Poor Thai family in Korat receiving donations from Gift of Happiness Foundation

Introduction

Since the year 2000 the Gift of happiness Foundation has been helping poor families in Bangkok, Mae Sot, Mae Hong Son, Chaing Mai, Sankhalaburi, Kanchanaburi and other Thai provinces. We also give our services to poor Thai families, refugees, displaced and migrant Burmese, people on the Thai-Burma border. We serve people who have nowhere else to live but in Slums, Orphanages, Crisis Centres for abused women and children, HIV/AIDS centres, homes and schools for physically & mentally challenged children. We also serve the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, other medical centres, communities of migrant workers and their families as well as people displaced by civil war. All the people working for the Gift of Happiness Foundation are un-paid volunteers and often cover their own costs when helping with show tours or donation deliveries.

Project summary

We try to support individual families who are in desperate situations. Those families may not have the right kind of status in Thailand, which would allow them to take advantage of assistance from the major NGO’s. But they are still human beings in great need of help, so as a smaller charity organisation without beurocratic obstacles in our way, we try to give as much as possible to them.

• This one day project started with some pre tour collections in June 2010. We collected donations of bedding, clothing, household supplies and other useful goods from the British Women’s Group, BAMBI, the ‘Thai Village Bangkok’ community and some dedicated friends of the Gift of Happiness Foundation.
• One of the project volunteers had asked us to help the people living in this location because their situation puts them outside the net of other help organisations in Thailand.
• There are four people in the family. Mrs. Nudang Thongmak Mr. Danai Tosook & two teenage children, Am, Aum. Mrs. Nudang almost blind. She is 75.yrs. Mr. Danai who is 70.yrs has to help her when she goes outside the house. Am 17.yrs is autistic; Aum is 12.yrs old and attends the local regular Thai school.
• Wednesday 21st July at 07.00.am. Three GOH-Foundation volunteers departed Bangkok in the foundations donated pick-up truck loaded with essential goods. These goods were for this Thai family who are forced to live in a hand-built shed over a small Klong (Canal) in the city of Korat.
• This dwelling has been their home for several years, since they were abandoned by other members of the family who would otherwise traditionally provide a decent home and living conditions. The rent for the space where this dwelling is situated is 400 Baht per month. That money and other living costs for the family is raised by means of the only bread-winner (Grandfather) collecting scrap plastic, glass, cans and paper.
• We arrived in Korat at about 12.00.noon. We found the place where this single slum dwelling was situated and we were introduced to the family of four by the volunteer who originally asked us to help these people. •The family used to have two other children (Mother & Father of the teenagers) who have abandoned their parents and children in favour of a life of drug and alcohol abuse. (They have not been seen for many years and will have no access to the donations).
• The grandmother of the family who is almost totally blind, needs help to negotiate her way round the insecure make-shift floor of the dwelling over the ‘black water Klong’. •One of the grandchildren, aged 17.yrs is severely autistic and totally reliant on her grandparents for everything in her life. The second grandchild of about 12.yrs was at the sate funded school while we were visiting.
• We gave the family some blankets, clothing, kitchen-ware and tinned food, large sacks of rice, money and mattresses.
• We surveyed the dwelling and decided not to try and re-locate the family to a better place because this is where they are established with the garbage collecting business that sustains them. It’s clear that, moving away from that place would be detrimental to the family, so we plan to help them as much as possible with renovations of the existing home.
• The priority is to raise funds to re-build their home to a standard that will at least give them a secure floor space keep them dry during the rainy season. •After the survey We took the family to a local restaurant for lunch (A rare treat for these poor people) and made sure that they had some extra fresh food for the child who was still at school before returning them back to their home. Then after dropping them-off, we started our way back to Bangkok, where we arrived about 8.pm.

Project appeal

This is now an ongoing project. We need to raise money which will help re-build this family home and provide on-going support to help them pay rent for the space where they live over the Klong.

Other on-going costs are for medical supplies for granny and the autistic child and when the 70 yr old grandfather can no longer work.

You can easily help. We are entirely funded by donations. Our small unpaid dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way. •We need your help to raise funds through your local community groups/clubs, office, school and friends. “Large or small amounts are always very welcome.”

Regular sponsorship to help with on-going hard costs for this family and for all the many other families and groups that we serve throughout Thailand.

We have made it easy for you to help! Please visit the donate page on our web site, where you can easily make on-line single donations or regular monthly donations starting with small but much needed amounts. http://www.gohappiness.org

Every bit helps. For direct transfer or donations by cheque. Please contact the Gift of Happiness Foundation Founder and Volunteer Operations Director. Mr. Edward Haworth. charity@gohappiness.org

Please donate here: http://www.facebook.com/gohappiness – http://www.gohappiness.org

Thank You.

Bringing the Gift of Happiness to so many children

Introduction

Since the year 2000 the Gift of happiness Foundation (formally the ‘Clown Charity Shows Project’) has been helping poor families in Bangkok, Mae Sot, Mae Hong Son, Chaing Mai, Sankhalaburi, Kanchanaburi and other Thai provinces. We also give our services to refugees, displaced and migrant Burmese, people on the Thai-Burma border. We serve people who are forced to live in Orphanages, Crisis Centres for abused women and children, HIV/AIDS centres, homes and schools for physically & mentally challenged children. We also serve the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, other medical centres, communities of migrant workers and their families as well as people displaced by civil war. Our aim is to bring more of the kind of shows that we’ve been performing since the year 2000. Our intention is also to bring other entertainers to perform at the many worthy venues around Thailand.

We also strive to deliver lots of toys, clothes, school equipment and other useful goods to hand out at each venue. These donations come from International schools collections in Bangkok, the entertainer’s friends, their children, some local company employees, local fund raising groups and people like YOU! All the people working for the Gift of Happiness Foundation are un-paid volunteers and often cover their own costs when helping with show tours.

Project summary

The latest project started with some pre tour collections in April 2010. We collected donations of toys, bedding, clothing, medical supplies and other useful goods from International schools, the British Women’s Group, BAMBI, the ‘Thai Village Bangkok’ community and some dedicated friends of the Gift of Happiness Foundation.

•Sunday 13th June at 09.00.am.

Four GOH-Foundation volunteers departed Bangkok in two pick-up trucks loaded with over 3 tons of donated goods. Arrived in Mae Sot at about 3.30.pm. A meeting with a trusted Burmese translator and guide took place and the weeks schedule for shows and giving donations was re-confirmed.

•Monday 14th June 09.00am.

We visited the SAW (Social Action for Women) Crisis centre for abused women & children where we delivered about one ton of bedding, toys and clothing. No show was held at this time because the children were in school and only very young babies with some mothers were at the centre.

•12.00.noon. We visited the Mae Tao Clinic where we delivered some very much needed drugs, other medical supplies and crotches for some victims of land-mines. A meeting to discuss what future help we may be able to offer was held with the program manager for the surgical department (Mrs. Saw Eh Ta Mwee). Then we toured all departments of the clinic to see some of the beneficiaries of our past and current donations.

•2.30.pm. We made a visit to the Thai/Burma friendship bridge and had a late lunch at the Burmese market.

•3.30.pm. From the bridge it was a half hour drive to visit a small ‘Men’s Health Centre’ which houses five men with HIV. These men are forced to live alone in very difficult circumstances on a hill-side situated in the hills near Mae Sot. We delivered a large bag of clothing, soap, towels, tooth-paste and tinned food for the sick men. We also followed-up on a previous visit in April, when the GOH-Foundation Volunteer Operations Director donated a generator, water pipes, lighting and other essential survival equipment. We were very pleased to see that all the equipment was being well used and cherished by the men whose great hardship has been made a little easier by having those donations. •5.00pm. We returned to the SAW Crisis Centre to see the delighted children playing with their new toys and to give a small clown show for the children who had then returned from school.

•Tuesday 15th June 09.00.am.

A confirming the project schedule meeting with International Coordinator at ‘Help Without Frontier’s’, (Lena Weller). This is an NGO who helps us with local guidance and arrangements. Following the meeting we visited our first migrant school to give a full length ‘Clown Show’ for all four hundred children at the Parami migrant school near Mae Sot.

•1.30.pm. After another very quick lunch we visited the LDF migrant primary school which is situated about fifteen kilometres from Mae Sot, yet quite cut-off from the local community. We performed another Clown Show for 150 children who enjoyed seeing the silliness inside a local farmers ‘Dutch Barn’ which is right next to the bamboo and leaf-roofed school.

•Wednesday 16th June 09.00.am.

From the ‘Help Without Frontier’s’ office, which is outside Mae Sot and on the road to Mae La. We travelled another few kilometres, taking us away from local populations, to where our third migrant school, called Ah Yone Oo School is situated. Here we gave another full Clown Show for about 160 children who attend this remote school which is near a large cattle auction. The bamboo built school was too small to hold a performance inside the school rooms/huts. So we gave the show outside on the ox-cart track which is next to the playground area, by the school. The show was over by about school lunch-time and after packing-up of all the show equipment we were able to go back to the main road and find somewhere to eat.

•2.00.pm. After lunch in the nearest village, we travelled back to the cattle auction area in order to visit the next migrant school called Light School, which is situated at the very end of the last ox-cart track in the area. This is only about five or six kilometres (As the crow flies) from the other school, but very rough terrain where we needed to make full use of our 4×4 vehicles. We set-up the show equipment inside the largest bamboo school room and found that there was no electricity at this remote location. A local farmer was called to bring his small tractor/generator for us to use during the show, so we were delighted to be able to give the children a full taste of our buffoonery. We gave a small cash contribution for the hire of the generator and fuel costs and left some very happy children behind as we headed back through the rough terrain.

•Thursday 17th June 09.00.am.

We got together with some members of staff at the office of Help Without Frontiers and from there we set-off on the mountainous road going north from Mae Sot. We arrived at ‘The Best Friend School’ which sits high on a hill of dark red sand-stone just off the main road to Umpang. Here we gave over three hundred children a great amazing Clown Show and lots of sweets to enjoy after the show. We also gave away the last few bags of clothing and some educational equipment for the parents, careers and children at this school. Some of the children were unable to attend the show because they had to help with farm work and take care of younger siblings, but they did receive their share of donations. It was noticed that all the children had come to the show wearing their very best clothes which were spotlessly clean. An impossible task for people living around that kind of sand-stone, but somehow they managed to show-off some of the clothes that we brought them during our last visit to that school in October 2009.

•3.00.pm. Lunch was enjoyed back in Mae Sot, then we were off to a migrant school called ‘Kwe Ka Baung Karen National learning Centre’ which is just outside the city of Mae Sot, but hidden away behind the old bus station. This school is partly residential and has about 400 students in regular attendance. After some time for set-up of show equipment. The show for these children started about 4.15pm, which is after the school was finished. But nearly all the students stayed for the show which went very well in spite of very high temperatures in an out-door area at the school.

•Friday 18th June 09.00am.

The last official school visit was to be at a school called ‘New Day School’ which is very close to the Thai/Burma friendship bridge. We arrived at the school about 10.00.am and started to set-up in a small bamboo school room with open sides where there was a little air flow for the two hundred plus children who were packed-in like sardines in a tin. Show time came about 10.45.am and the children had the time of their lives throughout the whole performance. We gave interviews with a local TV crew and our own TV crew who accompanied us throughout the tour. During the interview with the local station, we discovered that one of the children used as a volunteer during the show, had a serious heart condition. She told the reporter that she’d never felt better when the clown invited her to come up and help him in the show. “Maybe without knowing it?”…She said what we all know already…”Laughter is the best medicine!”

•12.30.pm. We had been asked to give an impromptu performance for the children who live and work on the garbage dump near Mae Sot. This is a place that we’ve visited many times before and we love to try and help those poor children whose parents and older siblings are scavenging on the land-fill dump. We agreed to go over and give them a good old laugh for an hour or so before setting off on the long journey back to Bangkok.

•3.00.pm. After another late lunch, we set-off over the mountains heading for home and a much needed short nights rest before Saturdays normal work-a-day routines, re-stocking balloons and laundering costume ready for a birthday party show in Bangkok.

•Sunday 20th June.

Delivered one of the donated pick-up trucks from GOH-Foundation sorting room in Muang Thon Thani, (Photo above) back to its base in central Bangkok and paid the driver for his work.

Acknowledgements

•Volunteers on this project People donating their time and services to the project tour were TV documentary makers Jon Matthews & Pru Colville of CoJo Productions and the entertainer Clown Eckie. One driver (Khun Amarin Nissasoka) gave his services at a reduced rate and also donated some toys & clothing.

•Donations of goods received BAMBI were the main contributors of bedding and other supplies, coming from their ‘Cuddles 4-Kids’ champagne which was organised by their charity officers. The little house International Kindergarten, Bangkok, Mrs. Francesca Allen and friends living in Sukhumvit area, Mark Young of Pethaburi Rd, Bangkok and other individual donors in Bangkok gave us about 1.1/2 tons of toys, clothing, tinned food and more bedding.

•The ‘Thai Village community’ gave another whole truck load of very useful mixed clothing, toys and household goods. They also gave a wonderful donation of essential medical supplies for us to deliver to the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, (valued at 15,000-Baht)

•Select IT Bangkok donated their expertise and time spent on developing the GOH-Foundation web site & Facebook pages. Many hours of work were given to help us raise awareness of our organisation.

•The GOH-Foundation Volunteer Operations Director donated the use of his pick-up truck for collecting and transporting donations to the sorting room in Muang Pathom Thani province…Then for the whole week of the project tour. A second pick-up truck was donated by another dedicated friend of the GOH-Foundation (Khun Anukorn Puvacharoen) which helped us to deliver a total of about 3.1/2 tons of goods to Mae Sot and surrounding areas.

Overview of Project Donations and Expenses

•Cash donations were received from four individuals and they were added to a previous donation of 10,000-Baht from the BAMBI organisation in Bangkok. 1. Donation (via-web-site-&-PayPal) from Mr. Simon Ashby, Phuket 2,325.-Baht. 2. Direct transfer donation from Mr. Neil Johnston, Bangkok & Liverpool 10,000-Baht. 3. Anonymous cash donation from a family in Bangkok 1,100-Baht. 4. CoJo Productions donation 2,780-Baht

•Total money donated for this project 26,205.-Baht.

•Project salaries No-one (Except the driver) was paid for their time, expertise or use of professional equipment. Drivers salary and expressway fees Total Cost 8,360-Baht

•Cost include: Goods, fuel costs for generator and essential supplies purchased in April 2010 for Men’s Health Centre. Total cost 12,600-Baht. •Expressway toll fees for nine separate collections from April to June around Bangkok. And delivery to Muang Pathom Thani sorting room in the lead-up to the tour. Total cost 1,620-Baht.

•Transport fuel costs for nine separate collections around Bangkok and delivery to Muang Pathom Thani sorting room. Total cost 2,300-Baht.

•Transport fuel costs for two pick-up trucks on tour. Total cost 8,780-Baht •Basic accommodation for one entertainer and one driver. Total cost 7,800-Baht (TV crew covered their own costs)

•Food costs Six days lunch & dinner for the entertainer, driver and some extra volunteer staff. (TV crew covered their own F&B costs and the entertainer covered his own beverage costs) Total cost 2,580

•Costs of Balloons (Expensive Large balloons used during shows) Total cost 900-Baht

•Repair musical instrument damaged during the tour Total Cost 2,100-Baht •Total money spent for this project 47,040-Baht.

Project appeal

You can easily help. We are entirely funded by donations. Our small unpaid dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way. We need your help to raise funds through your local community groups/clubs, office, school and friends. “Large or small amounts are always very welcome.”

•April project cash short fall. We need to recover money we’ve already paid to help the desperate men at the Men’s Health Centre and other costs incurred during the April 2010 tour to Mae Sot. Total amount outstanding 37,000-Baht.

•June project cash short fall. 14th free shows and delivery of donations project in Tak province, Thailand, 13th to 20th June, 2010. 20,835-Baht •Regular sponsorship to help with our hard costs for monthly office rent & utilities, IT, legal and accountancy services, replacing & maintaining show equipment, vehicle re-payments & maintenance. Total Costs 15,600-Baht.

•Unrecovered amount lodged for Government Registration of GOH-Foundation 250,000-Baht paid in 2007 by the GOH-Foundation Founder/Volunteer Operations Director.

Every bit helps. Please contact the Gift of Happiness Foundation Founder and Volunteer Operations Director. Mr. Edward Haworth. charity@gohappiness.org

Please donate here: http://www.gohappiness.org/ Thank You.

Kevin Pearce: How did you become a clown?

Eddie Haworth: I had a very serious motorbike accident. I had back injuries, head injuries; I was in a coma for a while. I was in hospital for exactly a year and when I came out l was quite seriously disabled and had to have physiotherapy. In fact, I was registered disabled for about five years in the UK and at that time I could only use my hands so I learnt to play the squeezebox – the concertina. Anyway, as a result of the accident I lost my house, because I couldn’t pay I my mortgage, which was quite a big blow and I lost my job as manager of a bottled gas delivery company and lost my wife, which left me as a single parent with two kids.

So I went out on the streets busking with my concertina – I could hardly play the damn thing but could play things like Danny Boy and get away with it. Anyway, my ex—wife took the kids back and I was free to go off round Europe as a street entertainer and I spent nine years doing that. Gradually, I developed my skills and eventually became a professional clown. Then I met this girl from Lapland in northern Sweden and she was an acrobat so we ended up developing a double act and we sold very well and got bookings all over the place; we became quite successful. Eventually we married. That lasted for some time until she met someone younger and ran off with him; fancy car, money, all that stuff. I was devastated and from that point had to develop a solo act.

KP: Did you have a happy childhood?

EH: No. In short. Very, very unhappy times as a child which led me to a very unfortunate adolescence – I was a real tearaway and got into all sorts of trouble.

KP: Do you think this unhappy Childhood influenced you in any way?

EH: No, but I personally get a lot of pleasure from seeing children enjoying themselves. It’s difficult to entertain children and in a sense I have to be as innocent as they are, otherwise they don’t understand it – they don’t gain from it.

KP: So why did you choose to work in Thailand as a clown?

EH: I ask that question myself. I didn’t want to come here, actually. A fellow clown used to come here and he kept saying to me, “You should go to Thailand”, this was after my last wife left me so I was upset and a bit paranoid about the whole thing about a single man over 40 going to Thailand. And with me being a clown you know, these are issues.
Anyway, eventually I was offered a show at the Ploenchit Fair at the British Embassy and I also managed to secure a product launch for Mercedes Benz in Pattaya – that paid for my flight. And I have to say when I first arrived I hated it – way too hot. But I went back to the UK and thought I’ll give it a go.

KP: Were jobs easy to come by?

EH: No, well, for the first five years I hardly worked at all. I’d made a lot of money in the UK and I ended up spending a lot of it. And then I thought to myself, what are you doing? So it took me a while to wake up and smell the coffee and realise I needed to do something.

KP: Are you lonely?

EH: No not at all. I sued to be very lonely, when my wife left, you know, I was on antidepressants and all sorts of stuff, I used to drink heavily too – so I was beside myself. In fact, after my wife left, if I was doing two shows back-to-back, during the break I’d go to the toilet and burst into tears. There I was in the toilet in full make-up crying my eyes out. You hear stories about clowns being depressed – well I was that clown.

KP: Most people at work have colleagues or other people working in the same field who they can talk to, blow off steam. It appears to me that you’re quite unique, so who do you talk to?

EH: That’s a brilliant question; nobody’s ever asked me that before. I don’t have anyone to talk to and that’s the only thing I miss about being in the UK and you’re right, most people have colleagues with whom you can talk about shit, but here, I have nobody. And that I do miss, I really do. The only way I get round it is to email friends in the UK who are still in the business, Before (in the UK) wed sit around for hours after a gig and chat about things and learn from each other, too. That is something I really miss.

KP: How did the Gift of Happiness Foundation come about?

EH: When I first came to Thailand I did a few charity gigs at orphanages and stuff for the Rotary Club but there was one turning point at a gig here in Bangkok when after the show the lady who was caring for the children came up to me and said the children had really enjoyed the show but they were worried that I couldn’t speak. Well, at shows where the kids don’t understand English I don’t speak; I do the show like Mr. Bean. But she told me that many of them had HIV and full-blown AIDS and that made me think – here they were dying as it were, and all they were worried about was that I couldn’t speak. So I wanted to give a little back.

KP: How much of your time is now devoted to the charity?

EH: It’s 70% – for the last four and a half years I’ve been trying to get the charity registered in Thailand and we got full registration in December 2009, so I’m absolutely delighted with that. So now we can issue tax receipts to anyone who, donates to the foundation.

KP: What would happen if Clown Eckie couldn’t perform for the Gift of Happiness Foundation?

EH: It would stop! At the moment I’m all there is, but it’s new and eventually I hope to have other people along – no, I will, I’m going to make it happen. I want volunteer entertainers to come from the UK, America and Australia and so on. S0, I Eddie Haworth, not Clown Eckie, as director of operations,am going to make sure it all happens for the children. I’m directing truck loads of goods and donations from all over the place and making sure it gets to the refugee camps and orphanages. It’s a big, big thing.

KP: What gives you the most pleasure?

EH: I love working with the refugees because most of them have never seen a foreigner before, or if they have it’s NGO workers or people from the UN who walk round with great big files and
everybody’s bowing and scraping before them, and I come along, a big fat foreign guy and I fall off a chair and make a fool of myself. That for them (the refugees) can be a life changing experience they’ll remember that for the rest of their life. That’s important.

KP: What does the future hold?

EH: Well, over the next six to ten years I hope the foundation will grow and give a lot of pleasure to thousands of kids. As for Clown Eckie, I still need to make a living and keep going, but I want to do a Tommy Cooper – I want to keep working as a clown until I drop dead on stage. (laughs) Well, I hope I don’t drop dead in front of a bunch of five year olds – that would be very distressing!

–

Taken from: Traversing The Orient, March 2010
www.ttoasia.net

I love a bit of intrigue, so telling people I was going away with a clown for a couple of days brought many a raised eyebrow. However it was an eye opener for me as this was the first time I had been inside a camp to see how the Karen people live or rather exist. I was wearing two caps. British Women’s Group and St. George’s Society who have both sponsored Clown Eckie’s charity shows projects for the admirable charity work he does on a regular basis.
Eddie Haworth (a.k.a. Clown Eckie) had his Fortuner car jammed packed with his equipment and donated clothes and underwear in bags and boxes. We set off to Kanchanaburi where we stayed overnight, accompanied by a friend who had been working for an NGO in Mae Sot and who also plays the saxophone during Eckie’s shows.
We were met early the next morning by a group of people who work for a Japanese NGO (Shanti Volunteer Association www.sva.or.jp) who supply newspapers and books for the camp library as there is no access to TV or phone (mobile phones do not work inside the camp) so they are quite cut off from the outside world. The surrounding scenery was quite spectacular on the 2+ hour drive to the camp which is just 12km from the Burmese border.

WHEN DOES THE SHOW BEGIN?

I was wide eyed at all the things I was trying to take in when we entered the camp (we had sent our passports weeks before to obtain permission). The children sensed something was afoot and started to chase after us until we parked on a concrete pitch (used for football, basketball etc.) and so helped unload the car.
Whilst Eckie was setting up (I did help a bit but he obviously knew where things were placed) I looked around at the small classrooms where the children were taught the basics. Apparently they either do a morning or afternoon session and I am sure the uniforms would have to be shared but no matter, the little ones looked lovely and clean as they wrote in their books.

IN THE SCHOOL ROOM BEFORE THE SHOWS

When Eckie was ready to start the show, I did a rough head count of about 400 children who were jostling to get near to the front but Eckie is great with them and appealed to those at the back as well as the front. The wallet that sets on fire, the chair that collapses, the balloon that he pretends not to notice getting bigger and BIGGER brought forth yells and squeals. The children were mesmerized. I have seen Eckie’s act a few times over the years but the delight on the faces of the children is something to behold. To bring laughter and light into their lives means such a lot as they have an uncertain future. David’s excellent interpretation on the saxophone during Eckie’s act really complimented the atmosphere. After lunch and resetting the props, another show was performed in the afternoon to the delight of another group (I estimated 600) of children.
This particular camp holds 8000 Karen refugees. Although not all could get to see the shows, I am sure it will be a day the children and some of their teachers will remember for a long time as they do not have the usual expectations of ‘normal’ children. We left many of the boxes and bags at the camp but also a large supply of underwear donated by the British Women’s Group was taken to ‘Children of the Forest orphanage’ by the people from S.V.A. who were travelling to Sangklaburi the following day.

ABOUT 600 CHILDREN AT THIS SECOND SHOW OF THE DAY

I had only been watching the show and observing the children which was such an arduous chore (JOKING) but I was rather warm and glistening and I think Eckie must have lost a few kilos in perspiration! After farewells and thanks had been made, we set off on the rather long journey to Bangkok but decided to stop en route for a snack and a cold drink as Eckie declared it was ‘Beer O’clock’ which went down a treat!
How fantastic for me to experience at first hand, the pleasure and delight of the children to the performances by Eckie who is self-employed and gives of his time (a most precious commodity) to bring a bit of light relief to the lives of so many.
Thanks Eckie for allowing me to share more memorable moments in Thailand.

Mrs. Gale Bailey. Bangkok. (contact details by request)