July 2012 Meeting Report

 

0. The members were welcomed in the pleasant atmosphere of the hotel’s coffee shop.

1. Tom Dahlquist opened the meeting at 14.00 hours

2. Secretary for today is: Joop van Spaandonk

3. The meeting was attended by two visitors, Bill (Florida, USA) and Flaviano (Italy). They both briefly introduced themselves.

4. Tom informed, with reference to the P.S and P.P.S. at the M.O.M. of the June meeting, that Hans van Geffen, Hans Smedberg, Bo Melander and Joop van Spaandonk offered to be part of the Leadership Committee. In the mean time Bo Melander had, due to lack of time, to withdraw his offer. The Meeting was asked for approval for Hans and Hans to be part of the Masters of Ceremony and Joop to be the Secretary. The Meeting agreed and welcomed the new Committee Members.

5. All Attendees approved The Minutes of the Meeting at June 24 adding the following remarks/corrections:

– The DVD of the August 2011 event was a donation and is now property of the Club. – Has Murray been contacted? Yes, by mail but we did not yet receive a reply yet. – The wording “risqué” under item 8 should be “risk”. – The AXA insurance plan can be found at www.axa.co.th The Club did not receive any detailed information and premiums to be paid. A short discussion took place about Health insurance. See also under item 11 of this M.O.M…

6. Some formal issues were raised:

– A “P.S. and P.P.S.” shall be formally accepted by the Attendees at the next meeting. OK. – Minutes of Meetings shall be reviewed by the Attendees and accepted at the next meeting. – Minutes of Meetings shall not be checked by someone at forehand but sent out by the Secretary on his own. At this point the Secretary explained that not everybody is a native English speaker and an interpretation and spelling control is advisable. The meeting agreed. The back-up Secretary will do this. – Because there is not yet a back-up Secretary the Attendees were asked who was interested. Mr. Wulf in particular was asked for and, in spite of little time available, was willing to accept. The meeting agreed. – The Member list shall be handed over to and be kept by the Secretary. A copy shall be kept by the Back-up Secretary and the Leader Committee. – Correspondence to Members shall be sent by a dedicated Committee member. This shall be a Master of Ceremony, the Secretary or the Leader of the P.R. Committee. The M.O.M. shall a priory be distributed by the Secretary. – Apart from sending out invitations, minutes of meeting, messages and the like these shall be put on the Club’s website.

7. Workgroups / Committee Reports

Dirk resigned from the IT committee as the webmaster. Herman and Tom will continue as webmasters. Herman is working on an improved site; even though he is abroad.

The Treasurer; Herman Broeckz is abroad for some time (Months). Jan Harms who acts as Cashier during Herman’s absence has had an accident and cannot act. Ecki has taken over until the situation has normalized.

Ecki informed he is working at a Club’s visit to the control tower at the airport. This should be a sequence of groups with six people. The visit could take place during weekdays by the end of August. As soon as more information is available the Members will be informed.

Upon a question from the Attendees about the whereabouts of Paul the information is provided, that he is expected to be back before the August meeting.

Hans Smedberg informed that, for the moment, at the ATM of AEON there is no fee when you take money out of your VISA account from your homeland.

Hans Smedberg suggested introducing “Yellow Pages” at the Club’s website. Therefore, that someone who has good experience with some service, restaurant or whatever can share this with the other Members. The idea was welcomed. For this Hans made his E-mail ([email protected]) available for reactions and input (in some details and road description). If anyone is available and willing to assist Hans in this please let him know. It shall be clear that the Club does and cannot take any responsibility for any advice, service or experience given or followed in this matter.

Wulf informed that a Swiss with good command of English, Fredy Sigrist (08 49575886), offers a computer service. In order to do this the user will have to install a program (Teamviewer) on his/her PC that will provide an access-code and a password that the user will have to communicate to Fredy by phone. This will enable Fredy to log onto the user’s PC to do maintenance work on the user’s PC. The user will be able to watch Fredy doing this.

 8. Coffee break at the hotel’s coffee shop with Brownies and fresh fruits.

9. Mainly because of a change in the Meeting location there is no “Today’s Speaker” invited.

10. It is informed that:

– From now on there will be an open weekly “Wednesday morning Brunch” at the Book House Restaurant at lake Nong Sim. Starting at 10 o’clock. Everyone is invited to join and bring friends or introduce aspirant Members. It is not obliged to take any consumption. But in case you like they have a good restaurant with a wide variety in dishes and drinks at reasonable costs. The first Brunch will be Wednesday August 1. An invitation shall also be put on the website and be sent to all Members.

– If there are enough Members interested a monthly visit to the horse races can be arranged. Please inform. At last weeks race five Members showed up.

– Kurt Lunstrum let us know that he opened a new restaurant “KaPow Wings” at 6/32 Soi Sampan in
Udon. It has a complete new concept and everybody is invited to come and try it out.

– Christer Sannerend has a small restaurant in Nong Khai the “Swedish Bar”. It is located along the
river side, near the boat landing, 50 meters upstream the Indo-Chinese market.

– Panyavej Hospital will be Bangkok Hospital. It is the intention that the Club’s connection will be continued. It is under review if the logo of Bangkok hospital can be printed on the Club’s member card. This may Club Members give access to a discount at any Bangkok Hospital.

– It was remarked that a last year speaker was a medical (cardiologist) who was not connected to the Panyavej. The Panyavej expressed their unhappiness in that matter. However, the Club shall reserve the rights to invite who they want and suffer no restrictions even when the meeting takes place at the hospital’s meeting room.

11. Health Insurance

– For those who have a “Yellow Taabien” it seems possible to register at the City Hospital and get the same medical treatment and Invoice as a Thai citizen. It is also possible to ask for a private room. This will cost about Baht 1500/day extra and only if available at that time. This might also apply for the Thai Government- and Army-Hospitals.

– One shall however be prepared for: waiting times at an emergency, availability, air conditioning, family to take care. In other words you will have the general treatment and no special one.

– A private insurance has many restrictions and might be very costly.

– One Member has good experience with BUPA. However he is in his fifties and had to pay 5 years premium in advance. It only seems to be financially attractive for people up to 60 years old. After that age your insurance premium may go up sharply in price and the insurance may even be cancelled.

– It is very important to read the small letters and conditions. It is very important to inform them thoroughly about your medical history. In the case of a claim the insurance will check your medical history extensively and if you had that problem before or you forgot to mention any other medical problem you might had, the insurance will not pay.

12. The meeting was closed by Tom at 16.00 Hours. He thanked everybody for coming and the financial support to meet the extra costs of the meeting at the Paradise Hotel. See you (all members) next time. Probably Panyavej otherwise the Paradise again (only coffee/tea with cakes, no Buffet).

The Secretary,

 

 

2012 July 31

J.J. van Spaandonk.

 

Addendum by Wulf at the time of editing the minutes: Fredy Sigrist also builds you your PC-system according to your requirements at reasonable prices.