The BigChilli November 2021 by The BigChilli Co., Ltd.

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Cover Story

By Mark Elliott

How Luca Dotti is transforming the way young professionals rent homes Daring to do things differently, his company HOMA is a breath of fresh air in Thailand’s hospitality and apartment sector HOMA Phuket Town features a fitness centre, restaurant, rooftop deck and infinity pool, plus a co-working space for the new generation of digital nomads who prefer not to be tied to the office

ometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to see something from a new perspective. In certain industries, imperfections and inefﬁciencies are so deeply ingrained that they are taken for granted. They are simply “the way things are done”. In Southeast Asia’s hospitality and apartment sector, one man is disrupting the status quo. Luca Dotti, founder & managing director of HOMA, is on a mission to create a new way of living and working by making the rental experience more user-friendly. HOMA is a pioneering new co-living concept that provides affordable, full-service apartments that are design-led, community-focused and sustainable. Its aim is to combine the beneﬁts of a contemporary serviced apartment, such as fully-equipped kitchens, high-quality bedding and modern technology, with the facilities of a 6

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four-star hotel, like 24-hour reception, laundry services and a “HOMA Host” concierge.

HOMA Phuket Town is the first purpose-built residential project for rent in Thailand to achieve LEED green building certification

In the case of HOMA Phuket Town, the group’s first location which opened in October, residents can also take advantage of a fitness centre, café, restaurant and a rooftop deck and infinity pool. Importantly, a coworking space caters for the new generation of digital nomads who prefer not to be tied to the office.

Entrepreneurial spirit For Luca, the inspiration for HOMA came not from a hospitality or real estate background, but from his own practical experiences, entrepreneurial spirit and desire to do things differently. Having trained as an engineer in Europe, he found that he loved the “buzz of Asia” and joined a start-up asset management company in Singapore. Eventually, a combination of strategy and serendipity took him to Thailand where he invested in apartments, met his current partners and hatched – following an incubation period of several years – the vision for HOMA. “I came in with a very entrepreneurial approach. I think that being an outsider allows you to challenge everything you see. Maybe sometimes I ask stupid questions, because I don’t understand why certain things are done a certain way. But then sometimes you realise that there are embedded inefﬁciencies in a system, and with this attitude we were able to solve them,” Luca explains.

The value proposition of HOMA is to provide affordable accommodation to young professionals. With every project, we need to have a target in mind and build the properties around that. But we also need to be fluid; the last couple of years have taught us that things can change pretty quickly, so I’m sure we’ll have types of tenants we didn’t expect

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Cover Story

“I’ve always been thrown into projects where I had to build things from scratch. I enjoy it very much – it allows you to set up things the way you want them and surround yourself with like-minded people,” he adds. This has very much been the case at HOMA, where Luca and his partners have reimagined the rental experience without any of the usual issues or obstacles.

Eliminating inefficiencies “If you think about how real estate is designed, it’s the exact opposite of what human nature desires. We are social creatures and we want to be together. But the apartments you see today are mainly segregated. You do have some common areas, but they’re mostly unused and lack social spirit,” Luca laments. “We have created a community atmosphere, while also making the experience for tenants smoother by identifying and eliminating the common pain points endured by modern renters. “For example, having inroom utensils and amenities that actually suit your lifestyle. Communication was another big one; usually, if you have a problem with your apartment, you contact your landlord and wait hours or days for maintenance people to arrive. With HOMA, you have an app through which you can communicate in real-time with front ofﬁce to solve any potential issue.” The company’s customer centric approach is not only embodied in its design and technology, but also in its development and marketing strategies. While it come as little surprise that HOMA’s main target is millennials – the new generation of renters who share its vision of a shared and sustainable lifestyle – each of HOMA’s properties will be tactically positioned to cater for young professionals in a speciﬁc market. 8

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The location of HOMA Phuket Town was chosen due to its close proximity to international hospitals, schools and universities, while the group’s next project in Phuket, HOMA Cherngtalay, will focus on the island’s hospitality employees, as well as young city dwellers seeking a better quality of life while being able to work remotely. With this in mind, Luca revealed that this new property is likely to have “more focus on the co-working space and other attractive facilities”. The third conﬁrmed location, HOMA Sriracha, will target the large number of Japanese engineers

working in the business parks of Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard, with facilities expected to include a yakitori bar and golf simulator. Luca acknowledged however, that while each project is tailored to the needs of a certain market, they still need to be flexible and respond to changing market trends. “The value proposition of HOMA is to provide affordable accommodation to young professionals, so we need to find them. With every project, we need to have a target in mind and build the properties around that. But we also need to be fluid; the last couple of years have taught us that things can change pretty quickly, so I’m sure we’ll have types of tenants we didn’t expect!” he said. COVID considerations

International ambitions

The COVID-19 pandemic has been interesting for HOMA. While the company was undoubtedly impacted by the global crisis, it also enabled them to adapt their model and concentrate on different aspects of the design. The co-working space for example, became a much more important element due to the huge rise in the number of people working remotely. As a result, HOMA Phuket Town has transformed this concept with individual sound-proofed working pods, open 24-7 so guests can maximise their productivity. The pandemic also put greater emphasis on health and wellness, so HOMA’s advanced in-room air-flow systems and integrated environmental solutions (HOMA Phuket Town is the first purposebuilt residential project forr rent in Thailand to achievee LEED green building certification) became an even bigger USP. “The pandemic didn’t change the core values of our business,” said Luca. “We’re still what we wanted to be before COVID. But maybe our business now is more relevant because of the aspects we have integrated, and because of the fact that we are new and fresh. Obviously we hoped to open HOMA Phuket Town with a queuee outside the door, and that didn’t happen. But we are hopeful for the long-term.””

The long-term outlook is certainly what drives Luca and his partners. The group – a joint venture between Asia Capital Real Estate (ACRE) and NOON Capital – is aiming to invest more than US$250 million (approx. THB 8.4 billion) in six new residences across Thailand. With HOMA Phuket Town now open, attention switches to HOMA Sriracha, a conversion project which is scheduled to open in late 2022, and HOMA Cherngtalay, a new-build which is expected to start welcoming guests by the end of 2023. Luca also revealed that he is looking at three possible sites in Bangkok, and that Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines have all been identiﬁed as potential international destinations. Whichever market HOMA decides to enter next, the decision is sure to be well thought out. While some disruptors are considered to be opportunists, HOMA seems anything but. Led by Luca and Blake Olafson, a former Lehman Brothers executive, they are pioneers with a plan, innovators who understand their customers. Most importantly, they are entrepreneurs who strive to eliminate inefﬁciency and dare to do things differently. For many young renters in Thailand, HOMA will be a breath of fresh air.

While the company was impacted by the global crisis, it also enabled them to adapt their model and concentrate on different aspects of the design. The co-working space, for example, became a much more important element due to the huge rise in the number of people working remotely

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Travel

When the sleepy village of Bangsaray was

HOOKED ON BIG GAME FISHING

M.R. Phongamorn Krisadakorn, aﬀectionately known as ‘Stig’, who established the Bangsaray Big Game Fishing Resort, with his wife Khunying Urai and ‘catch of the day’ back in the 1960s

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With its rich prize of marlins, sharks and sailfish, the beach resort enjoyed a golden period when it attracted adventureseeking fishermen from Bangkok – and partygoers ready to celebrate the day’s catch in style By Colin Hastings

or a brief period in the 1960s and 70s, the seaside village of Bangsaray just south of Pattaya had its moment of sporting fame as the country’s centre of big game fishing and host to a popular annual international fishing tournament, pitting wits, patience and brawn against slippery denizens of the deep. It was also a place of partying and great social standing, with expats mixing with Thai dignitaries and even royals from Bangkok. Today, Bangsaray is far better known as a favorite destination for foreigners to either live full-time or just as a few months’ escape from the winter back home, while young Thais have discovered the charms of this quaint and largely unchanged fishing village in all kinds of trendy retro-restaurants and coffee shops, and even a restored boutique hotel that once went by the name of The Fishing Lodge. Sadly, big game fishing in Bangsaray is just a memory, with only tenuous links to its heydays captured in faded photos of happy fishermen and a few moldy examples of their catch preserved in glass boxes on display at the Bangsaray Club. The days when hundreds of enthusiasts would congregate at this seaside venue - known back then as the Bangsaray Big Game Fishing Resort - for a full day’s outing on the ocean waves and nights of partying are long gone. While it’s unclear whether the decline of the sport was due to overfishing in the Gulf of Thailand, exacerbated by the illegal use of explosives, or simply a lack of interest to push it forward, it should not be forgotten that the biggest game fish ever caught off Bangsaray was a hammerhead shark

weighing over 320 kilos, reeled in by an obviously very strong fisherman in 1972. The monster was apparently too big to gauge its full weight on the club’s equipment. Catches at the actual tournaments were extremely modest by comparison, the largest hooked at one event being an 8.3 kilo dusky jack, landed by a certain June Numchuanchai after a hard, 30-minute fight, earning her (or more likely, him) the individual title, with more than double the points of the nearest rival. At its peak, the competition would attract up to 50 teams, each being ferried out early morning to their boats from the shallow waters lapping the Fishing Resort. All kinds of vessels were used to fish, from sleek cabin cruisers to barges acquired temporarily from the nearby fishing village, and sometimes manned by local fishermen. None had a monopoly on the catch, with the most unlikely boat often landing the biggest fish. This was confirmed by British expat Frank Plunkett, one of the keenest fishermen of that era, who told a local reporter that most of the biggest fish were actually caught by the slower boats. “Slow boats have an advantage - they can trawl all the way out,” commented Frank, a farang businessman whose daughter Kay Plunkett-Hogge still lives in Thailand and provided the photo of her late father for this story as well as numerous anecdotes. “Dad worked for AngloThai, selling Ford tractors when he first got here in 1961,” recalls Kay, who as a youngster was always given a ‘gopher’ job during the tournaments. Kay also remembers her Dad’s friend and colleague at Ford, fellow Englishman Tim Hughes, as a keen angler and supporter of the sport in Thailand. Tim, a frequent

All kinds of vessels were used to fish, from sleek cabin cruisers to barges acquired temporarily from the nearby fishing village, and sometimes manned by local fishermen. None had a monopoly on the catch, with the most unlikely boat often landing the biggest fish

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Such was the enthusiasm for big game fishing in Bangsaray, teams representing Thailand competed in tournaments in Australia, Florida and Hawaii. visitor to Bangsaray with his Japanese wife, was a member of the fishing club’s team that participated in tournaments in Hawaii, Australia and Florida. Members of Bangkok running club, the Hash House Harriers, will also remember Tim as a regular hasher in its early days in the mid-70s. ther keen anglers from the 70s included popular local character Bert Hobson and John Wood, who worked of Nestle. Kay says that Patrick ‘Shrimp’ Gauvain made frequent appearances, more for the social life than for the fishing – a description that he confirmed to this writer a few weeks ago. Typically, the local tournament would start at 7am and continue until 5pm. Of the 70-plus game fish recognised internationally, some 20 exist in Gulf of Thailand, so teams had plenty of species to target – though not as many as in the past. BigChilli columnist Ruth Gerson remembers her late brother-in-law Abby Gerson bemoaning the decline in plentiful catches. ”Like many of his generation, he blamed it on the use of explosives by local fisherman,” she said, adding that Abby himself almost fell victim to

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Typically, the local tournament would start at 7am and continue until 5pm. Of the 70-plus game fish recognised internationally, some 20 exist in Gulf of Thailand, so teams had plenty of species to target – though not as many as in the past

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Travel ‘Stig’ and Urai, founders of the Fishing Resort

these illegal tactics when a charge exploded just metres from his boat, causing it to lurch sharply. “But with his characteristic humour, hejust said: ‘It did me good. I got all the fish – everything came up’”. To boost their chances of success, many of the crews tried to recruit the services of a wily local fisherman nicknamed Muk, as in squid ink, who knew all the best places to fish, remembers y Kay. “As a kid, I was fascinated by the way he knew the exact type off fish that was taking the bait on a d line. I heard he eventually opened up a boating and fishing concern in Bangsaray.” ut hooking the biggest fish didn’tt necessarily win the Celebrating the day’s catch in the 1970s with competition as the outcome music and dancing at the resort was based on a formula that considered the weight both of the fish and the tackle. The headline angler at the tournament was unquestionably M.R. Phongamorn Krisadakorn (affectionately known as ‘Stig’), the Thai blue blood who had been responsible for establishing the resort, more or less as his personal hobby, in the mid-60s – and thereby paving the way for big game fishing tournaments in Thailand. Stig’s association with the village of Bangsaray began when he was engaged as a building contractor for the Royal Thai Navy. For recreation he would head out to sea at a time of plenty when “you could go around the corner and catch anything you wanted.” On one particularly memorable trip Stig hooked a 90-kilo marlin which aroused considerable interest, and in no time at all, big game fishing became a popular pastime for local expats and weekend fishermen from Bangkok. About the same time, the US military had set e up a construction camp at Bangsaray to facilitate the building of the nearby U-Tapao airbase. Stig made a deal with the Americans to take over the g building when construction was finished, naming the low-rise structure the Bangsaray Big Game Fishing Club, with annual tournaments soon following. The resort was the only one of its kind in the Once bountiful, the seas have suffered in the past decades because of overfishing and the illegal use of explosives TheBigChilli

area catering to big game fishermen. Set in a wide bay surrounded by the nearby wooded hills of the Royal Thai Navy base, the resort boasted a swimming pool, restaurant and bar, plus accommodation for 100 persons in 50 rooms, and a small marina which quickly became silted up and unusable. However, being a personal hobby for Stig, the resort never made money, and suffered a decline when he contracted throat cancer and had to have intensive treatment. A deep water marina built at the club became silted up and unusable. Kay has many fond memories of the original fishing resort, especially the many party nights in the bar. ”It had a full band set-up – eating area at one side, bar and dancing on the other.” One of the regular partygoers who was always given a special welcome by Stig and his wife Khunying Urai was a highly placed member of the Thai aristocracy. “No one could dance until the lady in question was asked, so dad would do the honors - and then fun would begin. “One of this lady’s relatives had been an opera singer who was accompanied on the piano by Dr Paddy Dickson from the Bangkok Nursing Home. Dad and I would also sing and everyone danced the night away.Wonderful memories. “The club had an amazing Japanese chef for a while as Stig and Urai loved Japanese food.” Kay has even immortalized the bar in a book she wrote - ‘Make Mine a Cocktail’, which includes a rum-based concoction invented by her mother Betty when the family lived in the fishing village. Called ‘The Bang Saray Bounce, it’s described as “as homage to evenings in the piano bar, telling tales of the day’s catch.” Because Stig regarded the resort as a personal hobby, it never made money, and suffered a decline from 1975 when he contracted throat cancer. Once he had recovered, Stig recognized that the resort needed an infusion of capital and professional management to make it a worthwhile centre once again. Sadly, Stig eventually passed away in 1995, a year before David Goulden took over the club’s lease. “It was known at that time as the Bangsaray International Game Fishing Club, but since there was no more fishing and the

Current manager of the Bangsaray Club, Alan Mehew

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The Bangsaray Club as it is today.

Helming the Bangsaray Club for two decades, David Goulden, now happily retired in the resort.

p place was empty, I just renamed it the Bangsaray Club,” says David, who helmed the venue D until 2016 and still lives in the u area, remaining in contact with Urai and her family. At night, from the balcony of his condo, David often counts the vast number of fishing boats that trawl the seas off Bangsaray. “There are at least 38 vessels at any one time – this cannot be sustainable,” he says. hese days, the Bangsaray Club is somewhat less boisterous, partly because of Covid restrictions but also due to changing interests. It’s still a popular restaurant venue with indoor and outdoor dining, and curry nights and other food promotions. The accommodation offered in the Fishing Resort is no more, but the swimming pool, garden and meeting rooms remain. The short-lived marina is now a car park, according to Alan Mehew, the club’s manager today. Stig once told a local newspaper that two factors were in the club’s favour to guarantee its future: Big game fishing was enjoying unparalleled popularity in Thailand, he believed; and the development of the Pattaya-Sattahip area was leading to a rapid appreciation of land values. Even back then, he valued the resort at 15-20 million baht. He was wrong on the first factor but, given the area’s property boom in the years since his time, right on the second.

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Those were the days: Frank Plunkett, right, and John Wood with their catch of the day; keen angler Fleming Kinnaird; and memories of the Bangsaray Club bar and accommodation.

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Diplomats

‘The UK understands the importance of the region for better economic and security reasons’ Interview with new British Ambassador H.E. Mark Gooding

t wasn’t exactly the most auspicious of times when Mark Gooding took up his posting as Britain’s new Ambassador to Thailand at the beginning of July. The Covid-19 pandemic was arguably at its peak, with strict lockdowns and curfews, as well as tough restrictions on travel both domestically and overseas. Adding to the woes was confusion over which vaccines were acceptable for travel to the UK. 22

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“When I arrived in July, there was an issue with many Brits having difﬁculty accessing vaccines in Thailand, so over the past four months we have worked with other embassies here and the Thai government to expand the vaccination programme and get foreigners, including British people, access to vaccines,” explained 46-year-old Mark. Five months later, the situation has changed dramatically, with the majority of British nationals in

Thailand now double-vaccinated, the acceptance of the four major vaccines - especially welcome after the inexplicable delay in registration of British vaccine AstraZeneca - and Thailand’s removal from the UK’s ‘red list’ enabling two-way travel between the countries. “This shows that countries need to work together internationally, sharing information and ideas. Then we can limit the virus’s spread and help treat people who catch it. “We’re working with the Ministry of Public Health to increase the volume of testing, not just in terms of total numbers but in the case of Thailand, the question is about testing for variants of concern.” To underscore this trans-national approach, the ambassador points out that the UK donated 415,000 doses of Astra Zenicha vaccines to Thailand back in July. And he singles out the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand (BCCT) for its work on assisting Brits here to access vaccines. “The chamber is one of our links with the British community here, and they did a great job,” he said. he ambassador comes to Thailand with exceptional credentials with considerable experience of the region. After earning a Master’s Degree in Modern Languages from Oxford University, he joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Ofﬁce (FCO) in 1999, and has spent his career working mostly on Europe and Asia. His previous roles include Director Covid (Repatriations), Director EU (Future Partnership), and Deputy Director Europe, Minister Counsellor (Political) at the British Embassy in Beijing. He was also British Ambassador to Cambodia, British Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary. He holds an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his services to foreign policy after working in Sri Lanka during the last years of that country’s civil war. Mark speaks Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Spanish and Thai. Mark is no stranger to Thailand, having ﬁrst visited here in 1994 as a backpacker, “fell in love with the country” and has returned many times since for private and professional visits. To prepare for his appointment as ambassador, he spent seven months learning Thai in Bangkok, Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai, and travelled extensively to get a feel for the country. As the British Ambassador, he represents HM The Queen and the UK government in Thailand, and is responsible for the direction and work of the embassy and its consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations, and visa and

consular services. As such, he is the “public face of the embassy,” a responsibility he takes with great pride, he says. The embassy has a staff of 150 comprising diplomats and local employees, who work on a wide range of issues, including political, economy and trade, promoting British trade, sustainable development, science and digital, climate, sustainable development, press and cultural relations, as well as visa and consular services. With thousands of Thais studying in the UK, education is another major focal point.

Mark says his tenure as ambassador will be different from his predecessor, HE Brian Davidson, in several key areas, including greater emphasis on the Indo-Paciﬁc. “Our ministers in the UK understand the importance of the region for better economic and security reasons. To strengthen this regional cooperation, the UK has just become an ASEAN Dialogue Partner give us greater access to this part of the world. “In addition, the embassy will work closely with the Thai government on post-Covid recovery as well as strengthening our bilateral relationship, particularly in areas like security, organized crime, counter terrorism, science and digital, climate change and sustainable development,. The ambassador recently met Thai PM Prayut Cha-o-On and Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to discuss relations between the two countries. “We will have the ﬁrst UK-Thailand joint economic and trade committee meeting as well as our regular Strategic Dialogue over the next few months. That will set the directions for our bilateral relationship over the years ahead. “There are many other sectors where I think we can cooperate more in the years ahead. “We already have a lot of health cooperation between the UK and Thailand, not just on Covid but TheBigChilli 23

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also on other illnesses, health and genomics. That’s an area of real growth for us.” One of the embassy’s main missions is Britain’s anticlimate change effort, especially in view of COP 26, the United Nations Climate Change conference, taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, this month. “Engaging with Thailand and other countries in the region on climate change is a big priority,” says Mark. The embassy has a staff of 150 comprising diplomats and local employees. Key roles include political counselor, prosperity counselor, defence attaché, representatives of the Border Force and national crime agency. A large consular team is engaged to help around 50,000 British nationals living in Thailand on all kinds of issues, including access to vaccines. “In any year we provide assistance to over 1,500 British people and difﬁcult cases when people go missing, are hospitalized or, sadly, when they die. Our focus is on the most vulnerable. We also have some British nationals in prison here.” Another 5,000 Brits beneﬁt from the embassy’s document and notary services, says the ambassador. onetheless, misconceptions among some Brits about the embassy’s role in other matters continue. “We do not give out money and we do not pay hospital bills,” comments Mark. As a China specialist, having spent several years

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with the British embassy in Beijing, Mark is notably sanguine about that country’s often derided ‘Belt and Road’ project. “China’s foreign policy aims to fill the gap in infrastructure funding in neighboring countries,” he says, adding that, in theory, its partners should go into this “with clear eyes.” As for the loss of the former British Embassy compound on Wireless, he says: “I recognize that many people are sad that we’ve moved from our former compound. I didn’t work there myself, but am happy to find that our new embassy provides a modern and enjoyable working environment.” Mark also gives assurances that the famous statue of Queen Victoria, which once graced the former compound, will have pride of place in a specially built garden in the new development. He also confirms that the developers are committed to rebuilding a replacement ambassador’s residence as part of the project. Since arriving here, Mark has visited Chiang Mai where he met the governor to discuss cooperation in providing assistance to local Brits, as well as trade and sustainable development. He also spent time looking around the Foreign Cemetery, accompanied by some 50 of the city’s foreign residents. In his spare time, he enjoys running, music and travelling. He used to sing in a choir in England. Mark is married to Dr Christopher McCormick, an education specialist. Inter view by Colin Hastings

RUGBY SCHOOL THAILAND TRIUMPHS THROUGH GLOBAL ADVERSITY

ince opening in 2017, Rugby School Thailand (RST) has garnered its reputation as a leading international school in Thailand. The arrival of a highly experienced new School Principal, Mr Bruce Grindlay, marks an exciting step-change for RST that will propel it further forward. “The potential of RST to be a world-class boarding school is obvious and I want to help the School realise that” says Mr Grindlay. The past 18 months have been a challenging time for educational institutions, however, RST has continued to grow and develop. It has seen student ﬁgures reach the highest to date; it has gained COBIS (Council of British International Schools) accreditation, with ‘Beacon awards’ for excellence; and it has pioneered a ‘sandbox’ scheme for boarding students, amid nation-wide school closures.

The COBIS ‘Beacon’ status awards were for excellence in both co-curricular and boarding provision; these are embedded alongside world-class academics, daily sports, and wellbeing, to feed into the School’s ethos ‘the whole person, the whole point’. “Working with the Rugby School Group resonates with me. Their belief in educating the whole child and having vibrant co-curricular and enrichment opportunities running alongside high academic standards is what I have espoused wherever I have worked” says Grindlay. RST is far more established than its young age and under Mr Grindlay’s leadership it looks set to become one of SE Asia’s top international day and boarding schools. When Mr Grindlay arrived to take up his role as Principal, he was greeted by a campus without students. “A school without children is like a kitchen without ingredients. Arriving into this situation, with no end in sight, I wanted to explore every possible way to bring children back onsite”. This prompted Mr Grindlay to work with ISAT (International Schools Association Thailand) and lobby the Ministries of Education and Public Health to grant RST permission to open a ‘boarding bubble’ for Year 7-13 students. There are 258 international schools in Thailand and RST was one of only ﬁve given permission to open as a ‘sandbox’ scheme, which in turn meant they were one of the ﬁrst schools to fully re-open in late October. The sandbox distilled what RST stands for. Ambitious and passionate about delivering education in a holistic way.

This is an exciting time for Rugby School Thailand. If you’d like to know more about the School or to visit its majestic 80-acre campus, you can book a tailored tour. E: admissions@rugbyschool.ac.th T: +66 (0)33 141 800 www.rugbyschool.ac.th

Peter Kells

Last of the Raj The number of Brits who lived and worked in India before its independence from Britain in 1947 is rapidly dwindling. Longtime Bangkok resident Peter Kells is one of the few. Now 80, Peter was born and raised in Calcutta, worked there in various capacities and holds great affection and appreciation for that vast countr y and its people. Tall, imposing and a natural raconteur, Peter’s life experiences doing deals in some of the world’s most colourful and dangerous places – Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Libya, to name a few – are unique and go a long way to explaining his nickname, James, as in James Bond. Name: Peter Kells. Nickname: James after 007, and also Chang by my Thai friends as I love elephants as I grew up with them in India. Born: May 10, 1941 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. Education: Up until 10 years old at Christian schools in Calcutta and from 11 to 18 at a UK boarding school which I hated. Left with 4-5 GHSE ‘B’ grades and returned to Calcutta and no higher education! Family: Ex-wife in Watford, UK. Four sons; the eldest (51) is married an Estonian girl and they have a boy and girl, and live in Guildford, UK. The second (49) is a trained Michelin star chef in London at the Connaught Hotel and has lived in Thailand for 17 years. He’s married to a Thai lady and they have two girls. He worked at the Oriental, Hilton Millennium, Sheraton in Pattaya, Antanara in Phuket, Soﬁtel in Bangkok, Chatrium and now works at the Amari Watergate. They have a house in Pattaya. The third (45) has a boy and girl, lives in Watford and was married to a Latvian girl. The fourth (41) is a chef who trained at the Connaught in London. He worked in Australia for 12-14 years at his own restaurant. He now works in Orlando, Florida, as executive chef of a top end British-style gentlemen’s club. He’s not married.

Peter pores over a large collection of photos from his younger days in India Where did you spend your early life? Born and bred in Calcutta where my father worked for over 40 years as an electrical engineer, putting up the ﬁrst electric street lights around the mid-1930s. Tell us about your parents and their life. My father was from a poor working class family in the Leeds area of England, the eldest of 12 kids. His father was a coal miner. During the Depression in the 1930s he got a job in Calcutta as chief engineer for Calcutta Electric Supply Co Ltd. The whole family returned to the UK in 1963. My father, a self-educated man who as the eldest son looked after the family and two sisters during the Depression until he returned UK. He never settled in Britain and died seven years later. My mother was the youngest daughter of a middle class family from Harrow area. Her father was a Circuit Judge in India under the Brit Raj. She was into all the colonial social life of Calcutta - they say opposites are attracted to each other. How long in Thailand? 25 years. What brought you here? To set up a ﬁnancial services company for Mercedes-Benz as a JV with the Thonburi group, which was interesting and challenging. What is your present situation? I retired in 2009 at TheBigChilli 27

Proﬁle

the age of 68 in Bangkok with a Thai wife and house in Sukhumvit Soi 65. I recently celebrated my 80th birthday. First-ever job? Returning to Calcutta 1958/59 I got a job as trainee manager with Chartered bank. It was a great life as I played in the bank’s sports section - field hockey, tennis, football, swimming and squash. And worked one day a week. My father said I needed a proper job! Then? Back in the UK again, I worked in the auto financing division for the Bank of Scotland as a sales rep, with a company car a Morris 1000 convertible. It really impressed the girls, or so I thought! I did this for many years in the UK setting up auto financing programs for companies like Renault, VW, Nissan,Caravans International & lastly MB . Later I worked for a company in Newport Pagnell building specialist bodywork for high-end clients like the military, and Ministry of Defence. This job took me to the Middle East where I won a contract from the Aide King of Saudi Arabia to build the largest and most luxurious caravans in the world, 20m long and 10m wide, complete with kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and air-conditioning. These ‘Super Caravans’ caught the attention of the Sultan of Oman and Libya’s leader Muammar Gadaffi, both of whom purchased their own caravans. We also sold 3,000 trailer caravans to the Italian government in 1980 after the disastrous earthquake in southern Italy for poor people to live during the winter months. Scariest moments in your working life? I was in Baghdad, Iraq, when the Iranians started to bomb the place. We Brits knew we had to get out quickly and turned to the British Embassy for advice. While other foreign nationals like the Germans were quickly assisted

to leave the country, the British Ambassador could only tell us to stay calm and stay put. Hopeless. He was properly harangued by some British ‘navvies’ who were not happy with the ambassador and rightly told him so. Eventually I got a lift in an old truck that somehow made it across 2,000 miles of desert without any obvious roads or signs to Amman in Jordan. On the way, we found a small oasis, complete with brothel, restaurant and booze, which reminded me of an old John Wayne movie in the old Wild West days ! Your last job in India? My last job in May 1996 was to set up a financing company for Mercedes-Benz in India to cover the financing for cars out of Pune and trucks/buses out of Chennai (formerly Madras). So I had super miraculous jobs at the start and end of my working life in India. In between I was with MercedesBenz in the UK from 1990 setting up a green field financial services (FS) company, then moved to Thailand in 1990 in charge of business development for all Asia-Pacific. One of my tasks was to set up a joint venture with the Benz Thonburi Group. During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, we survived by capturing 95% of the market for five-star hotel VIP limousines.

Family life in Calcutta after WW2 28

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Young Peter celebrates his birthday watched by his parents

One of the luxurious caravans, complete witall mod-cons, builts for Middle East sultans and Libya's Muammar Gadaﬃ

Club life in Calcutta.

our three dogs - two street b boys and What positions have you held? Many but at d a girl i l! Favorite Bangkok restaurants and bars? Gianni, Mercedes-Benz UK I was Sales Director. In Thailand I Bourbon Street, Di Vino, Calderazzo, Ekamai beer was the CEO. house. Early influences? In India taught by my father Favorite cuisine? Italian, Indian, Thai. My favorite Humility, Courtesy and Politeness, and to accept all dish is English breakfast with HP sauce. types, from the very poor to the top types of people. Favorite weekend getaway destinations? Hua Hin, When was the last time you visited India? In 2009, Jomtien. when I had the great pleasure of meeting some former Favorite countries, other than Thailand? Spain, colleagues and friends in Calcutta. I was also asked Italy, Germany and India. to join a kite flying festival and was rewarded with life Any hobbies? Avid reader of fiction and travel, and membership of the Calcutta Kite Club. supporter of Soi Dog Foundation of Phuket & The Where else have you lived? Australia. Friends of Asian Elephants (FAE) in Lampang High and low points in your life? High, being How has the Covid bought up in India to lockdown been for you? OK understand life. Low, I can’t and manageable. think of much. I did go on a What would you change tiger hunt in India with my about Bangkok if you father when I was about 11, were the Governor? Get but didn’t like seeing the ‘kill.’ rid of overhanging electric Most memorable person cables, re-lay pavements, cut you’ve met? The Sultan of overhanging trees and control Oman, and also Muammar motor cycles recklessness! Gadaffi of Libya. We were Any regrets in life? None under strict conditions not to Next overseas trip? talk about the caravans we ASAP after Covid, probably sold Gadaffi. Spain,Germany and Italy. Person you wish you’d What’s next for you? never met? One of my Continue to enjoy life at a regional bosses whilst with slower pace, be happy with Mercedes-Benz in Asia. only real good friends, and How do you relax / hopefully continue good health exercise? I used to play to increase my ‘expiry date’ tennis, but now swimming and reach my 7th cycle in a fit and walking in the area near state! my house. Also playing with Peter and his wife Sassie in their Sukhumvit house TheBigChilli 29

News By Joseph Henry

When a swarm of ‘Murder Hornets’ that stung me ended up on the dinner plate of my happy rescuer

uring training recently for the 100mile Thailand UTMB (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc), my buddy and I came face to face with a swarm of Giant Asian Hornets aka Murder Hornets while descending the steepest part at Doi Pui, a 1645m m mountain in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Thinking I could run around them, I veered left toward the side of a ridge that is actually a 500m drop off a cliff. At that moment I felt the first stings in my ear and on the back of my head. The pain sensation was like having a red hot electrified nail being hammered into your flesh. Immediately disoriented and fearing that I might trip or simply run off the cliff, I was forced to turn toward the nest, which was at the base was in a tree on the trail. I fell down hard and was stung many times in seconds and had to go into full survival flight mode. The hornets were relentless and chased me for at least 2-300m before finally letting up. All I could say at that moment was "that's fckd up"! It was an extremely painful and dangerous ordeal that hurt like crazy! My buddy, who had fled out of sight, had returned to get me, so we could walk down to a nearby hill tribe village to try and find a ride to the hospital about one hour away. We immediately found a savior, who drove us to the emergency of the nearest hospital. I was stung 15 times and my friend Glen eight times. After blood tests and medicine by IV drips, he was allowed to return home. However, the doctor told me I must stay in hospital for 1-3 nights due to risk of kidney failure. Thankfully, I stayed just one night and only had to see a doctor each of the next two days. Within four days both of us had fully recovered. 30

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One week after our scary encounter with the Asian Giant Hornets, Glenn and I went back up the mountain to thank the hill tribe villager who drove us to the hospital one hour away in Chiang Mai. His name is Ya. He met us with a big smile on his face saying "gin, gin". Unsure about what he meant we replied ‘gin?’ We knew what gin (to eat in Thai) was, but in the context of murder hornets, we weren't sure. So we asked him, you ate them? “Yesss, gin!!!” What he told us was an incredible surprise and had us screaming and laughing with pure delight! We yelled “hero, superman!!” with high-ﬁves all around. Pulling out his mobile phone, he showed us the photos, exclaiming “aroy mak-mak (very delicious in Thai)!! Ya explained that he had gone back up the hill to catch the hornets for a good meal and in doing so ended the Asian Giant Hornets menace in the middle of the popular hikers and trail runners trail. A new Thailand Trail Running legend was born! Thanks Ya!

NO IDEA Cafe Gastropub

No Idea Gastropub – Bangkok’s legendary dining venue Serving contemporary bistro cuisine in a friendly, casual and relaxed atmosphere. Opening Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 12.00pm till late (Monday – Closed) 8/3-4 Sukhumvit 22, Klong Toei Bangkok Thailand Please Call: +66 (0) 2 663 6686

F&B

Restaurants have learned many valuable lessons from Covid, says leading Bangkok chef s there a silver lining to the Covid-19 pandemic? One of Thailand’s most talented chefs certainly believes so and says his industry has learned all sorts of things over the past 18 months that are already being welcomed by customers and workers alike. “There’s so much more emphasis nowadays on how the food business conducts itself, from transportation and delivery of goods to personal hygiene and storage,” says Herve Frerard, Director of Culinary at Montien Hotel Surawong Bangkok. “This is down to Covid-19 which has taught us all to be far more health-conscious. And this is especially true of the food and catering business, where our already high standards are even higher today. “For example, at the Montien we only work with GMP (Good Manufacturers Products) suppliers whose workers have been properly tested, and companies that deliver products in refrigerated trucks. “We’re also much stricter with our workers’

Phar-Ram IV Bistro

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personal hygiene – wearing masks and gloves at all times in the kitchens, washing hands more frequently, regular temperature checks on our fridges and even checks on staff lockers to ensure the highest levels of cleanliness. “You see this trend to better hygiene right across the board, even in the way street vendors now prepare and sell their meals. “Everybody beneﬁts from this trend, including the customers, of course.” Chef Herve, a 20-year veteran of Thailand’s restaurant scene, went on to talk about other new trends as well as the latest developments at the Montien. Now that the lockdown is easing, what plans do you have for the hotel’s restaurants? As part of the revival of the Montien, we have combined two former restaurants into a brand new one – Ruenton, serving ThaiChinese cuisine. This is now up and running, and proving as popular as ever. The larger space is multi-functional with several separate rooms for private dinners and parties. It’s also given us a bigger venue for our buffet breakfasts. We have also opened Phar-Ram IV Bistro, a Parisian-style bakery-bistro. It’s an entirely new venue which serves light lunches and pastries, and then later becomes an evening wine bar featuring a European menu with French ﬂair. The Montien’s former signature restaurant, Le Gourmet Grill, which opened originally back in 1967, will be revived in due course.

And for those with long memories will be pleased to know that our former ballroom dancing hall AnAn will reopen and feature a range of functions. Another exciting development is the opening of the hotel’s main lobby on the South Wing, scheduled for December this year. This is the face of the hotel and therefore a very important step. Once the lockdown ends completely, do you think the restaurant business in general will return to how it was two/ three years ago? If not, what changes do you visualize? It will definitely return to what we had here before. But restaurants will have to raise their offer to attract new and old customers. What kind of restaurants and chefs will prosper in this new era? We’ll see smaller restaurants, for sure, more family oriented and closer to the people. You can also expect a new wave of bistros and wine bars. Who has been hardest hit because of the lockdown – can they come back? It’s not just restaurants owners who have suffered but also the people who worked there, sometimes for years. Restaurants that were institutions open for 25 years or more have closed. The owners may well have lost their confidence in the future and won’t reopen. Are people going to be more concerned about what goes into their food? People are far more careful and healthconscious about what they eat. They want to eat responsibly and sustainably. We’ll see an increase in demand for organic foods and imported items, but there’ll be a higher price to pay. Will there be an increase in veganism and vegetarianism? Absolutely. At the Montien, we already have more vegetarian items on the menu. We even hosted our first vegan dinner recently. It’s a good thing because there’s so much processed food in Thailand. What about meat? Meat consumption in Thailand is actually up

Ruenton, serving Thai-Chinese cuisine.

because home deliveries have made it very easy to supply quality products. In the past, people didn’t know how to order steaks and were prepared to pay as much as 8,000 baht for cote de boeuf in a restaurant. Now they understand meat much better. Is there more focus on low-waste food and unnecessary (plastic) packaging. This is happening across the board. Plastic is a huge problem, but more and more places are using biodegradable products for packaging. In terms of reducing waste, we’re now seeing companies that buy left-over products, repackaging them and re-selling at a much lower price. It’s a growing business, with endless possibilities.. True or not – we’re seeing a new era of desserts? Look at the popularity of afternoon teas in Thailand these days to see the potential. What about fusion cuisines like ThaiMexican, Chinese-Brazilian? The cuisines of many other South American countries will feature here in Thailand in the future. Thai people are very curious and don’t mind trying new ideas And it’s time for more Thai chefs to be recognized for their work. Ironically, it was a foreigner, David Thompson, who became the ﬁrst chef to be famous for his Thai cuisine. Greater demand for top quality products No doubt about it – people are buying quality food: the best fruits, the best cheese and best butter, meats and so on. There’s also a rise in popularity of alternative cooking oils like pumpkin seed oil, sunﬂower seed oil and avocado oil. TheBigChilli 33

News

The Great Medical Glove Scandal

Thailand launchess crackdown on huge ge international fraud d

hailand’s Central Intellectual Propertyy and International Trade Court has begun eg gun cracking down on scams involving rubber ubbe beer medical gloves by jailing a Thai employee oyeee of the ‘Paddy the Room’ trading company. In a deal worth US$2.7 million, the ﬁrm allegedly dly exported some ten million pairs of used rubber medical mediccal gloves from Thailand to the United States. The gloves lovess were found to be pre-used and repackaged, according rding g to a report by CNN. Some were said to be dirty and even bloodstained. Their original source has not been n disclosed. But Paddy the Room is just one of hundreds, even ven thousands, of other outstanding cases of fraud in SE Asia. Some involve middlemen and agents pocketing ting 34

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hefty deposits from overseas entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on the huge worldwide demand for medical gloves for protection against Covid, while others focus on unauthorised production and repackaging of medical gloves and unlawful usage of trademarks, including SkyMed and Sri Trang. Chasing the scammers is an expensive and timeconsuming business, says a British businessman who is now suing a Thai company for the return of his deposit – or delivery of the gloves. “Because we are not based in Thailand, we have to work through a local lawyer. The expenses mount and we aren’t really in control of what’s happening,” says the man. “It’s very frustrating.” A warrant for the arrest of the alleged fraudster in this case has been issued and some of his assets in Thailand and overseas have been seized. Using a third country to avoid jurisdiction is a common ploy. Meanwhile, managing director of Paddy the Room, Taiwanese businessman Luk-fei Yang Yang, has already ﬂed Thailand. The scam involving Paddy the Room eventually led to the kidnap for ransom of Wei Yu Chung, a Taiwanese executive of the ﬁrm, at a Bangkok restaurant earlier this year, allegedly by a group of Americans.

Louis Ziskin, head of the US company that bought the used gloves, was arrested in connection with the kidnap but released later after he proved he was not involved. He left Thailand in August. In an interview with Thai PBS World, Ziskin alleged “a retired general living in Lopburi” was the mastermind behind the scam. The international frenzy for medical gloves and other personal protective equipment has earned Thailand and Malaysia vast sums of legitimate money and created several new billionaires, including Bangkok-based Somwang Sincharoenkul of Sri Trang Agro-Industry, one of the country’s biggest glove manufacturers. ut the scale of the scams is also thought to be so vast and complex that the websites of many genuine glove manufacturers now carry fraud alerts, warning visitors to contact the company before buying from agents who claim to represent them. “Thailand needs to urgently clamp down on these fraudsters,” noted a Bangkok researcher. “Even though huge sums of money are ﬂowing in one way or another, the country’s reputation is at stake.” Ironically, the demand for PPE is expected to increase even after the pandemic disappears as more and more people become aware of the need for gloves and other equipment.

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Food Trends

Show time at Table X ne of the more interesting food trends in these post-covid times is the rise of private dining venues – otherwise known as the Chef’s Table. Among the many reasons given for this phenomenon is the exclusivity of a Chef’s Table, with a limited number of diners seated around the preparation area so they can watch the chef in action, ask questions and get inside information on the dishes they’re about to be served. The banter is invariably good-natured, entertaining and sometimes involves other groups of diners. Then there’s the menu – pre-selected so you know what you’re getting in advance, and what you’ll be paying. It adds up to a different kind of restaurant experience - show time with food - and it’s proving extremely popular. An outstanding example of this new generation of private dining venues is Table X run by Chef-Owner Cheiepvut Kupsirikul, better known as Chef Moo, a charismatic 50-year-old Thai hailing from Ubon Ratchathani in northeast Thailand. Chef Moo makes no secret of the fact that he is a self-taught cook. Indeed, he is proud of his background. And that’s because of his many years’ culinary experience working in some of the country’s best restaurants as well as being a personal chef for a number of wealthy individuals. He also claims to have a special knack of merely casting his eyes over

a certain dish, not one of his own, to figure out what makes it so enticing, be it French, Japanese, Italian or even a complicated Chinese preparation. Then he creates his own version of the dish. He set up the original Table X in Bangkok’s Phaholyothin Road a few years back, then switched venues to Soi Ekamai on Sukhumvit a little over a year ago. Located down a small soi (Bourbon Street Bar is on the corner), the restaurant’s premises are a stunning all-black box of a building that Chef Moo had built in Lampang, northern Thailand, and transported to the capital. It’s a real work of art, comfortably seating 30 guests. Open for dinner only, though one-off lunches can be accepted, Table X serves a 12-course stellar dinner featuring fresh vegetables, duck and seafood, plus generous servings of fine imported products like wagyu beef, foie gras and truffles. Chef Moo also sources the rarest Beluga caviar, pure breed from Italy and co-branded with the Golden Sterlet, which is the golden caviar from the albino sturgeon. He recently became the Brand ambassador of Caviar Giaveri for Thailand. Even when focused on his cooking, Chef Moo never forgets his audience, chatting, joking and entertaining his guests. Reservations only. Tel 094-4599999, 087-4295465 TheBigChilli 37

Property

The Residences at Sindhorn Kempinski Discover the ultimate haven of luxur y living in Bangkok’s ‘Green Heart’

everal areas of Bangkok can justifiably claim to be the epicenter of this great city. And while some perform specific roles as business districts or government zones, only one stands out in terms of offering genuine quality residential living – the ‘Green Heart’ of central Bangkok, where Wireless Road intersects with Soi Langsuan beside the tropical gardens and lakes of Lumpini Park. This highly desirable area of Bangkok is the location of The Residences at Sindhorn Kempinski, arguably the finest project of its kind the city has ever seen. A 35-storey architectural masterpiece, it features homes of distinction and design excellence in what is now widely regarded as the city’s leading residential address.

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The Residences at Sindhorn Kempinski is a key component of Sindhorn Village, a spectacular and innovative low-density project spread across 52 rai of upscale real estate interspersed by spacious gardens, tranquil walkways, ponds and mature trees. This extraordinarily beautiful parkland also encompasses a number of other prestigious developments, including two international ﬁve-star hotels, luxurious apartments, as well as a ‘Walking Street’ alive with gourmet restaurants, chic bars, highend retailers and supermarket. Designed and constructed to the highest speciﬁcations, The Residences at Sindhorn Kempinski has raised the bar on apartment living in the heart of Bangkok, offering owners and tenants a unique self-contained safe haven of luxury, convenience

and gorgeous landscaped gardens that is also within easy reach of the city’s most important business and entertainment districts. Units come with one, two, three and four bedrooms, all meticulously designed with 3-3.5m ceilings and equipped for the perfect condo living experience. The Penthouse on the 34th floor is the ultimate in luxury, with four bedrooms, private infinity pool and oversized balcony. Additional amenities for residents include a private lounge, fitness centre, meeting rooms, health spa

and a large rooftop infinity swimming pool with breathtaking views of the city across the green expanses of Lumpini Park. Owners and their visitors have access to a huge underground parking lot. Yet another benefit of living in this exclusive development is the various basic and a la carte services available via the Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel, a member of the world famous five-star hotel chain, which is also located within Sinhorn Village. The project as a whole comes with the finest credentials. Constructed on prime real estate, Sindhorn Village has been developed by Sindhorn Management, a company wholly owned by Siam Sindhorn Co Ltd, which is responsible for the management of the residences for the entirety of the leases. By using only the highest quality materials in its construction, Sindhorn Village and its various components have a 100-year life expectancy. This emphasis on sustainability not only underwrites the investment value of the project over time, but also eliminates the need for a sinking fund since the management company is responsible for the cost of any structural repairs. There are many other compelling reasons to buy into The Residences at Sindhorn Kempinski, including its commitment to providing a permanent green environment that will ensure its long-term investment value. The project’s ‘near to nature’ location extends beyond Lumpini Park to the extensive gardens of the American and Netherlands Embassies next door as well as the newly created Benjakitti Forest Park, a 170rai area of lakes and man-made hills just a short walk away. For an exceptional lifestyle in Bangkok’s ‘Green Heart’, The Residences at Sindhorn Kempinski are simply unbeatable. TheBigChilli 39

THE BIGCHILLI SUPPORTS LOCAL BUSINESSES Hotels, restaurants, pubs and clubs, international schools, hospitals, spas, food and wine suppliers, property companies, furniture makers, tailors, butchers, bakers and candlestick-makers.

Chef Nok takes charge in Phuket By Agneta Bekassy De Bekas

sk Chef Kanittha ‘Nok’ Rawangsri, who runs the kitchen at popular Phuket restaurant Wagyu Steakhouse, which piece of meat she prefers to prepare, she replies without hesitation: “The Tomahawk. It’s so rich in taste.” Chef Nok is one of a growing number of Thai women responsible for the quality of the food we eat in hotel restaurants– in her case the Swedish-owned hotel Twinpalms Phuket on Surin Beach. And when it comes to meat Chef Nok knows what she’s talking about. Few chefs on the island have had her range of experience here and overseas. She arrived at Twinpalms Phuket in 2011 as a trainee in the kitchen, having already worked in the same position at the Oriental Mandarin in Bangkok.. In 2015, Chef Nok travelled to Sydney, Australia, to learn more about ﬁne cooking from Chef William (Bill) Granger, whose ‘Bills’ restaurants can be found in Australia, Japan, UK, Korea and Hawaii. Then in 2018 Chef Nok travelled to Ruby Jack’s Steakhouse & Bar in Japan, where Chef Matthew Granger took her under his protection and mentorship. “Chef Granger taught me a lot about the Japanese cuisine and introduced me to the famous Kobe beef,” she says. These trips took place shortly before the Wagyu Steakhouse at Twinpalms Phuket was opened. Chef Nok also worked on several luxury cruise ships, offering her an opportunity to run an onboard Thai cooking class on board, which she says was much appreciated by the passengers.

In 2019, award-winning C Chef John N Nguyen visited Twinpalms T P Phuket from h his restaurant C Chom Chom, a Hanoi-style eatery in Hong Kong. “To have had the pleasure of working side by side with Chef John is one of my best memories. He taught me so much,” says Chef Nok. Famous guests at Wagyu Steakhouse include Montri Virojnvechapant of Iron Chef Thailand fame, Art Araya Indra, fashion stylist, and the brand ambassador of the New Yorker cosmetic label Maybelline, Jenny Tienposuwan. Adds Chef Nok: “To us, all guests are famous. Born in Chiangrai, Chef Nok graduated from the Rattana Bundit University in hotel and business management. Any day now, Chef Nok will become a mother, as she is expecting her ﬁrst child. But it probably won’t be long before she’s back in her beloved kitchen at Twinpalms Phuket. https://www.wagyuphuket.com TheBigChilli 41

Bangkok Brooklyn Landhaus Baker y Authentic German Bakery and Café, serving all kinds of amazing breads, pastries, breakfast, brunch, sandwiches and German specialties from its own butcher. Delicious German-style desserts. Described as a ‘bread oasis.’ Nice recently upgraded garden. 18 Phaholyothin Soi 5, Phayathai Bangkok 10400 Tel. 02 165 0322

Zurich Bread Café - Bread Factor y and Café Mil Toast House The ﬁrst branch in Thailand of a famous bakery cafe from Korea, with a full menu of steamed buns and milk from Korea, plus special menus speciﬁc to Thailand. Siam Square Soi 3, Bangkok Tel. 09 4898 9999

Stylish cafe and restaurant serving premium hot sandwiches, comfort and healthy food, plus Italian and Spanish coffee. Bread selection includes Ciabatta, Multigrain Bread, Rye Bread, Seed Bagel and Croissants. Menu features pasta, pizzas, steaks, soups, salads, and local dishes. We can ensure you a perfect breakfast and brunch at Zurich Bread Factory & Café. Charoen Krung 70/1, Wat Phraya Krai, Bang Kho Laem, Bangkok 10120 Tel: 080 071 8803

Ranee’s Restaurant For over 26 years, making high quality home-style Italian cuisine in an relaxed atmosphere in Khaosan road. Handmade pasta ensures an authentic Italian taste as well as pizzas that are perfectly ﬁred up in 100% wood-ﬁred oven. A Velo restaurant, with safe parking place for bicycles, quality food is offered at reasonable prices, the pasta is fresh and handmade daily. Plus exotic Thai and fusion dishes. 15 Trok Mayom, Chakkraphong Road, (near Khao San) Bangkok 10200. Tel. 097 197 9405

Sarnie’s Restaurant A beautifully designed newly opened pasta restaurant and bakery serving New-York-style bagels and Sourdough breads at Chitlom. Full range of single-origin coffee beans, sourced mostly from Thailand for delicious coffee varieties.. 34/1 Soi Ton Son, Lumpini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330. Tel. 02 003 7592

Flat + White Spectacular all-white cafe tucked away off busy Ekamai, serving eggs benedict, spaghetti, fettucine and Mongolian beef dishes et cetera, with special focus on milk-based drinks (both dair y and plant-based). 810/5 Thara Rom 2 (Soi 19), Sukhumvit 63, Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110 Tel. : 092 425 5533 42

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Les Walsh – the man of many parts in Thailand After three decades in the kingdom, this popular Canadian has returned home. But he’ll be back next year doing what he likes best – running a golf tournament By Scott Murray

o expat has done more to spread the gospel of golf throughout Thailand over the past 25 years than Les Walsh. Les has many skills and has worn many hats in his time in Thailand. But after almost 30 years of living in Thailand Les is returning home to start the next chapter of his life – keeping an eye on his rambunctious 90-year-old mother, building a bridge to citizenship for his Thai wife Khun Gift, and creating a landing zone for his children to make the move out of Thailand to Canada as well as reconnecting with his brother and long-lost friends. Les grew up in a little town outside of Montreal called Hudson, a place he fondly calls “the nicest place he’s ever been to”. It’s a historic community on the southwest bank of the Ottawa River, about 60km from downtown Montreal. Les was actually born in Montreal West, but his parents came from Hudson, and they moved back there when Les was in grade six.

Les and his lovely wife Khun Gift

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Les Walsh

Bob and Les Walsh as kids

Les ﬁrst became interested in golf in grade 11 after he ruptured his spleen playing football and was told he was not supposed to play contact sports any more (he later went on to play semi-pro football in Toronto). So as Les’s grandfather was a member of the local golf club, the Whitlock Golf & Curling Club, Les took a junior membership playing golf and in the summers he worked in the Club’s pro shop, cleaning clubs, caddying and picking up balls on the 27-hole golf course. He eventually worked at almost every job on the course spending 12-15 hours a day there, sharpening his game when he wasn’t working, getting down to a ﬁve-handicap and representing the cub in local tournaments. es thought about playing golf as a career, but there was no real career path other than becoming a club pro, a teaching pro, or a touring pro. Golf was not taken as a serious industry back then. Les talked about turning pro with his dad, who told him he didn’t have the temperament for it. Les heeded the advice and went to university. Les left Hudson to study at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, where he received an Honours BA in economics, marketing and geography in 1980. Dave Layton, the younger brother of Jack Layton (former federal NDP leader) was Les’s best friend, and as

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he had decided to study at Ryerson, Les followed, they were college roommates and studied together (Layton's greatgranduncle, William Steeves, was a Canadian Father of Confederation). Les stopped playing golf then, and instead played music in his spare time. His brother, Robert is a renowned and award-winning recording artist, (www. robertwalsh.ca) and two years younger than Les. “He’s the best rhythm guitar player I’ve ever seen - period,” Les says. “I always envied him - when he was a kid, he picked up the guitar, fell in love with it and that was it, he knew what he wanted to do right away and he’s been playing professionally since he was 13.” When Robert took up guitar, he told Les he needed to learn bass so he could have someone to practice with. Les wanted to know how to sing properly so he also joined a choir, then a drummer named Scott Bruyea moved in down the block, and the three formed a band called the “Live Beaver Band”. They played at pubs and taverns in greater Montreal. Another guitar player, Russell Williams, and keyboardist Marla Mayson joined the band later and Bob, Scott, Marla and Russell were so good that they all became professional musicians. Les adds, “Guitar Player Hall-of-Famer Larry Carlton always said to make sure that you are the worst guy in the band, and I was.” When Les ﬁrst moved to Toronto he played in an Italian wedding band and then in a disco band, before joining a rock band called “Phoenix” and he stayed with them for four years. “We were a 6-piece band with 5-part vocals. There was nothing that we couldn’t play. We did everything from Journey to Max Webster – it was a great ride!”

pon graduating he took a One of Les’s Taiwanese suppliers had management training program an office in Bangkok, and invited him to with Wendy’s and worked Bangkok where he ended working for the as a research analyst for the supplier’s company CAG for about a year-andrealtor, A.E. LePage. Looking for something a-half. a little more adventurous and different, During this time he sourced food and he then took a job heading up trade and giftware products for large retailers such investment development for the South as Loblaws, to whom he supplied seafood Korean government’s 72-office Korea Trade products and other niche products like Mae Promotion Corporation, located in downtown Pranom hot sauce and even escorted Loblaws Toronto. President Dave Nichol on a sourcing trip He worked there for six years, and was around Bangkok when he visited Thailand. responsible for everything from sourcing About a week after his arrival in Thailand, stuffed teddy bears to nuclear reactor parts Les learned that a couple of his friends in as his mandate changed from research Taipei had also relocated to Bangkok. One of originally to business development. He led them was his jamming buddy David, and they Canadian buying delegations to Seoul and quickly put a proper act together. acted as a middleman between Canadian With the support of some local club and South Korean musicians they companies. played a regular Les eventually slot at Round went as far as he Midnight on Soi could with the Langsuan every Korean Trade Saturday night, Center – the next occasionally step would require enlisting local getting Korean businessman security clearance Ken Lambert - so in 1988 he to play drums grabbed a chance to to play special relocate to Taipei, events like Taiwan, to run a AMCHAM’s sourcing office for Independence a Canadian firm. Day picnic. Les did product During this development and entire time in quality control, Taiwan and Les with buddy Mike Schulz at the Caveman Classic sourcing products Thailand, the like steak knives for a gasoline company golf clubs stayed in mothballs, but he became and dolls for Campbell’s Soup for their involved with the Can-Am Invitational golf promotional campaigns. But things back in tournament. Canada went south after a year, leaving him n 1991, Les moved back to Toronto in effectively stranded in Taiwan. the middle of recession and created a One positive from his time in Taipei was job for himself at Pizza Pizza. He put the discovery of a rock and blues club where together a proposal for Mike Overs, he met Czech/Australian musician Dave the founder and CEO of the company. Mike Zuric. They’d jam together at the Farmhouse was impressed and made Les the head of and other clubs for several months until Les international franchise development where left Taiwan. he remained for two years. Despite creating

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Les Walsh

opportunities in Korea, Costa Rica and another half-dozen countries it became clear that his ambitious strategy for international expansion didn’t sync with others in the organization, and never would. Les went back to Montreal, but after almost a year he realized no Les strutting his stuff on the golf course one was interested in his Asian work experience. So he decided to return to Asia, certification projects for the energy sector. stopping in Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong, Les left IEM to pursue a career in real estate Seoul and Tokyo to meet senior business doing projects for Destination Properties in contacts and assess opportunities. Before Sri Racha and Samui, followed by numerous he left, he spoke with a number of major resort development projects with Pacvest Canadian franchise firms, offering to do Properties exploratory research for them during his He also represented a car-coating company, trips to see if any of their products would be which gave Hudson a springboard into the viable in this part of the world. automotive business as he now works for t the tail end of his trip he visited the Forza GT supercar service shop, while the Seoul Franchise Show but Tyler runs an online shoe company, and is missed his connecting flight to an accredited marijuana grower. Hudson Tokyo during the Korean wedding (guitar) and Tyler (drums), inherited their season and couldn’t get another flight dad’s musical skill and father and sons have out. Stuck in the airport for two days, he performed at two Canada Day celebrations in begged the Thai Airways counter for a flight recent years. anywhere; he ended up with a ticket back to Les was introduced to his wife K. Kulthida Bangkok. (Gift) by a mutual friend and after a number Once back, Les decided that things happen of years dating they married in 2009. Gift for a reason and that he would try to turn spent several years in marketing and sales this disaster into an opportunity. He took a for private aviation firms X Jet and Minor number of different jobs, including working Aviation before becoming involved in at Siam Trade business magazine together professional golf course management at with the writer of this story, and ended up in Thana City and Chee Chan, while becoming an eight-year relationship that produced sons a freelance consultant in branding and social Hudson and Tyler, born in 1995 and 1997, media marketing. respectively. olf has wound its way through In late 1996, Les went to work with the everything else Les has done Thai-Chamber of Commerce (now CanCham in Thailand. But Les says golf Thailand) when Matt Raynor was the is a labour of love for him, not a Executive Director and the office was on career, as he is always doing something else the premises of Enterprise Thailand Canada while working on golf projects. When Les on Silom Road. It was then that he started arrived back in Thailand the second time Voyageur, the CanCham Thailand magazine, he met Kerry Matison who quickly grabbed as well as a short-lived newsletter called The Les to help him run the annual Can-Am Elephant and Beaver. Invitational golf tourney. Les had met Ron Livingston through the The Can-Am ran from 1981-2007 and was Chamber and next went to work for IEM replaced by the Flying Farang golf tournament, from 1997-2001 in business development and which then became the Beaver. In 2018 admin support on a number of ISO 14001 it became the Moose and then finally the

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Caveman Jam Band (Les Walsh, Mike Nightingale, & Janne Kakaanpaa

Caveman Classic in 2019, which was the last time it was held. And Les has had a hand in running this often renamed tourney since 1997. Les has also worked on the rebuild of Muang Kaew golf course and done reviews for CNN on golf courses. He ran a golf course redevelopment project for Muang Kaew and Sri Racha; he also ran Doug Harrison’s tourney for Father Joe for eight years; Rajah’s Invitational tourney for nine years; and the Rotary Bangkok South tourney for a decade. What does Les love about golf? “It’s the things that golf gives you that you can’t get in any other sport. It’s very personal, you don’t need anyone else around, it’s a personal challenge, and no one beats you but yourself. That said, it’s a great opportunity to meet new people. You can learn more about someone from playing a round of golf with them than you can in a year of boardroom meetings. It’s also a mobile game, you get fresh air, it’s a nice walk with plenty of sunshine (usually) and you get to play in a wonderful environment. ” es’s advice for someone just starting out: “Buy a used seveniron, go to driving range, and hit some balls around. If you like it, keep practicing and then go to a public course on a weekday afternoon and play a round. It’s not as cheap as say football, or takraw, but it is affordable, especially here in Thailand.”

Les has always juggled many balls at once and has a talent for multitasking. Indeed, it’s rare to ﬁnd Les focusing on just one project. Looking back Les says, “My time here has not been a commercial success, certainly no party or cake walk. However, I met Gift, I have two great kids, a lot of great experiences and friendships that are deep and lasting.” arting advice for someone coming to Thailand to work, or invest? “You must have your eyes wide open, do your homework and truly understand the costs and processes. Network – go online, contact the Chamber, and visit forums like ‘Canadians in Thailand’ on Facebook before you get here. Most of all, you also must have a strong sense of who you are and a strong sense of values to stay focused. If things don’t work out, leave. Don’t be one of those guys just hanging on because you like the beaches and temples.” And the golf? Les plans to be back in Thailand next April 1 & 2 to run the Caveman Classic at the Phoenix Golf Club & the Hard Rock Hotel in Pattaya. The next event will be the 40th time it’s played, allowing for interruptions. Fellow Canadian AJ Easton will look after things while Les is in Canada, but he will still be sending out golﬁng updates through his website The Ministry of Golf.

You can contact Les at leswalshbkk@gmail.com. TheBigChilli 47

on i t a c Stay als De

The BigChilli’s guide to the best hotel bargains

Carlton Hotel Bangkok To celebrate the hotel reopening, we’re offering a Welcome Back promotion of only THB 1,001++ per night. This offer is limited to only 1,001 room nights! Package includes the following: • 1-night stay in a Deluxe Room (room only) • 20% off food and beverage in all outlets (excludes promotions, happy hour, wine & spirits by the bottle w • A special a la carte breakfast price of THB 300++ per person (usually THB 450++) • 24-hour stay (check-in from 10:00 am) For further information or reservations, please contact +66 2 090 7888 or Email: reservations@ carltonhotel.co.th Visit www.carltonhotel.co.th for more information Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park Guests staying five nights or more can enjoy rates starting from THB 1,200++ per room and night! Offer valid until December 20, 2021 Email mhrs. bkkqp. reservation@ marriotthotels. com +66 (0) 2 059 5555 Phone Number +66 (0) 2 059 5555 P Pullman Bangkok Hotel G G Deluxe Room at THB 1,500 net per rroom per night (room only). G Deluxe R Room with breakfast for two at THB 1,800 net per room per night. Buy 1 Get 48

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1 FREE* Night in G Deluxe room at only THB 3,999 net (discounted from THB 7,500 net) with Club benefits for two persons, including: • Welcome drink • Complimentary in-room breakfast • Afternoon refreshments • Evening hours *2 nights to be redeemed in 1 stay (2 consecutive nights or 1 night with 2 rooms) Offer valid until: November 30, 2021 h3616-re@accor.com +6623524000 @pullmanbkkhotelg Renaissance Pattaya Resort & Spa Room with two or three meals included, starts from THB 3,900++ per room per night. Book & Stay within November 30, 2021 (subject to availability and terms & conditions apply) Offer valid until: November 30, 2021 reservations@renaissancepattaya.com 038-259-099 0 Official WebsiteOfficial Facebook O @renpattaya @ The Westin Grande Sukhumvit Receive F&B credit equal to the value of your first night’s stay to use in Kisso Japanese Restaurant,, Seasonal Tastes at The Westin Grande Sukhumvit’s international fare and Zest Bar & Terrace. T Tel. (66) (2) 207 8 8000 E Email. rsvnb bangkok@westin.com ht https://www. fa facebook.com/ We WestinBangkok/ posts/10157748205151266

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• Thai citizens can also enjoy an extra 40% off or up to THB 3,000 savings per room per night with the Rao Tiew Duay Kan* travel campaign for stays from 15 October 2021 - 31 January 2022. Valid for bookings made between 8 October 2021 - 23 January 2022. TheBigChilli 49

History

Yesteryear – Bangkok in 1956

‘What Life Was Like When AmCham Thailand Was Born’ David Lyman

The following is the first in a three-part series featuring a presentation by David Lyman, Chairman & Chief Values Officer, Tilleke & Gibbins International Ltd at The American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand's Membership Monthly Luncheon. April 26, 2006

All those years ago . . . It has been said that Bangkok in 1956 was an overgrown village. Not so. Greater Bangkok, then still the Venice of the East, was a bustling metropolis of one million people, more or less. But for many Western and Asian expatriates, it was an enchantress, as it had been for decades before and as it is even until this day. For those of us here then, my family having moved to Thailand seven years before in early 1949, Bangkok and its people and attractions were magnets enticing and holding us in their tropical and alluring sway. 50

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Rickshaw andc samlor outside the compound of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha

As you will learn, never fully being what it seemed or appeared to be, Bangkok was delightful, exotic, seductive, mysterious, pleasure loving, traditional, quite Asian, “Old Siam" as my father would say, yet beginning to change to emulate the cities of the Western expats, particularly the growing number of Americans who were migrating to Thailand.

Few of us are still around today who remember those early days, and we are becoming fewer. I can readily think of Dr. Harvey Oei, Kusa Panyarachun, Alex Mavro, Mike Gerson, Mark Hitcraft, Arlette Cykman, Kurt Mueller, Janek and Michele Luksaiewicz, Walter Meyer, and Khun Ankana, consultant and long the Front Ofﬁce Manager of the Oriental Hotel. There are others whose names, to my embarrassment, escape me and who have probably retired quietly but are still breathing. Limited by audience attention span, these personal remembrances which I recount here just scratch the surface of expatriate life in those days long ago. And if they aren’t exactly correct, well, as someone once said, “Never let the facts stand in the way of a good story.” And besides, I am probably free of immediate challenge from those of you who were not born yet in 1956. And that’s the way histories are written.

Setting the Scene To more fully appreciate Thailand of 50 years ago, very brieﬂy I will set the scene leading TheBigChilli 51

History

up to the day AmCham Thailand was created. Burmese – were courted by the Japanese At the start of WWII in December 1941, for their ‘Asia for the Asiatics’ scheme. The Thailand was a relaxing outpost surrounded Japanese occupation army just took over the by the Asian colonies of the European homes, clubs and offices, servants and staff empires. This buffer zone, so to speak, had a of those interned. foreign civilian population numbering in the As abruptly as it started, three and a thousands. half years after the beginning of WWII the Bankers, missionaries, traders, engineers, Japanese mastery of the Orient came to miners, foresters, mariners, civil servants, an end. In mid-August 1945, the Japanese judges, hoteliers, entertainers, government military occupation of Bangkok ceased – they advisors, diplomats – they had been a surrendering to the American OSS operatives carefree lot convinced of their safety by the who surfaced in the country on the news of protecting combined British, Dutch, French the surrender. and American military prowess in the Pacific. few days later, 30,000 troops Extending the Greater East Asia Coof the British and Indian Army Prosperity Sphere by the Japanese under General William Slim and military beyond China and Manchuria was Lord Louis Mountbatten moved unthinkable – such was the arrogance and in from Burma by air and overland assuming ignorance of the Westerners present here command, freeing the thousands of Allied and their home governments as well. That and native POWs and civilian internees, illusion was shattered in the winter of 1941 rounding up and returning the 100,000+ by the brilliantly conceived and executed Japanese garrison military personnel to lightning successes of the Japanese land, Japan. air and sea forces which in a matter of days They stayed for less than a year and subjugated all of Southeast Asia from Hong then withdrew to deal with the growing Kong to the Indian border, south almost to militant independence movements in their the shores of Australia, and east as far as own Asian colonies. Thailand was free and Guam. permissive again. Its sovereignty as a free ome 1,500 British, Australian, New and independent nation was preserved intact. Zealand, Canadian, Americans began moving in Dutch and American to fill the vacuum left by the civilians (men, Europeans, especially the women and children) were prevailing dominance of the interned by the Japanese British who gradually lost As abruptly occupation army in Bangkok much of their influence over as it started, alone. More foreigners were Siam in the post-War years. here but remained relatively three and a free to move about during half years after (Note: The large Japanese the war years as they came from Axis and occupied and the beginning commercial and investment neutral countries – Germans, presence in Siam remained of WWII the Austrians, Italians, French, after the War at levels Czechs, Danes, Belgians, exceeding pre-War times and Japanese Swedes, Swiss. growing quietly out of the mastery of the limelight but unerringly to the Other Asians (except for captured military opposition) Orient came to present day. Thailand was and – Indonesians, Indians, is the darling of Japan, as it is an end. Chinese, Mons, Vietnamese, of America and Europe and the Cambodians, Laotians and Middle East.)

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Post WWII: The Americans Come The initial group of Americans to take up residence in Thailand after WWII was the men of the American OSS (Ofﬁce of Strategic Services) – forerunner of the CIA – who had d nurtured and helped the Seri Thai underground resistance movement to counter the Japanese occupation. Men like Johnny Wester, Jim Thompson, Alexander MacDonald, Darrell Berrigan, Howard Palmer and later his brother Billy (both born in Thailand) were among the OSS ofﬁcers I knew who stayed on and entered the business world in Thailand after the war. Then, as I remember them, came the American diplomats such as Ambassador Edwin Stanton and his wife, Josie; war correspondents; the medical people – Dr. Marshall P. Welles (Bangkok Christian Hospital), Dr. and Mrs. (Nurse) Waddell (Bangkok k Adventist Hospital); educator missionaries like Walter Zimmerman and Floyd Wilson of YMCA/YWCA; some UN types such as Bill Cummings of FAO (also ex-OSS), followed by adventurers and entrepreneurs in love with Asia and looking for new opportunities to earn their fame and fortunes.

Jorges Orgibet, founder of the FCCT (Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand) in 1956, was among the former while the latter included my father Albert Lyman, Lou Cykman, Willis H. Bird, Herman Seiler, Reeve Hankins, Gordon Lawry, Lou Mulkern, Jim Moore, Tim Chew, Jim Shaddy, George

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History

Grifﬁn, Jim Robinson, Jack Fee, David Workman and intrepid ladies such as Rita Meyer (who married Dr. Ammundesen), the glamorous Maxime North, the indefatigable Rosemary Whitcraft, and, of course, my dynamic, tireless, organized and talented mother, Freda Ring Lyman. Each had their own story for landing in what they found to be, for them, Paradise. Many other Americans soon were to follow them to Siam. Some of these men were covert spooks, but that is another story. Freda and Albert Lyman at the oﬃce of Tilleke & Gibbins in Wang Lee Building

from 1947, revived in 1949, the American Association of Thailand (previously the American Businessmen's Association) which met at Herman Seiler's American Club on Phya Thai Road before shifting to the Oriental Hotel in 1950. Actually, in late 1955, preliminary steps were taken to create the United States Club of Thailand. That effort quickly faded and based on the idea of my father in September 1955, was replaced by an initiative to create an American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand following the template used by the Dutch who formed the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce some months earlier. That idea took root and, supported by the US Embassy, in early 1956 an organizing committee was formed with Reeve Hankins Freda Ring Lyman (sitting middle) with HRH The Princess Mother (sitting second from left)

The American Association In 1946, there were about 30-40 resident Americans. By 1949, that number had jumped to 300 or so. There were other Americans whose names are too dim to recall or of whom I have read about but do not remember. An informal census by the American Association of Thailand found that in October 1949 there The Lyman's house - Soi Polo oﬀ Wireless Road were about 300 American men, women and children resident in Bangkok. Most of these men and women, among the 60 or so American civilian businesspersons in the early 1950s in Siam, were instrumental in the establishment in 1956 of the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AmCham) and its forerunner 54

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as Chairman. The AmCham was created drafting its constitution as an adaptation of the constitutions of the Manila and Tokyo American Chambers. I cannot find the records but I believe that my father was its Secretary, and for sure, was its legal counsel. Based on an initiation in October 1949 of the male-dominated American Association of Thailand, American spouses, upon the call of Mrs. John E. Puerifoy, wife of the then American Ambassador, decided in May 1955 to form the American Women’s Auxiliary of the American Association of Thailand. A year later, just as AmCham was being formed, The American Women’s Club was officially chartered at a ceremony officiated by the wife of Prime Minister Phibun Songkhram. Its first meetings were held at my family’s home, my mother being its recording secretary and soon after, its president.

Colonies Lost Bangkok was beguiling, charming, soft, sophisticated, relatively orderly but always accommodating, adapting to the demands and needs of a modernizing Siamese public and American inﬂuences. From the mid-1950s, rapid changes took place throughout the nation. Free enterprise

in commerce was the order of the day and a free-wheeling social scene was swinging. The pleasure-loving, gracious and hospitable Siamese made it easy then for Americans to thrive here. It was their way of saying "thank you" to the United States for supporting the antiJapanese resistance and for prevailing over the British desire to convert Thailand into a post-War British colony, convincing the UK to accept war reparations instead. The Thais have never forgotten that the United States took none – for the US view was that no state of war ever existed between America and Thailand. It wasn’t long before the strategic geographic position of Thailand was appreciated internationally. Thailand became a member of the United Nations in late 1946, and in 1950 the UN made Bangkok its regional headquarters. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the British had their hands full unsuccessfully attempting to quell independence and communist uprisings in India, Burma, Malaya and the Straits settlements. he Dutch were losing their 400-year hold on Indonesia; the Americans were granting independence to the Philippines; and the French were ﬁghting desperate but losing battles

Amcham members 1956

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History

throughout Indochina to remain colonial and their rivals, the Thai police, and masters there. And the vast and mighty China subordinated to that was the influence of the was being overrun by Chinese Communist Thai military in business circles. American armies under Chairman Mao Tse Tung. policy, military and economic aid at the time Thailand was indeed the eye of the supported a stable and strong anticommunist typhoon of unrest swirling Thailand while around it, but some antioverlooking shameless Americanism and leftist improprieties. political cadres tried to By 1956, Thailand take root. was well along the path For a variety of n Americanto post-War social and reasons, the Thai owned economic development company but politically was beset political scene named “Sea with sometimes violent was dominated by Supply Company” was infighting among the established – an open military/political elite. the Thai military secret was that it was Thailand was coup d'etat and their rivals, supplying arms and prone, to say the least, and training to the Border political corruption and the Thai police, Patrol Police as a vote-rigging were rampant and subordinated constabulary to keep the as well as unofficial to that was the spread of communism in official participation in check. The Korean War businesses. influence of the Thai illegal took some 4,000 Thai Beneath the smiles, military in business there was little local soldiers to fight alongside the UN allied forces there tolerance for political circles. American from 1950-53. America dissent – political policy, military and was committed to keeping prisoners, killings and Thailand communist-free economic aid at the disappearances were not and democratic. Well, sort uncommon. But such time supported a of democratic anyway, a discord never spilled façade at best, and also over into the foreign stable and strong as a bastion of capitalism. community. The Thais The latter was not difficult anticommunist were too gracious and to achieve. well-mannered for that to Thailand while The French in have occurred. Actually, overlooking Indochina fell to the Bangkok was, and still shameless Communist Viet Minh is, one of the safest cities in 1954. That same year, in the world for foreign improprieties. the Manila Pact, a mutual residents. defense treaty sponsored While the Cold War was by Thailand and the hot in 1956 with the Soviet U.S. to counter the invasion of Hungary further spread of communism, was signed and the British, French and Israelis had creating SEATO, the South East Asia Treaty seized the Suez Canal, young Asian nations Organization, with Thailand as its lynchpin were learning to live with their newly won and headquarters. independence from colonial masters. For a variety of reasons, the Thai political But Thailand was at peace, between scene was dominated by the Thai military coups d'etat, and using the lull to prepare

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Sathorn Road 1945 and 1984

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History

for the anticipated conﬂicts to eventually come across its borders through upgrading its sea ports and airports (aerodromes) and constructing many new highways and bridges and rail links to open up the provinces, plus dams, reservoirs, irrigation canals and rural electriﬁcation. mericans across the spectrum of occupations became heavily involved in bolstering Thailand’s development from then on for the ensuing 50 years. The European and American supported Catholic, Protestant, Mormon and Anglican churches were reinstituted and reinvigorated with personnel and funding.

Economic Diplomacy One final observation before we leave the scene setting. Vis-à- vis the American private sector presence in Thailand, the U.S. Embassy in 1956, with its 200+ American staff, was pre-disposed to focus almost Party at home, with Stewart Wilson (standing), Freda Ring Lyman (sitting second left) and George Griffin (first right)

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The old American Embassy

exclusively on intelligence-gathering, political, military and macro-economic aid projects. That reflected U.S. foreign policy of the day. This left scant time for attention to the American business community and civilian citizens. There was a Commercial Counselor who tried his best, but he was often outranked by other priorities. ‘Economic diplomacy’ supporting the role of the vast, growing and widely disbursed American business population across Asia was a concept to be coined by APCAC (the Asia Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce) a decade later. Then, almost anywhere in Asia, if you, as an American, were in trouble, you sought help first from the British Embassy. The Brits’ local contacts were broader, deeper and better than anyone else’s. But if there was really big trouble, then the U.S. Marines were called out. At least, that was the line the State Department used to placate critics. The Americans who gravitated here were an eclectic, fun-loving group which was small enough so everyone pretty much knew each other but large enough to be able to avoid those who you wanted to avoid. With the offices of some companies, including AmCham, being in the area bounded by Siphya to Sathorn Road and New Road to Patpong Road – the latter was very tame in those days – the guys formed the Patpong Posse’ complete with sheriff’s badges, handcuffs and photo IDs – which came in

handy to get out of trouble when stopped by the ‘good ole boy’ local cops in the American South and West with their dark glasses with mirror finishes. What the Posse members failed to mention to their ‘brethren’ was that the Patpong Posse was an eating, drinking and carousing bunch with their headquarters at the Red Door and Mizu’s Kitchen restaurants, on Patpong Road, of course. Any semblance between the Patpong Posse and law enforcement was purely coincidental. It wasn’t all play time; business and commerce were conducted, albeit at a much slower pace compared to today. Thailand continued its traditional exports of natural resources, minerals, seafood and agriculture commodities to earn foreign exchange to buy consumer goods and needed construction materials and machinery to help in its reconstruction and business expansion. he BOI (Board of Investment) was yet to come into existence until 1959 to promote a home-grown import substitution manufacturing industrial base. The American founders of AmCham were involved in trading companies, insurance, import and distribution of petroleum, pharmaceutical and medical products, aviation, business machines and office products, sewing machines, soft drinks, developing the silk and cotton industries for export, exporting of handicrafts such as bronzeware, neilloware, silver, jewelry and gems, lawyering, and doing construction work around the country. The old American Embassy on Wireless Road (still being used as the American Consulate) was the first purpose-built office building in town and was designed and constructed by an American – Dave Workman.

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News

Forest in th

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he city The imposing facade of the former Thailand Tobacco Monopoly, the location of the Benjakitti Park angkok’s largest open space, the Benjakitti Forest Park, an urban wonderland of ponds, swamps, water channels, man-made hills and skywalks, is already open to visitors. Located next to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center and linked to the lake and grounds of the original Benjakitti Park, this magniﬁcent addition to the city’s ‘green heart’ extends over an area of 259 rai that was once the site of a massive tobacco manufacturing facility. Costing 652 million baht to build, the forest park project is a joint enterprise involving the Finance Ministry Treasury Department, the Royal Thai Army, and the Arsom Silp Institute of the Arts, which is responsible for its design. An unusual feature of the project is a crucible-style open theatre area for outdoor events and concerts. And for those who like to have a bird’s eye of the park, there is a series of skywalks criss-crossing the central area. The forest, which includes both existing and newly planted trees, will provide a new ecosystem to support a biological community while its meadows will act a sponge to soak up excessive water during the rainy season. Because of recent storms, the grass has ﬂourished in many places and needs a crop. Oddly, few people are currently taking advantage of the park’s partial opening. No doubt that will change during the upcoming dry season.

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News

Cycling across the United States, a Thai couple are far from lonely By Mick Elmore

linton, Iowa – After two months’ cycling across the American west meeting a lot of good people but rarely other cyclists, earlier this Bangkok-born Pochara Prataganang and Sasila Sukha suddenly found themselves joined by many thousands of them crossing Iowa in the nation’s heartland. The couple had signed up for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) as part of their extended bicycle journey across the continental United States. “It’s awesome,” said Sasila about the huge event. “This is about how people love to do the same thing. Everybody is so happy,” adding that people don’t mind the long lines for food in the small towns along the way because there is a healthy camaraderie among the cyclists. After the week-long 725 km ride through the corn and soybeans of Iowa the couple continued east with plans to complete their trip on Coney Island in New York later this year. Their cross-country ride will be more than 5,000 km by the time they reach the Atlantic Ocean. They timed the cross-country trip to join RAGBRAI the last week of July. “It worked out well,” Pochara said. Although it is “the longest, largest and oldest recreational bicycle touring event in the world,” according to the Register’s ofﬁcials, the event comes from humble beginnings. In 1973 Des Moines Register writers John Karras and Don Kaul and Public Relations Director Don Benson invited the public to join them across the state and 114 riders completed it that ﬁrst year. Public demand brought it back in 1974 and since then only 2020 had no ride when it was canceled due to Covid-19. 62

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Pochara and Sasila RAGBRAI has become so popular organizers have a lottery limiting the number of riders. This year there were 16,000 officially registered, explained Marketing Director Anne Lawrie. A lot of other riders just showed up some days, so the numbers sometimes swelled to over 20,000 riders, she added. This year, though, international participation was way down because the pandemic made travel to the event difficult. Pochara and Sasila were already in America so joining was not an issue. And for them RAGBRAI was only one week in a journey lasting months. It almost didn’t happen, though, because you can’t ride without a bike. “We only got the bikes last year during the pandemic. We bought the last two at a small shop in California,” said Sasila. Being Thai has been a good thing in America. “Everybody loves Thailand so much. They see our flag and say, “‘Oh you’re from Thailand, we love your country so much, it is so beautiful,’ and they all want to know more,” said Sasila.

Married for seven years, the couple have a lot of traveling experience together, including six months driving a van from San Francisco to Alaska. oth originally from Bangkok, Pochara and Sasila have known each other for 20 years going back to when they were 12. Pochara moved to America when he was 15 and continued school in the US, graduating from Northern Kentucky University. The couple would always reconnect when he visited Thailand in the summers. “We were friends since middle school and high school then one day he called me and asked ‘Hey, do you want to go shopping?”” Sasila said.

Sasila on the road in Iowa Pedalling across Iowa

Sasila graduated from Kasetsart University and went to work for Facebook while Pochara was a software engineer at Apple in California. But he quit after a few years to hike five months along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) that snakes 4,265 km through California, Oregon, and Washington. “That was a turning point in my life while trying to figure what I wanted to do,” he said. “I wanted to experience similar things,” said Salisa, whose contract ended at Facebook about the time he finished the PCT so they could “make a long trip.” That’s when they got the van and spent six months on the road from San Francisco to Alaska. Now traveling is in their blood. “Doing the same thing that we love together is awesome,” they say. TheBigChilli 63

Health

“Aging is a disease, so start early, treat it correctly and you will be healthy for much longer” By Robin Westley Martin

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I started out by ditching my ’d say about cooking oils and switching to 39’ … this is extra virgin olive oil. It’s one of the answer to the healthiest fats on earth, and a question we research has shown that it may have all been help prevent many common asked, and which we all dread: diseases associated with aging. ‘How old do you think I am?’ It It lowers blood pressure, is always a good idea to tread reduces the risk of heart carefully and go low, especially disease, helps prevent metabolic with the ladies. syndrome and may be effective Since Covid-19 many of us think more about our health, in fighting cancer. as we are continually being Extra virgin olive oil also help told that a healthy immune your skin look younger, it has Dr Erik Fleischman, Medical system will help us deal with strong anti-inflammatory effects Director of BAAC this disease. If we do our best on the skin and can protect it from sun damage, while at the same time it increases to keep our minds and bodies in tip-top condition, it elasticity. shows up in our outward appearance. And we start to Green tea can protect against free radicals. It has look and feel younger than our chronological age. Friends tell me that after middle-age it is a good idea strong antioxidant properties that protect your skin’s collagen from sun damage and may reduce signs of to have a medical check-up at a hospital or clinic about every18 months or so. Advances in medical science aging. Fatty fish is truly an anti-aging food. Its long-chain mean that if problems are caught early, they can be omega-3 fats are beneficial against heart disease, rapidly alleviated before they become serious or lifeinflammation and ulcerative colitis, amongst many threatening, or even cured completely in some cases. I had listened carefully to recommendations about other diseases. check-ups, but had done nothing about it. The daily The antioxidant profile of dark chocolate is second to none. It is even more powerful than acai berries, reports about the spread of the pandemic, though, blueberries, or cranberries. Dark chocolate contains made me think more deeply. antioxidants called flavanols, which protect the skin There were many stories about healthy, fit people from sun damage. who had succumbed to Covid-19, losing their lives at ruits and vegetables are also an essential an age considerably younger than me. It was time to part of a healthy diet, and I was pleased look into what I could do to look after myself more – and to hope to hear that I look at least 10 years to find out that pomegranates and younger than my physical age. avocados are particularly favoured. However, doing your own research I started searching on Google, and I found many is all well and good, but the greatest benefit comes articles giving advice on how to look and feel younger. from talking to the experts. After looking around, I What stood out was the focus many of them had on contacted the Bangkok Anti-Aging Center (BAAC). our diet. Food not only powers our bodies but can also The BAAC is in central Bangkok, near to Siam be its medicine. Square BTS station. The info you can find online tells The foods you eat can help you age better, both you that it specialises in anti-aging and beauty science, inside and out, and I resolved to begin a regime of with an emphasis on holistic treatment. putting more healthy fuel into my body.

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I set up an appointment to take advantage of the special promotion that they were then running. It was a comprehensive check-up that would include lab tests on my blood, a whole-body scan, a live on-the-spot blood analysis, a test for bone density, and a personal consultation with a doctor to explain the test results, to give advice, and to suggest any further treatment, should it be needed. After recording my weight, I had my blood taken for tests on 27 different parameters, including checking for prostate and other cancers. I was then taken for a whole-body scan (all done electronically), and my bone density was tested. After less than an hour all was done, and I was asked to return in a week, when the test results would have come back from the lab. The following week I returned to the BAAC for my consultation and diagnosis of results with their Medical Director, Dr Erik Fleischman, a physician from California. Licensed since 1988, he has a Fellowship in oncology, over 25 years’ experience of international practice, and has been based in Bangkok since 2003. Before his appointment as Medical Director at BAAC he was International Director of Medicine at Bumrungrad Hospital. Dr Erik started off with the most important news, telling me that there were no signs of any cancers. My red blood cells were good in number, but were a little undersized, which could be due to an iron deﬁciency in my diet. White blood cell count was satisfactory.

Dr Erik recommended, from his analysis of the results, that I ate foods rich in vitamin B12 and D3, as well as those containing iron and folic acid, or take supplements, but that I was on the whole a healthy and fit individual. I asked him about exercise, and he recommended that I continue with my cycle riding, but did not need to make any significant changes to my exercise regime. I felt quite happy about these results, and was sure my daughter and girlfriend would feel the same. Robin; Do you regard the people who come to see you at BAAC as customers or patients? Dr Erik; I have always thought of the people who come to see me as clients. It’s more personal, the way I was trained in medicine was that my job as a doctor is to work for you. My clients are paying me for my work, and as with any other job, if a customer feels they are not getting what they want then they can fire them. There has to be mutual respect. So I think of the people who come to see me here as my clients. Robin; Are your treatments at BAAC holistic biased, and if so could you explain this method? Dr Erik; Yes, they are, and let me clarify what this means. Let’s look at the evolution of the concepts of ‘wellness’, anti-aging, or regenerative medicine. About 15 to 20 years ago wellness clinics became popular, but these were far less scientifically and medically advanced than what you see nowadays, they were a fad, a trend. In the early days many clinics constructs were akin to handing out snake oil … take vitamin X,Y, Z for this, eat this to do that, etc. Nowadays things are more scientific, and facilities such as ours incorporate the best of proven Western, Eastern, and psychologic medical practices. I’m a cancer specialist, I was trained in oncology, and the drugs I prescribed had a sound scientific base. The drugs we prescribe here for regenerative or anti-aging treatments are no different. Everything we do TheBigChilli 65

Health

here has a proven scientific and medical methodology. These are the ways in which we provide a holistic service to our clients, or patients, if you will. Robin; Intravenous (IV) infusion of vitamins or other supplements is seen as controversial in some quarters, can you explain the benefits of such a regimen. Dr Erik; There are two physiologic reasons for giving IV infusions. You can give supplements or vitamins at doses that would not be tolerable by mouth. Let’s look at Vitamin C as an example. If you were to ingest 5,000 mg of Vitamin a day you would feel terrible, diarrhea, cramps, etc. But with IV we can deliver 10,000, 20.000 mg per day with no side effects. Some cancer clinics even give doses of 50,000 mg. The second reason is that with an IV infusion you are able to absorb 100 percent of the supplement or vitamin being introduced, whereas when taken by mouth the absorption take up rate varies from between 10 to 60 percent. I myself take regular infusions of NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or Vitamin B3) which is one of the most fantastic regenerative products yet found. It makes all the cells of your body feel as though they’re functioning at the same level as a 30-year-old. IV infusions are a targeted therapy. Robin; What treatments do you personally feel have the most benefit and are the most effective? Dr Erik; I have probably the most experience in Thailand in hormonal balancing and hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) for men. After middle age the hormones that keep your body and brain feeling finely tuned start to diminish. This happens at different rates for different people. When the testosterone level starts to dip, it does it very slowly, but if somebody is stressed it will dip more, and people will begin to suffer depression, loss of sex-drive, loss of memory, weight gain, loss of vitality, and more. HRT has been a mainstay in the West for many years, but only started to be used in Thailand five or six years ago. In Thailand it quickly gained popularity, and is now at almost the same level as it is in the west. HRT can not only extend the life of somebody, but also the quality of that life. The optimum benefits are gained if starting in middle age, but even people in their 60s can gain incredible benefits from the advantages it endows. Robin; Is blood testing the best way to screen 66

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The secret to not getting old or feeling old is to prevent it. It's very hard to turn back the clock, but it's easy to slow the clock down for cancers or other issues? Dr Erik; Blood tests are one way to screen for cancer. With our blood tests we can discover the presence of prostate, liver, colon, breast, pancreas, lung, gall bladder, and ovarian cancers. Blood tests are a good, least invasive way to test for some of the most common cancers. If someone is worried that they might have cancer further diagnostic testing should be done. Robin; Is there anything you would like to mention to our readers, before we wind up? Dr Erik; Sure. Pretty simply, the secret to not getting or feeling old is to prevent it. It’s very hard to turn back the clock, but it’s easy to slow the clock down and prevent it from going forward too fast. We have reached the point now in science when we know the causes and reasons for aging. They’re clear as day. Here at BAAC we treat our clients as individuals. We interview them extensively, and ﬁnd out what their goals are. And then we help them to reach them. The World Health Organization now actually classiﬁes aging as a disease. Treat it correctly and you won’t get sick. Start early, boost your body naturally, and you will be healthy for much longer.