In Robin’s Hood can William Tell?

Come for a weekend in Pattaya and there won’t be too many people thinking of spending a couple of hours in the morning using a bow and arrow/s to shoot at a target some distance away. Yet, the Pattaya Archery Club, which was formed in 2006, offers just such an activity.

Playing around with an arrow and bow might be something many people used to do as children, either taking on the role of an American Indian attempting to overwhelm a wagon train or, more probable, pretending to be Robin Hood, or one of his fabled band of so-called merry men, and taking out the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and his band of not-so-merry men.
There are probably plenty of people old enough to remember the two British television series The Adventures of William Tell (first made in 1958 and repeated through the 1960s on TV) and the earlier and more popular The Adventures of Robin Hood (first made in 1955), which starred Richard Greene as Robin Hood. How many youthful watchers tried to emulate the archery deeds of both William Tell and Robin Hood, but probably only succeeded in impaling the odd furred feline?
Well, if you’d like the opportunity to see just how difficult real archery can be, then a couple of hours trying it out on a weekend in Pattaya could be fun.
A non-for-profit setup, the Pattaya Archery Club operates out of the Pattaya Shooting Park, which is situated down in Huay Yai, and can be reached by taking the railway road almost as far south as it will go.
The archery range is purpose-built and enclosed and has facilities designed to provide everything needed for the weekend amateur to the dedicated would-be pro archer. The club welcomes all skills levels and all nationalities.
Apart from opening on the weekends, starting at 10:00am and finishing at midday, the Pattaya Archery Club also operates during the week: on a Tuesday and a Thursday.
If you’ve never tried archery before, the Club holds beginner’s coaching lessons on Tuesday’s and, sometimes, on a Saturday. The Club has a stock of its own bows and arrows and there is no fee for beginners wanting to try it out with the supervision and advice of the coach.
The modern bow would make Robin Hood green (Greene) with envy. It has a sight, front and side stabiliser rods and high-tech limbs.  The string is made from specially woven material and the arrows are narrow aluminium tubes covered with a carbon layer and are incredibly straight.
For more information, go to the visit Pattaya Archery Club website at www.pattayaarcheryclub.com, or telephone Eric, the club President, on 089 535 1193.