Four decades on, hotel worker remembers her brush with greatness
Not everyone will remember what they were doing on this day four decades ago. But it is a date that Jiraporn Wattanasuntranon, 62, will remember forever.
On the morning of May 25, 1981, she was among staff who prepared the InterContinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi for a summit where history would be made for the region.
At 7.55pm that evening, six Gulf rulers came together and formed the Gulf Co-operation Council in one of the hotel’s ballrooms.
Sitting around an ornate, handcrafted table flown in by helicopter the day before, the rulers of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman forged ties to give the region a united voice.
The hotel underwent a full renovation in 2007, but the Dar El Istiqbal ballroom, which was the birthplace of that union, remains almost untouched.
Standing below the five crystal chandeliers, where the rulers signed the GCC charter, Ms Wattanasuntranon remembered the landmark day.
“I started work at around 10am that morning,” Ms Wattanasuntranon, who is one of the hotel’s longest-serving staff members, told The National.
“I was part of the housekeeping team at that time and I remember a great buzz about the hotel in the days leading up to the summit.
“I had not long been in the UAE, I arrived as a 21-year-old from Thailand and it was my first time away from home.
“I heard so many things about Sheikh Zayed [the Founding Father] and I was excited that I was going to get the chance to see him.”
Walking through the lobby of the hotel today, framed photographs from that first summit adorn the imposing marble columns that welcome guests as they enter the property. They are a snapshot of history that remain synonymous with the hotel.
Ms Wattanasuntranon, who now works in the accounts department at the hotel, landed in the UAE on October 3, 1980, after seeing an advertisement for a housekeeping job in a newspaper in Thailand.
“I guess back then I didn’t know the significance of the hotel I was about to work in,” she said. “But quickly I came to realise just how important that summit was.
“That morning, I remember seeing so many security walking around. I had finished my housekeeping duties so I was working in the restaurant near the lobby.
“I was helping with the mise en place then I remember this big commotion. When I looked up, I saw Sheikh Zayed walking through the entrance. I got this great feeling from him, he was a man of the people.”
Months before, a fellow staff member at the hotel had sent a letter to Sheikh Zayed’s palace after his home in Egypt was destroyed by fire. Ms Wattanasuntranon said the man received Dh75,000 from the ruler’s office.
“I knew from then that Sheikh Zayed was a good man. Just seeing him smiling and interacting with staff and guests was humbling and reaffirmed that for me,” she said.
More than 600 hotel staff were responsible for making that first summit over two days a success.
Over the past four decades, the InterContinental has hosted four more, in 1986, 1992, 1998 and 2004. With his opening remarks at that first summit in 1981, Sheikh Zayed set the tone for the region’s future.
He addressed the rulers as brothers and said the meeting would pave the way for “security, development and solidarity” in the region.