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Thai Garden Resort’s ‘Toys for Joy’ drive nets 40,000 baht for
Baan Tungklom School
Nigel Quennell
The Thai Garden Resort’s annual “Toys for Joy” campaign
brought 40 children from Baan Tungklom School much needed clothes, school
supplies, toys and 40,000 baht in cash raised during the just-completed
holiday season.
Thai Garden Resort General
Manager Rene Pisters presents a gift package filled with much needed
supplies to this grateful youngster.
Resort General Manager Rene Pisters and hotel manager,
Danilo Becker, presented the donations to Principal Pramoth Ngemtong Feb. 6.
For each of the past eight years, Toys for Joy has
solicited donations of new and old toys and clothing, cash and other
supplies from hotel guests and chosen a needy school or organization to
help. This year if was Baan Tungklom students missing one or both of their
parents.
These children are growing up in the poorest of
circumstances, and some of them live in slums without anybody taking care of
them. Baan Tungklom gives their lives some basic structure and offers food
to many of the kids who arrive for class hungry.
At Thai Garden, guests and visitors placed donations
under the Christmas tree in the lobby of the resort on North Pattaya Road,
opposite City Hall.
The school has 217 students, about 40 of these are
orphans or are missing a parent. Teachers collect information from each
student, determining what they need to live and study. The requests include
books, pens, socks, shoes, belts and uniforms.
In addition to the material goods, the Thai Garden Resort
raised 20,000 baht in cash. Management doubled that before handing over the
money and gifts to the kids.
Rene Pisters, flanked by hotel staff and school
administrators, addresses the gathering, offering heart felt assistance.
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St Andrews welcomes
Alastair McCloud
Guest speaker very informative about careers
in Marine Engineering
Tee and Jasmine, students at
St Andrews, present Alasdair with a thank you gift after his informative
talk about a career in Marine Engineering.
Kevin McGee, Assistant
Head at St Andrews International School
At St Andrews we were pleased to welcome Alastair McCloud
to school to talk to our Year 9 and 11 students about a career in Marine
Engineering.
Alasdair grew up in the Pattaya area and went to school
at a local international school until the end of Year 7. He then returned to
the UK to complete his high school education.
Alasdair is currently in his final year of study at the
City of Glasgow College. He will soon graduate as a fully qualified Marine
Engineer.
As a part of his talk with the students, Alasdair let
students know about engineering in general, explained what life was like
working on a ship for extended periods of time and studying in the UK. His
talk was extremely informative and was very relevant for our students as
they start to look ahead and plan their future careers.
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Korean students study at Asian U
A visit to Koh Larn provided relaxation from
the stressful academic program.
Ulrich Werner
15 students of International Business from South
Korea, headed by the Dean of the Faculty of Business & Management, Prof.
Dr. Kee-Seon Yoo, visited Asian U from 28.01 to 06.02.2012 to attend a
seminar in Culture, Philosophy and Grass-root Business Development in
Thailand. They visited various venues of cultural and business interest,
spent half a day on the Koh Larn, and enjoyed the Alcazar show.
Asian U meets Mr. Condom
(L to R) Ulrich Werner
(Director of International Development, Asian U), Dr. Viphandh
Roengpithya (President, Asian U), Mechai Viravaidya (Mr. Condom), Prof.
Dr. Kee-Seon Yoo (Global Handong University, Korea), Panit Nilubol
(Vice-President, Asian U), in front of the Korean students and Asian U
lecturers Ulrike Guelich, Dr. Alessandro Stasi and William
Sirinuntananong.
Ulrich Werner
Headed by Dr. Viphandh Roengpithya, founder and
president of Asian University, a delegation of lecturers and a group of
visiting students from South Korea followed the invitation of Mechai
Viravaidya.
Mechai is better known as ‘Mr. Condom’ due to his
successful efforts to reduce poverty by reducing the birth rate in
Thailand single-handedly.
For his efforts in various development endeavors,
Mechai has been acclaimed with numerous awards, recognition, and
honorary doctoral degrees as well as the United Nations Gold Peace Medal
(1981), the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service (1994), one of
Asiaweek’s “20 Great Asians” (1995), the United Nations Population Award
(1997), and one of Time Magazine’s “Asian Heroes” (2006). Mechai and PDA
have recently been the recipient of the Bill and Melinda Gates Award for
Global Health in 2007, the Skoll Awardees for Social Entrepreneurship in
2008, and the Prince Mahidol Award for Public Health in 2009.
Mechai promotes a grass-root business that requires 1
rai (1,600 sqm) of land of any soil to grow several plants in concrete
rings and plastic bags, such as out-of-season lemon and cantaloupe. This
way, the grass-roots farmer will earn about 240,000 baht in the first
year, and about 360,000 baht any subsequent year.
An example project is installed on the ground of
Birds & Bees, the famous hotel in Pratamnak Soi 4, which also hosts the
restaurant Cabbages & Condoms that provided a tasty lunch for the
visitors from Asian University.
The Asian U president offered to make use of the
Asian U campus to help promote this surprisingly simple and effective
approach.
Later that day, the Asian U delegation visited 2
rural public schools near Sriracha where the 1-rai solution is about to
be implemented to help funding the school, which receives a budget of 60
USD per student per year from the Thai Ministry of Education, from which
it also has to provide the daily school lunch.
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US Marines storm Father Ray Foundation, providing community service
Experiencing life in a
wheelchair is hard work for the US Marines.
Derek Franklin
With all the delights that Pattaya has to offer the
US Marines, who are in the area for the joint Cobra Gold military
exercises, many found time to give back to the local society and perform
community service at the Father Ray Children’s Village and the
Redemptorist Vocational School for People with Disabilities.
Whilst ploughing the land at the Village the Marines
were visited by US Marine Corps Major General Peter Talleri. The Major
General praised each and every member of the visiting group for their
generosity in giving their time to help prepare the land which will
provide food or the 850 children currently living at the Father Ray
Foundation.
The following day a second group of US Marines
visited the students with disabilities and taught English, giving the
students a chance to listen to and understand different accents and
learn about life in the United States.
Making new friends at the
Vocational School.
Once the English class was over the US Marines were
each given a wheelchair or a set of crutches and asked to experience
what life can be like living with a disability. Not as easy as it seems
and it got even more difficult when they all tried to enter a local
convenience store to buy refreshments. In single file they entered; then
there was a traffic jam when one Marine’s chair got stuck on the aisle
and then there was gridlock. Fortunately they were able to find a
solution and eventually made their way to the exit.
Back at the school a game of wheelchair basketball
saw eight Marines play against five of the best players Pattaya has and
the game ended in a draw.
Then the Marines surprised everyone when the whistle
was blown to start the game of takraw. Not many visitors to the school
have agreed to play against the local Thai students, but the Marines
played an excellent game, worrying the students who thought they would
easily beat the visitors.
The annual Cobra Gold military exercises are a
serious business, and, even though Pattaya has many attractions to
entertain the personnel, it is gratifying to see that these young men
and women want to give their free time to help others.
The Marines play a good
game, but not good enough to win.
US Marine Corps Major
General Talleri discusses the importance of the work they are
undertaking.
Working the land on the
Father Ray Farm.
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Sanuk Day Care Centre
undergoes extreme make over
Benefactors and friends
gather to celebrate the Sanuk Day Care Centre’s extreme make over.
Nigel Quennell
The Sanuk Day Care Centre, located on Jomtien 2nd
Road, 250 meters past Bali Breeze Restaurant, is to become a safe place
for approx 75 children of parents working in the construction industry.
This project was undertaken in the style of an extreme make over: a
detached house buried in an unkempt estate, and requiring a great deal
of refurbishment, was completed in just two weeks.
A house has been rented on what can easily be
described as an estate that was being reclaimed by nature. Most
importantly it is right in the heart of an area of Jomtien undergoing
huge construction. Thus leaving the children of the workers exposed to
many dangers. Up until now, temporary shelters have been used, but now a
permanent place for day care and nursery will be available.
Tracy Cosgrove, the power behind the Melissa Cosgrove
Children’s Foundation, took what for her was an unusual approach to this
project. She is always the driving force behind all of her tasks, but
for once she was prepared to hand the keys to Bea Grunwell from the
Pattaya International Ladies Club. The agreement being that she would
not return until the extreme make over was complete.
Bea, now the project manager, called on friends to
chip-in, and they did. A drop of blood, an enormous amount of sweat, and
a few tears, along with plenty of elbow grease. Matty Carley, the
manager of Hard Rock Cafe loaned his staff to scrape, rub, fill,
sandpaper and paint. Kay McKeown was incredible, as she did a lot of the
hard work and astonished us all with fantastic artwork. Others that
dibbed and dabbed were Eva Johnson, Ingrid Ven der Heyden, Paul
Cosgrove, Julie Miller and her daughter Beckie, and Khun ‘Pa’ Janapa
Riabroi who will be the manager of Sanuk.
With a thunder shower washing away a finishing coat
of yellow paint, the task was still completed on time and on budget,
thanks to generosity. A crowd had gathered for the return of a
blindfolded Tracy, who was in a state of awe when she saw the
transformation and beautiful murals. Determined not to cry, she thanked
even the smallest link in the chain who made it all possible.
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Regent’s Year 3 Production, ‘An Olympic Odyssey’
Rich Reardon
On January 27th, Year 3 had the pleasure of
entertaining pupils, parents and friends of Regent’s while performing
their production of ‘An Olympic Odyssey’ in the Globe Theatre. The
audiences were treated to a whirlwind tour of the continents as the four
sports-mad children (Bobby Ball, Speedy Steve, Grace Fully and Judy
Judo) travelled through time and space on their magical London bus to
learn about the Olympic Games.
Year 3 showing off figure
skating skills.
As the journey unfolded, our brave young Olympians
met soldiers in Ancient Greece, swam in the Australian outback, danced
the Bolero with Torvil and Dean, cycled around the globe and even
competed in a deadly match of ping pong! In the end they managed to get
home by using their true Olympic spirit of friendship, solidarity and
fair play.
Every child in Year 3 had the opportunity to showcase
their skills and talent and everyone involved had fun putting the show
together. Thank you to all the parents and staff that helped make this
experience such a memorable one for the children - we are already
looking forward to next year’s production!
Greek sword fighting in
action.
Swimming hard for the gold
medal.
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St. Andrews Students Visit Pattaya Mail
Students visit Sue and the
PMTV crew in our television studio.
Kamola Khaitova
(Year 7)
On Wednesday, 1st of February, we visited the
Pattaya Mail offices to seek advice from the experts on how to
produce our first school newspaper. At around 10:40 we gathered at the
front entrance of the school and the buses to us to the Pattaya Mail
offices. When we arrived we were greeted by Kamolthep Malhotra, the
general manager and Suwanthep Malhotra, the business development
director.
Suwanthep and Kamolthep explained what we needed to
do in order to set up our own newspaper successfully. They talked about
all aspects of the newspaper business from selling advertising space,
writing effective articles and printing. Lots of tips were given about
deadlines and reaching our target audience. We took lots of notes and
asked many questions.
Suwanthep “Tony” Malhotra
gives expert advice on how the newspaper is put together.
Next we went on a tour of the Pattaya Mail
offices and saw the journalists and publishers at work. We also had the
opportunity to learn about how stories were researched, edited and
produced for TV. We were then taken to a restaurant and whilst we waited
for our food to arrive we were interviewed for Pattaya Mail TV
(PMTV). We were each asked about what we learned and what we had enjoyed
about our visit. We are all looking forward to seeing ourselves on TV in
the future.
At the end a very informative day we were each given
a certificate of appreciation and had our individual photographs taken.
We then returned to school, very excited and buzzing with ideas on how
to set up our school newspaper. We would like to thank Kamolthep
Malhotra and Suwanthep Malhotra for sparing time from their busy
schedules to give us their best tips and advice on how to make our
newspaper a huge success. We cannot wait to give the first copy of our
newspaper to them to show our true appreciation.
The students learn how
pages are laid out by King in the graphics department.
Kamolthep Malhotra general
manager.
Kelly Harkins tells
Pattaya Mail TV what she learned on her trip to the Pattaya Mail
offices.
Individual comments from students:
Farruh Khaitov (Year 9)
The trip taught me many things, including: what a
challenge it is to make a newspaper, but how rewarding and fun it is to
see the finished product. The advice and tips that we were given will
definitely be useful in the near future. I look forward to seeing how
our newspaper will turn out.
Pang Thawornwong (Year 8)
The visit was lots of fun and extremely insightful.
We learnt a lot about how to organize newspapers, how to print, to sell
advertising and many more helpful techniques. I can’t wait to get
started on our newspaper!
Edward Burnes (Year 9)
We thank you Pattaya Mail for allowing us to
visit your headquarters and for the tour. We learnt a great deal about
how to write, design and sell our school newspaper. We have all come
away with a clear understanding of what we need to do. We also thank you
for your support and great hospitality.
Georgie Carter (Year 9)
We all went to investigate the processes needed to
produce a newspaper. We were all so curious and had many questions,
which were all answered. We were all particularly interested in the
facts and figures behind running a newspaper. I realised how a much hard
work, time and effort is needed from each team member to make a
successful newspaper.
Chamai Prins (Year 8)
The trip to Pattaya Mail was fantastic! We
received a lot of valuable advice for setting up our own newspaper. It
was very generous of the Pattaya Mail letting us come and taking
us to lunch. I hope I will can go back and learn more in the future.
Catherine Eggen (Year 10)
Visiting Pattaya Mail was a great experience.
We learned how to create a successful school newspaper reporter. The
steps are definitely not as easy as we all imagined. However, this tour
just increased our enthusiasm and gave us a lot of motivation to work
hard for the best results.
Kamola Khaitova (Year 7)
This was a fantastic experience for me. I love
writing and really enjoyed learning about the whole process of producing
a newspaper. This has inspired me to work hard as part of a team, on our
newspaper. I think I will really enjoy the challenge.
Kelly Harkins (Year 10)
Today, myself and fellow members of the newspaper
club at my school, St. Andrews, were invited to spend the afternoon at
the Pattaya Mail offices. We were eager to ask our questions and
we left knowledgeable and confident about setting up our new school
newspaper. The owners and staff were very kind and informative and we
were able to learn about the different areas in creating a newspaper,
how to lay it out and what we can do to make our sections more
interesting, targeting our teenage audience. We also were fortunate
enough to enjoy a fantastic lunch at the Tavern restaurant and have a
short TV interview discussing what we learnt.
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