ScandAsia Thailand - June 2014

JUN 2014

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Coming Events

Bun Luang and Phi Ta Khon Festival Date: 27 – 29 June, 2014 Venue: Dan Sai district, Loei Province

Your FREE ScandAsia Magazine in Thailand ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish residents in Thailand.

We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in China, Singapore and the rest of South East Asia.

Please sign up for your own FREE copy: www.scandasia.com Publisher : 211 Soi Prasert Manukitch 29 Prasert Manukitch Road Chorakae Bua, Lad Prao Bangkok 10230, Thailand Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8, Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: news@scandasia.com Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com Managing Editor: Thana Poopat thana@scandmedia.com Advertising : Finn Balslev finn@scandmedia.com Piyanan Kalikanon piyanan@scandmedia.com Nattapat Maesang nattapat@scandmedia.com

Phi Ta Khon is a masked procession known as The Ghost Festival takes place in June, usually the first week after the 6th full moon of the year. This year it will be held from 27-29 June, 2014 in the village of Dan Sai in Loei. The whole event is called Bun Luang, and the great highlight of this unique festival is a long, colourful parade of young men who dance and strike poses while wearing huge masks made from carved coconut-tree trunks, topped with wicker work and sticky-rice steamers. These represent ghosts and as they parade they carry a sacred Buddha image.

For more information, contact: TAT Loei Office Tel. +66 (0) 4281 2812 Email: tatloei@tat.or.th

Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival Date: 11 – 21 July, 2014 Venue: Thung Si Mueang, Mueang District, Ubon Ratchathani

This July, the province of Ubon Ratchathani in northeastern Thailand, will be celebrating its annual Candle Festival from 11-21 July, 2014. The festival which traditionally marks the beginning of Buddhist Lent shows the local people’s devotion to Buddhist traditions while allowing them to showcase their renowned candle-carving skills.

For more information, contact: TAT UbonRatchathani Office Tel: +66 (0) 4524 3770, +66 (0) 4525 0714 Email: tatubon@tat.or.th Website: www.tourismthailand.org/ubonratchathani

Dok Krachiao (Siam Tulip) Festival 2014

The Siam Tulip, or Dok Krachiao, flower comes in to full bloom in the early part of the rainy season from June to August.

During these months, the fields of Pa Hin Ngam National Park in Thep Sathit district and Sai Thong National Park in Nong Bua Ra Haew district will be blanketed with the exceptional beauty of these pinkish-purple flowers.

Where to go: Pa Hin Ngam National Park, Thep Sathit district and Sai Thong National Park, Nong Bua Ra Haew district, Chaiyaphum. Be prepared for exceptional traffic jams on the narrow country roads in the weekends.

For more information, contact: TAT Nakhon Ratchasima office Tel: + 66 (0) 4421 3030, 0 4421 3666 E-mail: tatsima@tat.or.th www.facebook.com/tat.korat

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Past Events

Bjarne Kjersner wins Six Senses stay

O

n a great Saturday in late April the Blufox-Oakwood Asia golf tournament was held at Rachakram Golf outside of Bangkok.

The tournament saw Bjarne Kjersner emerge as the winner of the aggregated MVP - Most Valuable Player prize. This is a prize put up by Six Senses resort on Yao Noi island for the player who over the year generates most points. As Bjarne Kjersner now has a total of 20.5 points over his nearest opponent, and as it is only possible to get max 10 points in one tournament, this MVP prize will now be his as there are only two more tournaments left this season, one on 24 May and one on 7 June.

In the Blufox-Oakwood Asia torunament, the A group was won by Mats Hom on an impressive 37 points paying off of a 5 handicap. Juha Saarinen came 2nd also on 37 points and Christian Stenhammar took third place in the A group on 35 points. In total there was 16 birdies in the A group.

The B group was won by John Andersson followed by Leo Alexandersen and Lars Anderson – lots of last names starting with “A” and finishing in son/sen……. There was only one birdie in the B group with Leo Achieving this.

The C group was won by Sami Janne and the guest group was won by Chartana. Strangely enough there were no birdies in the C or CC/guest groups. This just showed how well the players in the A group played on this glorious Saturday.

There was a dinner and prize ceremony after the tournament at the Admirals Pub on Sukhumvit Soi 24.

Christer Holmvall is new SSS Chairman

C

hrister Holmvall, an active member of the Golf section of Scandinavian Society Siam, was elected new Chairman of Scandinavian Society Siam at the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 23 April. Another new member of the board was Savija Korslund.

Outgoing Chairman Robert Kronberg left the board in high standing after three years of dedicated service, the last two as Chairman of the almost 100-year-old association of Danes, Swedes, Norwegians and Finns in Thailand.

The remaining board members were all re-elected. They are Christina Hammarlund, Thordur Adalsteinsson, Claus Gundersen, Lars Anderson, and Knut Hauslo.

The AGM took place at Rembrandt Hotel and the members were treated to a full course sit-down dinner in the Senor Pico Restaurant after the AGM, supervised by General Manager Eric Hallin and David Nilsson of Rembrandt hotel.

The activities of the past year was presented by Robert Kronberg, including the financial report. He was assisted by Christina Hammarlund regarding the membership situation – counting over 200 members – by Thordur Adalsteinsson regarding the Bulletin and the website, by Erik Dahlstrom regarding the golf section and by Gregers Moller regarding the heritage section.

A special task of this year’s meeting was to merge the new legal foundation of the SSS, the articles of association that have been registered with the Thai authorities, with the old ByLaws of the SSS. The members voted unanimously for the new set of ByLaws worked out by Claus Gundersen and Gregers Moller, that synchronizes the two documents in all key aspects.

4 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

Christer Holmvall, second from left, with the mostly re-elected board: Thordur Adalsteinsson, Christina Hammarlund, Lars Andersson, Savija Korslund (new board member), Knut Hauslo and Claus Gundersen was on assignment in Cambodia.

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June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 5

Past Events

Norwegian National Day Celebrations in Bangkok

M

ay 17 is the day Norwegians everywhere celebrate their National Day. To add to the significance of the annual event, this year also marked the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution.

Between 150 and 200 Norwegians participated in the celebrations at the Ambassador’s residence in Bangkok. The programme included the traditional parade with flag bearers and quite an impressive turnout of both adults and children, wearing the Norwegian costumes. Later in the afternoon, there were community singing at the residence, speeches and games in the garden for the children - while the adults rounded up the afternoon in a tug of war.

The Norwegian Ambassador to Thailand, Katja Christina Nordgaard, was very happy about Saturday´s event, and she emphasized the importance of the celebrations.

“When we are so far away from home, it perhaps becomes even more important to come together on a day like this. It is a great reminder of our roots and heritage as Norwegians. You are allowed to feel proud of where you come from, and this day is a great excuse, “ she said.

The Ambassador believes that it is a celebration that brings strong memories from one’s childhood, so they try to make the event feel as much like what both the children and grownup Norwegians are used to from back home.

“Many, including myself, walked the parade in the traditional national dress, and the costumes are made of wool, so needless to say, it was hot.”

Katja Christina Nordgaard believes that Norway has a heritage to be proud of, both in terms of social and gender equality, solidarity and human rights.

The Norwegian Constitution (‘Grunnlov’) of May 1814 is the oldest European constitution that is still in use, and the second oldest in the world – behind that of the United States, by which it was inspired.

The event that spurred the writing of the Norwegian Constitution was the Treaty of Kiel, dated January 14th 1814. Norway was at the time subjugated by Denmark, but was to be given away to Sweden because of the outcome of the Napoleonic Wars. Hearing of the treaty, the Norwegian Constituent Assembly gathered at Eidsvoll and drew up the constitution, signing it on May 17th – the independence day.

Sweden intervened and took control of Norway by force, but the constitution was embraced as a national symbol of freedom. The Swedish king was denied the right of veto over Norwegian affairs, and never got the authority he wanted; it culminated in Norway’s eventual independence in 1905.

6 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

Past Events

Joint Chamber Breakfast Seminar

T

hai – Swedish Chamber of Commerce (TSCC) joined the latest event “Joint Chamber’s Breakfast Seminar” on May 8, 2014 at Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel. The Breakfast seminar organised from 7:30 to 9:30 hrs was actively attended by representatives from Thai – Danish Chamber of Commerce, Thai – Finnish Chamber of Commerce, Thai – Norwegian Chamber of Commerce, Thai – Canadian Chamber of Commerce and of course our TSCC. The seminar was exellent as it opened learning floor for all participants about “Current Political and Economic Situation” in Thailand which recently came to the deadlock. The guest speaker was Dr. Kongkiti Phusavat, associated professor from faculty of engineering, Kasetsart University. He talked about variety of concerns, for instance, Thailand’s economic and social development under the political impasse, public sector spending to stimulate economy, and social infrastructure investment, etc.

It was obvious that participants were pleased with those knowledge and information which provide them as well as their agencies to handle the current situation,” swecham. com stated.

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1. Special guest speaker Dr. Kongkiti Phusawat,

Associated Professor, Kasetsart University.

2. Jan Eriksson, Swecham President, Mr. Marc Spiegel, Finncham President, Dr. Kongkiti Phusavat, Dr. Supareak Charlie Chomchan, Dancham Vice President and Thomas Nyborg, Dancham President.

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June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 7

SAVOR THE FLAVORS OF SCANDINAVIA

BY CELEB CHEF AT TASTE RESTAURANT

T

aste, a modern international dining restaurant at The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok, will once again keep Bangkok abreast of leadingedge cuisine when it hosts one of Sweden’s top chefs to present classic and contemporary Scandinavian dishes from June 6th – 15th, 2014.

The culinary mastermind, 40-year-old Mathias Olsson, Executive Chef from Sheraton Hua Hin Resort and Spa, arrives at Taste via executive chef stints and staging Scandinavian food festivals in several countries.

Today’s Scandinavian chefs are notable foragers, bakers and preservers. From sweet berries to free-ranging game and cured fish, the cuisine emphasizes wild, natural ingredients – making it a perfect fit with The Westin ethos of healthy indulgence.

Mathias and the Taste team will present the pick of the flavors and textures with each ingredient specially selected for freshness and authenticity at Taste.

On the ice bar Löjrom (whitebait roe with condiments) and hot smoked salmon. Next to it Västerbotten cheese, Swedish crisp bread and Smorrebrod canapées and Janssons Frestelse. Highlight main menus include Cauliflower Velouté (Hokkaido Scallop and Truffle Cream with a flavor of cauliflower), Grandmother Greta’s Meatballs (cream sauce with Lingon berries and pickled cucumbers), and Oxroulader (braised beef roulades with Gherkins mustard and bacon). Desserts range from Parfait with Cloudberry to Budapest Bakelse, all of which are equally irresistible.

Chef Mathias will command the kitchen in person from June 6th to June 15th and his signature Scandinavian dishes will continue to feature on Taste’s menu from June 16th until month-end.

All these and more will greet diners in a variety of formats, including: • Saturday Lunch Buffet (June 7 and 14) • Weekday Dinner Buffet (June 8-12) • Come 2 Pay 1 Seafood & Grill Dinner Buffet (June 6-7 and June 13-14) • Come 2 Pay 1 Sunday Lunch Buffet (June 8 and 15) • Scandinavian Cooking Class (June 14)

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June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 9

News Brief

Fly Finnair non-stop to Phuket, Krabi

I

n the upcoming winter season 2014-2015, Finnair will introduce scheduled services to Krabi and Phuket in Thailand, destinations which were previously served on a charter basis. Finnair will operate to Phuket (HKT) three times per week from November 14 and to Krabi (KBV) twice per week from December 10. Both routes will be operated with Airbus A340 aircraft.

Flights to Nagoya, Japan (NGO) will also increase next winter, from four to five per week. The additional frequency is scheduled to depart on Tuesdays in November-December and Wednesdays from January to March. Like all Japan services, the extra flight is timed for optimal connections with dozens of European destinations. All Finnair Nagoya flights are operated with Airbus A330 aircraft with seats in Business Class that convert to fully flat beds.

Next winter Finnair will reopen its service to Tromsø (TOS), which launched last January and proved popular as a winter leisure destination.

The Arctic city in the far north of Norway will be served from Helsinki three times per week from January 1 until March 28, 2015. The route will be flown with Embraer E90 aircraft operated on behalf of Finnair by Flybe Finland.

“Thailand and Japan are two markets where Finnair has a longestablished presence and where we are well positioned to serve growing demand for both leisure and business travel,” says Finnair’s SVP Resource Management Gregory Kaldahl. “We are also pleased to resume seasonal service to Tromsø next year after a successful route opening this winter.

Convenient services to Tromsø add depth to our route network and contribute to making Finnair the top airline in the Nordic region.”

No palm oil in Yum Yum in Norway

10 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

IKEA Bangna’s Midsommar Festival

I

KEA Bangna is inviting Thais to join their celebration of the traditional Swedish Midsommar festival as of June 1 with a range of shopping activities and on June 20 with new tastes in the IKEA Restaurant.

From the beginning of the month, members of IKEA will enjoy 50% off delivery service in Bangkok and vicinity area and receive a complimentary Swedish horse decoration when they purchase 8,000 THB at IKEA Bangna.

The Dala horse, the symbol of Dalarna, is a Swedish children’s toy which are seen everywhere in restaurants, shops, and homes.

On June 20, IKEA will arrange a special Midsommar buffet at IKEA Restaurant, 1st floor, IKEA Bangna. Try Marinated Salmon, Mustard Herring and have a bite of egg with Prawn Roe topping. Pamper your stomach with meatballs served with mashed potato, Rhubarb pie, Cheese pie, and various Swedish menus. There will be two buffet rounds 5.00 – 7.00 pm or 7.30 – 9.30 pm. Tickets at 500 Baht for adults are available for purchase at IKEA Restaurant from Friday 6th June 2014.

Swedes celebrates Midsommar festival in June every year, to welcome the warm summer, the beautiful spring flowers, and for many, the beginning of their annual holiday. Summer brings longer hours of daylight enabling Swedes more time to relax and enjoy the natural beauty of the country.

Midsommar is a very social time for Swedes to invite families, friends and lovers, to come together to eat, sing, dance and play games.

T

he Norwegian branch of Coop has replaced all its stock of Yum Yum noodles with a new version of the product that does not contain palm oil. This is the result of an ongoing cooperation between Coop Norway and the Thai manufacturer of the product, Wan Thai Foods Industry Company Limited, and the importer, Nordic Group International/ Staur Foods.

“We have had a good working relationship with the supplier and this shows how constructive cooperation among large international food companies can lead to a positive result. Together we can take small, concrete steps towards a more sustainable production,” said Kristin Paus, Director of Information at Coop Norway. ?ystein Johnsen from Nordic Group International/Staur Foods, the importer of Yum Yum noodles in Norway, is pleased with the result of the cooperation.

“We are pleased that major chains like Coop engages in palm oil issues, it makes it easier to gain acceptance among manufacturers. In this case Norway is a pioneer. It has taken time, but we are pleased that we have now found a good substitute for palm oil in the healthier and more environmentally friendly rice bran oil,” he said.

A press release from Coop Norway describes rice bran oil as a cold filtered vegetable oil, which is widely used in Asian cuisine. It contains no trans-fat nor cholesterol and it also has a high content of antioxidants. The flavor is mild and neutral and the oil can be used for nearly every type of cooking as it can withstand very high temperatures.

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June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 11

Swedish Church Diakonia

By Gregers Moller

C

hurch of Sweden has employed two Christian social workers to help the many Swedes in Thailand in need of assistance. The two new staff – called deacons – will focus primarily on the elderly and the very young Swedes, says Anders Bergkvist, Director of the Swedish Church Abroad.

Anders Bergkvist is visiting Thailand in early May with an expert group from the Church of Sweden Abroad to work out in greater details how to execute the diaconia project.

The other members of the group are Stefan Bergmark, regional head for Asia of the Swedish Church Abroad, Lars Ryderstad, the Swedish priest based in Bangkok, Lena Brolin, the Swedish priest based in Berlin, and Anna Moilanen, a diakonia expert from Uppsala, where the Swedish Church Abroad has its home office.

The expert group in charge of the Swedish diakonia project from left: Stefan Bergmark, regional head for Asia of the Swedish Church Abroad, Lars Ryderstad, the Swedish priest based in Bangkok, Lena Brolin, the Swedish priest based in Berlin, Anna Moilanen, a diakonia expert from Uppsala, where the Swedish Church Abroad has its home office, and Anders Bergkvist, Director of the Swedish Church Abroad.

“The two new staff have been selected – it is a married couple in their mid forties – and they will move to Thailand over the summer. They will focus on helping elderly people, mostly men, as well as the many young Swedish backpackers who often just drift around and easily get into trouble,” explains Stefan Bergmark, the regional head for Asia.

“Besides helping individuals in need, the deacons will also compile

The expert group in charge of the Swedish diakonia project from left: Stefan Bergmark, regional head for Asia of the Swedish Church Abroad, Lars Ryderstad, the Swedish priest based in Bangkok, Lena Brolin, the Swedish priest based in Berlin, Anna Moilanen, a diakonia expert from Uppsala, where the Swedish Church Abroad has its home office, and Anders Bergkvist, Director of the Swedish Church Abroad.

The expert group from the Church of Sweden Abroad met during their visit to Thailand with the recently established Danish parish council in Bangkok, from right Gregers Moller, Savija Korslund, Mai Ellegaard and Robert Kronberg.

The Danish parish council has been establish in anticipation of the realization of plans to establish a Danish Church in Bangkok and share a need with the Swedish Church to find the ideal location.

12 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

a report on their findings so we have a better understanding of how the project may be continued,” he adds.

Stefan Bergmark explained that one of the urgent needs for the Church of Sweden Abroad is to find a suitable house or other physical location where people in need can come to talk to them about their problems and from where the deacons can move out to visit Swedish individuals that they feel may need some help.

ScandAsia readers that know of a suitable place is urged to send an email with their suggestion to the Swedish Priest in Bangkok, Lars Ryderstad lars.ryderstad@svenskakyrkan.se In an interview with the Swedish daily, Svenska Dagbladet, Stefan Bergmark explained that ideally, the location should be a place where the Swedes could come and relax, get a meal, take a shower or wash their clothes.

Stefan Bergmark declines to put a number on how many Swedes that are homeless in Thailand, nor how many people live in other vulnerable conditions. If it is often people who have had a hard time at home in Sweden and have come to Thailand because of the warmer weather and lower living costs.

“Some have nowhere to live and often have a drug problem as well,” says Stefan Bergmark to the daily.

Their problems increase if they crash with a hired motorcycle and end up in a hospital with a medical bill they cannot afford to pay, he added.

During the visit to Thailand, the expert group behind the project met with among others the Swedish Embassy, the Nordic Police liaison officer, Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Pattaya, the recently formed local Danish parish council and other individuals and organizations who may become actively involved in the project.

The expert group met with the Danish parish council in Bangkok from right Gregers Moller, Savija Korslund, Mai Ellegaard and Robert Kronberg.

The Danish parish council has been establish in preparation for plans to establish a Danish Church in Bangkok and share a need with the Swedish Church to find the ideal location.

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June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 13

BKK maintains Viking Cup honor The Vikings from Bangkok defended their title against a strong fighting Kuala Lumpur side, who wanted to take back what the Bangkok Vikings took from them a year ago – The title as Asia’s Viking Champions.

By Morten Krogsholm

T

he weather was a nightmare. Brutal battles were fought on the Shanghai Rugby Club’s pitches. Formula One crowded Shanghai and made it difficult to find suitable quality accommodations. All of these struggles were overcome and the Viking Cup in 2014 was – as usual – a great event when it held its 25th anniversary in April.

Deserved the title A tough draw saw the Vikings from Thailand face Vikings from Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta on the first day of the tournament. If they were to defend their title as champions they needed to pull out the big guns.

14 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

“Thanks to a great goalkeeper in Thomas Frederiksen protected by strong defense we managed to win three of the games and draw one without conceding a single goal,” said Johan “Mofok” Mühlman from the Vikings of Thailand, but he did also put emphasis on how the midfield was quality and it was no wonder that their lightning fast striker Kenny Rundh was elected MVP – Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

“To be honest I think that we really deserved the title this year. In six games we had a goal difference of 8-1 with four wins and two draws, so yes, we deserved to win it!” Johan Mühlman. A small detail was highly appreciated: The DJ played “We are the champions” by Queen when they

returned to the hotel after winning the final.

Professionally organized “The weather was horrific, but we sensed that in spite of that people were cheerful and kept their spirits high. Seeing smiles on people’s faces brings satisfaction and all in all we are very satisfied with what we feel was a successful event, so it was worth the enormous amount of time and commitment that we had put into it,” said John Poulsen from the Shanghai Vikings.

Due to the fact that it was the 25th anniversary the Shanghai Vikings did as much as possible to make a special occasion.

“We began preparing for the cup early. It is important that everything lives up the participants expectations. With the Formula One being held at the same time we had our struggles with finding a hotel.

The Viking Cup is important to the participants and they should not live nor rest in hostels and places like that. But we were accommodated them in topclass at the five star Westin hotel,” he said.

Around 300 Vikings from all-over Asia were gathered in Shanghai for the Cup and merely that is enough to make it a great experience, but when it is an anniversary it has to be extravagant and extraordinary.

“We had found pitches in good condition where it was possible to have to games played simultaneously next to each other. We did the extra effort to decorate the hospitality area as beautiful and Vikingness as possible. The Carlsberg bar needed to be a nothing less than perfect as it is here that we leave that battles from the playing ground and enjoy each other’s company,

so we flew in a DJ to push it over the top and we had to literally push people out of the bar every night,” John said.

The organizers had also not forgotten that some of these Viking warriors would bring their spouse. Therefore a survival book had been made - “Little red book to survive Viking Cup in Shanghai” – of course the men were also allowed to sneak peak what the city had to offer.

“People even flew in from Denmark and Sweden, so it could not fail,” said Johan “Mofok” Mühlman.

“There was a warm and friendly atmosphere as always. But I must admit that I was impressed with the whole setup. The hotel was truly a five star experience, the Viking bar and DJ was a great success as well, but I would like to point out the gala dinner as highlight of the cup, if we are viewing the cup from a non-football perspective. We expect the same kind of standard from the Saigon side who is arranging next year’s cup,” “Mofok” added.

The parties seem to have been an attraction as well. As John Poulsen from the Shanghai Vikings said “the opening party was packed like herring in a barrel.”

in bringing down the average age as their grand old man; Tim Tuna had brought his 18-year-old son Andy to come on the “ultimate boys-trip” as Johan puts it.

“Andy Tuna played some great football for our time. With his young age he seemed tireless and gave the anniversary another special element as this was the first time, that there was a ‘Father and Son’ team winning the trophy,” he said.

The important part Football and beer goes together like movies and popcorn. John Poulsen was quick to point out who won the important competition.

“The Shanghai Vikings won the competition that counts. The beer drinking cup,” he said in a joyful

tone. And though it might seem like it was an excuse for not winning the football side of the cup, the beer drinking cup does seem to play an important part for everyone who participates in the Viking Cup. “This is an area where we really need to improve! Once again we didn’t reach the final three, so believe me when I say that plenty of practice in beer drinking will be done this year,” Johan “Mofok” Mühlman said with a smile.

If you are not yet a Viking warrior on the football pitch in your local Asian city and you find beer, party and enjoyable competitive exercise of interest, then do a quick search on ScandAsia. com to see if your city of residence has a team or if there is a team nearby. Most of the Viking footballers have both web- and Facebook pages.

Be a Viking Johan Mühlman encourages more to join their local Viking team.

“In my opinion the level and quality of football was a bit lower this year than normally. It seems like the teams are struggling with bringing in new and young players to strengthen their teams. The average age just seems to be increasing from year to year,” he said.

The Vikings from Thailand had done their part June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 15

Henrik List has spend 13 years at Berlingske as a reviewer and culture-journalist.

Photo by Nicolas Guilbert www.guilbert.asia

Danish middleclass values put to the test in a tropical melting pot

Writer Henrik List’s latest novel “Solen skinner aldrig på en go-go Bar” takes place in Pattaya. Two Danish journalists are pursuing a famous, but scandal-ridden artist far away from their native country of generous welfare and stifling conformity.

S

olen skinner aldrig på en go-go Bar (“The Sun Never Shines In a Go-Go Bar”) is the latest book by 48-year-old Danish writer Henrik List. It is a captivating, satirical contemporary novel with crime elements, taking place in the world-famous den of iniquity, Pattaya. A setting far from the freshly painted villas and well-manicured lawns of the Danish suburbs.

“It is a darkly funny, satirical take on politically correct Danish or Scandinavian middle-class values in the 21st century. More than ever we are obsessed about living the perfect life. This novels uses the unofficial free zone of Pattaya as a laboratory, into which I dump two quite different Danish guys from different generations, to see how they react, and to check how their moral values hold up in this rice steamer.”

The story unfolds when a famous and internationally respected Danish artist is about to open an exhibition at the National Art Museum in Copenhagen, entitled “Go-Go Gauguin” with references to Paul Gauguin, the french impressionist artist, who painted naked teenage girls in his colonial paradise in Tahiti. The exhibition is rumoured to feature large-scale erotic photos of underage Thai girls and quickly makes frontpage headlines in Denmark’s tabloids. Two Danish journalists, who gets assigned to tracking down the artist in his exile, a Robinson Crusoe island near Koh si Chang in the Gulf of Thailand, close to Pattaya.

Rune, the rising-star journalist and idealist, from the left-leaning morning paper, and Bob, the older hack writer who is already living in Pattaya, while freelancing for a tabloid, to make ends meet.

Bob´s initially overbearing perspective is affected by his many years living in the area. Rune on the other hand is quickly overwhelmed by the many impressions in “Sin City”, and he maneuvers as elegant as he can, through a wide-range of scenes and obscurities, while dealing with dodgy police officers and alluring bar girls.

By Kristian Krüger Lauritzen

A “free city”

Welfare straightjacket

Henrik List started visiting Pattaya at the beginning of the new century and became so fascinated by the place that he now calls it a city that he loves. The self-governing municipality has the air of an autonomous “free city” and is a sociocultural melting pot to boot. Here Indians, Japanese, Russians, Americans and, of course, Danes party and indulge in either the decadence of the red light districts, the high society lounges at luxury beach hotels, enjoy wellness-treatments, play golf, get tanked in beer-bars or just take care of their family in a bustling, cosmopolitan 24/7 city, where everybody can live and let live without caring too much about what other people think about them.

Henrik List sees Pattaya as an “inter-zone”, a vibrant, colourful oasis in today´otherwise more and more bland, politically correct and globalized capitalist world. The phrase was coined by William Burroughs, a famous beat-writer, to describe the Moroccan city of Tangier, back in the fifties, where all types of people from all types of places used to come and live there, giving the place a certain vibe of bohemian anarchy, sexual allure and exotic unpredictability.

“There is a massive amount of prejudice about Pattaya being all about sex-tourism - stereotypes I want to trigger and challenge at the same time with the title of the novel. Of course there is some truth to the clichés, but over past fifteen years, when I have been coming here, there has been a visible paradigm shift, an upgrading of the city in all respects, and todays Pattaya is so much more than just old Western men with young Thai girls on their laps in sleazy beer-bars,” Henrik List stressed.

Solen skinner aldrig på en Go-Go Bar has been in the making for almost four years and Henrik List has done a lot of research into Thai culture, Buddhism and politics, while he has also drawn upon some invaluable local contacts both among the authorities and expat community in Pattaya.

“One of the aspects that I find so interesting about Southeast Asian culture and Thailand in particular, is the mash-ups between the high and the low, the spiritual and the frivolous, the sacred and the commercial - for instance when you see Buddhist monks blessing a new naughty nightclub on behalf of the temple in the same neighborhood. It would be unthinkable to see a Protestant priest praying at the opening of a bar or a nightclub in the West in the same fashion. In that sense, there is a special blend of ancient native rituals and contemporary Western pop culture in Thailand, that I personally find really cool and totally original.”

Pattaya might be an extreme example of this, with the seamier side of life and pole-dancing girls that could be added to the mix. But that only makes the sea-side city an even more inspiring location and setting for a novel, where it becomes a sort of antithesis to rigid conformity of Denmark.

“I am not convinced that we are as tolerant as a society anymore, as we would like to portray ourselves to be. Over the years, we have become more and more anxious and unforgiving, and if you step out of line, the system is quick to correct and discipline you. “Big Mother” - the big, complex welfare state - hugs you, initially with the best intentions, but all that maternal affection and supervision - don´t smoke! don´t drink, don’t eat unhealthy food and so on - becomes claustrophobic and too close for comfort and ends up snuffing out your creativity and originality.”

Solen skinner aldrig på en go-go Bar is the 17th book release by Henrik List and his second novel.

His bibliography includes non fiction, travelogues and cultural essays, with urban life, outsiders, pop culture and sexual taboos as recurring themes.

Check out www.henriklist.dk & go to saxo.com to buy the e-book or audio-book June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 17

Smart young professional Malin Bylund came from the north of Sweden to Bangkok via London and Hua Hin.

By Agneta Bekassy Photos by Daniel Herron

M

alin Bylund, a young, dynamic Swedish woman has now lived in Thailand for the past 4 years. Malin was born in the small city Örnsköldsvik in the north Sweden. After having finished high school, Malin became a make - up artist and hairdresser. She loved her job which she practiced for 7 years, until she had to stop due to medical problems.

Then Malin decided to start a new life and a new career and enrolled in a university abroad. She hit the school bench again and studied Advertising Marketing in London at Regent’s American College. After one year, she decided to transfer to Webster University in Hua Hin, Thailand, a location she had visited before.

After finishing her studies in Hua Hin, she moved to Bangkok as she got a job at Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, the largest hotel in the city. Moving to Bangkok was a challenge as Malin didn’t know anybody in the city, but she was open to everything and it didn’t take long until she felt at home and secure and had a nice social life with friends. After only four months at Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel she was offered a job as PR Manager at a new hotel, The Continent, near Asoke in Bangkok.

During the first year at The Continent she was working not only during dayshift, but was also told to be present during evenings taking care of guests. After quite a hard year as PR and Event manager, Malin decided to move on and applied to Marriott at Sukhumvit Soi 57.

Marriott at Sukhumvit soi 57, is a relatively new hotel with a German General Manager and Malin was hired with the title of Marketing Communications Manager.

The biggest differences between Marriott and The Continent are not only the size of the two hotels but also the number of expat staff. At The Continent Hotel, all staff is Thai except the General Manager who is Syrian. At Marriott there are 26 expats of many different nationalities.

Asked what she finds different between working with Thai people and working with foreigners her answer came fast: “The Thais have a completely different pace, they take their time and for a dynamic, fast moving Scandinavian, the slow pace can really can drive you nuts!

I think many of us “farangs” sometimes have problems adjusting to the different work tempo where Thais have very little stress. Anyway, I believe that by now I have found a good balance.”

Malin lives with her boyfriend, Moin Kabir Chowdhury (KC), to whom she will marry this year. KC is half Indian and half Bangladeshi with a Canadian citizenship that came to Bangkok six years ago after working in China for four years. Together they run the very popular Facebook page BANGKOK EXPATS, which today has more than 17.000 members. They are both well known in Bangkok’s nightlife as KC’s company organizes lots of popular events.

Asking Malin about their common future and how it will be, she smiles and says, “Maybe in 5 to 6 years we might move to Sweden, or perhaps Denmark and Copenhagen. At the moment we are very happy here in Bangkok.”

Right now there are many interesting projects coming up at the Marriott Hotel that needs Malin’s full attention so she finish our interview saying, “ let’s see what comes up, who knows what will change the directions of our path”.

Whatever happens, I am sure that Malin will stay a curious, ambitious and smart young woman, wether in Asia or back in Scandinavia.

18 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

Telenor aims for the sky in Myanmar Telenor’s strategy in Myanmar will be a simple mass-market business model with prepay as their core offering.

20 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

ScandAsia talks to Petter Furberg, CEO of Telenor Myanmar about how its operations in Myanmar are coming along.

By Aya Low

where you promise what you intend to do. Twelve companies were shortlisted and two were selected as the winner of the competition That happened in late June when there was no telecom law so there was no law under which they could give out the license. We had to wait until the telecom law was finished.

A final license was awarded in February and that’s when we really could start importing all our equipment.

We have 270 employees now. We are growing every month. Big things like renting sites, towers need to happen.

Based on your previously stated target of launching eight months after being given the license, do you think you will meet it?

We’re quite confident that we will be able to succeed. Bangladesh was the first of the Asian markets

and Myanmar is now our 6th Asian market. Like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, it is also a Greenfield operation where we start from scratch. In Malaysia and Thailand we invested into a system. We bring all of our previous knowledge and even though it is a country with unique challenges, it is also an Asian market primarily so we should be able to succeed.

We have committed ourselves and promised the government that we would launch at the latest 8 months after our license was awarded which we are on time for.

What are the biggest challenges for you?

There are many unique challenges in this market.

For us it’s setting up the sites. The reason it’s challenging is that you have to go through a lot of steps where you have to rent land, you have to be able to test whether the ground can handle the tower weight, you have to get building permits

I

t’s an exciting time for Telenor. After battling more than 90 companies, Norway’s Telenor, along with Qatar’s Ooredoo won one of the two 15-year telco licenses up for grabs in newly opened Myanmar. They will operate alongside state-owned Myanmar Posts and Telecommunication (MPT) and Yatanarpon Teleport (YTP), which previously held the monopoly. Toted as one of the last Greenfield operations left in the world, this new venture into an almost untouched market with immense potential signals busy times ahead for the company.

Myanmar is one of the largest countries in South East Asia; almost twice the size of Norway.

As a severely underserved market, with mobile penetration at only 10% and a young population, where 45% is younger than 25 years, Myanmar is a heaven-sent for new entrants such as Telenor.

GDP in Myanmar is at around $800-1,000 per capita, which puts it close to Bangladesh. Its infrastructure is underinvested and electricity only reaches 25% of the population. The country’s weak land registry means land grabs are frequent and there continues to be various conflicts among the country’s different ethnic groups. However Myanmar is very rich in natural resources and has huge potential for efficiency improvements.

Telenor brings with it, its extensive experience setting up across different Asian countries, including Bangladesh as far back as 1996, Malaysia in 1999 and Thailand in 2000. Its strategy will be a simple mass-market business model with prepay as their core offering. They have committed to launching their services within eight months from receiving the license, which was officially awarded in February 2014. At launch, they aim to reach around 25,000 points of sales, which will grow with the rollout of their network to around 100,000 top-up points, out of which 70,000 roughly will be selling SIM cards as well.

Since officially setting up in Myanmar just over two months ago how is everything going?

Everything is going quite well. It’s been a process that started 1 year ago. Myanmar invited quite a wide audience of 91 companies in a bidding process which was a combination of beauty contest June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 21

and you have to import the materials. There are so many things that go wrong and so many things that can get delayed. To get this rolling is one of the biggest challenges.

We have decided that all the operators and government will be sharing infrastructure.

We have learnt from other countries that it makes more economical sense if you share the cost of the towers. If you take Thailand for example, every operator has built their own tower and thought it was critical that they protect their own interests. A tower typically costs $100,000 $150,000 and that’s a lot of money. So in Thailand you have three operators building in the same area with the towers sitting next to each other.

In Myanmar, instead of four operators building in the same location, you can have four operators building in different locations. We can then cover the county faster, can make it cheaper and it’s better for the environment. Lower costs means lower prices and drives penetration. Sharing sites makes sense from a business perspective and from a social perspective.

One of the major challenges cited has been regulatory issues involving land. Have you found this a problem and if so how have you overcome it?

We are very careful about that. Particularly with big industrial and mining projects, there have been reports that companies have participated in land grabs. Our situation is very different because we are limited to very small pieces of land. Of course we check the history of the land and in areas where there is limited documentation we check in with the village chief and with the neighbors to ensure that we know who owns it.

We also arrange something that we call community outreach where we arrange meetings with townships, including the government townships and civic groups.

The judicial system is also in its infancy. Have you had any issues with that?

We feel secure. After the telecoms law was introduced, we feel that with the law in place and the license there is a strong protection of our investments.

The country suffers from various ethnic conflicts. Do you think that will affect how you roll out operations and distribution points?

We will provide our products to all areas of Myanmar regardless of ethnicity. We will start with the most populated areas and then progress to the less populated areas. Generally, I think people are positive and I don’t expect any resistance. It is a challenge because it might be more expensive to build up the infrastructure in certain areas.

Are you on target with your ratio of penetration in boosting mobile penetration from 10% to 95% in five years?

The government has high ambitions in the ratio of penetration. If you compare this region to other countries in Asia you can see that the penetration is much lower than what it should be and the reason for this is because the infrastructure and supply is so expensive. I believe if you have a pent-up demand, when the door is open and products become cheaper, it will happen very quickly.

Two things will define how big penetration ratio will be. One is coverage; you start with the cities and then as you expand you can get bigger and bigger. The second thing is infrastructure.

What has been your experience working in the Burmese business environment?

I hadn’t even visited Myanmar before I got the job.

But so far it’s all been positive. People feel that it’s very meaningful to work here because we are

part of something ground-breaking. The fact that it is such a strategic project for the government means there’s a lot of focus and attention from the government.

In a project as big as this, it’s never the case that everything goes according to plan. We have people to fix problems and if we can’t then we find alternatives.

Skilled labor is hard to find in Myanmar after the country’s education system has been closed down for so long. Has recruiting the right people for the company been a challenge?

We’re targeting to be an operation of 1000 people, 100% employed directly by the company and 2000 more people working indirectly. Distribution and a lot of the network functions are outsourced.

Today we have 270 people, roughly 60 of them are expats and the rest locals.

There is a limited pool of skilled labor however despite the fact that we feel we are able to recruit very good people. It’s not fair to say it’s easy as we’re spending a lot of resources and time, recruiting people. We have hired Burmese people who are working abroad in places, such as Singapore.

They have skills because they have been working for international companies and received different types of training and education.

There is not a doubt that the education here needs a huge improvement. People have been deprived of a good education as the universities had been closed for so long.

What lessons have you learnt and take with you from other operations across Asia?

We have done a number of Greenfields and we’re taking the lessons learnt from them and we’re trying not to make the same mistakes they did. More or less, all the people in the top management team have experience in this.

In Myanmar, instead of four operators building mobile phone towers in the same locations, you can have four operators building in different locations.

We can then cover the country faster, can make it cheaper and it’s better for the environment.

22 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

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The house of a

Anne Louise Carstens has studied Social Science and Performance Design at Roskilde Universitetscenter.

“Zalat” coaching a group of Danish Folk High School students.

Ronald Aug.”I2” The musical engineer, as he proudly refers to himself.

“Global Platform” is the spacious training center of the NGO ActionAid in Yangon. Here, idealistic young people come together to learn about political actions, active citizenship and accountable governance. The center has become a hotbed of creative political activism that could prove vital for Myanmar’s development towards democracy.

By Kristian Krüger Lauritzen

T

he high-ceilinged ground floor was buzzing with activity when this writer arrived. The room was packed with young people, mostly Burmese and Danish. That day, the Global Platform house played host to a class of Danish Folk High school, Krogerup Højskole, students who came visiting. They were attending a course “The world is burning”, and they were there to record a song with some Burmese activists.

“Fighting for change”, “An inspiration for a new generation” the lyrics pretty much summed up what Global Platform Myanmar is all about. Building the foundation for Myanmar youths to begin to speak their minds, to learn about their rights and to become citizens of a fledgling democracy at a time when the country is gradually becoming 24 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

a more open and tolerant society.

Anne Louise Carstens, Global Platform Training Quality Manager, said she and her staff are working on different levels with different groups of young people since ActionAid Denmark set up its Myanmar chapter in January 2012 .

“We have informal arrangements, such as organizing public campaigns. And then we also do in-house projects, like policy briefs, offering courses in human rights and what democracy is about. It is still not possible to study political science in this countrywhich explains why members of the young generations are so hungry for knowledge,” she said.

Global Platform is the youth training center of ActionAid, known as “Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke” in Denmark with global training centers in 10 countries

around the world. There are three international staff members and eighteen locals at the house, working in different roles, including fundraisers, trainers and admin and support staff. The house also makes available 45 beds to accommodate trainees and participants from outside Yangon.

There was a relaxed atmosphere and an air of informality at the house, something resembling a hangout for youths, which is precisely the right kind of vibe, Anne Louise Carstens said.

“We want the place to have an open atmosphere where the youths can come and go. That applies to our training sessions as well. It has to be fun and inspiring. The participants are making videos, conducting workshops or are out in the streets talking politics, instead of sitting around looking at Power Points.”

new tomorrow Turning Tables That day the music was loud and up-tempo. The Danish students were enthusiastically working on a song with 26-year-old Burmese music producer Ronald Aug a.k.a “I2”. who is a part of Turning Tables, a Denmark-funded activist radio and video concept,. Founded in October 2013, the youth and music focused NGO shares the same roof as Global Platform, with which it collaborates on several projects.

“Music is my passion. I am here everyday and on the weekends too. This a great place for me to keep evolving as a musician and I’ve learned a lot about digital music and techniques here,” he said. I2 also takes care of the booking at the Turning Table Studio. Young people can come and record songs with social messages and ideas, an already popular concept as is evidenced by fully-booked schedules.

Musical instruments and recording studios are few and far between in Myanmar.

Michael Åberg, the Swedish Lab Manager at Turning Tables, saw it as an opportunity for marginalized youths to be able to learn how to create multimedia contents.

“They become acquainted with all the hardware, learn how to shoot and edit videos. And they are all very knowledge-hungry,” he said. Michael Åberg said it was exciting to be working with all the unpolished local talents at the studio.

In February, Turning Tables released its first rap music video on YouTube titled “Freedom” with three local rappers chanting lyrics about a better and freer society.

Eager to learn The excitement and eagerness to learn emanating from Turning Tables studio was palpable and swept through the entire house. On the week that the Danish folk high school students were visiting, there was also a group called “Doctivists” attending a two-week course, during which a group of young locals got to experiment with small video projects about social change and record their own personal video diaries.

Anne Louise Carstens said working with Myanmar youths on a daily basis is very inspiring.

“Look at Zalat. She was a participant on my very first training course here, now she works here full-time after having gained so much strength of character and confidence,” she said. 23-year-old Zalat, or Than Man Vung, is a trainer and officer in charge of facility at Global Platform. She was the main organizer of the workshop and recording session of the Danish students.

Zalat has been doing different kinds of social work since she was 19, and became part of Global Platform since the beginning of 2013. She usually facilitates campaign workshops in which she trains her fellow Burmese how to be creative and how to become aware of their own skills.

“I led a course with 20 participants recently, and during the workshop, I asked them to raise their hand if they considered themselves to be

creative. Only a few did. Then I asked them all to draw an animal that does not exist in nature, and once they finished, I could point it out to them that creativity was something they could find within themselves, “ Zalat recalled.

Still precautions to be taken In 2011 the military junta in Myanmar was officially dissolved following the 2010 general election, and a civilian government, headed by former army general, was installed. The country now opens itself up for business with foreigners and the locals are no longer as afraid of speaking their minds on political issues as they used to be. But there are still ongoing ethnic conflicts in the country and the strict rules against public protests stay in place.

This is a reality that Global Platform also has to cope with.

“We were very careful when we began our work two years ago. And we still are. Medecins Sans Frontieres (a French NGO) has just been kicked out of Myanmar recentlyso obviously there are still precautions to be taken. And a couple of months ago, two of my local friends were put in prison for doing an anti-government protest,” Anne Louise Carstens said.

“Much progress has been made during the last two years. There is now free media, and the people are gradually being given more political rights - something that the people take time to get accustomed to.That is why it is so important to reach out to the young generations,” she stated.

“When we ask people about the one thing that might be holding them back from doing activism, we are told that the fear of not getting support from family is the biggest obstacle. When participants go home from one of our workshops, some of them get asked sarcastically by the family “Oh, so now you are going to prison?” The older

generations are not as receptive to changes that are happening in society, as they had been kept under tight control for so long.

A brighter future The transformation from years of authoritarianism to democracy is not something that can happen overnight. But the change is swift. Sigrid Lauenborg Dahl, one of the teachers from Krogerup Højskole, said Myanmar was a different country now, compared to the place they visited as a part of their study visits a few years ago.

“Back then many of the locals hesitated even to talk to us. Perhaps they were afraid of being thrown in jail for speaking their minds. Now you can sense a more relaxed attitude and openness, that is true with people on the streets to the taxi drivers, “ she said.

That sense of joy and idealism can be easily felt at the Global Platform house. From the vibe and enthusiasm coming from the Global Platform team and more importantly the local youths, it seems like aid money well spent. When asked where she sees Global Platform Myanmar is headed in a few years, Anne Louise Carstens said she saw a potential for Myanmar people arriving at the point where they could show solidarity with other countries with similar democratic aspiration.

“The first years we were still in consolidation phase. We hope to expand our network and gain more regional cooperation by having more participants from other Southeast Asian countries and open up for trainings for youth from Scandinavia and Australia. But our main focus is clear, that is to train the young Burmese to become active citizens in an evolving democracy,” she said. So far, it seems that they have achieved just that. www.globalplatforms.org/myanmar

The lyrics for the song is quickly being created by the local Burmese and the Danish students.

June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 25

Beach Polo in Hua Hin The Annual Beach Polo tournament in Hua Hin is a rich experience - don’t miss it next year!

By Agneta Bekassy Photo by Daniel Herron

I

f you stroll through Hua Hin, once a calm, small fishermen’s village with only two, three hotels, you will be most surprised to hear the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian languages spoken almost everywhere today.

You can’t call Hua Hin a small idyllic fishermen’s village anymore, it has become a big city with many five stars hotels and small guesthouses. There are all kinds of restaurants, so if you are longing for a Italian cuisine or some Japanese Sushi, no problems, you will get it.

One of the most beautiful hotels today is the Intercontinental, designed by a Hawaiian architect. The hotel has a great location by the beach, a huge pool area, built in steps, cabanas to rest in and several restaurants.

Once a year, the well known company B.Grimm, organizes a beach polo tournament together with Intercontinental Hotel. The polo tournament is played on the beach in front of the hotel. This event takes place shortly after Songkran in April and it’s the last polo event before the horses go on “vacation” until December.

Beach polo is different from polo played on grass, as you play with only three players in each team and the chackas are shorter and the ball lighter.

The Thai Polo kid’s team is on it’s way to become real good players. The young players are among eight and twelve years old. It is fun to see the young kids having full control over their small, cute ponies.

The adult riders are experienced and it’s nice to see some female players taking part, among them the young, beautiful daughter of Mr. Harald Link (B.Grimm) and his wife Assunta.

If you buy a ticket (cost 1500 baht) you get the entrance, a light lunch in the tent down on the beach and a delicious dinner buffet in the beautiful hotel garden after the games, horse race and fashion show with models, presenting the clothes, riding. This year also included a show and an auction to raise funds for the Princess Pa’s foundation.

Once a year, an Elephant tournament takes place and last year this Elephant cup was taking place in Hua Hin, with Minor Group as organizer and main sponsor.

This year it will most likely take place near Bangkok.

If you are a Scandinavian today, living or visiting Hua Hin you will hardly miss anything from home. You have Scandinavian real estate agencies, law companies, restaurants, tailors speaking your language and a Scandinavian active society. If you are a golf player, you have found your Eldorado. There are plenty of great golf courses in and around Hua Hin, just to mention a few, the exclusive Black Mountain (Swedish owner), the classic, more Thai inspired Palm Hills, the Springfield, among many others.

Hua Hin offers something for everyone. Join the next year’s Polo and experience life by the sea.

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26 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

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June 2014 โ ข ScandAsia.Thailand 27

IPTV

which one is good for you?

TV from your home country

By Morten Krogsholm

D

o you miss following your favorite home team live? Watching the Norwegian live knitting show?

The Swedish Hollywood Wives?

A quick search on the web shows there is a huge demand for TV from back home among Scandinavians abroad, particularly those living in Asia. There are also several service providers offering web-based Scandinavian TV solutions to suit every taste and budget.

But which one is the best and how does this thing work? To find out, ScandAsia decided to look into the matter and try to shed some light on the IPTV phenomenon.

But I am pleased to inform you that another provider, European IPTV, did respond in a positive manner and even gave me the opportunity to try their services designed for tablet users. So any testing mentioned in this article refers to this company’s services, as none of the others seem to be interested in having their services tested or answering questions about availability of services or their legitimacy as providers.

I will leave it up to you as a smart consumer to draw your own conclusion as to why the companies were unwilling to cooperate and participate in this survey.

Little response

Many of these solutions function in the same way.

A signal from Denmark/Norway/Sweden, etc., is rerouted to a server in another country in Europe.

From there, the server then redirects the signals again to different servers based in countries around the world. The closer a server is to your home, the better signals you will get.

So I might sound like the messenger who brings bad news when I say that everyone who is living in areas with a bad internet connection, will experience some difficulties accessing any of these IPTV services.

People with slow internet connections should

I started out trying to contact seven different providers who claim they could deliver live TV from Scandinavia to asked them a couple of questions about their products, services and the whole legal matter regarding copyright. Unfortunately only two responded. World TvPro claimed that I could find answers to my questions and product reviews posted by their customers on their website. Neither of these information is to be found on the website, so if you choose to do business with World TvPro, you should be aware of this.

28 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

Location, location, location

not give up in IPTV, though. Your experience might just be an occasional drop in picture quality and perhaps a lot of graininess. But you may also experience delays on sound or video that could drive you towards insanity! However, some can strangely experience the same smooth experience as others who are located closer to streaming servers or live in an area with relatively better internet connection. You have to hope for the best and expect the worst.

Different suppliers recommend different minimum connection speeds.

Some of the companies suggest that a 1.5 mbps download speed is sufficient while others claim that 0.6 mbps will be enough.

In my experience streaming video contents in Thailand, I would strongly recommend that you have at least have a 3 mbps download speed or more. If you are watching the TV on your smartphone or tablet, it might not need as much transfer rate, but if you, like me, have several devices connected to your internet connection, I would say the faster the better. If you don’t know your speed, www.speedtest.net/ is one website that can instantly tell you If you live in Singapore you should be able to have the best experience. Singapore has a very

developed broadband infrastructure and European IPTV, whose services I tried out, has a server there, so it should run extremely smoothly there.

If you are living in China you could experience difficulties from time to time due to the country’s very strict control of the internet with access to certain sites blocked by the authorities.

Legal aspect It has not yet been possible for me to cover the legal aspects of these IPTV services. But one could imagine that there is a gray area in which someone’s copyright may be violated or not fully respected. I have been in contact with a professor in Denmark who specializes in copyright and he will get back to me when he has figured out how the laws apply in this matter from a Danish judicial point of view. When I hear from him, I will post an update on our website.

I can say state with certainty that it is illegal to use any of these services when you are in a Scandinavian country, so if you subscribe to any of these services, please obey the law when you are back visiting your home country.

European IPTV As I have mentioned before, I was given the op-

portunity to try out one of these solutions. It was the tablet subscription to European IPTV. I spoke with Tom Hansen, who runs the company, and he stated that the legality of this matter was a grey area as no cases had been tried in any court so far.

“That it is not illegal, does not, of course, make it legal,” he said, adding that TV content owners have a way to monitor where their subscribers are using their services, and if anyone accesses those contents without paying within Denmark, Norway or Sweden, they can shut down the signals. He also said that he did not feel like he was taking away anybody’s livelihood by providing these services.

European IPTV stream TV contents through three servers placed strategically around the world - in the Netherlands, Slovakia and Singapore. There is a direct line from the server in the Netherlands to the one in Singapore, which secures a reliable connection with most of Asia.

According to Tom Hansen, their service only requires 538 kbps to run smoothly. According to the test I performed, this seems to be about right.

Though I need to add that I tested the product on a 7 mbps connection, where I had only dedicated 600 kbps to the IPTV service on the iPad. I experienced quite a lot of problems with live streaming part of the service. I was often prompted

by a message telling me that I was switching channels too fast or that I was already watching a stream on the login. According to Tom Hansen, this was due to some extra security priorities that they have had to make.

“There are some people out there, who steals our stream and then reroutes it through another site for free, and we are trying our best to prevent this to protect our interests,” he said.

At European IPTV, you can record a show from any of the channels at any time. This allow users to watch those recordings at a later time on your device, and this part of the service always runs perfectly smooth, so on that account I have nothing to complain about.

In summary, all these IPTV services available are not easy to navigate, and, unfortunately, I can only refer to my experience with one service provider.

I would like to emphasize that you have to take into consideration where you are located and how fast your internet connection is.

If possible, always ask if it is possible for you to try before you buy into one of those IPTV services.

Prices begin at around 35 Euro pr. month depending on your choich of product.

In our online version of this article there will be links to different providers of the service.

June 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 29

มุมภาษาไทย

l

mum pha:să: thai

l

Thai Language Corner

Talking Politics

By Klavs Johansen (thai@maprao.dk)

F

Scandinavian people closely related to Thailand have several times supported financially or otherwise one or the other of the two factions in Thailand’s divided political landscape.

Here it is Kurt Nielsen, which Swedish photographer Dennis Thern found walking in one of the countless demonstrations on 29 March. Quite fitting for this column, Kurt Nielsen demonstrates how PDRC and the word Denmark is spelled in Thai. (Photo courtesy of Dennis Thern.)

30 ScandAsia.Thailand • June 2014

ollowing a request, we will this month cover some vocabulary, useful when discussing Thai politics ~การเมือง/ ka:n mueang/ and an initial warning that we are thereby entering a highly charged situation is appropriate. Let’s proceed with care, also keeping in mind that space constrains of this column necessitate considerable simplification.

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, so the rules of engagement are ideally set out in the constitution ~รัฐธรรมนูญ/ ráttháthammánu:n/ and matters related to it are decided by The Constitutional Court ~ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ/ să:n ráttháthammánu:n/.

The Parliament ~รัฐสภา/ rátthásàpha:/ consists of two chambers, the Senate ~วุฒิสภา/ wútthísàpha:/ and the House of Representatives ~สภาผู้แทน ราษฎร/ sàpha: phû: thae:n râ:tsàdor:n/.

The Government ~ รัฐบาล/ rátthába:n/ is headed by a Prime Minister ~นา ยกฯ/ na:yók/.

The main political parties ~พรรคการเมือง/ phâ:k ka:n mueang/ are the PTP ~พรรคเพื่อไทย/ phâ:k phûea thai/, headed by Yingluck Shinawatra and in government since 2011, and the Democrat Party ~พรรคประชาธิปัตย์/ phâ:k pràcha:thípàt/, headed by Abhisit Vejjajiva and leading the opposition ~ฝ่าย ค้าน/ fà:i khá:ng/.

When the House of Representatives was dissolved ~ยุบสภา/ yúp sàpha:/ in December, Thailand was left with a caretaker government ~รัฐบาลรักษาการ/ rátthába:n ráksă: ka:n/, lead by the PTP. An election ~การเลือกตั้ง/ ka:n lûeak tâng/ was held in February, but boycotted by the Democrat Party and finally annulled by the Constitution Court, leaving the Senate as the only functioning chamber of the Parliament.

Both parties are informally associated with large people’s movements staging the mass protests seen in recent years, PTP with the UDD (United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship) ~นปช./ nor: por: sor:/, also known as the Red Shirts ~เสื้อแดง/ sûea dae:ng/, and the Democrat Party with the PDRC (People’s Democratic Reform Committee) ~กปปส./ kor: por: por: sŏr:/. While the UDD supports PTP, claiming a democratic majority with the party’s victories through several elections, mainly based on the party’s huge popularity in the North and Northeast, the PDRC, on the other hand, wants to root out the overwhelming influence on Thai politics of the Shinawatras, in particular Yingluck’s elder brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been living overseas most of the time since he was ousted from power by a coup d’etat ~ รัฐประหาร/ rát pràhă:n/ in 2006 and subsequently convicted of corruption.

In early May, Yingluck Shinawatra was removed from office by the Constitutional Court on grounds of abuse of power.

On May 20th, the army ~กองทัพบก/ kor:ng tháp bòk/ declares martial law ~กฎอัยการศึก/ kòt aiyáka:n sùek/.

Due to the deadline of this column, events in Thailand are likely to overtake the summary of the situation attempted here, but I still hope that the vocabulary may contribute to a better understanding of what is going on with Thai politics. You may want to try it out with Thais close to you with an eye to our initial warning. As everywhere, always be cautious when talking politics.

My Danish breakfast For me, a proper Danish breakfast is one of the most enjoyable ways to start a great day in the weekend, Saturday or Sunday.

Here are the ingredients that cost me less than 1000 Baht for the two day breakers: 1. Fresh milk – I prefer the dark blue Meiji 2. Kelloggs cornflakes – no other brand will do 3. Two soft boiled farm eggs – I cannot taste if they are organic, but I like the happy look of the hen on the pack…

4. Lurpak butter – lately I go for the spreadable version, though 5. Emborg “Havarti” cheese – sliced is available in the big supermarkets.

6. Jam, Danish Selection – known in Denmark as Den Gamle Fabrik 7. Rundstykker – special Danish bread rolls

I have to go lightly on each item as I will otherwise get too full before the feast is over.

A final ingredient that will make the feast last for two hours is a crisp copy of Bangkok Post.

Most of the ingredients are easily available in Thailand. The missing link was for some years the “rundstykker”, but lately they have become available from Danish bakeries who deliver all over Thailand, plus the online shop ScandShop. in.th - which is also me…

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