THE MINOR GROUP

                16th Floor, Berli Jucker Bldg., 99 Soi Rubia, Sukhumvit 42 Road, Bangkok 10110, THAILAND

               Tel. (66 2) 381 5151, Fax (66 2) 381 5777-8

 

 

WILLIAM E. HEINECKE

Chairman & CEO

 

 

                                                            March 1, 2005

 

 

 

To Our Friends and Associates of the Minor Group,

 

We have been overwhelmed by your concern, prayers, and generosity.  Many thanks for everything  you have done to help our staff and their communities, that have been so badly affected by the recent tragedy.

 

The shock of the tsunami and the trauma and overwhelming sadness that followed, will always be with us, but we now must move on to the next phase of rebuilding the lives, homes, businesses and families of all those that have been affected.

 

The initial massive aid force, has mostly bandaged, clothed, fed, and temporarily housed the survivors, and done a magnificent job in helping to find missing loved ones.  Now we must set our efforts to the future of the survivors, and help them rebuild their communities and lives. This will not be a quick fix.

 

Though the news of the events of December 26 has mostly faded from media reports, we can not let the repercussions of that day diminish our efforts.  To this end we have established a recovery fund dedicated to a long term commitment to the affected villages and peoples in the difficult months and  years ahead. Children need schools to help in rebuilding their shattered lives and to get back to a sense of normalcy. Adults need to be able to rebuild their damaged or destroyed homes to shelter and feed their remaining extended family members.  To do this, they need jobs to bring  pride and income back to their families.

 

The Minor Tsunami Recovery Fund will  assist in the rebuilding of all facilities in the Mai Khao and Khao Lak areas.  As you may know, these are the locations of two of our hotel projects, and the communities of many of our staff.  We were fortunate to have had only limited damage, and no loss of life at our J.W. Marriott property in Mai Khao.  But many of our neighbors were not so lucky.  Our Anantara Hotel in Khao Lak was completely destroyed, with loss of life to both staff and guests. Equally hard  to deal with was the devastation of the many communities around our hotel.  We feel a commitment to help all of our suffering and traumatized friends and neighbors. Our fund  is directly administered  through local community organizations, schools and temples. There are NO administration overheads, and ALL of the money goes to the affected areas.  We need to help to put the smiles back on the  faces of these proud and wonderful people.

  

Contributions to MINOR Recovery Funds are being raised in a  variety of ways:

1.Our 14,000 employees are making voluntary contributions.

2.From January to March 2005, all the hotels in our group are asking every guest to contribute US $1 per room night.

3.Minor Group is matching both staff and guest contributions dollar for dollar.

4.The company has requested its business, trade and media partners to also make contributions.

5.The company is making a public appeal on its website for donations.
6. And we hope that our many friend and their friends will continue to help.
7.The world famous singer/songwriter Roger Whittaker has written, recorded and is performing in concert  a memorable original song which can be acquired through a paid download from the Internet and he is donating ALL of his royalties for this song to our fund.  More information on the song can be found on Roger’s web site www.rogerwhittaker.com

 

 

We  invite you to participate in our continuing recovery efforts:

 

Account name :         “MINOR Tsunami Recovery Fund”

Account type   :         Current Account

Account No.   :           035-3-0-3553-4

Bank name     :           Siam Commercial Bank Pcl.

Bank Branch   :         Rama 4

Swift Code      :          SICOTHBK

Bank address :          4796/8 Rama 4 Road, Prakanong, Klongtoey,

                                    Bangkok 10110

 

Kindly inform us of your donation by faxing your ‘pay in slip’ or ‘bank advice’ to Fax no. +662 381 5777 or email to Chanchai_pe@minornet.com. Or send your check to “MINOR Tsunami Recovery Fund”, Attn :  Mr. Chanchai Pewlongsawut, 18/F Berli Jucker Bldg., 99 Soi Rubia, Sukhumvit 42 Road, Bangkok 10110, THAILAND 

 

Thank you again for all your support,

 

 

Best regards,

 

William E. Heinecke

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer