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Busy Santa comes to town
(Seated left to right) Peter
Malhotra, Pat & Graham Goodman and Mike Franklin; (standing left to right)
Tony Malhotra, Rungratree Thongsai, Kim & Pascal Schnyder, Parawee Pomkerd,
Ingo Raeuber, Patchamonwan Jindasing and Sean Franklin enjoy Christmas
dinner at Casa Pascal.
Sopin Thappajug (center),
managing director of the Diana Group, and staff warmly welcome Father
Worawut Saraphan of the Achiwaphramahathai School who came with many
children in his care.
Partiers all in a festive mood
at the Amari Orchid Resort and Tower.
Staff reporters
Father Christmas might have looked a bit overdressed and sweaty in
the tropical night of Christmas Eve as he arrived in Pattaya. But he made
many appearances nonetheless, one after another, at many clubs and hotels to
the delight of all that he met, especially children.
It was puzzling how he seemed to be in many places at the same time, a
secret trick of the trade.
 It’s
truly a Merry Christmas at the Sheraton Hotel Pattaya.
It was a crowded Christmas Festival for the many shops celebrating Christmas
in the main streets. Good news for the local economy. Perhaps the airport
closure fiascos are finally beginning to fade into memory.
Christians called in at Pattaya City Hall to give good wishes to the mayor
with Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn and city councilors also being on hand
to greet them.
The Captain’s Corner restaurant threw a party where Santa gave gifts to
children while employees dressed up as Santa’s helpers served customers.
Elvis Presley songs played in the background.
The Diana Inn gave special discounts on its menus to customers who enjoyed
delicious food and good music by the poolside in the middle of many
decorations to set the right atmosphere.
Happy Sopin Thappajug, managing director of the Diana Group, and staff
warmly welcomed Father Worawut Saraphan of the Achiwaphramahathai School who
came with many children in his care.
 Santa
made the rounds, handing out presents to sick kids at Bangkok Hospital
Pattaya.
For Hard Rock Cafe Pattaya it was a real blast with 40 children from the
Pattaya Orphanage who sang Jingle Bells, while Amfy from RS Promotion
performed their best.
The Dusit Thani Pattaya put on magic shows involving many in the audience.
Then followed songs by versatile Santa who gave gifts to guests as fireworks
shot off adding to the already colorful evening.
Amari Orchid Resort and Tower celebrated with drinks and a buffet of
international cuisine. Lucky draws drew presents to give to guests while
Santa again was there to entertain. DJ Ning turned on some tracks which
really set the festive mood.
Christians sang Christmas carols at the Royal Palace Hotel and guests
heartily joined in. Who else but Santa appeared also at the Bangkok Hospital
Pattaya giving presents to patients.
It was one happy and busy night for the jolly, tireless man in red.
Santa and his helpers ready to
hand out gifts to deserving youngsters.
Hard Rock Cafe Pattaya was a
real blast on Christmas.
Families sing hymns during the
Victory Church Christmas
service at Royal Palace Twins hotel.
The lovely staff at Dusit
Thani Pattaya welcomes guests to the Christmas extravaganza.
Merry Christmas! From the
Captain’s Corner.
Christians called in at
Pattaya City Hall to give good wishes to city administrators.
‘Papa Prem’ invites all his ‘children’ to an excellent Christmas party
The Dibbayawan family whishes
all guests merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Elfi Seitz
As it has become a tradition over the years, ‘Papa Prem’ again
invited Rotarians and friends to his home for the annual Christmas
celebration. Papa Prem is no other than honorable attorney and former Rotary
Governor Premprecha Dibbayawan.
 The
Catholic Church is represented as well: (L to R) Fr. Krisada, Fr. Michael
and ‘Papa Prem.’
All attending Rotarians and friends were pampered with some fine cuisine,
prepared by Prem and his brother, plus a variety of drinks.
Special entertainment was provided by students from Pattaya School 8, some
of them being ‘Interact Rotarians.’ Their Christmas show was a joy. The main
attraction was once more the presentation by Roongaroon Manfuen. She has
performed at Papa Prem’s Christmas parties from an early age on and has
become a real beauty.
Three paintings displaying HM the King were raffled, bringing smiles to the
faces of the winning bidders and tremendously increasing the charity funds.
Rotarians and guests agreed that the Christmas party at Papa Prem’s is
always something remarkable. The proceeds will go to the Rotary Club
Jomtien, where Premprecha is a member, and will be used to help people in
need.
It’s the time of year to
gather with friends and family.
Students from Pattaya School 8
perform a Christmas skit.
German Catholic community gathers for Christmas mass
With shiny eyes, people of all
ages welcome Santa Claus.
Elfi Seitz
For the second time since its establishment, the German speaking
Catholic community congregated at the small sala in front of the
Redemptorist chapel located at Sukhumvit Road to celebrate Christmas.
 Little
Philipp Alting receives a special present for singing in front of the crowd.
Some 42 guests came, including 7 children, with 3 of them from the US. Santa
Claus, however, had traveled all the way from the North Pole. He was
slightly exhausted from hauling a huge basket filled with presents for all
guests.
Little Philipp Alting bravely stood on a chair to serenade Santa Clause. The
3 year old enjoyed the general praise he received along with his gift. After
eating from the sumptuous buffet and having some ‘spiritual’ drinks, the
elders joined in and eagerly sang carols.
Marianne Busch Biehl collected donations which will be used to buy school
supplies for blind children in Surin.
In his well-known charming manner, Felici Curschellas thanked Santa Claus
for his generosity. Santa subsequently left in order to deliver presents to
many more well-behaved children.
Santa makes the rounds
Kavita Lamba
Last year, Mr Joe organised for Santa to hand out toys at a
friend’s house for 30 children. In no time at all, around 60 children
had arrived leaving Santa exhausted and with an empty sack. With this in
mind, Mr Joe found a way to repeat this and help the underprivileged in
Pattaya. Everybody knows that children like to go visit Santa and
receive a gift, so for every donation made, every child received a gift
for half that value and the other half would provide a gift for an
underprivileged child.
 Santa
hands out presents whilst making the rounds in Pattaya.
The legend of St Nicholas started when the saint gave gifts anonymously
to those in need and stories of his generosity spread to Lapland. It is
Mr Joe’s opinion that the opportunity to share good fortune with those
who would otherwise have gone without is a way of bringing home the real
message of Christmas.
Santa started his three day journey at Goodland restaurant and then onto
Robin Hood Bar which hosts weekly jamming sessions every Friday night.
On Saturday afternoon, Santa resumed his journey at Pattaya Lagoon
Resort and then onto Big Joe’s. A much needed break was had at Soi
Rungland, where Santa and his helpers re-fueled on pies and sausage
rolls before climbing aboard the sleigh to hand out candy and gifts to
the local children in the area. Back to the air conditioned “Santa’s
Grotto” at Caddyshack before heading off to Liberty Mansion and the Lion
Bar.
On Sunday, great fun was had at the “Mince Pie” eating contest with
mince pies donated by the Baker’s Oven before visiting the home of Brian
Jacks, View Dee Apartments. The journey ended at Moonies Bar and ended
in a triple celebration, a visit by Santa, a birthday and a wedding
anniversary.
All in all, a very busy weekend for Santa bringing a smile to many
children. For those of you who missed out, there is always next year,
Santa will definitely be returning to Pattaya.
Rotarians bring love and
kindness to women inmates
Rotarians and government
officials at the presentation ceremony.
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
It is indeed the season for giving and spreading goodwill
towards men and women, especially children.
Last month on his official visit to the Rotary Club of Amnart Charoen,
Governor Pratheep ‘Peter’ Malhotra of District 3340 Rotary International
was invited by President Pornthip Mongkolsawat to accompany Rotarians to
bring good cheer to the women inmates of the of Amnart Charoen
provincial prison where Rotarians distributed much needed supplies and
amenities for the women’s personal use.
 DG
Peter holds the baby tenderly in his arms, contemplating how to Make
Dreams Real for the world’s children.
During the visit DG Pratheep saw a young inmate holding a little baby in
her arms. On enquiry the lady said that she had given birth to her
daughter while in prison. The baby was now six months old. She said that
she was incarcerated because she had made a terrible mistake by
embezzling money from her employer. She said that it was out of
necessity and that she was very sorry for what she had done. She was
happy though that she had only six weeks more to serve her time in
prison.
Peter could not resist taking the beautiful baby in his arms and asked
the mother what she needed most for her daughter. She said that she
needed powdered milk, supplementary foods and baby napkins.
The Malhotras immediately donated their personal funds to the Rotary
Club so that they could buy supplies for mother and daughter and deliver
them on their next visit to the women’s section of the prison.
President Pornthip said, “We come to the women’s section of the prison
often, bringing supplies to the inmates because we understand what women
need. Our members also truly believe that these inmates are ready to
turn over a new leaf and are looking forward to the day when they finish
serving their prison terms to proudly rejoin mainstream society again.”
The prison warden runs
through a list of things that the women prisoners need.
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