New expats' association

[george]

*** REPOSTED FROM BANGKOATOZ.COM ***

New Expats' Association

Sunday, July 20th, I happened to go to The Office Bar & Grill just off Sukhumvit Soi 33 in mid-afternoon to have a drink with Bob, one of the 2 Australian owners.

I found him sitting with a man who has the idea to set up an expatriates' club -- with a twist: the club will be open to Thai people as well.  We talked at length about it, not only that day, but the following Wednesday and Thursday as well.

I'm very excited about this club, as evidenced by the fact I agreed to be temporary acting president or chairman for 3 months, at which point we hope there is a sufficient membership base to hold elections.

The inaugural meeting took place Sunday the 27th at the permanent regular meeting place -- The Office Bar & Grill; Bob had seen an announcement about the club in the www.Thaivisa.com e-newsletter and had contacted the original founder to offer the club's premises as a meeting place.  Through August, the tentative plan is to have 2 meetings a week, one on Sundays from 11:30 A.M. until 2:00 P.M., the other on Tuesdays from 5:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. so as to give all interested an opportunity to drop by for a visit.

The first meeting went quite well; I estimate that in all there were about 40 people who came.  No business was conducted other than the founder introduced Bob and me and spoke a bit about his vision, then Bob and I each made a few comments.

The founder's fundamental vision is to found an non-profit association for expatriates and Thais to meet each other, for the twin purposes of socializing and sharing of information, particularly information Old Thai Hands may be able to offer newcomers.

He already had some significant, telling support.  The folks at www.Thaivisa.com donated the space for the announcement.  That other group of great people, down at www.eThailand.com offered support.  Bob and Sam, owners of The Office Bar & Grill, are donating a laminating machine for the membership cards, in addition to use of their club.  Two lawyer friends of mine have done some pro bono legal research for us.  Some corporate heavyweights who prefer to remain anonymous at this point are contemplating lending their promotional support.

Not bad for a guy with an idea.

We've already kicked around possibilities of just what an association of this nature might do.  In no particular order, here are some of the ideas we've had:

   *  Social activities.  These could be everything from Family Days at local amusement parks to pub crawls.

   *  Travel activities.  With sufficient numbers of people participating, it might be possible to organize travel with discounts, both domestically and internationally.

   *  Networking.  In addition to the sharing of information regarding living in Thailand, people always stand a chance of meeting others with whom they can share mutual professional benefits,  as in any such organization.  It could be as simple as, say, a bar owner with his bar for sale meeting another person who is in the market to buy a bar.

   *  Jobs.  Closely related to networking, the distinction I'm drawing from that is this sub-area is focused more on employer-employee possibilities.  That is, both people in need of personnel and people in need of employment very well might get to know each other and end up helping each other out.  We've even talked about setting up a database on the still-under-construction website where employers could post their needs and job seekers could post their resumés.

   *  Classes and Hobbies.  A bit later, perhaps the club could have classes in, say, Thai language, and hobby sessions such as learning Thai cooking.

   *  Specialized meetings of sub-groups of members.  What I mean here is this: let's say there are many civil engineers who belong and who wish to have a civil engineering jaw-fest, so they organize their own meeting for that purpose.  Or maybe members of a certain nationality would like to jointly celebrate their homeland's national day.  Or speakers of a certain language might want to get together for the pleasure of being able to hold conversations in their native language.

   *  Crisis intervention/suicide prevention.  Should some members possess the professional qualifications to handle this area and are willing to do so on a volunteer basis, these areas might be service ones the club could offer.

The possibilities go on and on, and of course it will be up to the members which ones are settled on as ones for The Bangkok Expats' Club.

The original founder has decided for undisclosed reasons to withdraw from organizing The Bangkok Expats' Club, but we've decided to carry on under the name "The Bangkok Expats' Association;" in fact, we are working now to register the association with that name under the laws of Thailand with the Ministry of Culture.

We did not learn of the founder's decision to withdraw until we received an e-mail from him that Bob read mid-afternoon Tuesday -- a few hours before Tuesday evening's scheduled meeting.  The e-mail had been sent to the entire mailing list, but after discussing the matter at some length, Bob and I decided to go ahead with Tuesday's meeting, despite the fact the e-mail include an announcement the meeting had been cancelled.

We expected lower attendance Tuesday than we had Sunday already before we had seen the e-mail.  In the event, there were indeed several people who had been at Sunday's meeting plus some first-time visitors.  We explained the situation to everyone and asked if they wished to move forward with this excellent concept.  The decision was not only unanimous to go ahead, but enthusiastically so.  It was exciting to be met with such great interest.

Our next meeting will be Sunday, August 3rd, commencing at 11:30 A.M.  Tentatively, the already announced schedule of meetings every Sunday and Tuesday through the end of August will be followed.

One and all are invited to join.  The membership fees are ridiculously cheap -- 200 baht/year for individuals and 400 baht/year for companies and other organizations, with a one-time 50-baht registration fee -- and the 400 baht scheme includes one individual membership as well.  We're having so many meetings in such a short time not because we expect people to come to all of them, but to give as many people as possible the opportunity to drop by, observe, then if they like what they hear and see, to join us.

The Office Bar & Grill

10/15 Sukhumvit Soi 33

Wattana, Bangkok 10110

Tel.: 02 662 1936

Fax: 02 662-1937

Sundays (through August) 11:30 A.M.-2:00 P.M.

Tuesdays (through August) 5:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M.

To get to The Office Bar & Grill, turn into Sukhumvit Soi 33 from Sukhumvit Road and go about 200 meters up the soi.  At the second turn-in on your right, you can see signs for the bar; go in there at you'll find The Office on your left at the back.  There is some parking space as well.

Coming from the other direction, you'll come most of the length of the soi before seeing the turn-in on your left; it's immediately before Degas Club, which also has a large, easily seen sign.

I really hope you will come.  The more people who join, the better The Bangkok Expats' Association will be -- everyone has something to contribute, whether they realize it or not.  And bring a friend!

Source: http://www.bangkokatoz.com/The_Rounds_29JUL2003.htm

[used_motor]

Well that sounds great, I'll be there on Sunday to check things out. It sounds quite professional now. I'm still curious as to what made Joren or whatever his name is to get upset though. Any ideas???

[Rinrada]

Hope to be Back in Bangers in October...will looksee...best wishes and chok dee na .