|
The first Chiang Mai ToyRide a smashing success without a smash!
Scott Jones & Elle Faraday
Two months before the first Chiang Mai ToyRide 2008 on 6 January,
Robert called me with plans for the ride that did not include a set date, a
logo or an organization to handle the charity activities for the event. He
did, however, have an overdeveloped heart and a committee with similar
attributes. And they all had a dream: to give toys and stuffed animals to
disadvantaged children. Everybody needs a buddy. Somehow we all pulled it
together and had a grand event, although two months ago, Robert was
50-something and today he’s at least 60-something.
Robert Straghan and Richy Wilson were the two who originally came up with
the idea of bringing the toy ride to Thailand. Robert had been involved with
toy rides in Vancouver and had seen how successful they had been. The idea
to organise one in Chiang Mai soon turned into a reality and together with a
team of committee members, the toy ride was planned and carried out in just
two months - a fantastic achievement!
About 160 bikes of all sizes, though heavy in the big bike category, met at
Tesco Khamtien at 10 a.m. to begin the ToyRide around the moat, around the
Samoeng loop and finally gathering at Huay Tung Tao Lake for an afternoon of
food, music, festivities, games and most importantly, a presentation of toys
to children from two local orphanages: Ponsawan Community Development Center
in Sansai and Children’s Garden orphanage near Doi Saket. (While Robert, the
leader of the pack, was getting ready to ride, all of the bikes left without
him in the lead. This may have been responsible for one year of his recent
aging.). Once the loop of the moat had been completed, those who did not
feel their bikes were up to a long run went straight to the lake. The only
requirement for participation was for everyone to bring a new toy and
deposit it on the burgeoning pile of bears, trucks, dolls and games, that
continued to grow along with the kids’ eyes with visions of which toy might
be theirs. The park was filled with celebrities: Santa rode in, Spiderman
lurked on a Harley, and the Pink Panther gave the audience a respectful wai.
A one minute silence was held in remembrance of H.M. the King’s sister and a
speech by TAT director Khun Junnapong Saranak was well received by everyone.
Everyone was in a spirited mood while circulating through the vendors,
marveling at Joker Man the Clown’s balloon artistry, chowing down on the
complementary food donated by the Imperial Mae Ping, checking out the live
music on stage and watching a hyperactive two-year-old snatching stuffed
animals larger than her from the pile, while her mother raced after trying
to catch her, perhaps wishing she had a large roll of duct tape so she could
secure her daughter to a tree. There was a clown at the lake for the kids
who did absolute wonders with balloons. They found themselves being handed
balloons in the shape of bicycles, caterpillars, swords, guns, teddy bears
and hats. The excitement radiating from their faces was impossible to
ignore.
Certainly the highlight of the afternoon was when all the kids finally got
to approach the toys just before they actually exploded with excitement, and
though we tried to organize it orderly by age, soon they all dived in. As
they sat round with their little eyes glued to the pile of toys, the signal
came for them to pick a toy each and absolute mayhem ensued. The first girl
to find herself at the pile of toys took a teddy bear which was possibly
twice her size and she grinned from ear to ear as she walked away with her
prize. The two-year-old literally did dive in, swimming through the toys
doing the Australian crawl and the Thai backstroke, while flinging toys into
the air with reckless abandon. Her life will be downhill from that moment of
complete joy, a joy that transferred to the hearts of everyone watching.
The ToyRide committee represented bikers, non-bikers and several countries,
though all make their home in Chiang Mai: Robert Straghan, retired Canadian
engineer and avid petrol head; Ritchie Wilson, American owner of Richco
Motorsports, who will powder coat your bike, your industrial machinery or
your neighbor’s unruly pets; David Unkovich from Down Under, Mr G-T Rider
Himself, map-maker and author of A Motorcycle Guide to the Golden Triangle;
Ian Rauner, the Kiwi rider and God of Bungy from Chiang Mai X-Centre; Brit
Charles Begley, non-rider proprietor of Tusker’s Bar and founder of the
charity EleAid, which helps Asian elephants; Martin Titheridge, British
English teacher, owner of PM Restaurant and scooter rider; and displaced
American Scott Jones, chairman/founder of the nonprofit Give and Live,
musician, writer, cross-biker (Harley or Honda) and human being, not
necessarily in that order.
Numbers? 200-some bikes came to the lake and more than 300 folks partied
till 5 p.m. including the 70 orphans and their caretakers. No one counted
the toys, but there were plenty left for another presentation event with an
ice cream truck, soda, Joker Man, toy presentation and thumb-wrestling
tournament at the Girls’ Home at Vieng Ping orphanage on Saturday, January
12th for National Children’s Day. Through personal donations, vendor support
and business sponsorships such as Harley Davidson Bangkok, Tesco Lotus,
Discovery Moto Tours and Richco Motorsports, we raised an additional 150,000
baht, which will soon renovate larger playground equipment in desperate need
of repair at Vieng Ping as well as fund more toys for the kids at the Boys’
Home and for lonely children in area hospitals. The funds and toy
presentation events are handled by the nonprofit Give and Live, which
matched donations up to a total of 20,000 baht.
After more fun and games the children got on stage, sang a few songs and the
day came to an end. It had been a resounding success and taking into account
the fact that this was the first ever toy ride seen in Thailand, it all went
without a glitch.
We’re already planning next year’s event when we’ll try to remember to
auction Ritchie’s powder coating that was donated but not auctioned this
year for a very simple reason, although we haven’t figured out why yet.
(Robert, David and I can blame it on age and memory loss, but not the rest
of the committee.) Next year we need to get an invitation to every Honda
Dream rider in Chiang Mai, which should boost our attendance to seventeen
million. More photos will be up soon at www.chiangmaitoyride.com. Please
join us next year!
Food price inflation,
is it affecting your budget?
Bloomberg reports 12 % increase in food prices in Thailand
Staff Reporter
Most people are aware, due to media focus, that worldwide food
prices have risen considerably over the last year. Many reasons are given;
the favourite seems to be the increased cost of transportation due to rising
oil prices on the world market - mostly fuelled (pardon the pun) by
speculation rather than rises in production costs, fluctuations in supply,
or an occasional hurricane. The increasing use of land to grow crops for
bio-fuel had also been, correctly, blamed, pushing corn prices up to
previously unheard of heights. But how does this affect supermarket prices
in Chiang Mai? Official reports of last year’s inflation figures vary
between 2.2 % overall to 4.5 %. However, Bloomberg recently reported that
food price inflation in the Kingdom was running at 12 %. Does that sound
about right? Given that the average Thai retailer’s reaction to falling
turnover and profits is to raise prices, ignoring the principles of supply
and demand, it’s still difficult to justify such a huge increase, which, of
course, is being passed on to customers in restaurants and shops as well as
at markets and in the malls. Fresh food is mostly either imported from
China, at lower wholesale prices than are obtainable here by growers, or
sourced locally, sometimes very locally! Imported goods always were
expensive, and the dollar exchange rate has to be responsible for ever
higher prices in this area, but this government’s fiscal policies are also
not helping.
However, for expats on a fixed retirement budget, the reasons are not as
important as the struggle to continue with a modest but comfortable
lifestyle. It’s not always convenient, (and sometimes impossible!) to cook
at home, and if Western food is preferred, ingredients may not always be
available and are invariably expensive. Cutting back on social events is one
somewhat depressing answer, as most of us came here to have a better quality
of life in retirement that would have been possible in our home countries!
Whilst real estate is still comparatively cheap, whether renting or buying,
an empty fridge is not an attractive option, nor is having to miss out on a
meal out with friends. Of course, it’s not just the expat community which is
affected; consider the effect on the average Thai family budget of a 12 %
increase in food bills!
Whether the new government will consider the increase as a problem to be
addressed remains to be seen, (although it’s impossible to imagine that
expats needs would be factored in!), but, apart from the fiscally risky
strategy of granting even more subsidies to growers and producers, it’s hard
to imagine what they can do to alleviate the situation. Just be thankful
that you don’t live in the UK - food prices are projected to increase by 30%
this year!
|
