Another year is gone and we all can agree to that the past year has been very weird due to the pandemic. We have mostly seen each other online or just met in small groups, so to be able to get together in person for the Annual Meeting was for all of us, a great pleasure.
This was the first time, if I’m right, that we had the pleasure to hold the meeting at the Swedish residence. More than half of SWEA Bangkok’s members showed up, all happy and expectantly.
We were warmly greeted by the host and hostess of this event, the relatively new Ambassador to Thailand Mr.Jon Åström Gröndahl and his spouse Helene, as well an ambassador, but this time as accompanying partner.
Cold sparkling wine, fresh juices and water were served while we signed up and paid our member fee. The president, Eva Steinbach then welcomed us and asked us to be seated in the nicely, decorated dining room.
As many of us know, the Swedish ambassador has a very creative and skillful Chef Andreas Andersson, nick named Chef Andy. We were presented with a delicious 3 courses dinner accompanied by an exquisite wine.
During the courses, we had the pleasure to listen to Helena Gröndahl Rietz, guest speaker in her own home. She has been working 25 years for UD and was ambassador in DR Kongo and Jordan. Her speech was about the exposed position of women and children in several countries and both Helene and we were moved.
After dinner the real Annual Meeting started and was directed by our current president Eva and her board. It went very smooth, no one had anything to complain about or question. We thanked the treasurer Anna Stenberg for her excellent job, as well as our social media responsible Päng Varaporn, as both left their posts. Part of the board was new elected and welcomed.
After the meeting it was time for the obligatory group photo and the new board took a seat in the living room and posed for the cameras.
We thanked Jon and Helene for their hospitality and we agreed on that it would be a nice tradition to hold the Annual Meeting at the beautiful residence.
A new year and new challenges are waiting around the corner. If you are not yet a member in SWEA Bangkok, don’t hesitate to join us. SWEA = Great fun!
