ScandAsia Thailand - March 2017

MAR 2017

Banking & Financing theme BUSINESS

Jönköping University’s Campus SEA

PEOPLE

Katarina Tapio presents Suomi Finland 100 years

COMMUNITY Nishaville / TSCC Bangkok event

LIFESTYLE

Agneta’s World visits hidden hotels

17 MAR 20

Events

NorCham Annual General Meeting 2017 Where: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, 250 Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok When: 21 March, 18:00 - 21:00 Mar k your calendar s! On Tuesday 21 March 2017 the Thai-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce will host their Annual General Meeting at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit.

Price: Free for members and spouse/companion.

RSVP: 17 March 2017 at secretary@norcham.com.

DTCC Annual General Meeting 2017 Where: Le Méridien Bangkok Hotel, Grand Atelier Room When: 23 March, 16:00 - 21:30 On 23 March 2017, the Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce will host their Annual General Meeting at 16:30-20:30.

All relevant documents have been distributed by e-mail.

However, in case you have not received the document from the Chamber Secretariat then please do contact the DTCC as soon as conveniently possible with a correct e-mail address at contact@dancham.or.th or call +66 2354 5220 The Chamber Secretariat is looking forward to hearing and seeing you at the DTCC AGM.

European Chambers Luncheon: BOI Policy Update Where: Conrad Bangkok, 4th Fl., Ballroom When: 30 March 2017, 11:30 - 14:00

theme ancing g & Fin Bankin ESS BUSINg University’s Jönköpin SEA Campus

ents PEOPLE Tapio pres year s 100 Katarina nd

UNITY COMM / TSCC Nishaville event Bangkok

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Suomi Finla

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- , Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: news@scandasia.com Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com Managing Editor: Joakim Persson Joakim@scandmedia.com Journalist: Frederik Guy Hoff Sonne

Join the European Chamber s Luncheon with Khun Duangjai Asawachintachit, Deputy Secretar y General of the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) for the latest BOI policy updates and insights on your investments in the land of smiles. With more than 30 years of experience anchoring investments into Thailand on behalf of the BOI, working hand-in-hand with especially European investors, her expertise is definitely something you should not miss.

Expect to learn more about cluster industry development in Rayong/Map Tha Put, how your

business could drive Thailand 4.0, and how BOI policy updates will benefit your businesses.

If you have any specific questions or topics in mind, you can share them here and Khun Duangjai will receive them before the event.

Price: 1,200 baht for Members, 2,000 baht for Non-Members *3-course lunch inclusive *Advance payment and booking at least 3 days before the event You can send an e-mail to assistant@dancham. or.th or call 02-354-5220 to book your ticket

Advertising : Finn Balslev finn@scandmedia.com Joakim Persson Joakim@scandmedia.com Piyanan Kalikanon piyanan@scandmedia.com Nattapat Maesang nattapat@scandmedia.com Graphic Designer : Peerapol Meesuwan Peerapol@scandmedia.com Printing : Inthanon Interprint Co., Ltd.

Daily news and features here: www.scandasia.com

March 2017

ScandAsia Community

10 Agneta’s World visits hidden hotels 21 Eric & Ulf Wakenius 22 Thai Language Corner Ms. Katarina Tapio

9

Introduces Suomi Finland 100 years in Bangkok

12

Banking & Financing Theme

ScandAsia Business

10

12

16 Common Reporting Standard

Mr. Alexander Wetterling Advices on your investment strategy

OECD’s new standard fighting tax evasion

21

18 Jönköping University’s Campus SEA

Mr. Bo Jonsson

17

22

Swedes fighting for their right to healthcare coverage One-Stop Shop for all your editing, design, printing and digital printing needs

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4 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

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March 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 5

Community

Nishaville resort promoted at Thai-Swedish Bangkok event Text and photos: Joakim Persson

T

he 2 Februar y 2017 networking by the Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce (TSCC) was held at the familiar venue Huntsman’s Pub, Landmark Hotel, where the sponsor and member company in focus was Nishaville Resort & Spa – a for many Swedes in Thailand well-known resort.

Nishaville, is a mixed-used development that truly represents a high quality and nicely designed beachfront property with an amazing summerhouse feel to it, not to mention the pristine beach area where it is situated. The resort features expansive gardens and a perfect combination of villas and apartments, operated as a hotel business for the unit owners.

This uniquely designed resort was developed in the period when Huay Yang (in Southern Prachuap Kirikhan) was placed on theThailand map for foreigners by several Swedish developments, turning it into on of the most visited destinations in Thailand by long-stay Swedes.

Nishaville has been a member of TSCC 6 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

ever since the development star ted, when Scandinavians were targeted as residential investors in Thailand.

At the networking the Nishaville team, with Managing Director Supakorn Kijkanakorn, General Manager Yannis Amarantinis and Sales Manager Lars-Åke Persson in attendance, presented the resort and its selling points.

Lar s-Åke Per sson told ScandAsia that currently (during high season and connecting to the winter school break in Sweden) there are around 2 000 Swedes residing in Huay Yang.

“Now its the peak with mostly Swedish people in the village. Totally more than 800 villas and apartments were sold to foreigners here. Many who are here now are rental guests, including many families when the schools have vacation in Sweden. Around 20-30 persons live here the whole year while most owners spend 3-6 months in Huay Yang, normally during the period November to March,” said Lars-Åke.

With opportunities for Thais and Swedes in Bangkok to have take splendid beachside vacations

and really get away from the crowded and noisy capital, he continued presenting Nishaville’s selling points: “It’s the perfect place for those looking for a calm and quiet place, with kilometres of uncrowded beaches in a small fishing village (Huay Yang). There is high service level both in the village and at Nishaville, a resort with 24 hours reception service, transportation with golf carts, own restaurant, pool areas and other services.”

The sales manager pointed to the setting as the best thing about the resort for him: “It’s directly by the beach, with no road between the area and the sea. And directly north of Nishaville is the national park Wannakorn, and on the south side a temple. That guarantees that there will not be any other buildings on either side of the resort.”

Lars-Åke has been part of the development of the foreign community Huay Yang since the ver y beginning, as he star ted working with property companies there already back in 2005.

At the networking he told the audience how privileged he felt having been able to be part of

the development of residential areas in Huay Yang for so many years.

“For the last four years I’ve responsible for sales at Nishaville. And it’s very special to have been involved with around 100 buyers and most of them being very good friends now.”

“It star ted with only Swedish and some Norwegians. Today we have Germans, Russians, Chinese, Moldavian and Australian owners here.

The resort now has many guests from the whole world so I believe the future buyers will be more from other nationalities than Swedes,” he believed.

Buyers have the option of joining the resort’s program.

“It gives a yearly income and we take care of everything.”

“The most remarkable things in Nishaville is the quality of the resort (design of the Villas, quality of construction, furniture and overall set-up) and its location. Our guests and our villa owners do have the feeling to live in a hidden place, a secret paradise and they often ask me if Huay Yang will become like Hua Hin one day!“ said the resort’s general manager,Yannis Amarantinis, who had just started working at Nishaville in January.

He has a lot to compare with when giving his assessment, having working for nearly ten years in Koh Samui, in various places on Phuket and also in Luang Prabang in Laos.

“It’s challenging these days in Thailand to find a beachfront resor t without any disturbances (long tail boats, speed boats etc.). Nishaville has

300 meters of white absolutely unspoiled sandy beach, but it is not too isolated, so our guests still can go outside to local restaurants for dinner or explore the charming city of Prachuap kiri khan that is a 15-minute drive away only,” he commented.

In sponsoring the TSCC event Yannis said that their target was to just make the Swedish Expat community aware that, at 4 hours’ drive from Bangkok, they will find a beautiful resort on a pristine beach.

“And it’s very likely that the guests you will meet there talk Swedish.”

As for getting there Yannis replied: “We can come to collect the guests at the airpor t of Chumpon if they prefer to come by plane from Bangkok. But a very charming and unusual option is the train. Still the best would be by car, so you can drive around the area during your stay, go to waterfalls or nearby activities.”

He also recommended the resort as perfect for the long weekends and short breaks.

For businesses Nishaville can also cater to meetings and events: “If we think about a classroom setup, we can easily welcome 120 people. Our property offers also a large range of options for team building events and activities in our gardens or on the beach.”

Two of the Swedes in Bangkok who won the evening’s Lucky Draw will get to try it out, along with their respective families and friends. One of them is Mr Björn Richardsson, who won a night’s stay for four people.

March 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 7

Community

Plenty of Christmas food at Danish New Year Luncheon

P

By Nadja Dam Jensen ork roast, fillet of plaice, roasted duck, risalamande and much more. All of the classic Danish Christmas foods were ser ved at the garden of the Danish Embassy when the Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce, DTCC, invited to their New Year Luncheon on 27 January 2017.

After being postponed due to considerations after the passing of his Majesty, Bhumibol Adulyadej, the annual Christmas Luncheon was instead turned into a New Year Luncheon, and around 130 people joined the Danish Embassy and DTCC to a nice table of food, live music and of course plenty of beer and cold snaps.

Although there were no New Year’s Antics, Michael Andersen, Secretary General of DTCC, said the luncheon was a success.

8 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

“It was a nice and quiet party. I think everybody had a good time,” he said, adding that by the end of the luncheon there were however no more beer left.

The luncheon started with a welcome from the Danish Ambassador and the President of the Chamber of Commerce. The guests could later enjoy different shows from sponsors. Among the sponsors were professional recruitment consultancy Michael Page, who the DTCC gratefully accepted as main sponsor for the luncheon.

Other sponsors, such as the Danish companies Pandora, ECCO and Royal Copenhagen, also sponsored gifts for the Lucky Draw, allowing some lucky guests to bring home a little more than just the memory of a great luncheon.

Community

Suomi Finland 100 years Bangkok events 2017

Katarina Tapio, Deputy Head of Mission at Embassy of Finland, Bangkok outlines what is in store for her country’s centennial celebrations in Thailand.

Y

Text and photos: Nadja Dam Jensen ear 2017 means big celebrations for Finland. SF100, or Suomi Finland 100, is the celebration of the nation’s 100 years as an independent nation.

The Embassy of Finland in Bangkok is looking forward to a year filled with events, sharing the Finnish values and strengthening the ties with Thailand.

“We are celebrating as Finnish people, but also with friends around the world. And we hope to get lots of new friends of Finland during this year. It’s a year of showcasing the journey of Finland during the last 100 years,” says Katarina Tapio, Deputy Head of Mission at the Finnish Embassy, on her hopes for the year.

“We have accomplished many good things, so we want to share those experiences and how we got here. We hope to give whatever best practices and show how we became a stable and innovative country, which I think Thailand aims to do as well.”

A chance for Finland to inspire other countries will be at the Bangkok International Book Fair, which Katarina Tapio mentions as the main event of the year for Finland in Bangkok.

From 29 March to 4 April 2017, Finland will be the guest of honour at the book fair, which should be visited by 2 million people. As the honorary guest, Finland will have a big pavilion with the theme ‘The Joy of Reading – Key of life long learning.’

At the book fair the embassy hopes to be able to show the Finnish education system, which

often is mentioned as one of the best in the world. Thailand has also shown a great interest in the Finnish ways of educating, says Katarina Tapio.Thailand is working on improving their own system of education, but despite having put lots of effort and investment into it,Thais still experience a lack of improvement.

“I think they will be happy to learn from other countries – and we will be happy to share,” says Tapio.

However, the book fair will not only be about books and education. It will also be a chance for the embassy to promote Finnish business and tourism to Finland.

“We will have a lot of Finnish design on display.

It will be this whole visual trip to Finland with great pictures that can maybe highlight Finland as a very interesting travel destination,” says Katarina Tapio. “There are almost 140.000 Finns coming to Thailand every year, and we would be happy if we could have the equal numbers or more coming from Thailand to Finland.”

Finnish design house Marimekko is one of the Finnish companies, that will be displayed at the Finnish pavilion at the book fair. Marimekko is know for their original prints and colours. They make both clothing items and accessories, as well as items for home decoration.

There are lots of things that Thai love about Finnish design. Sort of funny things. ‘Sanuk’, they say in Thai about everything enjoyable and fun, and we’re trying to put that together.”

Something ‘sanuk’ that will be a part of the

Finnish display, is the Moomin, that is for many know as a character from a children’s book, but is also a popular design in home decoration on mugs, plates and more.

Aside Bangkok International Book Fair as the main event, the embassy is also putting together many other events. So far, not many details can be revealed as a lot is still in the planning process.

She does however guarantee that there will be a big party in December, around the independence day itself, to really celebrate the jubilee.

“We are planning to bring some great Finnish artists, Finnish art, design and Finnish food and have a nice celebration with Finns and foreign friends of Finland.”

The Embassy of Finland to Thailand will also be hosting a drawing competition as part of the celebration. A winner will be chosen from a Finnish school and one from a Thai school, and together they will get to shadow Finnish ambassador, Satu Suikkari-Kleven, for a day and experience what it is like to be an ambassador, and also to bring the two different cultures together.

“We wish to make more friends of Finland in Thailand. And to show what Finland has to offer, both regarding politics and policies, but also to show that Finland is a great country to visit and a country with great design and products. We will have more events with Finnish food and culture design and food is what we are focusing on, but I cannot reveal the details just yet.”

Stay tuned with ScandAsia.

March 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 9

Business

Agneta’s World

Photographer: Daniel Herron

Escape the noise and traffic of Bangkok This month, I’d like to take you with me to four hidden, beautiful boutique hotels in the heart of Bangkok.

Are you in the mood to disappear for a night with your husband, lover, best girlfriend or anyone?

You are spoiled for choice between these “wild strawberry places”!

Believe me; I have explored them all…

Hotel Cabochon

L

et me first take you to Hotel Cabochon.

This small, beautiful place, located on Sukhumvit Soi 45, gives you a feeling of a British country home.The only thing that a British country home wouldn’t have is the rooftop pool.

The hotel has only eight rooms, all equipped with bathrobes, slippers, refrigerator, free WIFI, mini bar, TV etc. It is a friendly, perfect family hotel, close to shopping malls like EM Quartier, Emporium, BTS etc.

Cabochon offer s an elegant colonial splendour and old charm, combined with contemporary elements that gives you the feeling of “coming home”.

The hotel has a cosy restaurant and if you are a friend of spicy Thai food, I can recommend you the spicy Laab Moo, one of the best I have ever had.

This hotel has as its motto: “Arrive as a guest, leave as a friend”. So true, once you have been there, you will return!

I went to Cabochon, with some girlfriends for a photoshoot of my friend Anika’s beach wear collection ByNika. We had a fun and productive day up by the pool and in the pool.

10 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

Hotel The Eugenia Bangkok

N

ot very far from Cabochon, on Sukhumvit Soi 31, you’ll find the next little pearl, The Eugenia Bangkok.

This hotel is perfectly located very close to Sky train and MRT, restaurants and shopping malls.

Like Cabochon, this hotel represents the old colonial style, the old world’s architectural beauty blended with modern design. This is a really relaxing retreat. Eugenia offers several suites in different sizes. Just to give you an example, the Eugenia suite is 54 sqm, consists of 2 bedrooms with Queen size beds and a bathroom with a beautiful copper bathtub, perfect for a small family.

As most hotels in the city The Eugenia Bangkok offers a pool and you can also enjoy the ‘Lavana Spa’. Their tuk tuk will take you to Phom Phrong Bts station and to MRT. Enjoy a lunch and dinner at Eugenia restaurant and bar, open from 10 am until midnight daily.The Chef creates culinary adventures, exciting menus to the guests.

I was with a girlfriend, in the bar, after a long working day. My friend is a huge lover of Dry Martinis and when I say “dry” I mean real dry. We ordered our Martinis and she was delighted. As it was Happy Hours, we had a second one. They tasted delicious, but it was probably the most expensive Dry Martinis we both ever had. Must admit, they were worth paying for.

Aspira Davinci Hotel

M

y next suggestion is Aspira Davinci Hotel that also is located on Sukhumvit Soi 31.

This small hotel offers a classic European décor and architecture.

Their 15 rooms are elegant and well equipped. You find the flat screen TV, free WIFI and all luxury equipment in all rooms and free parking.This vintage hotel also has a spa and offers several massages and facial treatments.

Location is perfect, as it is close to shopping malls, BTS and restaurants.

The hotel is a bit hard to find, as it is hidden from the main street, but don’t give up looking for it. I have had the pleasure to spend a few nights in this hotel and it was, in all ways, very pleasant. You are surrounded by art showing Da Vinci’s drawings and paintings. The staff is efficient and very friendly.

Ariyasomvilla

M

y last little “hide away” is Ariyasomvilla, located in the Nana district on Sukhumvit Soi 1. This small, family owned hotel & resort was built in 1942(the original house) by Phra Charuen and khun Aroon Sheanakul, the current owner’s grandparents. Here you find the most beautiful teak floors, handmade silk drapes and reproduction period furniture, to give a real sense of time and place here in Bangkok.

Ariyasomvilla has 25 rooms and suites, all luxuriously decorated.

Its restaurant ‘Na Aroon’ is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can also order room service. Ariyasomvilla has its very own food concept “Tasty, Healthy and Organic”. They focus on vegetarian dishes, seafood and fish, no meat on the plates here. Choose an English, Japanese, Mexican or Continental breakfast.

Enjoy the 20 M lap swimming pool, surrounded by tropical trees and palms. The spa ‘Som Sen’ offers traditional Thai massage, but with the emphasis on releasing and enchanting the energy lines through the body.

They offer a massage sala and also private treatment rooms. If you prefer it even more private, you can ask the therapist to come to your room.

This little retreat has become very popular among visitors to well-known

hospital Bumrungrad.The hospital is located more or less opposite the hotel Of course a city like Bangkok has many, many more secret places that offer you calmness, relaxation, entertaining, exclusive dining and much, much more.

Make your choice and escape the daily life for a night or two, it rejuvenates and invigorates mind and body!

March 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 11

Banking & Financing

What type of investor are you? Active, passive or do-it-yourself investing?

You are your own worst enemy when it comes to investing. You can either decide to let someone else do it for you or create a solid investment framework to improve your chances of investment success.

What type of investor are you?

First and foremost, you need to ask yourself what kind of investor you are. Andrew Stotz helps you with this in his book, How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market by asking three

questions. There is no “one size fits all” solution, but you’ll get a good idea about how to invest and where to focus by asking yourself; “Am I interested in picking stocks? Do I have time to pick stocks? Do I have the necessary knowledge to pick stocks?”

If you answer “yes” to all these questions, then you may choose to do-it-yourself and build your own stock portfolio.You may also choose not to go it alone, but try to identify a fund manager who aims to earn you above-market returns, after fees, due to his/her skill.

If you have little time, interest and/or knowledge, then keep it simple. Go for a passive, widely diversified index fund or ETF that aims to track the market return at the lowest fees possible.

Still curious about doing it yourself or going with an actively managed fund? First, learn that you are your own worst enemy.

You are your own worst enemy

There are a wealth of academic papers, books, articles, blog posts,— this could go on forever—already out there, about how behavioral biases and heuristics lead you to poor decision making, in investments and other areas of life. To give you the short version: you are your own worst enemy.

If you, like me, want some hard evidence to prove this argument, let’s have a look at some common behavioral shortcomings most of us (if not all) suffer from often.

You feel a loss two to twoand-a-half times stronger than an equal gain, and this makes you loss averse (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979).

This aversion can be a problem as you don’t dare to invest due to the risk of losing money and, therefore, certainly will not gain anything from 12 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

investing either. Loss aversion can also result in taking on more risk to avoid sure losses, e.g. by holding on to a stock that has fallen by 50% just to avoid realizing that loss.

Have you ever had a friend or financial advisor who claims, “I knew it all along” after an event has already happened? That’s called hindsight bias, and it leads you to believe that the world is more predictable than it really is, and can lead you to become overconfident in your abilities.

Overconfidence is a concern as it can impact your assessment of the quality of the information you have and your ability to act on that information. For example, 93% of American and 63% of Swedish drivers rate themselves an above average driver (Svensson, 1981).

Of course, these are impossible odds; over half of all drivers can not be better than the average. In the world of investing, overconfident traders hold undiversified portfolios and trade more, which leads to worse performance (Odean, 1998 and Barber & Odean, 2009).

I may sound overconfident saying this, but I believe you are overconfident. Admit this to yourself too; be humble, do your research, and acknowledge that you don’t know everything.

Do it yourself

If you feel that you might, in fact, be your own worst enemy that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t do it yourself. Remember that professional investors also suffer

from behavioral biases too. A solid investment framework can help you deal with this. Here are some basic principles.

You’ll learn how to evaluate the attractiveness of a stock, how to reduce the risk in your portfolio, how to deal with both winning and losing stocks, and, ultimately, how to deal with yourself by avoiding acting emotionally when you’re investing.

Four elements of return

return which should be the goal for any active investor (otherwise, save time and effort; just buy a low-cost passive index fund).

In the paper Ten Stocks Are Enough in Asia, Stotz and Lu showed that by holding ten stocks in your portfolio instead of one, you reduce company-specific risk by 80%. A concentrated portfolio of ten stocks uses diversification to reduce risk but also increases the chance to outperform.

that managing your risk is more important than finding the absolute best stocks. The reason is quite simple; we know that stocks and markets crash now and then, if you can limit your losses when this happens, you have a larger chunk of wealth to accumulate returns on when it turns and goes up.

Stop loss is a simple, yet powerful, risk management tool.The benefit of a stop loss is that you predetermine future action. When you invest in a

U s e “ F V M R ” - i t s t a n d s fo r Fundamentals,Valuation, Momentum, and Risk. It’s the four different elements I look at when determining a stock’s attractiveness.

Fundamentals

A company’s profitability shows if it is managed well. Choose companies with high or rising profitability. Some financial ratios to look at here are return on assets, return on equity, asset turnover or operating profit margin.

Valuation

How the market perceives this stock.

Look for good fundamentals at low prices, and consider a balance of valuation and fundamentals. A stock with great fundamentals might still be attractive at a higher valuation. A few common multiples to determine the valuation are price-to-earnings, price-to-book, and price-to-sales.

Don’t forget to take profit

On the flipside, you also need to take profit on your winners. It’s not easy to know when the right time is to sell a winning stock. One method is to set a take profit point, like a reverse stop loss, so when the price has gone up to a certain level, you will sell it and lock in the profit.

This could though, result in losing future returns as you’re selling too early. So, another way is to regularly rebalance your portfolio. Let’s say you start with an equally-weighted ten stock portfolio, i.e. each stocks’ weight in your por tfolio is 10%, and one stock’s price performs exceptionally well so that its weight become 15% of your total portfolio.

When rebalancing, you would sell some of your shares until the stock’s weight is 10% again, and by that, locking in some of the profit too.

Whether you choose to go with passive index funds, actively managed funds or you choose to do it yourself, you need to first decide what is right for you. If you choose passive investing; focus on minimizing fees. Don’t pay an active fund manager more than his/her wor th either and don’t pay your adviser or broker too much. Most impor tantly, you need to have an investment plan or framework in place, and stick to it.

Momentum

Avoid “value traps” by looking for positive momentum in both price and earnings. Momentum in price examines if the share price has been going up over a certain period and positive momentum in earnings is if the company’s earnings have risen for some time. A strong price momentum tells you that the market is optimistic about the stock.

Risk

About the Author

Opt for low business and price risk.

Not every stock is going to fly, so, consider holding some that provide stable returns and strong dividends.

Hold a concentrated portfolio

Diversification is the necessar y concept of reducing risk measured as volatility in your por tfolio by holding a large number of stocks. A passive fund as an example will hold almost all stocks in the market and theoretically eliminate all companyspecific risk.

Diver sify and avoid taking unnecessarily high risk. Too much diversification though, reduces your chance of getting an above-market

Manage risk by determining future actions The investment guru Warren Buffet said: “Rule #1: Never lose money; Rule #2: Never forget Rule #1.” While it might be hard— or impossible even—to never lose money these words of wisdom tell us that a crucial part of investing is to manage your risk.

I would even go so far to say

stock, you decide that if the price drops to a certain level, you will sell the stock.

The level of stop loss can vary with markets and investment strategies, but 20% is often enough, i.e. if the share price falls by 20% from your buying price, you’ll sell your holding; helping you preserve capital and protect yourself from your emotions.

Alexander Wetterling, CIPM is a Por tfolio Strategist and Founding Par tner at A. Stotz Investment Research which provides institutional investors with readyto-invest portfolios that aim to beat the benchmark through superior selection. He is also the Head of Content for the investment blog, Become a Better Investor.

March 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 13

Banking & Financing

Nordea a Nordic bank in the East

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By Maria Jønsson ordea has been present in Asia for decades, but roughly 4 years ago, the Nordic bank decided to open up a full-scale Private Banking branch in Singapore. The bank has since then offered its services to clients in Asia from its regional hub.

Being a Nordic bank in the East, Nordea Private Banking cares deeply about maintaining the Nordic values. So what are the Nordic values according to the Nordic bank?

First of all, Kim Osborg Nielsen, General Manager of Nordea in Singapore, explains that when working with Nordea in Asia, you can expect that your best interest as a client will always be in focus. Living the Nordic values mean that clients are treated fairly at all times and should never encounter short-sighted thinking from the bank.

14 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

He believes that the Nordic value of treating each other properly, is basic and something we in the Nordic region have in common can be proud of. In Asia, Nordea´s team seeks to stand out by living this value.

“We make a vir tue of listening carefully to what our clients want. The topics discussed often go beyond investment of funds and seeking a return, to include impor tant areas such as succession planning or the impact of owning assets in different countries. It is tr ue that achieving a strong investment performance remains an impor tant par t of client´s expectations to us. However, being a relationship bank, trust and personal service is equally important.” he says.

Nordea sets new course for sustainability.

“Sustainability is very impor tant to us. In the

bank we apply sustainability concerns into all our core operations and policies. The public agenda demand that we step up as a sustainable financial player. Our actions have been to embed sustainability – also in our offerings to clients and relationships. As an example, more and more companies start caring about producing the paper towels that are biodegradable. When Nordea Investment Funds invest in companies, we focus on those, who do not contribute to the haze-problem that affects parts of South East Asia. Similarly, private investors have become more aware that by investing in companies with a sustainable focus, they may even achieve a higher than average investment return,” Kim Osborg Nielsen says, explaining that Nordea Private Banking has a special focus on this with their Sustainable Finance Department.

Another factor that the Nordic bank cares deeply about, is having proximity with their clients.

One of the main reasons for the bank to open up a branch in Singapore, was to be able to react faster and offer the same level of personal private banking to clients in Asia, which the bank provides in Europe.

Before, Nordea was serving their Asian based customers from their offices in Europe, but as a wide range of new country specific regulations have come into force, more tailored advise is required to continue to service wealth owners in Asia well, the Nordic bank found. Nordea´s customers deserve a faster turnaround time, and therefore the trip bankers had to take from Europe to meet the customers had simply become too long. Kim Osborg Nielsen explains.

“They should be able to work with their chosen bank all day, and not just from two o’clock in the afternoon,” he says, “so moving to roughly the same time zone as our customers made great sense to us.”

But it is not only being able to meet the clients professionally that is important to Nordea.

In general, they care about building up a strong relationship with their customers. Other than through their professional dependence, they arrange social and sports events, such as golf tournaments and Formula1.

But the Nordea Private Banking team in Singapore knows that they are not perfect, and they are constantly working to improve themselves. This, they believe, is done best by getting feedback from their clients.

“We have this ambition; when you are a customer of Nordea Private Banking, it corresponds to checking in to a five-star hotel.

As a guest at a five-star hotel, you won’t feel it if everything runs smoothly; but the day it doesn’t, you will feel it immediately,” Kim Osborg Nielsen says, and continues, “we want to separate ourselves from the others by offering some of the best professional skills on the market.”

This is why, he explains, Nordea Private Banking is strengthening it´s cooperation with leading business schools in Stockholm, Switzerland and UK. Before an employee can start advising customers from the branch in Singapore, he will have to go through a high standard of education where the bar is high.

“Our customers should be able to feel the quality of our craft; that is what we want to stand for,” Kim Osborg Nielsen says.

How can you make your money work while you enjoy life?

Find out by calling us in Singapore on +65 6597 10 70 or email at nordea@nordea.sg www.nordeaprivatebanking.com Nordea Bank S.A, Singapore Branch is part of Nordea Group, the leading financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions. Some products and services may, due to local regulations, not be available to individuals resident in certain countries and their availability may depend, among other things, on the investment risk profile of persons in receipt of this publication or on any legislation to which they are subject. Nothing in this publication should be construed as an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to purchase, subscribe to or sell any investment or product, or to engage in any other transaction or provide any kind of financial or banking service in any jurisdiction where Nordea Bank S.A., Singapore Branch or any of its affiliates do not have the necessary license. Published by Nordea Bank S.A., R.C.S. Luxembourg No. B 14.157 on behalf of Nordea Bank S.A., Singapore Branch, • ScandAsia.Thailand 15 138 Market street Capita Green #09-03 Singapore 048946. www.nordeaprivatebanking.com subject to the supervision of the March Monetary2017 Authority of Singapore (www.mas.gov.sg).

Banking & Financing

OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) the impact on you

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y 2018 practically all countries will automatically exchange financial data for tax purposes, in an initiative led by the Organisation for Economic Cooper ation and Development

(OECD).

The Common Repor ting Standard (CRS), in effect in Asia since 1 Januar y 2017, is an internationally agreed standard for the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) on financial accounts between jurisdictions for tax purposes, with the objective of enhancing tax transparency to detect and deter tax evasion through the use of offshore bank accounts.

As for the case of Singapore the country is this year asking financial institutions to establish the tax residency status of all their account holders and report some of the financial data to th IRAS (Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore).

For Singapore the first international exchange is to take place by September 2018.

A financial institution is a company which is a depositary institution (typically companies that manage depositor y accounts), custodial institutions (companies offering custodial accounts or similar to customers), investment entities (typically investment funds) or an insurance company, which offers savings products such as an endowment insurance.

All account holders should upon request provide their Financial Institutions with information and supporting documents to establish their tax residency status.

Banks and other FIs will typically use a self-certification form to collect tax residency information, writes IRAS. “In addition, FIs may ask the account holders to explain or provide supporting document to verify the accuracy of the information that they have provided on the self-certification. Account 16 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

holders are advised to check with their FIs if they are unsure of the purpose for which the information is requested for.”

IRAS advices that in general, the tax residency of individuals, is determined by the period of a person’s physical presence or duration of stay in a jurisdiction in a year (e.g. whether the individual’s stay in a jurisdiction is over 183 days over a tax year).

IRAS stresses that it is important that you respond when you are requested by your financial institution to provide information or documentation to establish your tax residency status.

“If you do not provide the requested information or documentation, your financial institution may be obliged to repor t your account information to IRAS, refuse to open new account(s) for you, or in certain cases, close your existing account(s).”

“Wilfully providing false information on your tax residency status may subject you to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.”

A representative of Nordea, one of the Nordic banks operating in Singapore, states that they are reaching out to all their client to selfcer tify to ensure that the repor ting is made correctly and since the bank will repor t that information automatically. It is important to fill in the information per CRS standard to ensure reporting in the correct country, e.g. where the account holder is declared as resident.

Nordea in Asia will for the first time report under CRS in 2017. What customer info will Nordea report under the CRS? With respect to the year 2016 and onwards on an annual basis, the Nordea will report the following information starting in 2017: • balance/value on depositor y accounts,

custodial accounts, insurances and fund accounts • information about interest, dividends and other returns • gross proceeds and gross amounts (for example from sale of securities and equity and/or funds), and redemption payments.

“Credit of tax, to avoid double taxation, may in some cases be allowed for income taxed in another country. This depends on whether there is a double taxation treaty between the countries in question,” writes Nordea.

“We should recommend the customer to contact a tax advisor in case the customer needs assistance with correcting a tax return or has questions how this procedure works. Generally, we may recommend any of the major accounting firms (PwC, EY, Deloitte, KPMG) as they usually have local contacts in all countries and can handle any issues that may come up because of the tax liability in another country.”

The following accounts, writes Nordea, are considered to be Excluded accounts (no reporting under CRS): • pension related insurances and pension savings accounts which meet cer tain criteria • accounts held by estate, • escrow accounts and, • accounts held by publicly tr aded corporations or a related entity of such publicly traded corporation Sources: OECD, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Nordea

Community

Thailand Swedes’ health insurance campaign gains momentum

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By Joakim Persson confederation of Swedish citizens in Thailand asks: “Is it the Swedish Government’s intention that its citizens will profit from the Thai government, here in Thailand, while Thai citizens who want to work in Sweden, for example with berries, are required to have health insurance taken in Thailand?”

‘Svenskföreningars samorganisation i Thailand för ja till sjukvårdsförsäkring i Thailand (SAMS)’ believes that this cannot be the case, commenting on the proposal in Sweden by a committee of inquiry, which was presented to the Sweden’s Ministry of Health and Social Affairs on 1 February 2017.

“There are Swedish pensioners abroad, e.g. in Thailand, who cannot get private insurance here and in the final stages of their lives can be seen as examples of social tourism. It is now not only practice, but statutory, that not only government but also private hospitals have an obligation to treat people with acute care needs and this without regard to ability to pay,” SAMS continues.

As a consequence the Thai government’s public as well as private hospitals are left with unpaid bills for uninsured Swedes.

Meanwhile, the uninsured group of Swedes keeps on increasing who cannot get or take private health insurance due to old age, specific health problems, or it simply being prohibitive.

The Swedish confederation SAMS was established in Thailand on 30 November 2016, the same day as their representatives consisting in Bo Jonsson from Skandinaver på Phuket (SpP); Lars-Olof Fagerström, Svenskföreningen i Hua Hin (SFHH); Sven Arne Hedell, Svenskar I Udon Thani (SUT); and Filip Karlsson, Scandinavian Society Siam (SSS) met to discuss the topic with representative of the Embassy of Sweden, Bangkok.

“With this confederation, SAMS, we have a broader representation to put pressure on the Swedish government in this matter,” comments Bo Jonsson to ScandAsia.

Bo Jonsson now speaks as part of another new social club, ’Svenskföreningen på Phuket för Ja till Sjukvårdsförsäkring i Thailand’, which has been initiated after that SpP partnered with Svenskar i Världen (SVIV) to be their spokesperson in matters of this nature.

The findings in the proposal to the ministry, in Swedish titled ’Utredningen om trygghetssystemen och internationell rörlighet’, is now being analysed within the government offices.

“The welfare and security systems will be there when we need them. As more and more people live and work in several different countries

during his lifetime, it requires that the systems keep up with the development,” commented Annika Strandhäll, Minister for Social Security.

The ministry writes that social insurance is national but must operate in a world where people and companies are increasingly moving between countries, this in order to provide security for people and good conditions for growth.

On 9 Januar y SAMS had written to the committee of inquiry with detailed input from the Thailand perspective.

“Worth noting is that 2/3 of the Swedish pensioners, living in Thailand, who answered the Swedish social clubs’ questionnaire, have no health insurance! Private companies do not provide protection for existing illnesses or if a medical examination shows signs of disease risks. The cost of private health insurance rises sharply with increasing age and above the age of 70 years, it is difficult to get an insurance policy that provides good protection,” SAMS then highlighted.

“Many Swedes living, short or long time, in Thailand also pay taxes to Sweden, either SINKtax or regular income tax. However, you get no health care protection for this money, if you do not pay for a trip to Sweden and enters the regular medical treatment there – often with long waiting time, which also requires having ordinary accommodation up to several months and makes one’s return trip uncertain.”

Furthermore SAMS remarked: “Taxpayers in Sweden living abroad are already included in the basis for public health insurance in Sweden, since Swedish citizens are entitled to subsidized health care in Sweden and pay taxes for that purpose, even if it requires a fee at the point of care. Costwise, it would be better to enjoy this right in the country where people actually live in, provided

the medical care in that country can generally guarantee to meet the quality requirements set so as not to mislead the policyholder, and since the insurance obviously must have a cost ceiling.”

SAMS went on to suggest how social insurance for Swedish citizens living outside the EU should be implemented.

For the Swedes in Thailand fighting for the right to national health insurance from the Swedish state as residents of a non-EU country their calls have now been left unanswered.

“The complication for us is that the committee of inquiry has in this matter looked at the laws to adapt to EU legislation, but on the contrary has not had the time to look at third countries,” comments Bo Jonsson.

“Our expectation from Ministry of Health and Social Affairs is that one should bring up the matter specifically concerning Swedes living longer time outside the EU. And it’s their duty since they have not done it within this investigation,” he continues.

“We are referring to the fact that the terms of reference incorporated international mobility to third country. This has also been confirmed to us.”

In their official comments on the findings by the committee of inquir y SAMS on 18 February says: “In accordance with the wording of the investigative mission, for example medical insurance needs for international mobility can not expire at the EU’s external borders.”

“The inquiry was given supplementary terms of reference in December 2015, which gave SAMS reason to point out that there is a political will to go through the social security systems’ relevance in the context of the rapidly increasing movement across borders to countries outside the EU.” Stay tuned on this developing story with ScandAsia!

March 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 17

Business

Class of 2017 - Campus South-East Asia’s Bangkok branch. Photo: Dennis Thern.

2017 Jönköping University students welcomed to Thailand

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By Joakim Persson n Thursday 12 Januar y 2017 the year’s arrival of Swedish students from Jönköping University (JU) to its ‘Campus South-East Asia’ was welcomed by the community at the Thai Swedish Chamber of Commerce’s (TSCC) monthly networking.

The eight students, who are in their last term of their respective education at the university’s School of Engineering, had landed just a few days prior to the JU-sponsored evening event held at the Scandinavian restaurant Admiral’s Pub & Restaurant. The students will during the spring term do their internship or thesis work in close cooperation with Swedish companies in and around Bangkok.

Also, some other students opted for doing the same in Ho Chih Ninh City, Vietnam.

The International Campuses of the School 18 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

of Engineering (JTH-IC) are our nodes for implementation of education and research in an international environment, something that is remarkably unique within the world of universities and indeed prepares these students for an international career. Most fittingly the JU slogan is: ‘Where Global Careers Are Born’.

In Bangkok JU collaborate with Rangsit Univer sity, Kasetsar t Univer sity and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Nor th Bangkok.

It is by now an annual recurring event that the TSCC networking is sponsored by JU when the students from Sweden arrive in January, where companies and students can network and share experiences.

“Hotter than I thought”

ScandAsia also got a chance to talk to some of the students, where Alexandra Malkovich was the

only female student in the group. She is studying her bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial and Production Management.

“I am doing my last term and should be ready this summer. I will study three courses and then I will do my thesis work at Volvo Trucks.”

She was not yet fully clear what she would be looking into at Volvo Trucks but expected it would have something to do with improvement of processes; within production layout, flow planning etc.

Looking for a university near her hometown she got hooked on JU: ”I wanted study three years and where one works in themes and collaborates a lot. I think it is fun to solve problems. And if you work on solving it as a theme it’s a great thing.”

In Bangkok she will also study three courses as part of her education.

Her first impression of Bangkok:“Much hotter than I had thought. It’s very humid - like a sauna!”

I like meeting people, I enjoy speaking English and one learns exciting things in real life that one cannot learn on the Internet.

TSCC President/Spica Siam owner Mr Jan Eriksson, with Wannapa Pliansri, Goverment Relation Manager, AIT

Newly arrived students to Bangkok from Jönköping University, Sweden.

She can imagine herself working partly in Asia in the future.

“I like meeting people, I enjoy speaking English and one learns exciting things in real life that one cannot learn on the Internet.”

Future outsourcing to Asia

Sebastian Bengtsson will also do his thesis at Volvo Trucks, but with another department as he studies Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

While in Thailand he hopes the stay will generate many new contacts, and he will involve himself and experience cultures and countries in the region and “open up to the world, as one does not get to do back home at a Swedish university.”

“I think there are opportunities with smaller companies planning to outsource production to this region. That is always interesting. And I view myself in a role to start something on my own,

and then having been here in Asia and seen how the culture is and what production looks like in factories, to possibly outsource to here if starting up an own business in the future,” Sebastian commented about Southeast Asia.

He will study courses at Rangsit University; Principles of financing and International business management in particular.

Solving hands-on logistics problem

Rasmus Bernardsson is another student within the same education as Sebastian, who will also study 15 university points at Rangsit, as well as be doing his thesis work at Spica Siam, the importer of the Swedish brand Husqvarna. And there he will get to take part in solving a problem task that Spica Siam has concerning its logistics management.

“This region is very interesting, especially within production and logistics, which are my

fields of interest. Many things are being produced here now and where the nor thern par ts or China is becoming more costly, while Vietnam etc. are seeing increased interest from western companies and where one works with western companies a lot,” replied Rasmus concerning why he chose to go to Thailand. “And one cannot deny that the climate here is fabulous, to get some sun in the winter when living in dark, cold Sweden.”

Back in Sweden he said he has noticed that larger corporations in general are either moving back production from China and northern Asia or moving production down to Southeast Asia.

“Those are the two choices and therefore it is very interesting and media writes about this trend.”

Rasmus can definitely picture himself working in Asia in the future: “It’s a very interesting region.

I also want to learn more about religions and cultures here. Depending on how things go during my time here it will be interesting to live and work here as well in the future. We are just starting this five-year period in Thailand. I don’t know really how I will view things after five months but currently I look positively at a future in this region.”

On his first impression about Bangkok: “It’s clearly much larger than one could imagine!

There’s very heavy traffic, but people are very friendly and accommodating, something that makes it easier to adapt in this unfamiliar setting.”

Solving inventory management problem

At Spica Siam Rasmus will in his thesis work also get to collaborate closely with their Business Development Manager Phritaree Phiphattanasukkul, who is doing her Masters thesis at the Thai-Swedish company.

“My major is in decision support systems, so I want to do something for the inventory and design a programme to help the upper management in being able to take decisions,” she told ScandAsia at the networking.

“The company has some problem with over stock in the inventory, so I will look at how one can do forecasting for the inventory to be in balance.”

March 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 19

I think there are opportunities with smaller companies planning to outsource production to this region. That is always interesting. And I view myself in a role to start something on my own, and then having been here in Asia and seen how the culture is and what production looks like in factories, to possibly outsource to here if starting up an own business in the future

Spica Siam’s owner and also President of TSCC, Mr Jan Eriksson also commented: “First, I find it fantastic that Jönköping University is bringing all these students from Sweden out here.

And we at Spica, the importer for Husqvarna, find it excellent that we get two young, very energetic students coming into our company to help us as part of their education. We believe they will be able contribute with a lot to useful insights. We have a specific problem as we added so many products in our range and into our logistics system and the pipeline that we need to improve and streamline it. We think they can do it because it’s a lot about the common sense, and a matter of creating a logical flow and how we can handle it.”

Doing internships or thesis work abroad

By means of the international campuses, JTH-IC, Jönköping University guarantees that students can do their internship or thesis abroad, in collaboration with a company, and usually in combination with academic studies.

Professor Roy Andersson, who is in charge of JTH-IC, personally ensures that these students get help with everything, from finding accommodation to applying for a visa. JTH-IC also promotes Swedish companies that operate globally and are in need of manpower, skills, research and development.

“We are unique in Sweden, and perhaps in 20 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

the world, with this concept,” said Roy. This year the students take courses at the three universities Rangsit, Kasetsar t and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Nor th Bangkok and do internships or thesis work at Ikea, Volvo Trucks, Electrolux, Aritco and Spica Siam (Husqvarna).

“Some courses are held specifically for our students but they also take part in the universities’ international courses, matched with what they would have studied if they had remained in Sweden.”

“Other students from the region also study here, but not with our concept of being out at the companies. Our students get to interact with other international students from the Asian region, which is also positive.”

In 2017 Campus South-East Asia also has eight students in Vietnam and two in Singapore.

A few more will arrive later in the year as part of their Master studies.

“We have expanded this to include more engineering faculties, this year including mechanical engineering. And next year we are looking at also including civil and computer engineering.”

“We’re trying not to grow too fast, in order to secure quality,” Roy added.

At the same time the School of Engineering will deepen its cooperation with the par tner universities by offering more courses suitable for exchange students coming to Sweden.

“Students from those Univer sities we send students to can also send to us for one term of studies for fee. But they pay to their ordinary school. Then they get an experience from Sweden, which I imagine is attractive for companies here, especially Swedish ones, so it’s a win-win concept.”

In addition, paying students can apply to study a programme of two to three years at JU. “We often give such students 30 per cent in scholarship. As far as cost-level concerned: it’s half the price to study in Sweden compared to in Australia and the U.K. And cost of living is almost equal in these countries.”

The basic criteria for JU to establish an International Campus includes among other things that its region is attractive for business growth, and that a Swedish business network is already established in the region. There should also be a possibility to develop new partnerships in education and research with one or more partner universities.

“Companies are today international and they want to recruit graduates as new recruits with some experience in internationalisation – which is what we are trying to accomplish,” Roy commented on the market’s needs.

“And in the ranking system for universities, one indicator is how internationalised one is.

So that is important for the brand of Jönköping University too.”

Community

Swedish jazz guitarists’ Bangkok performance

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By Joakim Persson t was branded as ‘A Jazz Night with Eric & Ulf Wakenius, and no doubt it was jazz in the broadest sense possible - and beyond!

The unusual occasion of Swedish live performers in Bangkok, and of this particular type, took place in the evening on Friday 27 January 2017 at the ThreeSixty Jazz Lounge, seeing Sweden’s ambassador couple in attendance, along with many local guitar and jazz aficionados. Some had most certainly also turned up to hear the Swedish father-and-son duo’s take on some of the Thai people’s former beloved King Rama IX Bhumibol’s songs – who was also a jazz lover, musician and songwriter.

Grammy-nominated recording ar tist Ulf Wakenius’ own album ‘Rio de Janeiro’ has been released by the record label Hitman Jazz in Thailand, and together with his son Eric, he had been invited to Thailand to perform at a festival in Chiang Mai on the following day.

The duo star ted off the evening with ‘Vagabond’, a tune inspired by lots of airports.

This certainly set the tone for the evening, as the beginning of a really interesting musical journey.

Vagabond moved between different elements of Spanish, Latin and Arabic.

‘Birds & Bees’ by Pat Metheny was next, then moving into a peak with the “Mozart mixed with Brazil” song Brazil. Here Ulf also told the audience what a blessing it was to be able to perform together with his son.

Then they performed the King Rama IX song ‘Magic Bus’ “What a wonderful human being he was,” said Ulf, as he had got to learn and now could understand why this king was so loved.

Father and son Wakenius performed two more of the King’s songs during the concert, as well as a song by another king; namely no other than the king of blues, BB King himself.

And they performed their excellent version of Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ the audience was encourage to imagine a string quartet.

‘Father & Son’ by Cat Stevens was of course also a suitable choice for the repertoire of the Wakenius duet.

Truly a memorable night hoping to see Eric & Ulf Wakenius performing in Thailand once again!

Many more deserve to experience these stunning acoustic guitarists!

March 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 21

มุมภาษาไทย l mum pha:să: thai l Thai Language Corner

Try a little Lao too!

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By Klavs Johansen (thai@snakthai.dk)

magine a Thailand without roads and rail connections, a Thailand of the past where water ways provided the most convenient means of transport.The ancestors of the Thai came down from the north along the rivers, in particular the Chao Phraya and its tributaries, but also in no small numbers along the Mekong.

Of common ancestry, the people who settled in the Chao Phraya basin came to speak what is today known as standard Thai, while the people who settled on the banks of Mekong spoke Lao. The two areas were separated by distance and hardly passable jungle until the 20th Century.

Today, the people living on the eastern bank of the Mekong and on the plains, drained into the Mekong by the Chi and Mun rivers, still share language with their kinsmen in Laos on the western bank of the river. The Mekong is a political border, not a linguistic one. The area on the Thai side is known as อีสาน / i:să:n / ~ Isan, meaning northeast, and the people there are known as คนอีสาน / khon i:să:n /, though they often refer to themselves as ลาว / la:o /.

While modern migration, mass communication and a standardized school curriculum have made standard Thai understood and widely spoken in Isan, Lao is still the everyday language of the region. I like to think that the difference between Thai and Lao is comparable to the difference between Danish and Swedish, or even Norwegian (bokmål) for some dialects. A linguist could probably prove or disprove this claim with hard statistics, however for our purpose, as students of Thai, it suffice to note that the languages are pretty close and, with limited effor t, mutually intelligible. So when you know some Thai, all it takes to speak a little Lao is a slight twist of pronunciation and then substituting certain key 22 ScandAsia.Thailand • March 2017

words. The syntax basically stays the same.

“But why, oh why?”, you may ask, still trying to cope with standard Thai. There are several good reasons to learn a little Lao too: First of all, as already indicated, due to the similarity, it is easy, once you know some Thai! Add to this that the people of Isan make up for around one third of Thailand’s total population. The Isan region has developed at a slower pace than the central region and still offers the experience of traditional life. At the same time, you will meet คน อีสาน / khon i:să:n / as migrant workers all over Thailand, in industry, agriculture and not least in service jobs. It is a good bet that your taxi driver or restaurant waitress hails from Isan. Hence, the reasons for wanting to learn a little Lao become the same as for learning your Thai: You want to understand what’s said around you and you want to be able to send a message to people in their own language. Attempting the latter in Lao is no less rewarding than doing so in Thai, and thus it is almost “buy one, get one for free” when we think about the joys of language learning.

So how do you twist your Thai into something Lao sounding? In the following, we shall look at a few tricks for a non-Lao speaker, like myself, who speaks some Thai.

Perhaps the most obvious one is the change from standard Thai high tone to Lao falling tone, e.g. standard Thai กินแล้ว / kin láe:o / ~ I have eaten becomes / kìn lâe:o / in Lao. Note the different tone markers of the transcription, / láe:o / high tone becomes / lâe:o / falling tone. There are other, less notable, tone changes beyond the scope of this column.

Then there is the frequent change of the consonant sound / r / of standard Thai into / h / in Lao, for instance, standard Thai โรงเรียน / ro:ng

rian / ~ school becomes / ho:ng hian / in Lao.

In the same way, Thai / ch / becomes / s / in Lao, so Thai ช้าง / chá:ng / ~ elephant becomes / sâ:ng / in Lao. Finally, there is substitution of key words.

We shall dedicate the remainder of this month’s column to some useful examples, Thai first, then Lao (written in Thai) and then English: ไม่ / mâi / ~ บ่ / bor: / ~ no, ไหม / mái / ~ บ่ / bor: / ~ no?, รู้ / rú: / ~ ฮู้ / hû: / ~ to know, รู้ไหม / rú: mái / ~ ฮู้บ่ / hû: bor: / ~ do you know?, ไม่รู้ / mâi rú: / ~ บ่ฮู้ / bor: hû: / ~ no, I don’t (know). อะไร / àrai / ~ หยัง / yăng / ~ what?, ทำ� / tham / ~ เฮ็ด / hét / ~ to do,

ทำ�อะไร / tham àrai / ~ เฮ็ดหยัง / hét yăng / ~ what do you do?

แพง / phae:ng / ~ expensive (in both Thai and Lao),

มาก / mâ:k / ~ หลาย / lă:i / ~ very, แพงมาก / phae:ng mâ:k / ~ แพงหลาย / phae:ng lă:i / ~ very expensive.

อร่อย / àròri / ~ แซ่บ / sâe:p / ~ delicoius, จริง ๆ / jing jing / ~ อีหลี / i:lĭ: / ~ really, อร่อยจริง ๆ / àròri jing jing / ~ แซ่บอีหลี / sâe:p i:lĭ: / ~ really delicious.

ฉัน / chán / ~ ข้อย / khôri / ~ I, คุณ / khun / ~ เจ้า / jâo / ~ you, ฉันรักคุณ / chán rák khun / ~ ข้อยฮักเจ้า / khôri hák jâ:o / ~ I love you!

Find the nearest คนอีสาน / khon i:să:n / and try

it out. She or he will not be far away.

See you in the next issue!

March 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 23