The Phuket News 14 September 2018

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

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A tourist reviews one of many boat tour brochures at a tour kiosk in Phuket Town. Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot.

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Woe and be told: Can A.I. replace human therapists?

TOUR OPERATOR COMMISSIONS KEY FACTOR UNDERMINING PHUKET MARINE TOURISM SAFETY Chris Husted execeditor@classactmedia.co.th

W

hether tour operator commissions are the real killer in Phuket’s marine tourism industry was the shattering question posed at a high-calibre panel discussion at Phuket Boat Lagoon last Friday (Sept 7).

The discussion, titled ‘The Expectations of the Phuket Hotel and Tourism industries from the Phuket marine industry, and vice versa’ was held at the Boat Point meeting room at Phuket Boat Lagoon and featured leading figures from the island’s boating fraternity.

The panel speakers comprised Lyndon Ellis, General Manager of Anantara Vacation Club Mai Khao Phuket; Zara Tremlett, the former GM of Yacht Haven Marina; retired international insurance broker Ian Lancaster; and Phuket Yacht Club Commodore Scott Duncanson.

Wicky Sundram, Executive Director at Phuket Boat Lagoon and one of the key organisers of the event along with Harry Usher of Lady Pie, was moderator for the event.

The panel in its presentation covered many of the clearly failing aspects of Phuket’s marine tourism industry, with specific focus on boat tours, including de facto overloading

(as opposed to breach of number of passengers permitted in accordance with standing regulations) and boat designs that would obviously not pass international standards.

However, unchallenged was the key perspective that ‘bashing’ or otherwise ‘harshly criticising’ those responsible for enforcing boating regulations was unlikely to provide the results sought. Consensus was that the way forward was to engage with local officials to support them as much as possible to improve the industry, especially with regards to safety.

Mr Lancaster also pointed out that he had heard from his interviews

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@thephuketnews

throughout the marine industry that the Thai government was taking the issue ‘very seriously’ and that the concerns had reached all the way up to the prime minister’s office and hence that positive suggestions were likely to be well received by those in a position to effect genuine change.

Yet, regarding the commissions demanded by tour operators, Mr Lancaster, who retired to Phuket with more than 35 years’ experience in insurance, pointed out that his research had discovered that commissions on tour tickets tended to account for 25% of the total cost of operating a boat tour. All other costs associated with operating a tour boat were drawn...

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Legal battle for Phuket elephant passes one-year mark > page 5

Agents’ cuts costing lives?

The hospital did not mention whether charges would be pressed. Image: CCTV / Vachira Phuket Hospital

Angry man strikes nurse

T H E M A N AG E M E N T at Vachira Phuket Hospital on Wednesday (Sept 12) confirmed with CCTV footage that an angry elder relative of a patient lashed out and struck a nurse for not allowing him to enter the emergency ward where some patients lay comatose and others were receiving urgent medical care.

Hospital Deputy Director Dr Wirasak Lothongkham explained that the man, who he did not name, arrived at the hospital with several family members, one of whom, a 35-year-old woman, was admitted for treatment after falling ill while drinking.

The nurse refused the man entry to the emergency room as there were patients receiving critical care and too many people already in the room, including family members of patients who were comatose.

Dr Wirasak made no mention of whether any charges would be pressed.

Eakkapop Thongtub

Commissions a clear factor in Phuket tour boat safety Continued from page 1 ...from the remaining 75% of ticket revenues.

One attendee at the event, who raised the issue with a question from the audience, pointed out that he was aware of some operators demanding as much as 50% of the tour cost from each paying tourist.

This single aspect, beyond greed, was depriving wannabe safe, reliable tour boat operators the funds needed to provide safe boats and tours and added such financial pressure that operators were ‘forced’ to put a boat to sea in possibly dangerous conditions just to keep the operation financially viable.

The only other option for honest operators is to remain uncompetitive and eventually go out of business, leaving just the unscrupulous operators the entire level of demand to themselves.

“Losing (revenue) from not going out on just one day can easily mean that the boat has to go out four or five more times just to recover the losses from that one day,” Mr Lancaster explained.

Mr Lancaster suggested a government policy to cover operators from losses in the event the government issues

Research indicated that operators at least openly admit that 25% of ticket prices goes to commissions. a warning preventing tour boats from leaving port for safety reasons.

“This is very common in many industries around the world,” Mr Lancaster told The Phuket News after the event.

Lyndon Ellis explained from the position of hotels, which have tour desks in their resorts where tourists book boat tours directly with the agent, that the relationship between the tour desk and the hotel was usually direct with the finance department,

“which are focussed on the numbers”, he said.

However, Mr Ellis pointed out that he was aware of the issue and that as soon as he sees a ‘quiet conversation’ between a tour operator representative and the tour desk attendant that he makes a bee-line straight for them to intervene as soon as possible to prevent any clandestine agreement between the two.

Mr Ellis strongly suggested that any persons with concerns about the commissions demanded by tour operators

bring it to the attention of the hotel management responsible for the day-to-day operations of the hotel instead.

“These people are much more focussed on the quality of the service provided and the tour rather than just the numbers,” he said.

An outstanding suggestion from the panel was for the hotels themselves to devise their own rating system of preferred boat tour operators which would be able to drive safety and quality tours to the fore.

“This would include from the moment guests get in the minivan,” Mr Ellis explained, adding that many complaints from guests departing hotels on day tours was about the unsafe driving of the minivan to and from the hotel itself.

In concluding the event, Brent Har per from local b oat- bu i ld i ng c ompa ny Marineworx, based at Boat Lagoon, gave a presentation highlighting the effectiveness of a high-buoyancy foam that could be added to the existing fleet of tour boats to make them literally unsinkable.

“Foam-panelling is not new elsewhere in the world as a boat-building technique, it’s been around since the ’90s, but the cost of a new PET foam has fallen so much that it is now cost effective to have it added,” he explained.

“We can calculate how much foam is needed and it can be built into the panels. Thai-built boats are all fibreglass panels, and if the worst happens, it just sinks,” he explained.

“If that does happen, at least the people in the water will still have the boat to hold onto or climb on – if it overturns – until help arrives.” he said.

Maya Bay to re-open to tourists, but not boats MAYA BAY WILL RE-OPEN TO tourists on Nov 1, but only tourists arriving from Loh Samah Bay on the far side of the island. Maya Bay will remain closed to boats, Worapoj Lomlim, Chief of the Hat Nopparat- Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, confirmed to The Phuket News this week The news comes as marine experts confirm that corals transplanted into the bay are showing positive signs of growth, with high hopes of a full recovery of the reefs in the bay which have suffered heavy damage from years of ‘overtourism’ and tourists trampling on the corals.

The world-famous bay was closed to all visitors from June 1 to allow coral reefs and the local marine ecoystem to recover, and on May 11 this year it was announced that boats taking tourists to visit Phi Phi Island’s renowned Maya Bay would no longer to be able to land or drop anchor at Loh Samah Bay, on the far side of the island.

Maya Bay will remain closed to boats after Nov 1. Photo: DNP Instead, a floating pier would be installed so that tourists can disembark tour boats and arrive on the island without causing further harm to the popular island, announced Thanya Nethithammakul, chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP).

At the time a re-opening date of Oct 1 had been set, but last week Chief Worapoj confirmed to The Phuket News that even that was under review.

“We are considering asking to defer the re-opening of Maya Bay to visitors for another month,” Chief Worapoj said.

On Wednesday (Sept 12), he confirmed that Nov 1 had been set as the date for re-opening the bay to tourists.

Chief Worapoj made it clear to The Phuket News, “The bay itself will remain closed to boats, but tourists will be allowed to visit the bay from Loh Samah Bay.” However, Chief Worapoj did not elaborate on how tour boats will be allowed to bring tourists to shore, as currently they are not allowed to drop anchor or make landfall at Loh Samah Bay. Also not mentioned was any restriction on the number of tourists that will be allowed to visit Loh Samah Bay or Maya Bay, though at last report the number was expected to be 2,000 visitors per day.

Tanyaluk Sakoot

thephuketnews

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Whale shark trawlers probed for trafficking

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The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

T

he two boats involved in the illegal catching of a whale shark off Phuket earlier this year are also under investigation for possible human trafficking, the Phuket Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed.

The fishing boats Sang Samut 3 and Sang Samut 2 were seized by Royal Thai Navy officers at the Seang Arun Pier in Rassada on May 19, the day after a video posted online showing a whale shark strung up on a the deck of the Sang Samut 3 between Koh Hei and Koh Racha, south of Phuket, went viral.

Narat Choophueng of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) filed a formal complaint to police, accusing the crew of the Sang Samut 3 of breaching Section 66 of the Fisheries Act 2015 and Section 16 of the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act, B.E. 2535 (1992).

Breach of Section 66 of the Fisheries Act incurs a fine of between B300,000 and B3 million, “or to a fine of five times the value of the aquatic animals caught or brought on board a fishing vessel concerned. In whichever case, the higher fine shall apply.”

Breach of Section 16 incurs a penalty of up to four years in jail, or a fine of up to B40,000, or both.

Phuket Tourist Police carried out checks on ATV businesses in Phuket and in Phang Nga. Photo: Phuket Tourist Police

No laws covering ATV safety: Police

The body of the whale shark is hung over the side of the ’Sang Samut 3’ before it was dumped back into the sea. Screengrab: via Dusadee Chuaychian Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Lt Col Somsak Sopakarn, who received the complaint, confirmed to The Phuket News last Thursday (Sept 6), “We sent the case to Phuket Prosecutor a month ago.

“Other details I cannot tell you now, but they have referred this case to Bangkok,” he said.

Phuket Public Prosecutor Boontob Lanthong confirmed that same day that he had received the case and that his office were moving ahead with both charges.

Mr Boontob also confirmed, “We

have also referred the case to the Prosecutor’s Office at the Department of Trafficking in Persons as by law what we are required to do.”

However, Mr Boontob did not elaborate on whether evidence of human trafficking had been uncovered by police in their investigation.

Meanwhile, Phuket Fisheries Chief Kowit Kao-ian also confirmed that both boats remain banned from putting to sea.

“Currently both boats are not permitted to leave port yet. We must hold them until the case has concluded,” he said.

Chalong Underpass hoped to open to traffic by April T H E PROJ ECT M A Nager at the Phuket office of the Highways Department responsible for the ongoing construction of the B546million Chalong Underpass says he is confident that the underground thoroughfare will be open in time for Songkran in April next year.

Somkiet Yimpong, Project Manager at the Phuket office of the Highways Department, told The Phuket News on Tuesday (Sept 11) that construction progress of the entire project currently stands at 56% complete.

That progress follows only 40% complete i n March, he noted.

“The construction has progressed to about 56% and is expected to be completed in April 2019,” Mr Somkiet said.

“There is only 240 metres left to excavate for the underpass itself, and we are working on making the road that goes through the underpass at the same time,” he added.

Mr Somkiet also said @thephuketnews

Only 240 metres of the 400 metre underpass remains to be excavated. Photo: Phuket Highways Office Chalong Circle may be reopened early as December.

Currently huge traffic delays are created with Chalong Circle itself now closed, forcing motorists wanting to change direction at the locale to drive past the circle and then make a U-turn in order to continue their journeys.

“We will not re-open Chalong Circle until the roof of the underpass inside is finished, but I expect that to be done sometime in November,” Mr Somkiet said.

“Then we will have more space to switch traffic to other lanes to pave the new roads,” he said.

Regarding the dangerously uneven roads with large holes that currently pass the underpass site, Mr Somkiet explained, “We cannot fix the roads because they are always busy with traffic, but we will try to fix what areas we can.

“In the meantime, traffic delays will continue until this project is done,” he said.

Tanyaluk Sakoot

AN OFFICIAL FROM THE Phuket Tourist Police has confirmed that there are no laws currently in place covering ATV safety.

The announcement follows the death of Saudi Arabian tourist Muteb Alsahli, 24, who died Tuesday last week (Sept 4) after suffering head injuries in an ATV accident the preceeding Sunday (Sept 2).

Capt Eakkachai Siri of the Phuket Tourist Police confirmed to The Phuket News last Friday (Sept 7), “There are no laws to covering this kind of vehicle. We can only point out to ATV businesses about the safety of ATVs for tourists.

“We have been to check three ATV businesses in

Phuket since last weekend’s accident – ATV Seaview, Phuket Happy Paradise and Phra Thai Chang Yai – and other places in Phang Nga province (who Capt Eakkachai declined to name).

“They have tourism business certificates so they have not broken any laws. All businesses inspected follow the safety procedures such as giving ATV drivers helmets and making sure they use seat belts,” he said.

“We still keep checking ATV businesses and other risk places in Phuket.

“The Saudi Arabian tourist’s death is still under investigation. This case is not concluded yet,” he added.

Tanyaluk Sakoot

Thief nabbed for B30k lottery snatch

PHUKET CITY POLICE have arrested a suspect for stealing more than B30,000 of lottery tickets for the draw to be held this Sunday (Sept 16).

Lt Wipawan Watnangentanong of the Phuket City Police on Tuesday (Sept 11) confirmed that police had apprehended the suspect, but was reticent to release details.

Lt Wipawan said registered lottery ticket vendor Keattisak Tirajamorn 70, who operates a small shop in front of his house on Bangkok Rd in Phuket Town, reported the theft at 5:20pm last Tuesday (Sept 4).

Exactly which tickets were stolen were not revealed.

Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot Mr Keattisak said that he noticed at about 3:20pm that day that many lottery tickets had ‘disappeared’ from his store.

In all, 390 tickets were stolen valued in total at B31.200, all featuring the numbers 1467,

6312, 3899, 8744 and 9985.

Lt Wipawan said that police had finally managed to arrest the suspect on Tuesday after tracking down the woman through CCTV, but declined to identify the woman by name, age or province of origin.

However, Lt Wipawan said, “Following our investigation we have filed more charges against the suspect as this person has done this several times before.

“All the missing tickets have been recovered,” Lt Wipawan added.

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

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Drug suspect dies in police shootout

The notice calling for applicants, now posted at Patong Police Station.

Photo: Supplied

Eakkapop Thongtub editor@classactmedia.co.th

Wanted: police volunteers PATONG POLICE THIS week started accepting applications for the new contingent of volunteers to assist police in communicating with tourists, and are seeking people with international language skills despite the public notice calling for applicants omitting that fact.

The notice, posted at Patong Police Station, asked applicants to be conversant in Thai language only.

However, Patong Police Chief Col Anotai Jindamanee confirmed on Monday (Sept 10), “We want people who have a good heart to serve people and tourists. We are open to applications today (Sept 10), for Thais and foreigners.

“Definitely, foreign language ability is required in their own language. They need to able communicate in English as the international language,” Col Anotai said.

“Other skills of foreign applicants is fair ability to speak Thai. The level of Thai

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language needs only to be basic so that Thais can understand them. There is no need to be an ‘excellent’ Thai speaker.

It is just for communicating with Thai police officers and local people.

“I invite Thais and foreigners who love Thailand to come to work with police for tourists’ safety and confidence… We especially want volunteers to attend to tourists on Patong Beach and along Bangla Rd, as already mentioned,” he said.

Col Anotai added that the new uniforms that the volunteers will be wearing are still being designed. “I don’t want tourists and other people to confuse them with police,” he said.

The call for new volunteers follows Col Anotai last month unilaterally dismissing the previously long-serving volunteers order to set up his own hand-picked team of volunteers.

The Phuket News

A

drug suspect died after a shootout with police in Srisoonthorn, central Phuket, late Wednesday afternoon last week (Sept 5).

Lt Col Kittipoom Thinthalang from the Thalang Police was notified of the shooting 5:30pm and soon arrived at the scene, in front of a khao gaeng restaurant on Thepkrasattri Rd in Moo 1 Srisoonthorn, to find Srisoonthorn Municipality rescue workers performing CPR on the suspect, Pisit Boonsing, 34, a resident registered as living at in Moo 2, Srisoonthorn.

Rescue workers rushed Pisit to Thalang Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead from his injuries.

Thalang Police Chief Lt Col Theerawat Liamsuwan explained that investigators from the Thalang Police had raided a house in Moo 2, Srisoonthorn, under surveillance for drugs.

Pisit soon arrived at the house and police went to move in. Pisit ran into the house and dropped the bag he was carrying, then opened fire at police to make his escape by motorbike, with police in pursuit.

Officers called for Traffic Police to prevent his escape from the area.

Police followed Pisit to where he had taken refuge at the back of the ‘Lap Long Aawn Yasothorn’ Isarn food

The scene of the shooting last Wednesday (Sept 5). restaurant about two kilometres from his house.

Trapped, Pisit again opened fire at police, Col Theerawat said.

Police returned fire, he explained.

Pisit still made a run for it, escaping through the side of the restaurant and ran along the footpath along Thepkrasattri Rd. Along the way, Pisit dropped his gun, later recovered and confirmed to be a Sig Sauer 9mm handgun, and police moved in and had him restrained in front of the Khao Kaeng Southern Food restaurant.

The gun as well as bullet casings and a magazine on the ground in front of the Lap Long Aawn Yasothorn restaurant were taken as evidence, Col Theerawat said.

The police investigation into the case against Pisit is

still continuing, Col Theerawat added.

In the bag first dropped by Pisit at his house, police found three grams of crystal meth (ya ice) and 13 9mm bullets, he said.

Pisit had a long history of violence and previous drug use, police noted through checking his criminal records.

According to a police report, Pisit was released from prison only four months ago after serving 12 years for murder after his conviction in Phuket in 2006.

Pisit was moved from Phuket Provincial Prison to Nakhon Sri Thammarat, where six years ago he was caught and charged – while incarcerated – for using drugs.

Before his murder conviction, Pisit was charged in 2004 for assault in Tha Chat Chai, at the northern end of the island, police noted.

Belgian, 67, killed on Patong Hill POLICE HAVE YET TO confirm what caused an accident on Patong Hill last Friday night (Sept 7) that resulted in a 67-year-old Belgian man being killed as he descended the steep hill into Patong on a motorcycle.

Officers from the Patong Police were called to scene at 7:30pm.

Patong Police Deputy Inspector Lt Col Jessada Saengsuree and fellow officers arrived along with rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation to find the body of the man, identified as Walther J.M. De Belder, 67, from Belgium, lying in the middle of the road,

Police arrived to find the man’s body and motorbike in the middle of the road.

Photo: Patong Police metres from the Honda MSX motorcycle he was riding.

Nearby was a Phuketregistered Nissan sedan and its driver, Juthakarn Sornlat, 49, as well as a Phitsanulokregistered Isuzu pickup and its driver, Sathit Thanapradakul, 44, standing by.

The rest of the traffic was

slowly driving past as normal.

According to initial witness statements, Mr De Belder was riding his motorbike down the steep hill into Patong when he swerved to avoid striking the Nissan car driven by Ms Juthakarn, which was travelling in the same direction.

Mr De Belder’s motorcycle then struck the right side of the pickup truck driven by Mr Sathit, which was travelling uphill in the opposite direction.

However, police noted that they were continuing their investigation.

Meanwhile, the body of Mr De Belder was taken to Patong Hospital. Eakkapop Thongtub thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

PHUKET NEWS

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Legal battle for elephant ‘Yo’, ‘Namphet’ continues Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter2@classactmedia.co.th

T

he legal battle continues for ownership of the elephant ‘Yo’, or ‘Namphet’, depending on who is claiming to own the elephant, more than a year after two brothers from Surin province, on the Cambodian border, arrived to claim the elephant as their own.

Lt Col Thada Sodarak of the Chalong Police explained to The Phuket News on Tuesday (Sept 11) that the elephant is alive and well, and working at the Amazing Bukit Safari Camp in Chalong.

The camp has always maintained that the elephant is called Namphet and the camp has presented registration documents of their own to prove ownership.

The elephant was at the camp when Somsak Reangngern from Surin province filed his claim of ownership. He claimed that the elephant was stolen, somehow moved to Krabi, and sold from there.

Over the past year, the investigation has continued into the tenuous battle for rights to ownership of Yo/Namphet that began in March, 2017, Col Thada explained on Tuesday.

“The claim by Mr Somsak is still being heard in the civil court,” he said.

Col Thada also confirmed that the criminal court is still hearing the charge of presenting false documents in order to claim ownership of the elephant.

“My job is working on a criminal

Species experts from Mahidol University take blood samples and record the physical features of the crocodile on Aug 15. Photo: Phuket Fisheries Dept

Croc relocation held at bay by DNA tests ‘Yo’, or ‘Namphet’, still at the Amazing Bukit Safari Camp in Chalong.

Photo: Supplied charge of ‘making fake documents’, as filed by the owner of Namphet, Mr Pichai Pausuphachareu,” he said.

Of note, Lt Col Winai Poonsawat, Deputy Chief of the Ao Nang police in Krabi province, last year confirmed that Raewat Chernkaew, the man who sold the elephant to the camp, was charged with ‘group theft at night using a vehicle’.

Col Thada noted that it took a long time to receive the final documents needed to proceed with the legal process.

“Then it took time to receive the documents from The Elephant Center in Surin province. This is taking a lot of time because it is a complicated case

involving both the criminal and civil courts,” he said.

“I want to see the court case in Phuket brought to conclusion, but I still have witnesses to question about this case.

My involvement is still not finished,” he added.

Regardless, Col Thada noted, “Our investigation has uncovered that the two elephants’ ages are different, and can be seen by (photographs presented as) evidence,” Col Thada said.

“Yo is supposed to be 73 years old, but Nampetch is supposed to be 45 years old. The age and size of the elephants are different,” he noted.

Gold Coast set to become Sister City A DELEGATION FROM Australia’s renowned tourism destination the Gold Coast led by Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate were in Phuket on Monday (Sept 10) to sign an agreement to start work on a formal Sister Cities relationship between the Gold Coast and Phuket.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said that he believes the recreational dive industry of both his city and Phuket can benefit.

The Mayor undertook the formal signing of the agreement with Phuket Vice Governor Prakob Wongmaneerung.

“Phuket has a very well established recreational dive industry and we want to capitalise on that,” said Mayor Tate.

“Sister Cities can take up to three years to finalise and our artificial dive precinct is probably 18 months away from becoming a reality.

“So the timing is perfect. Our aim is to encourage international tourists who visit Phuket to dive, then make their way to the Gold Coast to experience our unique dive precinct. @thephuketnews

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate (left) shakes hands with Phuket Vice Governor Prakob Wongmaneerung.

Similarly, our dive industry will promote Phuket for those departing Australia, seeking a memorable dive experience.”

Mayor Tate said a formal Sister Cities relationship would also allow the Gold Coast to share its knowledge in life saving and beach cleaning with Phuket.

“Beaches are their lifeblood for tourism, much the same as ours, so beach cleanliness is coming to the fore as a real issue,” said Mayor Tate.

“I’m also keen to establish a lifeguard exchange, similar to what we have achieved with Japan.”

The formal signing took place at the Governor’s Office in Phuket Town.

Mayor Tate also met with Phuket tourism representatives to outline opportunities for “sharing tourism” between the two areas.

He was joined by Destination Gold Coast Councillor Paul Donovan, who serves as the council’s Tourism chair.

The Phuket News

THE CHIEF OF THE Phuket Fisheries Department has confirmed that his office is still awaiting DNA tests results for the crocodile caught on July 29 near the rocks off Koh Kata, just offshore from Layan Beach, after it eluded capture for 11 days.

The DNA tests were carried out on the croc by species experts from Mahidol University on Aug 15.

Speaking to The Phuket News last Friday (Sept 7), Phuket Fisheries Chief Kowit Kao-ian said, “We are still awaiting the blood results so we still don’t know whether it is a saltwater or freshwater crocodile.

“Once we know we will know where we can move the crocodile to.

“I think we should have the results back soon. Then I will be able to announce the findings. Many people are still interested in this case,” he said.

The crocodile, which eluded capture for 11 days after it was initially spotted off Yanui Beach in Rawai, was snared in nets by the ‘Kraithong Lumnamtapi’ team of experts from the Department of Fisheries in Surat Thani, brought to Phuket especially to catch the reptile, at about 5:30am on July 29.

Species experts from Mahidol University took blood samples and recorded the physical features of the crocodile in order to determine the exact type of crocodile the reptile is. The Phuket News

Opinion 6

OPINION

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

editor@classactmedia.co.th

EDITORIAL

Our Gold Coast soul sister

CONTACT US

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KODCHANAT THINSEPON Editor

CHRIS HUSTED

Executive Editor

084 307 7408 execeditor@classactmedia.co.th Fifteen years working in news and covering local issues and events in Phuket, with 18-month hiatus spent working for the Brunei Times on Borneo. From Queensland, Australia; 10 years living in the UK before moving to Phuket in 2000. Degree in business management. Spare time spent sailing or with family.

MATTHEW POND

News & Sports Editor

editor3@classactmedia.co.th Originally from the UK; Has over six years experience as editor and reporter for Phuketindex.com magazine and website, and InPhuket magazine.

T

he news of Phuket taking steps to become ‘Sister City’ with the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, heralds an incredible opportunity for Phuket officials to learn from a world class beach tourism destination.

What most non-Queenslanders, including other Australians, might not be aware of is that the Gold Coast shines brightly today only because over the years it has managed to overcome – and outgrow – a huge majority of the critical issues facing this island.

The Gold Coast started becoming a popular beach destination in the 1960s, and by the 1980s was enveloped in a whirlwind of nigh-unregulated breakneck development. To build the city, local officials overlooked enforcing regulations, reining in only the worst-case examples. Much of those were brought to light

editor1@classactmedia.co.th Twenty years experience in the I n t e r n a t i o n a l m e d i a m a r ke t , creating content for Paramount Pictures, Mar vel and the BBC. Having previously lived on the island, David returned to cover regional lifestyle and cultural stories.

He originates from the UK.

TANYALUK ‘MANGO’ SAKOOT Reporter 091 165 0260 reporter2@classactmedia.co.th

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As for lifeguards, Phuket has the opportunity to learn directly from some of the best in the world.

Also, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate himself is half-Thai, and surely understands the considerations to take into account for any positive change to be effected here.

But as Australia points out in its annual report for 2017, 43% of the revenue generated in an area stays in that area, so that profits directly benefit the community. That just does not happen here.

Phuket could be a world class destination. Phuket should be a world class destination. It just isn’t. We beg our local officials to learn from their new-found friends. They have much to offer. Not just pithy speeches, but experience to show us the way to Phuket becoming what they keep saying it is.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Phuket lifeguards warn beachgoers of venomous sea snakes at west coast beaches Central Phuket opens for business Belgian, 67, killed in Patong Hill crash Mandarin Oriental to open new resort in Phuket Wanted: Patong police volunteers, foreign language required Phuket drug suspect dead after police shootout Phuket whale shark fishing boats probed for human trafficking Central Phuket pledges to ban free plastic bags Phuket surf rescues continue, loved dog latest victim at Nai Harn Maya Bay reopening muddled in clarity, as corals show signs of life

Visit thephuketnews.com for all the latest news

HAVE YOUR SAY

DAVID JACKLIN

Lifestyle Editor

only through the local press.

Drugs became a serious problem and as for corrupt police, Queensland had that too. So bad was the situation – far beyond the public not trusting the police to be involved in anything except emergencies – that it took a national inquiry and a mass turnover of ‘voluntary resignations’ to clear out the stables.

On the corruption front, Queensland even had state ministers involved in selling national park land near the Gold Coast to a foreign corporation. It took many years, but that land was finally returned to the government.

As for pollution, right now major hotel and condo high rises line the shores of Surfers Paradise like a mini-Miami, while the beaches and the beach water remain pristine for visitors, local residents and tourists alike.

TOP 10 STORIES ON thephuketnews.com

So long, Chalong?

A reader’s letter sent in to The Phuket News on the ongoing Chalong works.

C o n s t r u c t io n of t h e Chalong Circle Tunnel started July 28, 2015. The third anniversary has been and gone, and with it another high season approaching. Things have gone from bad to worse.

Following the closure of two of the circles exits, the knock on effect of what were long delays, have now, even in this low season month of September, become exasperating.

The high season is now just months away, and I fear that the Rawai Viset Rd will simply become a car park.

Once the two approaching tunnels meet in a hand shake (or Wai), might it be possible for the duration of the high season, to let a single line of traffic head north from Rawai, solely cars, as a solution to take away the tremendous pressure that’s already building up? Even if this meant construction had to stop?

An additional delay of three months would hardly pail into a time-line that’s taking up to three to four years.

If this is not possible, might

it be worth while considering 24 hour construction, at what appears like a snail pace progress?

I say all of this, as I predict that the south of the island is effectively going to shut down come Christmas.

David Kirk Never understood why they decided to do a tunnel in Chalong circle. As everyone knows it is the first place f looded when it’s pouring with rain. An overpass would have been easier I think, less expensive and faster probably.

Albator

Old dog, new tricks

Re: Central Phuket pledges to ban free plastic bags Did a big shop at TOPS (Sunday 9th). Lots of signs saying “No plastic bags” and constant tannoy announcements explaining how to get re-usable bags. But, got to check-out and the first thing the cashier tried to do was put a bulk pack of toilet roll in a big plastic bag. Then I had the usual process of taking everything out of the bags she had put them in.

CaptainJack69

I recycle or compost 95% of my waste. If stores had bag recycling, I could get that number to 99%. Right now no where will take the clean dry bags even if compacted.

Christy Sweet

people have been bitten by snakes vs how many people have drowned due to crappy lifeguards? Please do your real job instead of trying to create a distraction.

Galong

Art or Ping-Pong?

Phoenix Fiasco

Re: Phuket Opinion: Losing your Ex-hibitions Sadly have to agree with this article. When I first came here, I commented to a Thai friend how it is unfortunate that there are not more tourist venues in Phuket that are associated with Thailand’s rich and beautiful art and cultural history. Phuket is only big on ladyboy cabarets, tacky tourist shows with absurd dancing elephants, ping-pong shows and shopping malls.

BenPendejo

Trusssst in meeee

Re: Phuket lifeguards warn beachgoers of venomous sea snakes at west coast beaches Sea snakes are NOT a threat. They don’t bite people unless that person does something extremely stupid.

Sea snakes are very common in this region. How many

Title: Phoenix tour boat salvage efforts move ahead slowly A Nickels & Dimes salvage diving operation being carried out on SCUBA, whereas they should all be using Surface Supply Diving Gear and there should also be a Deck Decompression Chamber on deck so no in-water decompression but Surface 02 Decompression. I would have had the job done weeks ago. Contractor obviously not a member of IMCA (International Marine Contractors Association).

Capt B

Tunnel Vision

Re: Grand Opening of Central Phuket Floresta A tunnel from Kathu to Patong would be a better investment than another shopping centre, I guess?

MiKo Blenz

Have an opinion? Comment on stories at thephuketnews.com thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Thai film to recount cave rescue drama CHIANG RAI

A view of the Doi Nang Non mountain range where the Tham Luang cave complex is located in Chiang Rai. Photo: Patipat Janthong

Bangkok Post

A

Thai film retelling the story of the Tham Luang cave operation will start filming in November, said its director and producer.

Titled Nang Non in Thai and The Cave in English, the film has been mounted by Tom Waller, a Thai filmmaker of Irish descent, who spoke to the Bangkok Post at the Toronto International Film Festival where he gave a presentation of the project to prospective foreign distributors over the weekend.

Nang Non, titled after the name of the mountain range and the cave in Chiang Rai where the 12 Wild Boar football team members and their coach were trapped from June 23 to July 10, is likely to be the first feature film project that materialises about the project after at least five other producers, mostly international ones, have expressed interest in recounting the story that gripped the world’s attention.

“The film is happening,” said Mr Waller, whose past films include The Last Executioner, about Thailand’s last prison executioner, and Mindfulness and Murder, a temple-set suspense story in which a monk tries to solve a murder.

“The first draft of the script is finished, and in October we will start building sets,” Mr Waller said.

He said that the film Nang Non will focus on “first-person perspectives” and “unsung heroes” who took part in the mission. There will be four or five main characters based on real Thai and international volunteers.

Mr Waller has recently interviewed Jim Warny, an Ireland-based cave diver who was responsible for bringing out Ekkapol Chanthawong, or Coach Ake, on the last day of the operation, and who was declared “a hero” by the Irish press. Mr Warny’s experience will form

a main part of the film, said Mr Waller.

Though the government has said that all film projects about the cave rescue would have to go through a special panel for vetting, the rule seems to apply only to foreign film productions.

Mr Waller said he has begun contacting authorities to ask for permission to shoot at some locations, including parts of Tham Luang cave.

Mr Waller declined to discuss the budget or possible casting. “One thing is certain, I won’t exploit anyone involved in the incident,” he said. “I want to show the volunteer spirit that fascinated the world,” he said.

BANGKOK

@thephuketnews

Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, chairman of the Help Crime-Victim Club, brings evidence to the Government Lottery Office in Nonthaburi as he lodges a complaint against lottery vendor Thanawat Khamhaengpol for allegedly fabricating lottery tickets and making up a story about selling winning tickets worth B90 million.

Photo: Tawatchai Kemgumnerd or B100,000 as a thank-you gesture. People turned up at the petrol station wanting to buy lottery tickets from him.

Business boomed.

But the man went from hero to zero after sceptics decided to investigate and found out that the winning tickets were fabricated. Police came under pressure to take legal action against him.

According to media re-

ports, he faces charges of fabricating lottery tickets and deceiving the public for personal gain. The Government Lottery Office is expected to file a formal complaint in connection with forgery of the tickets.

Currently he is charged with violating the computer crime law for posting false information online.

Bangkok Post

7

Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn (centre) last Thursday evening (Sept 6) holds a press conference to update the media on legal action related to the claimed rape case on Koh Tao, Surat Thani province. Photo: Supapong Chaolan

Police await British report on Koh Tao rape SURAT THANI

Lottery vendor charged after B90mn falsehood exposed A LOTTERY VENDOR who made up a story that a customer of his had won first-prizes worth B90 million was arrested on Monday morning (Sept 10).

The arrest came shortly after Thanawat Khamhaengpol, better known as Pete, admitted that the whole story was a lie.

Thanawat, who sells lottery tickets at a petrol station in Samut Sakhon, was taken to Khok Kham Police Station for further questioning, according to Thai media reports.

The vendor won praise for his honesty after he claimed that he had safely kept and delivered the tickets, which won B90mn, to a customer who had placed an order via a mobile chat application.

The story quickly went viral.

He also posted a photo of the winning tickets, and later claimed the winning customer gave him a gift

THAILAND NEWS

BRITISH POLICE WILL send within this month their report on the questioning of the British woman, 19, who claimed to have been drugged, raped and robbed on Koh Tao in June while local police have said they would arrest more people sharing false information on the case.

Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy tourist police chief, said on Koh Tao of Surat Thani province last Thursday evening (Sept 6) that British authorities confirmed they would quickly send the account of the woman whom British police were questioning and a reportedly sperm-stained T-shirt to Thai police. He expected the submission within this month.

Thai police and military officers had gathered evidence on Koh Tao and initially concluded they found no evidence to back the crime claim, Maj Gen Surachate said. If evidence from Britain supported the claim, Thai police would resume the investigation, he said.

He also said that police already arrested 12 people for sharing posts about the alleged crime and commenting on them at the CSI LA page on Facebook. There might be more people who shared the information and they would be prosecuted, the deputy tourist police chief said.

Such posts damaged Thai tourism and police were seeking cooperation from foreign authorities to arrest the administrator of the CSI LA page, he said.

Bangkok Post

8

THAILAND NEWS

Kornkamol Leenavarat, 25, (centre) with members of her family at Suvarnabhumi airport on Aug 21, when she left for the United States. She and her room-mate were found stabbed to death on Sept 4. Photo: Weerasak Leenavarat

Thai law student’s family accept finding BANGKOK T H E FA M I LY OF T H E 25-year-old Thai law student stabbed to death in an apartment in the United States has accepted the finding of a Seattle coroner that she was killed by her older friend, who then killed herself.

Weerasak Leenavarat, elder brother of Kornkamol Leenavarat, said the family had no doubts about the forensic finding by US authorities.

Ms Kornkamol, 25, and her Thai roommate Thiti-on Chotchuangsap, 32, were found dead in a University District apartment near the University of Washington in Seattle, last Tuesday morning (Sept 4).

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office last Thursday (Sept 6) ruled it was a homicide. Thiti-on stabbed Ms Kornkamol to death and then took her own life, according to the Seattle Times.

The 32-year-old woman died from a single, self-inflicted stab wound to the chest. They both died on Sept 1.

An emotional Mr Weerasak spoke of the family’s distress at

his residence in Khlong Luang.

“The family cannot come to terms with the sudden death of ‘Nong Am’. She was lovely and most beloved by all of the family, particularly our father.

We never expected this would happen. We have lost her forever,” he said.

Two older brothers were making arrangements for Ms Kornkamol’s body to be sent back home for funeral rites.

The body was expected to be flown back within the next week, Mr Weerasak said.

After her death, he had just looked at family photos taken on Aug 21, the date they saw her off at the airport. He was shocked to see that all the family were wearing black clothes.

He was a shy man, he said, but on that day he had hugged his youngest sister.

The family never dreamt it would be their final farewell for their loved one, he said.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Busadee Santipitak said that the Thai consulate-general in Los Angeles had already been notified of the finding of the King County Medical Examiner.

Bangkok Post

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Government on hunt for Thai ‘separatists’ BANGKOK

Bangkok Post

T

he government is hunting down a group of Thai “separatists” fleeing prosecution for sedition and lese majeste to a neighbouring country, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon says.

Gen Prawit, who also serves as Defence Minister, said the group comprises people who have fled prosecution for sedition under Section 116 of the Criminal Code and for lese majeste under Section 112.

The group is now holed up in Laos, Gen Prawit said.

He identified a person behind the “separatist movement” as Chucheep Cheewasut.

The government would ask authorities in Laos to help stifle any support for the movement.

Gen Prawit, who is in charge of national security enforcement, claimed on Tuesday (Sept 11) that those arrested are part of a network of outlaws that had fled to Laos to evade charges of sedition and lese majeste.

“They come from one source, which is from the Laos side, and they also have a network in Thailand,” Gen Prawit said to reporters.

“They sell shirts and flags.

We’ve arrested three or four of them now. Whoever we can get to, we will arrest them all,” he said, adding “They are traitors.”

Police presented ‘Wannapa’ as the woman arrested on charges of selling T-shirts linked to a separatist or federation movement. Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul Gen Prawit responded to questions about the detention of a woman who allegedly sold T-shirts with the logo of the “Thai Federation” on them.

He said the group has a network in Thailand and its activities include selling T-shirts and f lags bearing the symbol of the separatist movement.

Three or four people suspected of having links with the group had been arrested, and anyone else involved with the movement would also be detained.

“They are rebels,” Gen Prawit said.

The movement used social media to propagate the idea of separatism and a new federal state, he said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that the constitution stipulates Thailand is an indivisible kingdom.

He said their arrests were necessary.

“Thailand is not a federation,” he said. “We are a democratic constitutional monarchy and it is stipulated in the constitution that we are one indivisible kingdom.

“But a federation divides into many states, which Thailand does not. And the Thai flag is the tricolour flag. So can their actions be considered treacherous?” he asked reporters rhetorically.

Any effort to establish a “Thai Federation” goes against the charter and will be punished severely under the law, the prime minister added.

Col Burin Thongpraphai, a legal official of the National Council for Peace and Order, handed the woman identified only as Wannapa, who allegedly sold the T-shirts, over to the Crime Suppression Divi-

sion (CSD) on Tuesday for legal action.

She was charged with angyee (running an illegal secret organisation).

She was to be taken to the Criminal Court on Wednesday (Sept 12) where police will request to extend her detention.

National Human Rights Commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit and a lawyer from the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre also went to the CSD to give legal advice to Ms Wannapa. Ms Angkhana said she wanted to ensure that Ms Wannapa is properly treated in compliance with human rights principles. Ms Wannapa insisted that she did not know that the T-shirts were illegal.

She was arrested at a house in Samut Prakan last Thursday (Sept 6). She was taken to the 11th Military Circle in Bangkok’s Dusit district where she was then detained for questioning before being handed over to the CSD. According to her husband, the 30-year-old is a motorcycle taxi driver from the northeastern province of Maha Sarakham, and has two sons, aged 9 and 14.

Her husband said she intended to sell the T-shirts to supplement their income, and she was not aware of the logo’s significance and had never attended any political gatherings.

Under NCPO Order No. 3/2015, officers are granted the authority to detain people for questioning for up to seven days.

19 years later, missing man returns to village SURIN MUCH TO HIS FAMILY’S SURprise, a man returned home to Sangkha district after having disappeared for 19 years – enough time to convince the family he was long dead.

Disfigured ears and scars all over his body were evidence of what Somsak Somying, 50, went through while working on a fishing trawler for two years before being arrested in the Malaysian seas and imprisoned there for several months.

His mother, 72-year-old Iat Somying, cried tears of joy as she recounted the unexpected return of her son last Thursday (Sept 6) after she and everyone else in the village had lost hope of ever seeing him again.

“I always missed him and thought he was dead. I regularly performed a merit-making rite for him and prayed he was resting in peace,” said Ms Iat. “I don’t wish for anything else now he’s home with me again.”

Somsak Somying with his mother Iat, who ‘cried tears of joy’ when her son returned from the dead. Photo: Nopparat Kingkaeo In 1999, Mr Somsak, who was 31 at the time, left home with a friend from his village to work at a construction site in Bangkok. The friend later quit the job and left. Mr Somsak did not have any money and couldn’t read or write, so he struggled to find his way home.

He moved from one construction site to another in search of work until 2015, when he was transferred to a construction site in Phuket. There he met a new friend who convinced him to pursue a “well-paid” fishing job.

A job placement company in Samut Prakan promised to give him B9,000 a month if he agreed to give up his ID card, he said.

“Working on a f ishing trawler turned out to be an endless nightmare,” said Mr Somsak.

He rarely had a chance to leave the boat, drug use was rife, and he suffered violent attacks from people armed with spades, he said.

He finally got out when he was arrested by Malaysian authorities and jailed for several months before an organisation helped him return to Thailand.

The same job broker in Samut Prakan then sent him to work at a factory for another two months until he was detained in a police raid, he said.

In lieu of any identifying documents the police struggled to reunite him with his family.

They were finally able to locate his sister who lives in another district of Surin who helped to bring him home.

Bangkok Post thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

ASIA NEWS

9

Opium-riddled mountains Coffee cultivation programs in former opium-growing villages LAOS Aidan Jones

I

n a hut on the top of a fog-licked mountain in northern Laos, Vo Pali is getting high.

His poison is opium, a sap extracted from poppies grown illegally by the poor hill tribes in the Communist state’s rugged, inaccessible uplands.

“I smoke three times a day,” the 60-year-old ethnic Hmong villager says in a barely audible rasp of his 30-year habit.

“It has damaged my life.

I have no income. But I get sick without it.”

The talk tails off as he loads up his first hit of the day.

He burns a thumb-sized ball of black resin over the stub of a candle and carefully pokes it into his bamboo chillum.

The flame rolls over the softened mush as Vo Pali takes four, five deep drags.

Smoke squirts from his nose, he wheezes and the drug takes him.

The Hmong have grown and smoked opium as a medicine – and as recreation – for generations.

But no full drug addiction survey has ever been taken in Laos and there is virtually no rehab provision.

Wedged between five countries, Laos has for decades played a starring role in the ‘Golden Triangle’ drug trade.

Its opium became a treasured export in the 1960s and 70s as heroin hit the streets of America and drug money became entwined in the United States’ doomed anti-communist fight.

Laos was meant to go opium-free after a 2006 edict by its Communist leadership outlawed the growing of the cash crop.

While the campaign made a big dent, hill tribes kept up cultivation in secret for themselves – and for export,

also becoming drug runners for organised crime gangs.

“People who live in these remote borders are very poor,” Onphiuw Khongviengthong, permanent secretary of the LCDC – the Laos drug control authority – said in a rare interview with foreign media.

“They don’t have much education or knowledge about our laws, so it’s easy to trick them and use them for trafficking.”

In 2015 around 5,700 hectares (36,500 rai) of Laos were estimated to be under opium cultivation – more than triple the amount in 2007.

Several major seizures of raw opium and heroin this year in Vietnam couriered by Hmong villagers has renewed scrutiny on the relationship between opium and Laos’ most marginalised people.

“These farmers come from some of the poorest areas of the country, they only have access to low-value crops and very limited access to markets and technology,” says Erlend Falch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

“They have no real path out of poverty.”

To change the game, the UNODC is leading a coffee cultivation program across 10 former opium growing villages in Houaphan province, which borders Vietnam.

The fertile upland soil and cool climate that helps opium flourish is also good for coffee shrubs.

The aim is to establish a “luxury” arabica coffee brand that can reach wealthy markets from the US to Korea and Japan.

“Before we had no other option to growing opium,” says Mer Su Vua, a Hmong farmer, knee-high coffee shrubs studding the hillsides around him.

“But we would only make a small amount of money each year... so we have changed to coffee.”

The first small commercial

Opium resin in a plastic bowl at a village in Houaphan province, northern Laos. Photo: Aidan Jones @thephuketnews

Erlend Falch (right) from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime conferring with local officials at a coffee plantation in Houaphan province, northern Laos. Photo: Aidan Jones / AFP crop at his village of Houayyarm is expected at the tail end of this year.

Incomes should rise each year as farmers grow, process and sell their crop to the market, cutting out the middlemen who have historically controlled the prices of their produce.

“We are trying to build a real commercial cooperative, owned by the farmers,” says Falch.

While opium cultivation could eventually make little economic sense, Laos’ more urgent drug problem is with methamphetamine.

With ungovernable land borders to Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Cambodia, Laos is effectively a free run for the meth barons of Myanmar who are sending record amounts of ya bah and crystal meth (ya ice) through its unguarded frontiers.

Of Laos’ many border entry points, just two have scanners and X-ray machines.

And the resources of the drug gangs dwarf those of the police trying to stop them, says Onphiuw Khongviengthong of the LCDC. “They use fast, modern vehicles and communications that our police do not have.”

Laos is working with its neighbours to boost crossborder intelligence to fight the drug gangs and there have been successes, including the high-profile takedown of Laos national Xaysana Keophimpa – dubbed ‘Mr X’ – jailed for life this year in Thailand.

But the ‘big fish’ remain out of reach.

In January the US Treasury sanctioned Chinese-businessman Zhao Wei for allegedly

running a regional criminal enterprise – including trafficking of wildlife, humans and drugs – through the Kings Roman casino in a Special Economic Zone in the Laotian part of the Golden Triangle.

Zhao Wei is virtually untouchable inside the SEZ,

running his own security in an area whose 99-year lease terms bar Laos authorities from intruding.

Curled up – almost childlike – in his shack as the waves of opium strike him, Vo Pali makes an unlikely link in a global criminal chain.

But the cycle of addiction keeps opium farmers in business.

“My biggest regret is that my son is now also an addict,” he says in a moment of clarity, before drifting off cradling his pipe.

AFP

10 WORLD NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Soweto’s iconic street snack

Hundreds pay homage to South Africa’s celebrated sandwich SOUTH AFRICA Susan Njanji

S

outh Africa’s kota is a tasty, inexpensive and uniquely homegrown street sandwich created out of the bitterness of apartheid and which still has a special place in the hearts of many.

Its name is pidgin for quarter – this case, a quarter of a loaf of bread, which forms the base of the sandwich that can be found along most streets in Johannesburg’s township of Soweto.

The quarter loaf is hollowed out and then filled with layers of all sorts – potato fries, fried egg, baloney, Frankfurter, and spicy pickles.

Under the warm spring sun, hundreds of people thronged a Soweto township square last weekend to pay homage to the celebrated snack.

“We are here to celebrate township food,” said festival organiser Sidwell Tshingilane, standing by dozens of stalls where chefs stood behind piles of fillings as patient customers queued up for the snack.

A South African woman purchases a ‘kota’ sandwich during the Kota Festival last Saturday (Sept 8) at Kliptown in Soweto, near Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo: Gianluigi Guercia / AFP “Kota is born in the township. We grew up eating kota.

It’s one of the street foods that is popular like a burger in America. We normally call it our local burger,” Tshingilane said.

“Some people say it’s popular like the brand Madiba,” he said, referring to the country’s much-loved anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.

“It’s affordable, people in townships sometimes don’t afford those fancy foods. So

instead of going to McDonald’s, they go to a kota outlet.”

The two-day kota festival was held in the same Soweto square where the Freedom Charter – a document demanding equal rights to education, work, wealth and a decent living – was adopted by antiapartheid groups in 1955.

The second annual festival came just days after the country was cleared of a listeria outbreak which claimed 216 lives and sickened more than

1,000 since early 2017.

The listeriosis bacteria contaminated a popular range of meats including the sausages often used in the kota filling.

Kota vendors recorded a drop in sales of up to 40% during the outbreak, which the United Nations believed was the largest ever worldwide.

But for some, the outbreak made little difference.

“Listeriosis did not exist in our world, we contin-

ued eating,” said Nthabiseng Matlhare, a 30-year-old tour consultant.

“This is our tradition, we grew up with this vibe,” she said, tucking into a kota filled with chicken strips, chips, spinach and topped with stewed chicken feet.

A few steps away chef Mogau Tabane of Rocktown Deli explains the evolution of the kota, with new and uncommon ingredients such as mushroom and strawberry now finding their way into the mix.

“It’s one of our heritage products. It’s South Africa’s favourite. From children to adults, everybody eats kota,” he said.

The kota actually comes in various names and fillings depending on location but is believed to have originated in the 1960s as non-white South Africans tried to get around the rigours of apartheid.

Food anthropologist Anna Trapido believes its origin is steeped in the history of the country where non-whites were not allowed in restaurants or were forbidden from using plates or forks and knives.

“There was need to find a vehicle in which to take away food,” said Trapido, emerging as a “uniquely South African solution to a uniquely South African issue”.

Traditionally high in carbohydrates and with most of the filling prepared in oil, the snack has doctors worrying over obesity and related illnesses.

“We’re seeing more children with Type 2 diabetes... more children with high blood pressure. And when they go untreated then they end up with kidney diseases,” said dietician Mpho Tshukudu.

Health concerns aside, the kota is seen as a worthy entrant to the list of South African cuisine.

Deputy Tourism Minister Elizabeth Thabethe suggested the “typical township” food could help promote tourism because it offers “a peculiar taste”.

“Fine dining, they (tourists) can experience in their own countries, but this (kota) they cannot get in their own countries,” she said after trying the fare on offer at the festival.

AFP

Cheers in southern France city as court blocks McDonald’s sale FRANCE

Employees at a McDonald’s in a poverty-blighted neighbourhood of Marseille, southern France, said closing the site would deprive residents of a key provider of social cohesion. Photo: Christophe Simon / AFP

EMPLOYEES OF A MCDONald’s in a deprived neighbourhood of Marseille, southern France, erupted in joy last Friday (Sept 7) after a court blocked the restaurant’s sale.

Residents had joined a monthslong campaign to halt the site’s sale by its owner, who says the outlet – the second-biggest employer in the Saint-Barthelemy suburb – is losing money.

“We won, we won!” dozens of the 77 employees at the ‘McDo’, as it is known in France, shouted after

learning of the court’s decision from their lawyer.

Staffers claim the restaurant is a key part of community life in a country that has traditionally looked down on the American takeaway franchise.

The court halted the sale to a proposed buyer whose project it deemed unviable because he had “no experience in the food sector” and insufficient financing.

“I have fireworks exploding inside me, I’m so happy for them,” one local, 45-year-old mother Samira, said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She said her family often came

to eat at the site, “especially when the school cafeteria workers are on strike – McDo is basically our private cafeteria”.

The restaurant is one of few businesses which haven’t closed up shop in the neighbourhood, home to a large Muslim population and some of the Mediterranean port city’s poorest housing estates.

With unemployment at nearly 30% in the area, drug-dealing has flourished, providing more lucrative, and dangerous, opportunities for many.

Employees said their McDonald’s had become the heart of the commu-

nity, offering internships and jobs to people while providing a safe space for birthdays or meeting friends.

The site’s sale was part of a plan by franchise operator, Jean-Pierre Brochiero, to sell six restaurants in Marseille. The court allowed the sale of the other five to go through.

Brochiero did not immediately respond to the ruling, and employees may not have secured a total reprieve.

Another buyer may be sought, or McDonald’s France, which owns the building and land as well as half of the franchise operation, may simply decide to close the site.

AFP

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

BUSINESS NEWS 11

Getting on board Domestic interest driving growth in Thailand’s east coast marine tourism SPONSORED

T

hailand’s east coast has seen steady growth in the boating sector in recent years, bolstered by domestic interest in chartering and buying sailing yachts and motor craft, and supported by the region’s key consumer event, the Ocean Marina Pattaya Boat Show, which is set to take place for the seventh time from Nov 29 to Dec 2, 2018 at the award-winning Ocean Marina Yacht Club.

The increased number of people going out on the water is borne out in Ocean Marina Yacht Club’s own research which shows a staggering 730% increase in the number of day trippers departing Ocean Marina Yacht Club between 2010 and 2017, and in Q1 2018 alone, this figure grew by 66% when compared to the same period in the previous year.

Join in boat trips range from B2,000 per person for a fully inclusive day experience while private charters range from B25,000 for a half-day up to B700,000 to charter a superyacht for the day. The most popular private charters departing Ocean Marina Yacht Club are in the

@thephuketnews

Changing travel trends are contributing to marine tourism growth as visitors seek out more individual experiences. range of B50,000-100,000 per day.

This growth of join in and private charters on the east coast is being driven in large part by Thais with Millennials and Gen X together making up 60% of Thais experiencing boating today, with weekends being the most popular time to go out on the water.

“The increase in day trips and boat charters on the east coast has naturally led to more conversions into boat ownership. In terms of nationality, Thais are now the third largest enjoying day trips and charter,

while we have certainly seen Thais outpacing other nationalities in boat ownership over the last few years,” said Scott Finsten, Harbour Master of Ocean Marina Yacht Club, organisers of the Ocean Marina Pattaya Boat Show.

“Since the first Ocean Marina Pattaya Boat Show in 2012, private boat ownership in the marina has grown by 15% and this is largely thanks to interest from the local market. More than 45% of all boats in our marina are Thai-owned, which is a healthy indicator of steady growth in marine

tourism in this part of Thailand. We also see strong domestic interest in boating at the Ocean Marina Pattaya Boat Show where 70% of visitors last year were Thai nationals.”

On the back of charter growth and increased boat purchases, Ocean Marina Yacht Club completed major expansion works in August 2018 which increased the number of berths by 15% to 455, retaining its position as the largest marina in Southeast Asia.

“There is a clear trend of more Thai people taking an interest in boating. This may start by joining a day trip or chartering a boat, but can lead onto boat ownership.

Over recent years at Boat Lagoon Yachting we have seen a significant interest in boat purchase by Thais as they become more aware and knowledgeable about the boating lifestyle, and we expect this trend to continue,” said Vrit Yongsakul, Managing Director of Boat Lagoon Yachting.

Travel trends have also contributed to a growth in marine tourism as visitors seek out more individual experiences. The top five international visitors to Pattaya are China, Russia, Korea, India and Germany, and

according to the ITB World Travel Trends Report 2017/18, Millennials comprise 60% of all Chinese travelling overseas. Millennials are looking for new travel experiences, to enjoy something off-the-beaten-path and boating on the east coast has become popular with this segment.

In addition, changes to customs rules in 2016 has helped make Thailand more attractive to international visiting yachts, further contributing to overall growth in water-based activities in coastal destinations. This, together with the growth in Millennial travel, increased domestic interest in boating, the “Thailand Riviera” project and Eastern Economic Corridor – which has seen B45 billion of investment pledged by the Thai government – are expected to further the appeal of Thailand’s east coast for both business and leisure.

The 7th Ocean Marina Pattaya Boat Show takes place Nov 29 to Dec 2 at Southeast Asia’s largest marina, Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya. Entry is free.

For more information visit OceanMarinaPattayaBoatShow.com or Facebook: OceanMarinaPattayaBoatShow

12 BUSINESS NEWS The hotel will enjoy a prime location on Thepkrasattri Rd in Phuket Town.

Photo: Park Inn

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

B20bn Central Phuket ‘Floresta’ finally opens RETAIL

The Phuket News editor@classactmedia.co.th

Park Inn Radisson to debut in Phuket Town HOSPITALITY PARK INN BY RADISSON, the upper midscale brand from Radisson Hotel Group, will make its debut in Thailand with the launch of a brand-new hotel in Phuket Town.

Scheduled to open in Q1 2020, the three-storey Park Inn by Radisson Phuket Town will form part of a mixed-use development featuring shops and dining outlets. The hotel will enjoy a prime location on Thepkrasattri Rd, Phuket’s main north-south highway and major commercial corridor.

“Park Inn by Radisson is an exceptional brand that promises world-class hospitality in the upper midscale segment.

That makes it a perfect fit for Phuket, which is rapidly evolving from an upscale resort island into a diverse, all-yearround tourism destination.

Park Inn by Radisson Phuket Town will provide a great option for guests seeking high levels of convenience and connectivity,” said Katerina Giannouka, President, Asia Pacific, Radisson Hotel Group.

Park Inn by Radisson Phuket Town will feature at least 130 contemporary rooms offering complimentary WiFi. Facilities will include a restaurant and a fitness centre.

“Phuket is famous for its stunning beaches, but an increasing number of visitors are now being attracted by the island’s retail and lifestyle offerings. Park Inn by Radisson Phuket Town will be well suited to this segment, including shoppers, business travelers and culture seekers. We are proud to work with Radisson Hotel Group to bring the Park Inn by Radisson brand to Thailand,” commented Chairat Mepremwattana, Managing Director, Multi Property Development Co Ltd. The Phuket Town venture will be the brand’s fourth location in Southeast Asia, following Park Inn by Radisson Davao and Park Inn by Radisson Clark in the Philippines, and Park Inn by Radisson Putrajaya in Malaysia. The upper midscale brand now features more than 150 hotels globally.

The Phuket News

C

ent ral Pattana Plc (CPN), Thailand’s largest retail property developer, on Monday (Sept 10) celebrated the grand opening of Central Phuket, its B20billion luxury flagship mall.

CPN Deputy CEO Wallaya Chirathivat said, “Visiting Central Phuket will fulfil all types of lifestyles: eat, shop and have fun throughout the day… This project highlights our excellence on a global scale in three aspects: a ‘World-Class Project’ – it is a world-class mega project and Central Pattana’s luxury f lagship store, a fulfilling shopping experience making Phuket the perfect ‘Beach Lifestyle Destination’; ‘WorldClass Experience’ – creating a world-class experience to meet the ‘Luxury & Leisure Lifestyle’ travel trend of people from around the world, with a selection of global brands and launching international events throughout the year under the concept of ‘The World Comes to Play’; and ‘World-Class Attractions’ – the new destination for tourists from all over the world with the ‘World’s First Ever’ attractions.

“Central Phuket helps to emphasise us as a global player and it is in line with the provincial development policy to elevate Phuket to be one

The CPN team at the opening on Monday (from right): Executive Director Suthipak Chirathivat, President & CEO Preecha Ekkunagul, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Wallaya Chirathivat and Chief Operating Officer Pakorn Partanapat. of the most complete travel destinations in the world,” Ms Wallaya noted.

The positioning of Central Phuket is set to be ‘The Magnitude of ‘Luxury & Leisure’ Resort Shopping Destination’, a seamless combination of Luxury and Leisure lifestyle in one place, a release issued on Monday explained.

The entire project comprises the newly opened ‘Floresta’ building, which focuses on tourists and customers “who prefer a luxurious lifestyle, enjoy shopping for leading brands and like to visit worldclass attractions”.

The already long wellknown ‘Festival’ building aims to attract “family-group customers who regularly visit the shopping centre to shop, enjoy good food and watch movies”, the release added.

“We also plan to develop an international and regional convention centre as well as a world-class hotel,” Ms Wallaya said.

Central Phuket will host international events throughout the year, such as the Phuket International Music Festival and Phuket International Countdown 2019, and is home to a huge number of eateries and restaurants together offering vast array of cuisines.

In addition, Central Phuket also features several exclusive attractions for tourists: Tales of Thailand – the country’s largest indoor market reflecting ‘Thainess lifestyle’ from the four regions of Thailand; Tribhum – a 3D virtual adventure fantasy walkthrough, to officially open in November; and Aquaria – Thailand’s newest format of aquarium

featuring more than 25,000 ocean and river creatures, which will open in the first quarter of 2019.

The grand opening festivities included first-time, world-class performances in Thailand, such as an innovative live performance of 360-degree theatrical experiences entitled ‘Star Catcher’ by the ‘Creativiva’, the worldfamous performance show from Canada, and international street shows including ‘Bubble on Circus’, and soap-bubble art created by artists from Italy. Celebrity Thai actor and actress ‘Pope Thanawat’ and ‘Bella Ranee’ performed in a show entitled ‘The First Glorious Light of Phuket’, and a ‘The Sealumination’ lighting show remains on display each night from Monday through Sunday night (Sept 16).

Bangkok Airways drops Phuket-Yangon schedules AIRLINES BA N G KO K A I RWAYS has removed from its flight schedule the Phuket-Yangon direct f lights that were to launch in November as the route has yet to be confirmed.

Varong Israsena, Bangkok Airways Vice President of Sales, told The Myanmar Times in May that the direct flights were expected to launch on Nov 17.

That confirmation followed airline President Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth announcing earlier this year that the services would launch in Q4 2018.

However, the Bangkok Airways website no longer shows the planned flights on the airline’s flight schedule.

“At this moment, we still could not confirm the direct

A Bangkok Airways aircraft on the stand at Phuket International Airport. Photo: Bangkok Airways / file route from RGN – HKT,” The Phuket News was told by online response staff on Monday afternoon (Sept 10).

“If there is the opening of a new route, we will surely inform our dear passengers.

Please stay with us via Bangkok Airways’ Facebook Page for the updates.

“Sorry for your inconvenience, If there is any news about this route we will surely inform on our page immediately,” the staffer added.

The Phuket News thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Singapore’s most risqué comedian

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

14

Central Phuket bans free plastic bags

15

WOES TO THE WOEBOT

Can artificial intelligence replace human therapists?

David Jacklin editor1@classactmedia.co.th

“W

e only use methods validated in our own research, or techniques that have been tested in the field. The more you can tell me, the more helpful I can be. For example, over time, I might be able to see patterns in your mood.”

No, this is not me on the psychiatrist’s couch. I’m far too much of the stereotypical man to admit there’s actually something wrong to another human.

However, lying on my own couch with smartphone in hand, I’ve decided to reveal all… to a Woebot.

Woebot is a digital service available on iOS and Android smartphones. The application is designed to assist people in dealing with personal or mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

The artificial intelligence (AI) robot in the app does not aim to treat or diagnose, but rather “reframe negative thoughts into solvable problems with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)”.

According to the company behind the app, Woebot was created by leading experts in clinical psychology and has demonstrated ability to make people happier.

Certainly, the presented user quote on their website affirm the statement.

“In my first session with Woebot, I found it immediately helpful… addressing my anxiety without another human’s help felt freeing.”

Having been intrigued enough to download the app I soon sniffed that our overtly friendly host was never going to pass The Turing Test.

It’s immediately obvious this is a queries-based point-and-click adventure into therapy, and certainly not an evolved AI Q&A style setting. This compact digital helper is not sophisticated enough to generate its own reasoning based on the statements provided by its human client. Instead it assimilates a personcentered psychotherapy response based on branching questioning.

The app’s anthropomorphic chatbot puts on its best human facade to facilitate our self-actualising tendencies via acceptance and empathetic understanding, rather than detailed personal analysis. But could this approach be a source of ongoing support to the needy in an era of stretched medical resources?

Me, well, I’m not so sure. So I’m setting the little chap a minor task – curing a lifestyle journalist of all indulgent behaviour and addictions, fuelled by the need for social attention and critical en@thephuketnews

dorsement. What could be simpler?

What is clear is that Woebot is a polite robot with traditional values, and prefers a slow introduction and gettingto-know-you period. You can’t jump straight into bed with a “My life’s falling apart around me and I’m desperately needy of you” style approach without it kindly referring you to more professional help and services.

So progress is slow whilst the binary doc learns the pattern of your needs and therapy requirements.

Pleasantries out of the way, the therapy bell rings out for Round 1.

Woebot asks me to outline areas of focus. I reply by writing three statements identifying issues that I believe to be out of control or feel a need to change.

The Woebot then asks me which of the three I would like to work on first.

That’s a bit like a bomb disposal team asking you which wire to cut. Close your eyes tight and take yer pick.

What is apparent from this point forth is that the bot works by focusing on each of the user’s statements, producing a modular question-and-response style dialogue where the individual themselves identify through the branching questioning what type of cognitive dis-

tortion is the underlying cause of their disquiet. This approach enables the user to spot the errors in their reasoning that either establishes or endorses the behaviour they would wish to change.

A typical example highlighting my own personal ‘pandora’s box of wrong’ went something like this: Woebot: Is your ‘tempting thought’ voice saying things like ‘I’ll just have one” or “It’ll make me feel good”?

Me: Definitely Woebot: This trickery is called fortune-telling. We tell ourselves these things even though they may never have come true in the past. Does your thought underestimate your ability to resist?”

Me: Totally Woebot: Ah yes, minimisation! A common distortion that pushes us towards temptation. It’s not an easy one to spot, good work.”

So now I’ve openly presented my woes to the world AND I’ll be unemployed by the time you read this. Woebot!

It’s fair to report that Woebot does present to the user-in-need a very introductory approach to the ideas behind CBT, and how established poor decisionmaking processes need to be identified and changed in order to make better

choices in our lives.

On the other side of the couch, this approach provides little flexibility in the response structure, which can prove to be frustrating to a person wanting more depth in response to an acute and very real issue. A more sophisticated AI would detect that I wasn’t always agreeing with the Woebot’s statements, and rather than forcing the user down a primitive line of deduction, it would identify the need for re-evaluation.

In fairness, perhaps Woebot needs more time investment to develop the quality and effectiveness of the relevant techniques and therapies, but my fear is if it’s so predictable in the early sessions, will patients be interested in developing a deeper relationship with this technotherapist?

My hunch is Woebot would soon be collecting digital dust. As for me, it’s clear we are all still in need of a little human touch. I might as well go straight back to the bar and feel a whole lot better then… oh, hold on a minute, that statement included ‘minimisation’ and ‘fortune-telling’ thinking. Hmm… perhaps I’ve learnt something after all.

Enter the therapy room at www.woebot.io

14 ENTERTAINMENT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Facing the crowd...

Stand-up Singapore Interview with Sam See, the Asian comedian who is re-defining risqué David Jacklin editor1@classactmedia.co.th

S

am See is part of Asia’s new wave of stand-up comedians, entertaining audiences from around the globe for over half a decade with his unique blend of jokes, stories and improvised humour. Based in Singapore, he has worked in clubs and theatres with comedians like Dara Ó Briain (UK), Bert Kreischer (US), Gina Yashere (US/UK), Peter Berner (AUS) and Kevin Bridges (SCO). He has also headlined shows internationally, in cities like Melbourne, Malaysia, Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Oman and the Philippines.

Sam will be performing with Stephen Carlin and Graham Whistler at this month’s Stand Up Asia comedy event on Monday, Sept 17 at the Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach.

The comedian has been described

by Esquire magazine as “Whip-smart, risqué”, so ahead of the event, I asked Sam if he were capable of toning it down a little so I might stand a chance of publishing our interview. Here’s how it went.

Under ‘Sam See’ in the Oxford English dictionary, what would be the definition?

Proper Noun. Someone trying to prove something, but somehow drank somewhat too much somewhere. Also, a big fan of The Golden Girls.

Can you give a brief overview of your career in comedy? How did you break into the scene, and what have been your highlights?

I started in 2012 after a drag queen brought me to a show, and a little over a year later in 2013, I got my first theatre gig and bombed (did very badly) in front of 380 people and my friends.

Ever since, it has just been me trying to make up for it.

A highlight for me was the time a 44-year-old banker tried to punch me out for making fun of him on stage, as

Sam See (below) with fans in Singapore. his wife tried to have me reported to the press. Neither happened and I’m somehow sad about that.

I was made in Singapore. Honest. How would you define the Singaporean humour and the comedy scene?

I’m glad to hear Orchard Towers has always been alive and well.

For years, Singapore humour has very much been race-based. We’re a multi-racial country of four major ethnic races, so obviously the first thing we learnt was how to laugh at each other. It has been evolving over the years, especially in the comedy scene. I would say our style is a lot faster, more punchlines per minute and less storytellers. So if you like them coming at you fast and hard, go to Singapore. Or Orchard Towers.

Do you remember the artist/performance/moment that inspired you to become a comedian? And who are your favourite comedians and why?

I watched a lot of Eddie Izzard on YouTube when I was in my teens. As a kid in a staunch Christian home in a conservative country, it was an eye opener to see a man in a dress not just making jokes about women or gays or trans folk, but actually with jokes, absurd yet poignant. I really loved that and perhaps that might have made me go into stand-up.

As for favourite comedian, I’ll have to go with Paul F Tompkins from the

United States. A true renaissance man of comedy, he’s excelled and continues to excel in stand-up, improv and sketch. A rare comedic triple threat.

You talk openly about your sexuality.

Sex has always been a popular target in adult humour. Does it provide you with an angle or edge to your performance?

Well it’s always been an interesting thing for me, the gay topic in my set. Too much gay jokes and people do get a bit uncomfortable, too little and I don’t feel I’m being my true self. It’s always about being careful with it, like anything you bring onto the stage, but also using it to the full potential at the same time. But yeah, sex jokes are firmly on the agenda. That’s a sex joke right there.

What’s your favourite one-line joke that I would actually be allowed to print in a family paper?

What did the lion feel after he ate the comedian? He felt FUNNY! I wrote that for a kid’s party that I was hired for, where I ended up just running a football game and not doing any jokes, so I’m trying to get as much mileage outta it as I can. To anyone reading this: If that joke wasn’t good, eh, you get what you pay for.

You are a panelist on OK Chope! (Singaporean Comedy TV Show). What is the experience like being on a weekly

Performing with Bert Kreischer. topical live show compared to standing in front of a live audience? Are you more critical of yourself on camera?

The audience size for one. A lot more people are watching over the black mirror, but I can’t hear them laugh, so I have to deliver the joke and hope for the best in their houses. Also, the show is a prime-time slot, so I have to keep squeaky clean, which is 180º from my stage persona. So I have to be careful, yet loose at the same time.

You’re performing with Stephen Carlin on the forthcoming Magic Rock Thailand tour and heading to Phuket on Monday, Sept 17. Have you been to the island before? Any expectations or plans to fulfill a few items on your bucket list?

Never been to Phuket before, so I have no idea what to expect! I’m just hoping to bring my style of comedy to the good folks there and hopefully they’ll not hate it.

As for things I’d like to get up to... a cheap beer and a good nap. One should strive for simplicity.

Stand-up Asia and Grabtaxi have partnered to give all guests going to the comedy events at Marriott Merlin Beach a 150 baht discount on each ride to and from the event. For details of promo code go to Phuketcomedy Facebook group or Stephencarlin-TheOpinionator event page. thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

ENVIRONMENT 15

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Our sustainable future Central Phuket pledges to ban free plastic bags The Phuket News editor1@classactmedia.co.th

T

he Central Group, Thailand’s largest retailer, has pledged to abolish the practice of giving away free plastic bags to its customers on Phuket.

This welcome news in partnership with PHIST (Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism Forum 2018) was announced at an event at Central Festival Phuket last Wednesday (Sept 6).

“As it prepares to host the inaugural edition of PHIST, the Phuket Hotels Association has achieved a major victory in its drive to secure a more sustainable future for Thailand’s most popular resort destination,” the Phuket Hotels Association announced in a release handed out at the event.

“In partnership with PHIST, the unique free-to-attend event that takes place on Monday 24th September 2018, Central Group, Thailand’s largest retailer and owner of the Central Department Store, Robinson Department Store, Tops Supermarket and Family Mart to mention a few, has pledged to abolish the practice of giving away free plastic bags to its customers on Phuket.

“This forms part of a joint initiative with the Phuket Hotels Association, which will see Central Phuket’s customers pay for reusable bags made by the residents of local orphanages or shelter homes. Proceeds from the sale of these environmentally-friendly bags will go directly to the disadvantaged Phuket residents who made them. A joint initiative that is currently in its planning stage,” the release added.

The initiative marks the first tangible benefit from PHIST – over a month before the inaugural summit kicks off, the release noted.

The event, to be held at JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa, will feature a series of expert keynote speakers, topical talks and technical workshops on the critical issues of sustainable development, corporate sustainability, community tourism and global environmental trends.

Supported by the Thailand Convention and Events Bureau (TCEB), Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), BMW Group Thailand, Blue Tree Phuket as well as Central Phuket, PHIST is expected to attract more than 500 delegates.

“Central Group is Thailand’s largest and leading retail group, so its pledge to significantly reduce the use of plastic bags is hugely significant,” said Anthony Lark, President of the Phuket Hotels Association.

“This is a wonderful example of cross-sectoral collaboration, as two of Phuket’s biggest industries – tourism and retail – come together for the benefit of the entire island. We look forward to achieving more positive partnerships through PHIST as this exciting event draws closer.”

Central Phuket’s Senior Vice President Wilaiporn Pitimanaaree added, “Plastic waste is one of the biggest @thephuketnews

NO Plastic Bag Day – every 3rd day of the month.

The Central Group and PHIST working together to create sustainable policies. problems facing the world today, especially in coastal destinations like Phuket, so we are delighted to partner with PHIST and the Phuket Hotels Association to help cut plastic waste on the island.

“This campaign, which is part of our wider commitment to plastic reduction, will help the people of Phuket while also preserving the island’s pristine environment,” she said.

The goal of PHIST is to raise awareness about environmental issues in Southeast Asia’s island destinations and to drive change within the industry. It also supports the Phuket Hotel Association’s on-going ‘People.Planet.

Phuket.’ campaign, which aims to educate local communities and visitors about the importance of the ‘Three Rs’: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

“Approximately five million plastic bags will make their way into the world’s oceans this year alone. This presents a huge problem for the environment – especially the estimated 100,000 marine creatures that die from plastic entanglement every year. Even the plastic bags that don’t end up in the sea will usually be dumped in landfill sites. Some plastic bags can take 1,000 years to decompose,” the Phuket Hotels Association release explained.

PHIST will help the retail and hospitality industries to identify alternatives to plastic. A Green Suppliers’ Exhibition will be hosted during the event, while the organisers of PHIST will give away merchandise including recycled bags. Delegates’ name badges will be made from re-used teak wood, the release said.

The pledge for Central Phuket to stop giving plastic bags to customers will initially be limited to the company’s department stores in Phuket, but if successful it could be rolled out further afield – including to Central’s large network of supermarkets.

“The company has already committed to stop giving plastic bags to its supermarket customers on every third day of every month,” said the release.

Central Pattana Public Company (CPN), the developer of Central Phuket,

currently operates Central Festival Phuket, one of the island’s largest lifestyle malls, just outside Phuket Town.

In addition to this, the B20-billion Central Floresta, located across Wichit Songkram Rd from Central Festival Phuket, was officially opened this Monday (Sept 10).

The new offering at the checkout - the tide is finally changing.

16 CULTURE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Everything Possible What Buddhism does and does not say about gay marriage ALL ABOUT BUDDHISM Jason A. Jellison mitnoy@live.com

When we discuss modern issues such as gay marriage or other mighty affairs, we must remember that not all of our answers can be found in arcane books.

Good marriages promote spirituality.

Photo Chris Ensey, Unsplash

Buddhism never sought to define, redefine or otherwise control marriage. Photo: Jordan Mcdonald, Unsplash

O

kay readers, pick the best of one of these statements: ‘I’m better than you’, ‘I’m worse than you’, ‘I’m the same as you’.

Actually, that was a trick question.

Those statements are what The Buddhist Canon records as Buddha’s Three Conceits.

In reality, none of us are any better or worse than anyone else; nor are any two human beings exactly alike. Even identical twins have slight differences, if you know where to look.

Yet, when it comes to the explosive issue of gay marriage, we are very quick to forget all of that. Gay marriage is a Western concept. Therefore, many of our Western readers have asked what Buddhism would say about gay marriage.

The answer is hardly cut and dried. After all, spinning scripture is a very old game and, just like in the West, different denominations of Buddhism often embrace, reject or cite whatever chapter and verse suits their fancy.

In the West, everything Westerners have is descendant from the Greeks. But in Thailand and Southeast Asia, everything that we have is descendant from a combination of what we call a ‘Bodhisattva,’ as well as our gracious Monarchy.

The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to reach Nirvana and Enlightenment. A Bodhisattva is a term that represents a person who is capable of reaching to Nirvana, Enlightenment and all the top stages of Buddhism, yet delays his arrival there out of a selfless conviction to save suffering human beings who otherwise could not get there on their own.

You also need to understand that, in Buddhist philosophy, we believe that spirituality is not defined as simply following arbitrary rules or commandments, but as in losing yourself into something much greater – much as how table sugar dissolves into a container of water. There, truly, is where the sweetest of things can be found.

Thai Buddhism teaches that a good marriage can be like a Mahayana spiritual journey. It’s no longer about me or you; but all about us. In a good marriage, you lose yourself into something much bigger.

Classical Buddhism is unlike many other religions in that historical Buddhism never sought to define, redefine or otherwise control marriage. We simply accepted the practice within each culture and society largely as we found it.

Thai Buddhism does not generally require that you marry within the Faith. Nor does it explicitly teach that marriage needs to be between two or more particular people of any kind (race, gender, creed, etc.). Instead, we teach a number of other critical lessons on marriage. For example, we caution that many marriages will be entered into for the wrong reasons and will increase human suffering, rather than decrease it.

Buddha taught that all people, men and women alike, could reach Buddhahood – a radical concept for his ancient days. He also taught that reaching Buddhahood, Enlightenment or Nirvana ultimately

It’s no longer about me or you; but all about us. Photo: Honey Fangs, Unsplash required us to leave all of our worldly attachments behind, including self and gender. Thus, an objective Thai Buddhist would have to concede that gay marriages suffer from the same overarching challenges as all other marriages: Jealousy, deceit, adultery, revenge, anger, co-dependence, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health; and the list goes on…

For a Buddhist to either stop a gay marriage, advocate for or oppose gay marriage, or force any kind of marital institution upon other religions would be for us to meddle in the Wheel of Karma – and if we were to meddle in the spinning Wheels of Karma & Rebirth, then we would ultimately pollute our own practice by absorbing the sins of others via osmosis.

Bad marriages may increase suffering, but we teach that good marriages can be about spiritually, losing yourself into something bigger, seeing things from an entirely new vantage point, and being challenged with questions that you otherwise would never have been asked.

Of course, not everyone will ever completely agree on anything in this human world of ours. There will always be dissenting opinions (at a minimum), or preachers of hate (at a maximum). Yet, amidst all of that coil, there are a number of lessons that I think all Buddhists and non-Buddhists can agree upon.

Firstly, when we discuss modern issues such as gay marriage or other mighty affairs, we must remember that not all of our answers can be

found in arcane books. To understand gay marriage, we have to set aside what we think is right or wrong in order to find out HOW something is right or wrong. Buddha taught us that the real meaning of life is found in empathizing with other beings, not necessarily fully understanding them.

Secondly, although he was not a Buddhist, the great songwriter Fred Small perhaps best-summed this entire affair in a song he wrote called Everything Possible. Performed by the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, the lyrics say: “Some women love women. Some men love men. Some raise children, some never do. You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around, you can choose one special one; but the only measure of your words and your deeds will be the love you leave behind… when you’re gone.”

Now that’s the real truth of the matter. Life’s all about the love you leave behind when you’re gone. So what, you might ask, would Buddha want for our gay readers who simply want to get married like many others have?

Simple: ‘Everything Possible’.

All About Buddhism is a monthly column in The Phuket News taking readers on an exotic journey into Thai Buddhism and debunk a number of myths. If you have specific queries, or ideas for articles, please let us know.

Email editor1@classactmedia.co.th, and I will do my best to accommodate your interests. thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

COMMUNITY 17

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Paradise Postponed

Views from Pimalai Resort.

Franck de Lestapis at Pimalai Resort, Koh Lanta A MEAL WITH...

Baz Daniel baz_gunner2000@yahoo.com

If we look at Phuket as a model of what may happen to Koh Lanta in the future, well it doesn’t bode well does it?

The Seven Seas restaurant. @thephuketnews

C

omfortably seated within his hilltop eerie at the magnificent Seven Seas restaurant atop luxurious Pimalai Resort, Franck de Lestapis, the jovial General Manager, surveys the fiefdom spread gloriously around him. It is undoubtedly an idyllic spot from which to assess where Koh Lanta is heading, an island that Franck most certainly knows and loves.

Franck first came to work in Koh Lanta in 2001 when Pimalai opened its portals to the world and has been here overseeing its highly successful trajectory and development ever since. Franck is better qualified than any other Westerner to comment on Koh Lanta’s development and evolution over the past couple of decades and what the future portends.

Koh Lanta is about four hours’ drive south from the Sarasin Bridge and when I first visited the island back in 2004, I described it as “Paradise Postponed” in articles I wrote.

The reason was that access to this lovely island was then constrained by the need to cross two small pieces of sea by two slow and rather decrepit vehicular ferries, which took up to two hours to negotiate, often in blazing sunshine.

Hence the island was largely undeveloped in the mainstream touristic sense, although there was an abundance of bric-a-brac backpacker-style guesthouses, bars and internet cafes strung along the cratered road that ran through the arrival town of Saladan.

Fourteen years later, in May this year, I had the great pleasure of staying at Pimalai again and catching up with Franck over a wonderful supper in Seven Seas. I asked Franck how he felt Koh Lanta was developing in these days of burgeoning tourist arrivals.

“While Pimalai goes from strength to strength in terms of occupancy, yield and customer satisfaction, it’s as though the rest of the island is stuck in a time warp. In many ways Koh Lanta is just as ramshackle and dilapidated as when I arrived here some 18 years ago. The roads, which often flood, are still deeply rutted and unfinished with clouds of dust and stones thrown up by the abundant trucks careening about.

While at Pimalai we ensure that best environment practice and waste disposal are deployed, generally on Koh Lanta there’s little treatment or recycling of waste.

“I have only ever seen a single garbage truck on the island and its operations are rather mysterious and I am not entirely sure what happens to the collected garbage.”

It’s true that a bridge linking Koh Lanta Noi to its bigger “Yai” sister opened about three years ago after many years of planning, but you still have to negotiate the stretch of water between the mainland and Lanta Noi by the same decrepit ferry. Time consuming and hot it is too!

Why the first bridge took so long to be built and the second much-needed bridge is still “in planning” is a matter of conjecture on the island. When I asked Franck about this, he simply shook his head and smiled ruefully.

As the last vestiges of glorious dusk vanished over the panorama spread before us, I asked Franck what he thought the future held for Pimalai and Koh Lanta.

“We can control and maintain

the beauty and pristine environment within the boundaries of the resort itself, and I am confident that our future will continue to be very successful in a sustainable way. But much evidence suggests that the island is on a downward spiral of environmental neglect which will eventually impact visitors’ willingness to come here.

“Sadly, if we look at Phuket as a model of what may happen to Koh Lanta in the future, well it doesn’t bode well, does it?”

Seated in the Seven Seas restaurant high above Kan Tiang Beach and the fabulous surrounding amphitheatre of rain forest greenery, it was easy to feel that all was well with Koh Lanta, but my return trip up the island the next day confirmed Franck’s warnings only too starkly and I couldn’t help but feel

Franck and Baz consider Kho Lanta’s future. sadness that this once-lovely “little patch of heaven” was rapidly becoming “Paradise Lost” rather than just “Paradise Postponed”.

Pimalai Resort, Koh Lanta Call on +66 (0) 2320 5500 reservation@pimalai.com

18 ISLAND SCENE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Crowds gathered on all floors to watch the opening ceremony.

It was easy to feel a trifle underdessed.

CENTRAL PHUKET FLORESTA CELEBRATES WITH A GRAND OPENING Last Monday (Sept 10), The Phuket News was invited to the Grand Opening of Central Phuket Floresta, along with everyone else! The new shopping mall was heaving with VIPs, press and public, all gathering to watch the opening show. In addition to over 100 new shopping outlets and an array of fine dining locations, the new destination houses ‘Tribhum’, a 3D walkthrough adventure theme park, a cultural centre called ‘Tales of Thailand’, and ‘Aquaria’, a new format aquarium which will be opening in the near future. Monday’s ceremony included a 360-degree theatrical experience show from Canada called ‘Star Catcher’, an International Street Show and appearances from Thai TV stars Pope Thanavat and Bella Ranee.

Local dignitaries attended the opening event, including Phuket Govenor Norraphat Plodthong.

Fans waited patiently for their favourite stars to arrive.

And the moment the fans had been waiting for...Pope Thanavat and Bella Ranee.

Entertaining the crowd became a finely-tuned balancing act.

The ceremony included a live orchestra, vocal performances and light shows.

A troupe of dancers took to the stage for the finale. thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Craig, Jon and Brenton on stage at the event.

ISLAND SCENE 19

Lyndon, Zara, Brendan, Ian and Scott fronted the panel discussion.

AUSTCHAM SUNDOWNERS MEET-UP ON COURSE AT PHUKET BOAT LAGOON After a panel discussion on the expectations of the hotel and tourism industries from the Phuket marine industry, the AustCham Sundowners met up at the Anchor Building Deck. Organised by AustCham Thailand in collaboration with AMCHAM, BCCT, Franco-Thai and NTCC, the evening saw distinguished guests fly in for the event, including Jon Philp, Charge d’Affaires at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok; Andrew Park, Thailand’s Honorary Consul for Queensland, Australia; and AustCham’s President Brenton Mauriello.

Damian Barrett and Andy Dowden.

Kanjana Sriboonsom and Suphatra Pakdeewiroj.

GROW BOATING NETWORKING EVENT SAILED IN TO AO PO GRAND MARINA The Grow Boating Networking Evening was held at the D’deck Bar at the Ao Po Grand Marina last Friday (Sept 7). A selection of canapés sponsored by the Ao Po Grand marina were served and Electrical Marine had generously agreed to be the event’s drinks sponsor.

Traditional Thai dancing performances at the opening ceremony.

The centre celebrates the many facets within Thai culture.

NEW LOCAL ATTRACTION CELEBRATING THAI CULTURE OPENS IN CHALONG Thalang Maneekram, a Thai ‘Cultural City’ covering 143 rai, opened last Wednesday (Sept 5), presenting a mini-Thailand with activities focusing on art, tradition and culture within each region of the Kingdom. The centre aims to become a new tourist attraction and landmark within Southern Thailand.

The dedicated team from The Good Shepherd delivering rice to the needy.

The Myanmar community inspire with their smiles and happy disposition.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD LEARNING CENTER SUPPORTING MYANMAR FAMILIES Last Thursday (Sept 6) The Phuket News was invited by The Good Shepherd Learning Center, Phuket Town, to distribute donated rice to the local Myanmar families. The children of those families are able to attend the school, which is set up to serve any family in need, and provide the right for every child to have an education. The centre is in need of your kind support and welcomes donations for the running costs of the school and volunteers. Facebook: goodshepherdlearningcenter.phuket @thephuketnews

20 EVENTS

FRI

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

Lobster accompanied by buffet of delicious appetizers.

Live music from 6.30pm. Premium BBQ. 1,700*Baht.

Reservations, Sala Phuket, events@salaphuket.com 076 338 888.

14 SEP

YOU WANNA ROCK??

PBS #5

Mussels night @ Shakers 1.2kg mussels served with French fries, your choice, your style: natural, marnière, Provençale, garlic and cream or Thai style. Reservations recommended B295 P/P. shakersphuket@gmail.com 081 891 4381.

ALL YOU CAN EAT BBQ RIBS Come join us for our WEEKLY BBQ EVERY FRIDAY served ALL DAY & ALL NIGHT at Two Chefs Kata Center, Karon, Kata Beach and Patong. Indulge in All You Can Eat BBQ Pork Ribs, Chicken and Sides for ONLY 445 BAHT! Our BBQ is famous at Two Chefs!

Come try us out and enjoy our mouthwatering pork ribs, flavor-bursting chicken and more! Join us for Live Music from 8-Late Performed by Our Famous Two Chefs Band! Come for the FOOD - Stay for the Fun. www.twochefs.com

A small entry fee, THB 500 per person, that includes the first 3 drinks and a light buffet. Make sure to bring lots of business cards, as getting to know each other is what PBS is all about. 086 479 7471, www. facebook.com/events/262593664371287/

SAT

15 SEP

Come to Thanyapura’s DiLite Restaurant to enjoy a healthy vegan buffet every Monday to Saturday. Lunch: 12pm to 3pm Dinner: 6pm to 8:30pm. Price: Lunch B350 and Dinner B550. Information and bookings call 076 336 000 or visit: thanyapura.com/hotel/dining/

Head over to our famous Rock night at Two Chefs Karon on the 15th of September. Live music starts at 8pm until late. Chef Daniel our Executive Head Chef will be doing his signature “Rock night” Burger, PRICE: UP TO YOU! (We leave the price up to our dear customers for this special burger, on this special night! Make your reservations NOW, at:karon@ twochefs.com or call:076-286479.

SUN

16 SEP

All you can eat BBQ Ribs night 6PM – 11PM: All you can eat BBQ Ribs served with salad buffet, potato salad & choice of sauces. Reservation recommended. 295 baht P.P. shakersphuket@ gmail.com, 081 891 4381.

An Italian Evening Healthy Vegan Buffet at DiLite Restaurant

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Traditional Sunday Roast at O’Tool’s Served from 2pm. Your Choice of either Roast Beef, Chicken, Loin of Pork or Leg of Lamb Served with Roast & Boiled Potatoes, 3 Fresh Vegetables, Yorkshire Pudding & Gravy. Only 350 Baht. Includes a Free Glass of House Red or White. See: www.otools-phuket.com

MON

17 SEP

Simmer & Spice Sunday Roast All Day, All Night Come enjoy a Traditional Sunday Roast EVERY SUNDAY at Two Chefs Kata Center, Karon, Kata Beach and Patong. Indulge in our Traditional Sunday Roast ALL DAY & ALL NIGHT for ONLY 445 Baht! Enjoy a Large ALL YOU CAN EAT selection of your favorites!

Featuring: Roast Aussie Beef, Pork Loin and Chicken.

Roasted or Mashed Potatoes. Roasted Mixed Vegetables Flavored with Thyme and Garlic. Yorkshire Pudding and Red Wine Gravy. Enjoy Live Music from 8-late performed by our famous Two Chefs Band! Come for the FOOD - RESERVE your table now online at bit.ly/ TwoChefsReservations Check out more details on our website at bit.ly/TwoChefsEvents Reservation, Two Chefs Kata Center, Karon, Kata Beach and Patong.

Kata Beach 076-333-370 Kata Center 076-330-065 Karon 076-286-479 Patong 076-344-914.

Enjoy a selection of Italian antipasti, cold cuts, premium cheese, marinated olives, grill vegetables, homemade pickles, caprese skewers, bruschetta and homemade breads - all complemented by free-flow Italian beverages. B1,999 net per person for antipasti buffet and free-flow Italian beverages. Enjoy 25% OFF when you dine with four persons or more. Reservations at Dusit Thani, Laguna, Phuket: dtlpfb@dusit. com or call 076 362 999 ext.7303.

Curry buffet, great variety, vibrant flavours. Every Monday from 18.30 - 21.30. Reservations, SALA Phuket, events@salaphuket.com, 076 338 888.

All you can eat BBQ night 6pm – 11pm: Beef, Pork, Chicken, Burgers, Sausages, Prawns and Squid, Salad buffet, Choice of potatoes and sauces, bread, buns and garlic bread. Reservation recommended. B395 P/P. shakersphuket@gmail.com 081 891 4381.

All you can eat Sunday Roast Buffet Beef, Pork and Lamb – Cauliflower, Broccoli, Peas, Carrots, fried mushrooms, grilled tomatoes – Yorkshire pudding – roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes – gravy, mushroom sauce, mint sauce. Reservations recommended. B350 P/P. shakersphuket@gmail.com 081 891 4381.

Charcoal Friday

GO ECO PHUKET 2018

Charcoal BBQ at Bodega, featuring premium beef cuts, cooked live in the dining room on our charcoal broiler with the unique sear and smokiness only charcoal could deliver. Starting from THB 1,200++. Reservations, Bodega & Grill, Angsana Laguna Phuket, fbreservation-lagunaphuket@angsana.com, 076 358 500.

The “International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day 2018” will be this Saturday (Sept 15), and GO ECO PHUKET will hold its Marine Scuba Diving Exhibition Environmentally Friendly cleanup, with participants meeting at Chalong Pier from 7am. About 200 participants from the public sector will be attending, with about 300 people involved in the garbage collection. Join the effort!

Sala Sunday Night Steak & Seafood Premium barbecue main course, including imported Australian Rib Eye, full rack of Lamb or whole Phuket

Stephen Carlin - Phuket The Alternative Comedy Experience and fresh from his critically acclaimed run at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Stephen Carlin returns to South East Asia with his new show “The Opinionater”. Come and see why Carlin has been chosen as one of Stewart Lee’s ten best comedians ever. “Announcing the arrival of a new comedy original” Herald Singapore’s hilarious and only openly gay comedian Sam See along with Britain’s Graham Whistler come to Phuket at Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach as part of Stand Up Asia’s monthly comedy tour. They brought Doug Stanhope and Bill Bailey to Thailand and promise to bring the best international comedians to Phuket every month. Tickets on the door 600 baht or else buy your (limited) early bird tickets now for only 350 baht. www. ticketflap.com/stephencarlin-phuket Marriott Resort Phuket, Merlin Beach

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

WED

EVENTS 21

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

19 SEP

MON

24 SEP

Free Entry. Phuket Boat Lagoon, Phuket Boat Lagoon, event@phuketboatlagoon.com, 076 239 888 ext. 318.

SAT

EVERY DAY

10 NOV

Thailand Yachting Symposium - Bangkok

Sala Wednesday nights ribs, beats, brews.

Devour our succulent pork rib set complete with sweet corn chowder, blue cheese salad, moist cornbread and finish it off with a bread and butter pudding. DJ Q will keep the soul flowing and your toes tapping as you wash down those tender ribs with a bucket of craft brews. Full Rack set B1,600, Half Rack set B1,200, bucket of craft brews B800. Reservations, SALA Phuket Resort and Spa. Email: events@sala phuket. com or call 076 338 888.

THU

Ocean Property, organisers of the Ocean Marina Pattaya Boat Show, invite you to join the inaugural Thailand Yachting Symposium from 16:00 - 18:00 at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel Bangkok.

The 2 hour conference will include panel sessions by speakers from the public and private sectors, with the aim to growing boating in Thailand. It is FREE to attend and followed by a networking cocktail party. Limited seats, register at www.oceanmarinapattayaboatshow.com/symposium.

THU

4 OCT

2018 Colour Fun Run Gather up your friends or gear up solo for this vibrant race. The Colour Fun Run takes place annually and combines sport with family fun, encouraging people of all ages and abilities to join in on this fantastic and colourful day out. Tickets for this event sell very fast, so book now to avoid disappointment. Thanyapura Health & Sports Resort, events@thanyapura.com, 076 336 000.

WED

20 SEP

All you can eat Thai Tapas menu An array of unlimited tapas-size table serving of travelers’ and locals’ favorite Thai dishes, Kantok is the perfect place to devour the best of the best Thai cuisine at once, from mouth-watering appetizers and savor soup of Phuket specialties and soul satisfying desserts. Only THB 750-net per person. Serving daily from 11am-11pm. Reservations, Kantok Restaurant, Burasari Phuket, 076 292 929.

28 NOV Sunset Social Everyday from 5 p.m to 6 p.m. 50% off on selected drinks. Reservations, XANA Beach Club, 076 358 500.

PHUKET BRIEFING & BUSINESS NETWORKING

PIWC - September luncheon September lunch will be held at Little Paris in Boat Avenue. 11.30am for 12.00 noon. 700 baht members and 850 baht for guests. info@piwc-phuket.com

BCCT, in collaboration with AustCham, EABC, FTCC and NTCC, cordially invites you to Phuket Briefing on Thursday 4th October 2018 at Thanyapura Health and Sports Resort. The Briefing, led by Hughes Krupica Consulting, will cover important information and updates on “Thai Company Nominees: What are they, allegedly?” with a panel discussion. After the briefing, join us for great food and drinks in a relaxing Thanyapura. Drop in to meet and network in Phuket! For booking, please e-mail to Khun Urosesri at urosesri@ bccthai.com or call 02-651-5350. Urosesri, Thanyapura Health and Sports Resort.

SAT

6 OCT

18th Architect & Hotelex Construction Materials & Hotel Supplies Exhibition.

All types of construction materials from floors to roof tiles. Hotel supplies and home decoration items.

See the latest breakthroughs in construction technology, interior design and building maintenance.

Learn how to design a smarthome for multi-milliondollar project IPTV, 4G Internet, IP Phone, Mobile phone, CCTV and other high-tech devices. PIC Phuket, 076 217199.

FRI

7 DEC

DJ SANDY RIVERA / KINGS OF TOMORROW at Level One @ Dream Beach Club Join us for this intimate event featuring an exclusive DJ set by one of the most highly regarded DJs & producers of his generation. Sandy Rivera will be best known for the seminal classic ‘Finally’, a record that stands as one of the finest vocal house records ever made. Limited VIP tickets and packages available. For VIP Tickets & Reservations - 098 048 3500 or reservations@dreambeachclub.com

@thephuketnews

Christmas Market Oktoberfest 2018 The German Festival. Saturday 6th October 2018, from 3 pm. - 9 pm. Drinks + Food + Music Festival.

Date: 7th & 8th December 2018 from 6 pm - 10 pm.

“Booths available” rate 2 days/1,000 THB. Phuket Boat Lagoon, Phuket Boat Lagoon, event@phuketboatlagoon.com, 076 239 888 ext 318.

DAILY EVENT UPDATES ON

22 TIME OUT

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM Crossword by Myles Mellor & Sally York

1. What’s the name of the scale of mineral hardness commonly used by geologists?

2. Theodor Seuss ‘Ted’ Geisel, better known by his pen name ‘Doctor Seuss’, was of which nationality?

3. What are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

4. Which month is named after the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods?

5. What day of the week was New Year’s Day, 2018?

Answers below, centre

SUDOKU

Medium

Across 1. Persian gulf port 6. Stewpot 10. “Stat!”

14. Cancel 15. Iranian coin 16. Garage job 17. NHL trophy 19. Alpine transport 20. Sassaby 21. Canned 22. Smidgen 23. Catch 25. Dweller on the Red Sea 28. No sugar added 31. Actors 34. “Are we there ___?”

35. Edges a hankie 36. Solo supporter 40. Sacramento’s ___ Arena 41. Fast no more 42. Affectedly creative 43. Texas team 47. Photos 48. Tennis term 53. Kind of rule 54. Eastern discipline 56. “Shoo!”

57. “That’s a ___!”

59. Man advantages 61. Loathe 62. Peeping Tom 63. Like “The X-Files” 64. Opposite of the editorial page 65. Doses off 66. Rock or marsh

27. Driver’s lic. and others 29. Actress Jane ___ 30. Dark time for poets 31. Gemstone weight 32. Adapt 33. Potato casserole Down 37. Predicament 1. Butter up?

38. Faux ___ 2. Susan of 39. It’s rigged “Goldengirl” 40. Infomercials, 3. Ginger cookies e.g.

4. Altercation 44.

Priestly garb 5. The whole 45.

Infuriates enchilada 46.

Bring up 6. Gemsboks 7. People parasite 49. Farm machine 50. Cognizant 8. Glorify 9. Yodeler’s perch 51. Store for future 10. Cockpit gauge use 11. Re-leaser 52. Death of cells 12. Attorneys’ org. 54. It comes easily 13. The “p” in m.p.g. to hand 18. Bring home 55.

Was in the red 22. “Wanna ___?”

24. Mercury, for one 57. Dunit lead-in 58. LL Cool J genre 25. Relative of 59. Ballpoint, e.g. bigfoot 26. Meshlike 60. Sunday seat

Solutions to last week’s puzzles:

Answers to this week’s Pop Quiz: 1) Mohs Scale; 2) American; 3) Pestilence, Famine, War and Death; 4) June (after Juno); 5) Monday

GOT YOUR NUMBER

ISLAND VIEW

5

US dollars is all some cybercriminals ask for in order to carry out a DDoS (Denial-of-service) attack on a computer system.

95

percent of avocados eaten in the US are Hass avocados, and they’re all descendants of one mother tree in Southern California.

92,000 kilos of cocaine was produced in Colombia in 1992 alone, according to UN estimates.

160,000

Paws at the beach. Photo: Paolo Piazza Got an unusual or particularly beautiful picture of Phuket? Email it to execeditor@classactmedia.co.th

US dollars is the average annual salary of store managers at ‘In-N-Out’ burger franchises.

2.3 million

parts are used to make a Boeing 787, and workers on the 747 have to drill a million holes during its assembly.

Source: Uberfacts

This week in history Sept 14, 1752 The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was Sept 2).

Sept 15, 1616 The first non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy.

Sept 16, 2007 One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269 carrying 128 crew and passengers

crashes at Phuket International Airport, killing 89 people.

water Horizon oil spill is sealed after discharging an estimated 4.9 million barrels (about 794.93mn litres) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Sept 17, 1983 Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.

Sept 18, 1988 End of pro-democracy uprisings in Myanmar after a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council.

Thousands, mostly monks and civilians (primarily students), are

Deepwater Horizon oil spill as seen from space. Photo: Nasa killed by the Tatmadaw.

Sept 19, 2010 The leaking oil well in the Deep-

Sept 20, 1498 The 1498 Nankai earthquake generates a tsunami that washes away the building housing the statue of the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan; since then the Buddha has sat in the open air.

Source: Wikipedia thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Trades & Services

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

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CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

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MARINE SERVICES

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Trades & Services

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

classifieds@thephuketnews.com

MOVING SERVICES

POOL SERVICES

PROPERTY SERVICES

OTHER

TRAINING

ADVERTISE HERE

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CLASSIFIEDS 27

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Buy & Sell

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

JOBS

Website operator

Female website operator capable of building a shopping site and driving traffic to the site via Google, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, blogs and other systems. Will work a flexible 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. Fixed salary B20,000 + 5% commision on sales generated by the site.

20,000 + commision. Contact Ron via: Siam.serenity.th@gmail.com, 0874178715.

Teacher wanted for child

Native English qualified teacher needed for child 5yo with autism. Speech, ABA, occupational therapists will have priority.

High salary, flexible working hours. European nations only. ksenia, dcondosale@ gmail.com GE UR

NT

Live-in housekeeper wanted

Live-in housekeep wanted for house in Kata.

Must understand English and love dogs.

Excellent conditions. 31/3 Soi Plukjae Kata Phuket. Contact: Lillian Dinic: lil@ladolcevitare.com.au or call 080 690 5248.

G UR

Bar staff wanted

T EN

Blondie Bar 2 at Otop Market Patong requires Bar Staff.

Thai nationals only. Good salary and room provided.

Phone Mick: 081 087 6114.

BOATS, YACHTS FOR SALE

FOR SALE AIR BERTH M320

250,000THB INC.VAT FOR BOAT UP TO 32 FEET/ 9.5 METRES. CONTACT: ASIA YACHT AGENCY CO.,LTD VIA CONTACT@ASIAYACHTAGENCY. COM, 081-894 -3234- FRENCH / ENGLISH — 086-269-0808 THAI / ENGLISH.

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Boat For Sale

72’(22m) Thai Trawler partially-converted as Tour Boat Business. Rebuilt from top to bottom 3 years ago (spent just over 1MB) including engine as was planned to use for a tour business, owner had to return to the UK unable to return (very ill son). Some weather damage and need some repairs. Engine has only done only 6 hours, has new 12 kua generator. Currently in Hua Hin. Viewing can be arranged. Must sell within the next few months. Offers over THB 500,000. Contact Shayne on 0934 189 529 or shayne.inbox@gmail.com @thephuketnews

BUSINESS FOR SALE

BUSINESS FOR SALE

RARE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Working Shareholder req. for a unique Phuket Business Opp. USD$75,000 (12.50% Co. Shares). ZERO Debts/Leases/ Loans etc. Low Overheads, HiMargins, Hi-Vol. Sales (7 Day Sales). Long est. comp. industry. 4-Us: ZERO COMPETITION … ROI: Monthly Mngmt Fee. (Job Pymt 20-30hpw) + Monthly Royalty Pymt. + Twice-Yrly. Co. Profits Dist. Genuine + Rare business opp – serious enquiries only please. 2.5mTHB (USD$75,000), Phillip Frankston, PHUKET, MvJHKT@Gmail.com, +61 8001-6402 (Anytime).

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SURIN: LUXURIOUS BAR-RESTAURANT SALE

Totally renovated, Italian design and furniture, all-new imported kitchen and bar equipment, ready to operate. Large Bar, DJ booth, garden lounge, rooftop. Seats 50 indoors, 50 in garden and 40 rooftop. Pablo: 080 143 5541. info@dedos-restaurant.com

Chalong Boatbuilding Business

Boatbuilding business with 300sqm Office + 300sqm Workshop/Store. Chanote 0.5rai.

30ft Speedboat plus moulds for more production. 16,000,000, Simon Jupe, 29/4 Soi Nayai, Chalong, Phuket 83130, simonj@ cscoms.com, +66878832542.

CARS, TRUCKS FOR SALE

Hyundai Veloster TURBO

Hyundai Veloster Turbo 39,000km, 50,000THB, full service book, 4 original rims with tyres with only 6,000km, all options. m.arnskjold@gmail.com, 0836351440 ENG / 084-3058363 TH.

28 CLASSIFIEDS

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Buy & Sell CARS, TRUCKS FOR SALE

Amazing Deal!

2016 Toyota Vios Model E with only 35,000 km on it.

Is an automatic, with fog lights, windows are tinted already, has the plastic insert for the trunk, rubber floor mats for all seats, rain shields on all windows. Only driven locally in Phuket. It is kept in great condition and is available to view in Chalong.

Only 495,000 THB. Adam 091 016 1167.

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2012 Ford Ranger 2.2 Open Cab

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

The Phuket News @thephuketnews

POOL TABLES

AMAZING DEAL NOT TO BE MISSED!

Like new English Riley Pool Table for sale.

Measures 320cm long by 170cm, comes with six pool cues and cue rack as well as game counter. Pick up in Chalong no delivery. Only 50,000 THB. Adam 091 016 1167.

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Dream Village Phuket house

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Land & House 78,000km.

Six-gear 2bed 2bath 295sqm for sale manual transmission. land 100sqm living + Villa 225sqm. incl. 75sqm Looks and feels like a new car, treated like veranda, compl. renoterraces on Freehold Chaa baby by its single owner. Engine clean vated.: new water, electric., tiles, paint in/ note Land: 1 to 6 rai on SUKORN ISLAND, as. Full set of new tyres. B500,000. Call out, windows, 3A/C, built in kitchen. contact Trang province. Price THB 7,150,000 - THB 081 427 5168. only via email picharly@gmail.com 15,250,000. Owner, Koh Sukorn, Trang provCARS, TRUCKS FOR SALE ince, ddsukorn@gmail.com, 081 537 1957.

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CARS FOR RENT

We offer car rental at affordable prices. Monthly from B10,000. Daily from B400. Call us and find out what we offer. B10,000 monthly. Stig Johansson, 110/78 Moo 2, T Paklok, A Thalang, 83110 Phuket. Contact: stigisaan@gmail.com, 084 847 4377.

HOME IMPROVEMENT

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Villa Mission Heights Big Pool

3 bed, 31/2 bath, 330 sqm living, 900 sqm land, very quite area, 2km Mission Hills golf, 6km UWC, 8km airport. owner finance. Only email please: picharly@gmail.com

House Lots on Coconut Island!

Unique Investment Opportunity

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PROPERTY FOR RENT

230-300 sq.m. 1.4-1.9 million baht. New ChaHouse for rent note titles. Government road. Electricity. 200 A sea view house in the garMETRES TO OCEAN !! Financing available. den on the mountain at Ao We do flat roof waterproof- Tel. 095-068-1672chrisfisherii@gmail.com Makham. 2 bedrooms. Porning with 20 year warranty tip, 086 996 7535. by installing quality four layer slate spotted COMMUNITY PROPERTY FOR SALE bitumen torch foil + crack repair! Andreas Penthouse for Sale Ruthe, 22/5 Moo1 Kamala Kathu, office@ 432.44 SQM Penthouse for tcm-asia.com, 086-9439834,076-385081. sale: 320 Degree view of Patong bay and city. Private pool.

MOTORBIKES FOR SALE 22nd floor (top floor) at the Andaman Beach Condominium, Patong, Phuket, Thailand.

Ducati Condo Facilities: Two tennis courts, 10 x Multistrada 2012 24-metre swimming pool, fitness & game 2012 Model Multistrada. Perroom, restaurant, parking. 60 Million Baht fect condition. Only 23,000 O.N.O., Songpan, songpanpirom@hotmail. kms. Faithfully maintained. Have panniers Luxury Villa com, 081 737 8662. and 15 liter tank bag. Steve, ducphuket@ With private boat gmail.com, 081-734-8309. morning and jacuzzi.

PROPERTY WANTED Email paradise11@ OTHER mac.com for picLooking for property tures, plans and Hotel Laundry Sevices in Laguna price.

Exceptional commercial Willing to sell or rent

Flat roof waterproofing

laundry services in Patong. increased capabilities are allowing us to expand to support 500 additional rooms.

Competitive, Chonticha, Patong. candk servicespatong@gmail.com, 0991658538.

your property in the Laguna area? Please contact me: raisa@ rl-property.com or +66(0) 81 737 1687 (you can use Viber, Whats App or Line) raisa@ rl-property.com thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

SPORT 29

Atrocious start to ‘low’ season

While some were returning deposits, ‘Thai 2 On’ managed to sneak out FISHING

CAST AWAY Jimmy Stewart info@fishinginphuket.com

A

hoy me hearties! Once again it’s a foul weather report – in fact neither my friends nor I remember such an atrocious start to the ‘low’ season, but while most of the companies were busy returning deposits, PST’s website advised us that Thai 2 On managed to sneaked out between storms, midmonth, and bagged seven Sailfish, so the boys with the bills are back.

That will make for a few Jolly Jack Tars – Brilliant!!!

This month the organisers of the PST (Phuket Sport-fishing Tournament) also announced the dates of the next PST competition which will be November 21-24. Keep an eye open for those ‘early bird’ entries.

And for all you lucky, rich, old pirates, at the pinnacle of our celebrated sport, both Thai 2 On and the 60ft sport-fisher Deja Blue have advised me they are now taking bookings for the coming high season. Mid-February to Mid-April Thai 2 On will be returning to the Burma Banks for five to eight day

@thephuketnews

‘Thai 2 On’ managed to bag seven Sailfish when sneaking out between storms. Photo: Supplied trips while Deja Blue, with her large fuel capacity and water maker, will once again be visiting India’s Andaman Islands (January to the beginning of May).

Both boats can accommodate five, at a push, but like the ‘day’ boats we recommend a maximum of four.

These are undoubtedly the two best fishing areas here in the East and the nearest thing you will get

to a ‘guarantee’ while Big Game Fishing.

Please e-mail me via the web site for further information on either of these truly amazing fishing adventures.

This month’s humour relates to a Russian boat owner who took some Ballyhoo on board his boat. (Bait fish, for the uninitiated). He asked his new Thai decky, “Do you know how to tie these?” – and was given

an affirmative. The next morning you will never guess what he had fried for his breakfast? Yum-yum.

Considering we have had weather warnings for small boats more or less continuously for the past couple of months, isn’t it about time we changed our mental attitude?

Isn’t it strange how everyone seems to accept the weather as being “it’s just the weather”.

With half the world suffering

fires and the other half floods, is it not about time something was done about it before the planet spins completely out of control, and demand that the world’s political ostriches remove their heads from the sand where they have been firmly buried for far too long?

While plastic and all the other toxic waste we pump into our oceans should not be ignored, warming is already burning, drowning and burying us by the thousands.

Am I the only voice in the wilderness shouting – ENOUGH! Sometimes I wonder, am I completely alone on this planet?

While I have experienced that incredible feeling of isolation combined with a sort of happily womblike security that all ‘sea’ fishermen can relate to, this is definitely not the case when returning to dry land, where every damned thing seems to want to take a bite out of you, one way or another.

No one owns the water. No one owns the lands. No one owns the oceans. No one owns the sands.

These are given by our Mother.

The planet provides for free. Only by the hands of the greedy does the Earth require a fee. - Anon.

As usual, tight lines all round.

Jimmy - fishinginphuket.com

30 SPORT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Secret surf trip remedies

Reef cuts, dodgy food and ending up in hospital, pack these in your bag 3) New waves, new rocks, new reefs, new foods, new beverages, new toilet styles… things happen ‘on tour’… like eating spicy road kill that fires up the A-hole… best we prepare in advance.

I

love a good surf trip, how about you?

For most surfers, it’s exciting to be heading off to an exotic location in the hope of scoring quality waves and mixing it up with the locals.

I recently had a golden opportunity to do just this.

For the record – when it comes to surfing, ‘exotic’ really means: in the middle of nowhere, lots of sketchy food options and typically as hot as f***.

And I really was ‘hoping’, as I had no idea about my destination.

First stop Bangkok.

Then KL. Lastly India. I was definitely heading into dodgy waters.

Small surf cuts big surf problems Anyone who enjoys a good surf trip knows that reef scrapes, shifty food and physical aches and pains come

To keep your A game rolling during your surfing holiday… pack these into your surf bag or get stocked up upon arrival. Photo: Hayden Rhodes with the territory, especially if your destination is tropical… so lets start with the ‘not so obvious’ obvious.

1) Reef cuts and minor scraps easily get infected in the tropics and when they

do, your surf trip becomes a nightmare. (Pre-contest – A grom dropped in to say hello and his fin sliced a wee cut in my foot – two days later I was in hospital).

2) Sun stroke or heat ex-

haustion are no laughing matter. Typically due to surfing your brains out, dehydration and good times after sunset.

Tricks to avoid this and stay surf strong during your holiday are coming up below.

Surf travel is best when you’re surf strong, fit and healthy!

For the record, India is incredible and the people are fantastic. Yes, there are some quality waves on its day.

Yes, cows do roam on the beach.

Yes, dancing heads is the norm.

Yes, the culture and colours are awesome.

Yes, the nurses and medical staff are well trained (depending where you go… ) With 7,500 kilometres of coastline and some incredible new friends I can’t wait to get back over there. But not the hospital.

Surf remedies to pack into your surf bag To keep your A game rolling during your surfing holiday… pack these into

your surf bag or get stocked up upon arrival.

Betadine Saline / Alcohol Tea tree oil Coconut oil Electrolytes Bonus – Himalayan Salt Vitamin C Bonus – Honey!

Surfing fitness high performance coaching Remember, surfing is your medicine – so be at your best.

For speaking engagements or private performance coaching to improve your surfing, health and fitness contact Hayden at info@surftrainingsecrets.com If you would like a personal 90 min strategic coaching call, contact me!

New Fast Surfing Fitness training program out NOW! Hayden Rhodes (Club Manager of Phukets Finest Health Club) is the creator of Surf Training Secrets. If you love surfing or snowboarding and want to get surf fit fast and build a body to last, go visit SurfTrainingSecrets.com

What’s on at the ACG Date

Time

Activity

Fri Sept 14

4:30pm

Senior Cricket Training

Sat Sept 15

2:35pm

Rugby – NZL v South Africa (TV)

5.05pm Sun Sept 16

Wed Sept 19

Rugby – AUS v Argentina (TV) C&C Marine League Semi-Finals

10am

Patong Blue v Goan Panthers

2pm

Patong White v Kashmiri CC

4:30pm

Senior Cricket Training

Don’t lose your handle on Phuket sports action – the ACG has it all for you and the family! Photo: Michael Way

thephuketnews

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

SPORT 31

PREMIER PREDICTIONS: ENTER NOW AT THEPHUKETNEWS.COM MAIN SPONSOR

MONTHLY SPONSOR

The overall competition winner will receive a 3 day/2 night stay in a two bedroom private pool villa including daily breakfast plus a 90 minute spa treatment for two persons at Baba Beach Club Phuket. Total prize value: B130,000 The monthly competition winner for September 2018 will receive a B3,000 voucher to spend atAngus O'Tool's Karon Beach.

EPL PREDICTIONS MONTHLY STANDINGS

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Car parts fly as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel crash during the Italian Formula One Grand Prix on Sept 2. Photo: Guiseppe Cacace / AFP

F1 races for final seven legs to season climax BOX OF NEUTRALS Michael Lamonato michael@boxofneutrals.com

T

he 2018 Formula One season is entering its final act, and Sebastian Vettel is running out of time to decisively strike back against championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

Memories of the warm and unpredictable European summer are already cooling as the sport prepares for its sevenstop leg of long-haul races that will decide the championship, starting with this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday (Sept 16).

But in the sweltering conditions of the tight and twisty confines of the Marina Bay street circuit, the strain of which is tempered only slightly by the race’s spectacular nighttime setting, memories of a different kind will return to haunt the sport’s protagonists.

Mercedes will look to

Singapore with a degree of trepidation given its string of substandard form on the Marina Bay streets in recent years.

The Silver Arrows infamously fumbled at the night race in its otherwise dominant 2015 season, qualifying fifth and sixth and ending the race with just one car in fourth position, and last year the outlook was much the same.

Mercedes again started the race from fifth and sixth, having been comprehensively out-qualified by Ferrari and the street-specialist Red Bull Racing, and it was only a sprinkling of rain and Ferrari’s lap-one friendly-fire that paved the way for Hamilton to record an unlikely but ultimately decisive victory.

The spectre of that crash will hang heavy over Sebastian Vettel this year. Last year he arrived in Singapore trailing Hamilton by just three points, but an overzealous defence of his lead on the first lap ended in disaster and left him with a

HASH HOUSE HARRIERS

28-point deficit to the Briton he failed to close by season’s end.

This year he not only enters with a 30-point shortfall already well established, but he also carries the baggage of having thrown away a sure-fire one-two finish for Ferrari at the team’s home Italian Grand Prix through driver error.

The German was pilloried by the Italian media in the aftermath given his growing history of dropping points through silly mistakes, and only a strong performance in Singapore, where Ferrari is expected to hold an advantage, will suffice in reply.

But things haven’t all been calm inside Ferrari despite the team fielding the fastest car, if only by a small margin – as rumours had been rife for the better part of the last two weeks that management was preparing to replace Kimi Raikkonen with development driver and Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc has been impressive in his debut season with

Run #1702: Saturday Sept 15 Run Start Time: 4pm Hares: Manneken Pis, Murkury Location: Chao Fa West Rd – TOT Directions: Coming from the north or the west, make your way to the Honda Garage on Chao Fa West Rd and drive south for 2.4 kilometres and opposite the TOT offices turn right (HHH) at the Family Mart towards Villa Zolitude.

Coming from the south go past Wat Chalong 1.2km and turn left (HHH) at the Family Mart towards Villa Zolitude.

Once on the side road, carry on straight for 900 metres and then turn right (HHH) onto a steep uphill dirt track. Laager site will be on top of the track.

PS: The road has been redone so it will be no problem getting up there.

Bus pick-up: Kamala @ Black Cat’s Bar: 2:30pm Patong @ Expat Hotel: 3pm More info: phuket-hhh.com

@thephuketnews

the Swiss team, so much so that former Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne was reportedly considering switching him into Raikkonen’s seat after the midseason break – but when Marchionne had his life cut short in July after complications arising from surgery, the plan was shelved.

Confirmation of Leclerc’s move was confirmed on Tuesday (Sept 11) and is one of the final pieces of the complex driver market puzzle to fall into place after McLaren confirmed it would be replacing sophomore driver Stoffel Vandoorne with its British Formula Two protégé Lando Norris.

With seven races remaining, on-track action to decide the 2018 championship will be matched by off-track freneticism to decide the 2019 driver line-up.

Don’t forget to listen to Live89.5 each and every Saturday at 9am and 5pm for the Box of Neutrals radio show.

OVERALL STANDINGS

Marisa S 7 stafsulaiman 7 Ajax Amsterdam 6 aquamarine 6 chris goodhand 6

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Smiley Bar 28 adamrosindale 27 Fitz 27 stafsulaiman 27 Ajax Amsterdam 26

English Premier League 2017 - 2018 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Liverpool Chelsea Watford Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur Bournemouth Everton Leicester City Arsenal Manchester United Wolverhampton Southampton Fulham Brighton Crystal Palace Cardiff City Huddersfield Town Newcastle United Burnley West Ham United

MP

W

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L

F

A

GD

Pts

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

4 4 4 3 3 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 2 2 1 1 0

0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 4

9 10 9 11 9 6 7 6 8 6 4 4 7 5 3 2 2 3 3 2

1 3 3 3 4 5 6 5 8 7 5 4 9 7 6 5 10 6 9 10

+8 +7 +6 +8 +5 +1 +1 +1 0 -1 -1 0 -2 -2 -3 -3 -8 -3 -6 -8

12 12 12 10 9 7 6 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 0

Live Sports TV Schedule *Times may be subject to change

SPORT

START STOP

EVENT

TEAMS / INFO Hawthorn v. Melbourne

Fri 14th Sept Aussie Rules 16:50

19:50

AFL

Rugby League 16:30

18:30

NRL – SF1

Sharks v. Panthers

Rugby Union 14:40

16:40

Mitre 10 Cup

Tasman v. Taranaki

23:55

02:00

Currie Cup

Bulls v. Pumas

Rugby Union 14:30

16:30

Rugby Championship

New Zealand v. South Africa

17:00

19:00

Rugby Championship

Australia v. Argentina

18:30

20:30

EPL

Tottenham v. Liverpool

Sat 15th Sept

Soccer

21:00

23:00

EPL

Man City v. Fulham

23:30

01:30

EPL

Watford v. Man United

21:00

23:00

EPL

Newcastle v. Arsenal

21:00

23:00

EPL

Chelsea v. Cardiff

Rugby League 16:30

18:40

NRL – SF2

Rabbitohs v. Dragons

Aussie Rules 16:25

19:30

AFL

Collingwood v. GWS Giants

Motor Racing 20:00

21:00

Formula 1

Qualifying, Singapore Wasps v. Leicester

Sun 16th Sept Rugby Union

21:00

23:00

Gallagher Premiership

Soccer

19:30

21:30

EPL

Wolves v. Burnley

22:00

00:00

EPL

Everton v. West Ham

Motor Racing 18:00

18:45

Formula 1

Raceday, Marina Bay Circuit

18:45

22:15

Formula 1

Singapore Grand Prix

Sport UPSETS APLENTY THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

editor3@classactmedia.co.th

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Six vital remedies you should bag for any surf trip > p30

RPL sees tight matches, significant movement in table POOL Barry Craig & Richard Hearne

W

eek 7 of the Rawai Pool League saw Division A produce some tight matches and significant movement in the league table.

Future Bar visited Tropical Sands and produced a solid 1-6 victory. There was little between team captains, Fuzz and Barry, who started the singles proceedings. Fuzz potted six in a row for an excellent finish in the first game, but Barry responded well with some good tactical play over the remaining frames to take the opening game.

Wayne and Fod played out easy wins in their singles games for Future Bar, but the night’s final singles match was a much tougher affair. Tropical Sands’ Chris really brought the game to Chaiya, who had to play very well to get the win. Both doubles went to the visitors to give them a 0-6 lead, with only the beerleg required for the whitewash. But it wasn’t to be, and Tropical Sands put in a strong team performance to win the beerleg and deservedly get a point on the board.

At the top of the league table, Black Sheep hosted last season’s champions, and with some of the league’s best players on the bill, this match was sure to produce some high-quality pool.

The opening singles pitched Nanni against Dum, with Nanni producing a 2-1 win. That same scoreline was replicated in all of the singles games, leaving the match poised at 2-2 going into the doubles.

Black Sheep then moved up a gear to dominate the doubles and the beerleg for a 5-2 win on the night. They move joint top of the league after week 7.

Sharing the lead in week 7 is Shot Bar, who won by the thinnest of margins over hosts Freedom Bar. In a long match that failed to separate the teams after both singles and doubles games, it went down to the final beerleg frame which saw the visitors

Pang playing for Baroque Bar. Photo: Philipp, Roses Bar edge out a hard-fought 3-4 match victory.

In another close game, Mango Bar welcomed Pita Bar. The singles were shared between the sides and included some very strong play. Ding stood out in his game against Gregg, allowing his opponent only two shots in a 0-2 leg win.

The doubles were a more one-sided affair, with the visitors outplaying Mango to earn convincing wins in both games. Beerleg honours went to Mango, but Pita’s victory on the night sees them build some momentum with their third back-to-back win.

Orange Bar host a party tonight (Sept 14) for the shared birthdays of owners Noi and her fiancé Jonathan, a wonderful couple, who will put on some food, good music and maybe a pool game or two.

On Monday, however, the mood was less celebratory.

Playing hosts to visiting Spot Bar, the singles games had a decidedly unisex feel with all featuring a battle of the genders. In the end, Spot Bar, with three girls on their side, managed a superb away victory, winning 2-5 on a fun night at Orange Bar. Monday night’s final Division A fixture saw Black Pearl get back to winning ways with a 5-2 victory over Masaya Bar. The games were hotly con-

tested, with all seven going to a deciding frame. But Dave and the Black Pearl Boys sealed the victory with clinical precision to take the night’s points.

Strong Wins in Division B Meanwhile, Division B’s matches produced a number of 6-1 margin victories. Pink Sheep pulled off the biggest upset with an emphatic win over Black Bull. The girls won each of their singles legs to seal the match and followed up with wins in the first doubles and the beerleg. The girls were left in triumphant mood after the match.

There was an identical 6-1 scoreline for Stor Bar, who retain their second place league position. Only Uncle John’s fine opening singles game against Nick prevented a full whitewash for the visitors.

Nick, Stor’s only loser on the night, celebrated his wedding anniversary the night before and his form hadn’t quite recovered in time for the night’s match.

Meanwhile, Islander B paid a visit to White Hart BBQ where the hosts quickly put the match to rest. Only pool legend and all-around nice guy Peter managed to win a game here, with the White Hart BBQ’s German contingent dominating proceedings throughout their 6-1 win.

Baroque Bar’s performance this season is really starting to look good. This week they visited Moonlight Bar down on Rawai’s beachfront and Pang was the strongest player getting maximum individual points for her opening singles game and then following up with a convincing win in her doubles with Nikki.

The home team struggled, and only managed a single win all night through Patrick and Dan’s doubles game. The visitors continued their dominance into the beerleg, and the match ended up with Baroque Bar securing the night’s final 6-1 victory.

Islander A hosted league leaders Roses Bar and the home

side started off very well with Andy M, sporting his new slim physique, beating Roses’ Mike. JJ then followed this by beating Division B’s leading individual player Noom. Then it all fell apart.

Kevin and Sul picked up singles wins against Islanders Jon and Mark to square the match. Roses then edged out both doubles games and the beerleg to pull off a 2-5 away win on the night.

Roses stay top of the league and keep their unbeaten record intact.

Monday night’s ultimate Division B game was a turnaround match to be remembered (or forgotten, depending on which team you were on).

The Stoned Crab hosted Kilt’n Haggis, and this match went right down to the wire.

After galloping to a strong 0-3 lead, the visitors managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, seeing their lead decimated by The Stoned Crab who won the remaining four games.

The night ended with Stoned Crab’s third victory of the season, and the visitors returning home with their tails beneath their kilts.

thephuketnews