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Archive for the ‘Newsletter 2012’ Category
The Olde Bell
British Pub
Newsletter Xtra
May 2012
Dear Gold Card Member,
This month’s Xtra newsletter contains details of our plans for the rest of the month and the early part of June, as well as a couple of news items that you may have missed. We’ll start with the news:
Lanna Care Net Those of you who are newcomers to Chiang Mai or have been away for a while may not know that LCN is an organisation established to help ageing foreigners in Chiang Mai to face the issues of growing old in a country that has no social infrastructure to help them.
It operates under the auspices of the British, US and other consuls in Chiang Mai. Lanna Care Net volunteers have worked tirelessly over the past year to set up this valuable organisation and they are currently appealing for new volunteers. In particular they need people to undertake the unglamorous but essential role of visiting ageing foreigners in their homes on a regular basis, and people with cars/trucks/utes willing to drive volunteers on these visits as many of those most in need live some way out of town. If you can help, please give us your details when next you are in The Bell and we’ll pass them on to LCN
Dutch Hon Con We were sorry to hear that Gold Card member Mr Peter van Loo has had to resign as honorary Dutch Consul due to pressure of work. We wish M. van Loo well in his new business venture and hope that the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Bangkok will review its decision not to appoint a successor and understand that the Dutch community in Chiang Mai need a consular presence on the spot
UN Irish Pub. We were sorry to hear from Greg that our friends at the UN Irish suffered damage during the freak 30 minute storm we had last Tuesday. Apparently several weighty branches of the trees that overhang the pub broke off and landed on their roof. They are closed ‘until further notice’: an email from Greg this evening suggests that if the structural damage isn’t too severe, they hope to be open full time form Tuesday We hope this won’t be long and they are back in action soon.
These are our goings on over the next couple of weeks:
19th May This Saturday, Many Australians will know, is ‘Dreamtime at the G’ with the Essendon v Richmond Aussie Rules game being part of a campaign to champion the cause of indigenous Australians (Aborigines to the rest of us) particularly in the AFL. Anyway, whether you are a supporter of furthering the rights of indigenous Australians or you think they are even bigger whingers than the Poms, it should be a good game and we’ve got one of our BBQ’s for you to enjoy. At just 150 baht for all you can eat or 250 baht including 2 pints of Chang, or two 640ml bottles of Archa or Cheers, we believe this is great value! We’ve got Chicken & Pork Steaks, Burgers, Sausages, Livers, Fish, Seafood, Potato Salad, Green Salad and Coleslaw. don’t be put off if it rains we just move under the awning!! The BBQ will start at 4pm today for the Aussie rules and will continue until at least 10pm, meaning you’ll have time to grab a couple of platefuls of food before the all Irish Heineken Cup Rugby Union final between Leinster and Ulster which kicks off at 11pm. There are also several Super 15 Rugby Games on today so do join us if you can.
20th May If you join us for Sunday Lunch this week or on the 27th May, we’ll offer you a 100 Baht voucher off a ticket for the Big Jubilee Lunch (see below for details).
This evening we are putting on a ‘Pork ‘n Pasta’ Buffet, Pork Steaks, Pork Spare Ribs, , Pork Kebabs, Pork Burgers, Tomato and Garlic Pasta, Bacon Alfredo Pasta, Potato Salad , Green Salad and our Hungarian Pork Stew – cooked in a terracotta pot before your eyes – which got rave reviews when we trialled it last weekend We apologise to our Jewish and Moslem Gold Card Holders if they feel a bit excluded by this evenings events and we have been trialling a Chicken Night Buffet which may be more appealing to you. More of that next time!
The usual great deal is available: 150฿ for the buffet or 250฿ including 2 pints of Chang or 2 large bottles of cheers or Archa
27th May Many people’s favourite Grand Prix if only for the glamour value, is the Monaco Grand Prix and we’ll have live coverage from 7pm. There’s also French Open tennis from Roland Garros so there’s a definite French flavour to the day!
Sunday 3rd June Sunday 3rd June A reminder that today is HM the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Jubilee committee have decided to hold a Big Sunday Lunch. This is a communal occasion in which groups get together to celebrate the Queen’s Reign. The Jubilee Committee have decreed that pubs will be at the centre of the activity. We at The Olde Bell are a registered venue and will be pulling out all the stops for the occasion. There will be songs from the War Years. Freeflow wine and Beer, a cheese course, a raffle in aid of The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and more. Places are limited to 40 so do get your tickets soon. The lunch starts at 1pm and the Air-con will be on!! This is our bill of Fayre:-
To Start
A Slice of English Pork Pie served with Garden Salad and homemade Cucumber Chutney
or
Smoked Salmon Slices Served with Soy Sauce, Wasabi & Pickled Ginger
The Main Course
Roast Pork served with Homemade Apple Sauce
Roast Beef Served with Horseradish Sauce
Roast Lamb Served with Mint Sauce
Jubilee Sampler: Pork, Lamb and Beef
The Vegetarian Option is Roast Chestnut Loaf
All Roasts are Served with:
Roast Potatoes, Yorkshire Puddings, Onion Mash, Seasonal Veg & Gravy
The Sweet Course
Apple Pie and Ice Cream
or
Bread and Butter Pudding and Custard
The Cheese Course
New Zealand Cheddar,
Wyke Farm English Extra Mature Cheddar,
English Stilton,
Tasmanian Brie,
Brique Fully matured French Soft Cheese
Served with Crackers, Toast, Crudités and Tomato Chutney
Freeflow house White or Red Wine, and Freeflow Draught Leo mix and match as you please! This will last from 12.45pm until 3pm.
The base price for this is 985 baht per head
If you order the Pork discount 90 Baht
If you don’t want the cheese board discount another 100 Baht
If you don’t want Free flow wine and beer discount another 200 Baht
If you book and pay for your tickets before 27th May, discount another 100 Baht
Join us for Sunday Lunch on 20th or 27th June or spend over 500 baht on food and drinks in The Bell before 27th May and get a 100 Baht voucher.
Thus if you pay by 27th May and opt for Pork, and don’t want freeflow drinks or the cheese board and you qualify for a voucher you’ll only pay 395 Baht, so there are options to suit every budget.
At under 1,000 Baht for a 4 course meal with drinks, these prices are already as low as possible so no further discounts for Gold/Legion cards, although if you purchase any other drinks or food items, you can use your Gold Card/Legion Membership Card
Friday June 8th Join us for the opening ceremony of Euro 2012 Live from Warsaw at 9pm and the opening match Poland v Greece. We won’t be showing all the games during Euro 2012 as some kick off very late, but we certainly will be showing England’s game against France on June 11th (kick off 11pm Thai time), as well as the other 11pm kick off’s which includes some tasty fixtures such as Spain v Italy. More details in our June newsletter
Thanks for reading this and we hope to see you at The Olde Bell soon
Best Wishes from
Pedr, Beer, Billy & the Girls
–
The Olde Bell: Cold Beer, Warm Atmosphere
The Olde Bell
British Pub
Newsletter
May 2012
Dear Gold Card Member,
April was a month packed with activity in Chiang Mai: The Cricket sixes were great fun –a combination of summer fete, men behaving badly and a bit of good quality cricket thrown in for good measure!! The competition was won by a team of highly skilled Bangladeshi lads and we were assured that according to the ICC computer, none of them were ‘ringers’ this year. Nevertheless we imagine several will be playing first class cricket very soon! We sold lots of bacon sandwiches during the week and only once did a cricket ball land in someone’s tomato sauce!
Songkran, well what can we say about Songkran- if it was of one or two days duration – or even conceivably, the three days it is supposed to last, it might be tolerable, but it went on for 6 days this year and in our area consisted primarily of bar girls and young foreigners hurling iced or salted water at all and sundry from lunchtime until well after 9pm. The local constabulary of course, refuse to police the event at all, as a soaking wet PC Plod kind of loses his authority- so the lunatics are given free rein to take over the asylum! At least it’s over for another year!
May is generally quite a pleasant month: the worst of the hot weather is over and boy has it been hot this year! Temperatures peaked out at a whopping 44C which is 111.2F according to the weather forecast service in Buffalo NY, which comes up number 1 on Google when you type in ‘convert Centigrade to Fahrenheit’. Anyway, you get the message- it’s been hot. The rains have just started, with a tentative downpour most days. The resultant cloud cover brings the temperature down to the high 30’s which is much more manageable!
May’s activities at The Olde Bell may be rather more low key than April’s but we hope you’ll find something to persuade you to join us for a pie and a pint at some point! Just before we continue, a big thank you to Steve and Brenda from Melbourne who very kindly brought Billy his first Easter Egg up from Australia (as well as just as kindly bringing Billy’s Daddy a fine selection of James Squire’s Ales to sample!) Many thanks for that guys!
Anyway this is a summary of our goings on for this month:
Saturday 5th May English F.A Cup Final: The powers that be at the FA have decreed that the Cup Final will kick off at 5.15pm in UK – that’s 11.15 in Thailand. Apart from being sacrilege, this is not an ideal time for us in the Land of Smiles. However, we’ve put our thinking caps on and decided to offer you ‘Chicken and Chips in a basket’ with a salad buffet – you get two pieces of marinated Chicken plus all the chips and salad you can eat for 150 Baht –or for 250 Baht we’ll add 2 pints of Chang, or two large bottles of Archa or Cheers. This offer will continue until ½ time in the Cup Final. Join us if you can!
Sunday 6th May Today and every Sunday We’ve got Sunday Lunch for you from 1pm – around 9pm. Roast Pork, Roast Chicken, Roast Beef or Roast Lamb are on offer –served up with Roast Potatoes, Onion Mash, Yorkshire Puddings, Veg and Gravy – if you can’t make up your mind which roast to have, why not try our Sunday Sampler of Pork, Beef and chicken, or our Super Sampler with all the above plus Lamb? This Sunday we’d like to offer Gold Card and British Legion Members a half pint of Guinness or Kilkennny FREE (or make this a full pint for just 70 Baht!)
this evening attention moves from the FA Cup to the Premiership with the race for the title going right down to the wire: we’ve got the Newcastle v Man City match at 7.30pm on the big screen, followed by Aston Villa v Spurs at 8pm and then Man Utd v Swansea at 10pm. To go with these we’ll be putting on one of our famous BBQ’s starting at 7pm. Similar deal to Saturday: 150 baht for the food alone or 250 Baht including two beers as outlined above. Should be a good evening
Wednesday 9th May Tonight is English Night when we’ll be putting on music by English Artists. A 500ml bottle of Fuller’s London Pride or London Porter will cost just 165 Baht or for those of you who prefer local beers we’ll offer you two large Leo’s for 150 Baht. There’s a
pool tournament for the British Legion Trophy and a 100Baht prize. The first 16 entrants are guaranteed a place. 1st game 7pm. Foodwise we’re offering our renowned Fish ‘n Chips for 150 baht or Chicken Tikka Masala, Onion Bhaji, Pilau Rice and a Plain Paratha for 240 Baht. for those of you who haven’t yet tried our British style curries this is a good opportunity to do so!
Saturday 19th May Tonight it’s Rugby Union’s Heineken Cup Final This year’s final is an all Irish affair with Ulster taking on champions Leinster at Twickenham. We’ll be showing the game live. Join us for a pint of Guinness or Kilkenny. Buy two pints of either of these fine beverages and and we’ll put on a bowl of Irish Stew with homemade bread for just 50 Baht (115 baht normally)
Sunday 3rd June today is HM the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Jubilee committee have decided to hold a Big Sunday Lunch. This is a communal occasion in which groups get together to celebrate the Queen’s Reign. The Jubilee Committee have decreed that pubs will be at the centre of the activity. We at The Olde Bell are a registered venue for this event and will be pulling out all the stops for the occasion. There will be songs from the War Years. Freeflow wine and Beer, a cheese course, a raffle in aid of The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and more. Places are limited to 40 so do get your tickets soon. The lunch starts at 1pm and the Air-con will be on!! This is our bill of Fayre:-
To Start
A Slice of English Pork Pie served with Garden Salad and homemade Cucumber Chutney
or
Smoked Salmon Slices Served with Soy Sauce, Wasabi & Pickled Ginger
The Main Course
Roast Pork served with Homemade Apple Sauce
Roast Beef Served with Horseradish Sauce
Roast Lamb Served with Mint Sauce
Jubilee Sampler: Pork, Lamb and Beef
The Vegetarian Option is Roast Chestnut Loaf
All Roasts are Served with:
Roast Potatoes, Yorkshire Puddings, Onion Mash, Seasonal Veg & Gravy
The Sweet Course
Apple Pie and Ice Cream
or
Bread and Butter Pudding and Custard
The Cheese Course
New Zealand Cheddar,
Wyke Farm English Extra Mature Cheddar,
English Stilton,
Tasmanian Brie,
Brique Fully matured French Soft Cheese
Served with Crackers, Toast, Crudités and Tomato Chutney
Freeflow house White or Red Wine, and Freeflow Draught Leo mix and match as you please!
The base price for this is 985 baht per head
If you order the Pork discount 90 Baht
If you don’t want the cheese board discount another 100 Baht
If you don’t want Free flow wine and beer discount another 200 Baht
If you book and pay for your tickets before 27th May, discount another 100 Baht
Thus if you pay by 27th May and opt for Pork, and don’t want freeflow drinks or the cheese board you’ll only pay 495 Baht, so there are options to suit every budget.
These prices are already as low as possible so no further discounts for Gold/Legion cards
Pay in Pounds Our pay-in-pounds scheme has now been running for over two years and remains very popular. As a reminder we accept pounds sterling – notes or coins- at enhanced rates typically 3 baht above the current exchange rate (which is in itself at the best level for over two years). If you don’t have the exact money we’ll give you a voucher to the value of any change you may be due (at the same generous rate) for you to use next time. We also accept US and Australian Dollars and Euros (though not coins) also at generous rates, as well as a range of other currencies, so next time you’re returning to Thailand, don’t change at the airport for poor rates, put them to better use at The Olde Bell – and what could be a better use than buying beer!!
Royal British Legion I have resigned from the committee of the British Legion in order to facilitate the Chairman’s vision for an exciting and vibrant future social life for the Chiang Mai sub branch. Apparently some members prefer wine bars to beer and sandwiches at The Bell! We await developments. On a positive note, the general members at their quarterly meeting confirmed The Olde Bell as the official home of the Legion in Chiang Mai. They also confirmed that every Wednesday night is Legion night, so you are welcome to come along each week if you so wish or to opt in whenever you please. The committee have indicated that they will ensure that at least two committee members will attend on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. We will continue to provide promotions for Legion members every Wednesday some exclusive, many including Gold Card Members. The Legion itself will subsidise events from time to time.
Help us! If you are going home to UK or Australia, and may have some spare space in your suitcase, we’ve got a few items that are difficult to get in Thailand that would fill that space admirably! obviously we’ll pay the price converted to baht at the prevailing rate. We’ll also give you a bar credit of 50B per item as a way of saying thanks very much. If you are going home soon, please let us know!
Many Thanks for reading this and we hope to see you at The Olde Bell soon!
Best Wishes from
Pedr, Beer, Billy and the Girls
–
The Olde Bell: Cold Beer, Warm Atmosphere
The Olde Bell
British Pub
Special Newsletter
12th April 2012
Dear Gold Card Member,
Forgive us for intruding in your inbox between April’s Newsletter and Newsletter Xtra, but those of you who haven’t managed to reach Songkran-free heaven in Malaysia and are therefore in Chiang Mai for the duration, we have plans for Songkran that may interest you.
The mayhem is due to start on Friday 13th (appropriately) and end on Sunday 15th. They couldn’t wait though! On the 11th there were young foreigners and (much) older bar-girls throwing water at Thapae Gate and at the top end of Loi Kroh Rd. Today, Thursday 12th things are pretty much in full swing!
Once the 13th is with us, we intend to enjoy Songkran to the full! (well Beer and Billy will, I will be an observer from the bar. So if you are marooned in Chiang Mai why not come and join us for a day and take in one of the most bizarre and remarkable festivals this planet has to offer (paint throwing in India and tomato throwing in Spain my just trump us, but not by much!) We’ve got buckets, water pistols, ice and of course lashings of cold beer! This is what we’ve got going on
Friday 13th Once you have had your fill of throwing water, why not join us for one of our famous Olde Bell BBQ’s? We’ve got Steak and Chicken, Sausages and Burgers, Fish and Seafood, Potato Salad, Coleslaw and more. The cost is just 150 Baht or you can include 2 large bottles of Archa or Cheers or 2 pints of Chang for 250 baht!! If you’re not venturing out until the water stops, we’ll be starting the BBQ around 7.30pm.
Today’s Sport includes:
Rugby Union Super 15’s Blues v Sharks 2.30pm Shown on the big screen
A.F.L. Aussie Rules Carlton v Collingwood 4.30pm
Rugby Union Super 15’s Western Force v Warratahs 6pm Shown on the big screen
Saturday the 14th.
The traffic around the moat doesn’t get too bad until after 11am, so head down to Loi Kroh Rd and deposit your vehicle in the relative safety of our car park, then hit The Bell for a bit of breakfast before taking in the madness of the moat area for a while. Then in the afternoon, pop back here and enjoy a dreaded Karaoke provided by our cashier Mint’s Dad. He’ll be cranking up his jukebox around midday and going on until the football starts at 6.30pm.. There are English and Thai songs available and even if you loath Karaoke, the credit you’ll build up with the wife by bringing her along will stand you in good stead for days to come!!
Bring a dry set of clothes in a waterproof bag and in the evening join us for a Thai food buffet priced at just 100 Baht. This will start around 7.30pm.
To go with your day we have top day of sport for you to enjoy with Super 15’s Rugby Union and Aussie Rules taking centre stage in the daytime and an F.A. Cup semi final and Premiership programme in the evening. We’ll have a full menu available as well as the Thai buffet, do bear in mind though, that things are especially prone to running out at this time of year as our Thai suppliers are even less work-focussed than usual and our Farang suppliers, give up as deliveries become difficult.
Today’s Sport includes:
A.F.L. Aussie Rules Richmond v Melbourne 10.30am
Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying 1pm Shown on the big screen
Rugby Union Super 15’s Crusaders v Stormers 2.30pm Shown on the big screen
A.F.L. Aussie Rules Western Bulldogs v St. Kilda 4.30pm
Rugby Union Super 15’s Brumbies v Rebels 4.30pm Shown on the big screen
English F.A. Cup Liverpool v Everton 6.30pm Shown on the big screen
Premiership Football Norwich v Man City 6.45pm
Premiership Football West Brom v QPR 9pm Shown on the big screen
Premiership Football Sunderland v Wolves 9pm
Rugby Union Super 15’s Cheetahs v Chiefs 11pm Shown on the big screen
Sunday 15th we will be serving Sunday Lunch as usual, and we’ve got plenty of towels if you get a soaking on the way here! We’ve got Roast Lamb, Roast Beef, Roast Pork or Roast Chicken, If you prefer to venture out in the evening we’ll keep Sunday Lunch going until 9pm or so and there’s a decent programme of sport:
Today’s Sport includes:
Rugby Union Super 15’s Warriors v Rabbitohs 9am Shown on the big screen
A.F.L. Aussie Rules GWS Giants v West Coast Eagles 10am Shown on the big screen
NRL Aussie Rugby League Panthers v Tigers Midday
Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix 2pm Shown on the big screen
Rugby Union Rabo Direct Pro 12 Aironi v Llanelli Scarlets 8pm Shown on the big screen
Premiership Football Man Utd v Aston villa 10pm Shown on the big screen
English F.A. Cup Tottenham v Chelsea Midnight Shown on the big screen
Anyway, these are our offerings over Songkran weekend and if you are brave enough to venture out, do come along and join us!!
Best Wishes from
Pedr, Beer, Billy and the Staff
–
The Olde Bell: Cold Beer, Warm Atmosphere
The Olde Bell
British Pub
Newsletter
April 2012
Dear Gold Card Member,
with the month almost at a close, we are sending April’s newsletter out early in order to tell you about a few events over the next week or two. March was a poor month for many in Chiang Mai due to the appalling air quality we experienced and we are all hoping for better things from April! There are certainly plenty of things going on!
Some of Those of you who are in Thailand at the moment will know that we are now in the middle of the very long Summer holidays. Billy is bored already and asking why he can’t go to school and we know that many of you with kids are experiencing the same motivational difficulties! Songkran will, of course keep them amused for several days – and we know that a few of you adults actually enjoy it too!! For the rest of us, it is a time to either be suffered, or in some cases time to leave for the nearest Songkran Free Zone (Malaysia for most people!) If you are a fan or if you feel: ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’, then The Olde Bell is a great location to fire up those water pistols, settle back with a cold beer and soak up (!) the atmosphere. The 13th, 14th and 15th are the main days, but you can be sure it will start much earlier than that!! Lovely!
Prior to Songkran the Chiang Mai Cricket Sixes are a fun diversion. This is the 25th running of the Sixes and they are more popular than ever. We at The Olde Bell are just completing our first over – this being our 6th year of sponsorship. The quality of the cricket ranges from drinkers with a cricket problem to some really high standard games involving teams from neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh –and even a few good players from UK and Oz. Even if you are not a cricket fan it’s an enjoyable afternoon wandering around the Gymkhana grounds and wondering if you are in Chiang Mai or Surrey!! We will have a food stall in the Gymkhana grounds – as will Legion member David Walker of Zoom bar fame. David is concentrating on quality Thai food, whilst we will be doing the bacon sarnies, all day brekkies, Blue cheese baguettes, Smoked Salmon Sandwiches and the like.
Anyway there are a few more events to tell you about, so here goes:
Wednesday 28th March This is British Legion night and tonight we are putting on an
Olde Bell BBQ. There’ll be Chicken and Sausages, Burgers and Steaks, Fish and seafood; accompanied by our famous Potato Salad, Coleslaw and Crabstick Salad. The cost is 150 baht, but if you are a Legion member or Gold Card Member, we will reduce this to just 120 baht! or if you fancy a couple of drinks at never-to-be-repeated prices we’ll do the BBQ plus two pints of Chang or 2 large bottles of Archa or Cheers for 250 baht!!
Saturday 31st March Today happens to be my birthday and that of my ‘twin’ sister Julie – she is exactly ten years younger than me. It’s not a landmark birthday this year, and I’ll be at the sixes party until about 9.30pm, but if you’re around later on, do pop in and say hi!!
Sunday 1st April: Sunday Special If you are planning on going down to the sixes, why not join us for breakfast at The Olde Bell and take advantage of the free shuttle service to the ground that leaves form just outside the pub? With set breakfasts that start from just 95 baht and one of the largest a la carte breakfast menus in town, there’s sure to be something that takes your fancy! Or, if you’re a late riser, you could join us for Sunday Lunch at 1pm before moseying on down to the Gymkhana to enjoy the sound of leather on willow in the afternoon!
Sunday 1st April Evening However you spend your day, we have a special appeal for the evening! The British Legion are holding a one-off Super Lotto draw in aid of The Poppy Appeal (yes, it’s more than a couple of weeks in November!) The British Legion supports increasingly old and frail ex servicemen from the second world war (they’re not all as sprightly as Dr. Bob you know!) as well as ex servicemen who have served their country in Aden, The Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflicts. Whatever your views on the merits of these conflicts, the serviceman merely goes where his country asks him to go. And we owe them a duty of care. There are 16 lotto tickets left, priced at 1,000Baht each. The first Prize is 25,000Baht and there are many other cash and voucher prizes. Most particularly, the Legion need people to come along on Sunday evening for the prize draw buffet. For 599 baht you can enjoy a sumptuous buffet at the D2 hotel, one of Chiang Mai’s finest hotels. For 899, you get a buffet and free-flow sparkling wine. Kids go for just 299 baht. If you’d like a ticket or can come to the dinner, talk to us behind the bar or email Sally Ward on sewardcm@gmail.com. Please come along if you can.
Sunday 1st – Saturday 7th April Cricket Sixes.
Saturday 7th April 8.15pm The Boat Race Watch the mighty crews of Oxford and Cambridge battle like titans to win the world’s oldest boat race. Pimm’s and Lemonade, Cucumber and smoked Salmon Sandwiches, Buttered Scones will be available at discounted prices! Come along and join in the fun.
Sunday 8th April Today is Easter Sunday.
today we’ve got a special deal for you for Easter Sunday Lunch:
Pate on Toast or Tomato Soup Starter
Roast Lamb or Roast Beef, served with Roast Potatoes, Yorkshire Puddings,
Onion Mash, Veg and Gravy
Apple Pie and Custard or Cheeseboard: Cheddar, Danish Blue, Dutch Edam, Austrian Smoked
Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream
150ml Glass of house wine, or a Pint of Chang, Tiger or Heineken
or a 640ml bottle of Leo, Cheers or Archa. all for just 595 baht
(added together these would cost 725 baht).
If you buy a ticket in advance, we’ll give you the package for just 550 baht!
or if you prefer, you might like this deal
Garlic Bread Starter
Roast Pork, served with Roast Potatoes, Yorkshire Puddings,
Onion Mash, Veg and Gravy
Bread and Butter Pudding and Custard
Vanilla Ice Cream
A 330ml bottle of Leo or Chang Export or ½ a pint of draught Chang
All for just 350Baht (added together these would cost 435 baht).
If you buy a ticket in advance, we’ll give you the package for just 295 baht!
Sunday 8th April Evening This evening is a crucial one in the Premiership with Man Utd v QPR at 7.30pm and Arsenal v Man City at 10pm. Both matches will be shown on the big screen and We’ll be putting on free Sandwiches for members between the matches.
Friday 13th-Sunday 15th April Songkran. ‘nuff said!!
We’ll come back to you during Songkran with events for the second half of the month, while I’m bunkered upstairs!! There are a couple more general points to make you aware of .
Golfing Societies Thanks to Legion vice Chairman Kari, Legion members from around the world as well as Gold card Members now have readymade golfing partners. The Legion now organise golf days every Tuesday at Alpine and Thursday at Green Valley. No need to call ahead or contact anyone, just turn up around midday for tee offs around 12.30pm. If you have a handicap certificate, it would be useful if you brought it along, but don’t worry if you don’t as handicaps can be allocated by Stapleford 36. If you’d like to meet a few of the other players before you play, just come down to the Olde Bell any Wednesday evening from 7pm -9pm.
Chiang Mai Golfers. Chiang Mai golfers play every Monday, Tuesady and Friday. They gave me more information on a piece of paper which I have subsequently lost. If anyone form CM Golfers reads this and can drop me an email with more details I’ll update their details in the next newsletter.
Australian Sport Thanks to those lovely people at Setanta and our new found friends at True Visions, we now have feast of sport on TV. Every weekend over the coming months we will be showing all the big games form the Super 15’s Rugby Union, The Tri-Nations (or the Rugby Championship as its now called) as well as many NRL Rugby League Games and lots of Aussie Rules matches So do come along and watch your favourite team. We’ve got VB, Cooper‘s and Fosters to make you feel at home and we’ve got Aussie meat pies and other favourites to make you feel at home!!
Car Park The car park opposite the pub is now in full swing and open every evening. If you want to use it during the day, just call in and collect a key. The charges are 20B per hour or 50 baht per day.
Data Protection although the data protection acts of western countries don’t of course apply in Thailand, the British Legion Committee feel that we should follow the spirit of it, so, if you are a British Legion member and have never signed up for an Olde Bell Gold Card, or you have never expressly authorised us at The Bell to use your email address, you need to let us know if you wish to continue receiving our newsletter. If you possess a Gold Card or you have already given l your email address directly to us, you don’t need to do anything.
As I say, We’ll be in touch again around Songkran, in the meantime, we hope to see you in The Olde Bell soon.
Best Wishes
Pedr, Beer. Billy and the Staff
–
The Olde Bell: Cold Beer, Warm Atmosphere
The Olde Bell British Pub Newsletter March 2012
Dear Gold Card Member,
The haze has been sitting thickly over Chiang Mai in recent weeks and many of you have, we know, left the area for less carcinogenic climes. Those of us that have no choice but to stay for business or family reasons, have to carry on much as normal. I remember being in Ukraine a few years after Chernobyl and being shocked that the locals were still eating local vegetables. What do you expect us to do, asked my host, not eat? It’s a bit like that here, we just have to go about our business and hope and pray that our loved ones won’t be affected. Anyway we did just that last week and combined a visa run with a trip around what we could see of the mountains of the north. Burning was certainly going on a plenty, but, as usual we enjoyed ourselves away from the bustle of Chiang Mai. We especially enjoyed our night in Chiang Khong, near the Mekong river crossing to Laos. Where a night in the very comfortable Namkhong Guesthouse and resort close to the centre of town, cost us a reasonable 600baht. We ate at in a restaurant just south of town that is one of the places that is licensed to serve Giant Mekong Catfish. The taste was unremarkable and I can thoroughly recommend leaving these remarkable fish to struggle for existence away from the dinner table! Later in the evening and needing some Western sustenance, we repaired to Rin Bar, a pleasant bar/restaurant run by an affable Belgian called Danny.
Anyway it was good to get away for a few days even if it meant that St. David’s Day had to be put on the back burner! Those of you stalwarts who came along were rewarded with a free drink which we hope you raised to the old country! We are now back in harness and looking forward to a few events that are coming up this month especially as the air quality has just begun to improve over the last 2 or 3 days. Just before we get onto that though, news on the car parking front. Joining forces with Chris from Marijuana bar, we have now got keys to the car park next to his bar and almost opposite The Bell. This means that the car park is now open every day, come rain or shine or indolence. If you want to use the car park between 10am and 5pm you can come to us for a key. After 5pm, if the fellow isn’t there, Chris has a key as well. The parking charge is 20B per hour or 50B for the day. We will be mounting a few ‘car park included’ promotions over the coming weeks and months. If you are going to Chez Marco before coming to us for coffee and liqueurs, or are popping in for a pint before dining there (as many do), take your car park ticket to Marco and you’ll qualify for free parking.
Wednesday 14th March Wednesday is Legion night, and although it’s not a committee night, ordinary members are still welcome to come along. There’ll be a pool competition for the first 12 applicants – Legion members or Gold Card holders. A free plate of chips with your first drink for any Legion Member/Gold Card holder that comes along. We’re also offering Fish fingers, chips and Beans for just 95 baht!
Saturday 17th March Today is one of those red letter days that few sports fans or pub fans will want to miss!! for starters today is the final day of this year’s 6 Nations Rugby and we’ve got all 3 games live on our big screen. We kick things off with Scotland facing a tough trip to Rome at 7.30pm, then Wales attempt to win a 3rd Grand Slam in 8 years when they take on France in Cardiff at 9.45pm. If Wales slip up then England could still claim the title with a win over Ireland at Twickers. It’s also F.A Cup quarter finals weekend with Everton meeting Sunderland at 7.45pm and Spurs entertaining Bolton at 12.30am (we’re showing the 1st half only of that one). PLUS of course it’s St. Patrick’s Day! Why not join us for a pint of Guinness or Kilkenny and to watch the sport! There’ll be Irish stew and homemade bread for 100Baht or we’ll give it you for free if you buy any 3 beers. There’ll be a free draw for a London 2012 baseball cap, a Heineken Rugby Shirt left over from the world Cup and if we can get any goodies from the Guinness distributer, they’ll go in as prizes as well! Tickets will be given to anyone arriving after 6pm when they buy their first beer. The draw will be made just before the England game at 11.45pm.
Sunday 18th March Today is the start of the Formula one season with the Australian Grand Prix live from Melbourne. Flag drop is at 1pm. Why not join us for Sunday Lunch? If you have our roast Beef or Roast Lamb, or one of our monster ‘Sampler’ plates, we’ll give you a free 175ml glass of standard house wine.
Wednesday 21st March This the 3rd Wednesday of the month is one of our major Legion nights of the month, and some committee members may attend so if you are a legion member do try to attend. Tonight is Curry night and we’ll be promoting our new range of Anglo-Indian curries that are proving very popular. If you buy any one of our range: Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Balti, Chicken Korma, King Prawn Madras, Chicken Dopiaza or Vegetable Curry, we’ll give you free Pilau rice, Roti, Mango Chutney and Onion Bhaji.
Saturday 24th March This weekend Football takes centre stage again with a packed premiership programme. In the afternoon we’ve got all the Super 15’s Rugby fixtures from Australia, NZ and South Africa. We’ll have Sausage Hash for just 80 baht for those of your with the munchies.
Wednesday 28th March Tonight’s Legion promotion is one of our famous BBQ’s: Steak, Seafood, Sausages and Salads. The cost to the public is 150 baht but members and Gold Card Members qualify for a discount to just 120 baht!
Cricket Sixes The cricket sixes start on 1st April. This week long festival of cricket is a fun way to spend a few afternoons watching some good quality games. This year there’s a free shuttle bus (well songthaew!) running every 20 minutes or so from various sponsors locations including The Olde Bell, to the Gymkhana Club grounds. We will again be running one of the food stalls offering many of the British/Australian favourites that you enjoy in The Bell. The cricket Committee are again hosting a welcome party on 31st March at the Porn Ping hotel and if you’d like to come along as one of our guests, do let us know.
Thanks for reading this and we hope to see you at The Olde Bell soon
Pedr, Beer, Billy and the Staff
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The Olde Bell: Cold Beer, Warm Atmosphere
HRH Visit
The visit of HRH Prince Andrew that was postponed in November due to the floods is now back on, it is now scheduled for Friday 2 March 2012 at the British Embassy Social Club. He has requested to meet members of the Royal British Legion Thailand, we will arrive at the Embassy between 4 to 4.30pm and the Prince will arrive at 5pm to meet members, dress smart casual.
Food and Drink will be provided by the Embassy until about 7pm.
It is of course a long way for our Chiang Mai members to travel but anyone who wishes to attend please contact your Chairman Trevor Dobson as soon as possible.
Best regards
Bert
If any members wish to attend, please let me know asap so names can be submitted to the Embassy.
Passport/photo ID will be required for entry to Embassy.
Travel and accommodation arrangements are down to individuals however 1000baht per person towards travel expenses is available.
Super Lotto
Tickets for the Super Lotto which will take place on the 1st April at the D2 Hotel are on sale now.
Numbers cost 1000baht each only 100 tickets in draw.
Cash and prises totalling over 100,000 baht to be won!
Numbers available tonight in the Olde Bell or by contacting myself.
Regards
Trevor
Enter code "BLT1" on card application