HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

Tens of thousands flock to Pattaya for Pattaya Music Festival 2004

Skal Club of Pattaya and East Thailand cruises off into the sunset

From the road to the water, Transit Maintenance is on the move

German Ambassador opens Transform 2004

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra: Human Perfection?

Kilkenny’s rocks for St. Patrick’s Day

Royal Cliff Wine Club: New (World) wine in old bottles

Tens of thousands flock to Pattaya for Pattaya Music Festival 2004

Throngs pack the streets as music rocks the city

Staff Reporters

Estimated attendance figures for the 3rd annual Pattaya Music Festival were very close to the mark, as tens of thousands poured into town to catch a glimpse of their favorite bands and music artists.

However, the distinct lack of foreign visitors was noticeable, with the exception of the Bali Hai stage featuring international jazz artists. The two other stages featured Rock & Pop and Luktoong (Thai country) in North Pattaya and the Hip Hop/Indy near Soi 4 and 5.

Held from Friday through Sunday the music festival was jam-packed with over 100 bands from Thailand, Asia, Europe and US spanning the three stages.

The 3-day bash kicked off with a parade on Friday afternoon leading up to the main stage in North Pattaya where Sontaya Khunpluem, tourism and sports minister, presided over the opening ceremonies along with TAT Governor Juthamas Siriwan and Chonburi CEO Pisit Ketphasook at around 6 p.m. on Friday evening in front of a 10,000 strong crowd. The event was broadcast live around the nation.

Prior to the grand opening ceremonies, the minister paid his respects at the city’s monument to King Taksin, then beat the victory drum, declaring the festival officially open. On stage with him to witness the event, and later to perform, were the ‘stars’ of the festival, well-known Thai bands Micro, Loso and others. Simultaneously, musicians at the other two locations began to entertain their audience.

One of the highlights over the 3-day event was a Music Clinic in front of the Hard Rock Hotel, which was aimed at the youth sector and run by professional musicians with experience within the music industry. The youngsters were given advice and practical information on a variety of instruments and musical equipment, and later performed on-stage for their targeted audience.

As with any Pattaya event, retail booths selling merchandise, food and drink, and paraphernalia were on hand to serve the thousands of visitors wandering the streets in search of good bargains.

With the vast number of visitors to the city, Pattaya’s streets resembled Bangkok-style rush hours from 4 p.m. till after midnight over the weekend. Motorists in all forms of transport converged on car parks and attempted to make their way round ‘fun town.’ Despite the chaos, numerous traffic police and volunteers were on hand to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

Security was out in force - volunteers, police from Pattaya, Banglamung and Sriracha, along with naval and army police personnel - to keep potential troubles to a minimum and did so with some degree of success.

With its third year in the books, the Pattaya Music Festival is now firmly etched into Thailand’s tourist calendar, providing many local businesses with a chance to bolster their income in preparation for the low season. Albeit primarily local-oriented, it is considered a huge success.

Sontaya Khunpluem, tourism and sport minister pays his respects at Pattaya City’s Hill King Taksin monument prior to the opening of the Pattaya Music Festival 2004.

Phisit Boonchuang, Deputy Chonburi CEO, Sontaya Khunpluem, tourism and sport minister, Santsak Ngamphiches, advisor to the tourism and sport minister, and Pol. Lt. Gen. Jongrak Jutanont, Region 2 police commander were present for the opening ceremonies.

Security officials prepare to deploy to ensure that there were no major incidents occurring throughout the 3-day festival.

Pisit Ketphasook, Chonburi CEO was one of the many honored guests present for the opening ceremonies.

Juthamas Siriwan, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor makes her opening speech.

Band members from Silly Fools and Micro on stage before their performance.

Alexandra Bounxouei (yellow shirt) popular Lao singer greets the thousands of music fans.

The opening show featured some hot dance routines accompanying Grammy performers.

The spectacular Grammy Dancers in action.

(l-r) Lee
Ji-Hyun, Park Jung-Ah and Seo In-Young from the Korean band ‘Jewelry’ at the Hard Rock’s Hall of Fame.

The fresh looking G Junior band.

Mai Jaroenpura sang ‘luk toong’ (Thai country songs) for the masses.

A versatile Alexandra Bounxouei sweetly plays the violin.

Silly Fools were among the favorite bands playing on the main stage.

Apichart Permphunbatipan, singer from the Meephu band teaching on stage.

Smith Buntid (from Smith & Zen) was present at the Music Clinic and gave a mini performance.

Cool and smooth sounds from the Bali Hai Blue stage ring out a jazzy groove.

Luluk Purwanto performing at the Bali Hai Blue stage.

The kids enjoyed the Music Clinic held at the Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya.

Woodwind Quintet featuring flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn.

Coca Cola sponsored ‘Zorb’ made its way through the streets in the opening parade.

The green stage was the center of attraction for lovers of Indy and Hip Hop music.

Packed to capacity, over 10,000 people crammed the front of the stage.

 

From the road to the water, Transit Maintenance is on the move

Brendan Richards

Tough competition and high imports duties on steel products has led a local heavy vehicle maintenance and manufacturing company to delve into new markets. Transit Maintenance Co. Ltd. has moved from land to the water creating a new market opportunity for boats.

These large sheets of tensile marine aluminum are carefully taken for start of the cutting process.

Rod Skinner, company director said, “We’ve been around for six years building cement trucks and heavy equipment for backhoes and because of the competition we’ve moved into making boats.”

Using imported marine grade aluminum from Australia, the Sriracha-based company has bought designs to produce a variety of vessels from a 3-meter dingy to 12-meter half cabin boats for fishing of rescue services. “Each of the designs has at least five variations and we can custom make the boat to the requirements,” said Rod.

An initial ‘dry run’ to ensure correct alignment before the automated cutting process begins at the plasma cutter.

The process is unique in the fact Rod and his team begin from scratch. The stencil for each design is fed into a computer operated plasma cutter and the pieces for the boat are cut, filed and then spot welded before moving onto the final stage of placing the finishing welds and aesthetic touches, taking up to and over 20 man hours per boat.

Rod discusses design principles with Opas, an engineer specializing in welding and cutting technology.

“The good thing about marine grade aluminum is that it’s not only certified to use for boat building but it is durable so that it does not need painting or coating. The beauty of it is such the boats can then be properly registered with the major insurance companies, such as Lloyds of London,” added Rod.

Staff begins adding the fittings to this 3-meter dingy at the spot welding stage of production.

Rod has been involved in engineering for many years and his love for speed has added to his enthusiasm from his Harley motorcycles to racing ocean speedboats some twenty years ago. “I had to stop racing because of one too many accidents ... it’s a dangerous sport,” Rod said.

The start of a new creation, the outline for a 5.6 meter vessel begins.

Interest in this new venture is growing as it is thought to be a first for Eastern Seaboard industry and perhaps Thailand. The price range for a dingy starts at around 60,000 baht, and depending on the boat, up to over a million baht. The company can also build trailers to suit each boat for easy transport.

Plans to expand their variety include mini-jet boats, similar to those used by New Zealand’s Jet Boat Tours, with marine modified engines available locally.

Once cut, the edges are filed to precise measurements before being fitted together.

Transit Maintenance is aiming at the dealership market rather than direct supply, citing the intense resources required to market the new products around the country is not in their field of expertise.

“We are primarily looking at local trade and have had interest from Phuket. Hopefully we can move into exporting the boats throughout the region as cost effective vessels,” concluded Rod.

Dealership inquiries can be made by faxing 038 772 867 or emailing: transit@ loxinfo.co.th

German Ambassador opens Transform 2004

The economic ties between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of Thailand are good. The event ‘Transform 2004’, which took place at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, was another measure to improve them. Transform is an association of German producers of electric transformers.

All with the ambassador (left to right): Dr. Paul Strunk, GTCC chairman; Klaus Ulbricht, EMB; Alexander Doutrelepond, HSP; Dr. Harro Lhrmann, Metall Rheinhausen; Dr. Songrope Polachan, policy and strategy coordination office director, Ministry of Energy; His Excellency, German Ambassador Andreas von Stechow; Martin Schuster, Pfisterer; Herr Dopp, and R๖chling Haren.

One of the guests of honor was German Ambassador HE Andreas von Stechow, who gave the opening speech. He emphasized the fact that the German economy has great trust in the potential of the Thai economy. This event was well timed as the Thai prime minister plans to visit Germany soon.

Dr. Songrope Polachan, policy and strategy coordination office director, Ministry of Energy, officially opened the event.

His Excellency pointed out that Thailand is an emerging country with rapid growth, and low unemployment rates only dreamed about in Germany. He said Thailand is envied by its neighbors not only because of the healthy economy, but also because of its free society. Finally, he wished all attendees a fruitful cooperation and good business.

His Excellency, German Ambassador Andreas von Stechow, said that Germany has great trust in the potential of the Thai economy.

Afterwards Dr. Paul Strunk, the executive director of the German Thai Chamber of Commerce announced that the organizer of the event was the machine factory Rheinhausen, adding that German machines have a very good reputation in Thailand. Dr. Paul also said that about 260 representatives from 29 countries attended the meeting, and that he hopes to extend a functioning network. Last year Thailand exported machines worth 576 million euros out of Germany.

German Ambassador Andreas von Stechow takes a close look at one of the displays.

Dr. Harro Luhrmann, the managing director of Rheinhausen, mentioned three good reasons why Transform went to Asia. First, 50 percent of the sales volume of the attending companies is in Asia, secondly, the high growth rates and third, the optimism here in contrast to European pessimism. At the end of his speech he remarked that he has been traveling to Thailand for more than 30 years and he always likes to return.

Dr. Songrope Polachan, director of the policy and coordination office in the Ministry of Energy, officially opened the event. In his short speech he mentioned Thailand’s economic development since the 1997/98 crisis, with a special emphasis on the energy sector. He explained that the growing need for energy in Thailand and neighboring countries would lead to the creation of regional energy associations.

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra: Human Perfection?

Peter Cummins

As we are all born flawed creatures, the phrase “human perfection” is really an oxymoron - until, that is, one has had the great fortune to hear the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra which performed recently at the Thai Cultural Centre. Presented by the MercedesCard, as one of the numerous celebrations to honour Her Majesty the Queen on the auspicious occasion of Her approaching Sixth Cycle, 72nd birthday, on the 12th of August 2004, the evening was honoured by the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, along with HRH Princess Galyani, privy councillors and government ministers.

Maestro Marcello Viotti acknowledges the praiseful speech from the ambassador after the concert.

Comprised of more than 100 musicians, the Orchestra showed an incredible versatility, ranging from Franz Schubert’s “Symphony in B Minor D. 759, the ‘unfinished Symphony”, through Mozart’s light-hearted “Sinfonia Concertante in E Flat Major, KV297b (App. 9)” to a resounding Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade”. During the intermission, the ensemble played “Sweet Words”, a composition of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Of course, the capacity crowd would not let the conductor and the musicians leave. Maestro Marcello Viotti (could there be a more musical name for a conductor?) then led the full orchestra into a series of Viennese classic waltz music, Strauss and “Tales form the Vienna Woods” and many other musical interludes which opened a lot of tear ducts.

Guests from Pattaya and the Austrian embassy attended the concert.

Italian Conductor Maestro Marcello Viotti, born in the Francophone area of Switzerland, was the epitome of poetry in motion. He was Moses parting the Red Sea with his swirling baton; he was Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel; he was the Pied Piper...! His fantastic gyrations were quicksilver as he brought out every nuance of a hundred instruments playing in perfect harmony.

As Sontaya Khunpluem, minister of tourism and sports, said it so clearly, “Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand, as well as the Royal Family members, are known for their love and talent in music, thus making this visit of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra a special event that reinforces the strong relationships between the peoples of the two countries”.

HE Dr. Herbert Traxl (right), Austrian ambassador in Thailand, addresses his the guests at his residence with an hilarious speech while his wife Shovana (left) is highly amused by it.

Dr Herbert Traxl, the charming and erudite Austrian ambassador to Thailand, addressing the audience prior to the concert said, “Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, privy councillors, ministers, dear friends of Austrian culture! It is an utmost honour and joy for me and the Vienna Philharmonic to welcome Her Majesty the Queen among us tonight as Her Majesty has graciously accepted to personally preside over tonight’s concert. This evening is dedicated to the auspicious occasion of Her Majesty’s Sixth-Cycle Birthday Anniversary by this incomparable and unique musical ensemble, the Vienna Philharmonic, under the magic baton of Maestro Marcello Viotti.”

“I am very glad to announce,” added the Ambassador, “that the benefit of this wonderful evening will serve a charitable purpose, as it will be donated to a charity prospering under Her Majesty the Queen’s benign patronage. I should therefore like to thank all of you present here tonight, not only for your appreciation of Austrian culture, but also for your social commitment and conscience,” he continued.

“In particular, I should like once more to thank our sponsors who, through their generous support and contributions, make this extraordinary evening possible. Among them: Daimler Chrysler, Siemens, Nestle, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Channel 3, the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, the Westin Grande Sukhumvit, MAN Steyr, SteyrMotors, Steyr Daimler Puch Spezialfahrzeuge, Magna Steyr, Austrian Airlines Group, Hobas, T & L, AVL, Neoplan Bus, Schenker, BEC Tero Entertainment - and certainly not least - the Austrian Embassy and the Austrian National Bank,” the Ambassador noted.

“I would sincerely hope, Your Majesty, that tonight will offer a chance to refresh the memories of your visits to Austria and Vienna. Please accept our deep gratitude for having graced this evening with your presence. Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, honourable guests, I am leaving the stage for the sparkling sound of the Vienna Philharmonic under its conductor Marcello Viotti,” he concluded.

What the ambassador did not say was that Her Majesty, an ardent lover of classical music and an accomplished pianist from her early years, together with the young King Bhumibol, visited Vienna on Their Majesty’s first state visit in 1964, there performing the King’s classical rendition of the “Manohra Ballet” in three movements.

So over-whelming was this performance at Vienna, that His Majesty was inducted, as an honorary member, into the Institute of Music and Art in the City of Vienna: the first Asian to ever be so honoured.

After the performance, a very animated ambassador later welcomed guests, including the total entourage of the Vienna Philharmonic, to the spacious and tranquil grounds of the splendid Chancellery where a great party was held.

The Pattaya Mail team, out for an evening of ‘kultur,’ had their fill and, with considerable good fortune, had seats in the upper circle of the centre, just behind Her Majesty the Queen. The acoustics, too, were absolutely perfect.

It was, indeed, an outstanding evening and, when it was all over, it was quite a shock to realize that one was back fighting the Bangkok traffic - even at midnight - and not in Vienna!

Kilkenny’s rocks for St. Patrick’s Day

No blarney, just grog, music and fun

Walking Street’s latest addition to the pub scene, The Kilkenny, celebrated St Patrick’s Day in great style as residents and tourists flocked to Pattaya’s newest Irish pub to enjoy some good ol’ fashioned fun with resident band ‘Fir Na Nog’, a couple of lads from Cork in Ireland.

The packed venue had its fair share of characters dressed especially for the occasion, as Dermot and Kieran entertained the masses. Not to be left out, ‘Aussie’ songstress and Pattaya resident, Vicky Newman joined them on stage adding some rock and roll to the evening amid traditional and modern Irish ditties.

Local Scots also joined in the party dancing on stage and showing off their sporran.

Serving green draught beer and plenty of Guinness through the night, The Kilkenny is a welcome addition to Walking Street’s pub scene, with plenty of cool beer and good entertainment.

Dermot, Vicky and Kieran in full song for St. Patrick’s Day.

Even the Scots got into the evening’s fun.

The Kilkenny staff, although quite busy, were bopping along to the music.

A taste of home, these visitors truly enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day in Pattaya.

Bar’s this way!

The shirt says it all!

Royal Cliff Wine Club: New (World) wine in old bottles

It was all summed up by the incomparable Robert Mondavi, founder of Mondavi Wines who, according to Mr Geoff Cook, Mondavi’s regional director for Asia, was heard to say on his latest birthday, recorded as he turned 93 recently, “Age only matters if you are wine...!” Perhaps Robert epitomizes “new wine in old bottles”?

Khun Panga Vathanakul MD of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort cheerfully draws the lucky number for the prize of a bottle of fine wine.

Yet another splendid evening at the Royal Cliff Wine Club last week, under the able guidance of the Cliff’s wine connoisseur par excellence, Ranjith Chandrasiri who welcomed a capacity group at the Grande Ballroom, gathered to enjoy a sumptuous meal and the best of a range of excellent Caliterra wines from Chile.

Geoff Cook, the very personable guest of honour, pointed out that the last time he had attended a very modest wine club evening at Rossini’s, some five years ago, he was “amazed” at the way not only the Wine Club has developed but he was quick to congratulate Ranjith’s stewardship, leading, doubtless to his recent promotion to assistant general manager to the Royal Cliff.

MD Panga flanked by Wine Maker’s Dinner participants, with quiz winner, Michael Stuart clutching his prize (far right).

Geoff regaled the winers and diners with the history and some anecdotes of this New World winery, the end result of a partnership between Robert Mondavi and Eduardo Chadwick, which now produces the award-winning Caliterra label.

Originally intended to be added to the family’s existing produce, Caliterra, however, developed its own distinct style resulting when the Chadwicks began incorporating grapes extracted exclusively from Chile’s prime grape-growing areas.

20-50. Sounds like lousy eye-sight. But, no, it is master chef Walter Tenisch, celebrating 20 years at the Cliff, having recently celebrated his 50th birthday

Caliterra was named for la calidad de la tierra, meaning in Spanish, “quality” (calidad) and the “finest land” (tierra) of Chile.

Geoff was joined by Monsieur Georges Barbier and managing director, Vichai Kanchanasevee of Vanichwathana Co, Ltd. which was co-sponsor.

As usual, the Grande Ballroom was beautifully decorated, this time with the backdrop of a submarine sea-scape (Patagonia?) and lighthouses - maybe the latter intended to guide us through the evening, without foundering.

But, with skippers like Panga Vathanakul, managing director of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Ranjith and, of course, Geoff himself at the helm, we did not need a lighthouse to show the way.

Master chef Walter Tenisch and his able lieutenants prepared an exquisite five-course meal of which, as Geoff remarked, each course was perfectly complemented by the choice of wines.

Starting with a red and yellow pepper coulis with tuna fish tartare, topped with Sake- flavoured granite, which the chefs had cleverly served in the shape of a shrimp, a baked red mullet filled with spinach, clams and pancetta on vanilla, enhanced cauliflower puree and fennel oil froth, followed. Both these dishes were ideal with the first two Chardonnays.

A gratinated kohlrabi tartlet with balsamic glazed sweetbread ragout led into the first red, the Merlot, also ideal with a succulent roasted veal medallion, with tiger prawn on soft polenta and lobster-saffron reduction.

Those still able to indulge then tackled a ‘Fleur de Tete-de-Moine’, served with pear bread and plum terrine.

The desert was a masterpiece of lemon grass-flavoured baklava with mango accompanied with champagne mousse and spiced pepper drops, these last two dishes accompanied by two very good Cabernet Sauvignons, Central Valley 2001 and Reserva, Colchagua Valley 2000.

Of course, freshly brewed coffee or tea with royal pralines finished the ‘banquet’ - and, I might add, most of the winers and diners.

As has become the very charming custom with the Wine Club, each guest was met at the second floor elevator with a reception wine, in this case a dry, sparkling Fossaluzza, Prosecco Del Montello E Dei Colli Asolaini NV.

Throughout the dinner, an incredible series of great whites and reds was served, namely: Chardonnay, Central Valley 2002; Chardonnay, Reserva, Casablanca Valley 2001; Merlot, Central Valley 2001; Cabernet Sauvignon, Central Valley 2001; and, Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserva, Colchagua Valley 2000. And all this for an incredible low price of just 1,700 baht (less 10 percent for Wine Club members).

The Royal Cliff Wine Club just becomes better each time.

As Ranjith pointed out, “In recent years, the world has begun to take notice of Chilean wines. In 1998, Chile exported wines to the value of some 500 million US dollars, to 85 countries, being the third-ranking wine supplier to the US, after traditional wine exporters, France and Italy.”

Another great achievement for Chilean wines, Ranjith continued, “was the result of the VinExpo 99, held in France, in which some 40 countries presented their finest export wines. With a total of 67 medals and 3 out of 23 double gold medals, Chilean wines, as a group, ranked second only to France.”

Furthermore, recent studies indicate that Chilean wines boast the world’s highest levels of flavonol, a natural antioxidant, boding well for a health-conscious future.

“Chilean wine exports rose 7% by value in the first three quarters of 2003, to total $US 478 million. Over the same period, exports by volume increased 10% to reach 284.5 million litres,” Ranjith added.

This recent success follows over 400 years of a wine-making tradition, where the natural conditions - climate, soils, and rootstock - have been the factors responsible for the quality of Chilean wines.

Ranjith then asked a radiant Panga to draw the winner of the last wine quiz, from several correct answers. The question: “During which Wine Club event did the Royal Cliff Beach Resort formally launch its exclusively-bottled Cellar Selection wine labels?”

The answer, the “exclusive tasting of Bordeaux vintage 2000” conducted by world-renowned wine sommelier Markus del Monego, for which, the winner, drawn by Panga, Wine Club member Michael Stuart, was awarded a bottle of Royal Cliff Cellar Selection, Limited Release 30th Anniversary Red Wine, Cabernet/Shiraz 2001, from the Royal Cliff Beach Resort and the Wine Club. This wine was made and bottled in Australia exclusively for Royal Cliff’s 30th anniversary celebration.

Another highlight of the evening was a presentation to the Pattaya Mail gourmet/wine correspondent, Dr Iain Corness, who had that very day become a new dad, to baby daughter Arisa, born to his wife, Som.