A summary of some of the events that took place in Pattaya during the month of March – a very ‘sporting’ oriented month. Paintball Tournament Arm Wrestling Contest Pattaya Open Darts Tournament Fishing Trip.   Paintball Tournament A Charity Beach Paintball competition was held on a section of Jomtien Beach on the last Sunday of March. The event was organised by ‘Paintball World’, a company run by ‘Mick’ who have a paintball arena nearby. For those of you unfamiliar with this increasingly popular sport, each contest is a battle between two teams each member of which is equipped with a gun that shoots balls filled with paint. These are fired at sufficient velocity that on hitting their target they break, thus splattering a small amount of paint over the intended victim. The rule is that any member of a team hit with paint anywhere on their person (or even on their gun) is immediately out of the game. Teams line up at opposite ends of the arena and the object of the game is to seize the opponents’ flag which is tethered to a pole on their baseline. In between the two ends are a series of refuges of varying size, some just wide enough to hide a single person. Team members aim to progress down the field taking shelter behind these refuges as the go, but risking getting hit when they move from one to another. Eventually one person manages to reach the opponents line, seize the flag and return to his own line unscathed – often because all of the opposing team have been ‘killed’, and the game is won. A number of three man teams from both Pattaya and Bangkok took part, each paying an entry fee, the proceeds of which were to be given via the Pattaya City Expats club to its charity funding for the Neon Plub Wan school. To protect the general public and spectators from stray paintballs, a closely knitted blue mesh fence was placed all around the arena (which did not help photography - as can be seen in the above picture). Participating teams were organised into two leagues with teams playing each other in the league and then the two top teams in each league playing in a knockout semi-final and final. Due to the number of participating teams the event ran the entire day starting at 9 o’clock in the morning and finishing around 5 PM. At the end of the event, Drew Noyes the chairman of The Pattaya City Expats Club presented the prize to the winning team - ‘Infernal Extend’ from Bangkok. A cheque for 50,000 Baht raised from the proceedings was then accepted by Drew on behalf of the headmaster of the Nern Plub Wan school. The cheque was handed to the headmaster at a subsequent Pattaya City Expats club meeting.. Back to Top of Page   Arm Wrestling Contest On the afternoon of Saturday March 20th, the Body Building Association of Thailand held its 2nd Annual International Arm Wrestling Championship at the Royal Garden Plaza Shopping Centre in Pattaya. The competition was open to all nationalities but was divided into two weight categories, under 75 kilograms and over 75. A stage was set up at one end of the main shopping mall and on it two tables were placed where contestants had to place their arms and attempt to bend the arm of their opponent back far enough to touch a pad located directly below. Fair play was strictly enforced by two Thailand Olympic standard judges who stood right beside the contestants, ensuring the grip when the hands were joined was correct, that opponents kept their feet on the ground and that according to the rules of this contest, grip had to be maintained for 30 seconds before a pull to the pad could be done. An enthusiastic crowd both surrounding the stage and on the balcony above watched and cheered as the contestants in each of the two categories competed on a knockout basis until only the two finalists in each class remained. In an interlude before the grand finals, we were entertained firstly by an appearance of the former Thai world boxing champion, Khosai Galaxy, who in addition to taking part in an on stage interview, also staged a mock arm wrestling bout with one of the interviewers. Then two ladies were invited up out of the audience to take place in a bout for a ‘T’ shirt prize. Then it was time for the finals, with the under 75 kilo category being won by Thailand’s 28 year old Supagrit Somprasert, and the higher weight category being claimed by Dean Fairfax from the UK but currently living in New Zealand – a huge man with the largest hands I have even seen let alone shaken which I did very timorously afterwards. Back to Top of Page   Pattaya Open Darts Tournament. Our third ‘sporting’ event of this month took place over the weekend of the 6th and 7th of March at the Green Park Resort hotel in North Pattaya, when the Bangkok Darts League staged the first Pattaya Open Darts Competition. I have put the word ‘sporting’ in quotations as some people do not regard darts as a true competitive sport, but those people might have changed their ideas after attending this event for it was an extremely competitive and seriously taken event. Contestants were able to take part in a singles tournament, a ladies singles tournament, a doubles tournament and a team tournament with each team consisting of four players. The events were held on a knockout basis over the two day period with the pre-final contests taking place on a series of 16 boards laid out the length of the hall in which the event was held, and the final of each category taking place on a single board at one end of the hall. Players from all over Thailand took part but mainly from Pattaya and Bangkok, both cities where darts has a large following. The vast majority were Thai nationals but the few Western contestants that took part were made more than welcome, even when in the case of the pairs and team events they overcome local favourite Thailand players to win. One Thailand player really caught our eye (see above photo), not only because of his superb darts throwing but also because his diminutive stature meant he was aiming his dart from the top of his head, and also because his ability to play darts was equalled only by his ability to consume Thai whisky. However he did not actually progress to the final which was contested between two excellent Thai players, Khun Yong and Khun Sab, a best of three games final very closely fought with Khun Yong winning the third and final set. Back to Top of Page   Fishing Trip After all those exhausting sporting events (even for just a spectator), a chance to relax with a day trip out into Pattaya bay to go fishing. As we had done before, a group of 10 of us (plus dog) hired a fishing boat plus crew to take us out for the day. This however was relaxed fishing – no wrestling with rods and monster deep sea monsters, just a trip out to the far islands in Pattaya bay where we moored and then sat with lines draped out over the side, the lines simply consisting of fishing nylon wrapped round a plastic bottle or similar and baited (by the crew) with small pieces of squid. All that was required was to allow your line to pay out until it reached the bottom and then wait until you felt a tug, then wind it in again and hopefully find one, or occasionally two small fish attached. To ease the strain of all this, welcome refreshments were available, and after an hour or so when quite a good catch had been assembled, the crew then proceeded to cook lunch for us. This consisted of the fish caught plus some chicken and rice (brought along just in case of lack of fish), followed by some fresh fruits. After finishing this, the crew brought our boat close in to the shore of an apparently deserted island where most of us then went for a swim in the bay. The boat also boasted a small surfboard which although completely calm, provided some entertainment, not least for our accompanying hound. Because we had come quite a long way out, the return trip in slightly choppy waters caused by a rising wind took around 2 hours, disembarking us back at the new pier in Pattaya around 6:30 PM – a surprisingly tiring but nevertheless enjoyable day out.   To view any of the above photos in full size, just click on it. Back to Top of Page