr้court presides over the fellowship party. Beside him are Nick Lindheim (left) and Charles Evans (right).

Trutz Fiddikow towers above Margrit Wagner and Dr. Olivier Meyer.

A terrific auctioneer: Stefan Ryser, with one of the beautiful t-shirts.

Visitors from other clubs included (sitting left to right) Erika Keller, Martin Brands and Bruno Keller of the Rotary Club Jomtien Pattaya and (standing) Don Mc Laughlan, president of the Rotary Club Pattaya.

Humorous as always: Kim Schnyder, Marliese Fritz, Premrudee Jittiwuthikarn,
Pascal Schnyder and Peter Thorand (kneeling).

The Montien Hotel Pattaya scoops up major prizes at this year’s Thailand Bartender contest: Shaking in the East

Crowd cheers as artistry and showmanship enthrall audience

Suchada Tupchai

The Montien Hotel Pattaya proved yet again that they know their business very well by walking away with 5 out of the 7 major prizes at this year’s Thailand Bartender contest: Shaking in the East held at the Dusit Resort Pattaya’s Napalai Ballroom.

The Montien Hotel took out top spot in the Fruit Carving category as Anand Rodpai and Wuttikarn Boontom showed why they were the best choice for their class.

Management and staff from 16 of the region’s hotels, guests, visitors and government officials packed the ballroom to watch their friends and colleagues participate in what has become a major event for hotels in Thailand.

The competition, organized by the Thai Hotels Association Eastern Chapter (THA-EC) and the Pattaya Food & Beverage Association was again actively supported by provincial and local administrations, the Tourism Authority of Thailand Region 3 office and private enterprise.

The year’s theme was “Shaking in the East” and the competition was conducted in two sessions. The first session was held from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. in which competitors displayed their skills in fruit carving, makeup artistry, flower arranging, table and skirting arrangements. However, it was the evening’s main event that everyone was waiting for.

Promptly at 7.30 p.m. Sansak Ngamphichet, advisor to the minister of tourism and sports officially declared the annual competition open and allowed the magnificent array of talent and skill from staff of the region’s hotels entertain the crowd.

The audience cheered and encouraged competitors as they battled for top spots in the Bartender contest, the Miss Bartender contest and numerous other shows, including a special spot from last year’s champion Parsit Limtho from the Montien Hotel.

The Montien led the field of winners. In the Bartender competition, it was Suchet Siriget from the Montien that shook the judges with his skill on the bottle and tastiest cocktail named “Sea Bird”. He was closely followed by Tawee Innong of the Asia Pattaya and Kittisak Tongsun from the Royal Cliff.

Miss Bartender winner, lovely Sukanya Petcharoend from the Montien, gracefully swayed the judges with her stunning performance on stage.

Table and Skirt Arrangement winners were Preeda Jantaporom and Phanlop Glaharn from the Mountain Beach Hotel. Arrangement went to Montar Petchaum and Bancha Obchay of the Montien. The Table Flower Arrangement category saw the Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya take the lead with Yingyot Eungjaipakdee and Venus Umnoy doing their best for the hotel. The Montien Hotel took out top spot in the Fruit Carving category as Anand Rodpai and Wuttikarn Boontom showed why they were the best choice for their class.

This was yet another very successful year for the Eastern Seaboard event. The national competition was held at the Regent Hotel Cha-Am on October 16.

Rattana School of Technology students from Buriram visit Pattaya Mail as part of an educational field trip

Eakachai Kamolsri

Forty-nine students and teachers from the Rattana School of Technology recently visited the offices of the Pattaya Mail to learn how a newspaper is put together. This was the second visit from the northeastern school - the first group visited in February of this year.

Finally, it’s lunchtime. Does everybody in the newspaper business eat like this?

The students were given a guided tour of each department including newsgathering, marketing, accounting and production. During this field trip, students in their first and second year of technical college got a first-hand glimpse of the publishing business and were provided with a fascinating a hands-on learning experience during the visit.

Warmly welcomed by Pattaya Mail’s staff and management personnel, the students had the opportunity to ask plenty of questions and were presented with an abundance of information on how each department works.

Once the tour was completed the visitors were treated to lunch and then given a tour of the company’s printing facility before retuning to Buriram.

Boonsiri Suansuk (seated center) has his audience captivated with his fascinating explanation of how each newspaper is built from scratch every week.

Primprao Somsri (right) explains to the students that putting together a newspaper is difficult work, but in the end, it is worth the effort.

Tony Malhotra explains the intricacies involved with putting together the Pattaya Mail.

Forty-nine students and teachers from the Rattana School of Technology visited the offices of the Pattaya Mail to learn how a newspaper is put together.

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