THE ROTARY CLUB
The 
World’s first Rotary Club, was formed in Chicago on 23 February 1905 by Paul Harris, an attorney who wished to capture in a professional club, the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth.The Rotary name derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members’ offices.
Today Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional and community leaders.Members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
The first Rotary Club in Thailand was the Rotary Club of Bangkok, whose Charter was granted on 28 November 1930.There are now 344 Rotary Clubs in Thailand (as of 31 July 2018), Not all, but nearly every province in the country has at least one club, and many have more than one.
Initially Thailand was part of a Rotary District that encompassed clubs in several countries. However an indication of the strength of Rotary in Thailand today is that the country now has four Rotary Districts:
R.I. District 3330, covering Kanchanaburi/Nakhon Pathom down and the South
R.I. District 3340, covering the east/south-east and the north-east
R.I. District 3350, covering the central plains up to Nakhon Sawan
R.I. District 3360, covering the north above Nakhon Sawan
The vast majority of clubs conduct their affairs and meetings in Thai.However, there are eight English-speaking clubs, as well as one each where Chinese, Japanese, French and German is spoken
As signified by the Rotary motto, Service Above Self, Rotary’s main objective is service: in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world.
The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
Based on the Object of Rotary, the Avenues of Service are Rotary’s philosophical cornerstone and the foundation on which club activity is based.
Club Service: focuses on strengthening fellowship and ensuring the effective functioning of the club.
Vocational Service: encourages Rotarians to serve others through their vocations and to practice high ethical standards.
Community Service: covers the projects and activities the club undertakes to improve life in its community.
International Service: encompasses actions taken to expand Rotary’s humanitarian reach around the globe and to promote world understanding and peace.
New Generations Service: recognizes the positive change implemented by youth and young adults through leadership development activities, service projects, and exchange programmes.
The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks four questions of the things we think, say or do:
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
The theme for 2018-19, Be the Inspiration, asks Rotarians to inspire change in the world and in each other. To help Rotary move from reaction to action,to take a hard look at the environmental issues that affect health and welfare around the world and do what we can to help.
For more information go to http://rotarybangkoksouth.org