16-03-2012 by The Phuket News

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‘THESE PEOPLE ARE SELLING THE COUNTRY TO FOREIGNERS. IF THIS CONTINUES, THAILAND WILL LOSE ALL ITS LAND’ Allegedly illegal road driven through the jungle in the Kamala Hills to land claimed by a former vice-governor of Phuket.

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Competition for Paiboon New candidate in campaign for OrBorJor presidency > 5

THE BAD LANDS WAR Graft hunters set to target official land-grabbers

Officials from the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) last Friday (March 9) declared war on officials suspected of involvement in the corrupt issue of land deeds or construction permits in Phuket. They alleged that as many as 45 sites in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi were plainly examples of encroachment on forest preserves or public land. They vowed that these would be taken back into public ownership, in a replay of last year’s action against encroachment in Wang Nam Khiew in Nakhon Ratchassima Province. “Phuket’s forests have been particularly encroached by officials,” said PACC SecretaryGeneral Pol Col Dutsadee Arayawut told a press confer-

ence. “It’s time to take back these national treasures and get rid of the corrupt officials.” Col Dutsadee said he was concerned about groups or networks of corrupt officials, with high-ranking officers playing “a dirty role” to get ownership of land, which can then be sold to foreign developers. “These people are selling the country to foreigners,” said Col Dutsadee. “If this is allowed to continue, Thailand will lose all its land to foreigners.” T he PACC has spent a month trawling through documents relating to these pieces of land, and officials say they believe corruption was involved in the issue of deeds and permits. Some of

Thai Party spokesman and a vice-president of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), Prompong Nopparit. ■■ Two plots of land in the Kamala Hills, accessed from close to Kathu Waterfall, but overlooking Patong Bay, and registered in the name of a former vice-governor of Phuket; and another, nearby, registered to a daughter of a former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Interior. ■■ Nine plots of land at Nakalay, south of Kamala, believed to have received title deeds through “flying SorKor 1”. Resorts and villas are under construction on some of the nine plots. ■■ The Eva Beach development in Rawai, suspected of being in breach of laws relating to building height near the shore. ■■ The PACC officials also flew over disputed land on Koh Yao Yai. PACC officials estimate that

at least 45 pieces of land on Phuket are tainted by corruption, and substantial amounts of land and huge amounts of money are at stake. At Freedom Beach the investigation is over 65 rai of land. The land is said to be on offer for B43 million a rai, or a total of B2.8 billion. The three pieces of land near Kathu Waterfall total 45 rai with, potentially, panoramic views of Patong Bay. It is estimated that, were they to be sold today, they could fetch as much as B40 million a rai, or a total of B1.8 billion. Disturbingly, the PACC found other plots totalling 155 rai in the same area that are also in the process of getting land deeds. The PACC officials noted what they called “obvious evidence of abuse of power”: a track cut through the forest to give access to the three plots. Even the Director General of

the Forestry Department, they pointed out, does not have the power to approve such a track. The officials said that once they have collected enough evidence to support their suspicions, the next step will be to examine the finances of the suspect officials and their other activities during their years in their government posts. The PACC has labeled Phuket as one of the places in Thailand worst affected by land-related corruption, the others being Phang Nga, Krabi and Koh Samui. After a helicopter tour on March 9, both Col Dutsadee and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENR) Chote Trachu reported that they had seen many places where encroachment had obviously taken place. Phuket will be used as a model to solve problems of land encroachment, similar to the “Wang Nam Khiew model” in Nakhorn Ratchassima Province, Mr Chote said. Wang Nam Khiew is the national forest conservation where illegal use of SorPorKor land documents – which allow occupation for farming only – resulted in large areas being built up with holiday homes and resorts. Though resort owners gathered to protest against the investigation, authorities demolished many buildings in Wang Nam Khiew last September and confiscated the land from the occupiers. Mr Chote said the same process will be applied to encroached-on land in Phuket.

About a third of land in Thailand is owned by foreigners, many of whom have exploited loopholes in land ownership law, according to one of Thailand’s Ombudsmen, as quoted in the Bangkok Post. Reporting on a Senate seminar on disguised legal transactions and land ownership by foreigners, the Post quoted Prof Siracha Charoenpanij as saying, “Right now more than one third of land in

Thailand, or about 100 million rai, is owned by foreigners.” He said the figure was based on academic research which showed that most of the land in foreign hands is in coastal resort areas. Mr Siracha said his office will propose a draft law to prevent the holding of property by Thai nominees. The Bangkok Post noted that Wason Khongchantr, managing director of Mod-

ern Property Consultant, said it was impossible that a third of land in Thailand is owned by foreigners. “I estimate less than 5 per cent of total land is owned by foreigners,” he said. He pointed out that residential areas of the country account for only 10 per cent of the total land area, and only a handful of provinces typically attract foreign residents to build homes.

The Director of the Natural Resources and Environment Office in Phuket, Chaiphadung Promsawad (left) and PACC Secretary General Pol Col Dutsadee Arayawut inspect suspect land in the Kamala Hills. As many as 45 sites are under the microscope. the plots, they noted, received deeds despite being obviously inside forest reserves. Among the cases announced as targets for PACC investigators: ■■ The land abutting Freedom Beach, already in the spotlight following two visits by Pheu

Foreigners ‘own 30pc of Thailand’

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7-Eleven theft sparks a chain of arrests and recoveries A call to Tha Chat Chai police from staff of a 7-Eleven convenience store employee on the Thepkrasattri-Nai Yang Rd near Phuket International Airport resulted not only in the arrests of two thieves, but also the return of seven stolen motorbikes and the arrest of a minor drug dealer. Responding to the call on March 7, police arrested Tawan Detchirachote, 28 and his girlfriend, Daoruang Budda, 28, both from Nakhon Phanom province, in the shop after they were found in possession of five bottles of sunblock and a woman’s handbag they had not paid for. After questioning, police also found that the motorbike the two were using had been reported stolen from Thalang. Tawan confessed that he had stolen the motorbike when he found it by the road with the ignition keys in it. He admitted it was not the first bike he had stolen. Police took him to his home where they recovered three more stolen bikes. Tawan said he stole bikes to pawn them for crystal methamphetamine (ya ice) which he got from Supphachai “Fah” Warisri, 28, at a rate of one gram of the drug for each bike. Police then visited Fah’s house in Srisuchar t Village in Phuket Town. There they seized 2.2 grams of ya ice, B7,000 cash, and three more stolen motorbikes, all “pawned” by Tawan. Phuket Police Commander Maj Gen Chonasit Wattanavrangkul warned people to take the keys with them after parking their motorbikes. Leaving keys in bikes, he said, “presents a good opportunity for robbers. People should be more careful with their own belongings.” Tawan, Daoruang and Fah were all taken to the lock-up at Tha Chat Chai police station. Police called the owners of the stolen bikes to come and get them back.

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Gang’s victims ‘may total more than 100’

A Phuket couple who led a gang of five and who police believe may have robbed as many as 100 people, many of them tourists, were arrested on Monday morning (March 12) in Phuket Town. The couple were not easy to catch. Last Wednesday (March 7) police tried to arrest them but they and their gang escaped. It was only when the other three members of the gang were rounded up that police discovered where they lived and moved in to make the arrest. Thawatchai Thipyothin, 42, and Janejira Artharn, 25, were initially identified from CCTV camera footage given to them by a victim who reported to Chalong Police last month. On Wednesday the gang were stopped by police in Karon. But when the police demanded they submit to a body search, Janejira pulled out a .38 pistol, which she pointed at the officers. The three teenagers escaped to Patong on their motorbikes, while Thawatchai and Janejira, she still waving her gun, stopped a passing motorbike and ordered its owner off. They sped off towards Patong, with the police in pursuit. In front of Wat Suwankhirikhet in Karon the couple crashed the bike, snatched another,

IN BRIEF Stock exchange woos Phuket The Stock Exchange of Thailand organised a mobile savings and investment fair titled “SET in the City” at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Saturday (March 10). Phuket was chosen for the one-day fair because of its perceived high potential for savings and investment. Figures obtained by the organisers showed people of Phuket as ranking third in the south in terms of savings, and as having more than B3 billion invested in stocks. Around 20 financial institutions set up booths at the event.

Tourist dies on Big Buddha hill Thawatchai and Janejira (seated), with some of the stolen items recovered from them. and raced off towards Patong, finally managing to shake off their pursuers. The three teenagers, none of whom can be named because all are under 18, were later arrested and told police where they could find the couple. By comparison with the earlier gun-waving drama, the arrest went off quietly. Eighteen officers went to the couple’s room in Phuket Town with a warrant. Thawatchai and Janejira surrendered quietly. At the police station they admitted to breaking into 11 houses in Chalong and Tha-

lang over a six-month period. More than 104 items including watches, amulets, a .38 pistol, a homemade gun, boxing gloves, two motorbikes, helmets, and more were seized from their room. Police also found wigs they used to disguise themselves with during the robberies. Police believe that they have probably carried out far more robberies than they admit to, and have stolen items valued at a total of at least B1 million. One of the three teenagers, aged 17, told police that he and his friends had met the couple

at Saphan Hin and had agreed to form a robbery gang. They targeted tourists walking on the footpaths, especially on Patak Rd in Karon near the Wat. Within two weeks, he said, the group had snatched valuables from more than 10 victims. Police said that the various statements taken from gang members were inconsistent. They believe the number of victims could be as high as 100. Thawatchai and Janejira admitted to being drug users, but said they also needed money to support their three children.

Tourist electrocuted in resort pool

Police inspect the metal bridge from which Russian tourist Fedor Samsonov received his fatal electric shock.

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Russian visitor Fedor Samsonov, 45, died on March 8 of electrocution after touching the metal railing of a bridge across the pool of the Karon resort where he was staying. Witnesses told police the incident occurred at the recently opened Dewa Karon Beach Resor t, when Mr Samsonov gripped the steel railing of the bridge. The hotel’s restaurant manager, 33-year-old Surasak Petchsut, was rushed to Vachira hospital, after he, too, was electrocuted trying to help the Russian. Police said they suspected that a fault in the lighting

system on the bridge may have been responsible, but are continuing to investigate. Mr Samsonov checked in to the hotel on February 12 and was due to leave on March 13. Lars Ydmark, Chief Executive of resort management company Tri-Asia, which manages the Dewa Karon Beach Resort, confirmed the following day that the cause of Mr Samsonov’s death was electric shock, the result of unsecured electric wires coming into contact with the bridge railing. M r Yd ma rk said t he resort has hired an electrical safety consultant to check the entire electrical system.

A Finnish tourist died on March 7 after apparently losing control of his motorbike on the way down the Big Buddha hill. The body of Tuomas Johannes Mustonen, 33, was found near the roadside, with his motorbike not far from him.

Gamblers attract wrong attention Bored with the lack of alcohol on March 7 – the holy day of Makha Bucha – four Thai women and two tourists at a bar in Chalong decided to enjoy themselves playing cards for money. So entertaining was their game that neighbours, unable to stand the racket any longer, finally called the police, who raided the joint. A set of cards and B120 were seized from the group.

Big treat for toy lovers Toy lovers are in for a treat at the Central Toys Fair 2012, which opened yest e r d ay ( M a r ch 15) at Central Festival. The fair features new collections of toys from leading brands such as KC Toys, Kiddo, Hotwheels and Lego, with discounts of up to 60 per cent off full prices. There will be activities for children and prizes to be won. It runs until March 28.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

seized 300 ya ba pills from a public delivery van that runs between Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Phuket. “In another case the drugs were sent on a bus from Bangkok. They put the ya ba in a big bag containing souvenirs. We still don’t know who put the bag in the bus.” He also noted that most drug dealers are now armed, making police work more difficult and dangerous. He cited the recent case of a drug-addicted couple, who threatened police with a pistol before making

their getaway (See page 3). “Moreover, many drug dealers are living in apartments instead of houses. Most of these apartments are unregistered so we don’t know they exist,” Col Somkid said. Phuket Provincial Office Chief Prajiad Aksornthammaku, who chaired the meeting, said that bus agencies should get copies of ID cards of anyone handing in parcels for delivery. And he assigned the Phuket Provincial Welfare Office to register unregistered apartments.

Ice overtakes ‘ya ba’ as drug of preference Sukunya Phoonpong reporter2@thephuketnews.com

Crystal methamphetamine (ya ice) has outstripped meth pills (ya ba) as the drug of choice in Phuket, it was revealed in a meeting between police and other Phuket officials on the morning of March 14. The meeting, at Phuket Provincial Hall, was told that February saw arrests in 127 cases involving ya ice against 53 involving ya ba. Most of the arrests took place in Phuket Town, Kathu and Thalang.

The Deputy Superintendent of Phuket City Police, Lt Col Somkid Boonrat, said that drug distribution gangs had changed their behavior to avoid detection. “The biggest drug import channels are in Baan Pru Som Pan and Pa Khlok, in Thalang District. Kathu District has the highest number of small drug dealers.” Dealers are now making more use of legitimate inter-provincial transport to carry narcotics, he said. “For example, we recently

From the UK; 40 years as a journalist and editor on magazines and newspapers in the UK, Middle East, Hong Kong and Thailand: Cheshire Observer, Chester Chronicle, Saudi Gazette, Gulf Mirror, Gulf Construction, Gulf News, Hongkong Standard, Asian Business (Editor) and Phuket Gazette (Managing Editor for seven years).

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Sub Editor editor2@thephuketnews.com From Australia; Degree in Journalism, Charles Sturt University. Four years’ experience at: The Australian, The Central Western Daily, The Leader, The Canberra Times, and The Vientiane Times.

CLAIRE CONNELL Sub Editor editor1@thephuketnews.com From New Zealand; BA (English) from University of Otago; Diploma in Journalism from the University of Canterbury. Five years’ experience at the Gisborne Herald, and the Marlborough Express.

NORACHAI THAVISIN Sub Editor editor3@thephuketnews.com From Thailand: BA, BFA and Master of Fine Art and Design, University of Tasmania, where he worked as a painter and illustrator. Six years’ experience with the Bangkok Post, Pattaya Mail and Fine Art magazine.

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Wanta Pummararossukon of the Phuket Land Transport Office (left) and airport director Prathuang Sornkham visit taxi booths at Phuket International Airport.

Crackdown on black taxis Authorities on March 13 launched a campaig n to promote the use of licenced taxis only at Phuket International Airport (PIA). T he campaig n was launched with the aim of giving a two-week warning to illegal taxi drivers. After the two weeks, check points will be set up at the PIA’s gates and “black” taxi drivers will be subject to arrest. In the meantime, the various authorities involved – the PIA, the Land Transport Office, the Phuket Tourist Police and Tha Chat Chai Police – will be at the airport around the clock instructing

arriving passengers to use only licenced taxis, and warning black taxi drivers of the crackdown to come. The campaig n comes on the order of Minister of Transport Jarupong Ruangsuwan, who was in Phuket last week and heard many complaints from victims of unlicenced taxi drivers. The Director of the PIA, Prathuang Sornkham, said the black taxi drivers tend to get their fares in one of two ways. Either they simply “drag” tourists to their vehicles, which may be parked outside the PIA, or they persuade staff of the legitimate taxi booths at

the terminal to arrange black taxis for tourists. The staff, he explained, work for legal taxi companies who have contracts with the PIA, but have side-deals to pass tourists to black taxis in exchange for commissions. In the latter case, tourists are charged as much as double by the drivers, with the surplus being used to cover the commissions. Currently, about 80 legal meter taxis and 150 greenplate vehicles supply legal transport services at the PIA. The number of black taxis is not known, but is estimated to number in the hundreds.

Business owners irked by problems importing labour A group of around 10 local business owners met last Friday (March 9) with senior officials to air grievances about problems with the procedures for importing Burmese labour. At a meeting at Provincial Hall with Pakorn Amornchewin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Welfare and Labor Protection (DWLP), and Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Weerawat

Jinowat, owner of Andaman Marine Construction, complained that 10 workers he had hired were arrested by Thung Thong police on February 11, accused of working without work permits. Mr Weerawat stressed that he had followed the rules for hiring imported labour. The police, he alleged, would not accept the validity of documents he offered, but

said they would release the workers in return for a “fee” of B5,000 per worker. The governor promised he would speak with relevant authorities to try to solve the problems. He also promised to check up Mr Weerawat’s case with Thung Thong Police. Mr Weerawat announced his intention to present his case at next week’s mobile Cabinet meeting.

Pol Lt Gen ML Phansak Kasemsan, the Inspector General of Police, and his team met with Governor Tri Augkaradacha on March 14 to talk about problems or issues that had ar isen between the police and provincial authorities. His team are in Phuket from March 9 to 17, as part of a tour of Police Region 8. Once the inspection has ended, the team will report any issues to the Royal Thai Police.

Turkish honorary consul named Plans are in place to appoint the first Turkish honorary consul in Phuket, after the Turkish Ambassador met with Governor Tri Augkaradacha at the Phuket Provincial Hall on March 14. Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol told Gov Tri that well known Thai lawyer Sarayuth Mallam, who is a vice president of the Phuket Tourist Association and a special adviser to the Governor, has been approached and has accepted in principle.

House of Horror skull was cracked Initial autopsy results of the remains believed to be those of Roongnapa Rachsombat, 33, which were found in the Kata home of Norwegian Stein Håvard Dokset, 50, show that the skull was hit by a hard object. Pol Col Sirisak Wasasiri, who is investigating the case, said that scientists at the Forensic Science Centre in Surat Thani had found a dent in the skull.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

Action from last year’s Love Song Festival at Central.

Central to stage free pop concert The Central Festival Phuket Love Song Festival makes its return soon, on March 24 and 25, featuring Thai stars such as Aof Pongsak, Calories Blah Blah, Season Five and Friday. The two nights of concerts will start at 6pm in the Lan Lom Zone of Central Festival. Central General Manager Wilaiporn Pitimanaree explained, “The main purpose of this event is to reward our valued customers for their continuing positive support. “We have more than B20 million a year set aside to provide international-standard

concerts featuring leading Thai and international artists. It is our aim to build Central Festival Phuket into a centre of international concerts.” Customers who spend B1,500 or more at Central Festival Phuket in one day will get tickets for two seats close to stage. Tickets are limited and will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Others can enjoy the free concert, but from further away and possibly without seating. Tickets can be collected from the Information Counter at Central Festival.

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Paiboon finally gets some poll opposition Friday (March 9) was a day of surprises in the race for the presidency of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (OrBorJor), which until then was looking like a one-horse race. First, Wisut Santikul, former deputy president of the OrBorJor and a perennial would-be politician, arrived at Phuket Community Hall to register as a candidate, joining the recently resigned President of the OrBorJor, Paiboon Upatising, who registered last Monday morning. However, after sitting and chatting with members of the press, Mr Wisut decided not to sign up after all. Mr Wisut was one of the members of the first elected OrBorJor, 12 years ago. Since then, however, his political career has been defined almost entirely by disappointments. Fou r ye a r s af t e r t he 2000 victory, his party was defeated by the Democrat machine headed by Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr. Later the same year (2004) he ran for election as a parliamentary candidate of the Thai Rak Thai Party, the

Chayot Wisartpong: traffic jams are top of his agenda. precursor of the Pheu Thai Party which currently runs the government. He failed to be elected. He failed again – twice – in parliamentary elections in 2006. On Friday he explained that he had considered running in the OrBorJor election “because I think Phuket people should have a choice”. “This election is not fair for other candidates because it is [taking place so fast].

Other candidates do not have much time to promote their policies to people, compared with former president [Paiboon Upatising] who has been [in the public eye] for a long time.” He added, “I have no personal problem with [Mr Paiboon] but I don’t think he has a clear policy to develop Phuket or to fix any of Phuket’s problems. He is not a team player – he is always the

one who makes the decisions, and his co-workers cannot be a part of the team. “His resignation from the presidency has no meaning when he can still come back to register for election again and again. Other local government leaders may follow this example and Phuket people will end up living with the old system and not knowing if their homeland is improved or not,” Mr Wisut said. L a t e r o n Fr id ay M r Paiboon did finally get some opposition, in the form of Chayot Wisartpong, a former OrBorJor official from Tambon Pa Khlok. He received the candidate campaign number 2. He, too, felt that people should have a choice. “There is no other candidate registered, so I decided to do so in order to give voters a choice. “I am confident that voters can trust me to take care of them as I have spent a long time working for them. “The first problem that I will work on is the traffic jams around the island,” Mr Chayot said. Voting by the public is on April 7.

Thalang college set to switch focus to tourism Thalang Technical College is to undergo a radical change in May this year, becoming Phuket’s first Hospitality and Tourism College. Suthep Yongyuth, director of the college, told The Phuket News that the estimated B300 million rebirth was decided upon because Phuket already has a major technical college, in Phuket Town, but has no college dedicated to supporting the hotel and tourism industries.

Mr Suthep added, “We asked for comments from hotel owners and tourism companies and all of them agreed that our new programme would benefit their businesses.” There will be both diploma and higher diploma courses. The diploma courses will include a “mini E ng l i sh p r og r a m m e”, whereby fou r subjects will be taught in that language. Higher diploma

students will be taught exclusively in English. The new name of the college is awaiting approval from the Education Minister, which is expected soon, and the new English programme will launch in May. Phuket education authorities will petition the mobile Cabinet meeting in Phuket this month for extra funds to bring their budget for the college up to the required B300 million.

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Controversial bus terminal opens in May

Phuket’s second bus terminal is set to open by the start of May and will be run by the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) after the Rassada Municipality washed its hands of the whole project. Suratin Lian-udom, Mayor of Rassada Municipality, said the Municipality did not want to run the terminal because of the costs involved, and he personally did not want the terminal to go ahead because people living in the area were against it. “It will be dangerous if the traffic is not well managed, and the terminal will have a big impact on local residents in terms of traffic congestion,” he said. Mr Suratin and 400 people living in the area earlier signed a letter of protest and presented it to the Darmongtham Center in an attempt to stop the Highways Department cutting through the median strip in the road to allow buses leaving the terminal to get onto the road easily. The group also sent a representative to the Nakhon

Sri Thammarat Administrative Court with a request that the court rule that the median strip work was illegal because no public hearing was held before it began. Mr Suratin is still waiting for the results of this, and said he believed the new traffic lights would not help ease traffic congestion because they were only 60 metres away from existing ones – far too close, he said. Silapachai Jarukasemrattana, deputy permanent secretary for the Transport Ministry, confirmed the PLTO will run the new terminal, which was completed in 2009 but has sat idle since then while a management option was worked out. “It is a waste of budget if this terminal is not opened. This new bus terminal will solve the traffic problems connected to the first bus terminal [on Phang Nga Rd] in Phuket Town,” Mr Silapachai said. “There will also be an OrBorJor bus service, which will transfer passengers between the two terminals.”

Turtles head for the sea. The two closest to the camera are carrying satellite transponders.

Turtles work for science

Unknown to themselves, two of the 70 young endangered green sea turtles released into the sea at sunset in Laguna Phuket’s annual turtle release on March 8 were beginning a half-year of service for marine science. As they began their ocean odyssey, possibly for their life-span of 60 years, from the Angsana Laguna Phuket beachfront, the two year-old turtles had little satellite transmitters glued onto their shells.

For the next six months until the batteries run out, the turtles will transmit their movements in the sea for eight hours a day. By then the glue will also dissolve and the transmitters will at last be off their backs. The beach ceremony, attended by more than 100 people, was the 18th annual turtle release made by Laguna Phuket through an ongoing partnership with the

Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC) and the Third Area Naval Command of the Royal Thai Navy. Guests paid B2,000 each for the happy task of carrying a turtle, its flippers flapping strongly, to the surf, while cakes and raffles were sold in the resort company’s effort to raise B250,000 to build a roof over the disabled turtle habitat at the PMBC and to buy food for the Navy’s turtle nurseries.

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THE PHUKET NEWS

NATIONAL NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

Russians die in hotel fire Agence France-Presse

This tiger was among the protected animals seized.

Photo: Freeland Foundation

Police seize 200 wild animals Authorities seized more than 200 live animals, including tigers and lions among other rare species, in a raid on an illegal wildlife supplier, police said. “The owner cannot provide legal documents for the five tigers, so he was charged with violating the Wild Animal Preservation and Protection law,” Lt-Col Adtapon Sudsai of the Nature Crime Police told AFP. Police said they were verifying the owner’s claim that he had the necessary permits for the other animals. If convicted the suspect – named as 52-year-old Yut-

thasak Suthinan – faces up to four years in prison and a fine of B40,000 (US$1,300), he said. As well as the five tigers, police found 13 albino lions, two orangutans, two red pandas, four flamingos and two camels, along with many other species. The animal protection group Freeland Foundation, quoting police, said the supplier was part of a global network importing protected animals from countries in Africa and elsewhere and breeding them for illegal sale. The discovery at a compound in eastern Saraburi Province was based on evidence gathered following a

raid last month on a house in Bangkok where officers caught four men in the act of chopping up a tiger. “From our extended investigation into the butcher case, we suspected some animals could come from this place” in Saraburi, said the deputy commander of the Nature Crime Police, Col Kiattipong Khawsamang. Elephant, zebra, wildebeest and lion remains were found last month at the Bangkok home, as well as meat kept in a refrigerator that police and wildlife activists said could have been destined for human consumption.

Speaking at a seminar to mark Thai Elephant Day on Tuesday (March 13), Chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Damrong Pidech, said the department backed plans to amend regulations on issuing ID cards to captive elephants to make it a more effective tool to prevent poaching. An ID card is currently issued to an elephant in captivity when it is eight years-old. But Mr Damrong said the ID cards should be issued to a calf as young as three months,

reported the Bangkok Post. Authorities can then more easily separate baby elephants born in captivity from those taken from the wild, he said. There are about 4,000 captive elephants and 3,700 wild elephants in the country. Wild elephants live in 61 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, according to the department. Forests in Kanchanaburi and Tak provinces have the largest population of wild elephants, with about 900. M r Dam rong said he

would ask local authorities to inspect the 135 elephant parks nationwide to see if the owners possess the jumbos legally. The draft amendment requires the owner of an elephant to ask for its ID within 60 days from its birth. Penalties will be harsher, with violators facing not less than six months in jail and/or a B2,000-B10,000 fine. The current law only provides for a fine of B50-B100 and/ or a maximum one-month jail term.

Agence France-Presse

A fire at a major tourist hotel in Bangkok killed two Russian tourists and injured about 20 other guests, as rescue workers used cranes to pluck guests f rom the smoke-f illed building, officials said last Friday (March 9). Firefighters rushed to the scene after the blaze broke out in a function room at the 221-room Grand Park Avenue Hotel off the Sukhumvit Rd in the capital on Thursday evening (March 8). “A female foreign tourist died from suffocation,” said Suvinai Busrakamwongs, Director of the K luay Nam Thai Hospital. Several foreigners wearing oxygen masks were seen being carried out of the hotel on stretchers late Thursday as crowds gathered to watch the blaze in a popular tourist district of the city.

Emergency services said about 20 people suffered smoke inhalation in the fire, which was later extinguished. “People used flashlights to show us where they were,” volunteer rescue worker Surapon Poonkate of the Poh Teck Tung Foundation told AFP. “Most of the guests ran up to the top of the building but we couldn’t reach them there. The crane could go only up to the 6th and 7th floors. So we moved them out through those two floors,” he said. “After we took the people out, we searched through the floors, and found two foreigners, one woman and one man, unconscious on the 7th floor. So we took them down and sent them to hospital.” The injured included 14 Russians, one Briton, two Thais and one Japanese, according to the Bangkok City Administration’s

Erawan emergency centre. The nationalities of the others were unknown. Author ities plan to take legal action against a Bangkok hotel where a major fire killed two foreign tourists and injured about 20 others, a local official said on Monday. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will file a complaint for police to take action against the hotel, said Viparat Chaiyanukit, Chief of Klong Toey District where the hotel is located. “Legal action will be taken against the hotel for violating construction laws,” Viparat told AFP. Ms Viparat said she could not provide details but reports said the hotel had previously requested permission to renovate car parks but instead constructed ballrooms. If found guilty, the hotel owner could face three months in jail or a B60,000 ($2,000) fine.

Jumbos celebrate their national day

Road bomb kills 4 soldiers Four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in the insurgency-torn deep south as they returned from protecting Buddhists at a religious fest ival, police said on Thursday (March 8). The bomb, which exploded late Wednesday in Ruso District of Narathiwat Province, also seriously wounded a fifth soldier and destroyed their jeep, said Pol Lt Srithanon Samlee. Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa described

the latest bombing as a “failure of tactics not strategy,” saying troops had been told not to take the same roads back to their barracks each day. He said that while there had been fewer attacks recently the severity of the incidents had increased. People in the region complain of a long history of discrimination against ethnic Malay Muslims by authorities in the Buddhist-majority nation, including alleged abuses by

the armed forces, which have a heavy presence. In a separate attack, a 42-year-old Muslim paramilitary ranger was killed by a bomb in neighbouring Pattani Province on Wednesday (March 7) while on patrol on his motorcycle, police said. Shortly afterwards security forces in the province clashed with six suspected militants, one of whom was killed in the gunfight, according to the authorities.

thephuketnews.com

REGIONAL NEWS

IN BRIEF Bangladesh ferry sinks: 32 dead, scores missing At least 32 people drowned whe n a fe r r y sa n k i n Bangladesh on Tuesday (March 13) with scores more bodies feared trapped inside the capsised vessel. Rescue workers began removing bodies from the ferry, which was hit by an oil barge in the middle of the Meghna river, 40 kilometres southeast of the capital Dhaka. Ab out 20 0 pa sse ngers were thought to be on the ferry, but the exact number was uncertain as manifest lists are seldom maintained properly and many travellers buy their tickets when on board. Boats are the main form of travel in its remote rural areas and accidents are common due to lax safety standards and overloading.

Malaysia minister’s husband charged with corruption A Malaysian court charged a cabinet minister’s husband with corruption on Monday, a day after the minister announced plans to resign in a scandal that has embarrassed the government. Women’s affairs minister Shahrizat Jalil announced Sunday that she would step down on April 8 following allegations her family used government funds for a cattle-rearing project to buy luxury apartments. Mohamad Salleh Ismail, chairman of the National Feedlot Corporation, pleaded not guilty to four charges including criminal breach of trust

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THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

sidered a threat to the Communist Party such as political dissidents, dozens of whom were detained last year. The bill was passed at the final session of the National People’s Congress, with 2,639 delegates voting in favour of the amendments. Only 160 lawmakers opposed the bill, and 57 abstained from the vote. The proposed amendments caused a storm of protest from rights groups and judicial reformers when details first emerged in 2011. A new clause in the latest draft would oblige police to inform relatives of those held outside formal detention centres within 24 hours of their detention, although it is not clear whether the

location would be disclosed. China uses three methods of locking up suspects - formal arrest, formal detention and “residential surveillance”, which can be at home or in other locations, usually hotels or guesthouses. In the first two cases, suspects are held in formal areas of detention such as prisons. The controversy focuses mainly on the latter, where there is little accountability and where critics say police may feel freer to use torture. The amended law for the first time includes a clause to allow police to hold some people under “residential surveillance” away from home for up to six months.

Controversial changes to China’s criminal law Agence France-Presse

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, pictured in June 2010. Photo: AFP

India starts to build Angkor Wat replica Agence France-Presse

A Hindu trust in India on Monday started a 10-year project to build a replica of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple on the banks of the Ganges. A fou nd at ion-lay i ng ceremony was held at the 16-hectare site in the eastern state of Bihar where the trust plans to recreate the temple’s huge structure and elaborate stone carvings. Organisers say they intend the new building to be the tallest Hindu temple in the world. The UNESCO-listed site in Cambodia contains the

remains of various capitals f rom the K hmer empire and is a major international tourist destination. The main temple was first dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu when it was built in the 12th century before later being used for Buddhist worship. “It will be a replica of Angkor Wat but the temple will be slightly taller than the original,” Kishore Kunal, secretary of the Bihar Mahavir Mandir Trust said. Kunal said the plan was to “recreate Angkor Wat’s grandeur and splendour” near the town of Hajipur.

C h i ne s e l aw m a ke r s o n Wednesday passed into law controversial changes that give the police powers to detain some suspects for up to six months in secret locations known as “black jails”. Detentions in unofficial locations such as hotels or guesthouses in China are welldocumented. Last year many people – including renowned artist Ai Weiwei – were illegally held in locations away from formal detention areas, sometimes for months. But critics say the amendments to China’s Criminal Procedure Law would legalise the practice for people con-

42 million displaced Agence France-Presse

Climate-related disasters have displaced more than 42 million people in Asia over the past two years, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday in a report calling for swift action to avert future crises. “Asia and the Pacific is the global area most prone to natural disasters, both in ter ms of the absolute number of disasters and of populations affected,” said Bangkokians were some of the millions displaced by the report launched in Bang- climate-related disasters in the past two years. Photo: AFP kok, which was itself affected T he ba n k s ays A sia as low-lying coastal zones” by flooding last year. has six of the 10 countries ADB vice president Bindu About 31.8 million people in the region were displaced most vulnerable to climate Lohani Lohani said. “Governments should not by climate-related disas- change, with Bangladesh and ters and extreme weather India in the top two places wait to act. By taking steps in 2010, including more than on a list that also includes now, they can reduce vulner10 million in Pakistan owing Nepal, the Philippines, Af- ability, strengthen resiliency, ghanistan and Myanmar. and use migration as an adto massive flooding. “The environment is be- aptation tool rather than let it A further 10.7 million were forced to flee their homes last coming a significant driver become an act of desperation.” The report is titled Addressyear, it said, warning that of migration in Asia and such events will become more the Pacific as the population ing Climate Change and Migrafrequent with climate change. grows in vulnerable areas, such tion in Asia and the Pacific.

THE PHUKET NEWS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

Former Ugandan child soldier backs viral video Agence France-Presse

A former child soldier at the heart of a viral campaign to bring accused Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony to justice said Friday he backed the video and urged people to watch it. “It’s a hard movie,” Jacob Acaye told ABC News about the 30-minute video that has garnered nearly 58 million viewers since Monday. “It brought back some memories... I still don’t know when will it end. The more time is ticking, the more people are dying. The more people are still suffering. The more people (are) being abducted.” The hashtag “#stopkony,” about the fugitive head of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group, has also surged on Twitter. The White House has p r a i se d t he ca mp a ig n , while a string of celebrities

A picture taken on November 12, 2006 of then leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Joseph Kony answering journalists’ questions in Southern Sudan. Photo: AFP have weighed in by tweeting links to the emotional video, “Kony2012,” and promoting the initiative by California-based non-profit group Invisible Children. In the film, Acaye – appearing as a 13-year-old boy – said he wants to die even

though he’s not with the LRA so that he could be reunited with his slain brother. At the age of 11, he was among 41 youths taken from a Ugandan village by Kony. “No one is taking care of us,” he says in the video. “We are not going to school.”

N o w 21, A c a y e i s studying to become a lawyer at Uganda’s Makerere University, a wish he had described in the video. At the time the film was shot, “I was like really, really invisible – like real meaning of invisible children,” he said.

“We are like the children who are not seen. Children who are not even knowing that they are suffering.” Acaye expressed support for the video, saying it was helping make people aware of Kony and his crimes. Born in 1988 from the fr ustrations against the government of Uganda’s marginalised Acholi ethnic group, the LRA has since dropped its national political agenda for the narrow objective of pillage and plunder. Kony, whose movement draws on messianic beliefs and a smattering of Christian motifs, is wanted by the International Criminal Court. The rebels currently number several hundred, a fraction of their strength at their peak but still include a core of hardened fighters infamous for mutilating civilians and abducting children to act as soldiers and sex-slaves.

Go ahead given in right-to-die case Agence France-Presse

A severely disabled British man who wants a doctor to be able to lawfully end his “intolerable” life can proceed with his court case, a judge ruled on Monday. The High Court in London ruled that Tony Nicklinson, who is paralysed from the neck down but whose mental faculties are unaffected, can continue his legal fight to ensure that a doctor who kills him would not face a murder charge. The Ministr y of Justice wanted the case to be struck out, arguing that only parliament can change the law on murder. Nicklinson, who suffers from locked-in syndrome following a stroke in 2005, has

described his life as “dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable”. The 57-year-old, from Wiltshire in south-west England, is forced to communicate by controlling a computer with eye movements. His paralysis is so severe that killing him would go beyond assisted suicide. Nicklinson’s wife Jane said there was “huge” public support for his campaign for a doctor to be able to lawfully end his life. “The only way to relieve Tony’s suffering will be to kill him. There is absolutely nothing else that can be done for him,” she said before the ruling. The couple met in 1984 in Dubai. He was a civil engineer, she a nurse. For the next 20

years they lived a comfortable expat life in the Middle East, Malaysia and Hong Kong, travelling extensively with their daughters, Lauren, now 25, and Beth, 23. Nicklinson was very active in the expat community, a big noise in the rugby world. He loved his beer and whisky, revelled in political debate and had an opinion about everything. He was just 51 when he suffered a stroke in June 2005 while in Athens on business. Doctors fought hard to save his life, something that Nicklinson now laments, because life as he had known it was destroyed. In the courts, Judge William Charles struck out only one part of Nicklinson’s claim on Monday, allowing most of the case to proceed.

The judge said Nicklinson did not have a realistic chance of persuading a court to declare that “existing domestic law and practice fail adequately to regulate the practice of active euthanasia”. “The reason for this is that the court should not engage in that debate because it is a matter for parliament,” the judge said, adding that the rest of the case could proceed. Jane Nicklinson said the family were “over the moon” at Villa Suksan is a q uie

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the ruling. “It’s no longer acceptable for 21st century medicine to be governed by 20th century attitudes to death.” “He doesn’t want to die tomorrow,” the former nurse said. “But he needs to know that when he can’t cope with life any more, that he has a way out. He says you can’t understand how terrible it is knowing that you have no way out.”

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IN BRIEF Encyclopaedia ends print run The Encyclopaedia Britannica will end print publication after 244 years and go “completely digital,” the Chicago-based company said Tuesday. The reference books were coveted as a “goalpost for an aspirational middle class” who often paid for the multivolume sets in installments in the 1950s and 1960s, the New York Times wrote in a glowing tribute to the end of an era.

Test-tube kitten born in US Several endangered black-footed cats have been born recently in the US and researchers say Crystal’s birth is the rarest – the first ever born from an embryo fertilised in a lab dish, frozen, and later implanted in a housecat’s womb. T h e b l a c k- f o o t e d cat is Africa’s smallest wildcat and one of the world’s smallest felines.

No party for Oscar winning Iranian director Authorities in Tehran cancelled a ceremony due to be held earlier this week in honour of an Iranian Oscar-winning director, eve n t houg h t he government had hailed his win as a triumph over a competitor from Israel. The event for Asghar Farhadi, whose f ilm, A Separation, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film last month, was abruptly scrapped after authorities denied permission.

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thephuketnews.com

10 LETTERS/VIEWPOINT

THE PHUKET NEWS

OPINION

Transsexual air hostesses

“In my heart, I always wanted to be a flight attendant but I was waiting for an opportunity,” said PC Air’s transsexual air hostess Chayathisa Nakmai, aged 24 > 11

Editor’s Viewpoint

NORACHAI’S WORLD

LAND GRAB

People who have been in Phuket for a while may recall the drive against bad land title deeds around eight years ago, when high-ranking officials clattered about the island in helicopters, gave tough-sounding press interviews and were photographed pointing at land deemed to have dubious titles. Accusations were made, a couple of arrests, and then the helicopters went away and life went on pretty much as usual. The chances seem greater this time that a real effort will be made to clean up the island’s land corruption. Just look at what happened after the same officials descended on Wang Nam Khiew, in Korat, and bulldozed resorts and homes built on land designated for agriculture only. In Phuket, however, a great deal more money is involved. In any country, large amounts of money have a way of twisting government probes. The xenophobic attitudes of the investigators aside, one sincerely hopes that they will stay faithful to the task; there is a lot that is messy and nasty

And that goes for land, too...

Letters to the editor Hit for six Well done to you and your team. Keep up the good work. Alan Cooke

Water mess Patong is improving every year. Merchants are beginning to take pride in the appearance of their shops, bars, and restaurants. The pavement in front of many is kept washed and brushed. Sadly, the river which winds its way through Patong is not nearly what it could be. This is a tidal river, rising and falling with each tide. This river could be developed as a landscaped, picturesque walkway with lighting and benches, but not when there is obviously a lot of sewage emptying into it. The stench at times is dreadful for hotels and restaurants

along this river. I have been told it was cleaned and a ban on dumping sewage in it was enforced but this has definitely not been maintained. The stench tells me there is a danger from disease and I am horrified knowing this river empties twice a day into Patong Bay where many tourists are swimming and walking through the sewage without realising the danger. I think it is important for many reasons to focus on who is breaking the law and emptying toilets etc. into this river. Dredge it and since the ocean flushes it twice a day it should soon be clear and an attractive addition to Patong. This is a priority improvement. Tim Devlin

Places of sanctuary I have been visiting Thailand for many years, volunteering

to help many of Thailand’s animals at two honest and excellent sanctuaries, the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) and the Elephant Nature Park (ENP). After all the circuses and disg usting elephant shows throughout Thailand, these two sanctuaries are a wonderful relief. All of the animals are cared for and treated for injuries caused by abuse by humans. Tourists do not like seeing elephants performing in circus shows or begging the the streets. It saddens them and makes them feel sick. These two sanctuaries are the only places I will visit in Thailand because they look after animals and the local Thai people that work there. Fern Demeo

Call to action [Re. Senate committee dis-

cusses Phuket transport woes] Perpetual inaction is the hallmark of the local government. This isn’t rocket science. Put some money and manpower into budgets to support some of these more worthwhile endeavours and stop wasting money on fancy signs, fountains and things that don’t actually improve the quality of life for visitors and residents, please. Here’s a nice way to start the clamp-down: the next time the tuk tuks block a road for some petty reason, call in the military and arrest them. Make a serious stand and please stop the endless chin music meetings that result in nothing at the end of the day. I dare say that most of us readers love Phuket and care for the island’s fate. That is why some of us complain. If I, for example, didn’t care, I certainly wouldn’t complain.

about land dealing in Phuket. The might of money has seen poor people thrown off land they have lived on for decades, with nowhere else to go. It has seen people threatened and, in some cases, shot when they got in the way of a deal. It has also seen a terrible toll taken on the environment, with water courses blocked, trees on hillsides being cleared – creating a very real danger of deadly mudslides and floods – and rocks raining on the heads of householders below. The current drive is limited to officials who have grabbed public land and, with the collusion of other corrupt officials, made the land “legitimate”. One hopes that eventually the government will also address a great deal more that is rotten in the bureaucracy, particularly the issuing of permits when none should be granted. That would bring on a great deal more bulldozing. And that, in the end, has to be a good thing, deterring the greedy and encouraging the honest who want to see a fair and level playing field for all.

This week in history Please, fix these problems. They’re already way out of hand. Dave

Time to get serious about Phuket crime [Re. Gang’s victims ‘may number more than 100’] If Phuket is serious about being an international tourist destination, law and order needs to be enforced and career criminals need to be deterred by making example of these type by enforcing the the law to the same extent that it is enforced for similar crime in any major foreign community. The reality is these type don’t give a s*** because the crimes committed against foreigners are considered part of life here. Phuket has become a dangerous place. JG

Letters may be edited for clarity or length. Email editor@thephuketnews.com or fax 076 612 553. Please include your full name, phone number, and email address.

thephuketnews.com

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

■■ March 16, 1872 – The Wanderers FC won the first FA Cup, beating Royal Engineers AFC 1-0 at The Oval in London. ■■ March 17, 1959 – Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India. ■■ March 18, 1990 – In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around US$300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. ■■ March 19, 1954 – Willie Mosconi sets a world record by running 526 consecutive balls without a miss. The record still stands. ■■ March 20, 1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity. ■■ March 21, 1980 – US President Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. ■■ March 22, 1993 – Intel ships first Pentium chips, featuring 60 MHz speed.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FEATURE 11

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

TRANSSEXUAL THAI AIR HOSTESSES: GIMMICK OR EQUALITY? With her crisp uniform, immaculate makeup and hair swept up, Mew looks like any other air hostess, but she’s one of four transsexuals blazing a trail in the skies.

Agence France-Presse

ledgling Thailandbased car r ier PC Air has hired four transgender cabin crew in a highly publicised recruitment drive that has divided opinion over whether the move is in the spirit of equality or exploitation. “I like a job where I can show my ability and I love to wear beautiful suits,” said Phuntakarn Sringern, better known by her nickname Mew, embarking last Friday on the airline’s first commercial flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong. “This is just like my dream come true, and maybe this is a first step for transladies, transgenders, to have a good job in the future,” the 25-year-old said. In their neat black uniform and fiery orange scarves, Mew and her colleagues ushered passengers to their seats, demonstrated safety features and filled coffee cups – offering little indication that they were any different from the other air hostesses on the flight. Some passengers, perhaps having seen PC Air’s advertising, asked the transsexual cabin crew to pose for pictures with them, but many seemed unaware there was any thi ng u nusual about the flight attendants. “Oh, I did not hear before about it,” said Bay, a Thai passenger. “They look really beautiful, and they are really nice... it’s pretty cool.” Thailand has a culture of tolerance on issues of sexual orientation and gender, and “katoeys”, as transsexuals are known in the kingdom,

are considered a “third sex” in their own right. In spite of this, more conservative elements of society find it hard to accept, with some families sending their children to monasteries to be “re-educated” and transsexuals struggling to find work in many areas. “In my heart, I always want ed to be a flight attendant but I was waiting for an opportunity,” said air hostess Chayathisa Nakmai, aged 24. But until now “every airline is open only for men and women, transgender is not accepted”. PC Air's initiative is being welcomed by some activists, who applaud its efforts to offer a chance of ordinary work to transgender people. The company “helps promote a positive image of Thai transsexuals, beyond certain stereotypes”, said transgender advocate Prempreeda Pramoj Na Ayutthaya. But others are sceptical about the motives of the company, which has actively sought to publicise its recruitment drive. “ T hey u se t he z a ny, outrageous, bizarre side of transsexuals,” said Yollada Krerkkong Suanyot, president of Thailand’s TransFemale Association of Thailand. “This emphasises the way that society has regarded these people as if they were strange, special, bizarre. Come see them, these are stewardesses!”. Budd hist Thailand is spared from the “weight of the Judeo-Christian sexual repression”, but had in the past been influenced by some Western ideas that presented transsexuals as

I BELIEVE IT’S “MY WAY” Transsexual fight attendant Phuntakarn Sringern works onboard a Thai PC Air flight between Bangkok and Hong Kong. Fledgling Thailand-based carrier PC Air has hired four transgender cabin crew in a highly publicised recruitment drive that has divided opinion over whether the move is in the spirit of equality or exploitation. Photo: AFP “mentally disordered”, said Sam Winter, a psychologist and gender specialist at the University of Hong Kong. The result is “a practical and bureaucratic intolerance” towards a group of nearly 180,000 people, he says. With few avenues for employment, growing numbers of Thai transsexuals are moving into sex work as a way to make money and for a “rare chance to affirm their identity

as women”, said Mr Winter. Despite their sex change operation, the law does not recognise Mew, and her transsexual colleagues as women – a situation that forces PC Air to contact the destination country in advance, to avoid trouble at immigration gates. PC Air cur rently has three planes and will operate charter flights from Bangkok to Hong Kong and other Asian destinations.

T he compa ny’s boss Peter Chan, who lent his initials to the airline, is proud of being a “pioneer”. He denies any intention to use the transsexual crews as a marketing ploy and highlights reasons of the “heart” and “human rights” to justify the policy. “It was never about money,” the eccentric 48-year-old told AFP, before embarking on a rendition of My Way by Frank

Sinatra as if to prove his point. The slogan is also painted on the company’s aircraft: “I believe it’s ‘my way’”. Mew, who had sex change surgery two years ago, is now hoping that others will follow in the company’s footsteps, in the air and elsewhere. “Maybe in the future,” she said, “all transladies, all transgenders could get a job like a flight attendant or be prime minister.”

thephuketnews.com

12 BUSINESS/TOURISM

THE PHUKET NEWS

BUSINESS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

Aloft scales new heights

Starwood’s new Bangkok hotel gives old guard run for their money > 14

business@thephuketnews.com

Zecha hotel chain offers free nights for agents

To mark its 20th anniversary, GHM Hotels, the hotel management company of Aman Resor ts fou nder Ad r ian Zecha, is offering complimentar y nights to travel agent partners at all seven of its properties worldwide. Any of GHM’s travel agent partners can call on any of the GHM properties for a single, complimentary night’s stay from now until the end of the year. This special travel agent offer will also include a menu of speciallypriced stays in GHM suites and villas for additional nights. Travel agents who take

GHM up on its offer and who submit a written account of their on-site experience are eligible to win an additional two free nights at any GHM property. GHM will award one such prize every two months throughout 2012. Winners have a year in which to redeem their free stays. One lucky agent will receive a 20-day free pass to any of GHM’s boutique properties worldwide. The winner can use the free nights in any combination of stays at any of the GHM properties within the space of 20 months. Stays will be limited to five nights at any

one property (three at Setai). The seven properties are the Nam Hai Hoi An in Vietnam; Setai South Beach in Miami, USA; Legian Bali in Indonesia; The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah Ubud on Bali; The Chedi Chiang Mai in Thailand; The Chedi Muscat in Oman; and The Strand Yangon in Myanmar. Travel agents can book the 20th anniversary special by contacting any of GHM’s worldwide sales offices to obtain a promotional code, which can then be used to facilitate direct online bookings with GHM or with direct bookings to the hotel.

The Strand Yangon, Myanmar – one of GHM Hotels’ seven classy properties worldwide.

No more flood chaos Flying safety records getting ever – Yingluck’s vow better – IATA Agence France-Presse

Seeking to reassure investors during a trip to Japan, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has pledged that floods would “never again” disrupt business in the kingdom. The premier said she had ordered the establishment of schemes to help companies get back on their feet from the disaster that knocked businesses sideways last year. “I have reaffirmed to the Japanese government and business leaders that the Royal Thai Government is committed to ensuring that the devastation caused by such disasters will never happen again,” she told reporters in Tokyo during a joint press conference with her Japanese opposite number.

Never again: Rojana industrial park in Ayuthaya at the height of last year’s floods. “[The government] has expedited assistance to affected factories in order to rehabilitate their operations as soon as possible,” she said, adding it had created a fund to subsidise disaster insurance.

As many as 10 per cent of Japanese companies in Thailand said they were considering leaving the country in the wake of the flooding, which crimped supply chains and hammered profits.

We believe that the success of a project is essentially based on a serious management

liberto@construction-thailand.com

The Government has since launched a charm offensive as it seeks to reassure investors that the Kingdom remains a good place to do business. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Thailand and Japan, which mark the 125th year of diplomatic relations this year, share the same basic values and remain strategic partners

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According to IATA, the 2011 accident rate for Westernbuilt jets was the lowest in aviation history, better than the previous record low, set just the previous year. The 2011 global accident rate (measured in hull losses p e r m i l l i o n f l ig h t s of Western-built jets) was 0.37, the equivalent of one accident every 2.7 million flights. This represented a 39-percent improvement compared with 2010, when the accident rate was 0.61, or one accident for every 1.6 million flights. A hull loss is an accident in which the aircraft is destroyed or substantially damaged and is not later repaired for whatever reason, including a financial decision by the owner. “Safety is the air transport industry’s number one priority,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “It is also a team effort. The

Hotline : 086 666 8448

entire stakeholder community – airlines, airports, air navigation service providers and safety regulators – works together every day to make the skies safer, based on global standards. “As a result, flying is one of the safest things that a person could do.”

Key numbers: 2.8 billion people f lew safely on 38 million flights (30 million by jet, eight million by turboprop). 11 hull-loss accidents involved Western-built jets, compared with 17 in 2010. 92 total accidents (all aircraft types, Eastern- and Western-built) a small drop from 94 in 2010. Five fatal hull loss accidents involving Western-built jets, down from eight in 2010. 22 fatal accidents (all aircraft types) versus 23 in 2010. 486 deaths compared with 786 in 2010. Fatality rate dropped to 0.07 per million passengers from 0.21 in 2010, based on Western-built jet operations. Dragging down the global average were deteriorating figures in the former Soviet countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and North Africa. Although Africa improved dramatically, from 7.41 to 3.27 in 2010, it was still the worstperforming region.

I QUIT THE PHUKET NEWS

BUSINESS/TOURISM 13

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

TTR Weekly

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) President, A kapol Sorasuchart, announced his resignation on Tuesday (March 6), saying he was leaving at the end of the month. He sent his resignation letter to the TCEB’s board on Febr uar y 29, without giving a reason. But during his tenure of two years and five months, his str uggle to preser ve the agency’s independence i n t he face of polit ical interference was widely reported in Thai media. “There are existing problems that prompted me to resign. However, I want the agency to move ahead particularly with its bid to host World Expo 2020.” “Early next year, officials from the Bureau of International Expositions will visit Thailand to check the country’s readiness, particularly in terms of planning and infrastructure to host such a large event,” he explained. Ayuthaya, the proposed site in Thailand, must compete with Izmir in Turkey, Yekaterinburg in Russia, Sao Paolo in Brazil and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. “My resignation should not have a major impact on the bid because it has already been put on the national agenda,” he said. The official announcement on the winning venue will take place in June next year. Mr Akapol called on the Government and the Foreign Ministry to lobby the 158 members of the BIE. He said he found it hard to work on the project. During his tenure, the agency was allocated a B100 million

TCEB chief resigns, citing ‘existing problems’ in agency

budget, but this was reduced by B20 million during last year’s f lood crisis, before being scrapped altogether. One of the BIE’s criteria is that the event must be accepted by local people. The B100 million budget was supposed to raise awareness of the project among Thais so that they could get to know about the World Expo and the potential benefits of hosting it. He also confirmed that the Formula 1 project was transferred to Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ Sports Authority of Thailand even though it was “my idea.” “Actually, the project’s framework was completed by the bureau and is now at the discussion stage with Red Bull GmbH owner, Chalerm Yoovidhya, who is negotiating with the copyright holders.” He said there was no firm decision on whether a B2 billion would be approved to bring the event to Thailand. Mr Akapol claimed he was worried about TCEB’s independence and disagreed with the decision to place it under the supervision of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Local newspapers conjectured that Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa would ask his daughter, Kanchana Silpa-archa, or his son, Warawut Silpa-archa, to take up the top TCEB post.

What effect all this manoeuv r ing will have on Phuket remains to be seen. The TCEB announced earlier in the week that it would sell Phuket as a top MICE city to draw more event visitors this year. The bureau estimated its latest campaign could supply around 35,000 visits by year end for the country’s events business. Mr Akapol said negative economic factors in the United States and Eurozone pushed the bureau to concentrate on Asia and Oceania markets to balance the shortfall. “Last year, Thailand’s MICE industry started to suffer from the economic downturn in Europe and the United St ates, plu s t here were heavy floods that added to the industry’s woes.” Eurozone markets are not producing travel bookings on the scale needed to maintain growth for Thailand’s travel industry. This was evident at the ITB this week where the business response was muted. In the US, fuel surcharges and related taxes are increasing and the up-coming presidential elections are dampening the mood to travel, along with a serious pinch in discretionary spending. Mr Akapol added: “This year, our marketing activities will focus on conventions and incentive travel in short-haul markets such as South Asia, East Asia, and Oceania.” I n 2 012 , T C E B e xpects 35,000 MICE visitors from Oceania and generate B2,200 million compared to 33,000 visitors circulated B2,000 million in 2011. To t a p t h e O c e a n i a market, the bu reau will promote Phuket as a high-end MICE destination.

Head turner: The Persching 92, the largest powerboat on display at Pimex 2012.

Pimex returns ‘bigger and better’ The ninth Phuket International Boat Show (Pimex) takes place from March 29 to April 1 at the same venue as last year, the Royal Phuket Marina. Pimex has the largest inwater boat display in Asia. Over 50 boats from leading brands from around the world will be on display, from “uber-luxe” multi-million-dollar superyachts to power boats, sailing yachts, tenders and dinghies. “The boat brands you see in Monaco, Cannes, and in Fort Lauderdale, you will find

here at Pimex,” says Pimex Show Director Andy Dowden. “The largest boat on display this year is a 92-foot powerboat, and the smallest a little over 20 foot. And there is everything in between – different sizes, specifications, prices, power and sail,” he says. Visitors to Pimex last year came from more than 15 countries, with a good number from outside of Asia. Russia was a big market in 2011 and is expected to be a growth market this year. “This year we have stra-

tegically targetted Russian visitors and are expecting an increase in this segment, together with our perennially strong visitor markets of Singapore, Hong Kong and expatriates in the region,” says Mr Dowden. On land, the Exhibition Hall at the marina will be full of the latest gadgets, boating toys, marine and lifestyle products and services, as well as a selection of property available on the island. For more information, visit www.phuketboatshow.com.

Budget line Thai Smile set to take off in July Moving into the low-budget sector, Thai Airways’ has announced that its new low-cost subsidiary, THAI Smile, is expected to take-off from July this year. With its first flight set to take off on July 1, the carrier’s initial services will include flights from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Kaohsiung, Shenzhen, Macau and Surabaya, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation reported. Hoping to receive additional aircraft for its fleet from June this year, the carrier said it will also add flights from Phuket to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Chiang Mai. The airline will have a total of up to 11 aircraft in its fleet by 2015.

Thai AirAsia to list on SET 995

FROM ONLY THB

AirAsia, Asia’s biggest budget air carrier, hopes to raise up to US$200 million (B6 billion) by listing its Thai unit on t he St o ck Exch a nge of Thailand by the second quarter of this year, a company official said on March 8. “We hope to raise up to US$200 million through our initial public offering (IPO). It will be used for expansion and the purchase of aircraft,” said Aireen Omar, AirAsia’s head of corporate finance. “We hope to list in the second quarter of

this year.” She said an application to list 750 million shares on the Thai bourse had been submitted to authorities in Thailand last month. A i rAsia ha s g row n rapidly since former record industry executive Tony Fernandes bought the failing airline in 2001. Its route system now covers many countries in Asia and beyond, and the company has set up subsidiaries in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and is planning another one to

serve Japan’s budget market. The company first announced in late 2010 that it planned to list Thai AirAsia by the end of 2011 but the plan was delayed because of adverse market conditions. In December, AirAsia also said that it would postpone the listing of its Indonesian unit until sometime in 2012 due to the global economic downturn. Thai AirAsia currently serves several cities in Thailand with a f leet of two dozen aircraft.

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14 BUSINESS/PROPERTY

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

PG looks to codesharing to expand its network Bangkok Airways has said that its priority this year is to increase frequency on existing routes, while expanding its network through codeshare opportunities. Last year the airline added three destinations in South Asia – Mumbai, Bangalore and Dhaka. This year, it will start a Samui-Kuala Lumpur route and a nonstop Bangkok-Lampang service. It is also looking to increase flights on trunk routes and work on codeshares with new partners to feed traffic to its domestic network. Bangkok Airways President, Puttipong PrasarttongOsoth, said, “We are very active this year. Our priority is to add frequency on many of our domestic and international routes that show high demand. We are working with more airlines to codeshare and strengthen Bangkok Airways’ network. However, we will have to adapt our strategies to the global economic situation and fuel prices.” The airline reported recently a B1.22 billion profit, soaring 56.7 per cent from B778 million in 2010. The carrier carried 3,089,088 passengers, a 16.5 per cent increase over 2,651,323 in 2010. For 2012, it expects to see B1.6 billion profit (33 per cent increase) with 3.6 million passengers (16 per cent increase). “Thailand’s tourism this year seems promising as long as the political scene is stable. We can get back on our feet fairly quickly after a crisis and Thailand is a destination that remains popular. We are confident we can grow business in 2012,” Mr Puttipong said. From March 25, Bangkok Airways will add an extra flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Phuket increasing

thephuketnews.com

to six and seven daily flights. Also on the same day, it will commence 12 weekly direct-f lights between Bangkok and Lampang. From March 31 , it will commence a regional daily service from Samui to Kuala Lumpur, which the airline expects about 60 per cent load factor. It will also increase the Samui-Hong Kong service from daily to 10 flights a week. On codeshares, the carrier is working closely with Malaysian Ai rli nes and hopes to launch codeshare flights for the summer schedule. In January, the carrier launched codeshare flights with Finnair. Other codeshare partners include Thai Airways International, Etihad Airways, KLM, Air France, EVA Air, Air Berlin and Silk Air. Regarding routes to South Asia that were introduced last year, Mr Puttipong said passenger uplift to and from Mumbai, Bangalore and Dhaka had improved steadily. “We are looking at Delhi once we gain traffic rights from the authorities. This could happen in time for the winter schedule 2013 when new planes join the fleet,” he said. This year PG will receive one A319 in March and two A320s – one in October and another in December. Currently, Bangkok Airways serves seven domestic routes: Chiang Mai, Lampang, Sukhothai, Pattaya (U-Tapao), Trat, Phuket, Samui and Krabi and eleven international routes: Hong Kong, Singapore, Luang Prabang, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Yangon, Maldives, Dhaka, Mumbai, Bengaluru And Kuala Lumpur. The fleet consists of 18 aircrafts (eight ATRs, three Airbus A320s and seven Airbus A319s).

The relaxed lounge of the Aloft Bangkok on Sukhumvit 11 is equipped with comfortable and colourful bean bags.

The rise and rise of the ‘design’ hotel Scott Gorsuch Design Matters

Ian Schrager invented the “Design Hotel” in 1984. Eager to branch out from the nightclub business, Mr Schrager and Studio 54 partner Steve Rubell – both fresh out of prison terms for tax evasion – bought the Executive Hotel in New York City for US$60,000 (B1.8 million). They hired a then littleknown and eccentric French interior designer by the name of Andrée Putman and renovated the joint, using a combination of high style and small money. A shocking departure from the norm (guestrooms were hung with Robert Mapplethorpe photos), the project – rechristened Morgans – was an instant success. Mr Schrager followed this four years later with two more hotels – the Paramount and the Royalton – this time using another eccentric French designer, then also little-known, by the name of Philippe Starck. A genre was born and the duo followed in short order with Hudsons, the Delano, and the Mondrian. Suddenly, so-called design hotels were

all the rage and no one with any sense of style wanted to stay in a Hilton or Holiday Inn ever again. Eve n pat ron s who could afford the Ritz were drawn to these fashionable and trendy new hotels. The formula, by the way, was fairly simple, even if the execution was not. Buy an old hotel with small rooms, focus on quirky but good design rather than faux opulence, and spend your money on the public spaces. These early hotels were noted for moody and mysteriously-lit hallways that felt like nightclubs, pop art furniture in the rooms, and art installations in the lobby. Trendy bars and restaurants, rather than standard hotel dining fare, completed the picture and made these properties destinations in and of themselves. (LA’s Mondrian was famous for selling out on weekends to Los Angelinos who lived only a few miles away but who booked a room because that was the only way to gain sure entrance to the hotel’s vaunted Sky Bar.) Of course the rest of the story is predictable: Hundreds

and then thousands of copycats, most of them dismal failures from a design perspective. There aren’t many Andrée Putmans or Philippe Starcks around, at least not willing to work on your budget hotel. Li me g reen pai nt on the wall and cheap plastic furniture does not a design hotel make. It also did not take the corporate hotel guys long to wake up and see that someone else was eating their lunch. People actually wanted to stay in small independent hotels – international brands be damned. And so the corporatisation of the boutique hotel was probably inevitable. Starwood was first, and has arguably been the most successful, with its W brand. Well-designed and exceedingly fashionable, W has hit the sweet spot with an affluent design and conscious urban demographic. It is possible to stay there and actually pretend that you are not sleeping with the same international brand that owns Sheraton. On a roll, and eager to corner the market on another demographic – the not so hip and not so wealthy but still not boring urban traveller – the corporate trend setters at Starwood have brought us another first: The mega 3-star design hotel. Dubbed “Aloft” (rhymes with Zoloft), these cheap and cheerful behemoths are actually being touted as “A Vision of W Hotels”. Well, maybe if your vision is blurry. The locations are not as glamorous – Bogota airport just opened, downtown Tulsa coming soon – and the rates are a lot less, but the quotient is long on fun.

Aloft Bangkok is deep in Sukhumvit Soi 11, directly across from Bed Supper Club. This hotel has a lot going for it. The lobby and other public spaces feature a lot of polished concrete and exposed mechanical ducts in the ceiling, but the lighting design is first-class, the furniture stylish and comfortable, and colour is well used. A 24-hour deli is central to the lobby lounge area, a novel idea that works well. Sala d s a nd sa ndw iche s are ready made, and along with fruit and soft drinks, can be bought there and taken direct to your room. Beanbag chairs, a pool table, PlayStation consoles, and plenty of big screen TV monitors make the common area feel more like a family room than a hotel. Glass stairs, hanging bubble chairs, and a Vespa scooter in the lobby complete the look. A bar on the mezzanine level has a Spaceship Enterprise feel, and the conference centre features video games in case your business meeting is excruciatingly boring. Much of the design is predictable, and yes, it feels a bit “corporate hip”, but it is all well done and the look certainly beats most threestar chains by a mile. Ian Schrager and Philippe Starck it ain’t, but someone had to bring design to the masses. In 2014, a branch will open in our own Patong. Scott Gorsuch is Principal, Leisure Design Group, a Phuke t - ba sed de sign de ve lopme nt a nd proj ect management company. He can be reached at sg@leisuredesigngroup.com.

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16 ART

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

CULTURE

BIG LIST: Angry animals > 20

culture@thephuketnews.com

KNOW WHERE THIS IS? GUESS RIGHT AND WIN!

GERRY’S view

THIS WEEK’S HINT: “This very large, yellow dog doesn’t bark or bite and he has been submitted to the ignominy of having his nose broken off by vandals. Big Boy, as I like to call him, has been a fixture in a park beside the sea in Phuket’s most popular tourist town, seen by thousands of tourists and locals alike over the past several years. If Big Boy was alive, he would sometimes hear the shouts of young boys and men as they played football on the pitch across the street”. –Gerry Cummings

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Congratulations go to Rhodri Whitehead, who correctly guessed that last week’s photo was of the Daritihart Mosque located besides route 402 that takes you off and on the island. The large mosque is a distinctive green colour, about two kilometres from Thalang in the Koh Khao area on the west side of the highway.

Painting pictures of perfect bodies Norachai Thavisin editor3@thephuketnews.com

thephuketnews.com

Baan Wana Park, 177/22 Moo.4, Srisoonthorn Road, Thalang, 076 620 071, designedbywoulfe.com.

Dream Gallery

Boat Lagoon, 23/122 Thepkasattri Rd, Koh Kaew, 076 273 487, gallery@asiansourcingallery.com, thedreamgallery.asia.

I Mon Art Gallery:

29/2 Phang Nga Rd, Phuket Town, 086 961 8968, montian_29@live.com. Open daily 8am-7.30pm.

Little Monk Gallery:

95/33 Saiyuan Rd, Naiharn, 086 294 3971.

om Luang Tridhosyuth Devakul, better known simply as Mom Tri, does not have far to walk to the opening of his new exhibition of paintings, Bodies on the beach – held at his own VR Gallery. When the owner of Mom Tri’s Villa Royale and Mom Tri’s Kitchen, on the low headland overlooking Kata Bay, is in Phuket, he stays at his cliff-side house at the resort with a spectacular view, which is only a few steps from the new gallery and coffee shop, opened at the same time as the exhibition. The ever-affable artistarchitect-developer, who is now 70, was surrounded by friends and well-wishers, clicking celebratory glasses of wine, at the opening on the evening of last Friday March 9. Celebrants were su rrounded by brightly-coloured paintings of mainly muscular men in brief beachwear, just like the countless swimmers the painter has observed on

PHUKET GALLERIES

Nakonnai Art Museum:

84/34 Moo7, Soi Saiyuan 2, Rawai. 085 974 7218, nakonnaiartmuseum@yahoo.com.

Red Gallery:

Phuket Art Village, Soi Naya 2, Rawai, 087 323 321, redgallerythai@yahoo.com; phuketredgallery.com.

Sarasil Art Galllery:

121 Phang Nga Rd, Phuket Town, 076 224 532, somkiatkaewnok@yahoo.com; oilpaintingsphuket.com. Open daily 8pm-9pm.

The Love Art Studio: From left: Mom Tri, his wife Tam, and friends at the opening of his new VR Gallery.

28/13 Soi Naya 2, Naiharn, 089 471 5653, pui.t.l.a.s.@hotmail.com; theloveartstudio.com.

The One Gallery:

53 Srisoonthorn Rd, Cherng Talay, 083 634 6840, inone_111@yahoo.com. Open daily 11am-9pm.

Veerachan Usahanun:

110/34 Cherng Talay, Bang Tao Beach Rd, 081 490 4359, usahanun@live.com; veerachanusahanun.com.

Vichen Gallery Bzenter

Behind Da Vinci Restaurant, Saiyuan Rd, Rawai, 087 890 3722. Open daily 3-9 pm. (Telephone to view before 3pm.)

VR Gallery & Coffee Shop the little Kata Noi Beach over the years. Under the bluest of Phuket skies, the bodies are running, swimming, and splashing with pure hedonistic joie de vivre, as if on our island’s

beaches, most of their worldly cares have been washed away by the turquoise waves. The art is then a logical extension of Phuket’s resort and holiday-house lifestyle. Mom Tri obviously enjoys

painting, playfully breaking the bodies into attractive, semi-abstract patterns, perhaps in the way that the human-body topography can be viewed from this lofty, hillside perch.

Next to Mom Tri’s Villa Royale, 12 Kata Noi Rd, Kata Noi, 076 333 568; art@momtriphuket.com, momtriphuket.com.

Watcharin Art Studio:

27 Yaowaraj Rd, Phuket Town, 088 386 1449, watcharintinorodnit@hotmail.com, rindamagicalart.com.

Wua Gallery and Studio:

1 Phang Nga Rd, Phuket Town, 076 258 208, wua.artgallery@gmail.com; wua-artgallery.blogspot.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS

PEOPLE 17

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

LEGALLY SPEAKING

EVERYDAY PEOPLE

Jerrold Kippen Partner in Duensing Kippen law firm

What were you doing before you moved here? I lived on Samui for five years as a partner in a Thailand law firm. Before that I lived and worked for another law firm in Bangkok for three years. Before that I lived for two years on the island of Guam where I was the assistant lawyer (“law clerk”) to the U.S. Federal District Court Chief Judge there. Before that I was attending law school in San Francisco, California. Why and when did you move to Phuket? Almost two years ago, to set up my own law firm’s Phu ket off ice (our head office is in Bangkok). Tell us about your job. I am a licensed California attorney running a law firm in Thailand. Have you ever seen Batman? It’s like that. What is the best thing about living here? Plent y of v illai ns, so I never get bored.

Exposed What do you do to relax? Hot yoga and kitesurfing.

At your service

What is your favourite childhood memory? Driving my mother’s sports car on Interstate 90 at 2am. Favourite food or dish? Carne asada burrito with guacamole, pizza, gai phat prik pao, Double Double Animal Style burger from In-N-Out, enchilada, Burtoni’s pesto sauce on spinach linguine with black olives and pepper jack cheese, spaghetti with my homemade sauce, tacos, and a lot of other food that is not British. Who is the person you admire the most and why? Voldermort because he was the one whose name shall not be mentioned. Where in Phuket would you take someone on a first date?

Norachai Thavisin editor3@thephuketnews.com

Kippen enjoys hot yoga, kitesurfing, and half-price beer. Preferably their place but if not available, mine. Favourite place on the island, and why? Inside the airport because it is the one place on the island where you do not have to deal with the tuk tuks and taxis.

What's your favourite night out? Khun [you fill in the name]’s birthday party where the chao pat is free and beer is half price… wait is that a serious question, isn’t that just about every Phuket expat’s favourite night out?

Waiter Sarawut Nardkham pours wine from an extra large bottle, which has come all the way from France, into the glasses of guests dining at the Centara Grand Resort’s Mare Restaurant. Handling the awkwardsized bottle with the utmost skill, Sarawut pours the wine expertly to the halfglass level without spilling a drop on the tablecloth. He then stands back and watches with satisfaction as dinners tuck into fine French food, served to go alongside the French wine

being promoted. In the plush kitchen behind him, alluring aroma spreads from the long range of stoves, glinting with copper, as the next course is carefully arranged on large white plates. Moving from his Isarn home to work in Phuket some seven years ago, Sarawut has not looked back. He says he enjoys his job, having worked at three other Phuket resorts before starting at this one recently. He says the staff are friendly and the training good. Meeting diners from around the world has been a real education for him.

HEALTH

What you need to eat to stay young The next time you order pad Thai, ask for another handful of those tasty mung bean sprouts, which contain some of the best auxinon foods.

RAW TRUTH Richard Cracknell culture@thephuketnews.com

We are all trying to push our ‘expiration dates’ back a bit, in other words, live a bit longer. As well as regular exercise, the question always asked is: “What do I eat to stay young?” As it tur ns out, there are actually foods that can keep you young. I just read an article called ‘Make Cells Grow Younger’ by Dr Brown Landone. In it, he recounted the nutritional effects of enzymes, something raw foodists have always known. Dr Landone reports on animal experimentation: “Experiments were done on old rats, the age which corresponded to 90 years of a human life.” They were fed ‘immature’ food, that is, food that has not finished growth, sprouting new stems and leaves. The results were unbelievable; the old rats were transformed, their bodies growing younger. At about the same time other scientists discovered a root-auxin in plant roots. When they extracted this

auxin from the tips of young growing roots, and pasted it on the edge of a leaf, roots grew even on the edge of a leaf. Thus the ‘miracle’ of auxinon foods; they induce growth after their own kind

of activity. A root auxin will grow roots and a youth auxinon will grow youthful cells. There is something in the chemical substances of a young growing auxinon which, when you eat it as

food, makes the cells of your body reproduce younger cells instead of the same old cells. “The best auxinon foods are produced in mung bean sprouts,” Dr Landone says. The research is yet another scientific discovery that supports the raw/living food lifestyle. So the next time you order pad Thai, ask for another handful of those tasty mung bean sprouts. Or go down to the Living Food Café, in Nai Harn, where most everything is made with raw sprouted foods.

■■ Dr Richard Cracknell ND, PhD is a traditional naturopath. He runs the Living Food Cafe raw vegan restaurant in Nai Harn. More info: 076 388 638; livingfoodcafe.com

The opinions and advice contained in this column are those of the author only. The Phuket News is not responsible for the outcome or results of following any advice in any situation.

thephuketnews.com

18 EDUCATION

THE PHUKET NEWS

Students perform a graceful dance from the south.

The Kathu campus opens.

Students get ready for a parade on opening day.

A student represents Brunei.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

The student drama group begins its play.

Kajonkiet takes the next step Norachai Thavisin editor3@thephuketnews.com

It was bright and early on a sunny Thursday (March 8) when the spacious new campus of the Kajonkietsuksa School opened its gate for the first time. School Director Thidaporn Laoviseskul, Manager Perkiat Ketkul, students, foreign and Thai teachers formed a welcoming corridor at the entrance to the school to welcome parents to the three days of the open-school. Phuket Vice-Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak arrived to officially open the school. Some speakers at the ceremony remembered the small beginnings of the private school, founded in 1954 by Khun Chai Ketkul, with the support of Luang Kajon Lohavej. In 1964, a two-storey wooden house was redesigned

Kajonkiet

International School Phuket

pting e c c A nts stude now

to be used as classrooms. In 1986 the school’s ownership was passed on to Khun Pravit Laoviseskul and later, in 1995, to Khun Thidaporn Laoviseskul, who is still the school’s director now. In the open central atrium, decorated with flags of ASEAN countries, mingled senior students who were colourfully dressed in national costumes of the member countries. The message is clear that the English-language programme of the school wishes to help students to graduate with the English-language skills they would need to compete with other Southeast Asian workers when ASEAN borders open in 2015. Kindergarten 1 teacher Eniko Kovacs, from Hungary, said she loved the new classroom that her class was already using. It is new and spacious and there is even a shallow

pool where her students can cool down in and learn the basics of swimming, she said. The new campus of the school is situated off Pra Phuket Kaew Rd in Kathu. Construction workers had paused for that morning on the substantial building behind that will provide more class rooms, a swimming pool and covered playing areas for futsal, basketball and tennis. Eventually around 2,000 students will use the new campus that will house the Kajonkiet International School (KISP) and the English-programme part of the school. The original Chao Fa Rd campus will continue to teach the Thai-language programme. Students danced graceful southern dances on the stage after the opening speeches. The drama group then took to the stage for Hansel and Gretel, acted out in English.

MAD AS HATTERS: On February 29, Phuket International Kindergarden and School celebrated Crazy Hat Day. Pictured above are just some of the hats that were worn.

“Creating strong minded individuals who will become leaders in tomorrow’s international community.”

• British National Curriculum • Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stages 1 & 2 • Morning and afternoon sessions available for Pre-nursery and Nursery

please contact us for further information

082-4250104 (English) | 089-6527599 (Thai & English) e-mail ip@kajonkietsuksa.ac.th | http://international.kajonkietsuksa.ac.th

thephuketnews.com

Director Thidaporn Laoviseskul accepts a gift from Jason Beavan of The Phuket News.

Night bazaar at Thanyapura An evening of food and fun is happening tonight at Thanyapura Night Bazaar from 4pm-9pm. There will be arts and crafts, live music from The FUZZtonez, and fresh produce from Pura Organic.

Students from Phuket International Academy Day School (PIADS) are set to perform, including the Grade 1-3 Choir, Girls Vocal Ensemble, recitals by piano scholar Chanon and vocal scholar Olivia, and The UtoPIADS pop band.

Thanyapura’s DiVine Restaurant joins in the fun with a Coconut Carnival buffet (B780pp) from 6.30pm-10pm. ■■ Entrance is free . See thanyapura.com/th/event/ thanyapura-night-bazaar.

THE PHUKET NEWS

PETS 19

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

A MAGNIFICENT BREED YOUR BREED

Jackie Perry culture@thephuketnews.com

The origin of The Dobermann is very well known as it is a “manufactured” breed. Dogcatcher Louis Doberman, who also worked as a official at the tax office in Apolda, Germany, decided in the year 1880 to breed a dog which he could have to help him on his rounds at night, as there were many thieves who would attack him knowing he had been collecting money. He started with his ideal of a black and tan dog which he acquired from the local pound and who was a very good guard, but decided that this dog was not good enough to breed from so purchased a female more to his ideal and mated her to others which he considered to be the type he required. History tells us that many breeds were eventually added to the offspring from these matings such as the Great Dane to put size, the Greyhound to give speed, and the Bullterrier to give strength

Dogcatcher and tax official Louis Doberman decided to breed a dog that could help him on his evening collections. and tenacity when facing other dogs. The Rotweiller was not one of the breeds introduced, although people believe it was so. The small Manchester Terrier was used to ensure black and tan colouring. The Dobermann has an image of being a fierce dog, mainly due to American movies where they are often shown as being attack dogs guarding

properties. However, although it is true they are great when guarding their homes, the dobermann is very much a “love” dog with its family. It is a breed which requires a lot of attention and as puppies they are very destructive. They need both their bodies and brains exercising, so are not ideal dogs for anyone who doesn’t have the time to teach

Adopt a dog

them how to behave, and give them stimulation of their mind in order to keep them happy. The Dobermann stands 6870cm tall for a male and 63-66 for a female. It comes in four colours – black, red, blue, and fawn, all with rust markings over the eyes, the sides of the cheek, on the chest, down the legs and on the vent. For the showring only the black and

reds are admissible within the FCI (Federation Cynealogique Internationale) a worldwide, Belgium-based, organisation. It is a smooth coated, muscular dog capable of great speed and strength. Its man work is well renowned. Customarily it has always had its tail docked and in many countries the ears have been cropped to stand erect, giving

the dog a much sharper image. It needs a minimum of 700 mgm of meat a day or the equivalent in dry food. As a growing puppy it should be given calcium supplement to strengthen its bones until the age of 18 months. I have personally owned and bred this breed since 1963, and love the sheer magnificence of its elegant attitude combined with great muscular substance and strength of character. There is a saying about the Dobermann: “It has the look of an eagle”. If you have ever seen one standing erect and staring into the distance, or fronting up to an unknown visitor (or intruder), you will understand the meaning of this quote. I would repeat however that only those with the time to give of themselves to keep this dog happy, both in body and mind, should ever consider owning one. However for those who do take the plunge, it is a breed which you will never get out from under your skin.

■■ Jackie Perr y lives in Phuket but travels around the world as a judge at dog shows. Have a question about your dog? Email Jackie at culture@thephuketnews.com

Pet of the Week

Natty arrived at the Soi Dog Shelter over 12 months ago with a horrific neck wound. He’s since fully recovered and his wonderful personality is shining through. Natty is a Pit Bull - approx two and a half years old. He’s very friendly, loves to play and walks perfectly on a lead. He’s sterilised, fully vaccinated and gets on well with other dogs. Natty is a favourite with the Soi Dog staff and we’re trying to find Natty a very special home. If you’d like more information about Natty please email cindy@soidog.org or phone the Soi Dog shelter on 081 788 4222. You can also visit our website www.soidog.org or follow us on Facebook. This cute six-month-old Chihuahua named Roxy belongs to Lucy Hernandez. If you are interested in adopting a dog please do not buy from the markets. Soi Dog Foundation has over 200 dogs and puppies available for adoption at any time. For more information on how to adopt visit soidog.org. All animals are fully-vaccinated and desexed. Young puppies will be desexed free of charge as soon as old enough.

Want to see your pet here? Email your photos to: editor1@thephuketnews.com

thephuketnews.com

DANE'S WORLD

20 WEIRD NEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS

DROPPING THE BALL Moldova set to castrate child sex offenders Foreig ners convicted of sexually abusing children in Moldova will be mandatorily castrated, according to new legislation introduced last Tuesday (March 6). Parliament approved the law by a majority after lawmakers said the impoverished nation was attracting paedo-

philes from the West. It will become effective from July 1. The new law states foreign and Moldovan nationals found guilty of paedophilia will be chemically castrated, while courts will rule separately on those found guilty of rape. Valeriu Munteanu, a Moldovan Liberal Party lawmaker,

said the measure was necessary after public outrage over several cases involving Americans and West Europeans. “The Republic of Moldova has been transformed in recent years into “a tourist destination” for Western paedophiles and there have been cases where rapists

have repeatedly offended even after they served prison time,’’ Mr Munteanu said. The measure has broad support in Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest nations, where many believe that the country has an international reputation as a top destination for sex tourists.

Bird throws up unusual defence

Don't be fooled by the cuteness.

Photo: Nadia Silva

The fear of being eaten alive will make most people sick to the stomach. But the babies of a bird species called the Eurasian roller have managed to turn this reaction on its head, vomiting a foul-smelling orange liquid as a defence mechanism against predators. Offspring of the bright-blue bird – Latin name Coracias garrulus – throw up the repugnant fluid when they are frightened in their nests, according to a paper appearing in the journal Biology Letters.

Covered in vomit, the nestlings not surprisingly become less attractive as a snack, the team says. But for the birds, the smell also alerts their parents, returning to the nest, that a threatening incident has happened in their absence. The scientists tested the “olfactory cue” theory by visiting nests with 10-day-old nestlings inside. The Eurasian roller is the first bird that has been found to use a scent, derived in response to a threat, as a means of communication.

WHAT THE F? Frenchman tells court how he lopped off love rival’s penis Agence France-Presse

A Frenchman on trial for chopping off a love rival’s penis has given a detailed account of his act, and of the uneasy silence that followed as they awaited an ambulance. Blaise Fragione, 38, admits that in October 2008 he knocked out the victim, named only as “F”, with a blow to the head, severed most of his penis with a razor and flushed it down the toilet. Fr ag ione, f rom t he Mediterranean post city of Marseille, said that he “lost

it” after F. came to brag to him that he was having a relationship with “Mado”, his partner of 14 years and mother of his two children. Judge Jacques Calmettes asked why he resorted to such a dramatic act, suggesting: “It’s not like a punch in the face.” “I didn’t think about it, it was dictated by madness... Perhaps it was because of what he had said to me,” replied Fragione. “When I came back from the toilet I came back to earth,” he said. He called the

The sound of terror.

emergency services while his wounded rival “was prostrate in a corner” applying pressure to staunch the bleeding from his mutilated groin. “We didn’t talk to each other much, there were lots of silences,” said Fragione.

$1m lottery winner ‘struggling’ Agence France-Presse

A m i l l io n d ol l a r s m ay not go as far as it used to, but one Michigan lottery winner thought it wasn’t enough to stop her from collecting food stamps. Turns out, she’s wrong and could even face fraud charges. Detroit’s Local 4 tracked the lotto winner down at her brand-new home in the suburb of Lincoln Park when she was unloading her baby and some

thephuketnews.com

What poverty looks like. shopping bags from a new car. Amanda Clayton, 24, expressed no shame about letting the government pay her grocery bill.

Asked why she needed taxpayers to pay her bills in a state dealing with massive budget deficits, she said the jackpot wasn’t actually that much – it dropped to US$700,000 when she took an immediate payout and she paid about US$200,000 in taxes on the winnings. “I feel that it’s okay because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay,” Clayton told the station. “I have two houses... I’m struggling.”

Violin strings smooth as silk

A Japanese scientist has made violin strings out of spider silk and claims that – in the right hands – they produce a beautiful sound. Thousands of the tiny strands can be wound together to produce a strong but flexible string that is perfect for the instrument, said Shigeyoshi Osaki, professor of polymer chemistry at Nara Medical University. Mr Osaki, who has been working with spider silk for 35 years, has previously suggested the material could be used for surgical sutures or for bullet proof vests, but his passion for the violin inspired him to create something with a musical twist.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012 with Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

THE BIG LIST

ANGRY

ANIMALS Some animals have evolved dazzling plumage of indescribable beauty. Others just scare predators away with stinky orange vomit. You can probably guess which comes next. Spew master: The turkey vulture (above) has honed the act of vomiting into a veritable art form. There are already few animals willing to kill and eat a turkey vulture – presumably because these birds live almost soley on a diet of rotten meat and faecal matter. Oh, and they clean themselves with their own urine. But on the rare instances when the turkey vulture does run into something that would like to eat it, it vomits everything in its stomach up in front of the predator. Presumably, when the shocked animal later dies from starvation, the opportunist turkey vulture then eats it. Circle of life. How to train your dragon: Size, mass and speed aside, the main attack and defense of the Komodo dragon is their bit. They’re not poisonous – their mouths are just so disgusting that they might as well be. The gingival tissue surrounding their teeth is constantly being lacerated, causing perpetual open wounds and the flow of blood. This basically turns their mouths into a Taco Bell-level bacterial orgy. Until they’re old enough to farm their own oral rot, young dragons bathe themselves in the entrails and faeces of larger lizard’s kills. Crying for attention: The Spanish Ribbed Newt is basically 12 inches of slime-covered terror. They could actually be mistaken for any ordinary lizard – that is, until somebody threatens it. At that point, they respond with a two step process of pure crazy. For stage one, the newt weeps. Specifically, it weeps tears of milky poison so that it iscovered in a nice sheen of deadly slime. Next, they angle their spine, pivoting their barbed ribs outward until they pierce the skin. We’re guessing at this point most of their predators just get weirded out and leave. Hard hitters: Named for their distinctive large nose, the proboscis monkey lives on the island of Borneo, usually in communities ranging from 10 to 30 members. And if you’ve ever lived in a dorm or shared a house with several roommates, you understand how quickly such a setup turns into a cold war of pettiness. Proboscis monkeys, however, vent their anger in a much more civilised way: rage boners. With their monkey manhood standing at full attention, they spread their legs, show it to their opponent, and scream and shake the branches. Try it next time your housemate doesn’t do the dishes – you’ll never have to worry about them again. Veggie delight: When humans name your species after a vegetable, you’re probably not known for your menacing defensive instincts. Sure, some sea cucumbers can secrete toxins, and others have developed reinforced body walls so that it takes twice as long to chew them to death. But why bother with traditional defences when you can vomit your lungs out of your rear end? More precisely, some sea cucumbers have white structures called cuverian tubules attached to a portion of their respiratory tree. When prompted, the sea cucumber expels these adhesive threads out of its anus. While the predator is busy chewing on its guts, the cucumber simply floats away, presumably with a very sore anus. It’s basically the same as if a terrified cow spontaneously pooped out a filet mignon. Listen to Dane's World every day on Live 89.5 FM radio.

TIME OUT 21

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

BOOK

MUSIC

FILM Chronicle 83 minutes Rating: 13+

Director: Josh Trank Starring: Dane DeHaan, Michael B Jordan, Michael Kelly, Alex Russell

The Thief

by Faminori Nakamura Nishimura is a seasoned pickpocket, weaving in and out of Tokyo crowds, stealing wallets from strangers so smoothly sometimes he doesn’t even remember the snatch. He has no family, no friends, and yet his mind is hazy, occupied with a trance-like debate – whether to care about the young kid he sees clumsily stealing food at a supermarket. Whether to care about his partner, who disappeared after a botched robbery years ago. Between the real connections he establishes and the drug-like daze of his own criminal past, Nishimura drifts back into the clutches of the mastermind of that ill-fated robbery, not realising that a noose is being carefully, and slowly, drawn around his neck.

Wrecking Ball

Bruce Springsteen Wrecking Ball is as subtle as the title suggests. Springsteen, as he has always done and will no doubt continue to do, marches right out and puts himself directly in the firing line. Perhaps to some people, an album so heavily influenced by global depression and political uncertainty could prove monotonous. Those people are wrong – he’s not called The Boss for nothing. The album has some beautiful moments, the highlights being ‘Jack of All Trade’, and the solo from Clarence Clemmons on ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’. While many of his peers are content to rehash their greatest hits as they settle into their ’60s and beyond, Springsteen continues to explore his sound.

Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

Amongst the seemingly neverending flood of superhero and found-footage projects released in recent years, it would be easy to write-off Chronicle as just another derivative grab for cash. However, following recent underwhelming faux ‘documentaries’ (such as The Devil Inside) and high profile, but ultimately uninspired hero flicks (Green Lantern), it’s safe to say Chronicle is poised to genuinely surprise a lot of

moviegoers with intriguing characters, creative visuals, and a gripping central storyline. The film follows the exploits of average teens Andrew (Dane DeHaan), Steve (Michael B. Jordan), and Matt (Alex Russell), who encounter a mysterious entity that results in them developing telekinetic abilities. Instead of the usual flat and shallow protagonists we have come to expect from the genre, Andrew, Steve, and Matt each have interesting interpersonal dynamics and arcs that flourish

as they explore both their abilities and their newly formed friendships. While the succeeding events might be somewhat familiar to comic book movie regulars, the characters offer plenty of entertaining and believable moments – even after the movie takes a dark turn. However, the most interesting aspect of the film is the cinematography. While there’s no shortage of awkward ways in which the events of Chronicle are caught on film, some of the implementations represent a major step up for the genre. Early on, Andrew perfects the ability to move the camera with his telekinetic powers, resulting in far more dynamic and fluid cinematography.

SFX COLISEUM PHUKET (CENTRAL FESTIVAL) Chronicle (E) [13+]: 11:30, 13:25, 16:30, 18:25, 20:20, 22:15 Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (T) [G]: 14:25 The Grey (E/F) [13+]: 12:25, 14:50, 17:15, 19:40, 22:05 John Carter (E/3D) [G]: 11:45, 14:30, 17:15, 20:00, 22:40 John Carter (T) [G]: 11:15, 12:45, 13:45, 15:30, 16:30, 18:15, 19:15, 21:00, 22:00 Rak Auo Yoo (T/E.SUB) [13+]: 11:15, 13:20, 15:40, 18:00, 20:15, 22:30 Rak Sud Teen (T/E.SUB) [13+]: 12:00, 15:20, 17:45, 20:10, 22:35

SFC JUNGCEYLON PHUKET (PATONG) Chronicle (E) [13+]: Haywire (E) [18+]:

1. Sisters drug cardinals. (8) 5. Mocks eats. (6) 10. Genuine peepers, they say, come to understand. (7) 11. Country lad may knock relatives. (7) 12. Fish get a bit of sunshine. (3) 13. Entering, is at home but leaving. (7) 14. Early or late one is on stairs. (5) 16. Polish sport? (3) 17. A face cover, it’s said, may be of use. (5) 18. Desert ship. (5) 21. Disrobe for journey to the south. (5) 23. Provide income to end? No point. (5) 26. Cover for airport area. (5) 27. Beast of burden’s rear end. (3) 29. Elsewhere, a kind of

defense. (5) 31. Menacing? Ring us after zero minute. (7) 32. Back end is most of the raft. (3) 33. Simple, like a plundered gallery. (7) 34. Split, met re – very intense. (7) 35. Stop, Des! Is junction. (6) 36. Perfectionist may glue the French letter. (8)

John Carter (E) [G]:

Down 1. Said: go quickly, beat the dreadful weather. (9) 2. Back protectors raise escort. (4,5) 3. First letter first. (7) 4. Small gentleman follows, mere mess coming into existence. (8) 6. Linen is eccentric building block, almost. (7)

11:30, 12:45, 14:15, 15:30, 17:00, 19:45, 22:30

Rak Sud Teen (T/E.SUB) [13+]:

11:50, 14:20, 16:50, 21:50

Safe House (E) [15+]:

7. Following soccer org, Kes feints. (5) 8. Submarine gear thus ran back. (5) 9. B says, destructively, “The bottomless pit.” (5) 15. East ye look. (3) 19. Smashed arm male, or like marble. (9) 20. Pike has hankering for fruit. (4,5) 22. I’m powerful... not! (8) 24. There’s nothing in most of the Nile. (3) 25. In the waters I find servers. (7) 26. A local airline twitch for this part of the world. (7) 28. What Errol would have done with a buckle. (5) 29. Prize for a protégé. (5) 30. I have no thanks for small things. (5)

Solutions to last week’s puzzles:

Answers to this week’s quiz:

18:15, 20:15 11:30, 13:35, 15:40, 17:45, 19:50, 21:50

19:20, 22:15

Across

12:40, 14:35, 16:30, 18:25, 20:20, 22:15

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (E) [G]:

BRAIN TEASERS

1. Strawberries; 2. Cosmonaut; 3. Gin joints; 4. Sharks; 5. Andorra; 6. The African Queen, The Mission, Zulu; 7. Brazil (Rio de Janeiro); 8. The jigsaw puzzle; 9. Tennis player René Lacoste. 10. Vladimir Putin.

SUDOKU

It also uniquely allows all the characters to be in various scenes, instead of always having one hiding behind the camera. Occasionally the format is a self-imposed limitation which leads to moments of contrivance – notably the inclusion of another student who is also documenting her life and handily provides another perspective. But for the most part it’s an inventive and fresh look at what can be done with the medium, and is worth watching for that reason alone. In sum, Chronicle isn’t just a unique found-footage movie or superhero film, it’s an enjoyable blend of the best each genre has to offer, even if that’s not a particularly high bar to clear.

As some movies and movie times change every Thursday morning, after The Phuket News has gone to press, the accuracy of the following information cannot be guaranteed. For up-to-date information, visit sfcinemacity.com, or phone the cinemas directly: SFX Coliseum Phuket 076 209 000 and SFC Jungceylon Phuket 076 600 555.

THE PHUKET NEWS

THE QUIZ Test your general knowledge with these 10 questions

1. Which fruit plays a pivotal role in the book/movie The Caine Munity? 2. What Russian word means ‘sailor of the universe’? 3. What are the two words missing from this quote from the film Casablanca? “Of all the ... ..... in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine”? 4. Cookie Cutter, Blue, Zebra, Carpet, School, Bull and Wobbegong are all types of what? 5. Which European country has a flag featuring the images of two cows? 6. In which films do each of the following play missionaries? Katherine Hepburn, Jeremy Irons and Jack Hawkins 7. Where would you find the River of January? 8. John Spilsbury is credited with inventing what in the 1760s? 9. Which sport legend was given the nickname Le Crocodil? 10. Which well known politician is the co-author of a book called Judo: History, Theory, Practice?

thephuketnews.com

22 KIDS PAGE

THE PHUKET NEWS

COLOURING CONTEST

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

very week, colour in Sophie's drawing, have a photo taken with y o ur wo r k, a n d em ail to editor@thephuketnews.com The winner will be announced on this page next week. This week, congratulations go to Pablo Bourbon, age 7. He’s a year 2 student at BIS, and his dad is French and his mum is from Spain. Pablo says: “I love art and I love Thailand!” Norachai says: “Wow! This week’s winning entry is really eye-catching with its artistic quality. It’s rich with so many details highlighted, and good shading is used to give body to trees, riders and elephant. Very good work indeed.”

mail@ sophieillustration.co.uk

Runners-up

Amanda Ljunggren, 4, Kajonkietsuksa

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Eva, 7, HeadStart

Matthew Mclean, 7, BIS

Thanks to all the children at Darasamuth Phuket School, Kajonkietsuksa School, HeadStart, British International School Phuket, Phuket International Academy, and Coconut Club for their entries. Please keep them coming in, remembering to write your name, age and school on your work.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

LIFE&STYLE lifestyle@thephuketnews.com

SHOPPING 23 Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just The Ticket Entertainment news, reviews and gossip > 30

fashion file Have an outfit to show off? Send a photo to:

editor@thephuketnews.com

Vision in white Plernjit Bunkham

Housewife

Studious by design Alena Speights Post graduate

Su nglasses ( B199) from a stand in Patong.

White Old Navy top (B175) from the US.

Earrings (B13) bought at Super Cheap.

Patterned Old Navy dress (B280) also from the US.

White dress (B400), modified from a skirt, bought in Patong. Ankle bracelet was a gift from friends. Sandals (B450) bought at Phuket Big C.

Ankle bangle (B20) bought at a local Phuket market. ABEO brand sandals (B2,800) purchased in the US.

ACCESSORIES 1

HI.SO. 1. Sea shell rings 2. Bracelets

B300 each B300 each

Accessories from HI.SO., 169 Yaowarad Road, Phuket Town. Open Wed-Mon 10am-8pm, 081-090-3100; hi-so-phuket.com

thephuketnews.com

24 DINING

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

Biodynamic combination Norachai Thavisin editor3@thephuketnews.com

“Le vin naît du ciel et de la terre … De l’amour qu’on lui porte (The wine is born of sky and earth … of the love that one adds to it),” said Monsieur Chapoutier, founder of the French winery, whose flavourful wines we are having pleasure sampling. Centara Grand Beach Resort’s Mare restaurant has again arranged a well-matched combination on Friday March 9: the cookery skills of its Spanish Executive Chef Sandro Aquiler and the robust wines from the Rhône val-

Executive Chef Sandro Aquiler (third from left), F&B Manager Christophe Gistin (second from left) and Centara Grand’s Assistant PR Suchitra Sirirak (fourth from left).

Stéphane Barlerin, of M. Chapoutier winery, with pleased dinner guests.

ley, watered by melted snow from the French Alps. Well might Stéphane Barlerin, Exporter Director of M. Chapoutier, be smiling broadly. His large winery exports 15 million bottles all over the world and he explains

The fertiliser, made from burying cow dung in cow horns to cure and the solution watered strictly according to cycles of the moon, works in a homeopathic way, with a little going a long way, achieving organic results.

Cod steak “à la plancha”.

Chef Aquiler’s turns his kitchen into a French one for the night: Roasted shrimp with salad and truffle; Cod steak with cream of caulif lower and parmesan (this writer’s favourite); Bresse chicken with herbs, endive and avocado;

Roast beef fillet, the Burgundy way, and exotic fruit salad. Glass after different glass of exceptionally smooth and fullsome whites and reds accompanied the f ine dishes in this most satisfying culinary evening.

Wine futures in your future?

Paresa hosts annual charity wine dinner

that the sometimes steep river banks of the Rhône grows excellent shiraz grapes, known for its fruity, full-bodied taste loved by many. T he vi neyard is also unique as it is fer tilised wholely biodynamically.

FINE WINE R. James Mullen lifestyle@thephuketnews.com

itting on some spare cash and hoping for a safe investment opportunity with yields better than just about any bank is willing to pay? Wine futures have a history of doing better than most forays into various stocks, and even most mutual funds, although there is always some risk. Where’s the fun without it? The 2011 en primeur or futures market for classified Bordeaux and selected Burgundy properties will take place at the end of March. At this time about a thousand negociants descend on Bordeaux, along with a bevy of wine critics, and taste barrel samples of wine from the just-fermented crop of the previous year. Discussions are then held with the owners of participating chateaux and prices are set for at least the first batch or tranche of wines that will

thephuketnews.com

Wine futures have a history of doing better than stocks.

Photo: Quinn Dombrowski

should be able to contact your wine merchant in 2014 when your cases of Chateau Latour are available and instruct him to sell them for a tidy 20-30 per cent profit. Of course if you decide to take delivery you can impress your friends with your “savings” and enjoy drinking your profits at your leisure.

So why aren’t more people into this relatively safe type of investment? As stated there is some risk including for most who bought 2008 futures which have in some cases fallen as much as 40 per cent below the initial prices. The loss has to do mostly with global market conditions rather than the quality of the wine which may at that have been overpriced to begin with. Vintages of 2009 and 2010 were also exorbitant,

be available for delivery two to four years from now. This means that if you want to invest in wine you are hoping that the price you pay through your dealer of choice now will increase in value by the time the wine is actually available. With the history of wine futures on your side you

fed in part by a burgeoning market in China and by crop conditions that were successively excellent. Futures prices for a few top growths last year exceeded US$1,000 (B30,000) per bottle which is now viewed as ridiculously high, regardless of quality. As to the 2011 vintage, howls from major dealers ove r l a s t ye a r’s p r ic e s plus a less than ideal year weather-wise have tempered attitudes by negociants as well as winery owners. Conditions described as too hot then too cold, too dry then too humid yielded crops as much as 30 per cent smaller than the previous year with ripening not as thorough as most growers would have liked. Wholesalers are hoping for prices in the US$400 (B12,000) per bottle range for top growths after the excesses of the past few years, so this may indeed be the time to take a look at wine futures for your own portfolio. Regardless of blips in growing conditions, the quality of wine from the premier houses is always good, if not excellent. For more information on the Andaman Wine Club, call 076 620 101 or see andamanwine-club.com

Six top chefs from Phuket are joining forces for the annual Six of the Best charity dinner at Paresa Resort on March 31. Funds raised from the event will go toward The Good Shepherd Sisters, a charity organisation that works in Phuket and around Thailand. The charity helps women and children who have been abused, are caught up in human trafficking or the sex industry, are poor or suffering from HIV. They are given shelter, counselling and the opportunity to re-educate themselves and earn a decent living. Chefs from Paresa Resort, Banyan Tree Phuket, Dusit Thani Laguna, Amanpuri, Trisara and Joe’s Downstairs will participate in this year’s event. Guests will be treated to a six course gala dinner with wine matches. Tickets are B4,500 net per person. For reservations, contact Paresa’s Director of Sales, Kornrawee Eakabutr, on dos@paresaresorts.com.

NZ wines on show at Mom Tri’s A Taste of New Zealand wine dinner will be held at Mom Tri’s Kitchen at Villa Royale tomorrow night (March 17) at 7pm. The dinner will feature wine matches from the 2010 and 2011 vintages prepared by Pip Austin, the General Manager for Asia Pacific Sileni Estates, a major winery in Hawke’s Bay, and five dishes prepared by Villa Royale’s executive chef. The evening is B1,900++ per person. For reservations phone 076-333-568 or email info@villaroyalephuket.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

DINING 25

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

Tasting the extraordinary Miso-crusted scallop – B280.

Chef Ronnie Macuja was of fe red h is f i r st job i n Phuket while working at a top hotel in New Zealand. That was 12 years ago. Since then, the Filipino has become one of the island’s best chefs, with a string of accolades to his name. He is now the executive chef for the Vset Restaurant, at Chalong Pier, a name that aptly means ‘extraordinary’ in Thai. Chef Ronnie act ually graduated from university with a degree in marine engineering. But his true dream was to work in the kitchen, and he picked up an apprenticeship at the Hilton in Manila, before working his way up to New Zealand’s Hyatt

Regency hotel restaurant, Top of the Town. Many years later, Chef Ronnie was approached by Phuket businesswoman Wallee Pachantabutr, who was looking for a head chef for her Impiana Resort restaurant, Sala Bua. Chef Ronnie was at the time working at the Sky Tower Restaurant in central Auckland, where Khun Wallee was a guest. Khun Wallee was so impressed with her meal, she wrote a note to Chef Ronnie to say would he, or any of his team, be interested in taking up the position in Phuket. The rest is history. Chef Ronnie snapped up the offer, and within a month he

Banana pudding, summer berries and icecream – B280.

Filipino Chef Ronnie Macuja. was preparing the resort’s Christmas Eve feast. He worked at Impiana for 10 years, and as executive chef he won the International

Salon Culinaire Competition three times, an international cooking competition designed to test the skill of entrants by giving them a set list of ingredients to produce their creations. The wins were the icing on the cake to his ever growing tally of awards, many of which came while he was working in New Zealand. Two years ago Chef Ronnie started work at Vset, the Pachantabutr family’s new project. The stylish modern restaurant is situated overlooking Chalong Bay. The décor is natural, with dark brown wood combing with a palette of green, and sea views. The food is “modern, trendy, Western cuisine”,

Black Angus Australian beef steak – B1,290.

with an emphasis on fantastic beef and lamb cuts, cooked to perfection thanks to his New Zealand experience. Chef Ronnie’s signature dishes including the Australian Black Angus, comprised of grilled tournedos of beef, herb potato confit, lobster medallion, and pearl vegetable vinaigrette (B1,290), the Australian lamb cutlet, one of the top selling dishes of 2011 (B850), and the ravioli – a wonton wrapped blue swimmer crab with Chinese butter sauce (B280). Excellent taste aside, the presentation is truly outstanding. The dinner menu has a wide variety of meat and seafood choices, including beef, lamb, chicken, duck,

salmon, red snapper, king pawn, lobster, foie gras and pork chops. Entrees cost around B250, while mains are priced between B460 and B2,250 (for the excellent Phuket lobster). The restaurant is also open for lunch and breakfast, with plenty of light meal options perfect for a sunny Phuket day. So what is the secret of Ronnie’s success? “Cooking is all about learning, and the learning never stops,” says the always modest chef. ■■ Vset Restaurant, Chalong Pier road (next to Kan Eang @ Pier), 076-381-159, sales@vsetrestaurant.com; vsetrestaurant.com

THANYAPURA TASTE TEST: Thanyapura hosted a wine tasting event on Monday March 12, where guests sampled Monsoon Valley Wines, award-winning wines made from grapes grown at Hua Hin Hills Vineyard, southwest of Bangkok.

thephuketnews.com

26 EXPLORE

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

THE ISLAND OF SERPENTS VILLAGE of the week

Sukunya Phoonpong reporter2@thephuketnews.com

oh Naka Yai is a small island that lies off the east coast of Phuket. Accessed from the Ao por pier, the island is mostly undeveloped, though luxury Starwood resort The Naka Island, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa Phuket, occupies the northwestern corner. According to local village headman Hem Salika,

the island’s name (Naka Yai means ‘big serpent’ in Thai), is because its shape resembles the Naka, a mythical seaserpent in Buddhism. “There is a legend that tells of how a naka was cursed and then turned to stone, which subsequently became this island,” says Mr Hem. Guests at the resort aside, there are about 200 villagers resident here, the majority of them Muslim. The traditional occupation of islanders is fishing, though this is increasingly being supplanted by tourism. “In the past, we were all fisherman. Men would take to

the sea for at least three days, before bringing their catch back to sell and feed their families. Women, children and the elderly would also dry fish to keep it longer,” says Mr Hem. Recently though, as Phuket and Phang Nga have seen huge growth in tourism, villagers have quit being fishermen to instead be resort staff, or run bike and jet ski rentals, shops, home-stays, and boat taxis. “The increased income has made our lives better, but might also destroy our traditions. I hope that people’s lifestyle won’t change too

Village headman Hem Salika. much – even though the island has already been developed.” ■■ It takes 15 minutes to reach Naka Yai from Ao por pier. The cost is B800 per boat (up to eight people).

FESTIVALS & FAIRS Phuket Bike Week First held in 1991 by Phuket Rider Club, welcomes motorbike riders from around the world. Date: Mid-April. Location: Loma Park, Patong Beach. Phuket Otop Fair Promotes food and products made in Phuket. Date: Mid-May. Location: Centre Stage, Sapan Hin Public Park. Prisoner Product Fair Sells products made by prisoners across southern Thailand. Date: Mid-June. Location: Centre Stage, Sapan Hin Public Park. Phuket Halal Food Festival Introduces Muslim culture in Phuket, with fashion show, live music and singing. Date: Late July. Location: Various. Seafood Fiesta Celebrates the sea, with a wide range of freshly cooked local seafood, including lobsters, crabs, octopus, squid, clams and all kinds of fish, together with vegetables, fruit and juice drinks. Date: August Location: Rawai Beach. Por Tor Festival Fair Also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, ethnic Chinese worldwide believe that during the 7th lunar month, the ghosts of their ancestors visit their home. To make sure their visit is a happy one, offerings of food are made, such as the common local offering of a red cake in the shape of a turtle. Date: Seven days in late August. Location: Phuket Road. Patong Carnival Marks the start of high season. The highlight is the colourful parade held on the first day. Date: December 15-20. Location: Patong Beach Road

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In the past, all of the island’s men were fishermen.

PHUKET MUSEUMS Chinpracha House

This elegant colonial-style mansion was completed in 1907 by wealthy Chinese immigrant Tan Ma Siang. Chinpracha House is one of the most integral ancient remains on the island. Old photographs, Italian floor tiles, imported furniture from China and old utensils are wellmaintained in the house’s interior. 98 Kr abi Rd, Phuket Town, 076 211 281. Open daily 8am4pm. B100.

Kathu Mining Museum

Built according to colonial architecture, imitating a mansion of a tin miner, the museum shows the origins of Phuket’s culture and history especially from the mining era. Several indoor exhibition rooms display different themes such as Phuket architecture, mining , Thai - Chinese way of life, Chinese immigrants’ life, the Baba’s marriage and the solar system. The outdoor exhibition displays equipment including a dredge and hydraulic mining gear.

Seashell Museum

Over 2,000 species of sea shells that were collected by the Patamakanthin family are now displayed in the museum. 2/2 Moo 2, Viset Rd, Rawai, 076 613 666; www.phuketsea shell.com. Open daily 8.30am5.30pm. B100 for Thais, B200 for foreigners, children half-price.

Thai Hua School Museum

The museum is in what used to be the main Chinese-language school, built in 1934. Classrooms inside were renovated as exhibition rooms, displaying Phuket Thai-Chinese culture and tradition. 28 Kr abi Rd, Phuket Town, 076 211 224; www.thaihua museum.com. Open daily 9am-5pm. B50 for Thai, B200 for foreigners, add extra fee for photograph.

Thalang National Museum

The museum focuses on the history and archaeology of Phuket and nearby provinces. Has archaeological finds such as ancient statues, pre-historic beads and tools.

Muang Tor Sung Rd (behind Loch Palm Golf Club), Kathu, 088 766 0962. Open daily 9am4pm. B50 for Thais, B100 for foreigners, children half-price.

On 4027 Road (eas t of the Heroines monument), Thalang, 076 379 895. Open daily except public holiday 9am-4pm. B20 for Thai, B100 for foreigners.

Philatelic Museum

Thavorn Hotel Lobby Museum

The museum is in the old preserved Post Office, housing old equipment such as telegraph tickers, telephones, parcel-weighing machines and collections of Thai stamps issued since 1951. There are also a small library and a souvenir room. Phuket Post Office, Montri Rd, Phuket Town, 076 224 883. Open Mon-Fri 8.30am-4.30pm. Sat 9am-12pm. Free entrance.

Located in the walkway from the lobby to the dining room of the Thavorn Hotel, this small museum corner shows old photographs, posters, ornaments, utensils and mining tools from the Phuket’s mining era and World War II, collected by the owner of the hotel. 74 Rassada Road, Phuket Town, 076 211 333. Open daily 8am5pm. B30.

THE PHUKET NEWS

TRAVEL 27

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

TRAVEL NEWS

Linger longer at Aleenta and nightlife of Turtle Village is Phuket-Phang Nga Resort just minutes away. “Destinations Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga Resort and Spa invites guests to stay a little bit longer with the launch of exclusive long-stay rates for its beachfront luxury villas. Aleenta’s long-stay rates are available upon request for those who want to truly get away from it all. Imagine white sand between your toes and the soothing murmur of waves the instant you step outside your 1, 2, 3 or 4-bedroom contemporary luxury villa, from their Private Villa Collection. The ultimate escape begins with one crucial direction: Turn left, and not right, out of Phuket International Airport and head over the bridge to Phang Nga if it is truly unspoiled beachfront luxury living you crave. Your next stop is Aleenta’s Natai Beach, just 20 minutes away. When you tire of splendid seclusion, the vibrant shopping

reveal themselves to you over time and as one who has spent lots of time at Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga, I can wholeheartedly recommend the benefits of a long-stay break,” said the resort’s owner and founder, Anchalika Kijkanakorn. Prices start from B26,000 a night with long term rates available. Please call +66 2 514 8112 for more information, email reservations@ aleenta.com, or skype Aleenta reservations.

THAI introduces 52nd Anniversary discounts Turning 52 years this May, Thai Airways International is selling discounted fares to mark its birthday, good for travel from 1 May to 30 September. The THAI 52nd Anniversary fares are now available for online

bookings for travel, ex-Bangkok, May to the end of September. Travellers can expect a discount of around 5 per cent to 30 per cent depending on the route and when compared to market fares available in February. The deals are also slightly cheaper than fares posted for the campaign – Fly to the World 2012 that runs out in March. Sample economy fares are: B17,955,Tokyo; B17,260, Seoul; B8,480, Kuala Lumpur; B31,275, Moscow; B35,900, Stockholm; B9,425, Singapore; B8,205, Ho Chi Minh City; B27,055, Sydney; B42,600, Los Angeles; B21,215, Dubai; B7,965, Yangon; B8,420, Phnom Penh; B15,865, Beijing; B15,865, Shanghai; B40,265, London; B37,270, Paris; B37,885, Frankfurt; B14,000, Delhi; B13,040, Mumbai and B13,375, Bali. In addition, the airline’s holiday department, Royal Orchid Holidays, recently rolled out Premier League packages for Thai football fans to watch the big teams play in the United Kingdom. ROH features packages that include two matches; Manchester United vs Swansea, 5 May at Old Trafford, priced at B65,990 and Liverpool vs Chelsea at Anfield, B72,910, also on 5 May. The prices include return airfare in economy class; two nights’ accommodation with breakfast and a match ticket. For the first

50 clients, ROH provides a travel bag and collectable cards. –TTR Visit www.thaiairways.com for THAI 52nd Anniversary promotion and call 02 356288 or email roh.rsvn@thaiairways.com for football packages.

Orient Thai Airlines tie up with Doi Tung Tourism Orient Thai Airlines is packaging flights and sightseeing, for the first time to Chiang Rai’s Doi Tung, a former villa of the late Princess Mother, located on a mountain ridge 1,000 metres high. The airline has two packages offering a three-day/ two-night stay bookable until 20 April with a travel period 27 February to 30 April. The B9,990 package (per person, twin-share) is inclusive of return airfare, accommodation in a superior room at Doi Tung Lodge, admission fee to the Hall of Inspiration and the Royal Villa , B300 dinner voucher, B200 drinks voucher and a 15 per cent discount voucher for Thai Rent A Car. The second package is more expensive at B12,500, but it has different features including deluxe accommodation; B500 dinner voucher; Doi Tung members card and admission fee to Mae Fah Luang Garden (in addition to the standard Royal Villa and Hall of Inspiration entrance).

Both exclude transfers from the airport to Doi Tung. Customers can hire a car using the discount voucher at B3,500 for three days, or rent a chauffeur-driven van for B1,500 per round-trip. Or ient T hai operates t wo flights daily to Chiang Rai departing Bangkok at 9.15am and 3.50pm and returning from Chiang Rai at 11.05am and 5.40pm, for B3,100. Doi Tung Tourism Centre offers a three-day/two-night tour of Chiang Rai town as well as around Doi Tung at B6,700 per person for groups. It includes airport transfer, two breakfasts and two dinners, but not airfare. This package can be combined with any airline serving the far-north town. Doi Tung also has a promotion with KTC quoting a superior room for B2,000 a night and B2,300 for a deluxe room with free entrance to the Mae Fah Luang Garden; B300 dining voucher and 10 per cent discount on food at the resort’s restaurants. From 2 March, Orient Thai will increase its Phuket service from two daily to three. The new flight will depart Bangkok at 7.40am and from Phuket at 9.30am. The other two f lights depart Bangkok at 11.45am and 5.45pm and return at 1.40pm and 7.35pm. –TTR For more details, call 02 252 7114 ext 212 or 213 or email tourism@doitung.org.

Journeys to treasure are always meant to be shared.

Xi’an is home to the Grand Mosque, which was built during the Tang Dynasty.

Experience China’s old Muslim culture Xi’an is known primarily as China's ancient capital. The city reached its most glorious period during the Tang Dynasty. Today, f locks of tourist visit the city’s many historical sites. However, the most vibrant and colorful part of the city is undoubtedly the Muslim District. Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter is populated largely by Hui people one of China’s largest ethnic minority groups. Wandering the Muslim Quarter, you will see baskets piled high

with dates alongside Halal butcher shops and stuffed fried bread buns. The small streets and alleyways of this district come alive at night when vendors and shop owners hawk thei r wares, bi kes f ly b e t we e n shop p e r s , a nd the smell of delicious Hui street snacks fills the air. The highlight of the Muslim Quarter is a visit to the Grand Mosque. Built during the Tang Dynasty, this house of worship is still in use today.

The mosque is designed in the Chinese style with four courtyards and landscaped gardens. The Grand Mosque is considered to be one of the largest and best-preserved mosques in the country. A must-see for any visitor to Xi’an, the Muslim Quarter is a look into another side of China. The China Guide can include a tour of the Muslim Quarter in any Xi'an tour. For more information, please visit the China Guide’s website at thechinaguide.com

Enjoy exclusive preview booking from today to 15 March 12. In addition, all MasterCard payments from 01 March 12 to 14 April 12 are eligible to redeem special travel accessories bags and neck cushion, while stock last**. You also stand a chance to win Central Gift Vouchers worth THB 8,000 in our Grand lucky draw. Visit mcshopathon.com/silkair

All-in one-way fare from

All-in return fare from

THB

5,420

Singapore

7,650

Singapore

24,280

Australia/New Zealand *

facebook.com/SilkAir More journeys to treasure at silkair.com Fares quoted are for one-way and return trip on Economy Class per person, for flights originating out of Phuket only. All advertised fares are inclusive of associated taxes and surcharges only. Fares quoted are subject to change due to currency fluctuation. Bookings to be made online via mcshopathon.com/silkair or authorised SilkAir agents from today to 14 April 12 for travel from today to 31 May 12. Black-out travel dates apply. Subject to seat availability. Tickets are strictly not refundable, and change of flight, date or passenger name is not permitted. Other terms and conditions apply. The products and services offered under this Promotion are provided solely by the Merchant, under such terms and conditions as determined by such Merchant, and MasterCard accepts no liability whatsoever in connection with such product and services. *Australia/New Zealand: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Auckland and Christchurch. **Please email Phuket_Sales@singaporeair.com.sg within 30 days of your ticket purchase to arrange for the collection of the giveaways.

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28 ISLAND SCENE

THE PHUKET NEWS

From left, Johnny Skepper, Scott Gorsuch of the Leisure Design Group, Jamie Jamieson, Fabrice Perusson and Nick Anthony. From left, Rika Lam, Clint Nagata from Blink Design Group and Ruetairat Imsilp.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

From left, OB Wetzel, Adrian McCarroll of Original Vision, Miguel Kirjon and Stephen Gorton.

CREATIVE THINKING: A Design Evolution Workshop was organised by the American Chamber of Commerce, Phuket Chapter, at the Royal Marina Phuket on March 9. Moderated by Scott Gorsuch, presentations were given by designers Adrian McCarroll of Original Vision, Clint Nagata of Blink Design Group, and Martin Palleros of Tierra Design.

CAR RALLY: The Grumpy

GOMS president Warren Crowe.

Old Men’s Society (GOMS) rally and car treasure hunt was held on March 11, starting at the Chalong Pier and following a 145kilometre route. It was designed to take entrants to some of the more remote areas of Phuket Island, though all on paved roads. Not a race, the event is primarily a social event that tests navigational, timekeeping Double winners - Best women’s team and best Thai team, the Red Lady team, Sang and Kwan, and driving skills. with organiser John Devenport.

Overall winners: Team Denmark – Soren Hede and Hans Thomsen.

Not so grumpy officials: Jum Ali Khan and Simon O’Herlihy.

PROVIDING A BETTER LIFE: Kongkiat Kespechara, M.D., the founder of Open

Source Technology Company, PenSook Clinic, PenSook Organic Shop, PenSook Family Healthcare Center, and Kalapattana School in Phuket, and Miss Nicha Chiwangkul, assistant CEO of Open Source Technology Company, gave a warm welcome to delegates from the Thailand Social Enterprise Organization (TSEO), who were visiting on a field trip. The PenSook Family Healthcare Center is dedicated to providing a better quality of life with emphasis on preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services.

ANDAMAN MOTORSHOW: The 14th Andaman Motor Show 2012, with the theme of “ Summer on the Beach” launched at the HomeWorks exhibition hall between March 9 and 14. Around 300 people attended the event, which included a mini concert by pop singer Praw Kanitkul, an auction and other performances.

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

LUXURY 29

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

LUXURY PHUKET

The dictionary defines luxury as “a material object, or service conducive to sumptuous living”, while Wikpedia states: “Luxury goods are products and services not considered essential but are associated with affluence. The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilisation. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies.” On this new page, we’ll promote the very best in luxury living on Phuket, whether it be a yacht, jet, car, watch, fashion, or jewellery – so read on, and enjoy the Phuket luxe life.

Wahoo Luxury Yacht Charters T her e i s no b et ter way to appreciate the Andaman Sea, with its crystal clear waters and some of the most stunning scenery in the world than on a private charter yacht with Wahoo Luxury Yacht Charters. Wahoo - Phuket’s favorite private yacht charter company offers

an unforgettable cruising, game fishing or diving experience in Phi Phi, Phang Nga, Krabi and beyond Your magical day begins with a warm Thai welcome from their on-board service team, who will ensure you are pampered to the fullest extent throughout the day, leaving you to relax, enjoy a

refreshing swim or explore on the Jet Ski and Sea Canoes. Their sumptuous food menus are all freshly prepared on board, allowing you to dine al fresco in beautiful surroundings, with every possible luxury taken care of. Email info@wahoo.ws, visit www. wahoo.ws or call 076 281 510,

thephuketnews.com

30 ENTERTAINMENT

THE PHUKET NEWS

THE TICKET with Claire Connell

WHAT’S ON IN CLUBLAND Friday, March 24 Hugo Amazing Benefit Concert Series 4 Opening band: Legends of Siam Hard Rock Cafe, from 8pm

Tickets go on sale tomorrow (March 17) for Grammy Award winner Lady Gaga’s Bang kok concer t, to be held at Rajamangala National Stadium on May 25. Her tou r, named The Born This Way Ball, will see Gaga perfor m her latest album Born This Way as well as music from both The Fame and The Fame Monster. The Born This Way Ball, produced globally by Live Nation, will begin on April 27 in Seoul, South Korea.

Agence France-Press

thephuketnews.com

editor1@thephuketnews.com

Lady Gaga to rock Bangkok

Daughter to follow Whitney into showbiz Whitney Houston’s daughter said last Sunday she plans to follow her mother into show business, while the drugtroubled star’s sister-in-law admitted her untimely death could have been predicted. In her first interview since Houston’s death last month aged 48, Bobbi Kristina – Houston’s daughter from her stormy relationship with singer Bobby Brown – also said she still hears her late mother’s voice. “I feel he r pa ssi ng through me all the time,” she told TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey. “Lights turn on and off and I’m like, ‘Mom, what are you doing?’ I can still laugh with her and still talk to her.” Asked if she will follow her mother into show business, the teenager said: “I have to carry on the legacy ... We’re gonna do the singing thing. Some acting, some dancing.” The late star’s sisterin-law Patricia Houston meanwhile said it had been possible to forecast that drugs would claim the singer’s life. Houston was fou nd dead on February 11 in a hotel room bath t ub, aged 48, a day before the Grammys and hours ahead of a glittering pre-Grammy party in the Beverly Hills hotel where she died. The singer of hits including I Will Always Love You sold over 170 million records during a nearly three-decade career. But she fought a long battle against substance abuse while trying to keep her performing talent alive. Speculation has raged since her death that the singer may have succumbed to a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol, though official results from her autopsy were not expected for several weeks after her death.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

Lady Gaga’s last tour – The Monster Ball – captivated audiences around the globe, receiving rave reviews in every city. English newspaper The Sun called it “the best live show you will see this year”. Tickets go on sale on March 17 at 10am. Prices range from B1,500 to B7,000. For more information, see www.thaiticketmajor.com or www.facebook.com/bectero Gaga will also perform i n Ho ng Ko ng, Tok yo, Singapore and Australia.

Olivia Newton-John concert in the capital Music lovers will be flocking to Bangkok next week to attend Summer Night with Olivia Newton-John, a showcase for the talents of a true icon of screen and stage. The English-born, Australian-raised star performs at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center on March 23 as par t of her 2012 Asian tour. New ton-Joh n’s th r iving pop career has spanned many years and numerous hit records, including singles such as Physical and Let Me

Photo: Eva Rinaldi

Be There, as well as numerous film and TV credits including

Xanadu and Glee. However, to millions she is best known for her role as Sandy in the iconic movie mu sica l G re a se, wh ich spawned world-famous songs such as Summer Nights, You’re the One That I Want and Hopelessly Devoted to You. Tickets for the concert are priced between B1,500 and 6,000, and can be bought from www.thaiticketmajor.com. After her Bangkok performance, Newton-John travels to Singapore, Manila and Hong Kong for more concerts.

CREATING A LITTLE BLISS: LTJ Bukem (top right) and MC Conrad (top left) performed at Bliss Beach Club on Friday March 9. Photos: Jessi Cotterill Photography

WEEKDAYS The Breakfast Club

Ryan Jon

7am til 11am

Weekday Hitz Blitz

non-stop music

11am til 3pm

Drive on LIVE

Jason Wilder

3pm til 7pm

The Night Ritual

Sam Clarke

7pm til 10pm

St Patrick’s Day greetings Best wishes to the Irish Community in Thailand and all friends of Ireland on the occasion of St Patrick’s Day 2012. I am repeatedly impressed by the pride and enthusiasm with which Irish communities around the world celebrate our national day and heritage. As St Patrick was himself a migrant, a missionary from across the Irish Sea, it is natural that the Irish abroad should have a special connection with him. I am also proud of the o p e n a nd welc om i ng manner in which Ireland and our traditions are celebrated so as draw in people of all backgrounds.

I have seen that the Irish organisations in Thailand exemplify this approach. Let me also use this occasion to underline my appreciation for the role played by the Honorary Consul of Ireland in Phuket, Hélène Fallon-Wood, and the Honorary Consul of Ireland in Bangkok, Gary Biesty. The important consul- His Excellency Declan Kelly. ar services they provide, Photo: Joshua Sherurcij throughout the year, for Irish citizens in Thailand Enjoy St Patrick’s Day, and for visa applicants Saturday, March 17 planning visits to Ireland Angus O’Tool’s, Karon, deserve to be recognised. His Excellency Declan Kelly Ambassador of Ireland to Thailand

otools-phuket.com The Craic, Laguna, irishpubphuket.com Irish Times, Patong, irishtimespub-phuket.com

SATURDAY Box Of Neutrals Saturday Morning Glory Phuket News Radio Dazed and Confused Phuket News Radio

Rob James, Peter McGinley & Michael Lamonato Sam Clarke & Ryan Jon Jason Wilder & Simon Ostheimer Bongo Bob & Baba Fats Ryan Jon & Alasdair Forbes

9am til 10am

10am til 12pm 12pm til 1pm 1pm til 4pm 4pm til 5pm

Going Green

Nick Anthony

5pm til 7pm

Saturday Night Fever

DJ Burt

7pm til 11pm

SUNDAY Dazed and Confused

Bongo Bob & Baba Fats

1pm til 4pm

Lazy Sunday Afternoons

Jason Wilder

4pm til 7pm

Absolute Jazz

Doug Styles

7pm til 9pm

www.phuketliveradio.com Tel: 076-612-895, 090-490-7895

THE PHUKET NEWS

EVENTS 31

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

WHAT’S ON IN PHUKET

List your events here for as low as B99 per line, or online at www.thephuketnews.com/events.php

UNTIL MARCH 18

APRIL 6 Chakri Day A public holiday to honor the founder of the Chakri Dynasty, King Rama I.

APRIL 13-15 Songkran Festival Laguna Phuket. Bookings 081 728 1010

MARCH 24 Coconut Carnival Until March 18, 2012, 6.30pm – 10 pm. B780 per person* at DiVine Restaurant. Enjoy a week of this festive buffet dinner at DiVine Restaurant in Thanyapura, offering a wide selection of innovative coconut dishes prepared by Chef Moo. *Price is subject to 10% service charge and 7% applicable government tax. For reservations, please contact +66 (0)76 336 000 Ext. 5070 Email: dining@thanyapura.com, www.thanyapura.com.

MARCH 17 New Zealand Wine Dinner A taste of New Zealand Mom Tri’s Kitchen at Villa Royale. Sileni Estates is a major vineyard and winery development in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand’s oldest established vineyard area. The wines have won worldwide acclaim. Enjoy a five-course dinner and seven wines. Menu prepared by: Mom Tri’s Chef Darren Wiper. Main Course: Sileni Cellar Selection HB Merlot 2010 + Roast rump of lamb. B1,900 ++ per person not including tax or service. 076 333 568, info@mom triphuket.com. See momtriphuket.com.

MARCH 17 St Patrick’s Day

Comedy Jokes Funniest Night Free transfer from Paradise complex at 5 pm at Time Bar. White and green tea on Saint Patrick's day. Comedy show from Kiss Bar at 7pm. Dress code: white and green. CC Bloom's Hotel 076 333 222, email sales@ccbloomshotel.com.

Songkran is the old Thai New Year, and is an occasion for family reunions. Many Thai people return to their homes and families for the three-day festival. It is celebrated each year between April 13 and 15. It was originally a religious holiday. Songkran begins with early morning merit-making, by offering food to the monks. Paying respect to elders and ancestors is also an important custom of Songkran. Young people pour scented water over Buddha images and on the hands of elders to show respect, and to seek their blessing. Another custom of Songkran is to clean houses and anything old and useless must be thrown away. It is believed that anything bad belonging to the old year will be unlucky to the owner if left and carried on to the coming new year. The most prominent custom of the festival is throwing water. Everybody throws water on each other, during the three-day festival. The most popular place for water-throwing is in Chiang Mai.

APRIL 23-28

“A Ray of Hope” Fundraiser The Lions Club of Phuket Pearl cordially invite you to “A Ray of Hope” fundraiser on March 24, 2012 from 7 pm. Welcome punch, snack buffet, live band, live show and auction. Dress code is colourful. Entrance fee is B1,200 per person. Contact 087 887 9672 for more details. Tickets available at www.phuketticket master.com.

MARCH 31

Wacky Olympics The family sporting event you will not want to miss! Free entry. From 9 am to 3 pm. Children of all ages are welcome. See headstartphuket.com. Call 076 612 876.

Phuket Pride 2012 Pride Week on April 23 to 28. Events and parties so far planned: - Big stage show party April 27 and 28 at Patong Loma Park - Pride Parade through Patong on April 28 - Mr. Gay Phuket competition by Fong Kaew Mansion on April 25 and 26 - Night out in Thailand party on April 24 by Out in Thailand and Backstage Bar - Big street parties and fun nights in Soi Paradise throughout the week - CC Blooms Hotel Pride pool party on April 22 - V. Sawana Bar Pride Party in Rawai - Gay day cruise to Racha Island by Time Bar and Sundowners on April 24 and 25 - Phuket Gay Pride overnight tour by Rainbow Scuba tours on April 23 and 24 With much more coming soon. for regular updates on events around Phuket visit www.phuket-pride.org.

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32 EVENTS

THE PHUKET NEWS

WHAT’S ON IN PHUKET

List your events here for as low as B99 per line, or online at www.thephuketnews.com/events.php

FRIDAY Pool Competition Pool Competition at 9pm. Expat Sports Bar, Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. www. expatsportsbar.com.

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Chef’s Table at Paresa

Pool Competition

Recipe by Ryan is an innovative culinary dining venture. Indulge in intricate dishes created by Paresa’s Executive Chef Ryan Arboleda, featuring a six-course set menu prepared in a live cooking environment. Time: 6pm to 10pm. Call 076 302 000, email: dining@paresaresorts.com.

At 9pm Expat Guesthouse Sports Bar, Patong. See map at www.expatguesthouse. com.

SUNDAY

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Chef’s Table at Paresa Recipe by Ryan is an innovative culinary dining venture. Indulge in intricate dishes created by Paresa’s Executive Chef Ryan Arboleda, featuring a six-course set menu prepared in a live cooking environment. Time: 6pm to 10pm. Call 076 302 000, email: dining@paresaresorts.com.

Duke’s @ Kata will be showing all the Rugby Super 15, 6 Nations and NRL action this weekend. Visit dukesbigboard.com for details and times..

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BBQ Ribs All You Can Eat Only B295 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. For reservations call on 081 891 4381.

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Curry Fridays at Navrang Mahal Every Friday, all-you-can-eat authentic Indian curry buffet, B449 net per person. Draught beer B50. 7pm-11.30pm. Call 076 286 464.

SATURDAY Duke’s @ Kata Duke’s @ Kata will be showing all the Rugby Super 15, 6 Nations and NRL action this weekend. Visit dukesbigboard.com for details and times..

................................................................................

Live Music Live Music Enjoy live music at Kamala’s only live music venue. Every Saturday from 8.30pm with free buffet. Call for more info on 085 655 5127.

Enjoy live music at Kamala’s only live music venue. Every Saturday from 8.30pm with free buffet. Call for more info on 085 655 5127.

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Half-Chicken Spit Roast

Roaring Bhoys - Tuesdays & Saturdays Bangkok Travellers - Sundays Draught Guinness at the only Irish Bar in North Phuket Open from 5pm, closed Mondays Laguna Phuket

thephuketnews.com

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Sunday Roast Pork Every Sunday 2pm onwards Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong B290 per person. Please see www.expathotel.com.

................................................................................

Best Sunday Carvery in Phuket Roast beef, BBQ ham, chicken, pork and Yorkshire pudding. All you can eat B399. Irish Times, Jungceylon, Patong.

................................................................................

At Shakers. Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim areas. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

Salsa Class in Green Man Studio from 6.30 to 9 pm, more information on phuketdance.com.

WEDNESDAY

................................................................................

Interactive Pub Quiz Night Starts from 8pm every Wednesday night. The largest selection of draught beer in Phuket. Irish Times, Jungceylon, Patong.

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BBQ Ribs All You Can Eat Only B295 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. Reservations call on 081 891 4381.

Half-Chicken Spit Roast Only B225 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. Reservations please call 081 891 4381.

THURSDAY BBQ Buffet All You Can Eat

................................................................................

Only B325 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Rd, Patong. Reservations 081 891 4381.

Sunday Brunch

................................................................................

Enjoy the original Sunday brunch in Phuket at Twinpalms, Surin Beach. 12-3pm. Reservations please call 076 316 577.

Live Music every Monday night. The largest selection of draught beer in Phuket. Irish Times, Jungceylon, Patong.

20% Off All Pizzas

Salsa Class Rawai

Quiz Night every Wednesday at Peppers Sports Bar near Laguna. Great food, great music, great beer. Contact 081 728 1010. Facebook Peppers Sports Bar.

AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM

................................................................................

Weekly meeting in English. Dinner out on first Tuesday of the month. rotarypatong.org.

Every Sunday 10am. Come share in worship unto God, and hear Word of God, followed by fellowship lunch. See phuketchurch.net.

Roaring Bhoys

Time 7.30pm, Expat Sports Bar, Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. www.expatsports bar.com.

Rotary Club of Patong Beach

Quiz Night @ Peppers

................................................................................

BBQ at Expat Hotel

................................................................................

Church Service English/Thai

MONDAY

................................................................................

Live Music every week

Duke’s @ Kata

Only B225 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub. Contact 081 895 4763.

The Craíc

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

................................................................................

BBQ Buffet All You Can Eat Only B325 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. Reservations 081 891 4381.

TUESDAY AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub, one km from Chalong circle. Call 081 895 4763.

................................................................................

All Major Sports Live

Half-Chicken Spit Roast

On the big screen. F1, MotoGP, Tennis, Golf, AFL, NRL. Irish Times Irish Pub, Jungceylon, Patong.

Only B225 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub, one km from Chalong circle. Contact 081 895 4763.

DAILY Mango Paradise

Throughout March, we will be offering “Mango Promotion” where you can enjoy the tropical fruit and beat the summer heat. Sweet mango desserts include mango with sticky rice, and mango icecream. At the Royal Paradise Hotel & Spa, contact 076 340 666, www.royalparadise.com.

................................................................................

Grizzly’s Sports Bar & Restaurant Watch all the sport that is on TV this weekend with us. Located between Loch Palm Golf Course and Kathu Waterfall. Call 087 471 8747.

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Sunset Happy Hours & Ninjazz Don’t miss the Sunset happy hours. Between 5pm and 7pm. “Buy one get the same one free” promotion. The Luna Bar, Centara Grand Beach Resort. Call 076 201 234.

THE PHUKET NEWS

JOBS 33

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

CLASSIFIEDS

Beachfront land for sale 7 rai with 180m of frontage > 36

classifieds@thephuketnews.com

JOBS IN PHUKET Accountant: English speaker with good Quick books, Microsof t of f ice skills and references. C.V to info@techworx-projects. com.

Administrative assistant: English speaker

with good Microsoft office skills and references. C.V to info@techworx-projects. com.

liver to Thalang dog pound daily. Contact 084 877 3566.

Shop Girl for a Jewellery Shop: A tetail jewellery shop in Patong is looking for some shop girls. English speaking. Basic computer skills. Salary plus commission. Please email resume with photo to: info@ sil verberry.com.

Office Staff Wanted: Purchase manager: Female, English speaking English speaker, must have experience and references. C.V to info@techworx-proj ects.com.

Qualified Teacher/ Tutor wanted : English speaking, tutor wanted for Grade 4 student, 2-3 hours per day, 6 days a week, to do extra tutoring (reading, writing, math) in Thalang. At Phuket International Academy School. Contact:Sherin.peace@ gmail.com. or call 084 877 3566.

Karon Hillside Staff Wanted: Karon Hillside Hotel is looking for staff: For the following positions no English is required; chef, kitchen helper, housekeeping staff, handyman. For the following positions English is required; bar and restaurant service staff, reception staff, night reception. Good star ting salar y and SC. Only Thai nationals. Please contact K. Sandy on 087 275 4581 or email: info@ kar o nhi ll si d e h ote l.c o m

To advertise here visit: thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

staff to work in nice environment with outgoing personality and basic book keeping skills. Please call K.Nam 076 272 702. Island Curtains.

A c c o u n t a n t Cherngthalay: Building company seeks bookkeeper/accountant. Good English and IT VAT experience. Good salary and bonus. Call 087 885 3532.

Kindergar ten Secretary: Must have good English and computer skills. Mon-Fri, 7.30am-4.30pm, Chalong. Call 080 624 7060.

Secure, Clean & Cost Effective Self Storage MY STORAGE – Thailand’s No.1 Self Storage facility located at Jungceylon Shopping Center, Patong, Phuket – is seeking a well organised and enthusiastic Facility Administrator / PA.

Facility Administrator / PA

- Bachelor’s degree or related field - Thai national 25 – 35 years old, fluent in English (written and spoken) - Minimum of 3-5 years experience in the related field - Computer literate with good knowledge of Microsoft Office - Excellent administrative and communication skills required - Bookkeeping and Office Management skills required - Self-motivated, Proactive, Flexible and Well organized - Service-minded and must have attention to detail - Experience in Property Management an advantage. Submit your CV with recent photo and a covering letter in English to hr@mystorageasia.com or call 076 29 29 09 for further information.

Want to know more about MY STORAGE? Visit mystorageasia.com

work (Yii, CI, Symf, ZEND) and JQuery. Email: iibc. shayne@gmail.com.

company looking for full time Female English teacher to teach our guard. 081 607 6637.

Massage Shop Staff: Require experienced staff for busy, friendly massage shop, Patong Beach,hairdresser, beauty salon experienced, manicure / pedicure, facial, etc. 10am to 11pm. Day off per week. Please contact Khun Key (Thai) on 080 889 6557 or email your resume to tammice@live.com.au.

Sales Staff Wanted: English speaking female.

Thai with previous selling experience with own car, outgoing personality with ability to sell to farangs, flexible hours. Retainer, fuel, phone and commission. Call Khun Nam 076 272 702. Island Curtains.

Rental Manager B a n g t a o B e a c h: Holiday Resort requires experienced rental and service manager. Excellent salary and bonus. Call 087 885 3532.

Web Developer PHP MVC: PHP Developer F e m a l e E n g l i s h with strong MVC frame- Teacher: SGS/Security

Driver Wanted: Part time from 3pm - 4.30pm Monday- Friday, with own small truck to pick up goods from Central area and de-

JOB WANTED Butler/House Manag er: Pr ofe s si o nal Head Butler 44 with over 20 years extensive experience with The Royal Household, Buckingham Palace and an internationally renowned Hollywood Producer is now available. Interested parties kindly email enquiries to p.v.b.b@live.com.

thephuketnews.com

34 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

BUY & SELL IN PHUKET

To advertise here visit: thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

land, Maikhao Beach. Perfect for resort, 15-20 villas. First villa under construction. www. phuketapartments.de. Contact Julius 087 267 1192.

alarm service. Protect your home with high-quality CCTV camera,and GSM alarm. Free survey and quote. Please call 086 105 8144 or click www. huketechnology.com.

Ages 3 months to 4 years. Open 7 days a week and from 6.30 am to 7pm. Rock Garden Village. Call 0p76 528 862, mobile 082 539 8252, email: kiddieshomenursery@gmail. com.

Kamala Bar for SALE!: Very profitable bar on main road. Owner returning to Australia in high season. Has one bedroom with ensuite, three FS TVs, pool table, stock, furniture. etc. Price negotiable. Call Chompoo on 084 844 3504.

BUSINESS SERVICES HD Webcam Service for Hotels: Visit sawadeecam.

BOATS & YACHTS

- 4 stroke - 300 hours. Fully -equipped. Location: Boat Lagoon. Price: B700,000. Contact 086 268 7901, martin@perti nax.asia.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Digifox Marine: Marine inboard engines, hydraulic and mechanical equipment service, repairs and spare parts. MAN, Arneson, ZF, Rolls Royce and others. Professional team of engineers, high quality, personal approach guaranteed. Contact 076 336 221, 083 171 4141. Email info@ digifoxmarine.com.

Restaurant for Sale: Restaurant for sale Farang/ Thai, quality furnishing, terrific potential, ill health force sale. Sale B800,000. Contact 087 978 5804.

Investment Opportunity: 8-15per cent monthly returns. Obligation free appointment . Call for more information 084 100 6274.

Speedboat for Rent: Panwa Beach. 16 knots service speed comfy can do 38 knots emergency. Sight seeing Phi Phi Island or fishing. We have equipment experienced skipper. Contact Gustav 080 649 0500.

Pegasus 8.2M - Late 2 0 0 6: S UZ U K I 14 0 H P

com.

Phuket Consult Services: Insurance, personal assistance, legal assistance, police and emergency assistance, property management sales and rentals, company registration, visa and work permit and accounting. Call 081 691 9679.

Indo Construction: 40 years’ experience and more than 20 years at your service in Thailand. Main contractor: study project, architecture design and construction and management. Contact 076 381 895.

CARS FOR RENT New Mazda2 & Vios for Rent: First class insurance, special price for long term rental. Call 080 521 9888, email sornin_s@yahoo.com.

The car for rent: Car in good condition, short and long-term rental with first-class insurance and delivery service. Call 086 690 6007, email: k.niwatt@hotmail.com.

CARS FOR SALE

Great returns. Create passive cashflow with our Forex Trading system. Call for more information 082 286 4463.

Investors or Partners Wanted: Five-rai hillside

Prot e c t Your H o m e w i t h C C T V: C C T V &

CLUBS & MEMBERSHIPS

ship lifetime, B600,000 include transfer. Call Tantita 081 797 3326.

Q uali f i ed Teach er/ Tutor Wanted: English speaking, tutor wanted for Grade 4 student, 2-3 hours per day, 6 days a week, to do extra tutoring (reading, writing, math) in Thalang. At Phuket International Acadamy school. Contact:Sherin. peace@gmail.com. or call 084 877 3566.

Russian Language for Your Kids: Are your children starting to forget Russian? Sign up to our Russian Language For Kids program. Visit http://PhuketRussianSchool.com, email us at info@ phuketrussianschool.com or call 082 804 9131.

Guitar Lesson By Pro Player: Guitar/bass lessons beginner to advanced. Personal one-on-one or by DVD. Diploma of Teaching (Aust) degree. Call 089 777 3063.

Want to Practice your Thai?: Thai Courses and lessons for daily life (culture and language) with friendly and energised Thai female teacher. Graduated from university. Negotiable prices can be offered. Plus have outdoor activities for your experience!! Call 080 386 5026.

Laguna Family Memb e r s h i p : 12 ye a r s .

Nissan Navara Sell 4 Doors: July 2011, 14,000km. B790,000. Call Olisiy 088 838 3242.

CHILDCARE Kiddies Home Nursery: Award for top Nursery for Phuket Province 2011.

OWNER RETIRING UNIQUE COMPANY FOR SALE Phuket - Thailand

Established in 2001 and specializing in the sales and rental of containers, site offices, mobile toilets, self storage and the manufacture and sales of all types of relocatable and pre-fab building. Includes a large inventory of stock, machinery and regular clientelle.

Price 14 million Baht Only genuine inquiries please to Gordon on 081 892 4804 or gordon_asia@hotmail.com thephuketnews.com

dren 18 months to six years old with experienced native English teachers following the UK EYFS curriculum. Contact 089 971 1813.

Loch Palms Membership for Sale: Member-

on Srisoonthorn Rd. Phuket’s quality tile boutique. Tiles for interior, exterior, residential, commercial. Contact 076 620 168 or 081 424 2828. Email info@tile-asia.com.

Your specialist of imported food and drinks in Phuket. Visit our shop at the Billion Plaza, opposite Tesco Lotus. Contact 076 612 733, 076 248 900. www.phuketfood.com.

Buds Nursery: Phuket’s oldest bilingual international child care facility. High-quality, time-proven schedule and curriculum. Now in brand new purpose build school. Experienced native English teachers to teach ages 1 1/28. Mon-Fri 8am.-5pm. Bus service available from Patong, Karon, Kata, Phuket, Rawai and Chalong. Website: www.buds-phuket.com.

ABC International Nursery: Education for chil-

Tile It: Thalang. Wana Park

Farang Food Paradise: Unique Automated Business: Low overheads,

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

B500,000 includes transfer. Call Tantita 081 797 3326.

Funstart: Family sports and leisure club. Swimming/golf/ playcentre/gaming arcade. Call 076 203 185, 087 882 5544. See funstartphuket.com.

SK A L I nt e r na t i onal Phuket: Skål is a professional organisation of leaders from all branches of the travel and tourism industry. www. skalphuket.org.

Singapore Club Phuket: Calling all Singaporeans in Phuket to join “Singapore Club Phuket”. Contact Robin on 081 803 7189, 076 303 500.

DIVING All 4 Diving: 5/4 Sawat-

Dos & Don’ts of Thai Culture: Learn Thai and Thai culture that is necessary for enjoying life in Thailand. Group classes three days per week, learning about the real dos and don’ts of Thailand. The Genius Language School, call 089 203 9270 (Aooddy).

Cooking School: Fire up

your creative flair with Food Services Cooking School. Italian, Western and Thai cuisine. Try our famous pizza school. 082 816 0126, email: info@ foodservicesth.com.

Native German Teacher: Native German TEFL teacher is teaching German and English to single students at home or small groups in Chalong. 080 778 1220, 081 810 9115.

dirak Road, Patong Beach. Contact 076 344 611.

EDUCATION Learn Thai at Home: Thai woman teacher with 8-9 years’ experience gives Thai and English lessons for company/hotel staff and Thai cooking at your home. Full course with conversation practice and home study material. Both at beginner and more advanced levels. Tel:081 797 1497 Email: teacherjoy_ phuket@hotmail.com.

International Kindegarten: International Kindergarten. Native English teachers, UK and Singapore curriculum, small class sizes. The best choice. Please contact 082 323 1188.

Rawai Progressive School: International private school for ages 3-12 years, offering Montessori education. See our website montessorithailand.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS

CLASSIFIEDS 35

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

BUY & SELL/HOMES IN PHUKET MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FOR SALE SOKEN Surround Sound Stereo: Big amp, 5 powerful speakers, really excellent sound. Paid 15,000 12 months ago, sell 7,500. Call 082 283 8902.

Nicolas (farang) 083 176 4265. Khun Ball 081 084 9532 (Thai).

To advertise here visit: thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

improve health, reduce stress, weight loss, detox, rejuvenation, vitality and overcome disease. See atmanjai.com.

Your number one billiard and snooker supplier in Phuket. Sales, rent and profit-sharing. All accessories and services. Call for more details on 081 823 4627.

CHURCH

PROPERTY CONCIERGE

Kawasaki Boss 175:

Blue, 9 years old, good condition, used daily. Includes very solid sidecar (now detached). Email for Photos. B29,000 ono. Call 082 283 8902.

SERVICE, PATONG HOUSE OF LORD CHURCH

Ev.Sunday 10am + Fellowship Lunch

SAFEWAY STORAGE

Ev.Wednesday 9.30am Prayer Meeting

• Furniture

Ctc. Ps.David Tan 084 006 3438

• Machinery Main Highway Thalang

Harley XR-1200 for Sale: 2009 model. Only

076 313 235 081 125 1873

8,000 km. Perfect condition. Fast and fun. Priced to sell quickly at 595,000 baht. Call 081 734 8309, email ducphuket@gmail. com.

Health Food : Online health food in Thailand. Good Karma, all natural healthy, natural and organic products. Contact 082 276 1675. www. goodkarmathailand.com.

MOTORBIKE SERVICES

davidtankahseng@gmail.com

6 - 8 S e a t Ta b l e , D a r k Wood, 6 Matching Chairs, 12 months old. Cost 16,000 Sell 8,000 ono. Call 082 283 8902.

your motorcycle tyres for a smoother ride with DYNA BEADS! Available at West Coast Service Center Phuket. Your big bike specialist on the bypass road. Contact 085 785 4440.

MOTORBIKES FOR SALE

PERSONAL SERVICES

Yamaha Mio for Sale:

Techworx: Custom design & installation. Professional service and support. Premium service: home cinema, home automation, marine AV and IT, lighting control and multiroom audio-video. Call 084 443 9863.

Yamaha Mio B19,999. Call 089 973 3276.

Repossessed Motorbikes 2011 models Finos from 28,000B Mios from 25,000B Clicks from 30,000B

English-Thai Law Off ice: Visa, wor k per mit, company formation, property transfer etc. Please telephone for advice. Call 084 063 9223.

Safeway Repos Main Hightway Thalang. 076 313 235 081 125 1873

Haris & Hawryluck - Attorneys at Law: Unit 6D CCM Complex, call 076 510 111, email info@hhlegaladvi sors.com, www.hhlegaladvi sors.com.

Havana Cigar Shop: Opposite HomePro Village Chalong. Contact 081 956 2024. Email: vinoltds@hotmail.com.

Suzuki 110 Revo: Suzuki Revo 110, 5 years old, Blue Paint, 2 New Tires, Taxed until July. E xc e l l e n t C o n d i t i o n , 18,000 ONO. 082 283 8902.

Ya m a h a S e r o w f o r Sale: 220cc, year 1996. Sale B45,000. Please contact Khun

Buon A p p et i to: D e li market and bistro.Number one supplier of Italian Deli in Phuket. Call 076 384 273, info@buonappetitogroup.com, w w w. b u o n a p p et i t o g r o u p. com.

Atmanjai: World’s best natural health programmes to

Selling or Renting Your Property?: We

Bon Café Phuket: A

have buyers for foreign freehold, sea view properties and land. Call 080 143 2929 or visit realestate.phuket. net.

producer of premium coffee blends and powdered mixes as well as selling, maintaining, servicing and repairing all major brands. 076 355 600-1.

PROPERTY FOR RENT

www.phuketchurch.net

New House for Rent Near Central: 4 bed, 2bath furnished, WiFi, office, 20K. 089 973 3276.

Dynamic Tyre Balancing: Dynamically balance Table for Sale: Long

cated in Kata. Call 081 606 2827.

Addr. 110/12 Soi Patong Tower

• Cars-Boats

Space for Rent in Patong: Of fice, Busin e s s s p ac e f o r r e nt o n fifth floor of Patong Towe r. C a l l 0 7 6 3 41 3 7 0 .

Beach Frontage: One

bedroom self-contained holiday villa Rawai. Rental day/week Call 081 677 1641.

Rent Kata One-Three Bed Apartments: Superb

Modern Pool Villa:

Stunning three-bedroom pool villa, five minutes from Laguna 600 sq metre plot in peaceful location. Finished to a very high specification “MUST SEE” Selling price B12.9 million. Please contact 084 994 9303 or email phuketpoolvilla.info@ gmail.com.

apartments and pool pent-

Villa 5 House for Rent: houses 115-375 sq metre, less house for rent 37sq.wah. Two bedrooms, one restroom, one kitchen. B16,000 per month. Call 081 895 9622.

than five minutes walk to two beaches (Kata and Kata Noi) Call 081 078 1246.

THE SUNRISE OCEAN VILLAS

Apartment for Rent Luxury Pool Villa: De- in Patong: New condo signed for comfort has everything near Laguna lease B22,000. Contact 089 594 4067.

with swimming pool, security 24/7. 46sq metre, furnished. Daily/monthly. 089 728 4005 or email: thamad17@yahoo.com.

House for Rent Near Rawa i B e a c h Fro n t American Health ClinHeroines Monument: House: Rawai beach front ic: Chiropractic spinal ad- Two bed, one bath, cable TV, house for sale/long term rent. justment with an experienced chiropractor can take away the pain almost as quickly as it began. Call 076 612 707.

internet, fully furished house at B8,000 per month. Call 080 521 9888, sornin_s@ yahoo.com.

Live Music By Colin Comfor table Private Hill: Popular expat pro musi- and Quiet: Three bedroom cian (guitar/vocals) with work permit. Can perform solo, duo or band. www.play-guitar.net, 089 777 3063.

townhouse, just a few minutes to Karon Beach. B25,000 per month, long term rent required. Call 081 396 0880.

Phuket Visa: Offers con- Houses for Rent : Long sulting and services on company registration, work permit, visa, accounting, auditor, legal advice. Contact 081 892 9960.

Term, Chalong, very private with mountain views, two bedrooms, kitchen, fully-furnished, Sat TV, ADSL, UBC and common swimming pool. 089 724 3669.

Three beds, three baths with three air-con. Cable TV, ADSL on area 1600 sq metre. Call 089 649 9939.

PROPERTY FOR SALE Land for Sale: Land Mission Hills half rai plot, quiet select location, chanote, water, electricity. Price B1.6m. Six rai hilltop, sea/mountain views, chanote, water, electricity and office. B4.2m per rai. Contact 087 978 5804.

After a great success of the first phase, the Sunrise Ocean Villas is now starting to build the 8 other villas of "Phase2". The price of 17.9 million baht makes the project one of the most compettitive on the island for being only 60m from the beach. Each villa has an living area of over 300 sqm, has 3 spacious bedrooms, all sea views, 5 bathrooms, a 10x4m infinity pool, maid's quarter and a covered 2 car-parking. The houses are specially designed to guarantee a complete privacy, with an open panoramic view of the sea.

PET ADOPTION Come visit the villas and you will be wonderfully surprised by the quality of the project as well as the quality of life you can find here.

Why buy a pet?: Soi Dog Apar tment for Rent Foundation have over 300 in Rawai: Business nine beautiful dogs and puppies available for adoption. Fully-vaccinated and sterilised. Contact 087 050 8688, email: john@soidog.org.

apartments, fully-furnished with swimming pool & office. Contract 081 893 2165.

POOL TABLES

One-Bedroom House, Kata: Fully-furnished, one

Phuket Pool Tables:

bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, terrace, WiFi and cable TV. Price B9,000 per month. Lo-

www.phuketpooltables.com.

Nice One Rai Chalong: Reduced, just B6 million now! Full chanote title. Call 089 651 3479, 087 053 6181.

For appointment or more details, contact the project director Khun Monta at 081 343 0777 (Thai, English & German) Email: thesunrise villas@yahoo.com.

www.thesunrisevillas.com

thephuketnews.com

36 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

HOMES IN PHUKET

To advertise here visit: thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php Patong Guesthouse: 8 rooms, internet cafe and apartment. B1.3 million. 085 794 6530.

46sqm, freehold: B2.9 million. 089 728 4005, thamad17@ yahoo.com.

Sea View Villa: Luxury

pany name available. B5.5 million. Call 081 131 5751, email: seadog5000@yahoo.com.

Seven rai with 180 metres of ocean frontage opposite of Yacht Haven Marina, for sale. Very peaceful natural environment, water, electricity, access by public road and boat, ready to build. Price B6.2 million per Rai. Land could be subdivided into small plots.

Perfect Land for Villa: Approx three rai, with chanote title, 2 km south of Thai Muang town centre. Just 24 km north of Sarasin Bridge. Good road access and electricity. Very quiet, green area. Urgent sale for just B5 million total, nonnegotiable. Contact Peter on 089 652 1951 or email phuket. pn@gmail.com.

For details please call owner directly 081 343 0777 or 086 475 6060, email: montha _ phuket@yahoo. com.

Discount Rentals Daily / Weekly / Monthly / Lease LUXURY VILLAS NEAR LAGUNA

Info: 089 594 4067 Gentlemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Farm 20 Rai Land: House 1000Sq metre, under roof made from granite rock, salas and walkways, 400m of water frontage on river. Many types of fruit trees. Close to Rajaprapa Golf Course. English and Thai for details Tantita 081 797 3326.

Kata House For Sale: 5 minutes to beach, large modern house, three floors, furnished, three beds, two full bath, air-con, western kitchen, spacious living room, garage with laundry/overhead storage, large covered patios, security doors/windows, garden, com-

Pa l m a n d Ru b b e r Farm 67 Rai: House 450 sq metre, under roof. 400m of water frontage on river. Income producing. 2 small Klongs for holding fish. Close to Rajaprapa Golf Course. Engish and Thai for details Tantita 081 797 3326.

Luxury Condo Central Kathu: For sale or rent. Two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms. Guest toilet. Total 161212sq metre. Very nice view, large balcony, common facilities pool/gym. 086 268 7901 (English), martin@per tinax. asia.

Top Rawai Beach Condo For Sale: Serenity

house in Moobaan Tarn Thong Villa opposite Moobaan Chao fa California. B3.1 million. Contact Lee on 081 803 7189.

Kamala Two Brand New Villas: Two bedr o o m s , t wo b at h r o o m s , Western kitchen, 130 sq metre. Nice garden with large pool in quiet area. Price: B5.5 million or minimum threemonth rental. Call 081 496 9070 (Eng/Swedish) or 081 719 1175 (Thai). Email:diod@ telia.com.

Seaview Land for Sale: Near Chalong pier, 150 metres from the sea. Three rai and one ngan plot. Chanote title. Price: B20 million per rai. No agent. Call 087 278 7206.

Land for Sale: 11 rai, one kilometre from Naiyang beach. B6.5 millions per rai. Please call : Siriporn +66 (0) 896 499 939.

Fi ve B e d ro o m Th a i Style Pool Villa for Sale: Near Laguna Phuket on one rai, living space 600 sq metre up. 087 893 4636.

Seaview Land AoMakha m for Sale: 3 3 rai

Resort & Residences. Two bed / two bath, 134 sq metre. Only B11.9 million. See www. stefan.asia for details.

land upon hill with seaview. Very easy access from road. B5 million per rai. Contact 081 895 4318. Email: wapeebow@gmail.com.

Ka t a B e a c h Ce n t r e Phuket: Apar tments for

Kata Phuket Luxur y Studio/Apartment: 60

rent and lease in luxury building with pool. Per day, week, month, year and 30 years. Contact Scott Bolls, email: sbolls@ hot mail.com. Contact +66 81

sq metre. Lease hold 30+60 year option. Free furnishing and transfer. B3.0 million. Contact Scott Bolls, email: sbolls@ hotmail.com, call +66 81 828 0972.

Rawai Pool Villa: 4 Bed-

828 0972.

Land For Sale: 6 rai Hilltop, sea/mountain views, chanote, water, electricity and office. B4.2 million per rai , Contact : 087 978 5804.

room/4 Bathroom European style single storey house with self-contained guesthouse and pool on 736m2 plot. Large master bedroom with en-suite, walk-in wardrobe. Modern western style kitchen with granite tops, built-ins throughout and 4 air-cons. Electric gate, TV and phone line. Large verandahs, carport, and established garden. Chanote title B11m. 087 891 9349.

Nice One Rai Chalong NOW Reduced to 6.5m ono: In Chalong 200 metres Thai Style House for Sale: Teak wood floors,

off main road in great location. Full chanote title. 089 651 3479.

stairs, walls, 2 bedrooms. Land 330 sq metre, peaceful location, five minutes to Patong, Chanote title. B5.5 million. 086 268 8701, email: f430spiderf1@hotmail.com.

24 Rai Flat Land Cheap:

Phuket - Allamanda Residences: One Deluxe B1.9 Million New Condo: New Studio (1 bedroom) condominium in The Point, across from Phuket International Hospital and BigC. Beautiful four-year-old central atrium building with no stuffy hallways. 36 m2, high-speed internet, cable TV, and swimming. Parking under building. Third floor with nice view. B1.9 m. Contact Walter at wp drake2@yahoo.com, 083 301 3470.

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and about 10 minutes drive to Patong. Prices from only B4,900,000. For more info call 087 882 2856 or email luc@ phuket-tropical-realestate.com.

Nice Three Bed House for Sale: Three-bedroom

seaview Patong-Karon villa, four bedrooms, private pool. Sell for B22 million, and also available rental daily and monthy basis. www.awphuket.com.

Beach Front Land:

PROPERTY FOR SALE CONT.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

Condo-Unit (Duplex House) fully-furnished set within the unique Phuket Laguna Complex with balcony right over the lagoon, 3 bedrooms, roof-terrace with sala etc. FOR SALE OR LONG TERM LEASE. Call (66) 081 737 0365, e-mail: utai pan@yahoo.com.

New Apartment for Sale Patong: Condo: swimming pool, security 24/7. Furnished,

24 rai flat land close to Phuket zoo. Owner direct, B3.8 million per rai, chanote title. Call 085 789 1773.

Great House for Sale: Three bedrooms, four bathrooms and pool. B5 million. Contact 089 469 2897.

New Townhouses in Kamala: This is a development of affordable 3-bedroom townhouses, located in Kamala, approximately 1.5 km from the white sandy beach of Kamala

Jindarin Beach Club & Resort: B1.5 million for one plot, B3.2 million for cottage + plot. Call 080 467 7770 (Thai), 083 520 0020 (English). www.jinda rin.com, Email: eam1008@ me.com.

Private Pool Villas from B4.9M: Intira Villas is a development of 15 boutique villas in the heart of Rawai. Second phase open now. Only a few villas available. 083 594 9279.

Condo at Patong Loft for Sale: Condo for sale with the renter. Good for investment!. 86sq metre on fifth floor. Please call 081 432 6587.

Urgent Three Bed House for Sale: Phuket Grand Ville Pasak Soi 8, two storey house, three bed, three bath, three air-con, cable, internet and fully-furnished. Call 081 894 2505.

Chalong Land: Land in Chalong. 15 rai of gently sloping land, with full chanote, near Chalong temple. Sea views from top of land. Good road access and electricity. Perfect for development. Only B5 million per rai. Call Peter on 089 652 1951 or email phuket.pn@ gmail.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS

TRADES 37

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

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38 ISLAND SPORT

THE PHUKET NEWS

TSLC MAKES A RACQUET

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

TENNIS

Several of the world’s most promising female tennis stars are in Phuket over the coming weeks as Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) hosts the Chang International Tennis Federation (ITF) Pro Circuit women’s event. Running from March 17 to April 1, the event will attract 64 professional players to compete for a US$25,000 (B765,000) prize pool. T he tou r nament will comprise a main draw of 32 ranked players, with another 32 selected through qualification rounds. Among the aspiring global stars who have already signed up for the event are Thailand’s Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, who won the junior singles title at Wimbledon in 2009. She is currently ranked 179th in the world, and is the only Thai to make the 32 main draw places. Other key players who will take to the Thanyapura courts include world number 138 Erika Sema and world number 144 Kurumi Nara, both from Japan, as well as

Brazil ran out winners in the Under 11 division of the 2012 Fair Play League.

FPL wraps up 2012 FOOTBALL

Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, ranked 179th in the world. Réka-Luca Jani from Hungary (#155), Julia Cohen from the US (#158), Claire Feverstein of France (#163) and Sarah Gronert of Germany (#175). This will be Thanyapura’s second step into the world tennis limelight, after hosting the Chang ITF Thailand Pro Circuit 2011 men’s tennis tournament last October and November. “We couldn’t be happier following the decision to hold the event,” said Thanyapura Group President Robert Hauck. “It will have great flow on

effects for Phuket as a whole in terms of visitors and sports tourism, and it will also give Thanyapura’s own Tennis Academy a great chance to groom its own stars of the future and introduce them to the big stage.” The event is open to the public at B200 per person per day (includes two drinks). Members and students under 18 can enter free of charge. Advance bookings can be made at TSLC reception.

The majority of teams entered in the final week of the 2012 Fair Play League (FPL) still have a chance of claiming a top-three place. Playing at the Youth Football Home in Thalang on Saturday (March 10), the Under 14 Division kicked off with a cracker, matching the top two sides in a battle for the title. Germany Green knew a win or draw against France would guarantee them the gold medal, whereas a loss to the French would see Les Bleus overtake them to claim the title. In a one-sided first half, France, led by U14 top scorer Dep, took a 4-0 lead going into the break. It looked as if France would run away with the match as they scored their fifth goal just a few minutes into the second half, but Germany Green staged an unbelievable comeback, scoring four times to come within a goal of France, and the point they needed for the title. Germany Green staged their final do-or-die attack, and with seconds remaining broke through the French back line to score their fifth goal of the game, sending German supporters into rapture. Final score: France 5, Ger-

Under 14

Team

Under 11

P W D L F A PTS

Team

P W D L F A PTS 10 8

Germany G 10 6

1 3 52 44 19

Brazil

France

10 5

3 2 45 26 18

Germany G 10 8

1 1 36 12 25

Brazil

10 5

1 4 42 35 16

Germany W 10 4

2 4 34 21 14

Argentina

10 5

0 5 43 46 15

Argentina

10 3

2 5 25 25 11

Thailand

10 4

2 4 35 29 14

France

10 1

3 6 20 42

1 8 33 60

Germany W 10 1

1 8 33 60

Germany W 10 1

many Green 5 – enough to secure the title for Germany. In a tight second match, Brazil played a good counter attacking game to beat Thailand 3-2 and leapfrog them into third placed to claim the bronze medal. The final match saw basement team Germany White look to finish on a high by beating a strong Argentina team. But it was not to be, as Argentina squeezed past for a 7-6 victory. The Under 11 division was equally exciting on the final day. The first match saw Germany Green occupy top place on the league ladder following a 5-1 victory over France. This meant that Brazil needed a victory in the final match against an improving Thailand team to reclaim top spot and seal the title. The first half finished 0-0 and it looked as if a shock might be on the cards. After a constructive team talk by the Brazil coach though, the Samba Boys came out with more pur-

2 0 24 7

pose in the second half and pressed the Thailand team back early on, scoring a crucial goal to take the lead midway through the second half. This lead was extended with a few minutes remaining to secure the victory and claim the title as Under 11 champions. The final game saw a fight for the Bronze medal as Germany White and Argentina started the match on the same points with the German team holding the bronze medal place on goal difference. It was Argentina who started stronger, storming to a 3-1 lead with Under 11 top scorer Joe Hunter grabbing a first half hat-trick. But the second half was a different story as Germany White found their form and scored two unanswered goals to draw level. An inspired Germany White then pressed on, and with a minute remaining scored their fourth goal of the game to grab a 4-3 victory and the bronze medal.

Ultraman take AFL honours In last Thursday’s only Adult Futsal League (AFL) Premier Division match, Honda came up against table toppers Portrait FC in the penultimate match of the season. But Honda were unable to deal with the leaders’ pace and clinical finishing, slumping to another defeat with a score of 6-0. The Division One matches were kicked off with Chevrolet looking to leapfrog SGS into third place on the division ladder. Chevrolet held most of the possession in the first half and entered the break 2-0 up, but within minutes of

thephuketnews.com

FUTSAL the restart SGS pulled a goal back and made the score 2-1. With SGS sensing an opportunity to get back into the game they pressed forward for the equaliser, but got hit on the break two more times as Chevrolet gained their third win of the season with a 4-1 win. The final game on the Division One field saw the top two teams in TSLC and Ultraman battle it out, with Ultraman needing a victory to keep their hopes winning the title alive. It was TSLC though who

started on the front foot moving the ball around well and scoring three unanswered goals inside the first half. Ultraman were then forced into a tactical change after the break as they replaced their goalkeeper with a sweeper to create an extra outfield man advantage to try and get back into the game. It failed, as TSLC ran in six more goals in mostly in breakaway situations. Ultraman did manage to find the back of the net twice, but it was to no avail as TSLC won 9-3 and clinched the Division One title with one game still remaining.

THE PHUKET NEWS

ISLAND SPORT 39

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

SUPERSTAR IN THE MAKING Could he be Phuket’s first ever Premier League player? Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

Nicky Murphy wasn’t born into a football family – his Australian father, Craig, was always more of a rugby league man. Yet the talented 15-yearold, Phuket “born and raised”, started playing with the round ball from a young age, and hasn’t looked back since. “I’ve been playing since I was six years old. I started playing at BIS [British International School] with friends, every lunch time non-stop.” And after playing in several leagues around Phuket and Thailand, and studying at Phuket International Academy (PIA) on a football scholarship, it now appears Nicky has his sights set on bigger things. Namely, the English Premier League. While nothing is set in stone yet, it looks as though Nicky may have the chance to train with the Sunderland AFC youth squad over the coming British summer holidays. The ambition would be to then turn that into a full time contract to train with the squad, and perhaps one

day take to the field for Sunderland’s top tier side. If he succeeds, he will be the first Phuketian to accomplish such an incredible feat. Of course, in the intensely competitive world of professional sport, it can be as much about who you know as what you know. For Nicky’s father, Craig, his contacts in Phuket and abroad have helped bring the Premier League dream that little bit closer. A man who works for Craig at Sunseeker Phuket happens to be from Sunderland, and it was through him that Craig was invited to the members box at a Sunderland AFC match. Craig was able to speak to people there about Nicky, and establish the contacts necessary to get his name out there. But Nicky is quite obviously not alone in his ambition to play at football’s highest level – literally thousands of youngsters around the world are applying to join the ranks at Sunderland alone, and at this stage, no one is getting ahead of themselves. Given the overwhelm-

ing demand, clubs are often reluctant to send talent scouts to more remote places like Phuket without first having a strong indication of the player’s talent. Nicky’s profile and player footage is now sitting on the Sunderland bosses’ desk, waiting for approval. But like all major opportunities, a foot in the door can be all you need, and Craig is confident that Nicky will at least have the chance to show what he is capable of. “As parents, from our side, we just want to give him the opportunity to do it. If he doesn’t make it, that’s fine as well. But if you never try you’ll never know.” And even if the Sunderland avenue fails, Nicky has other options open. A talent scout

Murphy hopes to train with Sunderland’s youth squad. Photos: Craig Murphy

into tackling drugs, but why not put some of that into organising some tournaments which could help bring kids in off the streets? “At the moment it’s very difficult in Asia to get exposure. You have to be in these [European] countries to do it.” For Nicky though, the chance to move abroad would be a welcome experience. “I don’t think I will [miss Phuket]. I think England will be a better place to stay. There are more opportunities there for me. “It would be excellent, a dream come true. When I was young I always wanted to play in the Premier League.” But for all the talk of Nicky’s future football success, the 15-year-old is yet to witness the action first-hand. “Only on T V. T hat’s the closest I’ve been to the Premier League.” With a bit of luck, and a lot more hard work, Nicky could be getting a whole lot closer to the action, and in doing so perhaps inject some life into the languishing Phuket youth football scene.

for Scotland giants Celtic, Andy Amour, has also shown interest in Nicky. Mr Amour is currently recruiting players from Australia, and Craig says sending Nicky to Australia to train could be another option. One thing is for certain though, Nicky says that if he wants to succeed in the world of football, he must leave

Phuket soon – there simply aren’t the same opportunities available for talented footballers, and youth development is low on the priority list of local authorities. “There are kids around who have the ability, but there’s no facilit ies for them, nothing from the government,” Craig said. “They put all this money

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CRICKET

made which only serve to cause doubt on the semifinal of one of the most successful ICC Cricket World Cups ever.” The weekly claimed on Sunday that it had uncovered evidence that huge sums of money were on offer to players to throw part or all of international matches, including the crunch semifinal between the bitter South Asian rivals. India won the match and went on to beat Sri Lanka in the final. One New Delhi-based bookmaker was quoted as saying that English county cricket was a “good new market” because matches were low-profile. Money was on offer to batsmen to score slowly and bowlers to concede runs in a set pattern, the report said.

dismisses India India claim revenge ICC match-fixing claims CRICKET

Agence France-Presse

India’s Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir both cracked their 10th one-day centuries to set up a comfortable 50run victory over Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup in Dhaka on Tuesday (March 13). It was sweet revenge for India, who were left disappointed after missing out on last week’s tri-series finals against Australia after Sri Lanka claimed the other finals spot. Man-of-the-match Kohli (108) and left-handed opener Gambhir (100) added 205 runs for the second wicket as India posted a challenging 304-3 before bowling Sri Lanka out for 254 in the day-night match. Seamer Irfan Pathan was the pick of India’s bowlers with four wickets, while off-spinner Ravichandran

Virat Kohli.

Photo: AFP

Ashwin and paceman Vinay Kumar took three apiece. Sri Lanka raced to 122 in the opening 18 overs, thanks to skipper Mahela Jayawardene, who kept alive his team’s hopes of hunting down a stiff target with a brisk 59-ball 78. But they suffered a setback when Jayawardene was caught behind off Irfan in the 19th

over after smashing two sixes and 10 fours. He added 93 for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (65). “There were not many boundaries in the ViratGautam par t nership but they did well to set up a base,” said India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. “It is a tough ground to defend with a quick outfield. It was difficult when Mahela was batting well. The wicket changed a bit and the ball came onto the bat better and they were able to play their shots.” Sr i L a n k a’s ch a nc e s receded sharply after the dismissal of Sangakkara, caught at deep mid-wicket off Ashwin, who also trapped Lahiru Thirimanne (29) lbw in the same over. Vinay removed Nuwan Kulasekara and Chamara Kapugedera off successive

deliveries as Sri Lanka were reduced to 216-7, losing four wickets for 20 runs. “I played a pretty bad shot,” said Jayawardene. “We needed to finish the chase which we did not do. Initially, they set it up nicely with Gautam and Virat and I thought we gave away 15-20 runs (too many).” Kohli earlier top-scored for India with his second successive hundred against Sri Lanka, having made an unbeaten 133 at Hobart in the recent triangular one-day series in Australia. India plundered 78 runs off the last 7.1 overs, with Dhoni smashing a 26-ball 46 not out and Suresh Raina an unbeaten 30 off just 17 balls. India lost Sachin Tendulkar early in the innings before Gambhir and Kohli bolstered their team with their impressive knocks.

Agence France-Presse

The International Cricket Council on Monday dismissed a claim in a British newspaper that Indian bookmakers were fixing the results of English county games and overseas fixtures. The chief executive of the sport’s world governing body, Haroon Lorgat, described a report in Britain’s Sunday Times that it was probing last year’s World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan as “baseless and misleading”. “The ICC has no reason or evidence to require an investigation into this match,” he said in an emailed statement to media. “It is indeed sad for spu r iou s clai m s to be

FIGHT ‘TO THE DEATH’ Ducks to Dragons: this means ‘war’

BOXING

Lamont Peterson has declared himself “ready to die” in the ring to keep his belts when he meets Britain's Amir Khan in a Las Vegas title rematch on May 19. The American, who took Khan’s WBA super-lightweight and IBF light-welterweight belts in a controversial split points decision in Washington last December, told a televised news conference on Tuesday that he was training already. Peterson said he accepted the rematch because the fans wanted it, and not because of pressure from K han’s people or any feeling that he had to prove himself. Khan cried foul after losing a split decision to Peterson in their see-saw battle for the WBA and IBF lightwelterweight titles in Washington in December, insisting he had been the victim of dubious scoring. However Khan, 25, said

Agence France-Presse

Lamont Peterson and Amir Khan on the latter’s Facebook page. he expected a different story would unfold in the May 19 rematch at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas. “In my eyes, the fight was the best fight of 2011. It was toe-to-toe action and exciting,” Khan said at a press conference to promote the fight in London. “But for this fight, we’re going to change a lot of things. I’ll train hard and am not going to make any mistakes at

all. It’s a huge fight, a winnable fight,” said Khan, who won an Olympic silver as a 17-year-old in 2004. “I made a few mistakes in the first fight but I still felt I won it. It was tough and the next one will be even tougher because we know what to expect from each other. “I’ve star ted training early for this fight, I wanted to get back in the gym and get into shape.”

The Chinese Basketball Association said it has fined Shanxi Brave Dragons 60,000 yuan (B300,000) for its alleged role in stoking crowd trouble during a match with former NBA star Stephon Marbury’s club on Sunday. The hotly-contested semifinal was interrupted after fans threw water bottles and other debris onto the court during the final minutes of the game, which Marbury’s Beijing Ducks lost to his former club, state media said. The CBA blamed Shanxi’s team manager and coach for fueling the “emotions of the crowd” after they criticised the referee over a decision during the game in the northern city of Taiyuan. “Their irrational words and deeds exacerbated the emotions of the crowd,” the

CBA said in a statement on Tuesday. Marbury, the highestprofile player to join the CBA, was later accused of hitting a fan when tempers boiled over at the end of the match – charges he denied. In a column he writes for state-run newspaper China Daily published on Tuesday, Marbury warned the next match between the two sides would “be all-out war”. The flare-up follows another high-profile altercation in the summer of 2011, when players from a domestic team called Beijing Bayi attacked opponents from the visiting Georgetown University during an exhibition game. Fans also threw water bottles at the Washington DC-based basketball team as they left the court. Marbury, who had a reputation for petulant behav-

Stephon Marbury. Photo: Keith Allison iour when he played with the New York K n ick s, told AFP last year he was adjusting well to China. The player often speaks of his love for China and the domestic game in his column. He is learning the language and has a tattoo of his Chinese name “Mabuli” across his forearm.

African wrestler makes sumo history with opening victory Over 90 Cities, One Perfect Gateway. SilkAir and Singapore Airlines Connecting you to Places.

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Agence France-Presse

Africa’s first professional sumo wrestler made a victorious debut on Tuesday in Osaka, beating a fellow novice, as Japan’s ritualistic sport draws more and more foreign competitors. Egyptian national Abdelrahman Ahmed Shaalan, 20, who goes by the ring name of ‘Osunaarashi’, meaning ‘great sand storm’, defeated his Japanese opponent with an arm throw.

Abdelrahman Ahmed Shaalan. “It was very exciting,” he told reporters in Japanese after the contest.

Shaalan, who stands 189 centimetres tall and weighs 145 kilogrammes, began sumo five years ago and won a bronze medal at the 2008 world junior sumo championships. He passed the physical check in January to officially become a wrestler. Foreign competitors are vital members of traditionbound sumo, with many Mongolians dominating the top ranks for years.

THE PHUKET NEWS

INTERNATIONAL SPORT

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

Blues end Bulls’ charge RUGBY Agence France-Presse

The Auckland Blues ended the Northern Bulls’ unbeaten start this weekend as defending champions Queensland Reds and New Zealand giant-killers Otago Highlanders took over the top of the Super 15. Fly-half Gareth Anscombe scored all the points for the Blues in their 29-23 win over the three-time champion Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday for their first victory of the southern hemisphere provincial championship. The Reds and Highlanders remained unbeaten following their narrow wins, with South Africa’s Western Stormers and Australia’s ACT Brumbies both on the same number of points but having benefited from a four-point bye. Queensland scored the only try and were taken all the way in their 11-6 victory over Melbourne Rebels in Brisbane, while the little-fancied Otago Highlanders edged out the NSW

SUPER 15 Team

P W D L B

Reds

Highlanders

Stormers

Brumbies

Bulls

Chiefs

A Pts

Hurricanes

1 102 86

Waratahs

Sharks

Crusaders

Blues

Lions

Rebels

Cheetahs

67 102 2

Force

56 100 1

Brumbies 24 – 23 Cheetahs Highlanders 18 – 17 Waratahs Reds 11 – 6 Rebels Sharks 32 – 20 Lions Bulls 23 – 29 Blues Crusaders 19 – 24 Chiefs Force 19 – 46 Hurricanes

RUGBY LEAGUE

only unbeaten teams after the second round of matches. Melbourne’s Test fullback Billy Slater scored a try in each half as the Storm finished too strongly for South Sydney, winning 24-10 at home on Sunday. The five-tries-to-one win made it back to back victories for Melbourne, who faltered during the first half to allow the Rabbitohs to level 10-10

Djokovic continues winning ways

Clarke back for Windies Tests Bulls fly-half Morne Steyn attempts to bring down Auckland’s Ma’a Nonu. Photo: AFP Western Force 46-19 in Perth and Coastal Sharks won their South African derby over the Golden Lions 32-20 in Durban. At Loftus Versfeld, Anscombe scored two converted tries and kicked five penalties as the Blues gained their first win after losses to the Crusaders and Chiefs. The outcome was a reality check for the Bulls after

wins over South African rivals Sharks and Cheetahs, against whom they scored 51 points last weekend. Right-winger Dominic Shipperley scored the only try in the 54th minute in Brisbane after the Rebels shaded the Reds 6-3 at half-time. The Rebels, wooden spooners in their inaugural season last year, ripped into the Reds

and smothered Queensland’s attack for long periods, but did not have the cutting edge to earn more than two James O’Connor penalty goals. Queensland stepped up the tempo in the second half and were rewarded when Shipperley latched on to a long pass from Wallaby scrum-half Will Genia to score what proved the decisive try in the corner.

Bulldogs barking at top of the table Centre Josh Morris grabbed a f i rst-half hat-t r ick of tries to power Canterbury Bulldogs to a 30-4 win over St George Illawarra to go top of Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) last weekend. The Bulldogs, with premiership-winning coach Des Hasler in charge, were too strong for the Dragons, running in five tries to one. Canterbury, Melbourne and champions Manly are the

IN BRIEF World number one Novak Djokovic continued his domination over Kevin Anderson, rolling over the South African 6-2, 6-3 in the third round of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells tournament. Top seed Djokovic has now beaten Anderson four straight times, including three matches in 2011. Djokovic is now 12-1 for the season in his third tournament of 2012.

RESULTS

Waratahs 18-17 in Dunedin. Elsewhere in round three, Christian Lealiifano kicked a penalty on the full-time siren to clinch a 24-23 win for the Brumbies over South Africa’s Central Cheetahs in Canberra. Seven-time champions Canterbury Crusaders slumped to back-to-back defeats, going down 24-19 to the Chiefs in Napier, while Wellington Hurricanes smashed the win-less

before 14 unanswered points sealed the result. Hasler may have moved on to the Bulldogs, but Manly showed resolve to edge out Wests Tigers 22-18 at Gosford on Friday. Newcastle handed Wayne Bennett his first win as Knights coach but it may have come at a heavy price with skipper Kurt Gidley suffering a potentially serious shoulder injury in Sunday’s 18-6 win

RESULTS

Eels 20 – 36 Warriors Storm 24 – 10 Rabbitohs Roosters 0 – 18 Panthers Sharks 6 – 18 Knights Bulldogs 30 –4 Dragons Titans 12 – 24 Raiders Broncos 26–28 Cowboys Sea Eagles 22–18 Tigers

over Cronulla. Gidley left the field in the sixth minute, having dislocated his shoulder but the Knights were always in control of the wasteful Sharks.

NRL

Team

P W D L B

A Pts

Bulldogs Storm Sea Eagles Knights Warriors Panthers Broncos Raiders Titans Tigers Roosters Cowboys Dragons Sharks Rabittohs Eels

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

52 48 48 32 56 32 44 43 30 35 24 28 19 22 30 26

18 29 38 21 46 22 34 36 24 38 38 44 44 35 48 54

2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0

Injured Australia captain Michael Clarke will be fit to play the first Test against the West Indies, selectors said Wednesday as they named a squad that saw the return of spinner Michael Beer. Clarke was ruled out of the one-day series in the Caribbean that starts Friday after injuring his hamstring in a tri-series clash against Sri Lanka earlier this month.

NZ rugby legend Jock Hobbs dies Michael ‘Jock’ Hobbs, a leading figure in New Zealand rugby who helped secure his country’s bid to host last year’s World Cup, died aged 52 on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer, his family said. Hobbs captained the All Blacks four times during a 21-Test career but was best known as an administrator, overseeing the World Cup bid that culminated in New Zealand ending a 24-year drought at the tournament.

Polish ice-box is Wales’ open secret RUGBY Agence France-Presse

Wales are gunning for the Six Nations’ Grand Slam next weekend against France, but a core part of their success lies far across Europe in a sub-zero medical unit in Poland. The cryotherapy division of the Olympic Sports Centre in Spala, 100 kilometres southwest of the capital Warsaw, has become legendary since Wales came here in June 2011 and four months later powered into the World Cup semifinals in New Zealand. The Spartan-sounding location has infused rugby lore with tales of Welsh cryotherapy neophytes banging on the door to be let out. But now it seems they can’t get enough of what flanker Sam Warburton dubs the “evil sauna”.

Wales will be hoping their training pays off against France. Stints at as low as -160 Celsius are only part of a fitness programme that has helped Warren Gatland’s young squad shine like Wales’s golden generation of the 1970s. “Cryotherapy’s not magic,” said Adam Beard, Wales’ head of physical performance. “A lot of people are asking, ‘Why are you letting the cat out of the bag? Isn’t it your trade secret?’ Well I don’t

think it is,” he said. “We use it around a training programme we’ve adapted for the last four or five years.” But Beard is still clear about its benefits. “Cryotherapy reduces inflammation. It dampens the nervous system, so it gives you that painless feel, and it allows you to flush toxins away from the working muscles pretty quickly, because obviously

you’re in extreme temperatures and the blood wants to move away from the limbs to regulate the core temperature,” he explained. “ O n c e yo u g e t o u t , there’s a feeling of freshness. That’s the endorphins rushing through your system.” Wales like it so much that they bought a portable unit, though Beard said he prefers the real thing, and they returned to Poland to prepare for the Six Nations. “To be quite honest, the boys would far rather do that than an ice bath,” he joked. W hile the concept of deploying cold for medical purposes has been around for over a century – think cold compresses for headaches or ice-packs on sprains – the idea of a deep-freeze unit was perfected by Polish scientists in the 1990s.

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City knocked off top spot FOOTBALL Manchester City have fallen from top spot for the first time since October as their 1-0 defeat at Swansea allowed Manchester United to climb above their closest rivals. United beat West Brom 2-0 at Old Trafford thanks to two Wayne Rooney goals, to go top of the league for the first time in five months. Rooney gave United a 1-0 lead at the break, diverting Javier Hernandez’s shot past Ben Foster on the volley. The United striker then made it 2-0 from the penalty spot, while West Brom’s Jonas Olsson was earlier sent off for a second bookable offence. The Red Devils’ boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes United have the character to protect the slim lead. “We won’t get nervous. We have the experience. I hope it is a significant day. I don’t mind being top of the league at this stage. City lost their lead at the top after the disappointing defeat in Wales, with Luke Moore’s 83rd minute goal

Wayne Rooney hit a double to down West Brom. Photo: AFP proving their downfall. Substitute Moore headed the hosts’ winner inside the final seven minutes as he guided in Wayne Routledge’s right-wing cross. Joe Hart had earlier saved Scott Sinclair’s weak penalty, while Micah Richards had a late equaliser ruled out for offside. City boss Roberto Mancini said that the clash between the two rivals will determine which

side of Manchester the Premier League trophy ends up on. “Today was not critical. I think this championship will be decided with three games to go. “We should fight against them until the end. We have another 10 games to finish this championship. “The season is long and every week the situation could change. Now it is important we

are very comfortable together. It is better to stay at the top but, now we are behind, it doesn’t change our target.” Elsewhere, Chelsea earned their first Premier League win under Roberto Di Matteo with a 1-0 win over ten-man Stoke. Ricardo Fuller was sent off in the first-half for a needless stamp on Branislav Ivanovic, but it took Chelsea 38 minutes to break down the Potters, Didier Drogba eventually finding space in the area before rounding the keeper and slotting home to celebrate his 100th game for the club in style. Sunderland were also 1-0 winners at home against Liverpool in a scrappy encounter. In the round’s other upset, Everton beat Tottenham by the same scoreline at Goodison Park, as Nikica Jelavic scored his first goal for the club as Spurs’ slump continues. There were also crucial wins for Bolton and Blackburn as they look to climb away from the bottom of the table. The surprise results this round have meant some fresh faces popping up in The Phuket News tipping competition for

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Redknapp ‘not sure’ over England job MESSI CLEANS UP FOOTBALL

Agence France-Presse

Harry Redknapp admitted on Monday that he is “not sure” whether he wants the England coaching job amid continuing speculation that the Football Association (FA) will turn to him to replace Fabio Capello. Tottenham Hotspur manager Redknapp is the overwhelming favourite to replace Capello, who resigned last month leaving England without a permanent manager just months before Euro 2012. Redknapp conceded that the national team role would be the “ultimate” position for any English manager but he hinted to French sports daily L’Equipe that leaving Spurs would be a wrench.

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“I am not sure,” he said when asked if he wanted the England job. “I have a very good job at Tottenham at the moment and I enjoy it. But I don’t know. Wait and see! I enjoy my life at Tottenham.” The 65-year-old Redknapp also hinted that he is better suited to managing at club level

than international, where he would be unable to indulge his much-vaunted love of delving into the transfer market. “When you have a club, you look for a goalscorer and you take him,” he said. “When you are a national team manager, you have to make do with the players that you have in your country. “And you hardly ever see your players. Two days every two months is very difficult.” The FA are not expected to make any moves to replace Capello until towards the end of the season, despite the European Championships in Ukraine and Poland being just around the corner. And Redknapp says that he is getting on with life as normal in the meantime, even identifying signing targets that would

improve Spurs for next season. One man that is high on the Tottenham wish-list is Lille’s exciting Belgian winger Eden Hazard, last season’s Ligue 1 player of the year. “Our chairman is willing to pay for an exceptional talent like Eden Hazard,” Redknapp said. “I have seen him several times, like against Marseille recently. I also saw him in the final of the French Cup last year. “But I know Manchester United are following him closely, and Manchester Ciy too, so it will be difficult to get him. But I like him a lot.” Redknapp’s side slumped to a third successive Premier League defeat against Everton at the weekend, compromising their chances of holding off Arsenal and Chelsea for Champions League qualification.

Barca double takes Argentine to 50 club goals this season

Agence France-Presse

Lionel Messi notched up his 50th club goal of the season with a double on Sunday as Barcelona beat Racing Santander 2-0, but the Catalan club still remain 10 points off La Liga leaders Real Madrid. After scoring a remarkable five in the Champions League in midweek against a reeling Bayer Leverkusen, Messi found the net in both halves, the second a strike from the penalty spot. The Argentine has 10 more goals overall than Cristiano Ronaldo, although the Portuguese star leads the way in La Liga with 32. Ronaldo hit a brace on Saturday as Real Madrid beat Real Betis 3-2 to maintain their surge towards a first title since 2008. Barcelona have now won their last four league games and coach Pep Guardiola says that they are bouncing back after having so many players sidelined. “We have been playing well for a while, but we have had to suffer from a lot of injuries and while

The 2011-12 Messi collection: La Liga: 30 goals Champions League: 12 FIFA Club World Cup: 2 UEFA Super Cup: 1 Spanish Cup: 2 Spanish Super Cup: 3 players have come in and done well, it still puts a greater strain on the team,” said Guardiola. “It was a good game from us and we managed well to pass the ball around but it is never easy against a side who have nine at the back. We also had to be wary of Racing on the counter-attack which we were able to do. “As we were 13 points behind Real we just had to go out at 100 per cent and give our best.”

INTERNATIONAL SPORT 43

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

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Vettel aiming for hat-trick of F1 titles ilton, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher, all of whom have tasted glory over the past decade. And despite dominating last season, Red Bull have admitted they’re wary of a renewed challenge from their rivals as Vettel unleashes his bid for a historic hat-trick of F1 titles. Team chief Christian Horner said Red Bull, who have dominated the past two seasons but may be disadvantaged by a key rule-change, were keen to find

FORMULA 1 A record six former Formula One (F1) World Driver’s Champions will line up on the starting grid for the Australian Grand Prix this Sunday (March 18), which is shaping up to be the most hotly contested season in years. Returning former champion Kimi Räikkönen will be joined by Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Lewis Ham-

English Premier League Team

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. out the “pecking order” as the season starts in Melbourne. “We’ve managed to tick most of the boxes that we

French Ligue 1

Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber, who has added Australian markings to his helmet, admitted he is supermotivated for Melbourne after never placing higher than fifth at his home race. “There is something extraspecial to win on your home soil, but it is something that not a lot of drivers manage to do,” he said. “I know I’ve got a good chance in our car so let’s see what happens.”

Italian Serie A

Manchester United

Paris Saint-Germain

Milan

Manchester City

Montpellier

Juventus

Tottenham Hotspur

Lille

Lazio

Arsenal

Saint-Étienne

Napoli

Chelsea

Rennes

Udinese

Newcastle United

Toulouse

Roma

Liverpool

Lyon

Internazionale

Sunderland

Marseille

Catania

Everton

Bordeaux

Bologna

Fulham

Evian

Palermo

Swansea City

Valenciennes

Chievo

Norwich City

Brest

Atalanta

0331

Stoke City

Ajaccio

Genoa

West Brom

Caen

Fiorentina

Aston Villa

Lorient

Siena

Blackburn Rovers

Nice

Parma

Bolton Wanderers

Nancy

Cagliari

Queens Park Rangers

Dijon

Lecce

Wolves

Auxerre

Novara

Wigan Athletic

Sochaux

Cesena

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

Everton Newcastle Wigan West Brom Man City

Everton Aston Villa Chelsea Sunderland Wolves

1-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-2

Tottenham Fulham Stoke Liverpool Blackburn

Southampton

Reading

West Ham Utd

Middlesbrough

Brighton

Hull City

Cardiff City

Birmingham

Blackpool

Leeds United

Leicester City

Crystal Palace

Derby County

Burnley

Watford

Ipswich Town

Barnsley

Peterborough

Millwall

Nottm Forest

Bristol City

Doncaster

Coventry City

Portsmouth

2 – 2 1 – 1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1 – 2

Cardiff City Watford Birmingham Portsmouth Crystal Palace Watford

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

Team

Brighton West Ham Utd Coventry City Brighton Burnley Derby County

MP W

Brest Evian TG Nice Toulouse Valenciennes

MP W

Bordeaux Sochaux Nancy Lorient Saint-Étienne

2-1

Lille

Palermo

0-1

Roma

1-2

PSG

Catania

1-0

Fiorentina

Stade Rennes

1-1

Auxerre

Genoa

0-0

Juventus

Montpellier

3-0

Caen

Milan

2-0

Lecce

Parma Siena

Lazio

1-3

Bologna

Novara

1-0

Udinese

Borussia Dortmund

Bayern Munich

Mönchengladbach

Schalke 04

Bayer Leverkusen

Werder Bremen

Hannover 96

VfB Stuttgart

FC Nuremberg

VfL Wolfsburg

FSV Mainz 05

1899 Hoffenheim

FC Köln

Hamburger SV

FC Augsburg

Hertha BSC

SC Freiburg

FC Kaiserslautern

Málaga CF

Levante UD

Osasuna

Athletic Bilbao

Atlético Madrid

RCD Espanyol

Rayo Vallecano

Sevilla FC

Real Sociedad

Getafe CF

RCD Mallorca

Real Betis

Granada CF

Villarreal CF

Racing Santander

Sporting Gijón

Real Zaragoza

2–2 3 – 1 3–1 3–1 2–0 1–1

0-2

FC Barcelona

Real Zaragoza Levante Sevilla Real Madrid Granada

1-1

Cesena

Valencia CF

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

Atalanta

Real Sociedad Málaga Sporting Gijón Real Betis Atlético Madrid

German Bundesliga

MP W

Real Madrid

MP W

Dijon

Hull City Nottm Forest Peterborough Reading Southampton West Ham Utd

Team

Olympique Lyon

Spanish Primera Liga

English Championship Team

Team

than last year’s Red Bull parade. In 2011, Vettel swept to 11 wins in 19 races plus 15 pole positions, as he became Formula One’s youngest back-to-back champion and Red Bull locked up the drivers’ and constructors’ titles with three races to spare. Now the 24-year-old German stands on the threshold of joining the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher as only the third driver to win three or more championships in a row.

Liverpool Arsenal Norwich Man Utd Swansea

MP W

wanted,” Horner said. “Of course you never know what your opponents are up to and there’s quite a bit of gamesmanship that goes on at this time of year. “But we’ll soon know... where the pecking order is.” Pre-season testing in Europe, as well as exposing Ferrari’s frailties, has indicated greater competitiveness from McLaren, Renault and Mercedes, prompting observers to predict a much tighter series

Espanyol 5-1 Valencia 2-2 Racing Santander 0 - 2 Osasuna 2-1 Villarreal 1-2

Rayo Vallecano Mallorca Barcelona Athletic Club Getafe

Team

MP W

Bayern München 7 - 1

Hoffenheim

Mainz 05

2-1

Nürnberg

Köln

1-0

Hertha BSC

Wolfsburg

3-2

Bayer Leverkusen

Champions League Relegation

Mönchengladbach 0 - 0

Freiburg

Augsburg

0 - 0 Borussia Dortmund

Werder Bremen

3-0

Hannover 96

Schalke 04

3-1

Hamburger SV

Champions League qualifiers

Premier League promotion

Europa League

Premier League play-off

Ipswich Town Millwall Blackpool Leicester City Barnsley Doncaster

COMING UP Premier League

(times in Thailand. Matches shown on TrueSport 1-6)

Saturday March 17 Fulham v Swansea Wigan v West Brom

Blackburn v Sunderland

Thursday March 22 Man City v Chelsea

02:45

20:30 23:00

Tottenham v Stoke

02:45

Everton v Arsenal

03:00

02:45

QPR v Liverpool

03:00

Sunday March 18 Wolves v Man Utd Newcastle v Norwich

Wednesday March 21 Aston Villa v Bolton

03:00

22:00 22:00

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44 INTERNATIONAL SPORT

SPORT

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012

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RAGING BULL

WHO CAN KEEP UP WITH SEBASTIAN VETTEL?

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX Albert Park, Melbourne

First F1 GP: 1996 Grand Prix held: 16 Spectator capacity: 80,000 Track length: 5.303 km Number of laps: 58 (307.574 Km) Top speed: 325 Km/h Lap record: Michael Schumacher 1min 24.125sec (2004) 2011 Pole: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 2011 Podium: 1. Sebastian Vettel, 2. Lewis Hamilton, 3. Vitaly Petrov

With the 2012 Formula One season set to get under way in Melbourne on March 18, we look at world champion Sebastian Vettel’s five main rivals for this year’s title:

Mark Webber (Red Bull) After a struggle to keep pace with team-mate Vettel last year, the 35-year-old Aussie will be doing his utmost to ensure his sixth season at Red Bull is a memorable one by challenging for the title. Tyre management was Webber’s weakness in the first half of last season as he adjusted his driving to the Pirelli rubber, but he proved his mettle with a strong victory in the final race in Brazil. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) Hamilton is now 27 and, following an intensive training period, at his fittest and strongest both physically and mentally. A new trackside manager, Didier Coton, who had great success with Mika Hakkinen when he was at McLaren, is sure to bring more stability after a year without expert management at the races, during which he experienced several controversial moments. Jenson Button (McLaren) The champion of 2009 produced masterful performances throughout last season in a car that was not an out-and-out winner. Button, now a veteran of 210 races, proved, too, that he is the best tactician out there and is rarely upset by weather or other tricky conditions. His smoothness behind the wheel has helped him emerge as the McLaren leader despite Hamilton’s lifelong association with them. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) Team chief Ross Brawn has great faith in Rosberg, though he will face a scrap for success to begin with from Schumacher. Fast, clever, talented and now stronger in all departments, Rosberg has to seize his opportunity this year and dominate Schumacher, lead the team and establish himself as a title contender. He desperately needs a first win to spark the rest of his career. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) A low-key winter of disappointing results in testing could, as often, be deceptive. His overall speed in testing was reasonable and he delivered consistent times, but the zip and zap that signals a car with title-winning pace was absent. The 30-year-old remains a ferocious competitor, capable of great speed and commitment, but it looks as More coverage on page 43

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