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Meet Michelle Reedy, Ayutthaya’s Elephant Lady

28/11/2019

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By Ruth Gerson
 
It is not every day that one meets an expat woman who has decided to settle in Thailand and dedicate herself to this country’s most revered creature – the elephant! But that’s exactly what Michelle Reedy has chosen as her mission in life.
 
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Michelle spent her early years working in retail. But her real passion was animals, so in order to find suitable work she returned to the classroom to acquire a degree in zoo keeping. She spent the next ten years at Melbourne zoo looking after various animals, though her dream was to care for elephants, but no such position was available for her at that time. Michelle first learned about the elephants of Ayutthaya in 2001 when the Melbourne zoo was trying to acquire some of these amazing animals. This immediately spurred her interest and she wasted no time coming to Thailand on an exploration trip to study the opportunities of working with elephants.
 
She continued to visit annually and in 2006 Michelle eventually found employment in Ayutthaya’s Royal Elephant Kraal village (established in 1996) to work with Khun Laithongrian Meepan whose family was planning to set up a program for retired elephants, which meant creating a system suitable for these aging pachyderms.
 
“Wondering how an Ayutthaya family became interested in caring for elephants, I was told that they bought a young elephant for their daughter’s fifth birthday 25 years ago, and soon realized that elephants need space, an area of their own,” explains Michelle.
 
“Ayutthaya is historically and culturally connected to elephant rearing and training, evidenced by the old kraal structure – kraal is a Dutch word for corral – that still stands at the northern edge of the city. Caring for elephants was in a way continuing the old tradition of this city-kingdom.” 

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Lady with a passion for fashion From regular visitor to Thailand-based entrepreneur behind the Ambre Jolie brand

15/10/2019

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With friends at Fineé’s workplace
By Agneta de Bekassy
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From regular visitor to Thailand-based entrepreneur behind the Ambre Jolie brand.
​

During the 90s, German-born Fineé Schuektanz was a frequent visitor to Thailand, enjoying some of the many beautiful islands and, like so many other people, she quickly fell in love with the country, its natural beauty, the people’s kindness, the culture, food and the warm climate.
 
When she reminisces about her first visit to Thailand, Fineé recalls feeling immediately at home here.

Returning to Germany, she couldn’t stop thinking about how good it would be to find a way to live in Thailand, and to run a business in Bangkok.

Growing up in an entrepreneurial family near Düsseldorf in Germany, Fineé is a natural born business woman, with a strong will and living by the motto: ‘Nothing is impossible.’ In 2003 she started to look for business opportunities in Asia that would combine pleasure with practicality.

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Reviving River City as a major Bangkok art hub

2/10/2019

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The place is buzzing with new galleries, restaurants and events thanks to new MD Linda Cheng
By Ruth Gerson 
Linda Cheng, Managing Director of River City Bangkok, has injected new life into the famous venue after losing some of its shine since opening 35 years ago.
 
This highly engaging and approachable lady tells of the circuitous route that has taken her from Taiwan at the young age of 12 to study in the United States, and later to Thailand to work in her family’s business. Linda’s father had owned a business in Taiwan manufacturing Christmas lights and moved its base to Thailand, establishing a factory in Bang Na. In 1989, following graduation from UCLA in Los Angeles, Linda joined her family business in Thailand while pursuing an MBA degree at the newly opened and prestigious SASIN business school at Chulalongkorn University. “It was my father’s way of keeping me here,” she says. And indeed he succeeded, as it was in Bangkok that Linda met her husband and put down roots in the City of Angels.
 
Linda’s husband’s story runs parallel to hers. Also of Taiwanese origin, his parents invested in ceramic tile manufacturing in Thailand. While Linda had studied on west coast USA her husband finished his studies in New York and was already employed there when he was summoned to return to Asia to his family’s business. The two met in Bangkok and married in 1994. Linda continued to work in the family’s business in marketing and sales with the US as a major market, while her husband’s ceramic tile business took them to Europe, mostly to Italy and Spain from where the tile-manufacturing machines were imported.
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In the community, Linda had served as president of the Rotary Club of Bangkok in 2007, only the third woman to hold this position, which at the time was in its 77th year. This afforded her to expand her social managerial skills, and coupled with her keen business acumen she became a desirable target for business recruiters. The opportunity for change arose in 2012 when a friend asked Linda to help at the Mahidol University’s College of Music. Linda consented, remembering an inspirational talk by a guest speaker from a Rotary meeting who had said that one should do what he or she is passionate about. The offer came at a time when Linda was rethinking her life, feeling that she wanted do more than run a business, saying, “Family work was a duty, music was my passion.”
 
Linda met the dean of the College of Music and the board of directors who created the position of Associate Dean for Marketing and Communications for her, recognizing Linda’s art of persuasion linked with her passion for music. With a tight budget and great ideas by the administrators that had to be carry out, Linda says with a smile, “I was the messenger to deliver their wishes.” To be able to operate effectively, Linda used various means to promote the music college such as bartering concert tickets, finding sponsors and working in partnership with embassies and cultural institutions. She found this work rewarding being able to engage the community while promoting music appreciation and education. The threefold growth of the audience attending performances at Mahidol attests Linda’s success in her three and a half years of work there.

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Meet fashion icon: Alexia Kay

7/8/2019

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Born in Cambodia, raised in America – and now making waves in Bangkok
Alexia with Clutch.

When this lady walks into a room, people stop talking to watch and feel her presence: she knows how to make an entrance. A body that makes many of us envious, hair that could
make any hairdresser proud and always dressed like a fashion icon.
 
This is the essential Alexia Kay.
 
So who is this amazing person?
Alexia was born in Cambodia, but grew up in the United States. Both her parents are from Cambodia, but live in Boston, Massachusetts. Alexia has three older siblings, all married and living in the United States. The family left Cambodia after the civil war and arrived in the US in April, 1982.
 
She studied interior design at the Art Institute of Atlanta. Today she is a successful fashion designer.
 
Who or what inspired you to become a designer?
“A designer was not my first option. My parents wanted me to study to become a doctor or lawyer and they hoped I would attend an Ivy League School, such as Harvard or Brown University. Many in my family are doctors or lawyers.
 
“It’s common for Asian parents to choose a high paying profession for their children.
 
“I decided, after high school, that I wanted to become an interior designer, I wanted to follow my own path and not in my parents footsteps.

“Many people have inspired me through the years, including my parents. They always encouraged me to be strong, not being afraid of failure, never hesitating to admit that you are tired, weak or down, or that you are insecure about something. They always told me that learning is part of life, but try to avoid repeating mistakes.”
 
Currently, Alexia is living and working in Thailand and Cambodia. She mentions that the company is based in the United States and that she is here to oversee production.
 
She spends about 80% of her time in Bangkok and the other 20 % she travels, both for leisure and business. Alexia recently launched her first handbag collection with a charity show at the Dusit Thani hotel, with, among many models, former Miss Universe year 2005, Nathalie Glebova. Her exclusive and unique handbags and clutches. The bags are made of leather from Europe and Australia.
What design a handbag collection?
“As a former model, I wore many designers’ clothes, some I liked, and some I liked less. I mostly felt that something was missing.
 
“I decided to design a bag collection for “stay home moms” and business women. I talked to  any women and all of them said, they had so little time to pick a suitable handbag, one for the daytime and one for after work. It’s often you have to go directly from work to attend a dinner, a concert or any other event. I came up with the idea, to make bags that you could change yourself in a very easy way.
 
“Most of the bags are in two different colors and you can play around with parts of the bag, give it a new look every time. It saves you time and hassle and you don’t have to carry two bags along, or run home to pick up the ‘after work’ bag. Today you can order Alexia’s bags online
www.Alexiakay.com. She also sells to retailers using sales agents.”  Alexia is CEO of Alexia Kay and she is the ‘brand face’ of the company.
 
“I’m representing my brand with pride and the best of my ability,” she says. “I’m also the creative mind behind the designs; I meet up with potential clients and demonstrate the multi functionalities of the bags.”

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How British expat Dr Donna earned her Thai medical license

11/6/2019

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To achieve her ambition, this amazing doctor had pass exams written in Thai
 
By Ruth Gerson
Understandably, not all husbands or wives of expats in full-time employment in Thailand are content just to stay at home and look after the house and kids. This is especially when they have enjoyed careers of their own in the past and want to find suitable employment.
 
Such is the case with Dr Donna Robinson, a now well-known Briton who had to overcome obstacles that would deter all but the most determined in order to be able to practice her profession in Thailand.
 
Not only did she have to learn the Thai language to be able to communicate with patients, she also had to master medical Thai terminology to be licensed to work here – and she succeeded!
 
Born and educated in Newcastle in northern England, Dr Donna trained as general practitioner, and holds a diploma in gynecology and occupational medicine, the latter focusing on maintaining health at the workplace.
 
Feeling that life was passing her by, at the age of 26 she looked eastward and went to work in New Zealand while getting higher medical qualifications. On her journey, she stopped for one night in Singapore, her first encounter with the Far East, and she liked it. “Asia is a pretty good place,” she thought.
 
When it was time for Dr Donna to leave New Zealand she did not rush back to the UK but rather sought out Asian destinations, landing a job in Hong Kong. Although she spent a mere six months there, it changed the course of her life, as it is where she met her husband – on a cross country run organized by the Hash House Harriers run, romantically enough, on the Chinese Moon Festival!
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Married three years later, the couple began a new life here in Thailand when her husband Ian, an engineer by profession, landed a job in 1989 working on major infrastructure projects like the Expressway second phase and the BTS Skytrain. Dr Donna followed shortly afterwards, in early 1990.
 
Wanting to work, but being unable to do so without a Thai medical license, Dr Donna reached out to NGOs (non-government organizations). She joined Samakon ASIN, where she wrote proposals for financial help, at that time for HIV research.
 
Recalling that period, Dr Donna says that one must be patient to reach one’s goals. Her next employment was with UNICEF in the position of Project Officer, once again working with the hot issue of the day, HIV/ AIDS, writing reports on the work done.
 
But Dr Donna found this work unsatisfactory, “I knew I wanted more - to work with patients,” she says and understandably so, as she was trained as a doctor.
Over tea, we discussed the challenges and difficulties she faced. Dr Donna related how in 1996 she decided to venture out on her own, beginning at Chulalongkorn Hospital where she was given the position of Honorary Medical Officer, a rotation job that provided training. Parallel to her work, she studied for her Thai medical license exams, both clinical and theoretical, including exams written in Thai, a monumental task. On April 1st 1998, she obtained her Thai medical license, a monumental achievement to which she says, “It was a huge boost to my confidence.”
 
Getting the Thai medical license enabled Dr Donna to move more freely in the Thai medical community.
And so she began her newly revived career working for Kimberly Clark, a producer of medical supplies, as regional medical director to deal with expat employees in their factories throughout Asia.
 
Fortunately, her schedule allowed her to follow her true calling - that of tending the sick and she began working two mornings a week at Bumrungrad Hospital as general practitioner and internal medicine.

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Ballet masterclass at the Russian embassy

13/5/2019

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Teacher Julia brings her amazing talents to Bangkok
The Russian embassy in Bangkok has become a centre of ballet excellence, thanks to the young and beautiful Julia Tutarskya, a former prima donna who is working wonders as a dance teacher at the in-house school.
 
Opened in 2014, the ballet school was the brainchild of former Russian Ambassador to Thailand, Mr Kirill Barsky. Since then it has attracted students from many nationalities, including Thais and Russians.
 
Julia was born in Michurinsk, a town named after the great biologist Ivan Vladimirivich Michurin, located in the Tambov region of Russia.
 
When Julia was just four years old, her parents took her and her elder sister to the Michurinsk Choreography School for ballet classes. “At that young age, I already knew I wanted to become a ballet dancer,” says Julia.
 
With support from her parents and the school, Julia pursued her dream, which eventually led to her current profession.

Julia’s childhood was filled with exciting concerts, daily dance lessons, and both classic ballet and traditional folkdance. She began piano lessons at the same age as she started dancing and wanted to become as good a piano player as her mother. Julia was a dedicated student and loved history, literature and foreign languages.
 
She talks fondly about her first teacher, Mrs Lyubov Viktorovna Benderskaya, who not only taught her students a perfect ‘pas de deux’ but also instilled a love and appreciation of ballet.
 
“I started to explore classic ballet and learned a lot from her. In this school, choreography became a part of the students’ lives. Russia is known for supporting children with a certain gift - ballet, gymnastics, music or anything else.

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How Pear, aged just ten, enjoyed success at the London Fashion Show

15/4/2019

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By Special Correspondent
 From making an enchanting video giving make-up tips when she was just three years old to participating in the London Fashion Week aged only ten – that’s the amazing life story so far of Natthanan ‘Pear’ Sanunrat, an extraordinarily smart little lady from Chantaburi.  It’s easy to see why the cute four-minute video, which is still available on youtube, has garnered an aston­ishing seven millions views. It shows an angelic Pear offering advice while carefully rubbing in and dabbing on various cosmetics, totally oblivious of the impact it would have.
 
For it set her on a path to fame, which continues to this day.
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The IT expert from Kazakhstan -Irina Afonina’s business booms in Cambodia while she lives in Bangkok

1/4/2019

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By Ruth Gerson
​ In the male-dominated world of information technology, a young woman from Kazakhstan, a state in the former Soviet Union, has made her mark. Irina Afonina owns and runs Cresittel, headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which she visits on a regular basis while she and her family reside in Bangkok.
 
Irina’s company provides software development for mobile applications as well as human resource systems – one of the largest Cambodia.
 
Irina’s story begins in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, where she studied IT at a technical university. Despite her high marks, IT was not her first career choice. She wanted to study psychological therapy and help people with deep rooted problems.
 
This was influenced by personal experiences as a number of friends had come to her for help with their emotional difficulties, some quite serious. Her mother, however, a strong and practical woman, steered Irina in a different direction – towards IT which was just taking off in Kazakhstan. “She is such a strong and stubborn woman that it was just easier to listen to her,” Irina says.
 
Her mother was acting from knowledge, having been employed by the German embassy in Almaty, with exposure beyond the borders of Kazakhstan. She noticed through her work that Germany in the late 1990s was outsourcing much of its electronic work to India, and that gave her ideas for her daughter’s future.
 
Irina did not waste any time, enrolling in IT courses and working for one of the first internet providers in the country while studying.
 
When that company failed, she began working nights at a call center that served Kazakhstan only, where she experienced and learned mobile technology from the ground up that was to serve her well in her future endeavors.
 
Her employers recognized Irina’s natural intelligence and found more challenging positions for her within their business concern, and so began a rotation of work roles, most of them lasting a few months.
 
The real breakthrough came when the business purchased a billing solution from Israel. It was Irina’s first taste of what lay outside in the wide world, and at the age of 22 she wanted  to be part of it. When Amdocs, the Israeli company, offered her a working position in Bangladesh she jumped at the opportunity. 

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little chilli: Only ten years old, Mai co-authors her first book

22/3/2019

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A father and daughter write an oddball story addressing issues of identity and bullying in this humorous, heartfelt journey.
It started as a six-page story. A young girl, Snow Flake, transfers to a new school and wants to fit in. The story paralleled the young author’s situation. Natchariya “Mai” was transferring from Thai school to an international school in Bangkok. Her dominant language at the time was Thai and her father thought she might have trouble adjusting.

Instead of making language the challenge in the story, Snow Flake has large and unusual feet. She attempts to hide them, but sits next to the class bully, Cannon Ball. Thus, begins the conflict.
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Mai and her father, Greg Beatty, developed the story over two years. Mai helped with plot twists and forbid her father to write a Hollywood ending. The 112-page story unfolds with dramatic and hilarious consequences, but Mai insisted, “I didn’t want Snow Flake and Cannon Ball to get together at the end.”
 
Snow Flake’s journey is a hero’s journey. On her quest, she learns that her unique physical appearance is nothing to be ashamed of, and in fact, it becomes an attribute when she needs to perform a heroic deed.
 
Mai says, “Kids will relate to Snow Flake’s goal because everyone wants to be accepted by their peers. And all kids face challenges.”
 
The authors believe that Snow Flake is a good learning partner because the protagonist must think creatively to overcome challenges. As the story moves along, she builds confidence. Mai explains, “One of the themes is the importance of trying. You don’t always have to win. Snow Flake trains hard for the Big Race, even though she knows she can’t win. Instead, she tries to beat Cannon Ball.”
 
Cannon Ball, the villain, is not your everyday bad boy. He has a talent for hip-hop. Mai and her father enjoy Shel Silverstein poems, so the story is interspersed with several poems in the hip-hop voice of Cannon Ball.
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TEACHING FIRST aid AND SAVING LIVES IN Thailand

18/2/2019

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By Ruth Gerson
​Once a nurse, always a nurse. This is how Debbie Thompson views herself. If not ministering to the sick, then imparting her knowledge in that very valuable area of healthcare.
Today Debbie runs her own small business here in Thailand called First Aid Solutions, with aims to spread the knowledge and expertise of first aid to help in cases of emergency. These are valuable services that can save lives. Over coffee, Debbie smiles as she recalls her adventures, venturing to Saudi Arabia as a single foreign woman to work in the country’s healthcare.
 
Born and trained in Liverpool, England, Debbie was recruited in 1988 from a burns hospital to work in a Saudi military hospital. Young and fair haired, she must have been somewhat of a sensation there. This is where she met her husband whose work was building network systems and logistics. It was the type of work that took him from place to place, including back to the UK and abroad again, then back to Saudi Arabia when Debbie returned to hospital work there (1992-1995), this time as supervisor in the hospital burns unit, in which she had specialized in the UK.
 
Debbie followed her husband wherever his work took him, leaving Saudi Arabis in 1995 for Malaysia and from there to Taiwan and Australia, a good deal of moving around. She describes these years as the hiatus in her working life, a time when her children were born, being able to spend time with them.
 
It seems however that her guiding light continued to be healing and caring for people. Upon returning once again to Saudi Arabia in 2002 for two-year stay, Debbie held the position of school nurse and health educator. The flexibility of her work suited her nomadic life style of moving back and forth between countries and continents.

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