Chinese conglomerate TE Connectivity recently visited the Father Ray Children’s Village as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.
In Pattaya to attend a business conference, 30 TE Connectivity managers, led by Tom Whelan, vice president, Finance Asia Pacific, worked alongside the young residents of the Children’s Village. Strong winds on previous days had resulted in damaged, uprooted trees and bushes. The visitors spent an afternoon clearing the gardens, digging holes, building supports and replanting trees, all with the help of the children.
CSR is fast becoming an important part of many local, national and international organisations. It makes sense for a company to take a closer look at the community in which they working or do business. It shows local people that the business wants to be part of that community and is interested in their lives, and that it is not just employing locals and making a quick profit.

While Olympic champions become household names in Thailand, disabled gold medal-winning athletes often remain anonymous, denied the recognition and financial rewards bestowed upon their able-bodied compatriots.

The eyes of the world will look towards London this summer when Queen Elizabeth II presides over the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. Of all the sporting events taking place throughout the world, none generates as much interest and excitement as the Olympic Games.
Viewers from the richest and poorest nations will be transfixed to their television screens, cheering their compatriots and hoping they will win the most cherished of sporting prizes, an Olympic gold medal.
After 17 days of triumphs and heartache, the Olympic flame will be extinguished, the lights will fade and the athletes will return home.
Thailand has only won seven gold medals at past Olympic Games. Weightlifter Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon and boxer Somjit Jongjohir both became household names after winning gold in Beijing 2008. All Thai athletes will be hoping and praying that they are selected for London and that all their hard work pays off and they too can return home from London carrying medals.
But less than three weeks after the Olympic closing ceremony, the stadium in East London will once again welcome athletes from around the world. The torch carriers will light the cauldron and athletes will compete for gold at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Thai athletes competing at recent Paralympic Games have won more gold, silver and bronze medals than their able-bodied countrymen, and yet the names of these athletes often remain unknown.
One such athlete is Supachai Koysub. A native of Chaiyaphum province, Supachai contracted polio at an early age which left his legs severely weakened. At the age of 17 he came to Pattaya and enrolled at the Redemptorist Vocational School for People with Disabilities. It was here that Supachai was first introduced to athletics, in particular wheelchair racing. A year later he competed in his first ever wheelchair race at the National Games for the Disabled and surprisingly he won a silver medal.
When Supachai was 23, he was selected to represent Thailand at the Sydney 2000 Games. An unknown athlete, he was not expected to feature on the winners’ podium.
In the 100m wheelchair-racing final he lost out on a bronze medal by one hundredth of a second. In the first heat of the 200m he came second to Swedish athlete Hakan Ericsson, who broke the world record. However, in the final race Supachai passed Ericson, won the gold medal and broke the world record, finishing with a time of 25.01. Supachai also went on to win a second gold medal in the 4×100m race and silver in the 4×400m race.
Returning to Pattaya, he continued working as a teacher at the Vocational School, but all his free time was committed to training.
Four years later he went to Europe for the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games where he won two gold medals in the 4×100m and 4×400m wheelchair race, both times helping his teammates break the world record.
At the Beijing 2008 Games Supachai won two silver and one bronze medal; he is hoping to do better later this year when he represents Thailand at his fourth Paralympic Games in London.
Currently at a training camp in Korat, Supachai, along with his fellow athletes, is training as hard as his body will allow. A team of coaches, physiotherapists, nutritionalists and psychologists are working together to ensure each athlete is in his or her peak condition. Ranked number two in the world, Supachai is one of the favourites to win a medal in London.
While national TV networks will be dedicating whole channels and many hours of coverage each day to the Olympic Games, it is unlikely that the Paralympic Games will receive as much air time.
There will not be as many spectators watching the Games in the Olympic Stadium; the number of television crews will be reduced, and the results of the Paralympic Games will take up a minimum of inches in the newspaper columns.
If able-bodied Thai athletes return to Thailand from London later this year carrying gold medals, they will be met at the airport by fans, photographers and film crews. They will make headline news, their photos will appear on the front pages of the Thai and English newspapers, and they will receive a generous financial gift form the government. If
Supachai, who is currently ranked number two in the world of 200m wheelchair sprinting, brings home a gold medal, the likelihood of his being mobbed by the media at Suvarnabhumi is small.
Athletes with disabilities work as hard, if not harder, than able-bodied athletes. These athletes have won more gold medals than their non-disabled compatriots and yet they receive less coverage, little support and on average just half of what an able-bodied athlete receives in prize money from the government.
But for Supachai it is not about money. By age 35 many athletes think about retirement. Not Supachai. He is already looking ahead to the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. But before thinking too much about competing in his fifth Paralympic Games, he has to prove in London that he is still a force to be reckoned with.

Following the success of the first Picnic in the Park last September, the Regents School will host a second musical afternoon at Father Ray Children’s Village Sunday May 13 from 3 to 7 p.m.
Various musical groups from the Regents School will perform, including the Regents Soul Band, Primary Rock Band and Regents Girl’s Band. There will also be Irish and Korean dancing, and perhaps performances by students of Garden International and St. Andrews International School.
Food stalls, an Australian BBQ, raffles, a bouncy castle and a host of  activities for the family are on the agenda. Picnickers may take their own food and drink and are advised to pack a blanket, a parasol and dancing shoes.
Admission is 100 baht for adults, 50 baht for children. All proceeds go to the Regents School Community Partners.
Father Ray Children’s Village is located just off Siam Country Club Road.

Sixty young adults arrived in Pattaya from all over the Kingdom earlier this month. They had travelled on buses, taxis, trains and in the back of pick-up trucks. One young man was carried by his father. All 60 youngsters shared one hope: to be interviewed for a place on a course at the Redemptorist Vocational School for People with Disabilities.
Since 1984 the Pattaya school has accepted, taught and successfully graduated more than 2,500 young adults with disabilities, providing not just an education, but also accommodation, meals, medical assistance and guaranteed employment.
While residents of cities such as Pattaya and Bangkok are more accepting of people with disabilities, life in rural areas can be difficult. Living in small towns and villages, people using wheelchairs or crutches and those missing limbs often have difficulties finding suitable employment.
Families tend to be overprotective of such children, saying there is no need to work. Yet physically challenged youngsters want only to be treated the same as anyone else. They want to work, earn a decent salary, be independent and not be a burden to their family.
A new school year starts in early May, and there will be many new students. On that very first day they will be worried and anxious. Many will be away from their families for the first time, and yet for most it will be the start of the best two years of their lives.
At the Redemptorist Vocational School no one will make fun of their disabilities; no one will abuse them. They will make new friends, they will discover new confidence. It is often said they those graduating are not the same people who arrived two years earlier, they have grown so much.

Wearing long blue gowns, old fashioned mortar boards, and a small posy of orchids pinned to their chests, 24 kindergarten students recently were graduated from the Father Ray Day Care Center.

For the past two years these youngsters have been traveling to the Sukhumvit Road Center from all over Pattaya. The aim of the Center when it opened in 2008 was to provide a safe place for the underprivileged children of Pattaya to spend their days while their parents were seeking employment.
During their time at the Center the children have learned to read and write. They have also received English and computer classes, all in preparation for entering regular government schooling. Swimming, cooking, gardening and play sessions have seen the students learning new skills, all of which are beneficial to the growth of each child.
For all students mornings start the same way, with a hot nutritious breakfast as many families will have no food at home. The Center also provides two uniforms, lunch, snacks, and medical assistance. Advice also is offered to parents who finds themselves in trouble.
It may be a cliché to say that the Center is helping to ‘break the cycle of poverty’, but that is exactly what it is doing. It is giving a better start in life to the poor children of Pattaya.
One little boy was very happy to receive his graduation certificate. He thinks that it is now all over, no more school. It was explained to him that in May he will be entering grade 1 at School number 7. The smile disappeared from his face when he was told that he has another twelve years to go before his next graduation ceremony.

More information can be found at www.fr-ray.org or email info@fr-ray.org

As the number of disabled people grew nearly two decades ago, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhom established the Karunyawet Home for the Disabled in 1994. The Sukhumvit Road home today cares for 450 physically and mentally disabled women as young as 18 and as old as 97, including 250 new arrivals displaced because of the Bangkok floods.
The centre provides care to ladies who have been abandoned or neglected by their families and have no means of support. There are nine dormitories housing approximately 50 ladies in each, most of them sleeping on the floor. There are 22 staff on duty at any one time, but only one qualified nurse at the centre.
When you first visit you cannot fail to be impressed by the fact that everything is spotlessly clean as a result of the hard work by the staff. Residents are happy and always delighted to see visitors. Some of the lesser-disabled help others to bathe, wash clothes, eat and push wheelchairs.
Many residents eat in the dormitories but those who can walk or use wheelchairs have their meals in the eating area. Unfortunately the eating area has no toilets close by. Those caught short have to go 200 metres to the nearest toilet and many do not make it.
Siriluk, centre superintendant, expressed the need to have some toilets close by to make everything more convenient for the ladies. When the council did nothing, she turned to Pattaya Sports Club. As usual, PSC jumped at the opportunity to be of service.
The accompanying photo reflects the well-designed building with facilities for both wheelchair users and others, making life a little easier for all residents.

Bigger and better than last year, the 2012 St. Patrick’s Day Parade attracted more than 1,000 Thais and expats as well as marching bands and decorated floats from Pattaya’s Irish bars and other local businesses. It even included a float from Thammasat University.

While the afternoon was fun, there was also a serious side to the days’ events. It was hoped that this year’s parade would increase awareness of the work of the Father Ray Foundation. And it did. It also raised 400,000 baht to help cover the costs of providing accommodation, education, food, medical help and therapy for the 850 children and students with disabilities currently living at the Foundation. Money was collected in donation boxes along the route, from parade sponsors, and from float entries.
On the heels of this year’s success, Pattaya Mayor Ittipol Khunplome has agreed to restage the St. Patrick’s Day Parade next year. It is hoped that more Pattaya-based Irish bars and businesses will participate in one of the most fun-filled days in the Pattaya calendar, boosting the city’s image and raising needed funds for the underprivileged children of Pattaya.
More information can be found at www.fr-ray.org or email info@fr-ray.org

Legend has it that at the bottom of an Irish rainbow you will find a pot of gold, and in many ways the recent Paddy’s Day parade in Pattaya this was proved to be true. Only this Irish rainbow helped not with gold but with money for the Father Ray Foundation while also allowing Pattaya to enjoy all that is magical about St. Patrick’s Day.
Through Inspire eMagazine, I was able firsthand to follow one of the participants in this parade, Murphy’s Law Irish Pub in Soi Metro, as Inspire sponsored this wonderful Irish pub in its efforts to raise money for the charity. It was a day that will be long remembered, albeit with some blur due to the traditional drinking associated with this day.
“Paddy’s Day in Pattaya just seems to be getting stronger and stronger,” said popular landlord Steve Spratt. “The parade which started at Alcazar on Second Road proceeded along Beach Road, and I was overwhelmed by the crowd who gathered to watch and enjoy all along the route”.
It was a super showcase for this city on what can be achieved when the expats of this town and City Hall come together to work on an event. It really was a carnival atmosphere that all nationalities were able to enjoy.
It was hoped that  more than 250,000 baht would have been collected, and going by Murphy’s Law’s own efforts of around 30,000 baht, this should very much be the case once the last baht has been counted. Who needs a pot of gold when the people of this town have their own heart of gold in their efforts to raise money for the Father Ray Foundation?

Due to the postponement of the 2012 Pattaya Music Festival, changes have been made to the route of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2012, taking place on the afternoon of Saturday 17th March at 14:00.
The procession will gather at the parking lot of the Alcazar Theatre car park on Second Road and proceed down Soi 4 to Beach Road. Past all the sunbathers along the beach front before turning left onto South Pattaya Road, finishing one block later at Pattaya School No. 8, corner of South Pattaya Road and Second Road. There a Regents School band will entertain the marchers.
All are invited to join the Parade. You need not be Irish and you may wear any color you wish, as long as it’s green. For more information call the Father Ray Foundation on 038 716 628.