BRIAN JACKS AND MARC GINGELL HELP STARVING PEOPLE IN PATTAYA

JACKS ON ANOTHER MISSION!

BRIAN JACKS TRYING TO SAVE PATTAYA’S STARVING!

British sporting legend Brian Jacks, well known for his superhuman performances on the BBC’s multi-sports show Superstars and representing Team GB in three Olympic Games, has a new challenge. He is helping the starving people in his adopted home town.

“I live in Pattaya, about a ninety-minute drive Bangkok. It became known as a fun city when American service personnel serving in Vietnam during the war started visiting Pattaya for R&R in the late fifties. I discovered Pattaya by chance on a flight from Japan to the UK in 1972. The plane developed engine problems, and we landed in Bangkok. We were grounded for two days, and I spent some time in Pattaya. My career took me to many places, and I didn’t return to Pattaya until 2000. I’ve now been mainly based here since that time.

PATTAYA’S BUBBLE HAS BURST

I watched Pattaya grow with hotels, resorts, condominiums, entertainment complexes etc., shooting up all over Pattaya. Thai’s came from all over Thailand to find work. Foreigners came from all over the world for holidays. Many, like me, decided to make Pattaya their home. With a great climate, great food, and so many things to do, Pattaya thrived. Then the covid cloud hit.

In 2020 Thailand seemed to escape covid with instant curfews, lockdowns, and everybody wearing face masks virtually from day one. There were only ninety-seven covid related deaths in 2020. 

But 2021 is a different story. Covid related deaths are now up to over two hundred per day, and this figure is expected to double or even triple in September. With so many businesses closed, many people are starving. Last week we cooked, packed, and distributed over one hundred meals, and other people are doing the same.

VIEW DEE ANGELS’ 

View Dee is our operation Base Camp. After we’d done our bit, View Dee’s team christened View Dee Angels by long term resident Frank Peat from Motherwell, in Scotland, took over with food purchasing, preparation, and distribution.

Over 5,000 meals have been distributed. Our Angels have been out on the road handing out freshly cooked meals, and we had our View Dee Family Pack Day, Sunday, September 26th, where two hundred people collected food packs directly from View Dee. We estimated these packs should provide families with twenty meals.

Brian kicked off this event with a short speech as he handed a pack to our local Mayor, Mr Winai Inpitak. He gave the pack to our first family member. Other local dignitaries attended along with Police Colonel Sumlith Klunchit, a very good friend of Brian’s for many years. 

We also had a local team of authorities who helped control traffic and made sure we had a smooth process, including a safety temperature scanner that everyone had to pass through. Everyone, collecting family packs, had a special ticket. 

Also attending were Rodney James Charman, President of the Rotary Club Eastern Seaboard Thailand, and Greg Watkins, an Executive Director from the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand. The Rotary Club very kindly donated over 2,000 facemasks, and we added ten to each family pack. 

Brian Jacks again:

“We had a fantastic turnout, and everybody did a great job. We put some smiles on people faces, but there is still a long way to go. People ask me if Pattaya will ever be the same, and I think it will be. But it will take a long time. It’s been like a Ghost Town for 600 days, and it might take twice as long as that to get back on its feet. We, that’s our team, will do all we can to help. If anyone wants me to do anything, they only have to ask.”

THE BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE THAILAND SPECIAL EVENT

OCTOBER 17TH 2021

We mentioned that Greg Watkins attended our September 26th event. He will be with us again on Sunday, October 17th 2021, with a British Chamber of Commerce Thailand (BCCT) team, including Chairman Chris Cracknell. We plan to start at 11.00 AM. 

The BCCT has very kindly donated 1,000 family packs to our campaign, and on Sunday, October 17th, we will distribute the first 300 packs. In finance terms, this donation is 240,000 Baht. Around £5,300, which is fantastic, and we thank everybody at BCCT.

Greg Watkins had this to say:

“BCCT supports the Brian Jacks and Marc Gingell grassroots initiative to donate essential food supplies to starving people in Pattaya.

Brian and Marc’s group of volunteers prepare family packs including face masks, rice, eggs, Mama noodles, tinned sardines, cooking oil and fish sauce. Each pack provides sufficient food for a small family for 4-5 days. Family packs are donated hand-to-hand to those provided with a ticket by the local municipal authority, which fully supports the project.

I was delighted to join Brian and Marc on Sunday, September 26th, at an official ceremony attended by Winai Inpitak, Mayor of Nongprue and Police Colonel Sumlith Klunchit and colleagues.