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Pattaya gets backing in bid for
Skål International Ecotourism Awards
Pisit Boonchuang, Deputy Governor of Chonburi chaired the
meeting held at Pattaya city hall last week, where the project initiated by
the Skål Club of Pattaya and East Thailand was presented to the committee
comprising of both the public and private sector, appointed by the governor
of Chonburi.
David
Holden, marketing director and Khun Panga Vathanakul MD, of the Royal Cliff
Beach Resort seem extremely pleased at the full support given by the
governmental authorities.
Pisit
Boonchuang, (right) Deputy Governor of Chonburi announced full support of
the government for the Skål Ecotourism award. Manit Boonchim (left)TAT
director to coordinate with the various departments
Peter
Malhotra vice president and Andrew J. Wood, secretary of Skål International
Pattaya and East Thailand in deep concentration as they present the Skål
Ecotourism project to the committee.
This project calls for Pattaya City, through the local
Skål chapter, to bid for the Skål Internatioal Eco Tourism Awards 2003.
Andrew Wood, David Holden and Peter Malhotra representing
the local Skål Club jointly made the presentation, said that this project
followed a plan which was prepared, created and adopted worldwide for Skål
International Ecotourism Awards.
Skål International is linked with caring for the environment, and is a
powerful influence and instigator of change for improvement in the travel
trade industry. It serves to contribute towards Skål projecting the image
of an international travel association that is a powerful force in the
travel and tourism industry, capable of acting in unison to initiate change,
encourage the conservation of the environment in order to promote tourism
and travel, and confer awards to encourage the leaders and professionals of
the tourism industry to contribute to conservation around the world. It will
also serve the purpose of acquainting the world with this new concept which
puts emphasis on the importance of the interaction of the physical, cultural
and social environment in the act of tourism taking place, the traveller’s
responsibility and the need for active community participation for
Ecotourism.
The Skålleagues went on to explain that the primary
criteria for initial selection and final judging is based on, Leadership of
the tourism sustainability initiative, Development of management process
tools, Inclusion of continuous improvement as a basic initiative principle
and Improvement in standards of service or product quality.
The Ecotourism Awards will be based on 4 categories
namely, 1) Travel and Tourism providers ie. Tour Operators, Hotel Chains,
Transportation, 2) Small enterprises dealing with Ecotourism, 3) Community
and Governmental projects, and 4) University or other institutions with
relevant educational projects.
Applicants must submit a descriptive report of the
projects, not exceeding 400 words, a brochure, a 7 minute video or CD and a
letter of verification from the local or national tourism organization, or
the governmental department or local authority.
In view of the deadline date of June 30, which is fast
approaching, the committee agreed to proceed and apply for the Community,
Governmental Projects award on behalf of Pattaya City
The committee also agreed that in order to give other
organizations in Pattaya an opportunity to consider applying in the other
categories, the TAT Pattaya office will inform all concerned, that they
could send their details to the TAT office in Pattaya by June 10, which will
then be passed on to the Skål Club of Pattaya and East Thailand for
consideration. A budget to produce the video and brochures was approved and
a working committee appointed, including Niran Vatanasartsathorn, deputy
mayor of Pattaya, Manit Boonchim, director of TAT region 3, Pinij Poonsiri,
Head of Pattaya City Tourism development and promotion, Peter Malhotra and
Andrew J. Wood, vice president and secretary of Skål International Pattaya
and East Thailand respectively.
In closing the Skålleagues said that Litsa Papathanassi,
Director for Ecotourism Awards of Skål International had announced that
there would be at least one nomination received from member countries and
therefore competition for this most prestigious award is going to be tough.
The main sponsor of this year’s awards is the Greek Ministry of the
Environment and the Municipality of Rhodes will also present some of the
trophies.
The Skål Ecotourism Awards will be announced at the
Skål World Congress on 22nd October 2003 in Chennai, India.
In related matters discussed at the meeting, Khun Manit proposed that
Pattaya should also bid for the PATA Environmental Awards. As there was time
until December 2003, the committee agreed to formally request the Thai
Hotels Association (THA) Eastern Chapter and the Pattaya Business and
Tourism Association (PBTA) to plan the proposals and co ordinate in
acquiring information from the working group in charge of the Skål Eco
Tourism Award.
Dusit Resort Pattaya organizes Table Top Day with hopes to
awaken more local tourism
Pattaya City Mayor Pairat Suttithamrongsawat and members
of the Local Tourism Business Association were welcomed by the Chatchawal
Supachayanont, president of Thai Hotels Association (Eastern Chapter) as all
joined in the Table Top Public Relations at the Dusit Resort Pattaya last
Friday.
Chatchawal
Supachayanont, president of Thai Hotels Association (Eastern Chapter),
welcomes the participants to the Table Top Public Relations Day at the Dusit
Resort Pattaya.
Sunbeam
Hotel staff hand out brochures and PR material.
Hard
Rock Hotel Pattaya joined in the Table Top Public Relations Day.
Chatchawal explained the event was organized in response
to the crisis in tourism business due to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),
which has caused a near standstill in business, especially for hotels.
Local tourism promotion is seen to be the immediate
solution, with various ideas put forth by all sectors attending the
occasion. Among the many solutions mentioned were special package deals and
promotions of hotels and resorts.
The booths that were set up by the businesses were well received by the
visitors throughout the day. Entertaining stage shows livened up the event.
The successful day ended with a delicious dinner prepared for the
participants.
Jomtien Boathouse rocks and rolls
By Miss Terry Diner
The popular Jomtien Boathouse venue rocked to a varied
group of performers last weekend, when Rick and Harpic, along with mein host
Ib Ottesen arranged the musical soiree.
Rose,
Rose, I love you... what a voice!
If the success of a musical evening is measured by the
percentage of people dancing, the Rock and Roll night was a 100% success,
with everyone from the 150 plus throng making it onto the dance floor at
some stage during the evening.
It was certainly packed with performers, kicked off by
American guitarist Kevin Sysyn, later being joined by Ib Ottesen himself who
smoothly rolled out the Bob Dylan numbers, including "Mr. Tambourine
Man".
Pop and the All Stars band was also on the bill, and as
usual wowed the crowd with their individual talents and creativity, while
the Tina Turner numbers belted out by Filipina Rose had the crowd on its
dancing feet. Simply the Best, in more ways than one!
Rock
and roll nights are never complete without the presence of Rick and Harpic.
Jan
Kershaw stole our hearts, with the help of Pop and the All Stars.
More relaxed and easy listening numbers were the order of
the evening from the always popular Declan, while Harpic (in the black
vinyl) with husband Rick as accompaniment, and Vicky Newman stoked up the
heat again.
Others who graced the glittering stage were Jan Kershaw
(subject of last week’s Local Personality column), Alan Howeth (Delilah),
Ung Watkins and Wendy Tweedie right at the end of the night.
Everyone called for more, including adagio dancer Lisa
Love, who made up the steps as she went along! However, all good things must
still come to an end, but the question that everyone was asking, was when is
the next one?
In the meantime, you can catch the opening act, Kevin Sysyn at the
Jomtien Boathouse, Friday and Saturday evenings from 7.30 pm.
6th Annual Jesters ‘Care for Kids’ Charity Drive: “Build a school, buy a scholarship, brighten a future”
By Lewis Underwood
The 6th Annual Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive is
heading full-steam ahead towards September. The venues are already in place
from last year for our Children’s Fair and Pub Night, our second corporate
sponsorship letter has been sent out, and we have 9 (yes, 9!) Platinum
Sponsors on board midstream. And it’s a good thing, for not only do we
keep raising the bar for ourselves each successive year (3.3 million baht
last year), but we also keep looking to expand our range of projects and
beneficiaries.
Other good news is that our Pledge Program (Pledge for
Kids) of 12-monthly donations or a once only ‘Samaritan’ one, has paid
into our Charity Drive coffers over 630,000 of the 900,000 baht pledged so
far since its inception in June last year, getting ever closer to our
initial million baht target (www. care4kids.info/pledge/index.htm).
This year the Jesters Children Fair will be held once
again on the grounds of the spacious Diana Garden Resort and Driving Range
on Sunday, September 14th, while the Jester’s Pub Night, will take place
at Shenanigan’s on the following Saturday, September, 20th.
Our Platinum Sponsors to date include:
1. Baltex Industries
2. Foster Wheeler
3. Kvaerner E & C (Thailand)
4. MBMG International
5. Nirvana Resort (Koh Chang)
6. Pattaya Mail
7. Shenanigan’s
8. South East Asia Control and Automation Systems (SEA-CAS)
9. Sailor Inn
This year we decided to print two versions of our popular
‘Care for Kids’ shirt with the first one due out imminently. The early
edition will be used as a tool for publicizing our Charity Drive starting
now, and to increase the exposure of our Platinum Sponsors. In fact, the
central design on the back of the shirt has been downsized this year to not
only accommodate the increased number of Platinum Sponsors, but also to
showcase their logos larger.
Below the featured Platinum Sponsor logos on the shirt,
we have left a space labeled ‘Your Company logo here’ aimed at
attracting additional sponsors. The second edition, or final printing of our
shirt, will be in August when, hopefully, we have been joined by even more
Platinum Sponsors.
Our beneficiaries this year will be:
- The Eastern Child Welfare Protection Institute in Huay
Pong, where we will renovate one of the two school buildings starting in
mid-June.
- The Fountain of Life Center in North Pattaya, where we
recently provided 54 scholarships and documentation for children to enter
Government schools.
- The Pattaya School for the Blind, where we recently
provided pumps and necessary plumbing to get water to the upper floors.
We are also looking at other areas and organizations in
need, such as the Pala Beach playground in Banchang, and the Happiness Camp
(Mathura Human Society).
This year’s veteran organizing committee (www.care
4kids.info/contacts.htm) looks like this:
- Graham Macdonald - Corporate sponsorship and airline
prizes
- Kevin Mitch - Fair site coordinator, including layout
and logistics
- Jon Wilson - Fair site assistant supervisor,
particularly stage
- Kim Fletcher - Sponsored Bike Ride and Pub Night
- Mike Franklin - PR, advertising and Children’s Raffle
- Brendan Richards - Posters, fair programs, raffle
tickets, liaison with Pattaya Mail
- Diane Connelly - Liaison with FOL, grand raffle
prizes/auction items collector
- Karyn Walker - Liaison with schools
- Linden Phanpo -Liaison with schools
- Helle Rantsen -Assistant Secretary, liaison with RLC
- David Smith (PMCI) - Pledge for Kids
- Susie Ngamsuwan - Web Site
- Neil Sandilands - Secretary, organizing donated beer
- Bill Freeman -Treasurer
- Jeff Paladeau- Ad Hoc Director
- Lewis Underwood - Chairman, overall coordination and
liaison
We are pleased to report that our sponsors and their
links are too numerous to list here at this time. For a complete directory
of their websites, please visit www.care4kids .info/links.htm.
The Jesters ‘Care for Kids’ Charity Drives have
enjoyed the success of raising over 10 million baht during the last 5 years
for organizations benefiting the disadvantaged children in the region.
However, there is little time to reflect on these results or rest on our
laurels, as we are well aware that charity work is never done. We hope you
will join us or continue to support our cause. Please visit our Website at
www.care4kids.info.
94 years young!
Happy Birthday George!
George
Rollerson (center) from New Zealand celebrated his 94th birthday at the
Green Bottle Pub last week. Sophin Theppajug (2nd left), managing director
of Diana Group and the hotel staff congratulated George on his milestone.
George has been one of Diana Inn’s ‘Long Staying Guests’ for the past
18 years. We all wish George many happy returns.
Lions Club of Pratamnak presents eye-glasses to needy students under the charitable project ‘Sight-First’
SongKlod Kaewvisit
Free eye glasses to needy children is an ongoing project
initiated by the Lions Club of Pratamnak.
"I
can see clearly now...", a melody these students now can add to their
song list in the school chorus.
Wattana Jantarawaranont, Pattaya deputy mayor presided
over the presentations at the Ruen Thai restaurant last week.
Besides many charitable projects to help the needy people
in town, Nawarat Khakhai, president of the Lions Club of Pratamnak Pattaya
initiated the project to raise funds to buy spectacles for underprivileged
children in different schools in Pattaya City.
The club presented the eye-glasses to one hundred and
eight students from 10 different schools including Wat Sukiraboonyaram, Wat
Suthawat, Wat Boonsamphan, Wat Jomtien, Wat Thunglaharn, Wat Baan km 5, Baan
Khaobaisi, Baan Khao Khlod, and two schools in Sattahip.
Nittaya
Pathimasongkroh, President of the YWCA Bangkok-Pattaya Branch, receives a
cash donation from Elfi Seitz on behalf of the Indian Community towards
community service projects.
Aram
Suwannakul, Directror of the Boonsamphan School, receives glasses from Naris
Petcharat, Past District Governor of Lions International district 310C.
Nittaya Patimasongkroh, president of Y.W.C.A. Bangkok-Pattaya also
received donations from a kind-hearted Indian group that will be used to aid
many other charity projects.
Chonburi Public Relations Department initiates new AIDS Prevention Village Project
Songklod Kaewvisit
Phisit Boonchuang, deputy governor of Chonburi, chaired
the opening of the Chonburi AIDS Heart to Heart Prevention Village project
on May 22 and 23 at the Banglamung district’s public hall. The seminar was
organized to educate people in the Banglamung area the danger if AIDS, how
to protect themselves from being infected and general personal health care.
Phisit
Boonchuang, deputy governor of Chonburi.
Public health and welfare improvement is one of the ten
leading projects that the central government is exercising to improve the
health condition of the people in the nation. Chonburi Public Health Unit
medical doctors spoke of the AIDS danger and its prevention to 200 community
leaders, and representatives in Banglamung on the first the day. Another
group of 200 delegates attended the seminar on the second day.
Statistics show that the number of the HIV infected
victim in Chonburi increased from 2 in 1986 to 6,483 in the year 2003; 838
have died, and 5,645 are still alive.
Banglamung, Muang, and Sriracha districts claimed to have the highest
number of the infected victims. The disease is mainly sexually transmitted,
followed by drug abuse injected intravenously and mother to child.
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