PHUKET: The prospect of an organisation of Indian doctors holding its next national executive committee gathering in Pattaya has triggered objections and calls for the doctors to stay home.
Pattaya is well-known as a destination where people on golf tours sometimes leave their clubs on arriving at their resort and often don't tote them again until they depart.
The decision of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), a voluntary organisation of doctors, to gather in Pattaya on December 27-28 is now causing ructions, and perhaps even palpitations.
''IMA's decision to hold its national executive meeting in Thailand has raised questions in the minds of several IMA members,'' two senior members said in a letter to IMA president Marthanda Pillai.
''Some members have demanded change of its venue to somewhere within India.''
The letter added: ''This [choosing Pattaya] is not only strange but also shocking. There does not seem to be any logic in holding the meeting in Pattaya as this is neither an international meeting nor a pan-Asia meet . . . ''
But Pattaya is a great place for a golf holiday.
IMA secretary general Dr KK Aggarwal told the Hindustan Times that those objecting to the meeting had a dirty mind as the meeting is in keeping with the IMA constitution.
''We had options among Thiruvananthapuram, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and Thailand was the cheapest,'' he said. About 50 office-bearers will attend the meet. Dr Aggarwal said.
Dr Arun Mitra, former senior vice-president of the IMA and at present chairman of the Ethical Committee of the Punjab Medical Council, and Dr GS Grewal, a life member of the IMA, who also heads the PMC, said the IMA had a long and credible history of having been led by people who had worked hard to make the association responsive to the needs of the society.
Therefore, that tradition had to be maintained.
They said the national executive (of IMA) was the highest body of the IMA which ought to hold serious discussion on several problems concerning the medical profession in India and health care issues of common people of the country.
''For this purpose, there are ample number of places in the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kachh to Kohima, which have beautiful resorts in the mountains and beaches to give serene atmosphere for discussion.
''But we fail to understand why Pattaya has been chosen.''
There are, it must be said, many fine golf courses near Pattaya.
Indian news of the doctors in conflict come as the Press Trust of India reports that India is the fourth most holiday-deprived nation in the world, with 65 percent saying they feel very or somewhat holiday deprived.
Online travel site Expedia took the '2015 Vacation Deprivation' survey that put UAE top (76 percent), followed by Malaysia (73 percent) and Singapore (71 percent).
Globally, Indians are the most likely (61 percent) to associate vacationing a great deal with their overall happiness, followed by Thailand (56 percent) and UAE (55 percent), the survey revealed.
NB: Indian doctors please note, that's holiday-deprived, not holiday-depraved.
Pattaya is well-known as a destination where people on golf tours sometimes leave their clubs on arriving at their resort and often don't tote them again until they depart.
The decision of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), a voluntary organisation of doctors, to gather in Pattaya on December 27-28 is now causing ructions, and perhaps even palpitations.
''IMA's decision to hold its national executive meeting in Thailand has raised questions in the minds of several IMA members,'' two senior members said in a letter to IMA president Marthanda Pillai.
''Some members have demanded change of its venue to somewhere within India.''
The letter added: ''This [choosing Pattaya] is not only strange but also shocking. There does not seem to be any logic in holding the meeting in Pattaya as this is neither an international meeting nor a pan-Asia meet . . . ''
But Pattaya is a great place for a golf holiday.
IMA secretary general Dr KK Aggarwal told the Hindustan Times that those objecting to the meeting had a dirty mind as the meeting is in keeping with the IMA constitution.
''We had options among Thiruvananthapuram, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and Thailand was the cheapest,'' he said. About 50 office-bearers will attend the meet. Dr Aggarwal said.
Dr Arun Mitra, former senior vice-president of the IMA and at present chairman of the Ethical Committee of the Punjab Medical Council, and Dr GS Grewal, a life member of the IMA, who also heads the PMC, said the IMA had a long and credible history of having been led by people who had worked hard to make the association responsive to the needs of the society.
Therefore, that tradition had to be maintained.
They said the national executive (of IMA) was the highest body of the IMA which ought to hold serious discussion on several problems concerning the medical profession in India and health care issues of common people of the country.
''For this purpose, there are ample number of places in the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kachh to Kohima, which have beautiful resorts in the mountains and beaches to give serene atmosphere for discussion.
''But we fail to understand why Pattaya has been chosen.''
There are, it must be said, many fine golf courses near Pattaya.
Indian news of the doctors in conflict come as the Press Trust of India reports that India is the fourth most holiday-deprived nation in the world, with 65 percent saying they feel very or somewhat holiday deprived.
Online travel site Expedia took the '2015 Vacation Deprivation' survey that put UAE top (76 percent), followed by Malaysia (73 percent) and Singapore (71 percent).
Globally, Indians are the most likely (61 percent) to associate vacationing a great deal with their overall happiness, followed by Thailand (56 percent) and UAE (55 percent), the survey revealed.
NB: Indian doctors please note, that's holiday-deprived, not holiday-depraved.
a holiday junket for doctors nothing executives don't do globally which is standard behavior at that level on corporate ladders.
Posted by slickmelb on November 23, 2015 10:55