For the very first time, a gathering of Filipino community members from Chantaburi and Trat provinces was held at Samed Ngam Resort in Chantaburi on December 3, 2016.

A total of 66 Filipinos and two foreign guests attended the meeting which started with a solemn tribute to the late His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Acquaintance activities like, singing, dancing and fun games were participated in by our ‘kababayans’ who mostly just met for the first time at the event.

There are many Filipinos who work as teachers in Chantaburi and its neighboring province Trat but it seems the idea of organizing an officially Filipino community group has never been thought of before.

“It all started with this line “It can be done” that brought us all together to our very first Filipino gathering”, said Mr. Japz Joey, the main organizer of the event.

“It was indeed an incredible and inspiring experience when we all took it as a challenge and made things happen,” Joey added.

Vice Consul Jim Minglana from Philippine Embassy in Bangkok and PinoyThaiyo co-founder Jezreel Llanera served as guest speakers.

VC Minglana updated the participants of the activities of the embassy. He also asked for help in getting the master file of all Filipinos in the kingdom for identification and verification so that the embassy will be able  to help them with problems as stipulated on the omnibus rules and regulations on migrant workers also known as Republic Act 122. Minglana also said that only 14,000 Filipinos have working permit in Thailand.

On the hand, Mr. Llanera talked about the importance of having an organized Filipino community group. He mentioned instances where Filipino communities helped distressed fellow overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Several groups also rendered special dance presentations in between the program. CIMB Thai Bank through its money sending program SpeedSend  served as one of the sponsors of the said event.

Election of officers is expected to take place before the end of the year as a result of the successful gathering.

Meanwhile, Mr. Joey also expressed his gratitude to all the people who were involved in putting the event together and those who exerted huge efforts to make this first gathering a success. He also thanked the special guests, sponsors and visitors.

“To all our kababayans who joined and helped make our first event successful, you really have created an amazing legacy to our organization.” Joey added. Lastly, he solicited everyone’s continued support as he shared Helen Keller’s quote, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”.