The International Skal Club of Pattaya and East
Thailand held their last networking event at the luxuriant Rabbit Resort
in Jomtien. The setting was superb and so was the company.
It was a balmy evening and the atmosphere was so
relaxing and chatty that it was strange to think that most members had
just finished a hard day’s work and were not in fact holidaying in our
fair city.
The
friendly International Skål Club of Pattaya and East Thailand
members say “Aloha”.
Along with the attending Skal members, there were a
number of new faces. There was “Roj” Satawind Singh, the new owner of
the Raj Restaurant on Pattaya 3rd Road, John Fishback from peace on-line,
Ken Whitty and his charming wife who sponsor the welcoming “Paulaner”
beer each month; also chatting along was Michael Swart from the Royal
Cliff, Stefan Heintze from the Dusit Resort and an appearance was made by
Thomas Christianson from the Marriott.
Deborah and Paisan, owner/managers of the Rabbit Resort
were on hand to welcome everyone and put out such a fantastic spread of
traditional Thai Cuisine that one could hardly call it a snack menu.
President Bob Lee opened the “informal” proceedings
by welcoming everyone present and was pleased to announce that membership
was steadily rising. He also announced that actions were well in hand
regarding the Skal World Congress that is to be held in Pattaya during
October 2006.
Skal decals were presented to the membership in hopes
that these could be prominently displayed in all Skal member
establishments. Skal International Pattaya & East Thailand golf shirts
will soon be the new fashion commodity seen around town, as they are
shortly to be manufactured.
PR director for the 2006 World Congress, Peter Malhotra,
explained how important these 2 items are, if we are to broaden the
association’s scope of awareness in the local community.
Bob went on to elaborate on the details of the Pattaya
members’ trip to Samui where they attended its foundation weekend. He
also mentioned that the Skal Club in Chiang Mai is being reactivated and
the Pattaya chapter should help in this matter by supporting their
meetings.
Another interesting plus for the club is its eventual
twinning with the Skal International Club of Macau. It was decided to twin
both these clubs because of the proximity of each location and especially
with the very inexpensive airfares on offer between these two areas - it
will be quite easy to get together at least twice a year. This should be
formalized by the end of October. Already there has been an acceptance
from 2 members from Macau that they will be at the next local meeting.
Peter Malhotra then proposed the Skal toast - read from
the sleeve of a Samui Club golf shirt - and Bob herded everybody into an
adjacent room so that all present could enjoy and watch the eco-tourism
mini documentary that the club had produced in the hopes of winning the
Skal International Eco-Tourism Award that is presented to an eco-friendly
country each year at the World Congress.
The applause and comments were very favorable and
congratulations were the order of the evening.
This is one award that the majority of the community
has put a lot of time, effort, financial support and commitment into over
the years. By winning this award it will put Pattaya City and its
concerted work effort regarding the water rehabilitation program on an
international platform.
Who knows, today UBC - tomorrow a spot on National
Geographic TV and a place in their prestigious magazine! Bob has already
taken the opportunity of presenting the Pattaya Eco-Project to the Bangkok
and Samui Clubs.
It was announced that the Skal International Pattaya
& East Thailand Hospitality Awards Event will be held in early 2005.
Please watch this newspaper for further details.
Quite a number of members showed interest in attending
the Skal World Congress being held this year in Durban South Africa. This
is an extremely important marketing event for the city.
It is in Durban (2004) and then in Zagreb (2005) that
we hope to create excitement, interest and a passion for Skal Members
Worldwide (25,000 in 525 clubs in 80 countries) to visit and explore
Thailand and Pattaya during our hosting of the same event in 2006.
The local president already had the opportunity of
taking Pattaya to this worldwide group of professionals in tourism when he
visited Skal Clubs in Australia, India, UK, Middle East, South Africa,
Guam, and USA just recently. Next in line is the support of the Asian Area
Clubs. Bob hopes to visit Macau, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan within
the next few months before going to the congress in Durban. Pattaya hosted
a visit from the president of the Skal Asian Area (comprising of 27 clubs)
last month and support from President Denis Bechard is “in the bag”.
There are presently 4 Skal Clubs in Thailand; Pattaya,
Bangkok, Samui and Phuket, with Chiang Mai hopefully coming on line before
2005. That should take the national membership list up to approximately
250 members.
The main aim of Skal Associations Worldwide is for
professionals in tourism to meet once a month at various venues in their
own cities, building up friendships through networking and in turn
“doing business with friends”.
The Pattaya Club meets on the 3rd Thursday evening of
every month at various members establishments.
The next meeting will be at the Raj Restaurant on 3rd Road on Thursday
August 19 starting at 6:30 p.m. Interested persons are welcome to attend
by contacting Bob Lee on 01 3638008 or by email on bobscous@loxinfo .co.th
Somsak
Chalachon explains the nuances of this style to the audience.
Somsak
Chalachon works on a model’s hairstyle prior the hair and fashion show.
Models
patiently sit whilst having their hair done by a team of stylists.
Two
stylists work on the Boho hairstyle prior to the show.
