C NTACT THE MAGAZINE OF THE BRITISH WOMEN’S GROUP BANGKOK
September 2020
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
Directory Page 2
Diary Page 3
Chairman’s message Page 4-5
Book Club Pages 8-9
Sailing Blog Pages 12-18
Welfare Report Page 20
Thank you letter Pages 22-23
Treasurer Report Pages 26-27
Macmillan Triple Whammy coffee Page 28
Prison Visits Pages 29-30
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.
September Diary SUN
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
1 Bridge Golf
2 Mah-jong Art Group
3
4
5
6
7 Mah-jong
8 Bridge Golf
9 Mah-jong Art Group
10
11
12
13
14 Mah-jong
15 Bridge Golf
16 Mah-jong Art Group
17
18
19
20
21 Mah-jong
22 Bridge Golf
23 Bridge Art Group
24 Triple Whammy Coffee
25
26
27
28 Mah-jong
29 Bridge Golf
30 Bridge Art Group
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 Wednesday Mah-jong - (beginners welcome) (1pm - 4pm) Art Group - Bistro 33 Sukhumvit Soi 33 (10am -12:30pm) Karin Worthington
Chairman’s Message following the August 2020 AGM This year has been extraordinary in so many ways. We started on a high with our 50th Anniversary Lunch last May 2019 at the Kempinski. We had a great day, with many other BKK groups joining us, and as a result we have made good friends who now communicate regularly. Many of whom also joined our Christmas lunch, a day of fun, laughter, dancing and fizz.
We also ran our “Bacon Butty” stall at the annual Ploenchit Fair in November, which turned out to be a hot and sticky occasion.
We have continued to run our monthly coffees/lunches/ activities with the new idea of using a regular meeting place, and combining some of the events. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sue Williams, my trusty Secretary, and additional Activites superstar. Thanks to Liz Khan, Sylvia Knoss, Lisa Anaman, Sally Fisken, Justine Rea and Clare Nevin for all their hard work aided and abetted by our raffle girl Amelia who helped raise our additional funds for our welfare pot. Thank you to Laura Smith for keeping a watchful eye on our ever changing membership, and a special mention to our area liaison ladies and our erstwhile ladies who continue to effectively run, even in lockdown, our book club, mahjong and golf.
I would also like to say a huge thank you to Becky Adderley for her stalwart work every month on the Contact magazine, somehow producing wonderful covers and a happy read. Please feel free to contribute to this on any topic at any time. Thank you to Sue Davy for her online media watching, deleting and changing our FB profile.
As you are aware the last half year has been strange and challenging; however, the dedicated committee has not been idle and continued to meet via zoom to discuss the way forward.
These discussions have resulted in us streamlining ourselves to be leaner and more nimble. It was felt that as our membership is declining, as a result of the times in which we are living, we needed to address the fact that the committee really doesn’t need designated members for each activity, as we are already working very much as a team. Therefore, the names are there mainly to be the collators of the names of attendees, and that in future, Special Events will be a joint team affair, with volunteers coopted. We also made the decision to only run raffles at special events as it was reported back to us that some members were being put off joining in the coffee/lunches because of the added expense.
This will obviously have a knock on effect on excess money raised for our charities, which Gale has addressed in her report. I would like to thank Gale for her non stop work with the ever increasing demands in these difficult times for all our charities, who I know rely on our regular donations and Gale’s regular contact. Although we give as much as we can, we must always remember that we are first and foremost a social group and this should be our priority.
We are not alone in living in challenging times, all groups are in a similar position, therefore it is important that we do not stagnate and try to go forward in a modern way.
May I take this opportunity say a massive thank you to our committee members for all their hard work, commitment and loyalty during the past year. They have worked tirelessly on our behalf and helped to make every event fun.
My last thank you, goes to our very own Miss Moneypenny, Liz Dobson. Not an easy job being treasurer; however, she assures me she loves numbers.
Thank you. In the words of Abraham Lincoln “In the end, it is not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years”.
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“With the power of imagination, characters can actually fly off the page” Jun, Grade 11.
Bookworms - September We read two books: The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffeneger A book and a film - the latter now on Netflix This book attracted good reviews and is described as an international best seller. Chicago Tribune- “A time - travel love story par excellence.... A soaring celebration of the victory of love over time“. Washington Post Book World - “Tremendous grace and imagination....A love story without softness or flinching” The Guardian - “A best selling smash and global book club swoon”. This book tells the love story of Henry De Tambler and Clare Abshire. Henry is a Time Traveller which means he has a paranormal gene that causes him to involuntarily travel without notice - seemingly out of his control. One of our members looked to find out whether this is a mental disorder and there were questions about whether it exists at all. Henry and Clare met when she was a little girl playing in the large grounds of where she lives. He first arrives out of a dense bush dressed in her father’s gardening clothes. It seems that the contact continues intermittently with Henry arriving in odd places naked (hence her fathers gardening clothes) and then going out of her life shedding his clothes as he does so. She grows to adulthood but when she meets him in a library where he works and recognises him he appears to have no idea or memory of who she is or memory of her at all . Their love story, marriage and birth of a daughter and his disappearances make up this novel . Book clubbers comments - tedious, challenging, confused, boring and dull. One member commented “it was not as stupid as I thought, I enjoyed it”, “ not a book you can pick up and put down.“ Despite the comments the book attracted respectable scores.
6/10- 2, 7/10- 5
1984 by George Orwell I read recently that although this novel was published in the 1940s it has suddenly shot into best seller lists. “One of the most famous dystopian satires in the English language. “ “It is truly a masterpiece”. It’s rather uncomfortable to read and parts can be confusing but it’s worth it, not just for the terrifying political messages, but also the excellent characters George Orwell had a deep belief in socialism but then he rejected it and apparently wrote 1984 driven by fear of socialism and totalitarianism - in it he describes “the terrorist world of tomorrow“ In the novel he gives readers a glimpse into into what would happen if the government controlled every detail of a person’s life down to their private thoughts. The book is narrated by a man called Winston who lives in such a society and has a government job changing accounts of history - past and present newspapers, books and magazines - to follow the government party line and Big Brother. There are a variety of government departments such as this. In this society, everywhere there are telescreens monitoring and analysing people’s faces for gestures and thought crimes and there is double think (words apparently in today’s dictionaries). If people step out of line in thought, gesture or action they are vapourised (does anyone remember Kim Jong Un vaporising his uncle?) and erased from history. Winston falls in love with a girl called Julia. Both see clearly the risks that they face in a clandestine relationship but somehow they manage to meet due to her ability to devise the least risky locations. Both of them see clearly the problems of the society they live in. Inevitably they are caught and arrested and separated and then a large portion of the book is taken over by detail of the torture of Winston which makes unpleasant reading. Our discussion covered similar things we all recognised happening in the world today. Torture is a way of life in China and Iran for example. Imprisonment in some countries if you are known to speak against the government or prevailing narrative. It’s easy to be accused of racism, sexism and the crime of saying the wrong thing is resulting in dismissal from work eg Nigel Farage recently was sacked from LBC because he likened the destruction of statues in the UK and USA by Antofa and BLM to the destruction of statues by the Taliban. This is a thought provoking book- another critic - “more than anything it makes you think about the world and society in a different way - it’s brilliant”. Scores 5/10-1: 7/10-2 Next picks: September 1st - venue - Urbana 10am Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes Queen Bee by Jane Fallon
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Sailing Blog 17th - 24th July by Sue Williams All very excited and all set to go on a road trip to from Bangkok to Phuket, then on for a week’s cruising across Phang Nga Bay down to the Andaman Sea and back on a Sunsail 344 catamaran. Six of us, three couples from Royal Varuna Yacht Club and three members of the British Women’s Group had spent weeks in planning, even down the selection of the 42 bottles of wine that would accompany us down (but not back), oh we also did a route plan. Then… a day before we were due to leave, we received a charming email for Sunsail Corporate Towers. “Your charter is cancelled due to COVID”! Surely there was a mistake, we had been in constant conversations with the elite Sunsail customer service team (how can we help you), even arranged a BBQ for the boat. Long story – short here, never trust the corporate suits, always find someone local to speak to. Luckily in this instance we knew the Sunsail manager in Thailand, who managed to switch our charter locally with Simpson Marine and the trip was back on! We arrived at Au Po Grand Marina to see all the Sunsail boats in mothballs. Apparently the centre hadn’t been open for months but whilst we tutted to ourselves, we were taken to our new Simpson Charter, a beautiful Lagoon 42 – Cloud Dancer, pristine and ready for boarding. (can’t say how relieved we all were or how thankful to Olly and Craig for getting this done) so the fun could begin. We attended a briefing with Craig the Simpson Marine manager, like the prelude to the battle of Medway we were briefed on the best routes and things we needed to do. 1. Must go to Takaloa Marina and register for the National Park, or risk being hunted down by a Park Marine Taskforce, 2. Head south to where the waters are “crystal clear, so that you will want to dip your cup in and drink” the elixir. Briefing complete and desperate to get out of the dock and have some water beneath us, we loaded the stores we were ready slip the springs and cast off. The boat was fantastic with two fridges, also a (aarhmm) small ice cooler on the deck, which had the capacity for the wine and a ‘bottle’ of water. Cloud Dancer really was well designed, and had some really great features, four double cabins with ensuite heads and showers, Aircon, I say again “Aircon” and what was to be critical, a water-maker. Also, a great set of Navionics to keep us going in the right direction and avoid the rocks. We headed straight out for and anchored
overnight at Koh Phanak, East Bay, 8° 11.213N, 98° 29.626E. Easy anchorage for the first night with spectacular views north and south for sundowners, like a postcard or image of the trip ahead, time to take a breath and soak it all up. We were expecting Southwest Monsoon weather so had planned anchorages using the SE Asia Pilot, a most excellent and essential sailing guidebook for these waters. Our agenda for the cruise had been to sail, snorkel and explore, while we had done extensive planning in the pub, and had a top local guide (Simon had cruised in the area some 25 years before). However, we ditched the plan very quickly and decided to cruise for islands that would have some adventure about them, like Koh Phanak, which has an excellent Hong (tunnel and caves) through the north of the island. We had a two-person canoe and a good rib on the boat which made day raiding fun and really made the inlets and caves very accessible. We set off for James Bond Island, Khao Phing Kan, for the second nights anchor. Due to a low tide and some likely weather overnight we settled for a safer anchor further away than planned at Ko Yang 08° 15.95N 098° 29.35E so that we would be ready for an early morning foray to meet with ‘Nick Nack’ and ‘Scaramanga’ – “We’ve been expecting you Mr. Bond” (never gets old!). It quite indescribable, waking up to the vista of the islands as far as you can see, each one unique and beautiful on their own, with the morning light soft, backlighting them to bring out in detail and enhance each fissure, crag and ledge all contrasted by moving body of emerald water. Quite magnificent, also being able to plunge straight in off the back of the boat, sensory overload. I think it was at James Bond Island that it really struck home what a special cruise this was going to be, we were alone! We had been expecting the area to be quiet, but thought there would be some day boats with the usual mass of day – trippers, some level of tourism - an occasional boat with one or two Thais, but nothing of the mass tourist invasions that we were used to. As we coasted up to the sand beach on the East of Khao Phing Kan we realised how lucky we were and that the trip was a once in a lifetime event. I can’t imagine that the islands have been this undisturbed for 30+ years, pristine, quiet and peaceful, plenty of room on the beach for me to badly run up the beach in the rib, (wrong James Bond movie in my head). It was, however, really good to see the Thai National Park ticket collectors spring into action (COVID-19 masks on), find a pad of tickets and charge us for the landing. Also, a chance to buy fresh catch in the morning from local fishermen, they have a tough few months with the tourists gone. The waters around Khao Phing Kan have many shallows and it is easy to get caught by low tides, on average we have between a 2-3m change on each tide. So with an abundance of caution (salty sea dog code for I can see the bottom) we set off for the next adventure a northerly heading for the Gypsy Village, Koh Panyee, 08°19.95N 098° 30.30E, for a spot of lunch and the floating football pitch that had featured recently in a travel programme – Jack Whitehall’s “travels with my father’.
The weather ahead of us, as we were approaching Koh Panyee, nearly made us turn back and head South to the sun and clearer waters. After many ‘Captains’ conferences we decided to stick it out and go for the goal, (very poor pun), eventually putting the anchor down about 100m from the long boat piers on the east side of the island. As if by magic, a long boat appeared alongside, offering to take us ashore, to his favourite restaurant. How could we resist! Again very few visitors here, most of the restaurants shut up, clearly they were set up to be able to take, feed and host 1000s visitors per day, it was so sad to see the impact of the pandemic on this local economy. We did some exploring through the village, much of it is on piers now, so more permanent (I can’t see how they could tow it on the back of a tarmac truck anymore). Certainly there were a lot of tourist facilities, lots of ramshackle buildings, a large shiny Mosque and several schools and of course the now famous footie pitch. I would hate to be the ball boy for their games! Back to Cloud Dancer, with a restock of ice, for the fast diminishing wine stock. We set off for the nights anchour point, Southeast heading to Koh Kudu Yai, 08° 11.90N 098° 38.00E, an amazing anchorage, nestled close in between two islands, and a dusk adventure to spot the fruit bat swarm. Apparently they are very famous in these parts, though this must have been their night off as they did not show. There were some monkey troops that I don’t think had seem many Farang recently, who were quite put out with us as with pottered about the shorelone, also an amazing sea eagle that coasted along with us for a while, so a naturlist aspect to add to the log! Day three was a longer cruise as we were heading to Krabi with a special excursion into Railay Bay on the way down, where we stopped for lunch. Great to have a different perspective of Railay Bay from the sea and to be able reminisce the different hotels that collectively we had stayed on a beach. 8°00'32.9"N 98°49'48.1"E; most of them it seemed. The wind was not great on this trip, especially in the mornings, so any sailing we had was confined to the afternoons, really just chasing the wind and trying to steer a course that would take us somewhere near where we wanted to go. For some reason the tide was always against us, who would have thought it! We did have the best afternoons sailing of the cruise on this leg down to Takaloa Marina, Nr Krabi, described as a “cracking marina” again someone had been drinking early I think! We had been told that we had to pay national park fees here before cruising in southern waters. The impression we were given was that the Thai National park police would be patrolling
the waters, boarding by helicopters any boats who tried to pass through. We had considered making a dash for the south without a stop, but the image of a Thai MTB torpedoing us was just too much. However, the Int wasn’t correct, but it did make for an interesting detour. Also allowed us to crack open the sails, we had 10-13 knots at times and were able to set and sail between a broad reach / run. Also found the complimentary birds nest in the main sail when we hoisted and a wasp nest in the Jib roller, more detail to add to the nature log. The water on the approach to Port Takaloa is quite tricky, especially a low tide, (abundance of caution again). You need to pass through an inlet that has been cut through to access the marina, at points the muddy bank is about a meter from you, so not a time too loose concentration. Steady Simon was on the helm, so we masterfully made the dock, nice and easy port-side and tied on to the pontoon for an unnecessary night in the marina. Not quite the cracker we were expecting. It did give us a chance to fill up on some water and fuel, and restock on vituals for the BBQ. On paying the National Park fees you don’t need to go to the marina, the Thai National Park Service is really efficient and coming to you, not at all like the SEAL team force that we were told to expect – all smiles and Wai’s, though quite an interesting exchange with COVID19 masks on, stickly adhering to requirements, muffled counting of passengers, ineligable shouts for more Baht and then agreement, tickets and a wave goodbye. With some anticipation of clearer waters ahead, we set off on day four for Koh Lanta and waters that were described as being “so clear that you can dip your cup in and drink”, clearly someone had been at the wine locker very early. The cruise down from Krabi to Lanta is spectacular, the shoreline becomes much less inhabited and the scenery while not as dramatic as Phang Na Bay with the monolithic outcrops, it is fabulous. Long sand beaches, the odd exclusive resort to tease you on the way down (sadly closed now). You also get a sense of how long the Thai coastline is and also how beautiful and peaceful the less developed rural areas are. As we cruised down, again we only managed a few hours under sail, about 6 knots following us down and a 1.5 knot tide against us. Near the end of the leg we came across an amazing beach and lighthouse, just as you round the bottom of Lanta, Waterfall bay, 7.4704° N, 99.0992° E, though no waterfall was present, just a glorious deserted sandy cove, with a classic lighthouse standing overwatch. We were desperate to make Lanta oldtown for the night stop and sip the “crystal water that we could drink”, so had to by-pass looking enviously onshore. The Koh Lanta anchorage, 07° 32.30N 099° 06.40E was quite difficult for us, as there is a mud bank that comes out into the channel at low tide, ironically the wind also picked up, so we were concerned about the hold as it was a muddy bottom, a few drag tests and we had a good hold and decided to call it for the night. Oldtown was charming, but not as we expected as a run ashore, though there was a wrecked pirate ship on the beach. We were expecting a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean, but sadly no. Some authentic Han Chinese chop houses and some restaurants also a commodore scramble to get from the bottom of the pier (low tide again) to the deck so we could walk into the town. Alas. The water was so muddy that to sip from the cup would have led to at least a week in Bumrungrad and a strong course of antibiotics.
I’m sure with more time we would have found the delights of Lanta and all that it had to offer, but with the image of the virgin beach and lighthouse calling like the sirens for did for Odysseus (might have been the wine or the toffee vodka) we decided to move early for waterfall bay and a breakfast on the beach. While departing Ko Lanta our stop at Waterfall Bay signalled the start of journey back home. The bay was fantastic, and as in past the beach was deserted, so we started our exploring. Sue, Laura and Maoliosa were greeted by a bright green snake, not sure who was more shocked the snake or them. The lighthouse sits a-top a rocky spur and is accessible for those who don’t mind a scramble up shale path. We climbed up and were greeted by another stunning view, no shortage on this trip, with the sandy beach to the south sheltered by the jutting small peninsular and crashing cliffs to the north with waves pounding in. By chance on the beach at Waterfall Bay there was a lookout post, with a local guide on islands that can be seen from the vantage point. Out to the East were the islands of Ha (Ah Ha we said) that looks the ticket for a decent lunch spot on our way up to Phi Phi. It turned out to be a jewel and was by far the best stop we made! Five small islands forming a shallow sandy cove. We found a nice tourist board buoy to tie on, Ko Ha 07° 25.75N 098° 54.00, again completely deserted, and at last we found a sea that was crystal clear, amazing. Within minutes, we were in and snorkelling, there were thousands of fish, clearly used to tourists and the previous hoards of day trippers. On one of the islands, more a large imposing sheer rock pinnacle, there is also a submerged cave that takes you from one side to the other with a gentle current that pulls you through, (if you go through the right way!) As you dive under there were again thousands of fish, all motionless. Not sure what they were, about a foot long a grey silver, like a fleet of U boats anyway they seemed chilled and unperturbed. Reluctantly, as we wanted to get the sails up in the afternoon and also make Phi Phi before dusk, we had only an hour or so at Koh Ha, there was so much more to do (next time). Phi Phi is almost due north of Koh Ha, but the wind was not great either speed or direction, 4/5knts so after a couple of hours or tinkering and pinching we put them away, fired up the engines and set course for Koh Phi Phi Lee for our overnight, 7°40 42.2N 98°46 06.2E. We had a great overnight, very close to the east side of Phi Phi Lee near the Viking Cave, on a buoy. There was a really strange swallow conservation program sited in the cliff, with a conservationist (hermit) living in the cave, spooky seeing his lights at night but he kept himself to himself. Seems a weird occupation, wonder what the job ad looked like though he seemed happy enough, more entry for the nature log though. Early morning, on what would be the last full day we let go of the buoy early and headed round to Maya Bay, made famous by in the movie the beach. We had been told the beach was out of bounds, but though we would sneak a
look, at least get to the bay. We arrived just to see the rib of a floating gin palace returning from the beach. If they could do it so could we. Just as we were about to launch the rib, a Thai National Park cutter with a SEAL Team patrol came round the point. They must have had a tip off, anyway after a conversation with the Gin Palace captain, resplendent in his hat and braid, (not us guv!) They turned their gaze and made a visit to us. Luckily, we had our tickets to be in the national park, no we hadn’t been ashore on the hallowed beach, so they left empty handed, though as always with a smile and a big Wai. Maya bay currently has some work going on with a big digger on the beach. Also, another Swallow conservation program, with another hermit – scientist. We had decided to have lunch ashore in Phi Phi town, so we set off after a while for the cruise across, with breakfast on the go. The bay at Phi Phi beach and Ao Tonsai Pier was packed with the redundant day boats that were not in use so it took some time to find a buoy and settle. Phi Phi was quite deserted, the girls made a friend as soon as they were ashore, a traveller who had been on the island for three months while the quarantine and lockdown was in place. He was really chatty, and happy to see us (new best friend). Phi Phi town is built on a spit of land between Phi Phi beach and Loh Dalum Beach, and pre COVID, (usually) it would be bustling and full on, we found it quiet and peaceful and easy to wander about. Martin and I had an adventure to find ice, the wine cooler was emptying so more ice was needed, it did mean we could fit in more beer though. Traipsing through streets of Phi Phi, we found the water and the ice shop after many false directions, how to get lost in a 1000m sq area, follow Thai directions! As we know, we were all salty sea dogs at this point in the cruise, “time and tide waits for no one” so we were off again for a cruise around the island for our final anchorage, cocktails and sundowners and a BBQ extravaganza for our last night. We cruised around the Island, just off Monkey Beach, but we were not alone. Two fabulous Gin Palaces were anchored. These were top end charters, with hot and cold running crew to pander to your every need, even the ‘pinnace’ (no ribs for these guys) had a crew and a flag. With one buoy free, right in the middle of them we decided to join the party, interesting feeling of being looked down on came over us. Literally, these were big cruisers. So we distinguished ourselves with a display of aquatic daring, Sue being towed, by Simon and Martin in the canoe, which went swimmingly well, with Sue being pulled backwards through the sea waving at the Motor yacht crew; at one point I think they were preparing for boarders. Sue finally was the only one of us to drink the crystal-clear waters, bit more of a sip though!
After all that fun it was only right to relax on our foredeck and toast the cruise. As if for a finale, after all of the spectacular sights and excursions we had encountered, we were presented with the final gift of a fire sunset. A collision of deep orange and dark red hues in a power tapestry which seemed to seal off in our minds this perfect trip through paradise. Our journey back to Au Po Grand Marina, saw an early start, no chance of sails as the wind was 2knots at best. So a steady cruise, time on the helm to reflect on the week and space to repack and clean the boat throughout, ready for the handover. An excellent week, with excellent company across the magnificent backdrop of Phang Nga Bay. Certainly, a trip to remember and one to inspire further adventures!
WELFARE REPORT FOR 2020 BWG AGM by GALE BAILEY MBE This report covers the year 2019 but with what has happened this year, I will also mention 2020. Throughout 2019 we continued with the education scholarships of students from the Mercy Centre (HDF) in Klong Toei, New Life Centre in Chiang Mai, Steps with Theera in Bangkok, THEP (Thailand Hilltribes Education Project) in Chiang Mai and Lampang, Imagine Thailand in Tak Province. It was wonderful to see the graduation photos of the 2 lovely student nurses who had been sponsored for 4 years by contributions following the death of Edith Stewart MBE – what a legacy! We also made donations to other worthy causes – Sister Joan Evans Milk Run, Place of Grace, Gift of Happiness, Karen Hill Tribes, Shalem House, Christian Care Development, Camillian House and other ad hoc payments including those to children’s charities at Christmas. The total we gave away in 2019 was over 400K Baht - BWG can be very proud to have helped so many all over Thailand. The reason we can help so many is because our generous members contribute to raffles and the alms bowl (do hope you are all saving your coins ready for the next gathering!) The bookcase in the Royal Oak was cleaned and refurbished with newer books and the rewards have been amazing – 1000’s of Baht raised for second hand books. Please take unwanted books to the Fatima Shop – all gratefully received. 2020 started quite normally but as we all know, it went downhill quite rapidly with so many of us being separated from our families as difficult to leave and others not allowed to get in – it all seems quite crazy at times! BWG had healthy funds so we have been able to donate money for food to many organisations as well as continuing our education sponsorships. The poor seem to be getting poorer and whilst BWG is primarily a social group, I am sure no one objects to money being donated this way. Thanks to all the ladies who volunteer and to those who support by attending BWG gatherings. If anyone requires more details on exactly where and what has been donated, please contact me – galebailey@hotmail.com
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Thank you letter Dear Khun Gale and Khun Jane,
I am sending this email with gratitude for your assistance in circulating the call for volunteers, we had an incredible response. This year’s summer vacation, volunteers were wonderful, working together they focused on delivering a wonderfully unique summer experience of which the children had not previously enjoyed so many wonderful activities.
The kindness of the international women’s groups who generously donated their time and resources has created lasting memories and life lessons for the children.
It has been a very successful summer for the children. The volunteers showed the children a variety of different activities and experiences which the children were grateful and happy to receive.
Some of the activities that the children took part in were:
· Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
· Bowling
· Crafts
· Painting
· Trampoline
· Swimming
· Science Museum
· Sporting activities (Jump road, basketball, football)
· Ribbon twirling
· Reading: we also had a variety of books donated
· Cooking
· Baking
· International food and cultural days
· Shopping for underwear (bras)
These are just a few of the incredible memories that shaped the summer for the children, of which I have attached a few photos.
The ladies have been a great inspiration to the children, their confidence has grown and are now interacting with the volunteers with greater confidence in their English.
As you are aware Khun Jeanette Luck was assisting me with administration work though her husband has been posted to Vietnam for at least 6 months. Daniella (ANZWG) and Cindy (AWG) have graciously volunteered their time to help me with the administration. Could you kindly circulate this note of gratitude to the other women’s groups?
With kindness and gratitude, Nina/ Usanee
Treasurers Report - BWG AGM By Liz Dobson Dear Members, I am going to give an account of our finances for January to December 2019. Feels all so long ago now and much has changed since then.
GENERAL FUND In 2019 we hosted the Combined Women’s Lunch which coincided with our 50th Anniversary in May and our usual Christmas lunch in December. Both of these events required an enormous amount of work by committee members and both culminated in fraught negotiations with hotels at the last minute as numbers were well below expected. In the past the Christmas lunch has been a major fundraiser, even in 2018. It seems that times have changed and both of the large functions of 2019 barely broke even, but did raise good raffle income. We no longer print Contact magazine and without a committee member for Advertising, that source of income has dried up completely, a last contribution in 2019. Most coffee mornings and lunches are now pay as you go affairs and with attendance at 20-30 people it was decided that to have a raffle at each was unfair to the few attendees. That leaves Membership. At the end of 2018 we had 152 members, but that is now 115 (only 80 pay!) so income is also down. These day to day parts of our organisation are accounted for in our General Fund, but that also has to cover additional expenses such as insurance, storage, flowers for members in hospital or having significant events, committee meetings, website and social media. In 2019 we made the final payment to the two trainee nurses that we sponsored in memory of Edith Stewart in Chiang Mai. I have met the girls a few times, they are lovely and very grateful. They have now graduated.
WELFARE FUND Welfare Fund income comes from transfers from the General Fund and from the very generous members who buy raffle tickets, empty their purses of coins and donate and buy books from our bookcase in the Royal Oak pub. Raffle income was boosted by the two major events we hosted. We are though now having to buy prizes. Raffle and Alms bowl income is much the same as 2018, but we know in the current situation that book sales have increased so please remember us if you are thinning your library. Books can be dropped off at the Fatima shop. Our Welfare Fund donated to many deserving causes across Thailand and donations are always gratefully received and monitored.
CRACKER FUND This is the income from the production of Christmas crackers all of which is donated to charities after deducting costs. In 2019 the ladies again raised more than B90,000. This year no crackers have been made due to the difficulty of meeting and the uncertainty of sales.
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE? In 2019 we broke even, spending all that we took in. Our bank balance is healthy, but reducing. 2020 is going to be very different though. We have increased payments to many of our charities in these terrible times, but we have had very few chances to get together. I would like to thank everyone for their help and patience this past year.
TRIPLE WHAMMY COFFEE MORNING – 24th September 2020 The BWG Welfare Team are hosting a ‘Triple Whammy’ coffee morning to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer. This will be in conjunction with the world’s biggest coffee morning and people all over the UK will be raising funds for those facing cancer. The first ever Macmillan Coffee Morning happened way back in 1990. It was a rather small affair with a simple idea, guests would gather over coffee and donate the cost of their cuppa to Macmillan. It was so effective that it was done year after year, with the nation getting involved. Since then Coffee mornings have raised over £150 million for Macmillan. So come along and get involved! Bake or buy a cake and catch up with friends over a cuppa and enjoy some gorgeous treats on a ‘bring and buy’ basis as the money you raise will help Macmillan make sure that no one has to face cancer alone. Whammy #1 VOLUNTEERING – Come along and find out for yourself what volunteering opportunities there are in Thailand, which can be so rewarding. It is not easy for us ladies to get a paid job here and a lot can be done to help the needy, whilst we are living in their country. Whammy #2 KNITTING & CROCHET SQUARES – keep on clicking and making those squares which are made into blankets by Sister Louise’s ladies at the Fatima Centre and sent up country where it is extremely cold during the cooler weather. If you want to knit, crochet or just donate wool, then come along and join the fun! Whammy #3 MACMILLAN – we will be joining in with the World’s biggest coffee morning and raising funds for this worthy cause. To find out more: https://coffee.macmillan.org.uk Date: Thursday 24th September Time: 10.00 am – 12.00 noon Venue: The FCCT Club, Penthouse, Maneeya Centre, Ploenchit Cost: 200 Baht donation RSVP: By 5.00 pm, Monday 21st September lizziekhan@yahoo.co.uk Full directions will be sent to you once you have registered for the coffee morning. You will also be able to stay for lunch at FCCT even if you are not a member.
25 August 2020 - 15 years to the day since my first prison visit by Gale Bailey MBE When Sue Moores asked Katherine Biggs and myself if we would visit ‘her boys’ in Bang Kwang (Bangkok Hilton) as she was leaving Bangkok, we decided to go just the once to appease her. Little did we realise how prison visiting would become a way of life for us because as we left, Katherine said ‘We will have to come again, won’t we?’ I replied ‘Yes’ and so it continues……………….. Two of the three chaps we first met were in shackles as were on Death Row and the third had a sentence of 99 years (commuted from death) It was quite mind blowing but we chatted quite easily to them all but I suppose having sons of our own made it easier as we empathised with their mothers. After our first visit, some of the other BWG ladies were interested so joined Katherine and I which meant we could call out more prisoners as we could only call out one for one. As our group grew, we also called out other ‘foreigners’ who were friends of the Brits and never had any visitors - Burmese, Nepalese, Russian, Malaysian, Tanzanian, German! I used to send round to see who was available to visit then email the request for a letter to the British Embassy so we came under their auspices known as BEVV - British Embassy Volunteer Visitors. Someone later said we should be known as The Jail Birds! We could then decide how many of the chaps we could call out as our group increased greatly, joined by some men too. We were allowed to take ‘farang’ food – bread, cheese, ham, cereals etc. as well as post in toiletries, tinned goods and even pillows once! Some of us would bake and I always made extra with a curry or stew then froze them in readiness to take on next visit. Katherine made cottage pies and froze them for me to take when she had gone to UK – her husband wrote a note on them ‘Bandit fodder’ ha ha! There was a kind chap called Derek who had a bar in Soi 7 called The Winking Frog and he used to provide 6-7 dinners a week for a long time. One Christmas, Katherine and I made up 12 boxes of seasonal goodies/treats for the chaps including a santa hatI All so different now – cannot even send stamps! On arrival at Nonthaburi, we would report to the Foreign Office and became quite friendly with the guards in there who had good English. Khun Chavoret Jaruboon, the Last Executioner, became a good friend because at first he was curious as to why these women came to visit criminals – what motive did we have? Eventually he realised we did not have any ulterior motives but acted as go-betweens with their families as well as giving them a boost knowing someone was local to talk and write to. Along with the other Foreign Office guard, Joe, we also socialised, going to see the Beatles and to Music Café in Patpong and to Tawang Deng and Bamboo Bar in Soi 3 as Khun Chavoret was an old rocker and an Elvis fan with Joe loving the Beatles. They were great, memorable nights for us all.
We visited at least once a week and afterwards we had lunch together at a food stall opposite the prison for 30 Baht - Khao Phad Gai and a Pepsi which was like nectar as ALWAYS hot and sweaty inside. We later went upmarket and lunched at the floating restaurant at Nonthaburi pier and often went back into the city on the ferry – 15 Baht a trip wonderful value. I feel I could write a book solely on prison visiting – so many characters, anecdotes and funny, quirky, sad, emotional things transpired during the visits and afterwards. All the chaps we first met in those early years are now free but we are still in touch via Facebook, birthdays and Christmas – some families too. It is quite incredible how it all mushroomed and I am certain that everyone, inside and outside, benefitted by not being so judgmental, learning patience and tolerance whilst being made to wait around at times and discovering that whilst these chaps had done wrong, they were not bad people but had been stupid and greedy (the words of one of them!) Most of the visitors who joined Katherine and I in the early years have left Bangkok but I would like to name a few Sally Smith, Janice Warburton, Sue Taylor, Jasmin McAtee, Sheila Davies, Wiff Johnstone, Marie Rose, Ann Hellon, Katie Hellon, Bill Francis, Milos Bang, Geraldine Grant, Jennifer Gampell, Scott Kingsbury, Paul Woods, Karen MacKenzie, Joyce Rosser, Sue Steel, Pat Barber, Yvonne Ziegler, Jane Bailey, Sharon Skovron and Helen Taylor. My son, Andrew, and some of my nieces and nephews as well as Debbie Singh and Jean Altshuler visited when they were here on holiday. WOW – I had forgotten just how many were involved over the years! Sadly two of the ladies who were stalwarts and great supports to the men have passed away – Allyson Sullivan and Sue Kimber – both lovely and caring people taken so young and stricken with cancer. What an incredible time it has been over the past 15 years with its highs and lows and I still visit a couple of Brits and act as go-between for letters between an Australian and an American prisoner and their families. Other prison visitors in recent years – Michele Savage, Madeleine Williams, Maria Cuckson, Justine Rea and Liz Khan have been to other prisons – Bombat and Klong Prem – but visiting is not so easy nowadays as nothing can be taken except 2 books but only with an embassy letter. I would like to thank Sue Moores for introducing me to prison visiting – what a wonderful and worthwhile thing is has been and still is for me. THANKS SUE.