September 14th meeting report

Hi, Ladies and other Readers:

I thought I'd give a report on our meeting of the Expats' Association of Thailand [formerly "The Bangkok Expats' Association"] yesterday; that report is below.

But first I would like again to extend an invitation to ladies in particular to join us.  We have very few ladies among our members, and would like more balance.  We've striven to make the Association more lady-friendly by moving our Sunday meetings out of a bar and into the much more family-oriented Bourbon Street Restaurant in Washington Square.  And let me point out that our new President is a Thai lady, Khun Aom, and that one of the governing Board members is another Thai lady, Khun Pui.  All of you ladies *are* welcome -- really!!!

Onwards to the report! . . .

Yesterday's meeting of the Expats' Association of Thailand was very successful, no doubt in large measure due to the mentions in our 2 local English-language daily newspapers, "The Nation" and "The Bangkok Post."  We owe particular debts to the Editors of the "Listings" in "The Nation" and "Realtime" of "The Bangkok Post" for running our announcement last week although their press deadlines were past by the time I got them the news.

Dean Barrett gave a wonderful presentation filled with humor about having been in Thailand during the 1960's with the [American] Army Security Agency as a Mandarin-language specialist.  Dean has a special knack for making gentle fun of himself and others without being either self-denigrating or insulting, but hugely entertaining; the laughter was almost constant.  Afterwards, Dean happily sold a number of several of his various works.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Dean's chat.

About half the people attending were newcomers, to whom we "Old Hands" extend a warm welcome and whom we look forward to seeing again.

We're still waiting for volunteers and nominees for the Governing Board so we can move forward with registering the Expats' Association of Thailand as a non-profit group.  We did gain one new Board member yesterday; Khun Jay volunteered, so let me tell you a bit about him.

Jay is a young Thai gentleman who's family emigrated to Norway when he was 5 years old.  He now is a student in Marketing at Bangkok University, and besides his native Thai speaks Norwegian and English extremely well.  In fact, his English is so good that the first time I met him I took him, from his accent, to be specifically American-Thai.

Having Jay aboard brings us further balance, both in terms of overall membership of the Association and of membership on the Board.  In fact, now the Board has me (as the only foreigner), Khun Aom, Khun Panida, and Khun Jay as Thai members.

President Aom submitted for a vote that we set 3:00 P.M. sharp as the starting time for our guest speakers, as sometimes it happens the person speaking to us that day has other appointments afterwards so needs to leave on time.

I met with the owner of the restaurant in Koh Chang who is greatly helping us with our plan -- hoped-for plan, that is ;-) -- to have a group holiday on that reportedly lovely island at or near Loy Krathong in November.  He himself is offering us a great deal on meals, and has already made arrangements for discounts for various extra activities such as elephant rides and a boat trip around the nearby islands.  Negotiations with a hotel for discount accomodation and with Bangkok Airways for discount air travel are continuing.  I'll keep you posted.

Bob, owner of The Office Bar & Grill, is working on purchasing a laminator se we can issue proper laminated membership cards.

Don't forget next Sunday's guest speaker, Police Senior Sergeant Major Kanot, who will be on hand to talk about visas.  Even if your own visa is settled and clear, this will be useful information for you to share with others.  And for those either not familiar with the visa system here or who would like to obtain a different kind of visa than they already have, the value of the information is obvious.  Sunday, September 21st, 3:00-5:00 P.M. at The Bourbon Street Restaurant in Washington Square.

Our Tuesday social meetings continue at The Office Bar & Grill just off Sukhumvit Soi 33 5-8 P.M.; all are welcome.

And bring a friend or two!