Bulletin Issue No. 13 - 18th January, 2019 (Jan 18, 2019)

Meeting Information

ALL YEAR Dinner Out 1st Tuesday of each month 7 pm at a restaurant

Meetings Friday 12.00 noon - 2 pm @ Millennium Hotel in Jungceylon
Rat-U-Thit Road Patong Beach

November – April 2nd 3rd & 4th Friday - May – October 2nd & 4th Friday only

Dress code - Smart-Casual

(long pants and shirts with collars for men, women: smart-casual)

Click for map

Visitors Welcome

registration mandatory

It is with great regret we advise the sudden passing of VP & President-Elect Gary Eidsvik Moody on the 10th of January.

Gary was a very active & enthusiastic member during his time

with the Rotary Club of Patong Beach.

He is the husband of the current President Karen Eidsvik-Moody.

He served as Sergeant-at-Arms & Membership Chair

& would have commenced as President on July 1st 2019.

We convey our condolences to his wife Karen, his family

& many friends.

He was a dedicated Rotarian & will be sorely missed.

A few images of Gary enjoying his time with Karen, friends & fellow Rotarians.

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Events: January

All meetings (Except Dinner Outs) @ - Millennium Hotel

18th January - Friday - Colin Mackay is a Phuket based writer and investor, who is also involved with cobalt exploration. Come and hear this fascinating cobalt story that will play out in front of our eyes over the next decade.
25th January - Friday - To be advised
5th February - Tuesday - Dinner Out @Gallery Cafe by Pinky in Cherng Talay organised by David Arell.

Friday 18th January 2019

Cobalt? Congo- the new Saudi Arabia?

Cobalt is a rare metal needed to stabilise lithium Ion batteries- All your phones, laptops etc use cobalt. As the world now turns to electric vehicles at an unprecedented rate and also to green power generation (to be stored in Batteries) the amount of cobalt needed is going to explode. Today 70% of the world's cobalt comes from The Democratic Republic of Congo. This is often an unethical and potentially unstable supply. And even Congo does not have enough. Most cobalt mines and processing is are already owned and controlled by China. If big non-Chinese companies like Apple/Samsung/Volkswagen/Toyota cannot get enough Cobalt there is a good chance will become extinct. People are already fighting and dying for cobalt. What will happen over the next 10 years?

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Sunday, December 9th Dr. Johan, Jonathan, PE Gary, P Karen, Khun Gob, another instructor and Jonathan's Mum Rose, met with John Schorr to kick off the 2019 Larry Amsden Swim Safe programme. Dr Johan had a good list of questions and we all went through them while enjoying a roast lunch in Laguna. The programme will be pretty much a repeat of the 2018 programme to ensure there are no hiccups. The plan is to expand to other schools after that, as well as bring in other clubs in Phuket to start their own. John and his team, as well as Child Watch, have been very supportive.

All are looking forward to seeing the next batch of kids learn to swim!

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THE KHUN MAR AYE ROTARY STORY

The story started during a dental examination conducted by a US dentist mission to Thailand. It was discovered during the dental exam by the US dentists that the little girl Aye had her tongue attached to her lower oral cavity. This prevented her from normal speech.

Eventually, this was brought to the attention of PP David Arell who immediately donated 2,000 Baht of an estimated sum of 17,000 TB toward correctional surgery.

David, in turn, mentioned this during a regular Rotary meeting.

As a Doctor, I realized that this condition can be a lifetime hindrance for a little girl, both physically as well as mentally.

I stood up and gave little speech for the purpose of collecting sufficient funds to have the proper surgery performed to restore the little girl to normal speech. I put 3,000 in a hat and passed it around, and before you knew it we had gathered 19,000 TB.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the instant kind generosity of my fellow Rotarians.

Contact was made with the hospital via Khun Min from Banya school, the parents, and PP Walter from Rotary, an appointment was set up for outpatient surgery.

Khun Aye was given a local, but the little girl was extremely hyper and scared and we could not keep her still long enough to perform the surgery.

It was decided to set up a second appointment for the surgery under a full Anesthesia.

This time the operation was successfully performed.

Present for support was Khun Ming, the parents of Aye, Khun DA and myself.

I followed up with a post-op. exam. The surgery healed well, but she still would not talk as expected.

After an additional 14 days, an additional exam showed full healing and her speech was coming along well.

I saw Aye again at the Banya Xmas party and I heard her sing in a normal voice as loud as any of the girls

First doctors visit_________________ 520

Meds__________________________ 30

Operation_____________________ 13,888

Cash for fallow up________________ 1,000

Cash to parents _________________ 2,000

Xmas decoration Banya school______ 965

Total expenditures to date______ ___ 18,723 Baht

Total donated __________________ 19,000 Baht

Balance left ____________________ 277

This was a small price to pay for giving a little girl a normal life.

Thank you to all that assisted in this project.

Dr. Johan B, Storck

Rotary Patong Thailand

19-Dec. 2018

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No Birthdays until February

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Friday 14th December

Today’s RCoPB AGM/Elections gives us the new Board

for Rotary Year 2019-2020

The meeting was opened with a gong by P Karen that could be heard in Kathu.

We then sang the anthem acapella

The Board approved the minutes of the last board meeting.

IPP Andy advised Dr. Johan would advise on the status of the audit of last year.

Dr. Johan advised that the audit is in process and will be ready in several days.

P Karen advised on some of the significant items the club has accomplished this year.

It's halfway through my year as President. It has been a busy time.

PP Larry completed his Swim Safely programme
We participated in a dental mission at the BanYa school
Dr Johan and PP Walter helped arrange for one of those kids have surgery so she can now talk properly.
Our club participated in the donation of dishes with the other Phuket clubs during the vegetarian festival.
We donated 34,000THB for dishes at one of the schools in Patong so the kids have something to eat from.
A group of 8 members visited Kho Samui to help with the installation of a new club, which also became a sister club.
We also participated in the Living in Phuket event which introduced Rotary to the Expat community.
Karen participated in meetings with the Presidents of the rest of the Rotary Clubs in Phuket.

Sadly, in addition to this, our dear PP Larry Amsden passed away.

We have a lot more to do. The community assessment needs to be undertaken.

Our charity fund seriously needs funding. We need to convert those people who have shown good interest in becoming members. Fortunately, we have time.

We also have many members, who hopefully will be able to help us achieve our 2019 goals.

Attendance is up this year from last year and PP Arnaud was recognized for his increase to 100% attendance.

Dr. Johan advised the Living Expat community event is a great way to inform potential new members about Rotary.

There was a rich discussion about membership and why members have left the club.

It was discussed that we should have a stronger on boarding and mentoring program.

P Karen advised that she is actioning these items.

The treasury report was presented for the July to November period.

There was a discussion of the Learn to swim program and Johan and Larry will administer the program and are looking for volunteers to help.

Richard is re-launching the helmets for kids program and will focus on helmets.

Discussion of water filters and maintenance: O.B. will pursue ongoing fundraising for maintenance of water filters. Agreed that fundraising can target a specific need but that a broader target is more helpful to give the club flexibility in responding to needs.

The next big fundraiser is scheduled for 20 April 2019.

Agreed that for dinner out events there will be 100 baht added to every Rotarian attendance fee for charity funds and 200 baht added to every guest attendance fee for charity.

Vote for the update of bylaws passed.

Vote for approval of Larry’s leave earlier this year was approved.

Approved that K.Tim, Santa, Santa’s elf and Wolfgang will have their Christmas dinner covered by the club.

The dress code was voted on and it was agreed to maintain the dress code.

The election was held and the following officers were elected for 2019/2020:

President – Gary Moody

VP – Arnaud Verstraete

Secretary – Walter Wyler

Treasurer – David Arell

President-Elect – Johan Storck

Meeting report: David Arell - Thank you ed Denis

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