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Pattaya Mail Media Group wins Best Mass Media award
Honored for 12th straight year
Padungsak Tantaraworasilp (left), president of EMMA
presents the Best Executive and Administrator award to Governor Senee
Jittakasem.
Phasakorn Channgam
The Pattaya Mail Media Group won the Best Mass Media
award at the 14th Eastern Mass Media Day ceremony in
Chonburi.
Kittisak Harnkla, chief of the Chonburi Public Relations Department
receives an award for excellent service to the community.
The Pattaya Mail and Pattaya Blatt newspapers and Pattaya
Mail TV were honored by Chonburi Gov. Senee Jittakasem March 5 for being the
most outstanding media that relentlessly promotes High Ethical Standards in
Business and Professions of all Eastern Seaboard media over the past year.
Governor Senee said good media organizations should act
as a mirror for society, reporting the news truthfully and ethically,
especially in light of Thailand’s current political and economic problems.
The media should be a good intermediary and help promote unity in society.
Dr. Marut Jirasethsiri, chief of the Chonburi health
office is recognised for Outstanding Human Relations.
Association President Padungsak Tantaraworasilp presented
Governor Senee with the Best Executive and Administrator award and invited
the governor to present other awards to state and cultural entities,
including awards for best cultural promotion, best mass media relations
officer, best village chief and best media relations management.
This year’s award marks the 12th
straight time 17-year-old Pattaya Mail and its associated news outlets have
won the Best Mass Media award, beating out more than a half dozen other
English and Thai-language Pattaya media organizations.
Pratheep ‘Peter’ Malhotra, managing director of the Pattaya Mail Media Group
The awards coincided with the annual March 5 Journalists
Day, which marks the establishment of the Association of Journalists in
Thailand on March 8, 1955. This year’s Journalists Day was marked with a
small ceremony in Bangkok, reviving a tradition that had fallen to the
wayside in recent years due to declining newspaper circulation.
Pratheep ‘Peter’ Malhotra, managing director of the
Pattaya Mail Media Group proudly said, “We are absolutely thrilled with this
recognition. Many awards are handed out every year to the various branches
of the media, but this year the Eastern Mass Media Association have seen fit
to present us with this unique award, which recognizes us for our work to
tirelessly promote High Ethical Standards in Business and Professions.
Vichai Siripanya, deputy chief of the Chonburi physical
education department receives the Outstanding Human Relations award.
“We also truly believe and encourage other media and
private enterprises, as well as public organizations to recognize the
worthiness of all useful occupations and the dignifying of everyone’s
vocation as an opportunity to serve society.
“For over 17 years our Pattaya Mail ‘family’ has worked
very hard to serve the community not only in providing the best news and
information to the public, but we have worked closely together with the
community to further the interests of society by our involvement and support
of charities to help the needy in and around our communities.
Kingkan Tantivechkul, marketing director of the Phyathai Hospital is
recognised for her outstanding human relations.
“The last couple of years of economic downturn have hit
the media business very hard and we are still reeling from the effects of
cutback in advertising budgets. But we have remained steadfast in our will
and determination to serve the community by constantly maintaining the
highest standards of news and print.
“Our circulation is as strong as ever and you will find
the Pattaya Mail and Pattaya Blatt on more newsstands in Pattaya and the
surrounding districts than any other English or German language publication.
Kiattisak Lapnakokiat, of TV Channel 5, Chonburi receives
his award for maintaining high ethics in his profession.
“I truly thank the dedication and love of our ‘family’
who are with us through thick and thin. With such unity and friendship we
are confident of many long years of service to the public.”
For their night, media workers took a rest from their
work to enjoy tables full of Chinese dishes at the party while 50 gifts were
drawn for guests to add to the very enjoyable party.
Sermsakdi Sapanon, editor of the Nana Poo-Num newspaper
is recognized for his dedication to the promotion of the learning of the
Thai language.
Amongst the list of winners in the media category were:
Best Thai Language Newspaper: Siang Mahachon edited by Somwang Mangkornsukan.
Best Thai Media: Kiatisak Lapnakokiat of TV Channel 5 Chonburi.
Best veteran reporter: Buaka Jermnak, head of TV Channel 7 Chonburi Centre.
Sermsakdi Sapanon, editor of the Nana Poo-Num newspaper was recognized for
his dedicati on to the promotion of the learning of the Thai language.
Pairoj Saengpha of TV Channel 7 was chosen as the Best Regional Reporter.
Visan Saengcharoen of TV Channel 7 received an award for Best Reporter.
Kanakorn Prakobchaichana for Best News Story.
Kanyanatcha Samranjai was awarded Best Reporter for Cable TV.
Manop Kankajorndej of TV Channel 9 was also recognized for his contributions
to the regional media.
Brazilian Bravo!
The top “Chaines” gather for a commemorative group photo.
(L to R) Dr Iain Corness, Judy and Bruce Hoppe, and Chitra and Ranjith
Chandrasiri immerse themselves into the spirit of the evening.
The Chaine women attended in their best colorful warm
weather evening wear.
Is this Rio? No, it’s a Chaine dinner at Zico’s Brazilian
Bar and Grill.
One of the samba dancers arrives to entertain the Chaine.
The dancing is fun for everyone.
Obviously this isn’t your average Chaine des Rotisseurs
gathering.
With markers still turned green side up,
service staff arrive with more
meat to serve the guests.
As a finale, the staff were presented with certificates
of
appreciation by the local Chaine des Rotisseurs chapter.
Dr. Iain Corness
The Chaine des Rotisseurs is the oldest gourmet group in
the world, having origins back to 1248 AD. Known for its lavish silver
service formal dinners, it however also hosts “Chaine Dinners Amical”,
informal fun dinners, and last month a dinner Amical was held at Zico’s
Brazilian Bar and Grill.
The dinner was certainly of a very different style from
the more formal evenings and featured Brazilian Churrasco cooking. Churrasco
translates from the Portuguese as BBQ and owes its origins to the fireside
roasts of the gaúchos of southern Brazil, and the restaurants offering this
type of cuisine are called Churrascarias.
Before the guests and members began the dinner proper,
there was a reception upstairs with ‘caipiroskas’ (a sugar-cane based rum)
and hors d’oeuvres, and an impromptu dance display by the Brazilian Samba
ladies.
After adjourning downstairs and being seated, the
Passadores (meat waiters) came to the table with knives and a skewer, on
which are speared various kinds of items, with the first half of the dinner
being chicken breast Parmesan-Rosemary, chicken wings, Tandoori style
chicken drumsticks, duck breast, black tiger prawns, sea bass, baby shark,
salmon and squid. Members were reminded that this was just the first course
of the evening, so do leave room for the next round.
Along with the churrasco there was a full salad bar and a
range of side dishes which included Black Bean Feijoada, Arroz (Brazilian
fried rice), mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, sautéed vegetables and sautéed
mushrooms.
For those who have never experienced a Churrascaria, a
brief explanation of how this works is in order. Initially go up to the side
dishes, and take a plate and whatever you would like to choose. The same
goes for the salad bar. Return to your seat and on your table is a disc,
green on one side and red on the other. The passadores will continue to
bring skewers to your table while you are showing green (for go). Turn to
the red side and they will not bother you until you are back to green.
The wines chosen for the Chaine Dinner Amical were
selected on their performance/price ratio, as well as their suitability to
accompany the different items in the churrasco. The first was the Equus
Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Via Haras de Pirque, Maipo Valley Chile. This
Sauvignon Blanc is a refreshingly crisp white wine that offers citrus and
tropical fruit flavors with very aromatic notes of green chilies, grass,
herbs, asparagus and gooseberries commonly contributing to the bouquet. I
would best describe this wine as “Fresh and fruity”
Obviously there was no smoking inside the restaurant, but
there is provision for smokers on the outside terrace.
The members were told to enjoy, and feel free to
photograph the Brazilian samba dancers who were entertaining the members
that evening.
The second half of the churrasco dinner was more heavy
than the first and featured different meats including imported Australian
sirloin beef, pork mignon, pork neck Thai style, BBQ pork spareribs, spicy
pork sausages, imported Australian lamb leg, sausage, and the cut of premium
rump beef on the cap is known as the picanha. Being roasts, this exactly
fits the concept of a Chaine des Rotisseurs dinner, and the Bailli, Ranjith
Chandrasiri, was thanked for finding Zico’s Churrascaria for the members.
To accompany this second round, the committee had chosen
the Columbia Crest Two Vines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, which comes from
Washington State (not Colombia South America)! The winemaker Ray Einberger
states that his minimally oaked Cabernet Sauvignon offers aromas and flavors
of slight blueberry and cherry throughout the palate. The balance of fruit
and soft oak provides a lingering finish with hints of coca. After tasting
the wine with Zico’s manager Marc Groh, I have to agree with that
description.
The churrasco cuisine was very much enjoyed by the 45
Chaine des Rotisseurs members (and took over the entire Zico’s restaurant).
The light-hearted style of dining fitted very well with the relaxed mood of
the Zico’s restaurant, and the ability of the members to dictate the pace of
the evening with the red/green discs was very quickly understood by
everyone.
As a finale, the staff were presented with certificates
of appreciation by the local Chaine des Rotisseurs chapter.
Opal shines at Bed’s fashion show
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Kavita Lamba emcees the show. |
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Opal Sungnark reacts to applause after the fashion show
featuring her designs and Indigo Opals’ jewelry. |
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Mark Beales
One of Pattaya’s most stylish clubs became even more chic when it
hosted a fashion show last month.
Rod Quinert from Indigo Opals is introduced to the crowd
after the fashion show featuring Opal Sungnark’s clothing and his jewelry.
The show, held at The Bed Pattaya, featured models
wearing designs from Opal Fashions, and was held in conjunction with Indigo
Opals & Gems.
Showcasing new looks from Thai designer Opal Sungnark,
the February 17 show included a host of stunning models.
Opal said she was delighted with the event and explained
that she gained her inspiration for the designs from everything around her.
She added, “I really don’t follow all the big names in
fashion, it’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that I work with my own
imagination and I create things from what I see around me.”
Rod Quinert, of Indigo Opals, said it made sense to team
up with Opal Fashions as his company imports the precious stone from
Australia and transforms them into jewelry.
He added, “Opal approached us and we thought it would be
a great marriage.”
Martin Simons, GM of The Bed Pattaya, said the club and
ice bar had been the ideal place to host the fashion show. He added that a
new -5 ice bar was to open in Silom, Bangkok, in April.
Opal has previously held fashion shows in Walking Street
and organized one for Pattaya International Ladies’ Club.
Opal Facts
* Australia produces around 97 percent of the world’s
opals
* Opal was once thought to bring good fortune to whoever
wore it.
* Opal is the birthstone for anyone born in October.
* Oral deposits have been found on Mars.
YWCA, PSC donate sports gear
to Pattaya School No. 10
Students, teachers and members of the PSC and YWCA gather in the school’s
reception area to cheer for the new sports equipment.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Students at Pattaya School No. 10 on Koh Larn are enjoying a
bounty of new recreational equipment thanks to a donation from the YWCA
Bangkok-Pattaya Center and Pattaya Sports Club.
Happy faces all around with the new equipment at hand.
YWCA Chairwoman Nittaya Patimasongkroh and PSC Charity
Chairman William Macey presented the 30,000 baht in gear to school
representative Siripan Suksrikaew March 3.
Nittaya said the donation was part of the YWCA’s ongoing
Happy Family project, which chooses worthy causes monthly to support. This
time the groups donated equipment for such sports as takraw, football,
badminton and volleyball.
The girls don’t really know how to play football, but as young Koi said,
she likes the colors.
Siripan thanked the two groups for their support, noting
that the school had lacked some sports equipment and other older equipment
was worn out.
The two groups also donated books that will be shelved in
the school’s library, Siripan said.
Young kindergarten student “Koi” said she was happy that school received
new gear and that her favorite sports were football and volleyball.
Charity Club of Pattaya donates
100,000 baht to Accor Charity Yim Kids
All Seasons staff and the Charity Club show off the cheque.
Christina Boden
At the end of February some of the members of the Charity Club of
Pattaya went on a Charity Pub Crawl to raise funds for the Accor Charity Yim
Kids.
In these difficult times people were very generous and
people were more than happy to help this very worthwhile cause.
The money raised will be helping with sponsorship and
feeding children in the slum shack schools in Bangkok; funding towards
housing, feeding and educating abandoned children with HIV at the Mercy
Center in Bangkok; and funding to support the schools and education needs of
the poorest of the poor the Sea Gypsy and rubber tree tapper children whose
homes were devastated in the tsunami.
Jane hands over the money to Ivor Rai as Vic King (left) and Malcolm
Boden (right) look on.
The money will also provide improvements to the fishing
equipment of the village of Koh Lon that was also devastated in the tsunami.
With the increased revenue created from the improved equipment this will
support the education and living conditions of the children on Lon Island.
Every baht raised will be used to make lives better for
the poor and needy mentioned above.
Accor will cover all the administration fees.
Accor staff all around Thailand are also getting involved
with fundraising by entering into the sponsored “Race To Survive”, which the
Charity Club think is aptly named!
The course, over 4 days on Phuket Island, is on the Yim
Kids website, for anyone who would like to donate further. <www.yimkids.com>
The Charity Club of Pattaya were more than happy to
support Accor by way of the pub crawl. They think they chose the right
course rather than the one the staff will being doing!
After visiting one or two local hostelries, Queen Vic and
Rosie O’Gradys to name but two, the Charity Club arrived at the All Season’s
with G.M. Ivor Rai and his staff waiting dressed in their Yim Kid T-shirts,
(which are on sale at the hotel!).
They expected to see a tired and bedraggled group crawl
into the All Season’s, but the Charity Club are pub crawl experts, so
arrived with a spring in their step!
The All Seasons staff and management made the Charity
Club very welcome, and Ivor escorted the crawlers up to the top floor suite
where he had laid on more drinks and a finger buffet with many different
dishes for us them to enjoy.
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