RPCVs monthly Bangkok lunch Friday, January 27th Be There! (Thailand)

I received the following note from novelist Dick Lipez (Ethiopia 1962-64) who spends his winters in Bangkok. The ‘permanent’ RPCVs in Thailand are having their monthly lunch at the Foreign Correspondents Club this Friday. Dick writes that there are “usually 25 or so people, most of them ex-Thailand PCVs who have stayed in-country.  A few current PCVs may show up.  Plus current staff. As you can imagine, an interesting and congenial bunch.  Also, the food at the FCC is good.”

The invitation note from Peter Montalbano to the Thailand RPCVs

Good evening, all, and Happy New Year, such as we hope it may be . . .

I’m pretty late with the monthly missive here . . . probably due to a mild case of burn-out. It’s been 2 years now I’ve been organizing meetings for the Former PCVs group here in Bangkok, and I’m getting pulled in so many directions right now that it’s hard to bring my mind back to this task, however minimal . . .

Anyhow, Bill Knowlton stepped up and reserved the Bangkok Foreign Correspondents Club for us, lunchtime (12PM – 1:30) a week from this Friday (Jan 27), so I’m finally putting out a notice for you all, and it would be great to see a big turnout. In case you don’t know, the address is FCCT, Penthouse Floor, Maneeya Building, Sukhumvit (Chit Lom BTS Station), map attached. If you’re in Bangkok, the FCCT is easy to get to: Chitlom BTS, exit north (towards the Hyatt Erawan) and take the bridge from the walkway into Maneeya Center. From there it’s just a tiny bit tricky. Walk down the hall, take the first stairway on the left down one floor, continue walking in the same direction to the elevators on the left, and take one up to the Penthouse floor at the very top: the FCCT is right there when you get out.

This note goes out to everyone on our mailing list, whether current Thai residents or not, in case some might be passing through at the right time. I’ll also post on our Facebook Page (please heed, ye who have not yet joined) and send out a reminder to in-country folk in the middle of next week. Please RSVP if you can make it . . . but come even if you don’t. RSVP is so we can tell ‘em how many places to set.

This is probably the last time I do this for awhile. I’m hoping someone, preferably from YOUNGER GROUPS, will step in and start taking over organizing. Bill K, together with Barent Springsted and some others, organized this for 10 years, which puts my paltry 2 to shame, but that service seems to me to be above and beyond what should be required. Ask yourselves, is the Peace Corps community worth staying in touch with over here? Me, I think so. Peace Corps was such a seminal and major part of my life, and fellowship with you all is part of what keeps me going well into my old age . . . but unless new people feel enough that way that they want to step up (thanks Bill, but you’ve done so much already), I will keep wondering whether there’s enough social will out there . . .

Last year we did a lot . . . meeting every month, a couple of cool bike trips in town, a wonderful lunch at the Peace Corps Bangkok office in May (Howard, let’s do it again!), a rollicking happy hour at Bourbon Street, and even managed to get nearly 30 people together for a mini-end-of-year-party down to the Queen Bee in December. Let’s make this year even better, no? Bill Tuffin, I just did another bike ride to Ayutthaya in Dec, what a blast . . . can you organize a group event? You guys, get inspired and put some things together, howzabout? I’ll help any way you ask, just someone else please take the initiative!

Peter Montalbano

Thailand 11