Hilton Pattaya rewards 2 more guests in Dine & Fly contest

Hilton Pattaya General Manager Harald Feurstein (2nd right) presents the prize to winner Anucha Pingkarawat (2nd left) as Peta Ruiter (left), Hilton’s director of business development and Simon Bender (right), food and beverage manager look on.

Warunya Thongrod

Thais from Bangkok and Chonburi will be dining and flying with the Hilton Pattaya as the beachfront hotel continues its summer prize promotion.

Anucha Pingkarawat of Bangkok and Preeyapat Chomjinda of Chonburi were selected June 20 as the latest winners in the Dine & Fly With Hilton Pattaya contest.

General Manager Harald Feurstein presented Anucha with a night’s stay in the Grand Ocean Suite and dinner at the Horizon restaurant for two. Preeyapat won a night’s stay in the Deluxe Plus room and Eforea Spa treatments for two.

The Dine & Fly contest, which runs through Oct. 16, rewards Hilton customers who spend at least 3,000 baht in the Pattaya Hilton’s restaurants and spa. Grand prizes include trips to Koh Samui, Malaysia and Paris.

Both winners said they were delighted with their prizes and never expected to win.

Preeyapat Chomjinda from Chonburi (2nd left), one of the lucky winners of Dine and Fly With Hilton Pattaya, receives her prize from Hilton Pattaya General Manager Harald Feurstein (2nd right).

FoL works towards creating healthy, happy, and confident children

Lewis ‘Woody’ Underwood of the Jesters Care 4 Kids organization introduces Sister Joan of the Fountain of Life Children’s Centre. Jesters has been the major sponsor of the Fountain of Life, and this year will hold it’s Children’s Fair on the 9th of September. Mark your calendars!

Healthy, happy, and confident children; these are the goals of the Fountain of Life Children’s Center. Sister Joan Gormley spoke about how the Center goes about achieving these goals at the Sunday, June 24, meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club. Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg called on Woody Underwood with the Jesters Care for Kids organization to introduce Sister Joan. Woody noted that for the past 15 years, the Jesters Care for Kids charity has been one of the major supporters of the Fountain of Life Children’s Center.

Sister Joan talks of the work of the Fountain of Life, feeding, housing, educating and caring for the health of the children - and the spiritual side. In the picture you can see Sister Joan and her staff farewelling some of the boys, off to become novice Buddhist monks for a short time.

Sister Joan, or “Grandma” as she is fondly called at the Center, was born in Galway, Ireland. She attended boarding school and was impressed by two visiting nuns from the Good Shepherd Sisters; this led to her choosing to be a nun with that Order. After her spiritual training in France, she spent four years in the UK receiving nursing training. Her first posting was in Malaysia and then Vietnam. After twelve years there it was no longer considered safe and she returned to Malaysia and then spent four years in Bangkok before returning to Ireland to study rural development. This equipped her with further knowledge to understand and assist the marginalized rural poor. After completing this two year study program, she was sent to Nong Khai in the north of Thailand where she worked with the poor for the next ten years.

In 1996, Sister Joan requested an assignment in Pattaya where she saw a need for someone to work with marginalized people. When she first came to Pattaya, the Fountain of Life Center was in a small overcrowded shop house. But thanks to donations and fundraising primarily by the Jesters Care for Kids and the Pattaya International Ladies Club, a new Center was opened in 2002.

Sister Joan explained that the Center helps pre-school kids, mostly from Northeast Thailand, who came to Pattaya with their families who were seeking a better life. Also, many of these children were not registered at birth. Without such documentation they do not have their rights as Thai citizens. So, the Center takes on the daunting task of trying to get them registered and on the path to self-sufficiency.

The goals of the Fountain of Life Children’s Center are to create healthy, happy, and confident children. The lives of these two young girls are a little ‘less unfortunate’, thanks to Sister Joan and the Fountain of Life.

Sister Joan and some of the associates that came with her described some of the cultural aspects of Thai families and the living conditions of the very poor. She noted the target groups they try to help are: (1) street children that run away with many being only 8 or 9 years old; (2) children that are physically and sexually abused; (3) migrant families from the Mekong region countries; (4) children that drop out of school; (5) children that are trafficked; (6) children whose parents work in the sex trade; and (7) children whose parents are in prison. She described unique problems each of these groups face.

She mentioned that the Center does not work alone. They are involved with government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and others. Their primary concern is that the children receive an education, social assistance, and skills training. She and her associates described how they assist the children and their families. They also provide nutritional meals and access to medical care.

Sister Joan and her associates also described how a group of volunteers work with the children to make greetings cards, which are sold with the money being credited to the children’s accounts. Also, to earn money, they do sewing and knitting work, make earrings, and do some farming. The children can withdraw cash once a week from their account. She explained how the Center’s one baht market works. The children can choose items such as pencils, notebooks, etc. to buy; with each item costing only one baht. Likewise, to ensure the children’s families keep their dignity, the parents give their children one baht to “pay” to the Center each day for the assistance and food they receive.

After Sister Joan and her associates answered several questions, MC Richard then updated everyone on upcoming events and called on Roy Albiston to conduct the always interesting and lively Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about expat living in Thailand; Pattaya in particular.

The Pattaya City Expats Club meets every Sunday at the Amari Orchid’s Tavern by the Sea Restaurant. Read more about the Club’s activities on their website at www. pattayacityexpatsclub.com.

Lions from 77 provinces attend Pattaya club installation

Congratulations to the new Lions presidents (L to R) Burin Chantharakkarnkha, Patcharanon Khanachotpon, and Badinzup Horontharanukul.

Vittaya Yoondorn

Lions Club presidents from all of Thailand’s 77 provinces were on hand as the new heads of three area Lions chapters took office in Pattaya.

For the 2012-2013 term, Burin Chantharakkarnkha took over as president of the Lions Club Pattaya; Patcharanon Khanachotpon as the head of Lions Club Pattaya-Taksin; and Badinzup Horontharanukul as chief of Lions Club Pattaya-Nongprue.

The June 23 inauguration ceremony at the Asia Pattaya Hotel saw Lions Club presidents from 77 different provinces and a Lions contingent from Hong Kong congratulate the new Pattaya-area chiefs. They were joined by local business and media leaders in enjoying the party and buffet dinner.

The ceremony also installed five new Lions Club board members, who led the singing of the Lions Spirit song. Region 8 Gov. Somchai Thongsukh presented plaques to the new board and former president Montri Sachader handed out medals to the new presidents.

French rugby players kick in for Thai charities

Rugby players pose for a souvenir photo with Pullman executives and friends.

Warunya Thongrod

Pullman Pattaya Hotel G gave a hearty thank you to seven French rugby union players who helped raise money for disadvantaged children through an exhibition match and sports auction.

Byron Kelleher, Serge Betsen, David Lyons, Rodrigo Capo-Ortega, Dave Vainqueur, Jeremy Castex and Khrist Kopetzky were the guests of honor June 20 to cap their week of charity work for the Chollada Foundation and Yim Kids Foundation.

“I have helped children in my homeland, but there are still many children in Cameroon that need help,” Besten explained. “I have donated education funds to more than 300 children for them to have a chance at proper education including books and school uniforms.”

In Thailand, the players scrimmaged at Thephasadin Stadium and appeared at the EADS Thailand Gala Dinner, where rugby memorabilia plus other sports gear were auctioned off. Prized items included tennis rackets from Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, a helmet from French rally driver Sebastian Loeb and shirt from French tennis star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The Chollada Foundation was started by Chollada Promdejpaibul in 2009 to help disadvantaged and disabled youths in Thailand as well as abused women. Yim Kids, established by hotel operator Accor Thailand, focuses on providing health care and education for Thai children.

PPCnSEO celebrates extra-ordinary growth in first year of operations

Team members prepare to ride the dreaded bungee jump.

Digital marketing company, PPCnSEO, celebrated the remarkable developments that their first successful year of operations has brought with a day of equally successful team-building exercises at Pattaya Jungle Bungee Jump on Saturday 19th May.

Nearly 40 Thai and foreign staff divided into six teams to compete in a sequence of mental and physical challenges. They were tested on their planning, coordination, teamwork, general knowledge, dexterity, bravery, and endurance.

“The aim of the day was two-fold,” said Mark Bond, CEO of PPCnSEO. “Firstly was to celebrate our first year of trading and the great start the company has had, going from five staff to 40. More importantly, it was meant to continue to foster the great team spirit we have built; to let various areas of the business get to meet and spend time with team members they hardly know. We have a range of staff from various nationalities and communication is always an important factor in a successful business and days like today help break down barriers and improve relations across the business.”

Nearly 40 Thai and foreign staff divided into six teams to compete in a sequence of mental and physical challenges.

Activities included constructing a missile launcher, football golf, an aquatic treasure hunt, a geography quiz, and the dreaded bungee jump. Nearly half of the assembled people took the 50m jump, with Thai volunteers vastly outnumbering the Westerners.

With points awarded throughout the day for achievement, style, ingenuity, and teamwork, it was Team C - ‘My Left Foot’ - which took a marginal overall victory. The company’s chief technical officer, Mark Walker and his team - Kumphu, Alana, Jason, Steve, and Richard each received a cash prize of 2,000 baht.

Mark Walker said that he was “very happy”, both with the reward for his team’s efforts and with how the entire day went.

The team members judged to have taken the most active part in the day were declared the ‘Action Man’ and ‘Action Woman’. Both Ben Reeves and Sasipat Park won a night’s stay for two in the deluxe rooms of the Dusit D2 Hotel on Pattaya Second Road.

“In my life, I have never had a chance to enjoy or do anything which people normally do. I have been a mother since I was 22 and being a good mum is far away from exciting activities. That’s why I would never miss the chance,” said Sasipat Park, PPCnSEO’s admin manager, adding that she was pleased with the reward for her determination.

“I went into the day with every intention of having a fantastic time, so I threw myself at every activity - sometimes literally. I succeeded in having an unforgettable day and our team ended up in second place, but that was definitely not all my work,” said copywriter Ben Reeves. “I was just happy to be there. Getting a prize for it was an unexpected bonus.”

“The winning team and the Action Man and Action Woman at the company event highlighted the strengths we have. It was also appropriate that the winners were one Thai [Sasipiat Park] and one Westerner [Ben Reeves], which symbolises the multi-national nature of the company,” said Mark Bond.

He added, “The team day was a great success - even more than I hoped for. We had nearly every single member of staff turn out, and considering it was a weekend, that was a great effort. We even had two Thai members of staff that haven’t started work take part! PPCnSEO is a great believer in investment in its staff and we know that, without them, we wouldn’t have a company. Everyone got 100 per cent involved and we will be repeating the event every year, I’m sure.

“PPCnSEO has had a great first year. We have been building a great team, developing our products and markets and achieved more than we expected. We now have a number of projects coming to the market, including an innovative property management system which is being launched into the Thai market over the coming weeks. We also have a number of major developments with clients which will possibly impact both the company and the local community in the coming months. Our eCoachManager software has just had a major upgrade and is currently being rolled out in the UK. We have high expectations for 2012/13 - we have a great company with quality, motivated staff.”