Sunday, November 28, 2010

Flowers and Pretty Ladies


On Sunday we had a celebration involving lights, flowers 
and pretty Thai ladies.

It was the celebration of Loy Krathong – a traditional festival day, popular with our staff because it means that the lovely ladies of Cape Panwa get to dress up in traditional Thai costume, have their hair done and ask guests to buy roses for them.

The staff and guests made krathongs (banana-trunk floats adorned with flowers and candles), wishes were made and the krathongs were floated out to sea, making a beautiful vista.

Suparat with Niklas
Our guests bought roses for everybody and Suparat from Kantary Bay was our Miss Noppamus 2010.


Happy Loy Krathong to everyone! And we hope that your wishes all come true!

              

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Come rain or shine


Emma and Ian came with their family and friends from all around the world to celebrate their special day.

Ian told us that whatever Emma wants, ‘make sure she gets it’ – and she wanted ‘come rain or shine’ to walk along the beach in her wedding dress with her father and bridesmaids.

The strange weather that we are having in Phuket at the moment did not take anything away from Emma and Ian’s special day – but it certainly did add a little ‘unpredictability’ to the day – Tim had to have a double espresso on the beach before starting.

The umbrellas were folded and the ceremony was beautiful - Emma and Ian both shone.


Flowers were thrown, the cake was cut and the elephant patted – a beautiful day was shared on the beach and dinner was had at Panwa House.

Congratulations, Emma and Ian!

Emma and Ian's photograph
              

Sunday, November 14, 2010

SOS Day trips with Cape Panwa



Cape Panwa Hotel (owned by the Kasemkij Group) together with the SOS Children Foundation of Thailand, which is under the patronage of H.M. the Queen, organised three day-trips for children who are cared for by the SOS foundation.

The children are all orphans and the objective was for the ‘disadvantaged children with an opportunity to develop their skills and to ensure a better future for them’.


The children were taken on the Panwa Princess boat to Koh Tapao Noi - a small island close to us.  The Koh Tapoi Noi ecosystem is still intact with a non-invasive forest so the children can see Mother Nature at her best.


Khun Pavinee escorted them and ensured that they all had a lot of fun on the boat and on the island – not difficult for Pavinee to do!  After this jaunt into the islands Pavinee then took them to Phuket Aquarium to see the fish and turtles.


All in all, a wonderful day out for the children and we were happy to help give them this opportunity and will continue to be involved with them.

              

Saturday, November 6, 2010

A Golden time for The Hulks

Neil and Wendy met Somjit (a member of staff) and his family at the football.
Wendy and Neil, who have visited us a number of times and are Gold Privilege Card Holders, went to see Phuket FC play Chainat FC at the Surakun Stadium, home to the ‘Green Hulks’, Phuket’s very own football team.


Wendy’s quite interesting take on of the event was: “Thai people are not the same when they play football – I have seen them do things on the pitch that I would not have believed they [were capable of].”

"Thai people are not the same when they play football - the level of physical aggression was high and I thought that Thai people were such gentle people, in my experience, I'm not so sure now"

The fact that chanting between the fans was fiercely competitive in itself but that opposing supporters walked calmly past each other when the game was over fascinated Neil.


Further entertainment was in the form of flag-swinging competitions at half time… There was a sending off and two players were ‘removed’ before they could ‘cause any [more] trouble’ – It all reminded me of UK Football!