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Sawang Boriboon Foundation receives reflective vests
Safety equipment helps protect rescue volunteers
Decha Chalermyart
The Sawang Boriboon foundation, a non profit
organization, has a volunteer force of over 200, with many attending
accident scenes. These volunteers risk life and limb in some cases to serve
the community, particularly at night. These hardworking community servants
were recently the recipients of over 350 reflective vests to aid them during
nighttime duties.
 Chanyuth
Hengtrakul (2nd right), advisor to the minister of tourism and sports hands
over the 350 reflective vests to Prasit Thongjareon, Sawang Boriboon
Foundation director.
Chanyuth Hengtrakul, advisor to the minister of tourism
and sports handed over the vests, worth over 100,000 baht, in a small
ceremony to Prasit Thongjareon, Sawang Boriboon Foundation director at the
foundation’s Naklua headquarters.
“Your duties to society are valuable and as such I would like to hand
over these vests to help you carry out your services with a better degree of
safety, especially attending to accident scenes at night on poorly lit
roads. These vests will help prevent you from becoming an accident victim
while serving your fellow man,” said Chanyuth.
Wedding bells ring for local schoolteachers
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Paul Crouch from the UK and Oanh Nguyen from Australia
tied the knot in a ceremony at St. Nikolaus Church on Saturday July 17. The
wedding party amid friends and family was held at Shenanigans Pattaya that
same evening.
 Paul
and Oanh Crouch take in the first hours of wedded bliss.
The newlyweds are both schoolteachers; Paul teaches at
the School of Regents and Oanh at St Andrews. Both are members of
Pattaya’s rugby teams, the Pattaya Panthers (Paul) and Panties (Oanh), and
have been a couple ever since they met off the field.
The evening’s party was a joyous occasion for the couple and their many
friends helped them to celebrate their new life as husband and wife. Best
wishes for the happy couple.
A new world record - the longest brownie for a better life
Your small brownie could make a big change to someone’s life
On the occasion of Her Majesty the Queen’s birthday, the Central
Festival Shopping Center and the Amari Orchid Resort are proud to present
the world’s longest brownie for charity.
 Chefs
will create this delicacy with a total length of 72 meters - a new world
record. This brownie will be sold from August 12-15 on the 1st floor of the
Central Festival Shopping Center in Pattaya.
This fun-activity aims to raise funds for children from
underprivileged backgrounds to receive a fair start to life, and (the funds)
are used to further their education in Thailand. After expenses, all
proceeds from the event will be donated to the “Baht for a Better Life”
Foundation. There are no administrative costs in running this foundation and
all money is used for educational projects.
You may want to pre-order your brownie prior to the event
at a price of 40 baht per piece or 500 baht per meter.
For more information and how to pre-book your brownie, please contact our
charity hotline 038 – 428 161, ext. 705.
PGF mid-year total reaches one million
As this year’s Pattaya Gay Festival
Charity Fund raising continues, the treasurer released the mid-year total
which has exceeded expectations in a year when money flow seems to be tight.
The treasurer commented that “having reached the first
one million baht by mid-year we must be doing something right! This time
last year we had only reached just over 600,000.”
This year more sponsors have come on board but there is
always room for more corporate or individual membership at 10,000 baht each.
The PGF is grateful to the members who have contributed nearly a quarter of
a million baht when by this time last year the membership fees had only
reached 85,000.
It has meant that HEARTT 2000 has already received
1,240,000 baht from the PGF funds to continue its life-saving drug provision
program. Events, raffles and donations have all shown an increase in takings
this year and as always the committee is grateful to the generosity of the
donors of money and prizes.
Events continue every month and a complete program is on
the website at www. pattayagayfestival.com anyone wishing to receive the
e-newsletter should drop a note to [email protected]
All sponsors have permanent exposure on the website and
their logos appear on the monthly e-newsletter. For further information
contact [email protected]
Coffee at Sunset?
Relax and enjoy the friendly atmosphere
Pattaya’s ever expanding restaurant trade has a new
addition, the Sunset Cafe. Offering a wide variety of coffee, latte, snacks
and a full menu of Thai and Western food, the venue had its opening last
week amid friends and customers.
 A
warm evening at the Sunset Cafe during the opening night.
Run by Song Sulis and her partner from Bangkok they’re aiming to
satisfy Pattaya coffee gourmets as well as the trendy crowd looking for a
quiet, relaxed place to meet eat and chat. The staff is friendly and speaks
English. The cafe, located in front of the Grand Sole Hotel on Pattaya
Second Road, is decorated in a warm sunset orange glow with a rustic Thai
charm and is open daily from 9 a.m. till 3 a.m.; perfect for those late
night snacks or early morning coffee.
The Royal Cliff Wine Club to host another spectacular wine event
The Royal Cliff Wine Club is set to offer one truly
spectacular event on August 12 with a heavyweight lineup of nine boutique
wines from Australia’s Evans & Tate Wine Group.
The event will be held at the Grand Ballroom and the
dinner is priced at 1900 baht net per person (price includes a glass of each
variety of reception and dinner wines, royal canap้s, six-course
gourmet dinner, service charge and VAT).
The forthcoming event is an excellent venue to appreciate
the contrasting styles of wines produced in two of Australia’s most ideal
grape-growing areas by the Evans & Tate Wine Group.
Not one but two wines – one from the Yarra Valley area,
one from Margaret River – will be served to the diners to complement each
of the courses prepared by Royal Cliff Beach Resort Executive Chef Walter
Thenisch and his gourmet team.
Mind you, these wines fall under the boutique range and
are truly exquisite. Some of the wines that will be offered during the
dinner are said to be over 8000 baht per bottle. Plus, the wines that will
be offered at the dinner will also be available for wine club members at
heavily discounted prices on that evening only. So, members can look forward
to another unforgettable wine dinner and more excellent wines for them to
drink or keep.
The Australian Winemaker’s Gala Dinner will also have
wine connoisseur Sean Bell from Evans & Tate, Margaret River, Western
Australia as the guest speaker.
As always, limited seating will be offered to the members
and prior reservation is essential.
Aside from enjoying the usual discount privilege, Wine
Club members and their guests would be given the same special rate.
The Royal Cliff Wine Club is still accepting limited
memberships. For applications or inquiries, please call (66) 038-250421 ext.
2782 during office hours. Email: [email protected]
Education: A key element for HIV/AIDS prevention
by Michael S. Catalanello,
Ph.D.
Speakers at the XV International AIDS Conference held in
Bangkok last week recognized Thailand’s impressive efforts to reduce the
spread of HIV infections.
According to statistics released by Thailand’s Ministry
of Public Health, the rate of new infections peaked in 1991 when 143,000 new
infections were recorded. Since then, numbers of new infections have
steadily declined to about 19,000 last year. Few other countries can claim
that degree of success.
A U.N. report attributes Thailand’s success to focused
efforts from several sectors of society including political leaders,
non-governmental organizations and community activists. Today, however,
there are signs that a new phase of the epidemic may be approaching.
While the rate of new HIV infections continues to decline
overall, the report indicated that rates are actually rising among several
specific demographic groups including intravenous drug users, men who have
sex with men, migrant workers, seafarers, and young people, particularly
those who regularly use alcohol and/or drugs. Men and their spouses or
girlfriends account for half of all new infections. These trends suggest a
need for reassessing and revamping current prevention strategies.
Father Michael J. Kelly, a Jesuit priest who has worked
in Zambia and who spoke at the gathering in Bangkok, referred to education
as “the AIDS vaccine.” As surprising as it may seem, education does
appear to be the most effective prevention strategy currently available.
Research shows that there is a strong relationship
between levels of education and incidence of HIV infection. Infection rates
are generally lower among those with higher levels of education. Those with
the least amounts of education experience the highest HIV infection rates.
How might education protect against HIV?
First, education is a potent weapon against poverty,
which is a risk factor as well as a consequence of HIV/AIDS. Education
provides people with access to important information that can impact upon
their health. It can also provide options for employment and a way out of
poverty. Focused education which provides specific information about risk
factors and prevention strategies can obviously be even more beneficial. For
one thing, young people are notorious for underestimating their health
risks. A report issued by the United Nations Development Program recommends
that education programs teach students to assess their own risk of being
infected by HIV by identifying the behaviors and circumstances that place
them at risk.
At present, encouraging condom use among sexually active
young people is an important strategy for prevention. Researchers will soon
identify new technologies to help prevent transmission of the disease, such
as microbicides that could be used with condoms. Unfortunately, folklore and
misinformation exist side by side with more reliable information. Young
people lacking in critical thinking skills can easily be enticed to engage
in risky behavior in response to rumor and myth. Progressive educational
programs enable people to better evaluate the credibility of the health
related information they may receive.
Another way in which education can facilitate prevention
is through the empowerment of young people, particularly girls and women.
It’s not enough for a person to know how to avoid transmission of the
disease. Social pressures within society may make it difficult for those
lacking in status or power to insist on prevention strategies like the use
of a condom. If a woman decides to have sex she also needs skills for
negotiating the conditions under which it will occur. If she is unwilling,
she needs the requisite skills and confidence to be able to refuse.
In addition, a woman who is financially dependent upon a
promiscuous male partner might not have the option of insisting that he wear
a condom. Education can facilitate a woman’s economic independence by
providing her a broader range of options for generating income.
Likewise, education affords men the opportunity to
increase their awareness of women’s issues. Men often need to learn to
view women as people with rights to be respected. Progressive educational
programs are important means of conveying these attitudes and challenging
competing notions of women as property or servants of men.
Finally, issues of discrimination and social stigma also
play a role in HIV transmission. People engaging in high risk behavior may
delay being tested because they fear breaches of confidentiality and the
stigma associated with being identified as being HIV+. People living with
HIV often feel the need to conceal their status from others, even their
sexual partners.
The fact that so few people living with HIV are willing
to acknowledge their status to others makes the epidemic seem invisible,
almost unreal. This adds to the potentially dangerous perception that HIV
does not exist in one’s immediate social circle. Some young people believe
they can tell by a people’s appearance whether they are HIV+. Some have
even expressed the view that HIV/AIDS is a myth promoted by wealthy nations
to sell condoms and expensive medicines. HIV/AIDS education can help debunk
the myths that keep people living with HIV isolated, and place uninfected
people at risk.
Education, in the best of times, is a powerful tool for
change. In a time of HIV/AIDS, it is a tool that can save lives and reduce
human suffering. Let us resolve to use this tool more effectively to provide
our young people with the information, skills, and power they need to
safeguard their health and that of future generations.
Dr. Catalanello is licensed as a psychologist in his home
State of Louisiana, USA. He is a member of the Faculty of Liberal Arts at
Asian University in Jomtien.
Thai drug users win prize for AIDS work
A Canadian human rights organization has awarded a network
of Thai drug users for its work in combating the spread of HIV.
Handing the prize to the Thai Drug Users Network, the
director of Human Rights Watch Canada praised the network for its efforts
and use of peaceful means in alerting the public to the ‘heavy-handed
tactics’ employed by the Thai government in addressing the Thai narcotics
trade.
While noting that Thailand had won worldwide acclaim for
its success in combating AIDS, he warned that the problem of HIV infection
among drug users had been largely ignored, leading to a 40 percent growth in
the rate of HIV infection among intravenous addicts.
The Thai Drug Users Network was formed two years ago to help educate drug
users nationwide on the importance of protecting themselves against HIV. (TNA)
Pattaya Expats Club elects new board
Pattaya Expats Club recently elected its new board and is
proud to announce that they are: Max Rommel (chairman), Richard Smith
(co-chairman), Thor Halland (secretary), John Botting (sergeant at arms),
Richard Silverberg, John Fishback, Michael Berris, Christopher Hill and
Peter Steed.
Recent featured speakers included Gary Van Zuylen,
director of the Thai Society for the Conservation of Wild Animals (TSCWA),
who gave an enlightening talk on the issue of stray dogs in Pattaya. TSCWA
works to improve the welfare of animals and preserve natural habitats in
Thailand and Laos. TSCWA also helps government agencies to deal with the
problem presented by the ever-increasing number of stray dogs.
An initial large donation had enabled the setting up of a
program of systematic neutering of dogs; in this program the dogs are
neutered, treated against illnesses they might have, and released back into
the community. They are only put down if they are too ill or would require
costly long-term treatment that would divert the scarce resources from
treatment of other dogs where resources might be deployed more effectively.
For nearly 2 years up until early 2004 the TSCWA in
conjunction with the Pattaya Animal Welfare Foundation operated this project
to help control stray dog numbers, completing neutering, treatment and
vaccinations on 1,153 dogs. The project is currently out of funds. To obtain
more funding is difficult as people probably do not realize that if the
neutering does not continue the problem will soon resurface.
It was pointed out this was the only type of program the
Thai government agencies and the Thai community would accept. It is not an
acceptable alternative to them to deal with the problem of stray dogs by
putting them down, due to the widespread Buddhist faith and the general
belief that as long as an animal does no harm it has a right to exist
alongside people in the community. Whereas in many other countries there is
a sharp distinction between pets and wild/stray animals, the status of dogs
is less distinct in Thailand, with many dogs associated to certain people or
areas, and being fed and cared for to a certain extent. His Majesty the
King’s interest in dogs is well-known and the publicity his pet dog has
received also has generated a lot of interest.
Maggie Counihan from New Zealand, an Australian citizen,
is in Pattaya prior to her next expedition to Tibet. Maggie gave a very
lively and enjoyable presentation on solo-traveling on a tight budget. She
has traveled extensively in Asia, visiting many countries, among them Bali,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, and Malaysia; however, she always
returns to Thailand.
She delighted the audience with her tales, although some
of her experiences were not ones that many of us would wish to repeat –
for those of us whose idea of ‘roughing it’ is staying at the Marriot.
Maggie emphasized that she was not rich and always looked for the best value
in travel and accommodation. Maggie has settled in Pattaya so club members
are looking forward to meeting with her again.
Pattaya Expats Club continues to meet at Henry J beans on Beach Road at
the Amari Orchid resort every Sunday. Breakfast starts at 9.30 with the full
speaker program starting at 10.30 a.m.
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