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Charity Club celebrates its 4th birthday
Malcolm and Christina Boden
The Charity Club of Pattaya celebrated its fourth birthday at the
Jomtien Boathouse on July 1, having been founded by Malcolm and Christina
Boden on July 1, 2004.
Today, the club is run by Malcolm and Christina Boden, Kevin Fisher of
Cranes and Equipment Asia, and Vic King, owner of the Queen Victoria Inn on
Soi 6, who is treasurer.
 (L
to R) Vic King, Jamie O’Donnell, Kevin Fisher and Christina Boden celebrate
the club’s 4th anniversary.
Throughout the year, club members raise funds for the needy. Not only do
they help the needy in Pattaya, but anywhere in Thailand that their help is
needed. They have helped orphanages in Chiang Mai, and they have many
on-going projects in Issan.
Over the period July last year to July 1 this year, the club has raised
842,320 baht.
This year they have made donations to the Jaidee Appeal, and Able The
Disabled at Horseshoe Point. They have donated wheelchairs to the elderly in
Issan, provided regular food parcels for those in desperate need, provided
special food for children who cannot eat solid foods, donated unwanted
clothing to the needy, and repaired a leaking roof for a family and a school
(unfortunately the house then fell down so they are in the process of
rebuilding the house!).
Operations along with travel and accommodation have been arranged for Poo
Gan, a 53 year old in Issan.
Donations have been made to the Freemasons West Wind Lodge Pattaya to help
with their charity work in Pattaya and Chiang Mai. The British Legion Poppy
Appeal, a re-building project for a school in Yasathorn, and the Young
Ambassadors Project Pattaya have also been recipients of club donations.
In the four years of its existence, the club has raised an amazing 2,731,462
baht.
The next item on the Charity Club’s list is the organizing of a clothing,
blanket and food parcel appeal throughout the month of August for the people
of Issan. From Friday August 1 until August 31, a box will be in the Queen
Victoria Inn for the following items: bags of rice, bottles of oil, bottles
of fish sauce, tins of sardines and packets of noodles, soap, towels,
washing-up liquid and wash powder. Blankets are also needed along with any
old and unwanted clothing and shoes.
If you would like to know more about the Charity Club contact Christina on
the club’s email: charityclub [email protected] or check out website
www.charity clubofpattaya.bravehost.com
Friends help celebrate the
Charity Club of Pattaya’s 4th anniversary
at the Jomtien Boathouse.
Entrepreneurial spirit
thrives at PCEC meeting
Many members and guests were on hand at the Pattaya City
Expats Club (PCEC) meeting on Sunday June 29th at Henry J. Bean’s Restaurant on
Beach Road. MC Roger Fox reminded everyone that next Sunday’s meeting on July
6th was to be the Annual General Meeting. He then called on Gary Hacker to
introduce this week’s speaker, Brian Barghout, a man who certainly has the
entrepreneurial spirit and wished to share his experience with the PCEC.
 Brit
Brian Barghout describes to PCEC members how he became an accidental millionaire
- when his ex got stuck in France with a shift load of Harley shift rods. The
answer - eBay.
Brian gave a brief history of his former life in the UK. Brian obtained his
degree in chemical engineering from university and started working for a
manufacturing company in the UK. At the age of 29, his son became very ill and
required some expensive surgery. However, he discovered that the company had
cancelled his health insurance because he had too many children, thus they
considered continued coverage to be too expensive. In desperation, he started
looking for a means to obtain the funds to save his son’s life. The option he
chose was to buy the company. He said he discovered that if you want to borrow
small sums from banks, they ask all kinds of questions about your ability to pay
it back; but, if you want a very large sum, they are more than willing and ask
few questions. With the loan proceeds, he acquired the company and within 18
months, the company became the second largest manufacturer in its field in the
UK. He also was able to pay for his son’s needed operation. In the years that
followed he was involved in other successful company start ups and projects.
Six years ago, Brian said he retired and moved to Thailand. In continuing his
entrepreneurial spirit, he formed another company with a Thai partner to
manufacture shift rods for Harley Davidson Motorcycles. He ran the business the
conventional way for two years. Because business was not very good, they closed
up shop. His Thai partner, who had married a Frenchman, moved to France.
Subsequently, she contacted him about the 20 shift rods that she still had and
her idea to sell them on EBay. It turned out that they were very easy to sell by
this means. This led to their efforts to sell other things on EBay, eventually
earning more than 1,000,000 euros in the process. Brian said a great thing about
using EBay is that you are not tied to a specific geographical location.
However, to sell specific items, one still needs facilities and staff to package
and send the items to the purchasers.
He noted that during this period, he discovered another means of using EBay to
earn money. One that did not require a significant outlay of capital and did not
require facilities and staff, and did not require a “company.” He said anyone
can set up a blog or other type of website. It is easy to become an affiliate
site for EBay. Once this is done, you need to have your website include
information that would be of interest to others on the Internet, for example
photography. He strongly recommended that whatever item of interest is chosen,
that you really have a passion for it. Your site should include information
about the topic that will show others your passion, not just a mercenary
interest. If you can write about your interest, people will visit your website.
You can include links to EBay where objects related to your interest are being
auctioned/sold. Setting up such a website is easy when using such software as
phpBay Pro (www.phpbay.com/ ). This software is specifically designed for
setting up EBay affiliate websites. Often, the visitor to your website will use
your link to visit the EBay site. If they decide to open an EBay account, EBay
will compensate you in the amount of US $20. If the person goes on to purchases
items within the next 30 days, EBay will further compensate you with 1.5% of the
purchase price. Brian said that he has several such websites. He noted that even
if you earn US$200 per month that would be welcome extra income considering the
minimal outlay. But, if you have say four similar sites, then you could earn
US$1,000 per month or more.
Needless to say, there were many questions from prospective entrepreneurs in the
audience. MC Roger in moving the program along, noted there would be ample
opportunity to learn more from Brian at the dinner planned for him that evening
at the Aloha Restaurant on 2nd Road.
The regular Open Forum then got underway with Bob L’Etoile leading the
proceedings with his regular sparring partner “Sig” Sigworth. The Open Forum
continued, providing an opportunity for questions about living in Thailand with
an emphasis on Pattaya. For more information regarding PCEC activities at their
regular Sunday meeting and during the week, please see the Community Happenings
section of Pattaya Mail or, for more details, visit the Club’s website at
pattayacityexpatsclub.com.
School No 7 takes part in YWCA environmental project
The YWCA and Pattaya Sports Club
join students from Pattaya School No 7 to take part in the YWCA Bangkok-Pattaya
Center’s recycling-for-eggs project.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya School No 7 is the latest school to take part in the YWCA
Bangkok-Pattaya Center’s recycling-for-eggs project.
YWCA chairwoman Nittaya Patimasongkroh and charity chairman of the Pattaya
Sports Club Bernie Tuppin visited the school on June 27, where they were
welcomed by teacher Malee Paesent, who heads the school’s recycle bank
activities.
Malee said that the YWCA’s Love Pattaya Love the Environment Project had given
the students the opportunity to collect a large amount of recyclable garbage,
and other unwanted items such as clothes and VCDs.
The project coincided with Sunthorn Phu Day, which is observed on June 26 each
year, and which celebrates the great Thai poets. Poetry written by students was
read, and the youngsters from primary school class 1 were given the opportunity
to join in. There was also a student folk dance on stage.
YWCA members brought ice cream with them for the students, which was greatly
enjoyed.
Jesters Care For Kids Charity benefits from World of Wine
Dr Iain Corness
Jameson’s Irish Pub was the venue for wine drinkers for more than one
reason last week. Whilst 50 percent off the normal price per glass would be a
great draw card, the real reason was much more noble. This was the donation of
50,000 baht from the World of Wine to the Jesters Care For Kids Charity appeal.
 ‘Woody’
Underwood (left) presents a certificate of appreciation to Richard Waller
(right) after receiving the World of Wine’s charitable donation, as Dr Iain
emcees.
The donation was done by Richard Waller, the owner of the World of Wine, the
company with the motto of “Drink well and do good”. Richard and his company has
dedicated any profits to charity, and even though the company is still in its
infancy, the donation to the Jesters was to show that this was no empty boast,
but a reality.
‘Woody’ Underwood accepted the donation on behalf of the Jesters and mentioned
that so far, in the 10 years it has been in existence, the Jesters Care For Kids
charity has raised 38 million baht for the needy and underprivileged children in
Thailand. Initially this was a local Pattaya concept, but as the charity grew,
it has been able to assist children in other provinces and even those who
suffered after the tsunami in the south.
The Jesters Children’s Fair will again be held at the Diana Resort and Driving
Range this year and will be on Sunday September 14, whilst the riotous charity
‘Pub Night’ will be held at Jameson’s Irish Pub on September 20. Pencil in the
dates in your diaries now!
American Embassy announces
consular outreach visit to Pattaya
July 18, 2008
The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok is
pleased to announce a consular outreach visit to Pattaya. Please come if you
can! Consular staff will be available to provide consular services at the
following date and location: Friday, June 18, 8:00 am to 12:00 noon at the Dusit
Thani Hotel in Pattaya. Please look for signs in the hotel lobby pointing to the
location of the outreach.
The following consular services will be available during our outreach visits:
* Passport renewal applications ($75.00 or 2550 baht for adult passports, and
$85 or 2890 baht for a child’s passport)
* Notarial services and certified copies ($30 or 1020 baht)
* Absentee ballot application and voting abroad information
* Social security, VA or other federal benefits questions will be limited, but
we will try to provide forms and answers
(Please bring exact change!)
NOTE: Unfortunately, we cannot process extra visa pages during our
outreach trips. We can accept applications, but the passports will have to be
brought back to the embassy for final processing the next day. The passports
will then have to be picked up in person (or by a friend upon presentation of a
letter of authorization signed by the applicant) at the embassy. We regret any
inconvenience caused by this change in procedure, and we are still working on
gaining authorization to begin mailing passports back to applicants.
Additionally, Consular Reports of Birth cannot be processed during consular
outreach trips.
If you have any questions, please e-mail: acsbkk @state.gov or call the American
Citizen Services Unit at: 02-205-4049.
We look forward to seeing you in Pattaya on July 18th.
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