voyageur jan 2011

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F r i d a y , F e b r u a r y 1 1 F r i d a y , F e b r u a r y 1 1 Coming Soon... Reservations Now Being Accepted! Bangkok Golf Club Friday, February 11, 2011; 10:00 am to 6:00 pm 11,200 baht/team or 3,000 baht/player & 750 baht/non-player Annual Maple Leaf Cup Golf Tournament The e JANUARY 2011 A publication of the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce 01 / 2011 Corporate Partnership Premier Sponsors Executive Sponsors

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Page 1: Voyageur Jan 2011

Friday, February 11Friday, February 11

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Bangkok Golf ClubFriday, February 11, 2011; 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

11,200 baht/team or 3,000 baht/player & 750 baht/non-player

Annual Maple Leaf Cup Golf Tournament

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A publication of the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce 01 / 2011

Corporate PartnershipPremier Sponsors

Executive Sponsors

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Calendar

2010/2011 TCCC Executives

Patron:His Excellency Ambassador Ron Hoffmann

President – John Casella Vice President – Sranyoo Chanate

Vice President – Ali FancySecretary – Dr. Tim Cornwall Treasurer – Michael Howard

Executive Board:John Casella

Sranyoo ChanateNeil Chiu

Dr. Tim CornwallKobsak Duangdee

Ali FancyMichael HowardRon Livingston

Sukanya RattanavadeeNiccolo SozziJohn StevensDerek Van Pelt

Embassy Representative:Ping Kitnikone

Advisors:Raymond Bodemer

Sam CohenSurachit Chanovan

Don LavoieLuc Métivier

Executive Director:Randy Shockley

Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce139 Pan Road, Sethiwan Tower

9th 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 membersand 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 YatpromEmail: [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]

TCCCCalendar of events:

CCBAUpcoming events in the region:SINGAPORE: www.cancham.org.sgWhen: Sunday, 23rd January 2011What: Terry Fox Run: working together to out-run cancerWhere: Playground @Big Splash 902 East Coast ParkwayPrice: (TBD at time of publishing)

Ladies & Gentlemen, it’s time to form your 2011 Maple Leaf Golf Team!

Don’t miss this great day of golf with fellow Chamber members, friends and work associates. This year’s tee-off time is 11:00 am at the Bangkok Golf Club, our traditional venue for

this annual Canadian community event. We will also continue to utilize the 4-Person Scramble as it’s the ideal format for this social golfing event since it allows golfers of all abilities to play and enjoy the game without undue pressure or demanding perfection. The tournament will offer many recognition prizes for such shots as: Nearest to the Pin, Near Pin off Tee, Longest Drive in Fairway, Longest Putt and Nearest to Fairway Marker (Target) Off the Tee. We’ll also be conducting special recognition drawings for… In Greenside Bunker, In the Water on Fairway Shot, In Left Bunker off Tee, Tee Shot in the Water and more. So make plans today and arrange you calendar to share in this great annual business and social golfing event. The price for the 2011 event has been maintained at: 11,200 baht/team or 3,000 baht/player & 750 baht/non-player. This year’s mulligan contributions will be donated to the Village Development Partnership (VDP), so come on out… have a few drinks and shag a few balls with your TCCC friends and work associates! The Chamber also thanks Innovasia Graphics Ltd. for its support of the event’s branding elements. If your need graphic support, you may want to contact Khun Cristel or Khun Nui at Innovasia Graphics (02-636-7605 or [email protected]).

WHEN: Wednesday, January 12, 2011; 11:30 am – 2:00 pmWHAT: Speaker Luncheon: Khun Pimpaka Nichgaroon, Head Strategist for Thanachart Securities

Research Department will provide a Thailand economic and investment outlook for 2011WHERE: To Be AdvisedPRICE: 700 baht – Members; 850 baht – Non Members

WHEN: Wednesday, January 19, 2011; 6:30 pm – 8:30 pmWHAT: Canuck Connections Networking Night. WHERE: The British Club - 189 Surawongse Road, BangkokPRICE: 200 baht – Members; 400 baht – Non Members

WHEN: Saturday, January 22, 2011; 4:30 pm – 10:00 pmWHAT: The Great Canadian BBQ 2011WHERE: Ambassador’s ResidencePRICE: 1,600 baht per person; 500 baht for children 12 & under.

WHEN: Friday, February 11, 2011; 10:00 am – 6:00 pm WHAT: The 13th Annual TCCC Maple Leaf Cup Golf TournamentWHERE: Bangkok Golf ClubPRICE: 11,200 baht/team or 3,000 baht/player & 750 baht/non-player

Annual Maple Leaf Cup Golf Tournament

Thee

Bangkok Golf ClubFriday, February 11, 2011

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Charity Dinner & Dance Saturday, February 19, 2011

 

Grand Millennium Sukhumvit

30 Sukhumvit 21 (Asoke) Road

 Cocktails 6:00pm/Dinner 7:30pm

Cocktail Attire

2,700 baht donation

SNOWBALL 2011 Celebrating 50 Years of Thai-Canadian Friendship

For reservations:

Carla McLean - 084 931 1204 Delphine Jamieson - 086 111 1482

lub Canada Thailand presents

JASPAL

Page 5: Voyageur Jan 2011

January 2011 5

A New Tradition is Born!America has the Eagle, Thailand the Garuda and Canada the formidable Beaver, the ideal icon for the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Com-merce (TCCC) and Flying Farangs Hockey Club as they endeavor to build a new annual tradition with the Beaver Invitational Charity Golf Tournament. In this building process, we provide special recognition to Bombardier for so graciously serving as the inaugural ‘Title Sponsor’ in helping to bring this char-ity tournament to life. Without a committed lead sponsor like Bombardier or the event’s ‘Premier Sponsors’ such as BlackBerry, Air Asia, PPI and Point of View Media Group it would have been very difficult to launch this event. In recognizing all of this year’s Bea-ver Invitational sponsors, please take time to look over the sponsor page and reward these companies with your support in the New Year. This year’s inaugural tournament attract-ed 148 paid players and utilized a 2-person scramble format to leverage the historical success formula of past Flying Farangs char-ity golf tournaments. Without question, it was an action packed and fun charity event offering a great time for all and based on the initial feedback, we should see greater player participation in 2011. The primary goal of this new annual tour-nament is to raise funds for worthy causes. Fifty percent of net proceeds are being donat-ed to charities supported by the TCCC (i.e., Khun Mechai's Village Development Partner-ship: http://www.villagedevelopmentpartner-ship.org/vdp.asp) and the Flying Farangs (i.e., Thai Fund Foundation’s community projects: http://www.tff.or.th). The other fifty percent of net proceeds is to be split between the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce to support the ongoing operation of this "Not-for-Profit" organization and the Flying Farangs to support the continued development of ice hockey in Thailand, with emphasis placed on encouraging Thais to learn the skills and dynamics of ice hockey. Due to the great support of the inaugural event, each of the above causes will be awarded approximately 60,150 baht.

More about the CharitiesKhun Meechai Virivadhya’s Village Develop-ment Partnership (VDP) Program http://www.villagedevelopmentpartnership.org/vdp.asp The VDP is a successful and sustainable, 22-year old program established to empower

village. And 262 families in Mae Samlaeb village obtained house registration.

Ambassador’s SupportIn recognition of the TCCC’s recent ac-ceptance of a Population & Community Development Association (PDA) proposal to raise 2,000,000 baht for a targeted Village Development Partnership (VDP) project, H. E Mr. Ron Hoffmann, Ambassador of Canada to Thailand has received approval to match the Chamber’s first 100,000 baht contribution to the VDP project. Additionally, given that the Beaver Invitational is being established as an ongoing initiative to generate funding sup-port for both the VDP and TFF, Ambassador Hoffmann has contributed the “Ambassador’s Cup” to this tournament.

The Tournament The inaugural tournament kicked off on Fri-day, November 12th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm with the Beaver Invitational Reception and Eastern Seaboard Networking Night hosted by the Amari Orchid Hotel at its newest beachside venue, the ‘Tavern by the Sea’. Guests were treated by the Amari to an out-standing array of finger foods, as well as free Asahi beer and mixed drinks throughout the evening. In total, 100 attendees participated with many players taking time to pre-register for the following day’s tournament. On Saturday, November 13th, the players started arriving at the Phoenix Golf Course from 9:30 a.m. onward and were quickly checked-in, so they could ready themselves for the noon shotgun start. As background, the key features of year’s tournament were as follows:

VENUE The venue for the inaugural Beaver Invitational was the Phoenix Golf Course, a stunning coastal course offering some of the best golf in Pattaya. Phoenix has long been a favorite with the Chamber and the Canadian community’s players and is com-prised of three sets of nine holes, named the mountain, the lake and the ocean. Each of these nines is set in wooded surroundings on gently rolling hills. Bamboo and eucalyp-tus trees line the fairways, which have been purposefully, designed to be narrow, so that shade is readily available throughout most of the course. Similarly its large greens are

rural communities to eradicate poverty and improve their quality of life, addressing five key areas: community empowerment, eco-nomic development, environment, health, and education. Experience has also shown that next to community empowerment is the need to introduce business skills and access to credit in an attempt to raise income and eradicate poverty. Funds for economic development and the other activities are given to these villagers in exchange for tree-planting at a rate of 40 Baht (US$1.25) per tree. These proceeds will be used to expand the program and develop microcredit op-portunities and empowerment to additional communities. A separate initiative within the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce will also see a group trying to gain outside corporate support in the form of a matching funds.

Thai Fund Foundation’s (TFF) community projects http://www.tff.or.th.TFF initiatives provide support to grassroots organizations working to improve health and the environment in Thailand. TFF have nu-merous programs, which include: Stateless Children Initiatives, Improvement of Worker’s Conditions in Nonthaburi Province, Natural Resource Management in Loei Province, and Agricultural Education for Farmers in Buriram Province. The Flying Farangs though funds raise in their charity golf tournaments since 2004 have focus on the cause of Stateless Chil-dren. TFF carries out projects on the rights of stateless people in Mae Hong Sorn, Chiangmai, Chiangrai, Payao and Lamphun provinces along the Thai-Myanmar borders. Operation of this project revealed a cruel fact that there existed a large number of stateless people who lived without any status in Thai-land and thus were deprived of their basic rights, such as the right to education, health care, travel and income earning. In 2009, these Stateless Children Initia-tives helped result in: 154 stateless children and their family members gaining Thai nationality. Furthermore, cards were issued for persons with registration status in the fol-lowing communities: 1,584 stateless children and their family members from Mae Samlaeb, 617 stateless children in Baan Phosor School (Mae Sariang District), 101 stateless children and their family members in Mae Samlaeb

Saturday, 13 November 2010Phoenix Golf Course – Pattaya, Thailand

The Inaugural Beaver Invitational Charity Golf Tournament

Continued on page 10

Chamber Activity

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The Inaugural Beaver Invitational Charity Golf Tournament Photos Gallery

1. Visiting the Four Seasons hole was always a cool and refreshing experience. 2. The D’Pelican Inn

food kiosk was always ready to take care of hungry players. 3. The Allied Pickford team came to the

tournament’s rescue on logistical support. Thank you for helping to ‘Deliver’ a great event both on and off

the course! 4. The Roadhouse BBQ food Kiosk was providing the right question….great BBQ. 5. We

thank the Doug Hood Golf School for running the “Beat the Pro” Hole; Doug Hood & his wife (L) generated

a few extra charity donations on this hole. 6. H. E. Mr. Ron Hoffmann, Ambassador of Canada to Thailand,

presenting the stunning “Ambassador’s Cup” to the tournament’s “Low Gross” winners Messrs. Geoff

Lamantia and Jason Williams. Check-out those beautiful Beaver Invitational motor-cy taxi jackets! 7. Players admiring the fairway target on the “Nearest to the Beaver Off the Tee” hole. Our course props

were a favorite with this year’s players with a few disappearing along the way as tournament mementos.

The beaver tee box makers were a real favorite. 8. Mr. Casella, TCCC President, presenting the coveted

“Beaver Trophy” to the inaugural tournament’s “Low Net” Winners Messrs. Messrs. Anders Frodle & Anders

Henrikson. A fine Friday night recovery by this team to claim the prize! 9. Hole sponsor KPMG was

“Johnny on the Spot” when it came to making group photos. 10. The ladies of IEM took 1st Place in the

“Best Margaritas” category. 11. We thank Bombardier, a premier Canadian and leading global company,

for serving as the Inaugural Beaver Invitational Charity Golf Tournament’s “Title Sponsor”. Featured in this

photo are Mr. Don Lavoie and his associates from Bombardier’s Bangkok office. 12. You could always

count on a few surprises at Bistro 33’s food kiosk which was staffed by Mr. Barry Osborne and his capable

associates. 13. The Thai Fund Foundation (TFF) staff having a great time at our inaugural charity event.

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Chamber Activity

BBQ buffet, ice cream station and more. No one walked away from this evening without feeling like a special guest of the Amari Orchid-Pattaya. Following dinner, Les Walsh and John Casella conducted the presentation of the tournament’s technical and player awards, as well as the raffle and lucky draws. The winners of the inaugural event’s “Ambassador Cup” with a “Low Gross” score of 62.8 were Messrs. Geoff Lamantia and Jason Williams. We thank Ambassador Ron Hoffmann for his participation in the tournament and for being on-hand to present this beautiful trophy. The Beaver Trophy for the “Low Net” score was presented to Messrs. Anders Frodle & Anders Henrikson with a score of 62.8. “Low Net” 2nd and 3rd place winners were Messrs. Malison & Steve Marker with a score of 64.0 and Mr.& Mrs. Rick & Noi Cassidy with a score of 64.5. We congratu-late these individuals for their fine play and support of this year’s charity tournament. The lucky winners of the event’s Air Asia tickets included: Mr. Keith Johnson, Mr. Thomas Riedlienger and ironically, Mr. Daniel Althaus, Executive Chef - Bangkok Air Ca-tering. Congratulations to all of the Air Asia winners.

Committee Recognition In closing we thank Mr. John Casella, TCCC’s President, for taking time to serve as the inaugural tournament’s chairperson and his wife for allowing him to continue his duties following the birth of twin girls. Additional recognition is also offered to Mr. John Ste-vens and the POV team for delivering all of the creative and branding elements, Mr. Les Walsh for his professional assistance in managing the course set-up and the game’s technical aspects, Ron Livingston for sponsor coordination, and the TCCC office for provid-ing the financial controls and administrative structure for this year’s event. We also thank all of the Beaver Invita-tional committee members for their personal commitments in delivering a great charity tournament. In alphabetic order, the 2010 committee members were: Charlie Argue, John Casella, Neil Chiu, Ali Fancy, Michael Howard, Zoltan Kosa, Don Lavoie, Ron Livingston, Geoff McIntyre, Adrian Meyers, Scott Murray; Craig Noon, Randy Shockley, Ted Spevick, John Stevens, Todd Switzer, Clint Towl, Derek Van Pelt, Les Walsh, Scott Whitcomb and Michael White We look forward to seeing you at the 2011 Beaver Invitational!

DRIVES: Minimum of 3 drives from each player per nine holes.

MULLIGANS: Sold on event day with a maximum of 3 Mulligans per player. Mulligans could be used for shots anywhere in play, including putts.

GIMMEE CIRCLES: Utilized in this tourna-ment to speed-up play.

ON-COURSE OFFERINGS: During this year’s tournament, we can promise no one was lacking for drink, food or attention with PPI & Asahi serving as the on course beer sponsors and D-Pelican, Roadhouse BBQ and Tenderloins all establishing kiosks to serve-up free food and snacks to the players throughout the day. The players were also entertained and pampered by the event’s many hole sponsors including: Four Seasons Hotel – Bangkok, Marriott Resort & Spa, AirAsia, Allied Pickfords, Amari Orchid-Pat-taya, Baker Tilly, Bourbon Street Restaurant, BlackBerry, Bombardier, Doug Hood Golf School, Fenix, ICMSASIA, IEM, Jog Sports, KPMG, Jelly Belly, Point of View Media Group (POV), Raja Fashions, Rajawongse Clothier, Siam Wheels, Tango Condoms, Wave 88 and Yamira Cleaning. TECHNICAL PRIZES: This year’s tourna-ment offered technical (and in some cases…less than technical) prizes on every hole including: longest drive, longest putt holed, nearest to the pin, nearest to the pin in two, nearest to the beaver target off the tee, one putt competitions, life on the beach (sand trap) awards and “Happy Gilmore” holes. Technical prizes ranged from free AirAsia round trip tickets, luxury resort stays at Four Seasons-Chiang Mai and Marriott Resort & Spa, hotel and service apartment stays at U-Hotel, Frazer Suite and Oakwood Residence, golf shorts from Rajawongse Clothier, shirts from Raja Fashions, cases of Canadian beer, bottles of liquor and more.

AWARDS: The winning “Low Gross” team was recognized with The Ambassador’s Cup while the winning “Low Net” team received The Beaver Trophy. Additionally, the event’s Low Gross and Low Net winners were pro-vided with engraved pewter hip-flasks and bottles of Scotch. As a special recognition award, this year’s “Low Gross” and “Low Net” winners received Beaver Invitational branded, bright red motor-cy taxi vests. While certainly more whimsical than the bright green jackets given out at Augusta, they were certainly worn with great pride. Other prizes for 2nd and 3rd place Low Net finishes were also provided during the awards ceremony.

Awards Ceremony & Dinner This year’s awards ceremony was conducted pool side at the Amari Orchid’s new Ocean Tower pool. The hotel did a beautiful job in preparing the pool side venue for our awards ceremony and provided a jazz duo, open bar,

fringed with mature vegetation creating shade and protecting the players from Thailand’s strong mid day sun. As currently envisioned, the tournament committee will periodically rotate the tournament’s course to ensure the best possible value proposition and as an opportunity to expose players to Pattaya’s wide range of courses.

TOURNAMENT FEE: This year’s player fee structure offered an “Early Bird” price of 3,200 baht and a “Standard” price of 3,500 baht. Price included: Friday night’s sponsored networking reception with food & beverages, green fee, caddy fee, tournament hat & shirt, goodie bag, on-course sponsored food & beverages, technical events & prizes, awards dinner with live music, poolside buffet, open bar, lucky draw and hotel room discounts courtesy of the Amari Orchid - Pattaya. Bottom-line, this event represented a great golfing value and a great time for an even greater cause!

PRE-RRGISTRATION: In total, four pre-registration events were held to support this year’s Tournament: Friday, October 22nd-Tenderloins; Friday, October 29th-D’Pelican; Friday, November 5th - Roadhouse BBQ and November 12th-Tavern by the Sea.

CADDY BOOKINGS: With the creation of the tournament’s new permanent website, the event also offered on-line caddy book-ings, certainly a first among Thailand’s many tournaments.

WEBSITE: The new Beaver Invitational site was created through the generosity of Mr. John Stevens and the Point of View Media Group (POV) and serves as the event’s key point of contact. Please visit www.beaver-invitational.com, it’s informative, entertaining and a great place to keep updated on this annual event.

FORMAT: A two person scramble format was used in this year’s event to ensure a fun and enjoyable day on the course and will continue to be utilized going forward. This format allows for two players per team, two teams per foursome with singles being paired up by committee to form two-person teams. The player whose shot you are using plays first; then, the second player plays from within one foot. On greens, putt from the ball position as marked.

PLAYER HANDICAP: Maximum handicaps for the tournament were: Gentlemen 24, Ladies 36

TEAM HANDICAP: Based on 10% of the combined 2-man handicap. Team handicap could not be higher than its lowest handi-cap.

Continued from page 5

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January 2011 11

Thank you Inaugural Beaver Invitational Sponsors!

Title Sponsor:

Premier Sponsors:

Hole Sponsors:

Food Sponsors:

Product and Prize sponsors:

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Each Unit Consists:• Master Bedroom, Private Bathroom and Wardrobe • Bedroom/Available room and wardrobe• Bathroom and Toilet• Living Room and Dining Room• Kitchen• Entre• Large Front Terrace out from Living Room / Dinner Room• Terrace Out from Kitchen• 120 CM Broad Terrace along east - west facing wall • Swimming Pool 8.5 *4,5 M• Carport for 2 cars, storage room

8.5 *4,5 Mrs, storage room

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Live Winter SportDarts and Pool Table

Tel: 089 89 44 310

Page 13: Voyageur Jan 2011

January 2011 13

This unpleasant-looking fellow is the reason that you keep waking up feeling lousy – watery eyes, headache, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, depressed. These are dust mites - microscopic spiders that live in your mattresses, couches, pillows, and duvets, among other places - and produce 200 times their own body weight in excrement, all of which is loaded with guanine, the key cause of allergies that can also trigger asthmatic attacks.

They are everywhere, and often come pre-installed with the mattress. Since mattresses are a sealed environment, they are difficult to clean and the

mites are left alone to breed in isolation, aided by the heat and humidity that they love, making a mattress more and more contaminated. Even a six-month old mattress can pose health risks to its owners. Beds are a prime habitat (where 1/3 of life occurs). A typical used mattress may have anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million mites inside and it is estimated that as much as 10% of the weight of a two year old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings. Their favourite food is what we politely call “dander”, which is both human and animal skin flakes. Humans shed about 1/5 ounce of dander (dead skin) each week - about 80 percent of the material seen romantically floating in a sunbeam is actually skin flakes. Also, bedroom carpeting and household upholstery support high mite populations. One of the most strongly allergenic materials found indoors is house dust, often heavily contaminated with the fecal pellets and cast skins of House Dust Mites. Estimates are that dust mites may be a factor in 50 to 80 percent of asthmatics, as well as in countless cases of eczema, hay fever and

other allergic ailments. Common causes of allergy include house dust mites, cat dander, cockroach droppings and grass pollen. Symptoms are usually respiratory in nature (sneezing, itching, watery eyes, wheezing, etc.), usually NOT A RASH. However, there are reports of a red rash around the neck. Other allergic reactions may include headaches, fatigue and depression. The wheeze-inducing proteins are digestive juices from the mite gut which are quite potent. An exposure to the mites in the first, crucial year of life can trigger a lifelong allergy. There is no cure, only prevention. One must control house dust mite levels. “There’s more to it than just what’s inside the mattress,” Walsh added. The University of Manchester performed a 2005 medical study of pillows that found up to 16 species of fungi in a single pillow. They tested feather and synthetic pillows in a range of ages, finding thousands of spores of fungus per gram of pillow; more than is found on an average used toothbrush.

Here are some more fun numbers: • On the mattress surfaces: contain 1

billion germs per cm2, including bacteria, mold, viruses, and fungus. By comparison a toilet has 30,000/cm2

• Inside the mattress: 10 million dust mites

Forget About the Imaginary

Monsters Under Your Bed…The Lowly Dust Mite is the Real & Present Danger!

Member Profile

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Member Profile

the tourney to support Father Joe Maier’s Human Development Centre in Klong Toey. And after the 2004 tsunami the Farangs held a memorial game with the benefits going to the Thai Red Cross. Floods, civil unrest, horrible traffic jams, rink closings, electric blackouts – come what may – the Flying Farangs always seem to find a place to play and are intent on spreading good will and sportsmanship through the game’s fastest sport. The first time the Thais iced a squad at the Asian Winter Games, they were coached by Aaron Story, Howie Meeker’s grandson, so it’s safe to stay Canada’s rich hockey history has spread to the Land of Smiles.

in a typical 5-6 year old mattress (plus dead mites and all that accumulated excrement)

• Body fluids: 24 litres of sweat per year per person, not including saliva, spills, and other body fluids

• Dead skin: 1 kilo of dead skin per person per year. This is mites’ main source of food - if they don’t get this they can eat their own excrement 3 times

The solution to all this is a simple treatment done once a year. It takes 15 minutes per bed and is done on-site, leaving the mattress clean, sanitized and revitalized. TCCC Chamber member Les Walsh is the owner of Yamira Cleaning, a company specifically set up in 2008 to offer this specialized service to both residences and hotels. The company removes years of allergens, sweat, dead skin, bacteria and other contaminants that have accumulated using an all-natural, chemical-free, dry

treatment cleaning and sanitizing process using specialized equipment. Beds, pillows, duvets, and couches are left disinfected, fresh-smelling, rejuvenated, and most important of all – allergen-free. “We offer what is – at present – a very niche service,” Walsh explained, adding with a smile that “it’s kind of un-glamourous and explaining what we do can really ruin a dinner party. However, people who suffer from allergies love us.” It has been far from easy for the fledgling company, as their launch took place just before the PAD came along and closed the airport, followed more recently by the tourism-killing protests by the Red Shirts. “Our business model was heavily focused on the hotel sector,” Walsh explained, “and for last few years they have been going through very difficult and uncertain times, making it tough for us to get their business. We are all hoping for a big high season and

a return to happier days. However, despite all the upheaval, we have managed to build a solid client base of top-quality hospitality properties like The Rembrandt, Oakwood and Chiva Som, along with a rapidly-growing residential clientele.” The company is extending a special offer to TCCC members living in the Bangkok area – they will clean beds and pillows for Baht 1000 per bed and couches for Baht 800 per couch. For those members living outside Bangkok, Yamira will travel to you – contact them directly to discuss the details. Along with the bed cleaning service, the company is introducing a new line of products that are targeted for use by homeowners, hoteliers, restauranteurs, factory owners and just about anyone else living in Thailand. “Let’s face it,” Walsh says, “when it comes to things that are disgusting, cockroaches are at the top of pretty much everyone’s list. We will be introducing a new, 100% natural and safe bacterial product that kills them stone cold dead in seconds. We handed out samples to the players at the recent Beaver Invitational and I am looking forward to hearing the horror stories from the people who use it. We hope that this product will help us make inroads to the hotels and we are hoping to get the product into the market for retail distribution in 2013.” Chamber members wishing to try a free sample may contact them directly at mobile number 081 919 7638 or at [email protected]

What started as a way to just play some shinny away from home has developed into the 4-team Thai

World Hockey League (TWHL) featuring Thais and expats based in Asia. The Farangs have an all-star squad that competes against the best amateur teams in Asia and the Flying Farang jersey has even made it to the Hockey Hall of Fame, twice. Every year the Farangs stage an international tournament and teams from around the world come to Thailand to participate. Ex-NHLers like Neal Broten and Troy Crowder have brought teams to Thailand to play and current and ex-Farangs have played with or against NHL greats such as Peter Forsberg and Scott Niedermayer. There’s an auction held during

Who are the Flying Farangs? It’s been said that you can take a Canadian out his country, but you can’t take ice hockey out of a Canadian. Albertan Craig O’Brien proved that when he hit the tarmac of Bangkok’s Don Muang airport back in 1995. The first thing he did was look for an ice rink and then he started gathering like-minded Canadians to put together the Flying Farangs ice hockey team (farang meaning foreigner in Thailand).

Yamira Cleaning (Thailand) Ltd.Les Walsh Tel: 081 919 7639e-mail: [email protected]

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