Visit to the Training Center for Fire Prevention Duang Prateep Foundation – Supported by the Rotary Club of Osaka Friend District 2660 Sunday 22nd April 2007
Here is an account by Rotarian John Coughtrie of the very enjoyable visit by members of the Rotary Club of Pattaya to the above center.
Following the invite from the Duang Prateep Foundation we set off early on Sunday morning from Pattaya arriving at the Fire Training Center in the Port area of Bangkok around 9:30a.m.
We were met by the founder of the Duang Prateep Foundation Khun Prateep Ungsongtham Hata who was delighted we had made the journey up from Pattaya to support her project.
We were then introduced to the Members of the Rotary Club of Osaka Friends who have been supporting the foundation for many years; indeed they had funded the three fire engines that the foundation operates. Obviously there were language difficulties, some of the Rotarians spoke English but mainly they only spoke Japanese.
The President Elect 2007/08 came straight over and introduced himself Mr Teiichirou Aoki and what a dynamo this man turned out to be!! He stood at 5’2” tall and is 71 years of age but the whole day he took control and organised speeches, photo shoots etc shouting at his members when they were not in place and indicating to the fireman where to sit for the photos no mean feat when you consider at least two of the fireman were about 6’3” tall and weighed in at over 20 stone! But Mr Aoki took it all in his stride!! The reason for the visit was that the Rotary Club had funded the building of new facilities for the volunteer fireman. He then said “you are coming to the reception at our hotel tonight?” We had a quick meeting and voted unanimously to stay at least for the first part of the reception that evening.
The ceremony started with the arrival of the Principal Guest the Japanese Ambassador and the monks began the merit making , we then toured the new building that included a top of the range multi gym , a music room and recreational space so that the fireman could be occupied whilst on call. They also had a radio room plus a number of offices. The officer on duty explained that when they first started if there was a fire and they phoned the electricity company to request the power be switched off, the company would come to the scene of the fire and check before authorising the power to be switched off! This could take 15 to 20 mins! Well I am a trained Fire Fighter and I can tell you that 15 mins is a long time to be trapped in a burning building!! However, having been trained to a high standard the fire-fighters have won the respect of the other companies so now if they call and ask for power to be isolated in an area it is done immediately without question, we then proceeded up to the roof which is used the roof for training sessions.
Following the tour we were invited into the hall where we joined the other guests plus the fireman and all their families for what I can only describe as a banquet of Thai food!! During this sumptuous feast we were entertained firstly by some lovely ladies and traditional Thai dancing, they were then presented with new costumes by the Rotary Club of Osaka Friends. Later we were again entertained by dancers this time the children who were a delight to watch. The show finished with a Choral group made up of the fire-fighters!!
To put things into their proper perspective you have to understand we were in the middle of the slum area of Klong Toey where 150,000 people live, the fireman are all volunteers and all the facilities are provided by the Foundation through fundraising.
After this extravaganza Rtn Jan and myself accompanied by Laddawan were taken on a tour around the community (the older members decided they needed an afternoon nap) so we left President Niels and Rtn John Blair asleep in the car!!
This tour was a true eye opener; these people live in abject poverty but have a very strong community spirit and refuse to be re-housed! We were met with smiles and handshakes stopping to chat to numerous people all very happy to welcome us into their community, we saw the site of the big fire of February which made 212 families homeless which meant 851 people had nowhere to live! Fortunately no lives were lost and the following day the Duang Prateep Foundation along with other aid agencies sprung into action to provide emergency supplies. The city has also contributed and we were able to see the construction that is under way to replace those homes that were lost in the fire. This visit was very moving and you can understand where Khun Prateep Ungsongtham Hata gets her motivation from, the people are lovely, they have nothing yet they smile in the face of adversity and get on with their simple lives, yes there are problems, gambling, drinking etc but the children were playing happily and nowhere did I encounter looks of despair that is common elsewhere in the world where the people have nothing.
We returned to the centre where we watched a DVD of the foundation and its work, this was excellent and the member of staff that showed us it and took us on the tour is an old member of the Rotary club of Pattaya!! We would like to invite him back to show the rest of the members the work of the foundation.
By now it was getting on for 4pm so we retired to my Hotel as I was staying in Bangkok on business and we took the opportunity to relax over coffee and refresh ourselves for the evening onslaught!
We headed of to the Dusit Thani for the evening reception arriving at 6:30pm and were met by our hosts the Rotary Club of Osaka Friends.
Well, our idea of a quick getaway soon failed! Following the format of the morning there were numerous speeches, these were either in Thai or Japanese which then had to be translated, no English!! Later the buffet dinner was served and what a feast that was!! two wonderful banquets in one day!! We were well served by the hotel staff with drinks and proceeded to try and work our way round this excellent buffet!
As the evening was drawing to a close the final speeches were made and the exchanging of gifts started, imagine our surprise when we found ourselves included!
We received the Duang Prateep Foundation pin from its founder, the Rotary Club of Japan presented us with two pins, we were given two bottles of Saki !! and a Fuji apple each, finally the fireman presented us each with a beautiful Thai porcelain gift!!
We were also given the banner of the Rotary club of Osaka Friends and even our photographer from Pattaya People was given a number of gifts!!
The firemen were not left out with each of them being presented with a complete new kit of safety clothing by the Rotary Club of Osaka Friends.
We left the reception as it drew to a close at 9:30pm, I went back to my hotel and was in bed by 10pm!! The others had to drive back to Pattaya.
A number of things stand out, I know many members have businesses to run etc and sometimes Sunday is the only day off you get but I have to say that the experience was something not to be missed, once again Rotarians from across the ocean come to Thailand to show their generosity in supporting worthwhile projects and delight in the company of other Rotarians so when we next get an invite to an event I urge you all to make that extra effort and help promote our club to others around the world! We received a personal invite and the welcome we received could not be surpassed, they were absolutely delighted we had made the effort and yet we were asked for nothing! The host just wanted us to meet their Japanese sponsors.
The other thing that stands out from yesterday is firstly our host Khun Duang ! what a lovely lady with a matching personality, deeply believes in the work she is doing and inspires those around here she is enthusiastic about the foundation and will talk about it to anyone that will stop and listen I really wish we could have her come down to our meeting as a guest speaker!! She is an inspiration.
Secondly the President elect of Rotary Club of Osaka Friends!! This man is 71 and I never saw him rest once during the day, he was everywhere co-ordinating and pushing his members around! But he made things happen and got a few laughs along the way, especially when we tried to stand him next to Rtn Jan for a photo shoot! (Rotariand Jan is about 6'6" tall). He just burst out laughing!!
We had to learn not to Wei but to bow Japanese style if only for one day!!
I have tried to cover everything that happened but it was a very full day!
