Bangkok Expats' Association

[MekhongKurt]

Hi --

 

I'm Mekhong Kurt, temporary acting president of The Bangkok Expats' Association, formerly known as "The Bangkok Expats' Club." there has been considerable confusion the past few days regarding whether or not a new expats' club was still in the making. The answwer is yes, it is.

 

The original conceiver of the idea to form a club bringing together people of all natinalities -- incuding Thais -- attended the first meeting, but decided 2 days later to withdraw from participation. I and the one other temporary officer of the association discussed the matter and decided to go ahead with that second meeting, at which time there was an enthusiastic and unanimous decision to move forward with the association.

 

Many people have asked me and Bob (the other temporary officer and the owner of the current meeting venue) why the original conceiver pulled out, but we simply don't know. As formation of such an association can be very time-consuming we assume the gentleman decided it is simply too much time and work.

 

In its early formative stages, the association has the potential to go in many directions. Most obvious is bringing together people who didn't previously know each other and the social possibilities of that. Another is for newcomers to Bangkok to meet Thais and Old Thai Hand foreigners and to learn from them about the vagaries of life in The Big Mango. A third is classes in subjects such as Thai language, Thai cooking, Japanese paper-cutting, etc. Still another is group travel -- day tours in and near Bangkok, domestic travel throughout Thailand, and regional trips. Of course, networking at the professional level is a given in an association of this nature. The possibilities are virtually endless, and as this association is meant to be membership driven, we're open to any and all suggestions.

 

Once we have enough members, we hope The Bangkok Expats' Association can bring benefits to its members in the form of discounts from local merchants and in the form of group medical insurance. Bob has aready spoken with a gentleman in the insurance industry about the latter possibility. Further, given enough numbers, we expect to be able to arrange travel tours at discounts.

 

Through the month of August there are meetings scheduled for every Sunday 11:30 A.M.-2:00 P.M. and every Tuesday 5:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. -- not that we expect members to attend so many meetings in such a short time, but to offer repeated opprtunity for people to come by, listen, then decide if our association is one they wish to join. At the end of the month we will try to reach a group consensus on a regular schedule of meetings starting in September.

 

The current meeting venue is The Office Bar & Grill, located just off Sukhunvit Soi 33. To go to the bar, from Sukhumvit Road go along Soi 33 until you see signs for The Degas Club and The Office Bar & Grill on your right; at that point there is an entrance to a car park directly below the signs. Turn into the car park; The Office Bar & Grill is at the rear corner of the building on your left. For anyone driving, parking is available.

 

We hope to see you there!

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

While this obviously belongs in Meetings, I will allow it here for a day or so as this sounds like a worthwhile initiative.

 

Still, a little heads-up for this advertisement (as I am sure this won't hurt the business of The Office Bar & Grill) would have been appreciated.

 

Sanuk!

 

[Guest]

 

Well best of luck with the concept. And yes to be successsful it will far more time than you ever realized there was time.

 

Now as to the Japanese Paper-cutting.......perhaps some our Nipon based members can offer some intructions.

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

Okay, Kurt, I just saw all the posts in Meetings and I think we all got the picture now.

 

And I must say that I am getting rather pissed off with all the advertising you have done on this board without having the professional courtesy to talk to me about this first.

 

NOT a good start.

 

Sanuk!

 

[Guest]

Membership suggests "dues "to be paid.Using the business facilities of one of the officers makes me question his motivations.Outlining a venue of goals without the participation of more than 1 or 2 "temporary officers" sounds like an advertisement for support.

 

I like the idea of expats living here to get together socially on a regular basis .If ,as a group,they decided to pursue goals that improved our daily lives ,great!

Best Regards,Stan

[kohchaiBKK]

Khun Sanuk,

I am in no way envolved with the organization, but I thought I would respond, as one of the few who actually attended the meeting today.

 

At the moment, It is just a loose group of people trying to get off the ground with a potentially promising idea. No specific agenda was put forward, but that was really the reason for the meeting. All that were there( around 20 people) were asked what they thought that agenda should be. All, including myself, thought that something of this sort is indeed needed. They are looking for ideas, suggestions, etc that might make this thing fly, but are aware that they are still on the ground.

 

Among the things discussed were:

 

1.-The success of a similar venture in Pattaya. Apparantly they had over 100 people at their last meeting.

 

2.-The importance of networking for those of us living here, and the limited number of venues available to most.

 

3.-The lack of support groups available to Farangs here.

 

4.-The financial advantages available to groups, such as in healthcare.

 

5.-The need for a broader platform for an exchange of information.

 

6.-The image of the expat. Are we all here just to get laid?

 

There are a number of other items that were discussed, but those were pretty much the highlights. All of us duscussed the mistakes we made when we first moved here, and out interest in seeing the learning curve shortened. We also shared notes on weaving the way through a system that is often hard to understand. Britain, Wales, the U.S., Sweden, Norway, Australia were represented.

 

On the subject of dues, all agreed that none should be asked for until something could be offered. I learned that the word "Association" was required for the group, as Thai law requires it for Non-profit organizations. I was told that this IS a non-profit organization, and that all dues will be accounted for and spent in accordance with the members' approval.

 

While I am sure The Office Bar profited in some way by having the meeting there, it sure wasn't much. I would hazard to guess that what they made was offset by the free rounds tendered.

 

I enjoyed the meeting, and was glad I went. Those that attended were an interesting group, and I walked away with about a half dozen business cards that could prove useful. Time will tell how well it goes, but I give them credit for giving it a shot.

 

 

 

 

 

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

I as mentioned, I am not opposed to an organization as this, in fact I might even attend myself one of these days. What got me pissed was the fact that this was plastered all over the board without a simple heads up first.

 

Many others have in the past posted about events and such, and almost every time people ask permission before using this board to promote their agenda. An excellent example are Nanapong. Farangman PMs me every time before posting about a dance contest, even now when he knows that I do not mind. It is called professional courtesy. All it would have taken to avoid all of this was one email.

 

Sanuk!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the meeting report.Will check it out at the next meeting.

Best Regards,Stan

[kohchaiBKK]

Khun Sanuk,

I thought it was obvious by your post that it was the lack of protocol that pissed you off. I didn't bother addressing it, as I was not a party to it.

I'll probably attend next Sundays meeting. If I do, I will diplomatically "educate" them on proper etiquette, whether thay plan on posting here again or not.

[MekhongKurt]

First, I owe an open apology to all visitors to this board. I did not realize I was abusing the privileges of this fine forum.

 

To Khun Sanuk, I do hope you will come to see me, although I am at somewhat of a loss of words exactly how to express that. I don't wish to violate the board rules again.

 

To the rest of you, please excuse me. I don't think I need any visits to "educate" me -- I taught cross-cultural negotiation fir many years so probablly have heard it all already.

 

But I *do* badly, and if I knew how to remove my earlier postings, I would.