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Santa arrives at Pinnacle via elephant
Sepp Preiss
The Rotary Club of Phoenix Pattaya organized on St. Nicholas Day
(December 6) a typical St. Nicholas Party at the Pinnacle Grand Hotel. More
than 50 orphans and children from the Redemptorist drop-in center were
invited.
 Father
Christmas on his elephant.
Money raised in this event goes to a disaster fund in Thailand.
The children had big eyes when they saw Santa Claus riding in on an
elephant.
For the little Thai children it made no difference if Santa jumped through a
fireplace or rode on an elephant as they love him anyway. The children’s
eyes lit up further when Santa opened his big sack to give little presents
to all of them.
After the kids received their presents, a children’s show brought
entertainment and good food. Surely, the kids won’t ever forget that
beautiful afternoon.
In the evening an oldies party was held by the hotel pool. Many guests,
members of the club and hotel guests were present. They all were welcomed by
Santa, who once again rode in on an elephant. People stood in line to take
photos with him.
Ingo Räuber, the hotel’s general manager, took care that only the best food
was served at the buffet and the oldies music invited the guests to dance.
Special attractions were the shows from the Dance-Studio Pattaya, The Family
from Bangkok and the transvestite show Cabaretchen.
Great prizes, such as a hotel stay in the Philippines, helped to raise the
festive mood and the party went on until the early hours.
Heidi Glémeau and her friend
from Germany Professor Warcke with Santa.
Phoenix President Stephan
Heynert and one of his members Siegfried Broda (last row 2nd and 3rd) take a
picture with Rotary Governor Peter Malhotra and ladies from YWCA.
Uncle Santa, Auntie Esther and
Auntie Sue are playing with the children.
Yet another success at the Gay Festival
Elfi Seitz
The Gay Festival held its annual event on the first weekend in
December and on World AIDS Day, and once more, it was a huge success.
 Jim
Lumsden is the great emcee, who finds touching words about his and his
friends’ mission to help people living with HIV/AIDS.
The first event took place November 30 at Bruno’s, and it proved that many
people are still willing to support people living with AIDS or HIV. The
restaurant was filled to the very last seat, and owner Fredi Schaub spared
no efforts to offer the crowd some fine cuisine.
The second party was celebrated December 1 at the Boyz Boyz Bozy boy go-go
bar at Boystown, where the prettiest boy was crowned.
The main attraction, though, was the street party which took place on the
shut off premises of Boystown. Only a valid ticket would give people access.
Most restaurants would give out a free drink in exchange for the ticket.
 (L
to R) Medium Peter Close and Tony Portman wonder how many raffle tickets to
buy.
Despite the excellent entertainment at the event, emceed by untiring and
imaginative Jim Lumsden, prices for food and drinks were the same as usual.
The show was quite diverse, packed with humor and self-mockery.
Many raffle tickets were sold, and many prizes were given out, making this
event such a successful one.
The proceeds were initially estimated to be several hundreds of thousands of
baht. They will go the Heartt2000 organization, led by Dr. Philippe Seur,
providing medication for people living with HIV/AIDS, and to other
charitable projects the Gay Festival regularly supports.
All of Boystown’s premises are packed with
partiers.
Christmas lights up Pattaya
Saksiri Uraiworn
Christmas lights were switched on and fireworks shot into the night
sky on December 17 to mark the beginning of the celebration of Christmas and
New Year.
 Mayor
Ittipol Khunplome (right) and Bishop Lawrence Thienchai Samanchit turn on
the Christmas lights.
At St. Nicolas Church, Mayor Ittipol Khunplome and Bishop Lawrence Thienchai
Samanchit together switched on the Christmas tree lights.
Father Veera Pangrak, director of Children Foundation Pattaya, Father
Glisada Sukapat, Abbot of St. Nicolas Church, and councilors looked on, no
doubt finding moments to reflect on the birth of Jesus.
Mayor Ittipol said Christmas tree lights along Sukhumvit Road reflect the
warm atmosphere of the Christmas festival as well as helping to build a nice
image of the city and encourage people to share in the religious
celebrations.
The choir and band from St. Paul Covent then sang Christmas music as myriad
lights sparkled on the Christmas tree and fireworks lit up the night sky.
The choir in full voice.
Christmas tree lights along
Sukhumvit Road.
Global music rocks Green Space
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Thai and European music blended into an interesting brew at Heineken’s
end-of-year concert at Heineken’s Green Space at the Ocean Marina Yacht
Club on Jomtien Beach December 13.
 Teenage
idol band Crescendo gives an outstanding performance.
Entitled “Music beyond borders,” the rare mixing of global talented
bands with Thai local bands playing similar music, perhaps for the first
time, made for an evening of good music in the balmy sea air.
Performers who made the event spectacular included ETC, featured with
Swedish Pop, Club 8, Crystal Night from France, playing cool jazz and
featured with our RudKlao and Bee Peerapat, Little Roy, an original
reggae band from Jamaica featured with our T-Bone, and Crescendo.
The atmosphere at Green Space was extraordinary for some 2,000 guests
who obviously enjoyed the musical mélange consumed with a wide variety
of food and drinks.
The sea breeze was relaxing and there were some moments over glasses of
beer during the upbeat night to reflect on the year that was coming to
an end.
Bee Peerapat plays the
show finale.
Ben Chalatit
ETC attracts female fans.
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