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Orphans serenade PCEC meeting

Prayer not parties, for Sattahip Buddhists

Aquanauts earns 100% pass rate for 2008 with certification of 2 new instructors

Huay Yai Temple draws big crowds seeking to be ‘born again’

Orphans serenade PCEC meeting

Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg welcomed everyone to the first Sunday meeting of the New Year on January 3, 2010 at the Amari’s Henry J. Beans Restaurant. He also extended a special welcome to our guests Father Michael Weera, Toy, and the Children’s Choir from Pattaya Orphanage. After the usual announcements he called on Father Michael to tell us something about himself and the Orphanage.

Father Michael Weera shares with PCEC members a brief history of how Pattaya Orphanage came about. In 1972, Father Ray Brennan, a priest of the Redemptorist Order, found a small child on his doorstep. This was followed by more children - although Father Brennan has now passed on, the orphanage he established continues, with 160 children ranging in age from newborns to uni undergrads.

Father Michael said he is currently 69 years of age and has been a Catholic Priest for the past 40 years. He explained that his Catholic faith comes from his Chinese Christian grandparents. He mentioned that there are about 300,000 Catholics in Thailand, most who are also descendents of Chinese families as well as many descended from Vietnamese families. His parents were both teachers and he also has spent the last 50 years as an educator.
He then provided a brief history of how the orphanage came about. In 1972, Father Ray Brennan, a priest of the Redemptorist Order, was asked to care for a small child. This was followed by more children. In 1974, Father Ray and American military personnel at the Utapao air base approached the local Bishop about building an orphanage. With financial promises by the Americans and Father Ray volunteering to oversee the operation, the Pattaya Orphanage came into existence in September 1974.

Richard Smith, former chairman of the Pattaya City Expats Club, greets Toy and Father Weera from the Pattaya Orphanage, before the children present their Christmas carols.

After Father Brennan’s death, the orphanage continued under the Father Ray Foundation until its administration was taken over by the Catholic Diocese. Father Michael said he was asked to become the director of the orphanage in 2008.
Father Michael then spoke about the current operations of the orphanage noting that many children still have at least one parent but were abandoned by them. This causes a problem because without the mother’s written consent, the child cannot be placed for adoption. So, although they place several of the children for adoption, the orphanage still must care for many children from infancy to adulthood.
He said that when the children approach their teen years, they are now sending them to Catholic schools around Thailand rather than continuing their education in Pattaya. This, he said, is done primarily because Pattaya, being a rather freewheeling tourist city, is not the best environment for teenagers.
Father Michael said that many of the children go on to a fairly productive life with some achieving higher education. But, some do fall victim to alcoholism and drugs as well as HIV/AIDS. Father Michael concluded by saying that the children need a lot of attention and love. He invited members of the audience to visit the orphanage and meet the children.
The Children’s Choir filed in and positioned themselves on the staircase. Accompanied by their guitarists, they entertained the audience with several Christmas songs. But the highlight were the ten small boys and girls dressed in American Western garb. The boys had penciled moustaches and all were wearing cowboy hats. They were center front and captivated everyone with their dancing; what they may have lacked in choreography, they certainly made up with exuberance. Afterward, the children filed out to much applause. The club also had some small gifts for the children.
The meeting concluded with Judith Edmonds conducting the always informative and sometimes humorous Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about living in Thailand and Pattaya in particular.

Ten Caroling cowboys (and cowgirls!) entertain
the grateful members of Pattaya City Expats Club.


Prayer not parties, for Sattahip Buddhists

Patcharapol Panrak
While most people celebrated New Year’s Eve with champagne and parties, a group of Buddhist monks and believers rang in 2010 with temple bells, prayer and meditation.

Worshipers pay homage to the revered Phra Khru Worawethamunee, better known as Luang Poo Ee, the late abbot of Wat Sattahip.

Nine monks headed by Assistant Abbott Somsak Khunathammo led thousands of devout worshippers in prayer, listening to Dharma and receiving the precepts at Wat Sattahip Temple on Dec. 31.
Starting at 11 p.m. and continuing into the wee hours of the New Year, the group meditated and prepared mentally for doing good deeds in 2010 and forgetting about the past. They prayed for peace and unity of the Thai people and abstained from alcohol during the proceedings.
In the morning, the group made merit by offering dried foods to Buddhist monks and novices and listened to religious sermons.
Later worshipers paid homage to the revered Phra Khru Worawethamunee better known as Luang Poo Ee, the late abbot of Wat Sattahip.


Aquanauts earns 100% pass rate for 2008 with certification of 2 new instructors

Dan Cook and Ben Wertsch became
Open Water Scuba Instructors early last month.

Staff Reporters
Pattaya’s Aquanauts Dive Centre became the only scuba diving facility in Central Thailand to post a 100 percent pass rate on the PADI instructor exam when two of its students earned their professional certifications last month.
Dan Cook, 18, and Ben Wertsch, 24, became Open Water Scuba Instructors in a three-day exam Dec. 18-21 at the Discovery Beach Hotel that tested their dive knowledge and skills in written, swimming pool and open water tests.
Cook of England spent two months training with Aquanauts on Soi 6 in North Pattaya while Wertsch spent three as part of the company’s long-established professional internship program. Their certification marked a milestone for the PADI 5-Star Career Development Center as it posted a perfect pass rate on the multi-school instructor exam for the second straight calendar year.
Company officials also noted that Aquanauts has the best pass rate of any internship program in Thailand and has had the only 100 percent pass rate since June 2007.


Huay Yai Temple draws big crowds seeking to be ‘born again’

During the ceremony, the person is covered with a white cloth while lying or sitting on a black cloth with his or her hands pressed together, as though he or she is already dead. The black cloth is later taken out and burnt as a symbol of cremation. The person is then regarded as being “born again”.

Patcharapol Panrak
The end of what has been a difficult year for many brought Thais and foreigners from all over the country to Huay Yai Temple over the New Year’s holiday to participate in a ceremony done for both the dead and living to ward away evil spirits in hopes of turning their fortunes.
Elders reported that the temple has been extremely crowded with worshippers wanting both to make merit by offering food to monks and to partake in the bangsukul konpen rite.
The ceremonies reached their climax on Jan. 3 with the release of nine auspicious animals into the wild to bid adieu to the Year of the Ox and welcome in the Year of the Tiger, which begins with Chinese New Year Feb. 14.
Bangsukul is most commonly practiced as a ritual during which saffron robes are offered to monks in dedication of a dead person to pave a smooth path for them into the afterlife. A derivation on this, the bangsukul konpen, is tailored for the living and is a common practice in Northeast Thailand for those facing upcoming hard times.
During the ceremony, the person is covered with a white cloth while lying or sitting on a black cloth with his or her hands pressed together, as though he or she is already dead. The black cloth is later taken out and burnt as a symbol of cremation. The person is then regarded as being “born again”.
While Buddhist text stresses that the ceremony cannot change one’s karma, which depends on their deeds following the ceremony, it does make people feel better and believe that it will lead to better luck.
Huay Yai Temple Abbot Sarawut Jittapanyo said monks there have long been known as a center for the bangsukul ceremony and, this year, many more people than usual came to the temple seeking to make merit and be reborn. In fact, so many arrived that the ceremony had to be moved from the temple’s old wooden hall, where revered Abbot Luang Phor Kan still lies in state in a glass coffin.
Monks performed their chants in numerous ceremonies to meet the demands of the crowds who came from all over the country for the ceremony as well as tour the Pattaya areas famous tourist attractions.

Guests from all over the country visited Huay Yai Temple over the New Year’s holiday to participate in a ceremony to ward away evil spirits in hopes of turning their fortunes.