voyageur april 2011

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APRIL

2011

A publ icat ion of the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce 04 / 2011

Corporate PartnershipPremier Sponsors

Executive Sponsors

2010

TCCC Business Excellence

Awards

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit

A Celebration of

Canadian & Thai Business Achievements


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Calendar

2011/2012 TCCC Executives

Patron:His Excellency Ambassador Ron Hoffmann

President John CasellaVice President Ali Fancy

Vice President John StevensSecretary Dr. Tim CornwallTreasurer Michael Howard

Executive Board:John Casella

Sranyoo ChanateNeil Chiu

Dr. Tim CornwallAli Fancy

Michael HowardRon LivingstonGeoff McIntyre

Alan NgSukanya Rattanavadee

John StevensDerek van Pelt

Embassy Representative:Ping Kitnikone

Advisors:Raymond Bodemer

Sam CohenSurachit Chanovan

Zoltan KosaDon Lavoie

Niccolo SozziPicharn Sukparangsee

Michael White

Executive Director:Randy Shockley

Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce

139 Pan Road, Sethiwan Tower9th floor, Bangkok 10500Tel: +66(0) 2266-6085-6Fax: +66(0) 2266-6087

Email: [email protected]: www.tccc.or.th

The Voyageur is the monthly magazine of

the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce,

covering all Thai-Canadian business, legal

and social news of interest to the members

and others who are active in expanding

Thai-Canadian bilateral trade.

Editor:

Randy Shockley, Executive Director,

Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Publisher:

Scand-Media Corp., Ltd.

4/41-2 Moo 3, Thanyakarn Village,

Ramintra Soi 14, Bangkok 10230

Tel: +66(0) 2943-7166-8 Fax: +66(0) 2943-7169

Design: Disraporn Yatprom

Email: [email protected]

Advertising Contact:

Mr. Finn Balslev, Marketing Director

Scand-Media Corp., Ltd.

Tel: +66(0) 2943-7166 ext.151 or 08-1866-2577

Email: [email protected]

Calendar of events: TCCC

CCBAUpcoming events in the region:

WHEN: Wednesday, May 25, 2011; 6:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.WHAT: 15th Annual Business Excellence Awards (BEA)

WHERE: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit BallroomPRICE: Individual Price: Early Bird - 1,500 baht; Std.-1,750 baht

Corp. Package Price: Early Bird -13,500 baht; Std.-15,000 baht

WHEN: Wednesday, May 11, 2011; Noon 1:45 pmWHAT: TCCC Speaker Luncheon (sponsored by Piyavat Hospital):

Attack the heart before the heart attacks you!!! with

Dr. Tanyarat Aramsareewong of Piyavate Hospital.

WHERE: Conrad HotelPRICE: 700 baht - Members; 850 baht - Non Members

WHEN: Wednesday, May 18, 2011; 6:30 pm 8:30 pmWHAT: Canuck Connections Networking Night

WHERE: The Treasury - 5th floor Gaysorn PlazaPRICE: 200 baht - Members; 400 baht - Non Members.

THE THAI-CANADIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

IS PROUD TO PRESENT

THE 15TH BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2010

The Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce cordially invites you to attend its BEA galato honor the winners of the 2010 business awards. This event recognizes excellence,innovation and success within the Chambers Thai and Canadian business community and

provides an opportunity for winners to showcase their achievements.

All attendees also receive a chance to win 2 round trip tickets to Canada !

DATE: Wednesday, May 25, 2011

VENUE: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Ballroom

TIME: 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

(Awards Ceremony: 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.)

DRESS: Business Attire

FORMAT: The BEA ceremony offers a great evening of recognition and business

networking opportunities; event also features great jazz, free drinks

(beer, wine & mixed drinks) and wide array of heavy appetizers.

PRICE: Individual Price: Early Bird - 1,500 baht; Std.-1,750 bahtCorp. Package Price: Early Bird -13,500 baht; Std.-15,000 baht

Corporate Package includes10 tickets, 2 bottles of wine and reserved seating.

Please purchase your tickets by Friday, May 13th to take advantage

of this years Early Bird price.

Hong Kong: www.cancham.org

WHEN: Thursday, May 12, 2011; 6:30pm-8:30pm

WHAT: Financial Independence through an Entrepreneurial JourneyWHERE: The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong,

1301 Kinwick Centre, 32 Hollywood Road, CentralPRICE: HK$150 for members, HK$200 for non-members

China: www.ccbc.com

WHEN: Saturday, May 20, 2011; 6:00pm onwardWHAT: The 24th Annual Canadian Charity Ball

WHERE: The Renaissance Beijing Capital HotelPRICE: please visit www.ccbc.com for further details

Singapore: www.cancham.org.sg

WHEN: Friday, May 20, 2011; shotgun start: 12.30 PMWHAT: Manulife Golf Challenge 2011

WHERE: Warren Golf & Country Club

PRICE: SG$ 325 for individual, SG$ 1,500 for group of 4


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Chamber Activity

M

arch marks the traditional kick-off the Chambers newbusiness cycle and leading the way was the TCCCs21st Annual General Meeting and Executive Boardelection on Wednesday March 16th at the GrandMillennium Sukhumvit. We thank Ambassador Ron

Hoffmann and Mr. Mechai Viravaidya, founder of the VDP, for takingtime out of their busy schedules to support this key annual meeting.

Quick on the heels of the AGM followed the Chambers Meetthe New Board Night hosted by the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit onWednesday, March 23rd and the Executive Boards Annual BusinessPlanning Retreat on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at Courtyard by Marriott.The latter event involved a full days focus on assessing the risksand opportunities in the Chambers business plan as well as lookingat opportunities to raise the Chambers profile with its existing andprospective members.

We thank the new 2010/2011TCCC Executive Board for their

support:

Mr. John Casella - Director, Baker T illy (Thailand) Limited (ReturningTCCC President)

Mr. Sranyoo Chanate - CEO, Kluaynamthai (Returning TCCCDirector)

Mr. Neil Chiu - GM, Allied Pickfords Thailand (Returning TCCCDirector)

Dr. Tim Cornwall - Managing Consultant, Speech Work ConsultancyCo. Ltd. (Returning TCCC Secretary)

Mr. Ali Fancy - General Manager, Jelly Belly Candy Co.- Thailand(Returning TCCC Vice President)

Mr. Michael Howard - Partner, KPMG (Returning TCCC Treasurer)

Mr. Ron Livingston - President & CEO, International EnvironmentalManagement Co., Ltd. (Returning TCCC Director)

Mr. Geoff McIntyre - M.D., Geotai Exploration & Mining Co. Ltd.(New TCCC Director)

Mr. Alan Ng - President & CEO, Manulife Insurance (Thailand) PCL(New TCCC Director)

Ms. Sukanya Rattanavadee - GM, Thaiphum Skylights Co., Ltd,GSA of Air Canada in Thailand (Returning TCCC Director)

Mr. John Stevens - Group Managing Director, Point of View (POV)Media Group Co., Ltd. (Returning TCCC Director and New TCCCVice President)

Mr. Derek van Pelt - MD, Siam Wheels Co., Ltd. (Returning TCCC

Director)

March was All Business.

TCCC Board Members at the Meet the New Board Night(L-R: Sranyoo Chanate, Neil Chiu, John Casella, Alan Ng, Sukanya

Rattanavadee and John Stevens)

Khun Mechai expressing his gratitude for the Canadian Embassys

100,000 baht contribution to the VDP fund (L-R: Mr. Michael Howard

- TCCC Treasurer, Mr. Mechai Viravaidya - Founder of the VDP, H. E.

Ron Hoffmann - Ambassador of Canada to Thailand and Mr. John

Casella - TCCC President

TCCC Board and Advisors participating in the Annual Business

Planning Retreat

AGM participants listening to the Presidents Report provided by

Mr. John Casella


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April 2011 5

Chamber Activity

While Canadian companies gene-rally haven't had a huge presence

in Cambodia, that's about tochange following Canada's tradeand investment mission to theKingdom in February.

"The Canadian Trade and Investmentmission had several straightforwardobjectives, and they were all solidly

met," Canadian Ambassador to Cambodiaand Thailand Ron Hoffman told EconomicsToday in an email interview. "We aimed togain a better understanding of the business

environment, including government policydirections, economic development plansand the legal-regulatory context for foreigncompanies, and to do so by speaking witha range of experts from within and outsideof government."

Hoffman, who is based in Bangkok fol-lowing the closure of the Canadian Embassyin 2009, and representatives from Canadiancompanies met with Cambodian officials in-cluding Deputy Prime Minister Sok An duringthe two-day trade and investment mission.

Canada believes that responsible andtargeted foreign investment can play a tan-gible and significant role in contributing toCambodia's national development and helpto advance the well-being of the Cambodianpeople by creating jobs and by transferringtechnology, skills and capital, Hoffmansaid. I believe Canadian companies bringa sophisticated sense of corporate socialresponsibility and have a solid track recordin bringing business best practices to bearwhen investing or trading in developing coun-tries.

Bombardier, the Montreal based aircraftmanufacturer, and Research in Motion, the

company that makes BlackBerry smart-phones, were among the companies fromCanada that took part in the mission.

While some Canadian companies are stillwaiting to bring their products to Cambodia,the BlackBerry is no stranger to the Kingdom.

With our growth plans for Cambodia,we believe immersing ourselves in the com-munity and involving ourselves in the trademission was a good way to ensure that theBlackBerry platform meets the needs of localcustomers. John Leung, director of Emerg-ing Markets in Southeast Asia, which is partof Research In Motion, said in an email.

The BlackBerry is a good fit for ordinaryCambodians as well as people involved inbusiness, he said, The multibillion dollarNASAQ-Iisted company has been workingwith its parners in Cambodia to promote itsBlackBerry Smartphone and the new Black-

CANADIAN COMPANIES EYE CAMBODIABy Mark Browne / Economics Today

information, people and tools that they want,wherever they are, he said. We have beenworking with our partners in Cambodia for

several years and we know that the Black-Berry solution fits well with the requirementsmany Cambodian's have, especially thanksto the BlackBerry platform's strong affiliationwith mobile social networking.

The investment climate in Cambodia iscomplex and uneven, but that's expectedgiven the country's history of economic andpolitical development, Hoffman said. At thesame time, Cambodia's legal and regulatoryenvironment is getting stronger, he said.

The biggest concern is the level of cor-ruption companies can still encounter, buteven here the experience is and uneven one.

The Cambodian judiciary is underdeveloped,which is a constraint, but there are efforts toimprove it, Hoffman said. Our companiesalso pay close attention to issues of humanrights and democratic development, as theseare important barometers of governancetrends and the kind of society Cambodia maybecome in the future.

The Canadian business representativeswere impressed with Cambodia's entre-preneurial energy while paying particularattention to the fact that Cambodia is locatedin the heart of Asia, the continent that willbe the world's economic engine in the 21stcentury, Hoffman said. They also felt that theCambodian government was determined todiversify the Kingdom's economic base tohelp improve Cambodians' living standards,he said.

Canada is in a good position to meetCambodias needs in various areas, includingin natural resources development, infrastruc-ture, information technologies, telecommuni-cations, transport equipment and services,Hoffman pointed out. As well, Canada hasbecome Cambodia's fifth biggest exportmarket with two-way trade reaching almost

CDN$300 million.This peak indicates the enormousgrowth of the last decade and the scope ofthe trade relationship is only set to widen. I'mconfident that Canadian companies have anexpanded role to play in Cambodia in themonths and years ahead.

Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh meetswith Canadian Ambassador to Cambodia

Ron Hoffman during Canada's trade and

investment mission

Canada be l ieves tha t

responsible and targeted

foreign investment can play

a tangible and significant role

in contributing to Cambodia's

national development and to

helping to advance the well-

being of the Cambodian

people by creating jobs and

by transferring technology,

skills and capital.

Berry PlayBook. As internet access is on a

steady increase in Cambodia, Leung saidapps such as the BlackBerry Messenger arewell-suited for Cambodians.

Cambodia is a great country with lotsof opportunity, so we are keen to empowerindividuals and businesses with the mobiletechnology that they need to access the


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Voyageur6

Chamber Activity

Recently, Thailands Ministry ofForeign Affairs extended an invita-tion to the TCCC to participate in

its March 31st forum on Buildinga Strong Democratic Thailand: A

Thailand U.S./Canada Forumon Democracy and Good Gover-nance.

Photos by Disraporn Yatprom

With an audience of approxi-mately 150 attendees, the

forum featured U.S., Ca-nadian and Thai panelistsdiscussing 4 main topics:

Session I: Enhancing Civic Participation andLocal Governance for Democratic Strength

Session II: Corporate Social Responsibilityfor Democratic Building and SustainableDevelopment

Session III: Government Accountability andGood Governance

Session IV: Development and Strengthening

of Political InstitutionsRepresenting the TCCC at the Minis-

trys forum were Executive Board membersMessrs. Michael Howard and Derek van Peltwith Derek serving as the TCCCs featuredpanelist in Session IIs discussions on Cor-porate Social Responsibility for DemocraticBuilding and Sustainable Development. Der-eks presentation focused on the Chambersnew Village Development Partnership (VDP)initiative. To provide follow-up coverage ofthis event, we are pleased to provide you withthe following text of Dereks presentation.

I want to thank the Ministry of ForeignAffairs for giving the Thai-Canadian Chamberof Commerce the opportunity to join thisimportant forum today. We congratulate theMinistry for its forward thinking of bringingtogether such an eclectic mix of public ser-vants and private sector representatives, fromThailand, from the United States and fromCanada. I am joined today by Mr. MichaelHoward, the Treasurer and fellow Director ofTCCC.

I note that my fellow panelists this morn-ing include representatives from two presti-gious corporations from the Thailand SCG

and the US - Chevron. I am well aware thatboth companies have earned significantaccolades for their accomplishments in cor-porate social responsibility and sustainabledevelopment.

Let me give some background on the

members has to step up to the plate. AsCanadians, as successful businesspeople inthe community, and as a chamber, we mustcare about creating opportunities for the lessfortunate. We must search for constructive,meaningful and sustainable ways in which to

offer our help.It is not just about finding ways to give

money away; but its important that we lookfor a way in which we, as a community livingin Thailand, can make our presence felt, tobe a force for positive change.

In this debate we have been joined by theofficials from Canadian Embassy in Bangkok.One of the messages that Ambassador RonHoffman has been focusing on since his arrivalin Thailand is the deepening of Thai - Cana-dian ties and of increasing Canadas profilein the Kingdom of Thailand. He believes thatthe Embassy, working in partnership with theChamber, not only increases the impact thatthe Canadian community has in Thailand,but also encourages the private sector to getinvolved in local projects that support some ofthe essential Canadian values of charity, socialawareness, and corporate responsibility.

With this lengthy preamble in mind, letme present some of the concrete steps thatthe Chamber has recently taken to meet ourresponsibilities to the community in which welive.

We have accepted a proposal from thePopulation and Community Development

Association, which you will all recognize asthe NGO founded by Khun Mechai Vira-vaidya, to participate in a Village Develop-ment Partnership project. The chamberhas agreed to sponsor the village of BaanNong Phai, a village of about 400 people

Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce. TheChamber was officially registered in 1991,with four objectives in its charter:1.) To promote closer relations between

Canada and Thailand.2.) To provide a business forum for increas-

ing the knowledge of developments inCanada and Thailand.

3.) To provide advice, ideas, and sugges-tions for Canadian business interests inThailand.

4.) To promote and organize any activities forassisting worthy causes as approved bythe Chamber.

Today we have approximately 130members, both corporate and individuals.We have Canadian companies operatingin Thailand, Thai companies reaching outfor business opportunities with Canadians,retired Canadian businessmen living inThailand, Canadian teachers and so on.What drawn us together is the belief that thechamber can be a force for positive change,for the companies that employ us, and for usas individuals. Which brings me to why weare here today.

The fourth objective in our charter talksabout assisting worthy causes. The cur-rent Board of the Chamber has been debat-ing whether we as a chamber - are doingenough to meet that objective in the currentenvironment of the heightened awareness

of the importance of corporate governance,CSR and sustainable development. Wenote that many of our corporate membersespouse these principles, but is that enough?We have concluded that No, its not enough the Chamber itself, independent of our

Building a Strong & Democratic


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April 2011 7

Chamber Activity

Thailandlocated in Northeastern Thailands Buriramprovince. The villagers need a sponsorship of2 million baht to launch the program so thatthey can ensure sustainable development

in the village through a variety of programsin the areas of community empowerment,income generation, health, environment,and education. To the 2 million baht, theChamber added 500,000 baht to provide forflood relief, totaling a total ask of 2.5 millionbaht. The Chamber is now reaching out toall of its members, and beyond, to raise the2.5 million baht. In so doing, we are offeringthe employees of our corporate members,and our individual members, the chance toparticipate in a variety of CSR activities in thevillage, from tree planting to training.

Our fund raising activities began abouttwo months ago. The fund raising letter toour members pointed out that, if we were tosucceed in our efforts, we will be collectivelyresponsible for pulling the 400 villagers ofBaan Nong Phai out of the quicksand of debtand helping them to stand on their feet withhope and purpose.

I am very happy to report that even beforethe letter went out, we had received our firstdonation of 100,000 baht, from the CanadianEmbassy! To date, we have raised about800,000 baht, in all. So we are just about

for the Chamber to put our collective shoulderto the wheel.

Our third initiative relates to our annualBusiness Excellence Awards, in which we

recognize the various accomplishments ofour members: Best Exporter, Best Entrepre-neur, Best Manufacturer and so on. This yearwe are creating new category of excellenceand we will present an award at our dinner ofMay 25th to recognize one of our Best CSRPractitioners.

The last initiative I want to report to youis in the field of communication. We publisha monthly magazine Voyageur whichcontains articles of general interest to ourmembers. We now realize that the magazineprovides us with a unique platform to buildawareness of CSR actions and opportunitiesand sets out the principles that underlie theseimportant projects. We are initiating a monthlyfeature in Voyageur that will highlight the CSRactivities of our members and of the Chamberitself and in so doing, set a standard foraction against which to measure our owncommitment to CSR and hopefully, act as astimulant for all us.

The TCCC thanks Mr. Michael Howardand Mr. Derek van Pelt for taking time to pro-vide the TCCC with excellent representationat this important Ministry event.

1/3th of the way to our goal and we are justgetting started.

A second initiative that we are embarkingon is working, in partnership with the Cana-dian Embassy, at such events as the YWCAannual international bazaar and the RedCross Diplomatic Bazaar. These highly suc-cessful events support a variety of charitablecauses in Thailand and provide another way


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Member Profile

British Club ClubhouseBangkoks British Club has longbeen called a green oasis in theheart of the city. Its also been afavourite haunt for many TCCCmembers over the years as eve-rything from Canada Day to TCCCnetworking nights have been sta-ged there. And its the only placethat stages regular ball hockeymatches in the city (held everySaturday on the new court, at theback of the clubhouse.)

The British Club is 107 years old, itsclubhouse a century old. The land

was originally a gift from the Thaicrown to the British Community,and funny enough, although today

the Club is located in the heart of Silom Roadin downtown Bangkok, back then the Clubwas considered to be in the boonies.

In 1919, the Club doubled its size bypurchasing the Siam Electricity CompanysTennis Club directly across from the club-house. That land is now home to a 25metre-swimming pool, a childrens pool andplay area, 4 floodlit tennis courts, 3 squashcourts, a fitness centre, a sports shop andmassage service

Its also home to the Suriwongse Sala,next to the tennis courts, and the Silom Sala,next to the childrens pool. Both salas offer

Thai, British and international food as well arange of beers, soft drinks and ice cream.

The Suriwongse Sala also houses a smallpublications shop to buy weekly magazines,etc. Both salas have a TV screen to showsports and as with the entire Club they arewired up for Wi-Fi.

Ironically, though the British Club is hostto so many activities what it might be bestknown for is its food and catering, both onand off premises. Theres also an exquisitefine dining menu with a focus on Mediterra-nean fusion cuisine. And theres an extensiveselection of Thai cuisine, which makes upabout 30% of the BC menu. And its not justRoyal cuisine, but food from the four main

regions in Thailand.The Verandah is the BCs casual bar &

restaurant. It opens on to the back lawn, and

The Clubs patio overlooking the back lawn


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April 2011 11

elebrates its Centenaryis a great spot for families to dine. It featuresregular buffets, carveries and themed food

nights for members enjoyment. There is anextensive cocktail and wine list available,including the BCs six house wines. The Ve-randah also hosts a media bar, which seesweekly delivery of The Globe & Mail.

The Churchill Bar provides memberswith an authentic English pub atmosphere.It includes a central horseshoe bar as wellas cozy sofas and table seating for groupsor couples. The bar boasts six draught beersplus a wide range of whiskies and variety ofother spirits. British pub fare, like bangersand mash, is the bars strength but you canalso order international and Thai food as well

dishes directly from the grill. A daily specialis displayed on a blackboard in the bar to-gether with this months recommendations

UK (St. Andrew, St. David, St. George & St.Patrick). In total,. It holds over 150 special

buffets and parties over a calendar year, thebiggest being its Guy Fawkes Day celebra-tion.

The British Club acts as a de facto com-munity center. For an expat family new toThailand, its a perfect way to make friendsand social contacts. And the Club can meetthe needs of the whole family, e.g., if momand dad want to get in a game of tennis,the kids can go swimming. Another benefitof British Club membership is it allows youaccess to 158 similar member clubs all overthe world.

Theres also a snooker room and three

function rooms all with full audio and visualfacilities including a big screen TV with sat-ellite channels. And the Clubs office canprovide services in much the same as thatof a business centre in a hotel can.

Sports wise theres tennis, squash,badminton, swimming, aqua aerobics,yoga, cricket, rugby, ball hockey - no lack ofactivities to take part in. Theres even the oc-casional croquet game, but no lawn bowling(as yet) though Jesper is working on gettingelectronic golf.

The Club has its own fitness trainer, An-ant Saklebradu, who can put you throughthe paces and give you a personal trainingregimen as well as put you on a fitball course.Ruengrit Turiwong gives swimming lessonsto both adults and children. Theres evencircuit training, Thai boxing lessons and Thaimassage as well. The Fitness Centre is opento anyone over 14.

Youth membership to the Club (under 30)starts with a Bt33,000 lifetime entrance fee,then theres a Bt1,000 monthly (subscriptionfee) for a family, or a Bt500 subscription feefor a single member. An adult membership(30+) requires a lifetime entrance fee of

Bt66,000 with a subscription fee of Bt2,000monthly for a family, or Bt1,000 for a singlemember.

To attract members who will not be stay-ing in Thailand for a long time, the club nowis offering one-year adult membership forBt15,000, with a monthly Bt1,000 fee, andone-year youth membership for Bt7,500 fee,with an accompanying monthly Bt500 fee.You can also purchase a day pass for Bt400.

The Club is open from 6am-11pm everyday and only shuts down for one day a yearfor a staff party.

Summing up the Club Jesper puts it best,

The British Club aims to be a social, sports,and cultural centre for the international andBritish community in Bangkok offering pro-fessionals, business people and their families

Mr. Jesper Ole Dopping, The British Clubs

General Manager

from Khun Laak, the BCs executive chef.The Clubs professional catering service

for members offers a wide variety of menusfor office parties, home parties, barbecues,Christmas parties, etc. The BC deliverseverything: food, drink, tables, carvery asrequired, and its staff can provide waitingservice if required.

Jesper Doepping is the general managerof the Club. Hes held the post for almost ayear now, and surprisingly enough, hes notBritish, but Danish. He hadnt even heard ofthe British Club until he was approached bya headhunter as his tenure as GM with AnsarTechnologies in Bangkok was winding down.Hes currently working on a 7-year refurbish-ment of the Club, constantly seeking ways toupgrade it.

In the early days, Thais werent allowedmembership into the British Club, but timeshave changed, membership is now open to

all nationalities, but there is a screening sys-tem Jesper says, which entails sponsorshipfrom two active club members. But whathasnt changed is that the club is still gearedto expats and the lingua franca is English.So the Thais that do join tend to be veryWesternized, or have spent time studying,working or living in the West for an extendedperiod of time. There are approximately 1,200members from 40 countries.

The Club stages wine tastings, quiznights, poolside BBQs, movie, comedy andmusic nights as well as author nights. Balut(dice games) and bridge games every Sun-

day are also regular features. Other eventsinclude a Childrens Christmas ball (No Par-ents allowed), the Childrens Christmas party,Fireworks Night, Loy Krathong evening, andthe New Years dinner cruise. The BC alsocelebrates the four patron saint days in the Continued on page 13


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April 2011 13

Member Profile

paid by the Siam Ministry of the Interior to theClub, the Club imported two Billiards tablesmade by Mssrs W. Jelks & Son of Holloway,London for the grand cost of 528 5s 6d.

The club has always been consciousof its being part of the greater commu-nity within Bangkok thus in 1948 The BritishClub Bangkok was the major organizer of aJoint Charity Fair for British, US, Dutch andScandinavian residents to raise funds of Thaicauses. This event was held frequently overthe next decade and became known as ThePloenchit Fair when in 1957 it moved to itssecond home of the British Embassy groundsin Withayu Road. The Ploenchit Fair contin-ues to this day but, sadly, no longer in theEmbassy Grounds, which have themselvesbeen largely sold off.

The club membership was also changing:the club was refounded after the war with onlyfour nationalities allowed membership thecore nationalities of British, Australian, NewZealand and Canadian. In the seventies, thiswas changed to allow a limited number of

other nationalities to join as Associate mem-bers. In addition, the eighties saw womenbeing allowed to have membership in theirown right and children became an everydaypart of the club the days of the British malebastion were gone, forever!

In 2005, the Club saw the election of awoman as the Clubs chairman the first in102 years something the founders wouldnever have envisaged in their just post Vic-torian world and in 2007 the BC elected itsfirst Australian chairman.

(For more history on the British Club, see its

Centenary Book, which was written by localauthor and club member, John Hoskins. It not

only covers the first 100 years of the clubs

history but also takes a look at British inter-

ests in Siam since the early traders landed

here in 1612.)

ership of premises, which was initially givento the YMCA. It took a number of monthsbut eventually one Brigadier Victor Jacquesobtained the leases from the bank and own-ership was restored. Victor Jacques was aretired military man from the First World Warwho was a partner at Tilleke & Gibbins. At thestart of the war in Asia he rejoined the BritishArmy in India and was attached to the FreeThai Movement. After the liberation of Bang-kok, he became British Commander hereand then rejoined Tilleke & Gibbins. Upon

returning to civilian life he called together asmany past club members as he could andset about re-establishing it. He also wrote thefirst post-war Constitution, served as Chair-man until 1947 and set the club on track toits first century. As part of the War reparations

and friends facilities that appeal to both theirprofessional, social and family life. The cluboffers a strong British culture and ambiencein its sports, business, professional and familyactivities and facilities.

Snippets of BC History

The British Club Bangkok was founded on23rd April (St.Georges Day) 1903 by a smallgroup of British businessmen and diplomaticcivil servants, in order to create a social club inthe style enjoyed by their peers in the BritishColonies throughout Asia.

The founding fathers, as it was solely amale preserve, were drawn from the BritishDiplomatic Mission and various companieslike The Borneo Company, Louis T. Leonow-ens, The Anglo-Thai Company and Tilleke& Gibbins, the latter of which would play asignificant role in the later years of club historyas well. It was initially set up as a debenturemembership and was restricted only to thedirectors and senior managers of thosecompanies, other minions only allowed in as

guests.British interests in Siam and thus thoseof the club were cut short in December 1941when the Japanese invaded Siam and TheBritish Club Bangkok ceased operation until1946. The Club was turned into an Officersmess and those members who had been un-able to escape were interned in one of a num-ber of camps set up in and around Bangkok.Although British and US bombers did bombBangkok, there was no report of the clubever being hit, however the departing armyin 1945 did excessive damage to the fabricof the property. The Club was lucky in one

aspect; its two land leases were mortgagedto the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank thussurvived the war and enabled The Club toeventually claim back the property afterward.

After the end of the Second World War,there was some local confusion over the own-

Front view of The British Club

Celebrating Canada Day at the British Club


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Voyageur14

Internship Program World of Work

ISB is seeking internships for students grades 10-12 (age 16-18) from June 6-15 (8 working days) in all areas ofwork. Students will sign up to work according to their preferences; we hope to satisfy a variety of expectationsfor students from engineering to NGO work to journalism to hospitality management really our students areinterested in all areas!

Students will do sessions on resumewriting and interview skills, and all those that are placed with an internshipwill do a skype interview, a phone interview, or a face-to-face interview with their sponsoring company. Allstudents will be expected to conduct themselves in a most professional manner while performing their internships,observing standards of conduct appropriate both to ISB as well as the company at which they do their internships.Ideally we will place two or more students in each company with which we work, although we understandthat there will be exceptions. We will do our best to match students interests with the appropriate internship,making it an enjoyable and productive experience for both the intern and the company.

Students do not receive pay for their work during the internship, although you may wish to hire them at a laterdate as a result of their work during the internship! Students and parents also sign a release of liability form sothat their own insurer is responsible in the unlikely event of any possible accidents that may occur on the wayto or at the jobsite.Finding meaningful work for interns may or may not be difficult depending on the company and industry. A reallyhelpful and interesting article on how to utilize interns successfully can be accessed at http://www.internships.com/employer/resources/program/typesofwork

I hope that you find it informative, and that it can help you to engage our students in a fantastic internship atyour company. Please email me at the address below to offer our kids a chance to experience the world ofwork, or for more information. Thanks very much.

Sincerely,

Kevin CallahanInternational School of Bangkok, High School [email protected]

39/7 Soi Nichada Thani, Samakee Road, Amphur Pakkret, Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand.Tel: (662) 963-5800 Fax: (662) 960-4115


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since 1951.

www.isb.ac.th


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voyageur april 2011

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