C
NTACT
THE MAGAZINE OF THE BRITISH WOMEN’S GROUP BANGKOK FEBRUARY 2019
freeimages.com/Al Rodgers
Chairman’s Message February already. Tempus fugit! We have a fabulous evening coming up on Tuesday 5th February, our last Embassy drinks evening, with a taste of music from The Regent’s International School. I do hope as many of you as possible will be there to enjoy catching up and making new friends, an important part of BWG life. As usual there are various activities throughout the month, a good time to take up a new challenge maybe. Details are all in the magazine. Our AGM is coming up in early March, and we have several positions available as you will have seen from your mailerite and our Facebook page.
Ailsa Kneath
If you feel that you would like to get more involved in the BWG, there is more information on the positions in the magazine or you can speak to any of the current committee and contact me. Looking forward to another fun month. You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. A.A. Milne. (Poet).
Editor’s Note Welcome to the February issue of Contact. This month we have all the amazing photos from our Christmas Lunch and Coffee, although these events now seem such a long time ago! We have some great events in February starting with the last Embassy Drinks, and then our Valentine Poolside Picnic. Our activity and lunch this month are a combined visit to Seaview restaurant, a great opportunity to visit this unique restaurant. Looking ahead to March you can find all the details of the AGM to be held at the ‘4Points by Sheraton’ in March, including how you can more involved in the BWG.
Claire Llewellyn
I hope February is a great month for everyone.
www.bwgbangkok.org
info@bwgbangkok.org
British Women’s Group Bangkok
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BRITISH WOMEN’S GROUP The aim of the Group is to enable its members to meet socially, to welcome its new members and associate members to Bangkok and to establish a programme of social, welfare and cultural activities.
Contents
February Diary Page 5
Christmas Coffee Report and Photos Page 6&7
Christmas Lunch Report and Photos Pages 10-12
Polo in Pattaya Report and Photos Page 14&15
Valentines Coffee Page 17
AGM and Lunch Informations Page 18
Vacant Committee Roles and Descriptions Page 19&20
Committee Nomination Form Page 21
February Lunch & Activity Page 23
Welfare News Page 25
Membership News Page 26
Editor contact@bwgbangkok.org Advertising advertising@bwgbangkok.org Please note that the deadline for advertisements is the 5th of the month prior to issue. Please contact advertising@bwgbangkok for more information. PLEASE NOTE : Contact is published as a service to our members to keep them informed of news and events within BWG. The accuracy of other information cannot be guaranteed and is not an endorsement by the group. This also applies to advertisements that are included in Contact in order to cover some of the production costs. Every effort is made to produce Contact in good time to reach members before the first scheduled meeting, but the editor cannot be held responsible for unavoidable delays caused by circumstance beyond their control. It is the members’ own responsibility to know when meetings are scheduled and to contact someone to check if any changes have been made. Members are also asked to bear in mind when booking actives that most venues are not deemed suitable for children over six months of age and to make appropriate child minding arrangements.
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February Diary SUN
3
MON
4 Mah-jong
TUE
5 Bridge Golf
WED
6 Mah-jong Art Group
THU
FRI
SAT
1
2
7
8
9
14
15
16
22
23
Embassy Drinks @ British Embassy
10
17
24
11 Mah-jong
12 Bridge Golf
13 Mah-jong Art Group
18 Mah-jong
19 Bridge Golf
20 Mah-jong Art Group
25 Mah-jong
26 Bridge Golf
27 Mah-jong Art Group
AWC Breakfast @The Oscars
Valentines Coffee@ Poolside Picnic
21 Combined Lunch & Activity Sea View Resturant
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Weekly/Monthly Activities You are invited to join these groups, but final approval is at the discretion of individual group leaders
Monday Mah-jong - (beginners welcome) (10am - 1pm) Tuesday Bridge - Audrie Sill Beginners/Intermediate Golf - (morning) Ann McKinnon Golf - (morning) Sheona Jackson Bookworms - 1st Tuesday (10am) Jane Upperton Scottish Dancing - 1st Tuesday (7:30pm) Karen Burr
Save the Date BWG Fun & Facts Quiz Night - Saturday 30th March @ Bistro 33, 7:30pm more details TBC BWG AGM and Lunch - Thursday 14th March @ Four Points by Sheraton Sukhumvit 15 from 10:30am Newcomers Coffee on Wednesday 6th March @ Bistro 33
Wednesday Mah-jong - (beginners welcome) (1pm - 4pm) Art Group - Bistro 33 Sukhumvit Soi 33 (10am -12:30pm) Melissa Preston
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BWG Christmas Coffee at Bistro 33 By Liz Khan Our Christmas Coffee was held this year at Bistro 33 and we were happy to be able to host a complimentary event for our members! Everyone enjoyed themselves and the sparkling wine and buffet on offer. The room was filled with noisy chatter and happy faces as everyone looked forward to the upcoming festive period. Sister Louise’s children’s choir sang and danced for us and brought a tear to the eyes of many with their festive renditions! The children were presented with a gingerbread house as a thank you and a donation was given to the Fatima Centre to be used to take a group of children for a McDonald’s. The morning was a great success and a lovely festive event enjoyed by all who attended.
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BWG Christmas Coffee at Bistro
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Birth Announcement Gale and Mick Bailey are delighted to announce the safe arrival of a second beautiful granddaughter, Mia Grace Doris born to Jane and Henning Hegeler, a baby sister for Isabel. Mia was born in Malta at 0340 weighing 3.2 on 15 January which is the same birth date as my mother,
The BWG Christmas Lunch 2018 at Chatrium Riverside By Lynne Musson It was the 6th December and a very hot day in Bangkok but when you entered the Chatrium Ballroom Christmas had arrived. Everyone received a lovely welcome by the BWG ladies who assisted with the seating plan and a voucher for a glass of sparkling bubbles (white or red). There were amazing Christmas ice sculptures at the entrance and the snowman even had a carrot for his nose. The hard working vendors had a stunning display of creative treats for yourself or your loved ones. We received a glass of sparkle before entering the ballroom where the tables were dressed in Christmas Colours of Red and Gold with a beautiful cracker and a Christmas gift for all. The BWG raffle ladies had created fabulous baskets with Christmas Goodies; it was a difficult deciding which gifts you would prefer to win. The event began with Christmas songs sang so beautifully by students from Shrewsbury School. Sister Louise then said grace which personally made me feel very grateful for the things that we are lucky to have in life, and brought a tear to my eye. Lunch was then served, traditional Christmas Lunch with all the trimmings. During lunch Yves Baron serenaded us with Christmas tunes and the atmosphere was delightful. After the meal the Christmas Raffle was drawn by Scott, the patron of the BWG. Santa (Alex F) handed out the prizes to the lucky winners. Then the annual 12 days of Christmas Song was sung by everyone in the room which created much frivolity and laughter. A Big Thank You to: ➢ Scott for drawing the raffle draw and leading the 12 days of Christmas. ➢ Alex F for being a jolly, friendly and helpful Santa Claus. ➢ Lucrecia of Fiesta4U created a fabulous photo booth for the event. ➢ Garry and all the staff at Riverfall Co, Ltd for supplying and serving the wine at the event. ➢ The Staff at the Chatrium Hotel for the beautiful room set up and great service. ➢ The members of the BWG that created a day to remember, working hard on every detail to ensure all the attendees could enjoy their day.
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The BWG Christmas Lunch 2018 at Chatrium Riverside
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Looking forward to seeing you all at the Final BWG Embassy Drinks, the event is sponsored by Samitivej
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January Activity : Polo in Pattaya By Tracey Nazif Activities organised a fabulous day out at the polo at the Siam Country Club in Pattaya. Our driver for the day picked us up from Emporium Suites at 9.30am and we started our journey. There was enough time to stop on the way to grab a coffee. We arrived at the Polo at just after noon. Sue had organised a contact at the polo Khun Pear who greeted us and organised finding a table for us to sit at which was in the shade. The table directly overlooked the centre of the field and was between the wine bar and the champagne bar, perfect!!! There was a lovely buffet lunch available with a variety of salads, pasta, salmon en croute, Thai curry, roast beef, Chinese style pork, seafood and a selection of deserts and ice cream. More than enough and lots of choice. The entertainment started with a marching band and then show jumping. It was a hot and sunny day so the show jumpers had a hot competition with a timed jump off. The first round of polo started and it had 4 chukkers with a change of pony every half chukker. This took just over an hour so then it was time for afternoon tea and the traditional stomping of the divots. Afternoon tea had sandwiches and scones with cakes, tea and coffee, delicious. Then it was onto the final of the polo between Thai Polo and La Familia, this match was not so long but very exciting with La Familia winning with a penalty shot. The match finished around 6pm and it was time for a BBQ dinner and fireworks. The dinner had lots of BBQ meat and salads. We started our journey home at 8pm and were back at Emporium Suites by 10pm. I can highly recommend this day and thank Sue for doing a great job of organising and booking the transport which was very safe and efficient.
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nspiring ndividuals At KIS International School all students can shine. The midsize, caring community allows KIS students to be confident and to be appreciated as an individual, with unique dreams and strengths. The school is a full IB school, offering the International Baccalaureate Programmes for all age groups (IB Primary Years Programme, IB Middle Years Programme and IB Diploma), ensuring an academically rigorous curriculum that not only prepares students to be successful at university, but also teaches important life skills. KIS, it’s all about Knowledge, Inspiration and Spirit. Check out the students’ videos to learn more about their passion www.kis.ac.th
Tel: +66 (0) 2274 3444 Email: admissions@kis.ac.th
“With the power of imagination, characters can actually fly off the page” Jun, Grade 11.
Valetines Day Poolside Picnic at Lynn Mussons’ Pool including the Great BWG Bake Off
Please join us at Lynn Mussons' beautiful pool area for a special Valentine’s Poolside Picnic for the BWG February Coffee morning. The morning will include a BWG Great British Bake Off competition so please bring along your homemade sweet or savoury treats for a chance to win a prize. As the theme will be valentine’s day please feel free to think pink and red for dress that day!
Date: Thursday 14th February Time: 11am -1pm Venue: Lynn Mussons' home, directions will be emailed to you before the event RSVP: to coffee@bwgbangkok.org by 5pm Monday 11th February
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Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting is a very special event in the BWG calendar, so please join us in March to say thank you to last year’s Committee and raise a toast to welcome in your new Committee! The 2019 AGM and Lunch for BWG Members will be held on Thursday 14th March at Four Points by Sheraton Sukhumvit 15.
Menu Starters Mediterranean Salad
The meeting starts at 10:30am with a welcome on the terrace, from 11am you will hear reports from our Chairman, Treasurer and Welfare. We will then vote in the 2019-2020 Committee. This will be followed by a 3-course lunch for those that wish to stay on. Date : Thursday 14th March Venue : Four Points by Sheraton 4 Sukhumvit Soi 15 Sukhumvit Road, Wattana Klongtoey-Nua Bangkok, 10, 10110 Time : 10:30am - Welcome 11am - Annual General Meeting 12 noon - Lunch Cost : 1050bht - including soft drinks and mixers, and a glass of bubbly 850bht Corkage Fee for Wine 1000bht Corkage Fee for Liquor RSVP : Friday 1st March 2019 if you are joining us for lunch and please let us know your menu choices
With feta cheese, olive, vegetables, cherry tomatoes
Or Cream of Wild Mushrooms Served with garlic bread
Main Courses Salmon Fillet Steak Parsley potates, sautĂŠed spinach, dill cream sauce
Or Roasted Jamaican style chicken Wedge fried potatoes and broccoli cheese sauce
Or Eggplant Parmagiana Grilled eggplant with tomato sauce, parmesan cheese
Dessert Mango Cheese Cake Mango coulis and crumble
lunch@bwgbangkok.org Please note this is an earlier RSVP date than usual, no bookings will be accepted after the RSVP date, and any cancellations or no shows are this date must be paid in full.
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2019-2020 BWG Committee Elections for the 2019-2020 BWG Committee will take place at the AGM to be held on Thursday 14th March. If you would be interested in being part of our friendly and dynamic committee and be more involved in the day-to-day activities of the BWG, please consider joining us. All positions are available to members but we particularly require members to fill the following vacant positions. Membership (1 or 2 persons) • Arrange Newcomers Coffee Morning, including booking the venue, advertising the event, and attending the event. • Prepare details for Contact Magazine monthly with dates of newcomers, new member details and the birthday list • Process Application Forms, inputting the details into the database and updating the master directory • Attend Monthly Committee meeting, provide a report to the secretary prior to the meeting • Administer annual renewals organising several dates to enable members to come and pay, send out the new directory once renewals are complete • Birthdays, inform the birthday person of any ‘special birthdays’ eg 60,70 etc Treasurer (1 person) • Oversee all aspects of financial management within the BWG • Support committee by providing regular financial updates and guidance on the processes and forms required to use for making and receiving payments • At monthly committee meetings, gather all financial transaction paperwork from committee members (receiving money and reimbursing) • Bank income received into the BWG account and track all bank account transactions • Record all transactions into the excel spreadsheet; once a month balance the cash on hand, floats and bank balances with the spreadsheet to ensure accuracy • Monitor balances across General, Welfare and Cracker Fund • Write monthly financial summary and any updates for committee meetings • Prepare annual financial summary for the AGM and share with BWG members Vice-Treasurer (1 person) To assist the Treasurer with all of the above and fill in when necessary Secretary (1 person) • Monthly Main Committee: Book meeting room, circulate agenda and reports and take the minutes. • Mailerlite messages: Send out reminders of weekly events and other BWG notifications as required by Committee members (written by them). • Update Mailerlite database as required. • Monitor info@ email account and forward on emails. • AGM: Notify BWG members of the date, send out agenda and prepare paperwork and slides for the meeting. Take minutes and circulate to BWG membership. • Organise annual Committee Christmas Lunch • Assist the Chairman as required. Contact February 2019
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Special Events (2 persons) • Arrange special events for BWG members. • Liaise with hotels to negotiate pricing, arrange bookings and event coordination. • Collate names of attendees and collect monies prior to events. • Advertise events to members via Contact and email. • Arrange photographs and write up if events for the Contact Magazine & BWG website. • Write monthly report and attend committee meeting. • Collate annual folder for SE team sharing information and contacts. Contact Editior (1 person) • Collate all articles for Contact every month and format the Magazine • Liaise with Advertsing to ensure all the correct advertising is in the magazine and the artwork is upto date • Choose the cover image each month and write an editors note • Send finished magazine to Online Media in time for go live on the 1st of every month • Attend the monthly committee meeting, provide a report to the secretary prior to the meeting. Online Media (1 or 2 persons) • Upload monthly events to the BWG website • Maintain BWG Facebook page (Admin) • Maintain the BWG Instagram Account (Admin) • Admin to Mailerlite • Maintain the running of the website • Update photos, articles, events • Upload the monthly magazine (Contact) • Maintain and update the database on the website
BWG ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Thursday 14th March, 2019 at 11.00 am Four Points by Sheraton, Sukhumvit Soi 15
Agenda 1. Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on 15th March, 2018 2. Matters arising from the Minutes 3. Chairman’s Report 4. Treasurer’s Report 5. Welfare Report 6. Questions from the Members 7. Election of Officers and Committee for 2019/202 8. Any Other Business
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The British Women's Group Bangkok ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 14th March 2019 Election of Committee Positions - Nomination Form All nominees must be Full or Associate Members of The British Women’s Group (as defined in the Constitution), in good standing.
Position Name of Nominee (print name) Signature of Nominee Proposed by (print name) Signature Seconded by (print name) Signature Completed forms to be received by
8th March 2019
Forms can be handed in, or scanned and emailed to the Chairman or Secretary by no later than 8th March 2019 Ailsa Kneath aokneath@gmail.com 081 712 7308 Laura Smith (Secretary) laurajane1709@gmail.com Tel: 085 966 7580
February Combined Lunch & Activity : Seaview Restaurant in the Gulf of Thailand Please join us for a delicious seafood lunch at Bangkok Seaview Seafood Restaurant. The restaurant is situated in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand with spectacular 360 degree views. It is reached via a 20 minute ride in a long tail boat through a mangrove forest with wonderful scenery, a perfect Facebook/Instagram photo!! Date : Thursday 21st February Time : We will be arranging mini buses to pick up at Emporium Suites at 10:30am taking us to Bang Khun Thian. Cost : Lunch will be pay as you go. Once we know numbers we will confirm the cost of the mini bus. There is a charge of 50THB round trip for the long tail boat transfer. RSVP : to activities@bwgbangkok.org by Monday 11th February. Unfortunately once we have confirmed the mini buses there will be no refunds.
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Thank you from the Welfare Team By Gale Bailey MBE Many thanks to everyone who supported the Christmas Appeal and the raffles held at the Christmas lunch and coffee morning. It has enabled us to make donations to Thai charities at this special time of year. A substantial cheque has been donated to Gift of Happiness Foundation and also Steps with Theera both of whom are delighted. Small donations were made to Place of Grace, Wanchai Thanksgiving Home, Dorothy Klynstra of Sailom and Project Win in Chiang Mai which were all gratefully received as expressed in their letters. It meant extra treats for the children at the Christmas parties. See the messages of thanks below
Thank you once again for supporting the welfare efforts throughout the year – may 2019 be a good one for everyone.
Thank you so much to Khun Gale and BWG that support TGH again for the gifts for the kids and the poor on our Christmas event on Sunday December 23, 2018 and on December 27 to January 2 we will go to visit and share love with the gifts in Northeast Thailand also ! Wanchai Thanksgiving Home
We had so much fun at the youth and children’s Christmas parties – thank you – John Robinson of Place of Grace.
Project Win received 5,000 THB from BWG. I would like to say many thank to all of BWG for the wonderful gift. Merry Christmas and happy new year to all of you. Thank you – Vin
Thank you for thinking of us! We plan a Christmas event for the fellows at Ban Rachawadee on December 24 and they are asking for special presents. After that we have Children's Day on the second Saturday of January so in either case your donation of 5,000 baht will make lots of boys and young men with disabilities happy. Dorothy Klynstra Sailom
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Membership News Don’t forget to let Tracey (membership@bwgbangkok.org) know if any of your details change, or you leave us, so that they can keep the database and, of course members up to date with the latest information. If you use Facebook you can join the group : BWG Bangkok Women’s Group
Newcomer’s Coffee Mornings February
March
Wednesday 6th February Wednesday 6th March at Bistro 33, 22 Sukhumvit Soi 33, 10am - 12 noon
New Members Karan Burr- I have been teaching in Bangkok since 2001 and in Scotland prior to this. I am on the Bangkok St Andrew’s Society committee and run the Scottish dance evenings, which are very informal! When I came here, I had decided to NOT get involved in animal charities’ as I had adopted so many cats back home. However, I did foster dogs until I kept two of them. Then kittens seem to find me and how could I resist? One of my brother’s followed me here, married a Thai and they have a beautiful daughter. So, I am lucky to have some family in Bangkok
Birthdays in February 2nd February
Claudine Ethgen
2nd February
Daphne Colwell
6th February Nelson
Krystyna Baran
8th February Cumming
Rosamunde
12th February
Claire Llewellyn
17th February
Julie Eady
22nd February
Theresa Rayfield
27th February
Diane Loik
27th February
Discover Southeast Asia
Sue Williams
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