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CanCham Board Members & Advisors 2020-2021

Patron:

H.E. Dr. Sarah Taylor Canadian Ambassador to Thailand

Executive Board:

Derek van Pelt President John Stevens Vice President Amélie Desjardins Vice President Robert Woodrich Secretary Dan McKay Treasurer

Board of Directors:

David Beckstead Director Rob Candelino Director John Casella Director Surachit Chanovan Director Michael Currie Director Ophat Kittitanarux Director Sunny Patel Director Natasak Rodjanapiches Director Ron Livingston Director Dean Outerson Director

Embassy Representative

Sanjeev Chowdhury

Advisors

Caroline Kwan Francis Zimmerman Lynn Tastan Robert Kief Daniel Lin Yvonne Chin

Executive Director

Jen Meckhayai

Editor-in-Chief

Scott Murray

CanCham Thailand

139 Pan Road, Sethiwan Tower 9th floor, Bangkok 10500 Tel: +66 2266-6085-6 Fax: +66 2266-6087 Email: info@canchamthailand.org Website: www.canchamthailand.org

Publication Design:

Publisher / Advertising Finn Balslev, Marketing Director Tel: +66 2943-7166 MB: +66 81 866 2577 Email: finn@scandmedia.com Design: Disraporn Yatprom Email: disraporn@scandmedia.com

PRESiDENT’S MESSAGE

I recently read about a Harvard University study that has been running for more than 80 years. Researchers began tracking the health of 268 Harvard sophomores in 1938 in order to search for clues about how people can lead happier and healthier lives.

They discovered that the thing that keeps people happiest throughout their lives is close relationships.

Close relationships were found to more important to happiness than social class, fame, IQ, or even money.

Most of us have made the decision to forge a life abroad. One of the biggest downsides to that choice is having to say goodbye a lot more often than we’d like.

People come and go with alarming frequency when you live the expat life, and even though it happens often, it never really becomes easier. This revolving door of friendships can have a tremendous impact on your sense of community and relationships; and therefore on your overall health and wellness.

This past quarter has seen the departure of two tremendous individuals who have contributed greatly to your CanCham community, and it is a great loss to us all that they have returned to Canada.

Yvonne Chin was introduced to us through her posting at the Embassy of Canada and immediately put her entire being into everything that she did.

Caroline Kwan is a true force of nature and similarly brought nothing but her best to every event that she became involved with.

The energy, spirit, and dedication that Yvonne and Caroline brought to CanCham is a model for us all. I will miss them, and their example of commitment to our community is one I am inspired by. I am eager to forge renewed and deeper friendships with more of you in the year ahead.

As the research from Harvard shows us, nothing is better for happiness and health than a sense of belonging, and this is especially important now, after nearly two years of the COVID grind.

Please, if you are not yet a CanCham member, reach out and join us (ed@canchamthailand.org). If you are a current member, please participate in as many events as you can and engage with others in the networking opportunities as they arise. If you have more money than time, we are always grateful for donations from the community to support our mission to serve you.

Everyone can find their place at CanCham. Canada’s strengths in diversity, inclusivity, and belonging are exemplified by our community and we are better (and healthier!) together.

Derek van Pelt President | CanCham Thailand