KRAMIEK
Newsletter of the Belgian Club of Thailand
Letter from the President
Dear members and friends,
May I use the first line of the first Kramiek of the new year to wish all our members a late happy New Year. I hope that 1996 will prove to be as active for our Club as 1995 has been. For a good start, the same enthousiastic team again makes up the committee, with some new blood added.
We closed our previous working year with a very successful Annual meeting, attended by over 100 people. Was it the Belgian beer effect ? I hope it was more than that. We were even a bit overwhelmed by the big turnout, causing some hick-ups and catering jams during the evening, but I hope the excellent food and beer smoothed things out.
As usual, Saint Nicholas visited the children at the Belgian Embassy. He was welcomed by a string of drawings, balloons and over 40 children (in the garden, not on a string !). All present, parents included had a very nice time. Also our New Year's reception was well attended, and as a surprise for our members, we served Belgian beers (again).
Should I keep the result of our soccer clash against the Dutch a secret ? Certainly not, because the trophy will be in our hands for another year. A full report will only be found in the next Kramiek, but our Dutch colleagues were sent home after a penalty shoot-out decided an exiting game that ended in a 2 - 2 draw. It made our players and supporters very thirsty, and the evening ended with an empty bar (We seem to make a tradition out of it, every time a Belgian soccer team beats a Dutch one).
Enjoy reading this Kramiek, where the main story is the forthcoming performance by the Arca Theatre from Gent : a premiere for Bangkok and Asia, and another step forward in the activities of our club.
The Committee of the Belgian Club 1995/1996
Honorary President H.E. Mr. Bernard Lauwaert (Ambassador)
President Peter Decorte Office tel: 315-3283
Vice President Xavier Nuttin Home tel: 258-6167
Vice President & Editor Marleen Timmerman-Wuyts Home tel: 300-3495
Office fax: 391-2812
Treasurer Nathalie Staelens Home tel: 965-7198
Secretary Els Ottevaere-Missiaen Home tel: 252-3429
Membership Admin. Johan De Broe Home tel/fax: 965-7274
Public Relations Stephan Van den Auweele Office tel: 439-7888
Jean-François Serrier Home tel: 231-5386
Sports Activities Peter Ottevaere Office tel: 288-1247
Philippe De Moor Home tel: 965-7198
Activity Coordinators Johan De Broe Home tel/fax: 965-7274
& Editor Team Peter Cauwelier Home tel: 318-0746
Bart Claus Home tel: 319-5763
Note from the Editor Team
Dear Readers,
This is officially the first Kramiek of the New Committee. As there has been a rather long period between this Kramiek and the previous one, still a lot of the activities organized in 1995 had to be reported and we are doing our best to get a couple of first-hand stories about them. We can assure you this is not an easy task. Often the editor's team almost has to go begging on their knees before they find someone willing to put his/her experiences to paper. Hard copy is difficult to get and therefore we are always happy if we receive readers' letters. The subject of the letters doesn't even have to be about our B.C.T. We are interested to hear about any and all events that evoked our members' interest in Thailand and/or our Thai friends' observations about Belgium.
PAST ACTIVITIES
Sports weekend in Hua Hin - 22-24 September 95
The weekend of 22 to 24 September 1995 (long time ago!), many of us enjoyed one of the highlights of the last BCT-year: a sports/family weekend at the Club Aldiana in Hua Hin. All together, more than 30 people joined. Unlike other activities, the majority were children, which made this mainly a cosy family event. Every family had its own comfortable bungalow and most of us went to sleep soon after our first experience of how Germans (the major nationality of the guests) like to spend their holiday. There was a kind of comic show, with sketches and so on, quite good actually, but the carnavalesque song and dance, performed by all the spectators at the end, was kind of a surprise to us. And this was only the beginning!
On Saturday morning, we met at breakfast and Peter Ottevaere had already reserved some tennis courts, so that the sports activities could take a start. As there were many tennis enthusiasts, we played mainly doubles and after a couple of trials, we found the right partnerships, so that everybody could enjoy his game.
At about eleven, it was about time for a hydrobics class and nearly all the Belgians joined. Our instructor soon taught us about German discipline, which really spoiled our fun a little. After the exercise, we were invited for a (non-alcoholic) cocktail that we could drink after another 'treat' of the German way of fun: we had to sing and dance holding our glass, so you can imagine how much of it was left when we were finally allowed to drink it!
Fortunately, lunch made up for it... There was always lots of food, served in buffet-style, so it was necessary to do a lot of sports in order to keep the balance straight! In the afternoon, people went to the beach or sat at the swimming pool, the children painted T-shirts and one group went to play beach-volleyball. The combination of the sand and the drizzly rain gave everybody a 'special' look, but they certainly enjoyed it. As some of us couldn't get enough of it, we played tennis again after dinner. We certainly thought we deserved a drink afterwards, so we headed for the pool bar. Unfortunately, we arrived there in the middle of a bingo game, which we really didn't want to join. As we complained about the noise (a huge speaker was placed next to our table) and refused to join the forced singing, dancing and drinking, we were the 'bad guys' and we were threatened to end up in the swimming pool if we didn't stop disturbing the fun. The Belgians surely made their reputation as fun spoilers that evening! Anyway, we laughed it away, had a few drinks and went back to the peace of our bungalows when we got bored with all the noise of our neighbours. Though some of us didn't bother about that and made it a late night, or an early morning...
On Sunday, we did pretty much the same, though nobody joined the hydrobics class this time!
After a last elaborate lunch, it was about time to head back to Bangkok, all satisfied about this weekend. Thanks to Peter and Els Ottevaere for organizing this nice event at a reasonable price. Hopefully, we can repeat it in the future!
Pub Crawling - 14 October 95
One of the regular activities for our Belgian Club is making a Pub Tour; i.e. taking our members around little pubs they may or may not know. It's a good excuse to have a drink and socialize.
We started our last Tour in the "Frontpage" on Saladaeng Road. This establishment has been around for several years now (as long as I can remember), and is decorated by press photos from major events in South-East Asia's past, reflecting the many journalists who are regular customers there. From there, we moved to the "Toby Jug" on Silom Road: an English style place next to Silom Complex so small that we hardly fit in. Nobody tried out the darts board and that was probably a good idea to secure accident prevention. Our next step was "Le Theatre" on Silom Soi 2 (already closed now) where some "female" artists greeted us with a special "lipsing" or "playback" show exclusively staged for our group. A few of our members, especially the more ancient ones, had their doubts about the gender of the performers but found it hard to win over some of the more newly arrived to their point of view.
Over to Silom Soi 4 which for many people is apparently the bustling "IN" place to GO! We visited "Tapas" where the swinging music started to move some legs (or was it to shake off the rain we encountered that day?). Others just enjoyed looking at what was passing by: Bangkok's trendies preparing for a night out. Another stop in the street was "Red Hot Chili" at the deep end. There we had a drink at the counter outside before moving through their back door directly into "Bobby's Arms" , the long running English pub on Silom Soi 2. By now it was getting quite late and some people were getting hungry again. The pub kitchen had already closed but Pizza Hut saved them from starvation.
Our very last stop was "Belgian". The place was called "In de patatzak" and featured a big poster from the Atomium. It was so small we couldn't all get inside and some people had to stay outside standing in the street. Well, that's about all I can remember about this most recent pub tour except that we had a good time and I'm sure quite a few people will be looking forward to the next one!
Annual General Meeting - 3 November 95
It was in the very cozy surroundings of the Evergreen Hotel that the Annual Meeting of the Belgian Club brought together its numerous members. It seemed like most members were present on this evening and some had even come especially from Pattaya !
The buffet was set out all around the hotel swimming-pool and could easily compete with the best table from the Belgian "platte land": carbonades, waterzooi, tomates crevettes, anguilles au vert/paling in't groen... This culinary feast was made even more attractive by a large selection of genuine Belgian beers like Gueuze, Kriek, Trappist, witte Dentergemse, Hoegaarden... To sum it up: We had everything to make the unfortunate few who missed this event envious!!!
The entire assembly elected with enthusiasm the "new Committee" which is not really very different from the "old one" with the same dynamic and friendly president, Peter Decorte!...
The huge turn-out and supple (re-)election of the Committee are a confirmation that both members and organizers are all happy at the Belgian Club.
Visit and lunch with Mrs. Jaana Madsen - 28 November 95
It was a beautiful morning when members (plus a few non-members) of the Belgian Club gathered at the house of Mrs. Jaana Madsen in soi 38 Sukhumvit for a nice coffee morning during which she showed us her jewellery collection. In fact, not only the jewellery was admired but the tasteful interior decoration of the Madsen residence also received wide appraisal.
There was a very friendly atmosphere amongst the people who participated. Some ladies, not used to buying jewellery for themselves, deeply regretted that it was not possible to bring their husband along on a Tuesday morning. Others were lucky (smart?) enough to bring their visiting parents along. Easy for them to decide what to get their child as a Christmas or birthday present. Surprisingly, during the coffee chit chat those parents found out they had mutual acquaintances. Talk about a "small world"... It was quite difficult for our ladies to decide what they liked best. Everybody usually saw more than 1 item that they found really beautiful and it was hard to stay within budgetary restraints.
Around noon, we were invited to try out the smorgasbord snacks that were set out for lunch by Mr. Goran Wahle of Foody Catering. A glass of white wine was offered as well. I can say only one thing: it was delicious! There were snacks with salmon and cheese and even reindeer! (Hopefully Santa won't find out about this). It was already quite late in the afternoon before everybody left the Madsen residence but we were all happy to have joined this informal gathering.
People who are interested to view Jaana's jewellery at another occasion can contact her at Tel.391-1130 to make an appointment. Enquiries about food catering (menu's and prices) can be addressed to Mr. Goran Wahle at "Foody Catering", 19/203 Moo 17 Gingkaew Road, Bangpleeyai, Bangplee Samut Prakan 10540; Tel/Fax:3167615;
Saint Nicolas Party - 5 December 95
Again, this year Saint Nicholas did not forget his appointment with the Belgian children in Thailand and be came by for his visit at the Embassy on December, the 5th.
Over forty children were anxiously waiting since 2 p.m. to give him a hearty welcome.
We (children and parents) all got in the mood by the real Belgian Speculoos available (thanks to St. Nick's helpers who happened to be Marleen's parents), singing Saint Nicholas songs and getting balloons made in the most amazing shapes by the clowns who also joined the party. And while the children were preoccupied with the balloon feast, their fathers and mothers were quietly looking on from the side and enjoying some soft drinks or a beer (thanks to our Ambassador).
Then, just as everyone started wondering what happened to the Saint and thought that maybe he forgot us this year... the Holy Man entered the garden of the Embassy by Tuk Tuk. Of course his helpers were also there, heavily loaded with presents for everyone.
All children got their turn in coming to the Saint and some children were a little more afraid than others. Maybe they knew they had reason to be. One little girl who had just heard that Black Peter would put children who have not been good during the year in the bag that he was carrying, nearly climbed up a tree when Black Peter flashed a wide white grin at her! Luckily it soon became clear that the Saint's helpers were in a good mood that day and nobody disappeared in the bag. In fact, Saint Nicholas was very pleased with all the singing and the drawings. Some children even got an extra bag of sweets because they did such a good colouring job.
After thanking the Ambassador for making the residence available for his visit and rewarding him by donating what else but a bag of sweets, Saint Nicholas left to further make his rounds.
So children, if you all behave well during the coming year, the Saint will certainly come back next year. I'm sure we're all looking forward to it.
The Belgian Club of Thailand
and
Vlamingen in De Wereld
organizes a unique theatre experience in Bangkok
TYPEN
by Cyriel Buysse
performed in Dutch language by
Jo Decaluwe
ARCA Theatre - Ghent
at the Imperial Queens Park Hotel
on Friday April 5th 1996
at 19:00 for dinner and performance
or at 20:30 for performance only
Prices: 700 THB for dinner and performance (600 THB for members)
400 THB for performance only (300 THB for members)
Reservations: Before Friday 29 March 1996
Call Johan De Broe at 965-7274 (home) or 524-5757 (office)
or Stephan Vanden Auweele at 861-3000 (office)
Special Thanks to: Volvo Cars Thailand
The Imperial Queens Park Hotel
Generale Bank
Siam Stars Co. Ltd.
ARCA Theatre Goes East
Bangkok - Hanoi - Singapore
An initiative of The Belgian Club of Thailand
It is with much pride that we would like to announce this unique event, which we organize together with the B.L.A.S. (Belgian and Luxembourg Association of Singapore) and the Belgian Club of Vietnam, Hanoi. To give our members some background information about the theatre act itself, we are happy to publish a summary of press clips from Belgium.
"SOBER BUT INTENSE" Het Volk
"JO DECALUWE BETTER THAN EVER" Het Brugs Handelsblad
"BUYSSE WITH STEINBECK-POWER" Het Laatste Nieuws
"TYPEN - ALL THE BEST FROM OUR FLEMISH SOIL" Gazet van Antwerpen
Jo Decaluwe, actor and manager of ARCA theatre in Ghent, created - under the direction of Achiel Van Malderen - a fascinating solo performance named "Typen". "Typen" consists of 4 short stories about colourful persons from the Flemish countryside at the beginning of the century.
The four stories are coming from the novels "Typen" (1925) and "Kerels" (1927). Cyriel Buysse wrote them when he was almost 70. They are personal memories of ordinary people. They tell about marriage, love for the country, life and death.
The Flemish author Cyriel Buysse (1859-1932) was the son of a upper-middle class family who liked to hang out with lower-class citizens like farmers and workers. He listened to their stories, carefully observed their way of living and wrote down his experience in novels, stories and stageplays.
"Typen" starts with "Het huwelijksaanzoek" (The marriage proposal). Celestine and Farailde are both in their fifties and not married. When his father and her mother die, the whole village thinks that they are meant for each other and that they should marry. Even the priest gets involved. "De houten pijp" (The wooden pipe) is a tragic story and tells about a rich farmer's son who becomes an innkeeper. Business is flourishing and Beirke, the farmer's son, feels obliged to drink along with his customers. But after a while he begins to feel "like a barrel being filled up". The third story "Nonkelken'" (Uncle) is a portrait of a materialistic man who rejects art and is interviewed by a writer, a painter and a composer. The concluding piece "Toastsjespap" (Porridge) describes Cyriel Buysses visits to a big farm, managed by two unmarried brothers who cannot believe that Cyriel Buysse prefers "toastsjespap", a local porridge dish, instead of bacon.
The stories are brought to stage by actor Jo Decaluwe who is also manager of ARCA theatre since 1967. ARCA exists for more than 46 years and is the oldest chamber theatre in Flanders. ARCA soon took the lead in Flanders and earned fame in the Netherlands for its modern, experimental and avant-garde plays. Almost every important stageplayer in the Flanders got his/her chance at ARCA.
FUTURE ACTIVITIES
It is always difficult to sychronize these announcements with the actual going to press of the Kramiek. Therefor, we mention this information in a preliminary way. Every activity is officially announced via the flyers.
1-3 MARCH 1996 PATTAYA WEEKEND
Visit the Belgians in Pattaya with us. The aim is to enjoy the sea, and meet with the Belgian community living and working there. Details per flyer.
7 MARCH 1996 MONTHLY GET-TOGETHER
We are coming together in the garden of "International Beer House", 6 Soi 23 Sukhumvit Road (opposite Soi Cowboy) at 8.00 p.m.
? MARCH 1996 SPORTS EVENT ON A SUNDAY
A final date of this activity is not yet established. The venue will be the Assumption College on Sathorn Road. Possible sports will be Volley, Basket, Mini-football. Keep an eye on the flyer.
4 APRIL 1996 MONTHLY GET-TOGETHER
As usual we are coming together in the garden of "International Beer House", 6 Soi 23 Sukhumvit Road (opposite Soi Cowboy) at 8.00 p.m.
5 APRIL 1996 ARCA THEATRE PERFORMANCE
We have high expectations of this unique event. You can find all the details in this Kramiek. Of course, a flyer will arrive to you soon, too !
2 MAY 1996 MONTHLY GET-TOGETHER
Venue: the garden of "International Beer House", 6 Soi 23 Sukhumvit Road (opposite Soi Cowboy) at 8.00 p.m.
End of April or beginning of May will again be the time for our traditional Chicon Evening. We are currently looking for people coming back from Belgium to help us transport the sacred vegetables. We will provide an extra luggage allowance. Please contact one of our Committee members if you know of somebody who could help us out.
FAMILY NEWS
The last couple of months, a merely 32 families were registered as new members; this brings our memberlist 1995-96 to 128 families, or 286 people. The biggest membership growth ever in the history of the Belgian Club of Thailand !
New Members
Ann & Anthony Aspeslagh - Torpe
Ariel - The apartment
13 St-Louis 2
Sathorn Road
Bangkok 10120
Home Tel: 212-9506
Home Fax: 213-3099
Ann is secretary to the Chancellor at the Belgian Embassy.
Pascal & Nadine Bellemans
756 Lakeside Villa 1
Moo 15, Bangna-Trad Road Km5.5
Samut Prakarn 10540
Home Tel: 316-8144
Home Fax: 316-1597
Pascal is managing director of VOLVO Thailand. They have two lovely children Anais (9) and Nils (7).
Tony Breckers
Siamstars Co. Ltd.
21/6 Soi Kayha Bangbua
Viphavadee Rangsit Road
Bangkok 10210
Office Tel: 561-1485
Office Fax: 561-1486
Bert Cuypers
ABAC, Q-Tower, R#4109
Ramkamhaeng 24 Road
Hua Mark, Bangkok 10240
Home Tel: 300-4543 Ext.4109
Home Fax: 719-0482
Bert works for VVOB and teaches computer science at ABAC University.
Marc & Sonja De Mey - Cassiman
UNDP
GPO Box 618
Bangkok 10501
Office Tel: 288-1485
Office Fax: 288-1068
Indra is their baby-daughter.
Johan De Saeger
TRACTEBEL
Olympia Thai Tower 11th Fl.
444 Ratchadapisek Rd., Huay Kwang
Bangkok 10310
Office Tel: 512-6049
Office Fax: 512-6052
Vincent & Eveline Decuyper
Regent Park
285/123 Soi 16, Moo 5
Pattaya - Naklua
Chonburi 20150
Home Tel: 038/225693
Home Fax: 038/225693
Vincent works for Vinythai Public Co. Antoine and Quentin are their children.
Hans & Inge Engels - Huyge
Siamstars Co. Ltd.
21/6 Soi Kayha Bangbua
Viphavadee Rangsit Road
Bangkok 10210
Office Tel: 561-1485
Office Fax: 561-1486
Nick & Jenny Ferrier
1770 New Petchburi Road
Bangkok
Office Tel: 253-1290
Office Fax: 253-1705
Daniella and Hamish are their children.
Gaston Goossens
Crest Consoles Asia
24/13 Soi Pattana Samakee 6
Chokchai 4, Lad Prao Road
Bangkok 10310
Office Tel: 530-1077
Office Fax: 539-0791
Leo & Charlotte Gorssen
Royal Belgian Embassy
44 Soi Piphat 1
off Silom Road
Bangkok 10500
Office Tel: 236-5848
Office Fax: 236-7619
Mr. Gorssen is the new Second Secretary and Chansellor at the Belgian Embassy. Charlotte and Leo have two children Kristof and Patricia.
Rune & Katrien Hope - Lippens
28 K.C. Court, 15th Fl. A
Soi 49/4 Sukhumvit Road
Bangkok 10110
Home Tel: 391-9218
Home Fax:
Rune is from Norway, and works for TOTAL E.P. Thailand. Katrien is a Belgian national.
Alex Janssens
31/35 Bangleng Road
Tumbol Chengnern
Amphur Muang
Rayong 21000
Home Tel: 038/620240
Home Fax: 038/620240
Wuria Karadaghy
51/4 Tawana House
Viphavadee Road, Soi 32
Bangkok 10900
Home Tel: 939-4528
Wuria, an Irakian Kurd with Dutch Nationality works for ILO - ROAD
Hans-Christian Kint
Royal Belgian Embassy
44 Soi Piphat
off Silom Road
Bangkok 10500
Office Tel:
Office Fax:
Mr. Kint is the new Ambassador Counsellor at the Belgian Embassy
Jean-Louis & Andree Lamboray
Baan Suan Plu #14C
200 Soi Patanasin
Nang Linchee Road
Bangkok 10120
Home Tel: 285-6179
Home Fax: 285-6179
Jean-Louis works for the UN/AIDS Program. They have 4 children: Marie, Pierre, Alain and Jean
Frederic & Spring Lucron - Chun Hua
Hilton International
Wireless Road 2
Bangkok 10330
Office Tel: 253-0123
Office Fax: 253-6509
Frederic is Food&Beverage manager of the Hilton hotel. His wife, Spring, is a Taiwanese national.
Nick & Anny Marly
ABAC, Q-Tower, R#4108
Ramkamhaeng 24 Road
Hua Mark
Bangkok 10240
Home Tel: 300-4543 Ext.4108
Home Fax: 719-0482
Nick works for VVOB and teaches electronics engineering at ABAC Univeristy. He recently got married to the lovely Anny, A Bangladesh national.
Willem & Pojana Molenaar
67/88 Patarin Village
Rattanathibet Road, Soi 24
Amphur Muang
Nonthaburi 11000
Home Tel: 01/353-0393
Willem works for Cegelec Thailand, a member of the Alcatel group.
Frans Muileboom
99/23 Lard Prao Rd., Soi 31
Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900
Home Tel: 938-0662
Home Fax: 513-2710
Frans represents BELUTHAI, the Belgium Luxemburg Thai Chamber of Commerce.
Michel & Aleksandra Muylle
Thai Oil Co., Ltd.
G.P.O. Box 2387
Bangkok 10501
Office Tel: 038/351555
Office Fax: 038/351554
Their children are Kathleen and Sebastian
Pablo & Siriporn Neuckens
28/292 Soi Sahamit
Wat Latplakhao Road
Latphrao, Bangkok 10230
Home Tel: 570-7791
Robert Nicaise
4/47 Sukhumvit - Asoke
Bangkok
Home Tel: 261-4043
Jan Ools
Pacific Apartment #710
13 Soi Napasub 2, Sukhumvit 35
Klongton, Klongtoey
Bangkok 10110
Home Tel: 260-3663-7
Home Fax: 661-2373
Gerard & Chantal Schneider
350/128 Baan Sri Krung
Rama III Road
Bangkok 10120
Home Tel: 285-3868
Home Fax: 285-3868
Both Gerard, a French national and Chantal, Belgian, work at the Ecole Francaise. Their children are Tom, Lucie amd Maxime.
Baudouin & Kathleen Serruys
Thai Plastwood Co., Ltd.
104 Moo 6, Phananikom District
Amphur Bankai, Rayong
Office Tel: 01/213-6613
Their children are Ann-Sophie, Ruben and Jessica
Beatrice Svitone
Sahakon Keha Tower #1912
1131 Soi Thoetdamri
Dusit, Bangkok 10300
Home Tel: 241-1336
Home Fax: 241-1336
Beatrice is a French fashion designer who generally uses hand-woven fabric.
Chris Trogh
Ayoma Co., Nagara Bldg. #703
122 Soi Anumarnrachaton 1
Decho Road, Bangrak
Bangkok 10500
Office Tel: 634-7435
Office Fax: 634-7436
Caroline Vandenabeele
ESCAP, ILO/EASMAT
P.O. Box 2-349
Bangkok 10200
Office Tel: 288-1856
Office Fax: 280-1735
Robert Paul Vennik
117/20 Soi Pobmit
Sukhumvit 39, Bangkok
Home Tel: 259-8830
Paul & Sofia Verstraete
Thai-Belgium Industrial Co.
15/96 Soi Srichan
Viphavadee Rangsit Road
Bangkok 10210
Office Tel: 579-6350
Office Fax: 940-8752
Marc & Ingrid Yernaux
3 Sukhumvit Soi 30
Klongton, Klongtoey
Bangkok 10110
Home Tel: 661-2714
Home Fax: 661-2715
Marc works for TRACTEBEL. Their daughter is Sophie.
Changed Address
Jean-Paul & Marleen Timmerman
453 soi 39 Mooban Panya
Soi Suan Luang, Off Patanakarn Rd
Bangkok 10250
Tel: 300-3495
Nathalie Staelens en
Philippe De Moor
68/274 Baan Suanthon 3A
Rattanathibet Road, Soi 28
Nonthaburi 11000
Tel: 965-7198
Leaving Thailand
Rudi & Mireille Veestraeten and their 2 children. Rudi has taken up a new posting at the Belgian Embassy in Kenya.
Congratulations
To Marc and Patricia Goossens with the birth of a little brother for Alexandra and Astrid. Little Christophe was born on the 1st of December 1995 and became an active member of the Belgian Club a few days later as he joined us all at the party for Saint Nicolas.
To Joost and Griet Duflou. Rutger (nicknamed "Thawan") received a little sister named Aster ("Dao"), who was born on the 13th of November 1995.
Membership Renewal
We would like to inform our members that, if they wish to pay their membership fee by banktransfer, to please forward us a bankslip or any other notice. This can be faxed to 965-7274. We have had difficulties tracing back the names of people who renewed their memberships recently: one member, who paid through Thai Farmers Bank, Petchburi Road, could not be identified. We request this person to give us a call.
Reminder
Help us spreading the news about upcoming BCT activities! We have had some complaints that newsletters/flyers don't arrive, due to failure of the postal system. If this is the case, please drop a call to our Membership Coordinator (Johan De Broe, 965-7274)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
We received notice about the following events being organized in Bangkok during the coming months:
-
Community Services of Bangkok (CSB) organizes a "CSB Yard Sale" on Saturday, 9 March 1996. Need to clean closets ? Need to get ready for summer holidays and get rid of excess items ? Admission is 20 Baht. Children can come for free. For table space, contact CSB at 258-4998 or 258-5652 (600 Baht per table space - 36"x36")
-
The ThaiCraft Association, a volunteer organization which sells beautiful handicrafts for upcountry crafts people, organizes a sale at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre on Saturday, March 23rd from 10am to 1pm.. ThaiCraft is also looking for volunteers to help on sales days. Contact Ethel Catling on 261-8029 or Thaicraft on 391-6018. The next sale will take place on May 25th.
Belgian Club of Thailand
Monthly Get-Together
An ideal occasion for socializing with your fellow countrymen !
Every first thursday of the month at 8.00 p.m.
at the International Beer House, Sukhumvit 23
Bring along family and friends!
NEWS FROM THE RUMOUR MILL
In case you hadn't noticed, December 1995 was a very busy month for sporting events in Thailand. First the annual King's Cup Regatta provided a week of sailing races from 2-8 December amidst the beautiful surroundings of Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands. Immediately after that, we had the SEA (for South East Asian) Games in Chiang Mai. Clearly, the Thai athletes are up to the challenge since they emerged as the undisputed winners all over. Congratulations! The Belgian community in Thailand is delighted!
Looking back only a little longer, I guess 1995 was probably one of the wettest years in recent history in Thailand. As I recall, it started raining occasionally early June and the last down-pouring was at the end of November! If my math is any good, this means we had rain fall during half the year. This is getting a little too close to Belgian weather conditions I think. Then again, at least it doesn't get really cold here and I don't think we will be freezing here like people in Belgium must experience at the moment.
Did you know that....
Talk is that the 1996 King's Cup Regatta in Phuket will no longer include racing for smaller catamarans like Hobie 16, Nacra and the likes. It is said that including these boat types involves too much of an organization just to get enough boats to Phuket (mostly by road). That would leave only the keelboats and larger multi-hulls. Possibly a new annual event would be started to have a separate (inter)national sailing event for the smaller sailing boats.
Did you know that....
Phuket staged another event to get news headlines. On the 5th of December (King's Birthday) the Tourism Authority of Thailand staged the "World's Longest Buffet" at Patong Beach. The buffet stretched 1,509 meters and broke the previous record which was held by Malaysia.
Knowing the Belgian preoccupation with food, I wouldn't be the least surprised if a number of our compatriots went out of their way to see (and eat) it.
Did you know that....
last time I visited Seri Center on Sri Nakharin Road trying to do some last ditch Christmas shopping, I noticed that the Printemps department store was closed. Signs claim that it's closed for renovations... Strange to be renovating in the middle of the Festive Season. I wonder if they will ever continue their operation here in Bangkok.
The Everlasting Four Seasons
Vivaldi chose them to compose Music in 1725;
Florence Van Crombrugge chose them to compose a Flower Arrangement which she sent to WORLDTECH'95 Thailand Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition as the only Belgian entry in their international Dried Flowers Arrangement Competition.
106 dried flowers arrangements were short-listed for the contest in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) whose theme was "In Harmony with Nature". Besides the host country, Thailand, the artists of twelve other foreign countries selected for their aesthetic, botanical skills had their masterpieces on display at the exhibition.
The competition was tough but the Committee, made up of 7 international judges under the high Patronage of the Royal Project, decided to grant the overall
Grand Prize to the floral composition of our Mrs. Florence Van Crombrugge for both her artistic creativity and technical achievement.
Our well-known motto "BELGIUM = QUALITY" has once again been acknowledged in Thailand thanks to the passionate endeavours of our compatriot, Florence, who also is a former B.C.T.-Committee Member (5-7 years ago... Does time fly or what?).
This is by no means a simple achievement as the contest prescribed strict rules to adhere to. In addition to dimensional conditions and the requirement to use only dried natural botanical products, participants had to accompany their entry with a concise description of their art work. The technical approach of Florence's composition was highly appreciated by the scientific members of the jury (Florence managed to use all the different technical approaches related to drying flowers and also gave the scientific names of all the flowers she used), but it was Florence's poetical description which appealed to H.R.H., the princess, who could appreciate the poem in its original language. To clarify what we mean: the poem was written in Flemish and French and further translated in English, as follows:
De vier seizoenen Cycle des quatre saisons
In de Lente groeit de natuur weer op, Au Printemps la nature sort de sa coquille,
In de Zomer bloeit men op tijdens de vakantie, L'Eté, les vacances sont en fleurs,
In de Herfst is het fruit rijp om geplukt te worden, L'Automne récolte les fruits,
In de Winter bereidt de natuur de knoppen voor L'Hiver la nature prépare les bourgeons pour
De Lente Le Printemps.
Four seasons cycle
In the Spring nature comes out of the shell,
In the Summer the holidays are in bloom,
Fruits are ready for picking in Autumn,
In Winter nature prepares the buds for
The Spring.
Following is a simplified technical description indicating the reasons why the jury decided to choose the "Four Seasons Cycle" as the winning floral arrangement:
The stylized tree made of Water-Willow twigs is composed of four succeeding circles, each one dedicated to a season. Each circle is further arranged with vegetal materials that, using the European semiology, symbolize a season:
Coloured in tender hues (beige, pink and light green), all the flowers still in their buds springing our of an egg symbolizes the birth of nature in Springtime.
The combination of the bright yellow Sunflowers with the blue Delphinium and the purple Corals stands for the sun, the see and holidays in the Summer.
With green Hops in the background and the glowing orange colour of Physalis and Everlastings, warm brown Nuts and Acorns with Apples and Oranges spouting out of the Cornupia represent Autumn.
The Christmas wreath with its Fir cones at the window, combined with Diaphanous Honesty, white Hare's Tails and Gyphsophiles refer to the coldness of Winter while the green and red silk ribbons indicate the warmth inside the homes.
When asked if she would care to add any comments to our article about her wonderful achievement, Florence remarked that her inspiration was found in the concept that nature is an infinitely revolving process: the ending of one cycle means the beginning of a new one.
This Grand Prize crowns a work reflecting a long experience in floral art.
Dare we hope this is an encouragement to create new masterpieces for presentation next year?
Footnote...
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MEMBERSHIP POLICY
Membership of the Belgian Club of Thailand (BCT) is open to all Belgians and other sympathizers in Thailand for an Annual Membership Fee of THB 500.- per family.
Belgians who do not live in Thailand can also apply for membership, but the Annual Fee will be THB 600.- (to cover extra mailing costs for the Newsletter).
The new BCT-year always starts at the Annual General Meeting which is usually held in the month of October. New members who applied during the three months preceding the Annual General Meeting will not be asked for renewal.
New members should fill out an Application Form and pay the membership fee to any Committee member. Payments can also be made by banktransfer to the account of the BCT Treasurer, Miss Nathalie Staelens (381-2-04286-5, Thai Farmers Bank, Klong Luang branch, AIT sub-branch); or by mailing a crossed cheque issued on the name of "The Belgian Club of Thailand", to Nathalie Staelens, 68/274 Baan Suanthon 3A, Rattanathibet Road soi 28, Nonthaburi 11000. Application Form and/or transfer bankslip can be faxed to 965-7274.
All members will receive the Newsletter "Kramiek" at regular intervals. Activity announcements through flyers, however, will only be sent out to members living in Thailand. Therefore, we advise our members living outside of Thailand to contact someone from the Committee whenever they are visiting to find out details of our planned activities.