By Ruth Gerson
| This month sees ‘Fight Night!’ back in action. It’s an immensely popular annual charity event involving the local expat community as well as major Thai and foreign sponsors with the aim of raising funds for Operation Smile. The lady behind this wonderful initiative is Therese Beauvais who, together with her husband Kevin and a team of loyal assistants, have contributed millions of baht to an exceptional cause For more information on the event, contact: 02 014 4530-1. operationsmile.or.th. [email protected] FROM one service industry to another and then from a successful business concern to a charity may sound like an unlikely path, but this is the course US-born Therese Beauvais’s life has taken in Thailand. |  |
   | Therese arrived here in 1997 with hotelier husband, fellow American Kevin, who had a successful career with the Marriott group, where in fact they both worked and met. This same company later sent Kevin overseas to eventually run the five-star JW Marriott Hotel in Bangkok. After six years as the country manager with Marriott, Kevin joined the Minor Group in 2003 where he ran the hospitality division for two years. It seemed like the natural progression that Kevin would strike out on his own, which he eventually did, but not before taking time off to think and play, travel and spend time with family, while planning his next move. Upon his return to Thailand in 2007, Kevin opened his own company with Therese at his side, naming it InVision Hospitality. They created their own hotel brand called GLOW Hotels and Resorts. It seemed like a perfect time to start a business, but who was to know that the following year the world would suffer one the most severe economic setbacks in modern times. “Fear cripples you during an unsure economy,” says Therese, but apparently the Beauvais’ did not give into fear and stood their ground to emerge stronger than ever. Today they manage several properties in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam under both GLOW and soon to launch MAI HOUSE brands. In the years prior to establishing their business, Therese worked for the Marriott group sourcing artefacts for the various Marriott hotels’ boutiques and gift shops in the region. This enabled her to travel all over the country and get to know it better. It was through the Marriott that Therese found out about and in time got deeply involved with the organisation that has been helping thousands of children - Operation Smile! The unique vision of Operation Smile! is that “every child suffering from cleft lip or cleft palate deserves exceptional surgical care.” And that is what they do; they provide this life-transforming surgery. A cleft is a gap in either the lip or the roof of the mouth or both, that did not close during the child’s early development in the womb. Therese, who has been involved as a volunteer fundraiser with Operation Smile since 1999, says on behalf of herself and Kevin: “We love service to others, that’s who we are. It comes naturally to us.” Nine years ago both took positions on the board, with Kevin as its head. Operation Smile has an interesting history. It was started in 1982 in Virginia Beach in the United States by plastic surgeon Dr William Magee and his wife Kathleen, a clinical social worker. To gain experience in operating on cleft lips and cleft palates the couple travelled to the Philippines where they received an overwhelming welcome. |
Realising that they could not possibly treat all those who came with such great hopes, the couple promised to return, and that is what they did. The surgeries were free of charge but there were still expenses that someone had to pay. So the Magees began raising funds and soliciting donations of surgical equipment and supplies. They also built a team of volunteer doctors, nurses and technicians who travelled and worked with them, and in time they set up a foundation.
It was not long before Vietnam also benefited from these incredible surgeries, followed by a number of other countries, including Thailand. It seems auspicious that in 1996 former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun had the opportunity to meet Dr Magee while in the United States. He expressed a wish for Operation Smile to establish a foundation in Thailand, resulting in its first mission to the country two years later in 1997, when 140 corrective surgeries were performed during the Magees’ one-week stay. A few years later, in 2001, Operation Smile was registered as an official charitable medical foundation in Thailand.
Operation Smile has grown considerably since then. It now has a presence in over fifty countries with approximately 250,000 operations provided to date worldwide, and about 10,000 in total in Thailand, mostly to children. About 1,000 corrective surgeries are performed in Thailand annually, although there are always around 2,000 new patients, which leaves half of them wanting.
To facilitate as many operations as possible Therese searched for new and effective ways of raising money, and came up with the idea of white-collar boxing. This was enthusiastically received by her friends and volunteer committee, and even more by the public. Launched in 2011, it became known as ‘Fight Night! A Knockout Night for Charity’.
Fight Night 2016 is being held later this month on Thursday, October 20. It’s a hugely popular evening with tickets being snapped up by eager hopeful attendees. Most of the sales are electronic, with some by phone.
The event is truly a community effort, with Bangkok businessmen volunteering their time to train for several months to hone their boxing skills in preparation for what is for many of them their first experience of a genuine boxing match. Four fights are staged, each lasting three rounds of two minutes. Boxers in the past have included journalists, hoteliers, bankers, chefs and independent entrepreneurs. Their ages have ranged from the 20s right up to a several 60-year-olds.
The Dusit Thani Hotel donates the venue, its main ballroom, which is brilliantly transformed into a traditional boxing arena, complete with authentic ring, announcers, referees, corner assistants, bell to signal the rounds and an always popular array of ring girls.
Therese’s team of volunteer assistants ensure the evening works like clockwork, coaxing and encouraging guests to participate in a silent auction and buy raffle tickets to further help this remarkable charity. A fabulous four-course dinner with wine is served.
Therese is full of praise for the many prominent donors who give money and In-kind goods towards Fight Night. She describes them as “extraordinary friends of Operation Smile.” Last year’s event raised over 5.3 million baht and was supported by both Thai and international companies.
This year promises to be just as successful and maybe even more so. It’s a welcome challenge that will ultimately bring hope and a happy smile to a great number of very deserving children.
Contact details: 02 014 4530-1. operationsmile.or.th.
[email protected]
It was not long before Vietnam also benefited from these incredible surgeries, followed by a number of other countries, including Thailand. It seems auspicious that in 1996 former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun had the opportunity to meet Dr Magee while in the United States. He expressed a wish for Operation Smile to establish a foundation in Thailand, resulting in its first mission to the country two years later in 1997, when 140 corrective surgeries were performed during the Magees’ one-week stay. A few years later, in 2001, Operation Smile was registered as an official charitable medical foundation in Thailand.
Operation Smile has grown considerably since then. It now has a presence in over fifty countries with approximately 250,000 operations provided to date worldwide, and about 10,000 in total in Thailand, mostly to children. About 1,000 corrective surgeries are performed in Thailand annually, although there are always around 2,000 new patients, which leaves half of them wanting.
To facilitate as many operations as possible Therese searched for new and effective ways of raising money, and came up with the idea of white-collar boxing. This was enthusiastically received by her friends and volunteer committee, and even more by the public. Launched in 2011, it became known as ‘Fight Night! A Knockout Night for Charity’.
Fight Night 2016 is being held later this month on Thursday, October 20. It’s a hugely popular evening with tickets being snapped up by eager hopeful attendees. Most of the sales are electronic, with some by phone.
The event is truly a community effort, with Bangkok businessmen volunteering their time to train for several months to hone their boxing skills in preparation for what is for many of them their first experience of a genuine boxing match. Four fights are staged, each lasting three rounds of two minutes. Boxers in the past have included journalists, hoteliers, bankers, chefs and independent entrepreneurs. Their ages have ranged from the 20s right up to a several 60-year-olds.
The Dusit Thani Hotel donates the venue, its main ballroom, which is brilliantly transformed into a traditional boxing arena, complete with authentic ring, announcers, referees, corner assistants, bell to signal the rounds and an always popular array of ring girls.
Therese’s team of volunteer assistants ensure the evening works like clockwork, coaxing and encouraging guests to participate in a silent auction and buy raffle tickets to further help this remarkable charity. A fabulous four-course dinner with wine is served.
Therese is full of praise for the many prominent donors who give money and In-kind goods towards Fight Night. She describes them as “extraordinary friends of Operation Smile.” Last year’s event raised over 5.3 million baht and was supported by both Thai and international companies.
This year promises to be just as successful and maybe even more so. It’s a welcome challenge that will ultimately bring hope and a happy smile to a great number of very deserving children.
Contact details: 02 014 4530-1. operationsmile.or.th.
[email protected]
