Features

by Lewis Underwood
Most of us knew Mike as an organizer of golf tournaments, a charity worker and familiar face and voice in the media.
He loved doing all of these things, and it was his keen focus, dedication and zest that made him excel in whatever he took on.

Mike Franklin
April 1, 1935 - January 7, 2009
But there was so much more to him as well. He was also a devoted family man, and a private person who enjoyed his down time out of the spotlight too.
For example, no matter what was going on socially, Saturday nights were stay-home nights with the family for Mike, unless, of course, Samm had a Taekwondo event. But usually he enjoyed staying in to listen to some Sinatra or Sammy Davis Jr. and savor some fine wine to suit whatever he was cooking. His specialties, by the way, were: gang keow wan gai, Indonesian fried rice and spaghetti prima bolognaise.
At the inaugural Mike Franklin Pattaya Mail Charity Golf Tournament at the Pinnacle Resort in June 2007, Mike asked me to do his intro and bio before the prize-giving. Deeply honored to do so, it was something I truly enjoyed doing for Mike. I never thought that 18 months later I would be doing the same for his eulogy:
Michael John Forrest Franklin was born in London in 1935. In fact the day was April 1st, but despite Mike’s wry humor, he was nobody’s fool.
To the contrary, he used to send out gag emails on April Fool’s Day of what appeared to be real, albeit, unusual news items. It seemed to dupe most all; or at least some of us.
As a boy, Mike went to public school in London and eventually Eltham College. He did his national service in Egypt between 1953 and 1955 and eventually pursued a career in sales, advertising and marketing. Ultimately, he landed a senior account executive position at Tesco in the UK.
In the 60’s, he was married and had two children, Sean and Tonia. Sean, now 41, works in Bangkok for the POV Media Group and Tonia, 40, back in the UK, is a professional cellist and teacher.

Mike in an interview with H.E. Anan Panyarachun former Prime Minister
and UNICEF Ambassador to Thailand.

In the 1980’s while in the UK, Mike started what was to be his long term commitment to charity work. And he did this through the mediums of music and golf.
In the realm of music, he began doing charity concerts for Tesco UK with the London Symphony Orchestra, Cleo Laine and John Dankworth’s Allmusic awards. Mike also did the same with the London Bach Orchestra.
Mike got into golf rather late in life at the age of 48. As usual, he gave it his all, and became a respectable low 20’s handicapper in relatively short time.
Eventually, his new hobby morphed into a way of life and in 1982, he convinced Tesco to put on a Charity Pro-Am Classic, which turned into a PGA European tour one-day event.
It involved 40 top European pros and 120 amateurs. Senior members of the royal family, including Princess Anne, Margaret, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles, were consulted in choosing the target charities. Mike ran this for 6 years and raised over 850 thousand pounds during his tenure. This tournament still continues today.
Due to his involvement with the latter, in 1991 he was invited to King Hassan’s 20th anniversary golf tournament in Morocco, Marrakech and Rabat. He was one of the few amateurs asked to join this event and ended up playing a practice round with Payne Stewart, who had just come from his US Open win. He also had some bunker practice with Gary Player and then played with Vijay Singh in the event.
In 1994, with his love for golf now ratcheting up to near obsession, he went to Thailand for 2 weeks. He played 10 rounds in that period and found not only were the courses in outstanding shape, but also cheap to play! And to no local expat’s surprise, Mike decided to stay.
Characteristically, Mike wasted no time settling in and getting involved. He met Banjob in the same year, which led to the creation of his second family with the birth of Samm, who is now 10, a red belt and the apple of his eye, joined by stepdaughter Tukada, 17.
As Mike continued to enjoy the golf, in 1995, he won the first ever PSC Championship. Then in 1997, he started organizing golf tournaments again when he was elected PSC Golf Chairman, a position he held for 3 years. In this capacity, he resumed his charity work when he initiated the PSC Charity Classic; a tournament now in his 12th year and still a major fund raiser for PSC today.
Also in ’97 Mike started his voluntary reporting and relationship with the Pattaya Mail, which would later include PMTV as well. His main role was covering golf, charity and other associated events. On his 70th birthday in 2005, Mike was honored to receive his ‘Special Correspondent’ Press Card from the Pattaya Mail and PMTV. Mike would go on to create new features for them such as the ‘Meet and Greet’ and ‘Insight” series.
In 1998, he became advisor to Eastern Star Country Club and Resort, which ultimately led to a relationship with UNICEF and ex-PM Khun Anand. In 2001, Mike helped them launch their Khun Anand Panyarachun Charity Golf Tournament at Eastern Star. It is now in its 7th year.
Mike was also an organizer for the Khun Anand Charity Golf Tournament for the Special Olympics of Thailand with Thammasat University, which is now in its 6th year, as well as the first Tesco Lotus Charity Classic for the Thai Red Cross at Thai Country Club in 2001.
Mike actually arranged many of the local major golf tournaments, including for Delaney’s, Shenanigans and then Jameson’s over a 9-year stretch. He also managed the prestigious TQ Masters for 5 years, which only really became ‘prestigious’ after Mike took over.
In 1999, he initiated the Diana Gold Charity tournament, now in its 10th year, to raise money for Pattaya School scholarships, and the Chonburi Family Court Juvenile & Protection Center. He also became advisor to the Diana group and very close ally with Khun Noi and her entire staff.
In 1998 with the inception of the Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive, Mike got in from the get go. It is through this association that I had the opportunity and privilege to get to really know him.
For 11 years, Mike was our PR and Media Coordinator with the Pattaya Mail and eventually PMTV. He would typically arrange our schedule of 20-plus press articles and PMTV related links for each charity drive. He would always get the last say in everything printed, whether it was press releases, posters, brochures, stickers or shirt designs. His advice was sagely; and when he gave us the green light, we knew we were indeed good to go.
Mike’s name was also synonymous with that of the Jesters Children’s Fair and he was always central to the goings-on there, orchestrating the event from his vantage point at the PSC Children’s Raffle tent.
In all, though, his signature work that is probably most telling about our friend and mentor, was his special feature film: ‘A Day in the Life at the Fountain of Life Center’.
Mike had always wanted to do a candid film of a typical day at our main project, the Fountain of Life Center, in order to truly tell the story behind our charity drive.
In order to do this, on the day of the shoot, Mike and the Pattaya Mail crew got on the Center’s bus early in the morning and went around to the various slum areas to pick up the kids and then bring them back to the Center. The rest of the time was spent capturing the daily routine of lessons and activities until it was time to take them back home again in the late afternoon.
I went to check on Mike just as they were finishing up. He and the crew had been hard at it for the best part of 8 hours and I expected to find Mike completely drained. However, he was anything but; in fact he was full of enthusiasm and with gleaming eyes, proudly declared, “It’s a wrap!”
When we watched it the next day, of course he was right; he had achieved his goal and it was a masterpiece showcasing just how the Center helps the poor kids.
To this day the work remains to be one of our most effective PR tools for our charity drive. The bonus is that it is also reveals so much about Mike; and now will serve proudly as his legacy.
The project as a whole was typical of Mike’s modus operandi: Formulate, visualize, prepare and execute.
Mike was also never late for anything nor did he ever miss a press deadline. He would turn up at least 30 minutes, if not an hour, before meetings and usually submitted his articles days before they were actually due. Forward planning was his forte.
Mike used to do both of the write ups for our September events: the Fair and Party Night, which we were glad about because we knew how knackered the rest of us would be in their aftermath.
But Mike had a trick for these particular articles; he would write them prophetically. That is, he would do them prior to the event in question taking into account the planned program, who was expected to be there, and what was supposed to happen. Then when it was all over, he would do the necessary changes to make it right, and submit it. It was so easy for him and it took such a huge load off of us.
A few years back Mike titled one of his classic Fair write-ups as “Simply the Best”. That goes for you too, Mike: You were simply the Best!

Mike with his son Sean Franklin Dec. 2008
and his daughter Tonia Shappard (1993).

Letter to Daddy
I can still hear your voice to this day, when you told me as a child: “ always remember how you treat people on the way up, as you will meet them again on the way down.” You gained the respect of everyone you met because you lived by your word. You always treated others with respect, integrity, consideration and kindness. These lessons have been invaluable in my life and will pass through the generations of our family.
Always calm, considered and thoughtful, you worked incredibly hard all your life, always giving of your best and achieving great success and reputation in your career. You were equally dedicated in the workplace and the home. There is nothing you wouldn’t do for your family. A loving father, you gave enormously to me as a child – driving me around to music lessons and concerts every weekend. You always considered the needs of others before your own, sometimes a little too much.
Sadly, all your plans and good intentions, were cut short, as I know you had so much more you were wanting to do. You were incredibly brave in the face of your illness. Through your long and difficult battle with cancer, you showed extraordinary strength and courage, never complaining and always finding a positive, and often humour, in even the most desperate situations.
You were one of life’s true ‘givers’. Now is the time for you to rest, and to enjoy the eternal peace that you truly deserve. You are, as ever, always in my heart. Greatly loved and forever missed.
Tonia Shappard