SKÅL International Bangkok celebrated its 70-year legacy in the city with a monthly lunch and Annual General Meeting at Chatrium Residence Sathon Bangkok, bringing together hospitality leaders, tourism professionals and friends for an afternoon of fellowship, community support and renewed leadership.
The gathering reflected the club’s long-standing spirit of “Doing Business Among Friends,” while extending that friendship beyond the dining room. During the lunch, SKÅL Bangkok shared donations with three local charities: Bangkok Community Help Foundation, the Good Shepherd Sisters and Helmet Heroes Thailand.
The occasion carried added meaning as the club marked 70 years in Bangkok. Across seven decades, SKÅL Bangkok has brought together generations of travel and hospitality professionals through friendship, networking and service.
The venue also held special significance. Chatrium Residence Sathon Bangkok is led by John Neutze, General Manager of the hotel and long-serving Treasurer of SKÅL International Bangkok. His dual role in hospitality leadership and club service made the lunch both a professional gathering and a warm return to a familiar SKÅL home.
The event also included the club’s Annual General Meeting, during which members re-elected several officers to the SKÅL International Bangkok Executive Committee. James Thurlby was re-elected Club President, with Marvin Bemand and Andrew Wood continuing as Vice Presidents. John Neutze was re-elected Club Treasurer, Pichai Visutriratana continued as Events Director, Scott Smith was elected PR Director, and Max Ma continued as Membership Director. They joined Jennifer Ferris, Secretary, who was elected last year, on the Executive Committee.
For SKÅL Bangkok, the monthly lunch has long been more than a social calendar fixture. It has served as a meeting point for the city’s travel, tourism and hospitality community, where relationships are strengthened, ideas are exchanged and support for worthwhile causes often begins with a conversation over lunch.
A Lunch with Local Purpose
The gathering highlighted three charities whose work touches different parts of life in Thailand.
Bangkok Community Help Foundation, founded by Friso Poldervaart and Greg Lange, grew from a grassroots response to urgent community needs into a community-led force for food assistance, education support, home repairs, emergency relief and volunteer action. Its work has reached vulnerable communities across Bangkok and continues to rely on volunteers, donors and local partners.
The Good Shepherd Sisters, represented through the work associated with Sister Louise Horgan, have long been connected with service to women, children and people facing social hardship. SKÅL Bangkok’s support recognized the quiet, sustained work of those who provide care, protection and dignity to people who often remain unseen.
Helmet Heroes Thailand, founded by Rick Brown, works to protect children through road-safety education and the distribution of TIS-certified helmets. Its mission is direct and urgent: to help prevent avoidable injuries and deaths among children on Thailand’s roads, one helmet and one school at a time.
Together, the three charities reflected a broad idea of care: helping communities in need, protecting vulnerable people and keeping children safer.
“After 20 years as a SKÅL Bangkok member, most of them on the Executive Committee, I have seen how this club turns friendship into action,” said Dr. Scott Smith, PR Director of SKÅL International Bangkok and Senior Lecturer at Assumption University. “As SKÅL Bangkok celebrates 70 years in the city, this lunch felt like exactly what the club should be: hospitality people standing beside the communities that make Bangkok stronger.”
Hospitality as a Force for Good
The lunch underscored the role hospitality and tourism networks can play in supporting the wider community. SKÅL Bangkok members include hotel executives, travel professionals, entrepreneurs, educators, media representatives and service leaders whose work connects people across Thailand and beyond.
By placing community giving at the center of its monthly lunch, SKÅL Bangkok showed how professional networks could do more than exchange business cards. They could mobilize attention, goodwill and resources for people and organizations making a daily difference.
The event also gave members and guests an opportunity to learn more about the three charities and consider how Bangkok’s hospitality and tourism community could continue supporting their work beyond the lunch.
Next SKÅL Bangkok Event
SKÅL International Bangkok’s next event will be held on 14 July 2026 at Crowne Plaza Bangkok. The evening cocktail gathering will take place from 18.30 to 21.00 hrs. Registration is available by email at [email protected].
About SKÅL International Bangkok
SKÅL International Bangkok is part of SKÅL International, a global organization of travel and tourism professionals that promotes friendship, business networking and responsible engagement across the industry. Celebrating 70 years in Bangkok, the club brings together leaders from hotels, travel companies, airlines, education, media, restaurants and related sectors through regular events, networking lunches and community initiatives.