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Seven Fountains fundraising dinner a great success
Lindy Santitharangkul
Festive
and Christmas like, was the dinner area at American Clubhouse for the
Charity Fund raiser.
The Seven Fountains Charity Dinner held on Dec. 11 at the
Hang Dong American Clubhouse was a huge success, according to its prime
organizer, Jo Steele. “The food was plentiful and delicious,” she
reported, “the decorations made you think Christmas was really on its
way,” and the entertainment was toe-tappingly merry. Father Vinai shared
slides of some of the Hill tribe children who benefit from the scholarships.
All of the proceeds go straight into the scholarship fund.
 Stine
(from Denmark) viewing the selection of scholarship cards. Each decorated
card shows a picture and story of the child you are sponsoring when you
“buy” it.
Because of the generosity of Waranan and Preecha
Pongcharoenkul, (Jade Factory) a special silent auction of three gorgeous
jade pieces raised 11,000 baht for the scholarship fund. 100 percent of
these bids goes straight to the children for education.
A big hit of the evening was Rainy’s Chiang Mai Voices,
as they sang some Christmas favorites, and led the group in a community
sing-a-long. Chiang Mai Voices will hit the ground running, and plan for a
bigger musical celebration in May.
The night’s proceeds were considerable. The evening raised 84,500 baht.
Many thanks go to all those who donated their time and energy to making the
evening a success, and a bigger thanks to all those who came and enjoyed the
evening. “A special thanks to Jake, Tess and Jordan for volunteering to
run errands and to wait on tables,” said Jo. “They did an exceptional
job!”
The food
line for the amazing feast which included turkey, ham and roast with all the
trimmings.
Another international film to be shot in Chiang Mai
Sandy Clark
Camera
team in the jungle. Photo: Niv Abootalebi
Once again Chiang Mai is the venue for an international
film production, this time for young director Vanessa van Houten and her
crew from Germany, Austria and Thailand. The 90 minute movie ‘Toy’ is
produced by Dor Film Productions Ltd., with producer Danny Krausz, in
Co-production with Bavarian Broadcasting (BR), the Film University of
Munich, line producer Alfred Deutsch and line producer of Living Films
Chiang Mai Georg Peter Mueller.
 One
of the local supporting actresses: Penelope Hall, during break time. Photo:
Alfred Deutsch
‘Toy’ is a fiction-documentary about love. Nic
(Thomas Frไnzel), an eclectic 23 year old German, wanders through
Bangkok, searching for his ‘House of Wishes’ and is pulled into a world
and culture unknown to him. At a soup stall Nic meets Coco (Tschagsalma
Borchu), a mysterious 23-year old Asian girl who reminds him of a figure
from his past, and he is mesmerized by her. That’s the beginning. Nic also
meets the charismatic AIDS stricken 38 year old German Charlie (Lars
Rudolph). Nic follows Charlie into the ambivalent world of mysteries. The
lives of Nic, Coco and Charlie often cross each other, but ultimately they
find true friendship and love.
 Nic
finds Coco in Bangkok Karaoke Bar and is mesmerized by her. Photo: Alfred
Deutsch
The movie results from the thesis of the writers, Vanessa
van Houten and Natalie von Lambsdorff, who dreamt of shooting this movie
since they first walked through the streets of Bangkok three years ago. From
that moment they began searching for financial support and a way to fulfill
their dream, finding Dor Film West a group who believe in promoting first
time directors as they are the future of European film
makers.
The production time is set at seven weeks, and inside locations were
moved to Chiang Mai, as this reduces production costs dramatically. The crew
from Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Austria and Germany are highly motivated, and
despite the low budget ‘Toy’ is marked by passion and dedication, and
the actors are driven by enthusiasm with only one aim: to prove that it is
possible for young directors, writers and actors to make a movie which is
diverse and also professional.
Coco in
her hill tribe village, where she takes her friends from Bangkok. Photo: Niv
Abootalebi
Welcome German Ambassador Dr. Christoph Bruemmer
Marion Vogt
 Raimund
Haerthe, pro-ducer of the daily Thai Ticker and Dr. Christoph Bruemmer,
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Dr. Christoph Bruemmer took up his appointment as German
Ambassador to Thailand in August this year, after spending four years as
German ambassador in Pakistan.
Last weekend, Dr. Bruem-mer together with his wife Antje
and one of their three daughters came for their initial visit to Northern
Thailand. German Honorary Consul Hagen Dirksen and his wife Wanphen hosted
functions to introduce him to the local community members.
 Hon.
German Consul Hagen Dirksen, German Ambassador Dr. Christoph Bruemmer,
Sabine and Thomas Zimpfer during the Ambassador’s visit to the Bluechip
Microhouse Factory.
The Ambassador’s days in Chiang Mai were filled with
visits to various German organizations located in the North of Thailand,
including the CDSC (Christian German School) and Bluchips Micro-house, a
company with 100 percent German ownership, which started production of LCD
modules in March 2000.
A very relaxed evening followed at the restaurant of the
Club House of Ban Nai Fun II, and Dr. Bruemmer declared in his humorous
address to be very happy being in Thailand, despite one minor problem - he
has yet to find someone with problems!
Dr. Bruemmer and his family promised to be back soon, as the current cool
climate would be a very pleasant change from the Bangkok temperatures.
An
almost impossible task to get everybody in the group photo.
It was a
very relaxed evening at Saenkham Terrace, which included David Summers,
Wanphen Dirksen, US CG Bea Camp, Hon. German Consul Hagen Dirksen, German
Ambassador Dr. Christoph Bruemmer, family Kutscher from CDSC and family
Klaus Kappler from KEK Gems on the right
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