Rotary Club of Pattaya Marina holds 1st party of 2010
A BBQ amongst friends. (From
the left) Franz Lochbrunner and Friend Patty, President Florence Pellegrin,
Eric Larbouillat and Jean Francoise Le Cot.
The Rotary Club of Pattaya Marina held its first party of
the new year with Rotarian Jean Francois Le Cot hosting a barbecue at his
Kasira farm Jan. 9.
Le Cot also introduced his estate and explained he would like to take in
elderly people to create a kind of retirement home. He has six bungalows for
rent for 600 euros a month, which includes meals, laundry and housekeeping
services. A minivan is available for residents to travel into Pattaya.
For more information go to: www.retirement-home-thailand.com
Gavin Waddell from Phyathai Hospital Sriracha addresses PCEC
After Master of Ceremonies Les Edmonds welcomed everyone to
the Pattaya City Expat Club meeting on Sunday, January 17 at Henry J Beans, and
made the usual announcements, he introduced the guest speaker, Gavin Waddell,
international marketing executive with Phyathai Hospital Sriracha. Gavin was no
stranger to the club as he is a fellow member and has arranged for health
professionals with the hospital to periodically address the club.
Gavin, with his usual humorous style, began by noting that he has now been in
Thailand for 10 years. He started out in Bangkok doing some teaching. About 5
years ago, he was a guest speaker on the topic of marketing heath tourism at
Burapha University in Bang Saen. He was approached by the executive director of
Phyathai Hospital Sriracha and asked to join their staff. Gavin said he agreed
to the one year contract offered and he has been there ever since.
He mentioned that the hospital is a 13 story building built some 15 years ago.
The lower floors house the various medical centers and reception. Hospital
administrative offices are on the 4th floor and the hospital wards are on floors
5 through 12.
Gavin told an interesting story about the 13th floor, which used to house male
staff that work at the hospital; but the floor was vacant for several years and
was used primarily for storage. He said this floor is generally avoided by the
Thai staff. It seems an apparent lovelorn male staff member chose to jump from
that floor and since then the Thai believe that his ghost haunts the floor.
Gavin said as the only farang working with over 1,000 Thai staff, it can be
frustrating at times. So, he discovered that he can guarantee a little solitude
for himself by spending some time on the 13th floor.
Gavin said that in the past 18 months the hospital has undergone a complete
renovation and upgrading of equipment for its diagnostic center. He mentioned
that with age the hospital had become a bit seedy and a bit dated, thus losing
out to more modern private hospitals.
Although the hospital is associated with the Phyathai group of hospitals, each
are financially responsible for their own operations. Consequently, the Sriracha
hospital needed to find its own funding to renovate and upgrade. This was not
easy in the present economic climate. But it seems the hospital was land rich
and cash poor. He mentioned that Sriracha is often called little Tokyo because
it has a Japanese population of around 4,000 along with about 100 Japanese run
businesses. Thus, the hospital was able to sell some of its adjoining land to
Japanese interests for the 400 million baht they needed.
However, this renovation got off to a bumpy start when they paid their
contractor an advance of 25 million only to have the contractor stop working
shortly after starting. It seems the contractor had a dishonest accounting
employee who absconded with the funds. As a result of this setback, the hospital
staff did not receive any bonuses that year.
Overcoming this bit of adversity, the hospital went on to complete the
renovation and upgrade their equipment so they could offer better health care to
their patients as well as compete on a more equal footing with other hospitals
in the area.
Gavin then proceeded to describe the improvements in their diagnostic center.
One improvement was the acquisition of a CT 64 Slice machine. Gavin explained
that this X-ray computed tomography can take 64 slices per rotation. With the
aid of a computer, the two dimensional X-rays can be made into 3 dimensional
pictures. The CT 64 is very good for getting a picture of the soft tissues of
the body and is especially suited for cardiac diagnosis. This machine cost the
hospital about 40 million baht.
Another improvement was the acquisition of an MRI scanner. This Magnetic
Resonance Imaging device is beneficial because it uses no radiation. Gavin
explained how the extremely strong magnet is used to obtain images of organs
inside the body and is very good for making diagnosis about the brain as well as
other parts of the body. The MRI they acquired is one of the latest and best on
the market, costing about 44 million baht.
Gavin concluded by describing their Cath Lab and its operation in some detail.
He explained that the term Cath Lab is short for Cardiac Catheterization
Laboratory. Cath Labs are used to detect and treat blocked heart arteries by
using a catheter that is inserted into a main artery and moved up the artery to
the heart.
After Gavin answered several questions from the audience, Master of Ceremonies
Les Edmonds called on his lovely wife Judith to conduct the Open Forum, which is
always informative and sometimes humorous where questions are asked and answered
about living in Thailand and Pattaya in particular.
DUK Group donates 210,000 baht to
Redemptorist Vocational School
Kindhearted members of the DUK
Group from Germany donated 210,000 baht to support the Pattaya School for the
Disabled.
Sue K. and
Vimolrat Singnikorn
After an accident in 2003 in Thailand, avid golfer Jens Maspfuhl was left
paralyzed from his chest down and has been in a wheelchair ever since. But he
didn’t hang up his clubs.
Hi accident didn’t stop him from continuing to play golf, which he still does
today thanks to special equipment. And he’s now helping motivate other disabled
people to enjoy life as he does through a company he founded in 2004, Deutsche
Unfall und Katastrophenopfer Hilfe e.V
Known as the DUK Group, the company supports sports programs for the disabled.
In its latest effort, Maspfuhl donated 210,000 baht to the Pattaya Redemptorist
Vocational School for the Disabled Jan. 11.
Maspfuhl first came in contact with the Father Ray Foundation, which runs the
school, a year after his accident. He said he was very impressed by the work of
the school that teaches and trains Thai handicapped people in various fields in
order for them to be able to get back into the workforce.
It was actually DUK’s second donation to the group. Last year they donated
45,000 baht to the center. This year the cash came with teddy bears for the
children in the day care center.
Next year they hope to donate even a bigger amount as well as bring in some
wheelchairs and equipment for their Thai handicapped friends.
Underprivileged Rayong,
Chantaburi kids visit Nong Nooch
Caretakers and children from the
Child Education and Welfare Department in Chantaburi and Rayong Panyanukul
School’s Special Child Cooperative Learning program recently visited Nong Nooch
Tropical Gardens.
Patcharapol Panrak
Mentally and physically challenged children from Rayong and Chantaburi were
taken on a special outing to Nong Nooch Tropical Garden through a special
program for underprivileged children sponsored by the Tourism Authority of
Thailand.
The TAT’s “Happy Dreams for Underprivileged Children” program arranged the Jan.
18 field trip for dozens of children from the Child Education and Welfare
Department in Chantaburi and Rayong Panyanukul School’s Special Child
Cooperative Learning program.
Marketing Officer Watcharapol Sarasorn said TAT offices in the two cities
cooperated to select underprivileged kids, focusing on those with learning and
hearing disabilities. Some of the children have been learning dance from teacher
Jitakorn Makaew so they can put on shows to build their self-confidence.
Watcharapol said Nong Nooch was a good location to bring the children because it
opens their views about the world, reduces their fears, increases confidence and
provides knowledge of society’s rules.
Khru Ja fighting it out in the streets to protect kids
Theerarak Suthatiwong
“My family was poor. Broke. Underprivileged,” recalls Supagon Noja,
looking around at the new Home for Impoverished Children in Huay Yai. “So I know
first hand how poor people don’t have rights or power in society.”
Now the director of the Child Protection and Development Center in Pattaya,
Supagon, or “Khru Ja” as he’s known, was a driving force behind the new CPDC
shelter next to the Huay Yai Temple. He wants people to get a chance to do as he
did and rise from pauper status in Lamphun Province to make something of their
lives.
Supagon
“Khru Ja” Noja addresses the press at the recent opening of a new CPDC house.
“I learned a lot of things about being poor,” he said. “So I was determined to
succeed in life at some level and try to do my best for underprivileged people.”
His life’s work began in earnest in 2001 when he volunteered to help those
infected with HIV and addicted to drugs. He became a teacher of street kids and
gained enough trust that he eventually became the head of the CPDC.
“Pattaya has about 1,500-2,000 street kids and it seems to be increasing
yearly,” he said. “These children come from all over the country, as well as
Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. Most of them usually end up with human-trafficking
gangs. They are forced to distribute goods on the roads, at clubs, bars and to
provide sexual services against their will.
“Presently, the Child Protection and Development Center in Pattaya is providing
support for no less than 2,000 street kids and victims of sexual abuse. This is
being done especially to press charges against groups of pedophiles and child
abusers,” he said.
Supagon sees the CPDC as a vital part of a network of groups helping the police
make arrests. Pedophile cases comprise more than 50 percent of the agency’s
work, he said.
But he said the real challenge is to educate children in the schools about the
risks they face. It also requires more community support to watch over children.
Supagon takes this role seriously, working himself with about 3,000 children a
year on the streets.
Now that the CPDC center is open, there’s more work to be done, Supagon said.
Next he wants to build more facilities, including a multi-purpose building and
sports field and start offering occupational training.
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