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About us and our
Charities
Thanks for dropping by our web site. Pattaya for many
years has deservedly had the reputation of being something of a gay
Mecca for tourists from all over the world. Also, events such
as street parties, gay sports days, football and Mr & Miss Contests
have long been a popular tradition here. In November 2000,
following the initiative of local businessman
Jim Lumsden, a committee began
the mammoth task of organizing the First Pattaya Gay Festival in
which all gay and gay friendly businesses could be as involved as
they wished. Now
six years
on and with over
16 million baht
raised
that little initiative has grown out of all proportion and
the reputation of quality PGF Events, from dinners to street parties, means
it has become a 'must do' in most Asian Gay Travellers diary.
Luckily for them, there are Events throughout the year and they are
listed on this site either as PGF Committee or Member sponsored Events, all are great fun and worthy of consideration.
The year long party culminates around
December
1st, World Aids Day.
with a huge program of
Final
Events
over a four day period each year. From the 16 million
baht raised to date the main benefactor has been the
Heartt 2000
Charity, an HIV/AIDS related organisation here in Pattaya
getting medications to patients in need, as well as other well known local
Charities. One of the most satisfying aspects of the fund raising
has been how both gay and non-gay people work together to improve
the life chances of many Thai sufferers in the locality.
The volunteers and participants also have a great deal of fun along
the way at high quality social events.
This year once again the nominated charities are Heartt 2000 and
other local charities. Incidentally, Heartt 2000 (Help Ensure Aids
Rescue In Thailand Together) is run by French
Doctor Philippe Seur
and he has already helped hundreds of HIV/AIDS sufferers, principally by
diagnosing and purchasing, as cheaply as possible, the life saving
drugs which people in the western world would take for granted.
Many of us who knows Dr Philippe's work will confirm the
tremendous value of Heartt 2000's contribution to the health of the
community, this has now becoming widely acknowledged by The City
Council, Rotary and many more. This web site will be actively
updated so look in on us often.
Finally, please don't forget that the
Pattaya Gay Festival 2006
is already
underway BUT we still need Sponsor Members.
You can help by clicking on the Support PGF link above, or by attending PGF Events
and buying the Lucky Numbers. Events are held throughout the year to raise funds for the charities
but large or small Donations are always welcome, see a Committee Member
or email us direct.
Enjoy the year
safely & actively for a good cause!
Pattaya
Gay Festival – Chairman’s Report for 2005
For
five years the Pattaya Gay Festival has, with the help of a small and
informal organizing committee, run a series of fund-raising events to help
and support local charities. For three years the committee has also relied
on members to run events, an initiative introduced in 2003 which has proved
to be greatly beneficial to PGF funds. In the second half of 2005 the
Committee felt confident enough to increase monthly contributions to the
HIV/Aids organization Heartt 2000 by 25% without jeopardizing PGF’s balances
and with the assurance that the new figure of 250,000 baht per month would
be sustainable not only for the year ahead but also for the following year
(2006).
This
increase in funding has been attainable through increased support from gay
and non-gay businesses and members of PGF and significant personal
contributions received throughout the year from a number of individuals as
will be mentioned in the Treasurer’s Report. During 2005 and following the
death of Ian McKnight, General Manager of Le Café Royale who did much
unheralded work for PGF behind the scenes especially in regard to Boyz Town
street parties, we received a substantial legacy from his executors under
the terms of his will – the third such donation made under similar
circumstances since 2002. It is therefore not inappropriate for the
Committee to ask all of its members and supporters to consider including
similar donations when finalizing the disposition of their estates in the
future.
Funding
for Heartt 2000 has increased during the past five years although donations
have been made to other causes and the Committee is willing to consider
requests for held when approached. However the prime concern remains of
supporting the work of Dr Philippe Seur and Dr Jureerat, work which has and
will continue to increase. The chart below shows what PGF has been able to
do over five years.
Year Income Donations to Heartt
2000
2001 2,928,632
1,075,000
2002 3,596,525
1,928,500
2003 2,642,660
2,338,699
2004 3,323,981
2,818,521
2005 3,821,304
3,675,000
Total 16,275,509
11,835,720
The
donations made by PGF to Heartt 2000 represent between 20-25% of Dr Seur’s
total costs; without our help his work would be impaired seriously and many
patients currently receiving medical treatment – many of whom contribute the
best they can towards the cost of their medicine – would no longer be with
us. The cause is worthy in its own right as well as being a considerable
contribution to the Pattaya community as a whole. The Committee hopes that
the trend of a broader based membership reflecting the concerns of more
businesses in Pattaya, will continue to increase in the years ahead.
The Committee wishes to thank
the Treasurer for his attention to all of our financial matters which are
handled carefully and meticulously, especially with the help of our former
Treasurer John Nicholl. Our thanks also to Brian Wigley who has continued to
manage the PGF website which has been revamped; he somehow is able to make
reports of events with photographs almost before they have been completed,
and the publicity that this engenders have been of great benefit to PGF. The
‘new look’ website promises to be of interest next year and Brian would
welcome input from members whether it be in the form of their own
photographs or comments about events; for information please refer to the
PGF website that Brian maintains at his own cost. The Committee also extends
thanks to three of its members whose term of office expired in December
2005: Mark Woodhouse, Co-organizer of Boyz Town street parties with Jim
Lumsden; Allan Sherratt our Minutes Secretary, who has returned to the
Ministry and David Martin who has moved to Sri Sa Ket. Their efforts on
behalf of PGF over the years has enabled much good work to be done and we
thank them sincerely.
But as always our special
thanks to our members and friends who have supported the events and
hopefully will continue to do so in 2006. Although we rely on support from
many familiar faces and businesses, the huge success achieved this year,
financially the best year for fund-raising, can be attributed to the many
new supporters that PGF has attracted and the wider publicity PGF has
received from the media.
The rationale for PGF remains
the same: we exist to help the unfortunates of our community to the best of
our ability. As a non-government organization, and using only funds obtained
from our membership and supporters, we are faced with the increasing cost of
generic and non-generic drugs to fight HIV/Aids and the unwillingness of
medicine producing companies to lower their retail market costs. PGF must
meet this challenge by continuing to give help where needed most, but also
addressing and responding to other charitable community concerns as they
arise. The PGF will do this to the best of its ability in 2006 with your
continued support.
Michael J Burchall (Chairman)
Committee
Members 2005: Financial
Report here
James Lumsden
Allan Sherratt Richard Burk Lukas Habersaat Mark
Woodhouse John Bryan Hans Frisch David Martin
Committee
Elected for 2006
Michael J Burchall (Chairman)
Jim Lumsden (Deputy Chairman) John Nicholl
(Treasurer)
Barry Kenyon (Minutes Secretary) John Bryan
Thomas Kalb Stephen Dickens
Phil Graham Richard Burk |
