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‘I WAS SKIMMED’

A Phuket resident is determined to get back the B90,000 skimmed from his bank account in April last year, withdrawn without his knowledge from an ATM 1,000 kilometres away

FULL STORY ON PAGE 3

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Ae Inside killer caught

Journalist’s assassin arrested a year after professional hit in Phuket Town > 5

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NIGHTMARE CONDO

Central planning B10bn Manager arrested after ‘years of bullying and cheating’ expansion Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter4@thephuketnews.com

CENTRAL RETAIL CORporation (CRC), the country’s leading retail operator, will spend over B10 billion to develop a new “luxury lifestyle complex” in Phuket.

The Bangkok Post quoted Chief Executive Tos Chirathivat on Wednesday (January 16) as saying that the new 300,000-square-metre expansion will be spread over 136-rai next to Central Festival Phuket and will be opened in 2016.

Central Festival General Manager Wilaiporn Pitimanaaree said she was unable to give specifics of the plan, but that an announcement would be made soon.

However, The Phuket News understands that part of the plan includes the purchase of the Thainaan restaurant and the CherAim Spa next door.

T

he developer and manager of a condominium in Wichit has been arrested on a variety of charges after tenants complained about a reign of fear he conducted against them as he allegedly pocketed money that should have been used to pay bills or for repairs.

Pol Lt Col Sakon Trainara of Wichit Police Station said the manager was arrested on Tuesday evening (January 15) in an apartment at the condominium.

He noted that the manager was living in the apartment without permission from the owner. It is understood that the owner had tried to get him out, but without success.

He was charged with a variety of offences including criminal trespass, fraud, ut-

tering threats, and physical violence.

His arrest came soon after tenants met with Vice-Governor Sommai Preechasilpa to ask for her help after they discovered on January 8 that the power bill for the condo, totalling B200,000, had not been paid.

The tenants complained that they had paid the manager for power, but the money had apparently not been used to pay the bill.

The power to the whole complex was cut off on Monday (January 14). Water supplies had also been cut off, they told V/Gov Sommai.

Police had to smuggle the nervous-looking manager into the police station through the kitchen after angry tenants and owners, having heard about his imminent arrest, gathered outside.

The manager makes a call from the kitchen of Wichit Police Station after his arrest. Photo: Chalong News Col Sakon told The Phuket News that the manager appeared in court on Wednesday morning (January 16) for a preliminary hearing, and admitted that he had hit a woman living in one of the apartments in the condo. However, he denied the other charges.

The court ordered him confined in Phuket Prison until his case is heard.

Col Sakon added, “Someone came to the police station last night to bail him out, but I did not allow that.” Asked who that person was, he said, “I cannot tell you.”

Resident owners and tenants say they have put up with the bullying of the manager for years but things finally came to a head when they found out about the power bill.

Several of them went to Phuket Provincial Hall to complain. When they came back one of them found a window

of his car had been smashed and acid had been poured on the seats.

Several other cars and motorbikes of people who had gone to Provincial Hall were also damaged.

All believed the manager had done it to punish them.

An Englishman, who asked not to be named, said that he bought a unit in the building six years ago and has lived there since.

“He has cheated many people who live in the building.

Everyone has had the same problems with him for many years,” he told The Phuket News.

He said that the manager had taken money for repainting the building and hiring a security guard but had done neither.

He had not taken proper care, either, of trash disposal and water supply facilities.

The manager did not take kindly to criticism, the Englishman said.

“I have been waiting for my land deed ever since I bought the apartment. Last Friday (January 11) I met him unexpectedly in the building and I asked him for the land deed.

“We got into an argument, during which I took a picture of him with my phone. He got angry and pushed, punched and kicked me and demanded that my friend delete his photos. I was hurt but I am okay now.”

A Thai owner, also requesting anonymity, told The Phuket News, “He frightened me and others in the building. He acts like a gangster.

“Now, we are working on setting up a condominium committee to take over the management.

“I have written to ViceGovernor Somkiet Sangkhaosutthirak asking him to help us find solutions. “[We] are still scared, and have written to the Phuket Provincial Office asking for help in ensuring he gets no bail [until his trial].”

On Wednesday, when The Phuket News visited the condo, owners and tenants were reluctant to talk. One said, “Did you come alone? You are walking into the tiger’s cave. His employees are still here. Please be careful.”

Receptionist drugged, hotel robbed POLICE ARE LOOKING for a foreigner who drugged the receptionist at the Karon Place Hotel on Monday (January 14) and then robbed the safety deposit boxes behind the counter.

The belongings of 21 hotel guests, believed to worth as much as B3 million, were stolen. The thief also took away the recording from the hotel’s CCTV camera.

Superintendent of Inves-

tigations, Pol Col Wanchai Palawan told The Phuket News, “The robber gave coffee to the receptionist who felt drowsy and then fell asleep.”

When he woke up he found all the safety boxes had been opened and their contents stolen. The Deputy Commander of Phuket Town Police, Col Arun Keawwati said, “Hotel guests who left their belongings in the safety boxes have lost passports, cash in a variety of currencies, cameras and mobile phones.”

Col Arun said the robber was “Middle East looking” with fair skin. He added that police believe the robbery may be the work of a gang.

“There was a similar robbery in Samui,” he explained.

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Monk steals cash from restaurant A MONK FROM CHAIyapoom Province in Isarn was defrocked on Tuesday (January 15) after being caught stealing money from shops in Phuket Town.

On Tuesday Boonmee Chaya Pasanonjitto, a monk from Chaiyapoom, went into a restaurant near the weekend market, and told the restaurant owner that the “Kathin” tree in the restaurant, decorating with donated money, was from his temple and he wanted to take it. He then picked it up the tree and walked straight out of the restaurant.

The owner followed him unsuccessfully, and Boonmee repeated this in another restaurant next door.

By this point people had become suspicious of him so he was detained and police were called.

Searching his monk’s bag, the officers found eight empty donation envelopes, his monk’s ID card and about B1,000 in cash.

He wa s def rocked immediately and barred from joining the monkhood again.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

PHUKET NEWS

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Phuket resident skimmed Claire Connell & Nattha Thepbamrung editor@thephuketnews.com

A

Phuket resident is determined to get back the B90,000 skimmed from his bank account in April last year, withdrawn without his knowledge from an ATM some 1,000 kilometres away in Pattaya.

Rober t Millard, from Sydney, Australia, has been living in Phuket for the last eight years. On April 13 last year around 9pm, he went to the ATM in Kamala, and withdrew B1,000 from his account. About 15 minutes later, he received five text messages from his bank Krungsri, confirming withdrawals totalling B90,000 had since been made from his account.

“The next day I went to the bank and the main bank here [in Kamala] was closed so I went to Patong, and they didn’t want to know about it basically. They told me the money came out from a Kasikornbank ATM in Chonburi.”

Five withdrawals were made from the Chonburi ATM in Pattaya: four of B20,000 and one of B10,000, before withdrawal fees meant Mr Millard’s daily withdrawal limit of B100,000 was reached.

Phuket resident Robert Millard was skimmed B90,000 after using this ATM in Kamala.

Mr Millard said Kamala police were not so helpful – saying they would look into it and follow up with him, but Mr Millard has not heard anything since from them.

CCTV footage from the ATM in Chonburi was finally obtained about seven months later, and shows a man withdrawing money, but he is wearing a hat and so cannot be identified.

Krungsri bank staff told Mr Millard the fraud squad in Bangkok were looking into his case, but he has not

heard anything more, despite visiting the bank every week to obtain updates.

Ten months later Mr Millard is no closer to getting his money back.

He’s not alone either – in the last month alone there have been reports of two German men being skimmed B400,000, and B625,000 respectively in Kamala.

“It’s horrible, I feel sick.

Someone has ripped me off.

“I’ve got proof I was here.

I thought when it came out it might have just been up the

road, but it was 1,000 kilometres away.

“I’ve been racking my brain thinking how do they do this?”

Mr Millard said the ATM he used in Kamala didn’t have a plastic security cover over the ATM slot, designed to reduce the ability for skimming devices to be attached.

His next step is to get a lawyer involved, once he finds one that is affordable. He’s also keen to hear from anyone who might be able to help him with the case, and has since

changed his pin number and reduced his maximum daily withdrawal limit to B20,000.

A Krungsri representative said they were still investigating the case.

Pol Maj Somneug Damkaew, of the Kamala police, said Mr Millard’s case was still under investigation, but will be transferred to Chonburi police who will look after the case.

Pol Maj Somneug said that police suspected there were skimmers working in the Kamala area.

“They are suspected to be foreigners, not Thais,” he said.

“We have our police teams doing special monitoring around ATM machines in Kamala, looking for suspicious activity – especially at night.”

He suggested ATM card users do two main things to avoid any fraud or theft.

The first, be aware of ATM machines that have a thin double cover on the card slot.

The double layer is often stuck with temporary glue, so it is easy to move the slot cover.

The second, use your hand as a cover when entering your pin code, as small cameras can be set up by criminals to record when the person enters their pin.

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SIMON OSTHEIMER Managing Editor 076 612 550 managingeditor@thephuketnews.com From Hong Kong; a decade’s experience as editor of magazines and newspapers in Shanghai (City Weekend, that’s Shanghai), Beijing (tbjhome, Urbane), Hong Kong (Time Out Hong Kong), Kuala Lumpur (Vision KL), Bangkok (Bangkok 101) and Phuket. Journalist for Esquire, Fah Thai, Vacations & Travel, Travel & Leisure, CNN Travel, Surface and Dwell.

ALASDAIR FORBES Executive Editor 087 884 9964 execeditor@thephuketnews.com 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).

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 Gisborne Herald and Marlborough Express.

JODY HOUTON Sub Editor editor3@thephuketnews.com From the UK; Masters Degree in Journalism, Kingston University. Five years’ experience at Groove Magazine, Metropolis, The Western Telegraph, The Mirror and Phuket Post.

TOM METCALFE Sub Editor editor2@thephuketnews.com From New Zealand; 15 years as a print journalist and television news producer in the UK, NZ and Southeast Asia, including BBC World and Reuters in London, and Al Jazeera in Kuala Lumpur.

TANYALUK ‘MANGO’ SAKOOT

Phuket Town flooding cures could cost B2bn Nattha Thepbamrung reporter2@thephuketnews.com

H

uge tunnel systems costing as much as B2 billion are among proposals to solve rainy-season flooding woes in Phuket Town and neighbouring areas.

A public meeting held last Friday (January 11) at Prince of Songkhla University listened to proposals put forward by consultants Panya Consultant Co, who were hired by three municipalities – Phuket City, Wichit and Rassada – to research possible solutions.

Chaliaw Munprom, an engineer with Panya, said that the main causes of flooding in Phuket are a combination of heavy rain and structures blocking natural drainage.

He also explained that construction on hillsides prevents rainwater from soaking into the ground. It therefore flows into low-lying areas.

“When it rains heavily, water flows down from the hills. This, added to the over-

THE NATURAL RESOURces and Environment Minister, Preecha Rengsomboonsap, visited Phuket last week and confirmed that the 366 land suppression teams, put on hold several months ago, would eventually continue.

Mr Preecha was in Phuket to attend the official opening of Phuket’s second incinerator.

flow from Klong Bang Yai [the 17-kilometre-long main drainage channel in Phuket Town] caused f looding in many areas,” Mr Chaliaw said, adding “Klong Bang Yai can handle a volume of only 40 cubic metres a second.”

He said that the consulting team had spent five months researching and collecting information about Phuket’s geography and rainfall, and amount then presented six possible solutions: ● Drain floods to Bang Wad reservoir through an

existing old system that takes water from Klong Bang Yai. This would cost B591 million for improvements to the drainage system; ● Dredge Klong Bang Yai, at a cost of B866 million; ● Divert floods from the klong through a new tunnel under the bypass road, at a cost of B2.1 billion; ● Divert floods from the klong through a tunnel under Yaowarat Rd to Klong Sansuk, at a cost of B641 million; ● Drain water through a tunnel beneath Rassadanusorn

“From last year when I took up my post, I had a clear policy that for every piece of land which proved to be encroached upon, the owner must be prosecuted and the land must be returned to the government – with no exceptions,” Mr Preecha said.

Damrong ‘The Demolisher’ Pidech, former director-general

of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) retired at the end of September, but made a point before leaving of ordering his subordinates to continue the probe.

The probe has already named various high-profile developments and resorts in Phu­ket as sus­pected of being

built on land annexed from Sirinart Marine National Park.

Mr Preecha said that policy on illegal land suppression will not be changed. “It is my policy too,” he said.

Mr Damrong told The Phuket News on Wednesday that the 366 teams are ready, and just waiting for the green light.

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Phuket Town’s drains could not handle the rain last August.

Rd leading to the sea, at a cost of B1.1 billion; or ● Drain floods from the klong via a tunnel under Thepkrasatri Rd, emptying into Laem Hin Bay. Cost: Just over B1 billion.

He supported the third proposal. Even though this would be the most expensive by far, it would be less complicated to build and would cause the least disruption, he said.

At the end of the meeting, Amnaj Tantithamsopon, formerly a geologist with the Department of Mineral Resources, disagreed.

“The main reason for flooding is blocking structures such as the Outlet Mall and others on the bypass road, which are built in old tin mines, which are [otherwise] good places to contain floods,” Mr Amnaj said.

He said that although many cities have drainage tunnels, Phuket is small and he worried that the cost would not be worthwhile. He recommended option 2 – dredging the klong.

Land probe not over – minister

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Police ball tickets draw complaints A CONCERT TO RAISE money to develop the new Karon Police Station may not go ahead after many local people complained that they had had their arms twisted to buy tickets for the event at B1,000 apiece.

Not only that, they said, but some of the tickets they paid for were fakes.

The original idea was innocent enough. “We were looking for some additional funds to complete the construction of a proper police station,” said the Deputy Superintendent of the new police station, Pol Lt Col Narong Laksanawimo.

“We came up with the idea of staging a concert so that local people could enjoy themselves and also help us.”

But Kampol Ongkee, a local business owner, told The Phuket News that people in Karon were “forced” by the staff of the concert organiser to buy tickets, and fake tickets were mixed in with the real ones in the books of tickets being sold.

The fakes were easily recognised; they were not numbered like the real tickets and were not perforated to allow the buyer’s part of the ticket to be torn off. “[The ticket sellers] used the police station name, and showed a letter of permission from Karon Police and a card with the police logo on it when they approached people to buy tickets,” Mr Kampol said.

“They told some people who have Burmese workers or who have large restaurants that they ‘must buy a lot of tickets’. Some people had to buy around 10 tickets, among which were fake ones.”

“I bought one and my relatives bought 10 of them,” said Arunsri Klanma, Village Chief of Moo 1, Tambon Karon.

Col Narong said, “The concert will be on January 25 and the organisers handled the sale of tickets themselves.

“Some local people who have already bought the tickets reported to us that they had not really wanted to pay, so today we had a meeting with the organisers and the money will be returned to those who want refunds.

Karon Police Station is one of the two new stations opened on the island (the other is in Wichit). It currently occupies the old security office on the Karon beachfront, while construction continues on a proper police station.

PHUKET NEWS

Ae Inside shooter caught in Cha-am T he man who allegedly pulled the trigger in the assassination of Phuket reporter Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwittayaporn, a year ago almost to the day, was arrested in Cha-am, Phetburi, at 7 am on Sunday (January 13).

Tossapon Katekeaw, also known as Sanya “Noo” Klinchum, was arrested after police received information that he was hiding out in the seaside district just north of Hua Hin. He is currently being held in police cells in Cha-am.

It was revealed that he was also wanted for the shooting of Kra Aromdee in Cha-am on August 1, 2004.

Mr Wisut was shot on the edge of Phuket Town on January 12 last year. The gunman put four closely-grouped shots through the windshield of his car, hitting him in the chest, throat and right shoulder.

Mr Wisut died of his wounds hours later.

After the murder the gunman got on the back of a motorbike and was driven away.

The motorbike driver, Noppadon “Pae” Praisri, 41, from Petchburi, was swiftly tracked down, and was arrested four days later.

He named the shooter and said the man who arranged the hit for the buyer was called “Boy”.

There was considerable speculation about who might have paid for the hit – as a result of his reporting, some investigative, some scurrilous, Mr Wisut had many enemies.

However, on January 21

5

Police confirm Dutch drowning Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter4@thephuketnews.com

Former Phuket journalist Wisut ‘Ae Inside’ Tangwittayaporn, photographed when he went to Bangkok to join the Red Shirt protests in 2010. Photo: Facebook last year, police decided they knew who had paid for the assassination. They named him as Assadakorn “Pod” Seedokbuab, 48, director of KPP Cable TV and a vice-chairman of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce.

Assadakorn surrendered to police on February 16. He denied ordering the hit.

The then-Superintendent of Phuket City Police, Col Chote Chitchai, said police had strong evidence pointing to Assadakorn’s involvement in the murder of Ae Inside.

Despite police objections, Assadakorn was later released on bail of B3.4 million One man remains at large – Somkuan “Boy” Pandee,

48, the man who supposedly organised the hit on Mr Wisut and provided the weapon. Tossapon told police that he did not know why Mr Wisut was to be shot, meaning Somkuan is therefore the missing link between the assassination team and the buyer.

POLICE HAVE ANNOUNced that Dutch tourist Stephan Henricus Maria Buczynski, 26, whose body was found floating in the sea off Patong on Sunday morning (January 13), died of drowning.

The announcement contradicts earlier reports from reporters who witnessed the autopsy and were told by the doctor who carried it out that he had found no water in Mr Buczynski’s lungs.

On Tuesday, Pol Lt Col Angkanit Danpitaksat, Deputy Superintendent of Kathu Po-

lice Station, told The Phuket News, “It has been confirmed by a doctor at Patong Hospital that Mr Buczynski drowned.”

He added that Mr Buczynski’s corpse had been sent to the National Forensics Institute in Bangkok for definitive confirmation of the cause of death.

Questions were raised about a deep cut in the back of Mr Buczynski’s head. Police now theorise that it may have been caused by a boat propeller.

Other theories were initially proposed; that he was walking on rocks and slipped, banging his head; or that he was murdered by someone.

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IN BRIEF Swiss man, 87, drowns off Patong The waters of Patong Bay claimed another life on Tuesday (January 15) when an 87-year-old Swiss citizen was found drowned in front of Loma Park.

Pol Lt Col Prateung Ponmana of Kathu Police Station said that he was informed of the death of the man, whom he named as Thomas Neple, at about 5pm.

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Hong Konger dies in pool mystery SHOW OF FORCE In a display of power to impress tourists and to ginger up Phuket’s security forces, the Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Gen Pansiri Prapawat presided over an assembly of 300 police officers on Bangla Rd last Friday (January 11), and ordered all officers to enforce the law more strictly. After the speeches there was a police motorcade along Bangla Rd and then officers spread out across the town looking for crime. Gen Pansiri is pictured talking with a tourist.

‘They started it’ Russians say

T

he two Russians involved in the brawl at Catch Beach Club in the early hours of January 8 have denied starting the fight, and say there were injuries on their side, too.

Ilya Kononenko, 28, and Evgenyi Sopatenko, 25, are currently out on bail of B30,000 each, waiting to hear what will happen next following their arrested after the brawl.

They were initially charged with committing bodily harm, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison

or a fine of B4,000, or both.

Phuket resident Tom Travers from Canada and his Thai girlfriend Jen Khamsorn are now out of Bangkok Hospital where they both underwent surgery following the fight.

“Igor”, a friend of the two arrested men, spoke with The Phuket News’ Russian-language sister paper Novosti Phuketa.

He said that Mr Travers and Mr Sopatenko got into a “drunken conversation” but Ms Jen, who seemed drunk, started insulting Mr Sopatenko, using foul language.

She then hit Mr Sopatenko on the head with a plastic water bottle. Some pushing and shoving ensued, with Mr Travers getting involved, then Mr Sopatenko’s friends, and fists flew.

He said that Mr Travers and Ms Jen were not the only ones injured; there were broken noses on their side of the fray, too.

However, Mr Travers and Ms Jen have given a very different account of the early morning fight, laying the blame entirely on the Russians

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A tourist from Hong Kong has died in mysterious circumstances while swimming in the pool at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa on Monday morning (January 14).

Manhoe Lai, 31, was on holiday in Phuket with his wife. He was enjoying a swim at the hotel pool and had been swimming for a while, when he appeared to get into trouble.

Pol Lt Thanom Thongpan, of Tah Chat Chai Police, said Mr Lai was in the pool and his wife was watching.

“She said she saw him stop at one corner of the pool, and she took his photograph.

Then she looked the other

way and heard a shout, like someone was drowning.”

Mr Lai’s wife initially did not think it was her husband in trouble. But when she stood up to see what had happened she saw some fellow tourists pull him out of the pool. Hotel staff tried to resuscitate him.

He was rushed to Thalang Hospital and when his condition did not improve after 15 minutes, he was passed to Bangkok Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. He died on Tuesday morning.

Lt Thanom said that Mr Lai’s wife confirmed he was healthy, and they both recently underwent health checks.

Paint shop worker shot dead An employee of a paint shop in Phuket Town died in the Vachira Hospital ICU on Sunday (January 13), three days after being shot in the head.

Somjit Juechan, 21, who worked at the paint shop on Wirat Hongyok Rd, was having drinks with three friends at a local shop at about 7pm when a man walked up to them, put a gun to Somjit’s temple, pulled the trigger and walked away.

The murder was apparently the final act in a bitter dispute between Somjit and a local restaurant owner.

Pol Maj Sakon Trinara, an investigator with Phuket City Police, told The Phuket News,

“The gunman is the owner of a somtam restaurant near Nakakram Temple.

“He had a disagreement with Mr Somjit because, a couple of months ago, Mr Somjit tempted one of his kitchen staff to work part-time at the paint shop.”

This was at the time of the Vegetarian Festival and the somtam restaurant owner was dismayed and outraged because he needed his restaurant to be fully staffed.

“They had fought before, and each had threatened to shoot the other,” Maj Sakon said, adding that a warrant for the arrest of the killer would be issued.

Awol soldier hangs himself

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Col Prateung said that Mr Neple had gone down to the beach ea rlier i n the day and had rented a beach chair and then gone for a swim.

Lifeguards noticed him floating offshore and used a jet-ski to bring him to the beach. He was already dead.

His body was taken to Patong Hospital.

SNOOP DOGG SIGHTED Snoop Lion, the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg, arrived in Phuket late on Tuesday night and is currently staying at the Sri Panwa resort in Panwa. His smooth, understated rapping style was hugely influential during the G-Funk era of ‘Gangsta’ rap in the 90s. Snoop will be chillin’ and probably sippin’ on the odd drink of juice while filming his new music video at the resort, before he jets off to Bangkok to perform at the Together Festival tomorrow (January 19).

A 23-year-old solider based in the Thai military in Sattaheep, Chonburi, killed himself in Phuket last Friday night (January 11) after going absent without leave from the navy base in the area.

Ronnachai Sripangmuang, aged 23, from Kalasin province, escaped from the military and then returned to

Phuket where his parents live.

“He had wanted to escape from the military for three months,” Pol Capt Wittaya Sinjamroen said.

“He was in Kalasin, his birthplace, and was called by his parents to come to Phuket to talk about why he ran away.

He hanged himself just a day after he arrived in Phuket.”

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

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Looking after Phuket’s Russians Nattha Thepbamrung reporter2@thephuketnews.com

T

he number of Russian residents in Phuket is now around the 5,000 mark, and the number is climbing every year. In the first half of 2012, meanwhile, Russiantourist numbers were way over 140,000.

One man is charged with taking care of this rapidly swelling national group, not only in Phuket, but also in Krabi and Phang-Nga. He is Phuket-born Santi Udomkiratak, the Honorary Consul for the Russian Federation.

Although he is based in Kata, Mr Santi spends the majority of his time when out of the office in Rawai and Nai Harn, the area with the highest concentration of Russian nationals.

“Russian people like to stay and live together. One of the main reasons is that not many people understand their language. Many feel better staying together.”

But, he added, “I often meet them through my work, and I can tell you they are nice people.”

Mr Santi believes that the language barriers will eventually break down as more Russian people become able to speak English in the near future. He cites what was once a similarly isolated and closed nation, the former East Germany, as evidence of how fast things can change.

“I visited East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1988 and there were hardly any Germans there who could speak English.

“Just 10 short years later it was a huge difference. Now many of the young generation speak English fluently.”

Interestingly, Mr Santi himself does not speak Russian, though he has a Russian secretary who interprets for him.

Mr Santi believes that the main reasons Russian nationals are flocking to Phuket in droves is the differences between their country and Thailand.

Russia’s cold climate coupled with vast amounts of land that are unsuitable for growing crops or rearing livestock were both factors, he said, so whenever they get a chance to visit Thailand, Russians “absolutely” come.

The cost of travelling to Thailand has also become substantially cheaper with up to 10 charter flights a day to Phuket and tour packages at around B40,000 per person.

“Last month I visited Moscow and met the Thai Ambassador. He said how busy he and the embassy are just providing

Honorary Consul Santi Udomkiratak with his wife Nannaphat and their children Chatchaya, left, and Natthaphat. information about climate and potential health hazards.”

He added that, around four years ago, Phuket forged an agreement with Nakhodka – a city in the Russian Far East – to grant Phuket sister city status, thus enabling Thai citizens to visit Russia with ‘free’ visas.

Mr Santi told The Phuket News that during the current high season, demand for Phuket visits by Russian nationals has meant that Phuket International Airport can no longer accommodate all of the Russian traffic and many visitors have to fly into Krabi airport and then travel by bus to Phuket.

Due to the large number of Russian tourists, there have thus been more Russian tour operators and tour guides – a job reserved for Thai citizens.

Looking after all these tourists has caused problems, he admits. For example, he says, “We have to accept that we do not have Russian-speaking Thai staff [to work as guides] so the companies hire Russians.

“The Thai guide who goes with the Russian group is just a ‘sitting guide’ who holds a license but does not do any guide work,” Mr Santi explained.

As a consequence, he believes, scenes like the January 4 protest involving local people in Karon protesting against ‘unfair’ competition from the growing numbers of Russian businesses are likely to be repeated.

“There are a lot of Russian tourists in Phuket now but there are very few [Thais] who can speak Russian, so naturally Russian businesses are increasing,” he said. “However,

I understand how the local business people feel.

“Many Russian workers and business people do not have work permits, and the consul has recently announced to every Russian business that we will be more strict in enforcing our regulations in the future.”

When asked about the recent brawl involving Russians, a Canadian and a Thai at a Surin Beach club, Mr Santi said that in his opinion, it had little to do with nationalities and was more about individual personalities. “Every nation has its good people and its bad people.”

With Phuket still lacking Russian-speaking Thai manpower, Mr Santi said he is now coordinating with the Prince of Songkhla University to set up a course in Russian language.

The consul’s main duties involve acting as a coordinator and translator for Russian people around the island, a role that includes ensuring Russians are taken to hospital in the event of accidents, and have insurance or funding to pay medical bills.

“We coordinate with the police and the insurance companies, except in very serious cases, where the Russian Embassy takes over.”

Mr Santi told The Phuket News that the biggest problem affecting Russians in Phuket is road accidents “and the ensuing official procedures”.

However, he praised the public Vachira Phuket Hospital which, unlike some other hospitals on the island, deals with Russian patients, and

has a special department to take care of foreigners, with members of staff able to speak foreign languages and liaise with consular officials.

Mr Santi also touched upon other ways Russians get into

trouble in Phuket, including working without permits, working as prostitutes and being members of “the Mafiya”.

“Each and every month, many Russians who do not have work permits or valid visas

are arrested by the Immigration Police – many of whom are caught selling products to Russian tourists such as coconut oil and rubber beds and pillows,” he said.

But Mr Santi said that public preconceptions regarding Russians were frequently wrong. For example, he said, few prostitutes who work in Russian bars and entertainment venues are actually Russian.

“They speak Russian because they are from the former Soviet Union, but they come from other countries such as Albania or Uzbekistan. I have encountered only one prostitute who held a Russian passport.”

Mr Santi believes Phuket residents need not worry about Mafiya control of crime, similar to what is alleged to have taken place in Pattaya. “I am confident we still have no worries about that,” he said.

“For Russian people, Phuket is still a good place to invest and do business because of the increasing number of Russian tourists, so there will be more Russian business people in Phuket in the near future.

“We are more than ready to help Russian people in Phuket,” Mr Santi said.

8

THAILAND NEWS

IN BRIEF Drunk Thai thief drowns Rottweiler in dogfight A 39-year-old man was arrested on January 10 for drowning a man’s dog after it attacked him in a fishpond.

The thief confessed to trying to steal valuable fish from the pond.

The owner initially forgave him, but later notified the police after discovering the thief had killed his beloved Rottweiler.

After giving his testimony, Mr Pramuan apologised to Mr Anuchit for killing his dog, and said he did it when drunk. Pattaya Daily News

Alert nurse helps police track down addict thief

A paint thinner addict was arrested for snatching a nurse’s cellphone on January 11. She was a passenger on a motorbike and chatting on her phone near Soi Marbyailia.

Then a man grabbed her phone and rode away. But she remembered the license plate number of his motorbike, so the police quickly found where he lived. PDN

Pattaya beauty shop owner raped and killed

A 46-year-old beauty shop owner who lived alone in the back of her shop was raped and killed in her bedroom by an intruder on January 11.

Police suspect a lone assailant had broken in through the back door of the shop after crossing the roof deck of a nearby building. PDN

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

Family desperate to hear from missing Brit T he family of a 22-yearold British tourist spoke of their alarm on Sunday (January 13) when he failed to return home on a flight from Thailand. He has now been missing for almost a week and the alarm has turned to anguish.

Tom Armstrong, from England, had been on a dive master course on Koh Tao since last April, but was due to return over Christmas, the East Anglian Daily Times newspaper reported.

However, his mother told the newspaper he had postponed the journey back after “running into trouble” in Bangkok, and was instead due to catch a flight home on January 8.

But Mr Armstrong never boarded the flight and has not been heard from since. Police have launched an appeal for

Englishman Tom Armstrong’s family are looking for him. anyone who can help discover his whereabouts.

His mother, Helen Armstong-Bland, said the family were desperate to hear from him.

“He was due to come home before Christmas but for whatever reason didn’t arrive,” she was quoted as saying.

“That sent alarm bells ringing, but we received an email

from him saying he had run into some kind of trouble in Bangkok.

“We spoke to somebody at the dive centre to see if he had returned there okay and they informed us by e-mail that he had booked a new flight to return [to Britain] on January 9. But we did not receive details of this so we waited to hear details from him when he

landed back in the UK. “We waited for the last train from London but he didn’t arrive. That’s when we spoke to the police.

His mother said the family intended to travel to Thailand if there continued to be no contact from her son. She added: “We all really miss him and love him and want him to come home.”

Mr Armstrong has a younger sister and a younger brother in the UK, and an older brother currently living in Japan.

Officers are appealing for any information that would indicate where he is, and that he is alive and well.

Mr Armstrong is described as about 188 cm tall, of medium build with fair, slightly wavy medium-length hair. He sometimes has a short beard, which is more red than fair in colour.

Iranian suspects deny Bangkok blast plot T WO I R A N I A N S O N trial for an alleged botched bomb plot against Israeli diplomats in Bangkok appeared in court again Tuesday as their Thai lawyer protested their innocence.

Mohammad Khazaei, 42, and Saeid Moradi, 29, are among five Iranians suspected of involvement in the February 2012 blasts, that followed attacks in India and Georgia and saw Tehran accused of a terror campaign.

The pair have already

pleaded not guilty at a court in Bangkok to charges including attempted murder and possessing explosives, their lawyer Kittipong Kiattanapoom said.

“They were not involved with the bombs nor did they aim to kill any innocent people, including police officials,” he said outside the court.

Kittipong also said the men had not rented the suburban Bangkok house, where an apparently unintended explosion

disclosed the supposed plot.

He said Moradi, who lost both his legs in a subsequent blast, had been surprised to discover bombs in a cupboard of the property.

The injured suspect had been trying safely to dispose of one device when it fell to the ground and detonated on the street, Kittipong added.

Israel blamed the February 14 Thai blasts, and bomb attacks a day earlier targeting

Israeli embassy staff in India and Georgia, on Iran.Tehran denies the allegations.

In June a Malaysian court ordered the extradition to Thailand of another Iranian suspect Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, who was 31 at the time.

Sedaghatzadeh was arrested at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport a day after the Bangkok blasts. Two other suspects are believed to have returned to Iran. AFP

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

PM pressed to ban Thai ivory trade WORLD WILDLIFE FUND (WWF) launched a global petition on Monday that puts responsibility for African elephant poaching on Thailand.

The fund announced a worldwide petition demanding that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra ban the ivory trade in Thailand.

It said Ms Yingluck should use the upcoming international conference on wildlife trade in March to stop the local trade of ivory from Thai elephants.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will be held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre March 3-14.

While Thai law forbids trade in ivory from African elephants, “Criminal networks are exploiting this legal loophole and flooding Thai shops with ivory from Africa,” a statement from WWF claimed.

“The only way to prevent Thailand from contributing to elephant poaching is to ban all ivory sales,” said Janpai Ongsiriwittaya, campaign leader in WWF-Thailand.

The online petition contains a short, form letter to the prime minister which says that “Thailand’s elephants could be next” and urges her: “You can save them. We urge you to ban all ivory trade in Thailand to give elephants their best chance of survival.”

Seizures by Thai customs of illegal ivory from Africa reached a record at Suvarnabhumi airport last year. Bangkok Post

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Art Basel unveils plans for Hong Kong show A David Watkins

rt Basel on Tuesday unveiled the lineup for its inaugural Hong Kong show in May, in which it promised “the strongest combination of galleries from East and West that the art world has ever seen”.

The art fair franchise bought a controlling stake in Art HK two years ago to take over the management of Hong Kong’s biggest annual art event, giving it a presence in the southern Chinese city, a gateway to Asia’s booming art market.

The May fair will mark the first time the Hong Kong event is run by its new organisers, which are owned

by Switzerland-based MCH Group. Art Basel also operates a yearly show in Miami, as well as its flagship event in Switzerland.

The Hong Kong fair will be slightly smaller than last year’s final instalment of Art HK, featuring 245 of the world’s leading galleries from 35 countries. More than half will be from Asia.

“The most important thing

Art Basel’s Magnus Renfrew. Photo: Art Basel 2012 that Art Basel will bring to the table is the increased profile the fair will have on the international stage,” said Magnus Renfrew, Asia director for the fair, who also previously directed Art HK. More than 3,000 artists will be showcased at the event that will see 48 galleries make their Hong Kong debut. A team of VIP relations managers has been hired to help build buzz

over the show and entice the art world’s top private collectors and curators.

The fair’s four main sections will focus on significant works from the past 100 years from Asia and the West, curatorial projects specially developed for the show and large scale sculptural and installation pieces.

Selected emerging contemporary artists will vie for

a US$25,000 prize.

Traditionally known as a centre of banking and finance, Hong Kong has become a luxury hub for fine wine to fashion and, increasingly, art, driven by the explosion of personal wealth among mainland Chinese.

Western gallery owners have rushed to open franchises in the former British colony, including the likes of Gagosian, White Cube and Acquavella in the face of some of the most expensive rents in the world.

Despite recent economic turmoil in the eurozone and uncertainty in the United States, the art market has displayed resilience as investors look for havens.

“Things go up and down but we believe in long term growth, we believe the market for art in Asia will grow and we believe the long term interest in art will grow,” said Marc Spiegler, Art Basel director.

“It makes a lot of sense for us to be here at this time even though things are unpredictable.” AFP

China to survey islands disputed with Japan: Xinhua Kelly Olsen

BEIJING IS TO CARRY out a geographical survey of islands in the East China Sea, state media said on Tuesday, the latest salvo in an increasingly tense dispute with Tokyo over the uninhabited territory.

The announcement came as Japanese fighter jets were scrambled in response to a Chinese state-owned Y-12 plane flying close to – but not inside – the islands’ airspace, according to Tokyo’s defence ministry.

Separately, official Chinese media reported that Beijing’s armed forces have been instructed this year to train for battle, while a Tokyo official said US and Japanese fighter jets carried out joint exercises.

This week’s tensions come after Japan’s hawkish Shinzo Abe won a landslide election victory following campaign promises to re-invigorate Tokyo’s security alliance with Washington and take a more robust line against Beijing.

The dispute over the islands, known as Diaoyu in Beijing and Senkaku by Tokyo, which controls them, has simmered on and off for years but intensified in 2012 when Japan nationalised those it did not already own, triggering anger

Chinese propaganda poster in Xiamen, China’s Fujian province, depicting the Diaoyu / Senkaku archipelago decorated with a Chinese flag. Photo: Wuyouyuan and demonstrations in China.

The protests were allowed to take place by the Communist authorities in Beijing, who use nationalism to bolster their claims to legitimacy, particularly regarding Japan, which occupied parts of China in the 20th century.

China has repeatedly sent maritime surveillance ships to the area and carried out naval exercises, and both Tokyo and Beijing have scrambled fighter jets to the area in recent weeks in a further escalation.

Commentators say Beijing wants to prove that Japan does not have effective control over the chain to draw Tokyo into concessions.

The cartographic survey was part of a programme to map China’s “territorial islands and reefs” and safeguard its “maritime rights and interests”,

the official Xinhua news agency said, without saying when it would take place.

It did not make clear whether it would involve activities on land or be purely sea-based, but quoted Zhang Huifeng, of China’s National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, acknowledging there could be “difficulties”.

“There are some difficulties in landing on some islands to survey ... because some countries infringed and occupied these islands of China,” he said.

Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, Northeast Asia director at the International Crisis Group, said: “Beijing’s goal is to establish as much presence – if not more than – Japan in the area to demonstrate its sovereignty. AFP

ASIA NEWS

9

A soldier guards the roadside checkpoint outside Srinagar International Airport in Kashmir, India. Photo: Jrapczak

Pakistan foreign minister says India ‘warmongering’ Tim Witcher

INDIA IS “WARMONGERing” over deadly clashes in the disputed Kashmir region, Pakistan’s foreign minister said Tuesday while calling for talks to end the new hostilities.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar spoke out after Pakistan reported another of its troops had been killed in Kashmir while India’s prime minister has warned there can be no “business as usual” between the neighbours.

“We see warmongering,” Khar said at the Asia Society in New York where she hit out a statements by Indian politicians over the new tensions.

“It is deeply disturbing to hear statements which are upping the ante, where one politician is competing with the other to give a more hostile statement,” Khar added.

India says two of its soldiers have been killed in Kashmir, one beheaded, since January 6. Pakistan says three of its troops have been killed in that time, the latest on Tuesday.

The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over the

Himalayan region of Kashmir.

But Khar said the neighbours had to get over their “narrative of hostility” from the past six decades.

“The doors to dialogue are open,” Khar said. “We need to meet at any level, I think we need to call each other, we need to become mature countries which know how to handle their truth.”

The minister again denied Indian accusations that Pakistani forces had beheaded one of two soldiers that India says were killed in Kashmir on January 8. She said an inquiry had found “no evidence” of the deaths.

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier called the beheading of an Indian soldier “unacceptable” and added there could be no “business as usual” with Pakistan.

“As I read statements coming in from the highest levels of government (in India) I can just say that we are deeply disappointed and I can say on behalf of my government that we feel that the dialogue process should be uninterrupted and uninterruptable,” Khar said. AFP

10 WORLD NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Mali war shows France is Africa’s reluctant gendarme Rory Mulholland & Catherine Rama

D

espite sending warplanes and soldiers to fight Islamists in the Sahara, French President Francois Hollande has largely kept his promise to shun the shady system that saw France dictate politics in former African colonies, analysts said.

But the Mali conflict shows that the Socialist leader must accept that France is destined to play gendarme in Africa, they noted.

Hollande made his vow in a speech to Senegal’s parliament in October, saying “francafrique”, the murky system France used to maintain political and business interests in the colonies it gave up in the 1960s, was dead and buried.

On Tuesday he insisted his decision to send hundreds of troops to Mali – to battle Islamists poised to seize control of the entire country and install a Taliban-like regime – had “nothing to do with the policies of another era”.

The intervention that began Friday was of a very different

French army soldiers based in the Ivory Coast stand on armoured vehicles and Sagaie tanks on January 15 at the 101 military airbase near Bamako, before leaving as part of France’s “Serval” operation in the Islamists occupied northern Mali. French President Francois Hollande said that his government does not intend to keep forces in Mali, but will remain until security is restored and “terrorists” eliminated. Photo: AFP/Eric Feferberg nature to previous French military ventures in Africa, said Paul Melly of the Chatham House think-tank in London.

“You can’t say it is like the old-style ‘francafrique’ because that was France getting involved in decisions about overthrowing African governments or changing

presidents or keeping allied regimes in place,” he said.

In Mali, “what we’ve got is a normal interaction between sovereign governments”, with the former colony asking Paris to provide support for its ramshackle army in the fight against the Al-Qaeda-linked extremists.

“I think that what you might call the face-value explanation given by the French government, that if the French had not intervened then the jihadists would probably have taken over southern Mali, including (the capital) Bamako, seems entirely plausible,” he said.

And that would have been

a threat to all of West Africa, Melly noted.

France, whose colonial empire was the second largest in the world after Britain’s and spanned much of west and central Africa, has thousands of troops stationed in Africa and maintains three major military bases in Djibouti, Senegal and Gabon.

Its soldiers have frequently intervened on the continent in the post-colonial era, sometimes to sway an African state’s internal politics under the “francafrique” system put in place by president Charles de Gaulle.

An uprising in the Central African Republic provided an opportunity last month to test Hollande’s resolve to break with past practices, said Antoine Glaser, a writer on African affairs.

Despite pleas from the country’s president who was worried that rapidly advancing rebels were about to capture the capital, he conspicuously refused to let French troops stationed there be used to prop up the regime.

In stark contrast, Glaser

said, Hollande made a snap decision to deploy major military force in Mali.

“When it is a question of international security, such as the battle against terrorism, then obviously it is France that will be on the front line” in much of Africa, he said.

France’s foreign minister recently rejected the suggestion that France was obliged to be Africa’s gendarme. But given its military presence and its historic links with the continent, this is the role it will likely have to play, said analysts.

“It would be very difficult for France not to be involved in conflicts on the continent,” said Glaser.

Melly of Chatham House said that in the case of Mali, Hollande had little choice.

“If having made those commitments to support reform and economic development and the progress of a modern democratic Africa, if France had then done nothing (in Mali)... that would have been a betrayal of what Hollande was saying,” he said. AFP

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

BUSINESS NEWS 11

RICH, FAMOUS, GONE THAI defends Phuket Airport ‘risks losing private jet visitors’

T

he massive overcrowding at Phuket International Airport is causing such inconvenience to the tycoons and celebrities arriving by private jet that they may simply go elsewhere, a Hong Kong-based organisation has warned.

A recent 16-day ban on private jet landings and take-offs, covering the Christmas-New Year period, ended on January 3, but restrictions remain in place, with landing denials, or extended delays on requested times for landing and take-off.

“These private jet flyers have tight schedules, and if there is so much trouble getting the needed time slots at Phuket, they’ll most likely go somewhere else,” warned Jaiyavat Navaraj, chairman of the Southeast Asia Airline Operators Committee, part of the Hong Kong-based Asian Business Aviation Association.

He said these private jet passengers face the inconvenience of changing flight times or having to land at other airports such as Surat Thani and then use other transport to get to Phuket.

If restrictions for private jets continue or increase in severity, private jet operators

A Bombardier private jet – the aircraft of the rich and famous are being given lower priority than mass-tourism scheduled and charter flights. will stay away, Mr Jaiyavat said.

He warned that Phuket could lose its private jet traffic to rival destinations such as Langkawi or the Maldives.

Private jet operators and their clients are increasingly frustrated by the restrictions of the so-called Slot Coordinator, which gives priority to airlines due to critical congestion at the airport.

The Slot Coordinator comprises officials from the Civil Aviation Department, the flag carrier Thai Airways International and Airports of Thailand

Plc (AoT), which operates Phuket and five other international airports in Thailand.

Phuket airport is facing worsening overcrowding, while its B5.7-billion expansion will take another 26 months to complete.

To illustrate the difficulties, Mr Jaiyavat cited one case in which a private jet requested an 8 am landing but was given clearance at 8 pm.

Prathuang Sornkhom, the general manager of Phuket airport, earlier said the 16-day ban on private jets was due to the surge in airline traffic

over the Christmas/New Year period and the closure of three parking bays to facilitate the expansion work.

Pa ssenger volu me at Phuket airport increased by 2,100 a day to 31,000 during the holiday season, with flights up by 19 to 190 a day, said AoT. Mjets, the Thai firm that provides ground handling services for private jet operators as well as charter services, estimates that Phuket lost up to 50 private jet flights over the Christmas-New Year season.

Bangkok Post

PC Air to sue Korean partners PC AIR, THE PRIVATELY owned Thai charter airline that leapt to fame by hiring ladyboy as cabin crew, has sued two South Korean business partners for B1.5 billion in compensation for damage to its reputation.

The suit comes after a row that left 400 Thai passengers stranded at Incheon International Airport in October last year.

It was a disastrous start to business for PC Air when South Korea’s biggest airport refused permission for PC’s

sole aircraft, an Airbus 310222 with 200 seats, to take off.

In earlier reports, the refusal was said to have been triggered by a conflict between PC Air and its South Korean sales agent, Skyjet, over unpaid bills for airport charges and jet fuel, reportedly amounting to more than B10 million.

The airline had filed a complaint with police in Incheon against its South Korean sales agent, Skyjet, and oil company Jae Sin. Police were preparing to forward the case to prosecutors, PC Air’s chief executive

Peter Chan told a press conference last week.

PC Air accused the two companies of committing a financial crime by blackmailing it into paying them money by holding its passengers hostage.

According to Mr Chan, PC Air paid US$160,000 (B4.8 million) to Skyjet to settle fuel bills on Oct 11 and had documentary evidence to back up its claim.

On Oct 15, the company allegedly received a letter from Jae Sin demanding it pay an additional US$600,000 (B18

million) and authorise Skyjet to operate as PC Air’s sales agent in Thailand, failing which the airline would be refused the right to use the airport.

The company refused to pay the requested sum because Jae Sin did not specify clearly what purpose the extra money was needed for, Mr Chan said.

The refusal resulted in Skyjet closing its counter service and Jae Sin refusing to refill the airline’s aircraft, leaving the Thai passengers stranded for 25 hours. Bangkok Post

safety record after poor survey marks

THAI AIRWAYS INTERnational (THAI) has defended its safety record after being placed low down in a safety ranking compiled by Germany’s Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC).

THAI officials said the rankings were based on accident data over the past 30 years and did not take into account other factors that provide a more accurate assessment of safety standards – for example flying years (52 in the case of THAI) and total flights.

JACDEC gathers safety records on accidents, fatalities, and “safety incidents” involving the 60 largest international airlines over the past 30 years, using a points system. THAI was ranked 53 in the latest report.

THAI got 0.316 points, calculated on five accidents and 309 casualties over 30 years. The most recent crash was in 1992, when 113 passengers and crew died when the aircraft crashed into a hillside while approaching Kathmandu Airport. The airline has been accident-free for the past 14 years.

THAI’s official statement said: “Comparing number of accidents to number of flights (TG), the record was marginal…

THAI has been in operation for 52 years and should not be compared with younger airlines.

“Moreover, [JACDEC] claims some facts are [sourced] from IATA’s Operational Safety Audit, which has certified THAI.” Stressing safety was the airline’s top priority, the carrier said, adding that it was confident that its safety standards were up to scratch under the supervision of International Civil Aviation Organisation

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and Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation.

It added that THAI was among the first airlines to adopt the Safety Management System required by ICAO. The safest airline, according to the survey, is Finnish Airlines, which has had no crashes in the past 30 years – which is as far back as the survey looks.

It is followed by Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Etihad, all with clean records.

Trailing at the bottom end of the list is China Airlines of Taiwan, which is recorded as having had eight crashes resulting in 755 deaths in the past 30 years.

Just how the rankings are worked out is opaque. For example, American Airlines has had twice as many crashes as THAI, with 587 fatalities, the most recent three years ago.

Yet it ranks at 42 on the list, compared with 53 for Thailand.

JACDEC director Jan Richter explained that the organisation also takes into account the number of incidents in which a serious accident had “nearly occurred” in recent years.

For example, Air Berlin, despite having had no crashes in the past 30 years, ranks 23rd because of incidents such as the engine fire that caused an emergency landing in Phuket on December 20 last year.

Among Asian airlines, Cathay Pacific comes out best at number three, followed by Eva Air (6), Hainan Airlines (8), Singapore Airlines (30), Malaysian Airlines (35), China Eastern (36), Air China (43), Asiana (46), Japan Airlines (47), China Southern (48), THAI (53), Korean Air (56), Air India (58) and China Airlines in 60th and last place.

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12 BUSINESS NEWS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

B300 WAGE Labour skills ‘must be boosted’ T

he government must make an effort to improve labour skills to match market demand in order to reduce the impact of the daily minimum wage hike in both the short and the long term, says the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).

Researcher Yongyuth Chalamwong said the B300 daily minimum wage, which took effect nationwide on January 1 represents the biggest increase since the minimum wage was introduced – about 40 per cent.

“The timing of the increase in the wage is probably appropriate, as the labour market for low-income workers is tight,” he said.

“The business sector, especially SMEs, inevitably must improve efficiency and labour productivity with measures such as lay-offs, freezing headcounts and increasing technological efficiency.

“The government and relevant agencies should coordinate to … improve labour skills to match market demand.”

The TDRI found the agricultural sector will be hit hardest by the hike, with monthly

wage costs rising by B2-3 billion or 22-30 per cent, followed by hotels and the food industry, each of which will shoulder a rise of B500-900 million a month (8-14 per cent).

The construction sector will bear a monthly increase between B800 million and B1.3 billion baht (7-11 per cent).

Businesses overall will see operating costs rise by 4 per cent on average, affecting 90-94 per cent of companies of all sizes.

“The wage hike will take a toll on 15 groups of labourintensive export firms, as the Thai wage is higher than that of competitors such as Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh,” said Mr Yong­yuth.

“This will erode Thailand’s export competitiveness and create long-term, structural economic problems.”

The increase to B300 effectively makes Thailand No 3 in the region for wage levels, after Singapore and the Philippines.

Phuket was one of six pilot provinces in which the B300a-day wage was imposed in April last year.

Effects of the hike, according to the TDRI:

Positive: ● Increases income for workers nationwide. Improves people’s well-being by increasing money in circulation. ● Directly benefits 3.2 million workers nationwide or 30 per cent of all employees in the private sector. ● Helps reduce income inequality, especially for lowincome workers with less bargaining power.

Negative: ● Significantly increases expenses for labour-intensive industries such as textiles, garments and services. ● Potential for inflation that could reduce competitiveness of Thai goods as relative costs rise. ● Rise in wage expenditures by B1 billion a day could result in the number of SMEs in the industrial sector falling, with small companies shifting into the “informal” economy. ● If workers fail to raise productivity by 8-10 per cent, then economic growth could decline by 1.7 percentage points from normal. Bangkok Post

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Venues such as Bangkok’s BITEC, pictured, can mount highly sophisticated shows.

Thai ‘expo powerhouse position strengthened’ THAILAND’S STRONG position as “the exhibitions powerhouse of Asean” has been strengthened further by the decision of two professional exhibition companies to set up regional headquarters in Bangkok, says the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB).

The first is VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific Co, a joint venture between Netherlandsbased VNU Exhibitions Europe Co, one of Europe’s top five trade show and exhibition management companies, and Bangkok-based TCC Land The other is Asian Exhibition Services Ltd (AES), a subsidiary of US-based DMC

Services Group.

Supawan Teerarat, the TCEB’s Director of Exhibitions, said, “This milestone clearly demonstrates Thailand’s positive long-term potential and the availability of huge supporting infrastructure and services.

“More importantly, it confirms our success in driving a strategy entitled ‘Thailand, An Exhibition Platform of AEC [Asean Economic Community]’ which has boosted exhibition traffic in the country by 10-15 per cent a year.

“This is a result of the growth in the number of new trade shows and upgraded show in 2012, and the expansion of oversea exhibitors and

visitors at the major shows in Thailand.”

Gerard Willem Leeuwenburgh, MD of VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific, said, “The world has observed a power shift to Asia.

“Asean is emerging as a rising star in the world economy given its rich resources and strong economic growth.”

David Aitken, MD and CEO of AES, said, “AES has identified Bangkok as the strategic hub to stage international events in the region and with close TCEB support has successfully established a very strong portfolio with further projects to be launched in 2013.”

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

PROPERTY NEWS 13

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Phuket real estate group open 2013 property show

CHILLED The Singaporean government, worried about increased property speculation, has introduced ‘road barriers’.

Singapore cool-off should heat up property sales abroad

T

he number of Singa­ poreans buying over­ seas property is likely to increase after their govern­ ment introduced property cooling measures, website PropertyGuru.com predicts.

The measures, which came into effect on Saturday (Janu­ ary 12) included an immediate increase in stamp duties across the board, by between 3 and 8 per cent. The government said it was introducing these “road barriers” now to slow the property market and avoid a crash in the future.

Announced in a 12-page press release the previous evening, these measures are primarily designed to quell speculative demand. Singapor­ eans buying homes for their own use are largely unaffected.

Following the introduction

of previous cooling measures, Malaysian developments re­ ceived an immediate increase in inquiries from Singapore buyers. Over the following weeks that interest spread regionally and further afield.

Last year saw a record number of overseas property developers exhibiting in the city state. Singaporeans were an increasingly important demographic in many over­ seas markets, especially in Malaysia, Thailand, the UK and Australia. Even less tra­ ditional property investment destinations such as Brazil, Canada and the Philippines saw substantial numbers of Singaporean property buyers.

Steve Melhuish, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of PropertyGuru, said, “Property remains an attractive and

secure investment class, and we expect overseas property purchases by buyers from Singapore will increase over the coming days, weeks and months.”

With Singapore property prices at all-time highs, over­ seas investments look very good value – even in places such as Australia and London.

Mr Melhuish added, “The declining growth in property price rises in Singapore, com­ bined with the large supply coming into the market and what is close to recessionary GDP growth, means there is a definite downside risk for Singapore property invest­ ments versus overseas.

“These latest measures could well be a tipping point for a property market correc­ tion in Singapore.

“[Last year] in Singapore we saw strong demand from locals and foreigners at our [property] events, and we sus­ pect that interest in overseas properties from Singaporean buyers is likely to increase, especially when you look at the predicted strong GDP growth and property price outlook for nearby overseas markets such as Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines,” he added.

“There remains strong desire from buyers through­ out Southeast Asia, not only in Singapore, to invest in property. Overseas property purchases just became even more attractive, and we ex­ pect the number of overseas developers targeting Singa­ poreans and Southeast Asian property buyers and investors to increase during 2013.”

Consumer confidence still rising: poll

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE in Thailand rose for a third straight month in December, hitting a 15-month high, as concerns about global and domestic economic prospects eased.

The consumer confidence index climbed to 80.2 points last month from 79.1 in No­ vember and 77.8 in October, according to a survey by the University of the Thai Cham­ ber of Commerce’s Center for Economic and Business Forecasting (CEBF).

The overall economic index came in at 70.6 points, up from 69.4 in November, while the index for job op­ portunities registered 71.7 points, up from 71.2.

The index on future in­ come expectations increased to 98.3 points from 96.8.

However, a score of less than 100 points still indicates

pessimism about the domestic outlook, job opportunities and future income, says the CEBF. CEBF head Thanavath Phonvichai said the rise in the index stems from improved domestic spending, higher exports and growing tourism.

The centre asked 2,243 respondents how they saw domestic economic conditions and which factors affected

their views.

Mr Thanavath said despite confidence rising for three straight months, the rate has yet to reach the levels recorded before the 2011 flood crisis.

If no negative factors such as political strife, natural disasters or global economic volatility come into play, then the consumer confidence in­

dex should reach 100 points again late this year, he said.

The centre forecast Thai economic growth of 4-5 per cent this year, with an in­ flation rate of 3.5 per cent.

Bangkok Post

THE PHUKET REAL ESTate Association (P-REA), a grouping of local property developers, opened its sevenday Phuket Property Show 2013 yesterday (January 17) at Central Festival Phuket, as a response to the rising demand for accommodation in Phuket.

The show runs until this week until next Wednesday (Janu­ ary 17-23) Thanu Peungdech, Presi­ dent of the P-REA described the event as an “important step” showing the quality of accommodation projects in Phuket, which have been able to attract buyers not only from Phuket but also other provinces and from overseas.

Thanu Hongyok, Vice President, said that the show includes many good-quality accommodation projects from

around the island, at a variety of price levels. All the exhibi­ tors are offering “special and attractive promotions”, he added.

Running in tandem with the exhibition is a variety of seminars by well known busi­ ness people and property own­ ers and developers in Phuket who share their experience and offer suggestions to those who wish to join the seminars.

One special feature that is sure to attract many people, said Pattanun Pisutwimon, the P-REA Secretary, is be the chance to consult with a famous Thai fortune teller about the future of property on the island.

The Phuket News, Phuket Live Radio and Novosti Phuketa are media sponsors for the event.

‘Affordable’ home sales will pick up AFFORDABLE PROPERTIES are likely to sell well in Phuket this year, according to analysts with real estate agency CBRE. In a report issued at the end of the year and commenting on figures up to the end of the third quarter, CBRE predicts, “Demand will continue for af­ fordable villas, especially [in the] entry-level and mid-range segments.”

CBRE’s analysts expect that there will be more foreign buyers and note that, whatever their nationality, buyers prefer completed developments with completed units. Completed developments sell almost twice as fast as those under con­ struction – 87 per cent sold compared with 45 per cent.

“Overall, we believe that the outlook for the villa mar­ ket will remain positive over the rest of 2012. Demand will continue for affordable villas,

especially entry-level and midrange segments.

“The typical buyer profile is unlikely to change too much over the rest of this year but we expect more purchases by Asians (Hong Kong Chinese and Singaporeans), the Brit­ ish, Russians and some other European buyers,” the report states.

As to condominiums, the report says that in the third quarter some 120 resort units were sold, compared with 83 in the previous quarter. Midrange units priced at B60,000 to B90,000 per square metre performed best; only seven of the units sold were outside that bracket.

Of the total of 5,183 resort condominium units complet­ ed, under construction, and planned, it is estimate that 74.7 per cent, or 3,871 units, have been sold.

“More than just office space”

For your private or virtual office call Martin on 08 9874 9080 info@asiapacificoffices.com

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14 OPINION

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Gerry’s View

Editorial

Paradise for all

wo days after a display of 300 Royal Thai Police Officers along Bangla Road, aimed at bolstering tourist confidence as part of a 30-day safety campaign in Phuket and Pattaya, four expatriates were found dead in Patong.

A 26-year-old Dutchman was found in the sea, with a four centimetre wound to the back of his head. Later on in the day, the body of an Italian man was found in a hotel room, quickly followed with the death of a Danish owner of a guesthouse. The final victim was reported to be an Austrian man, although he had apparently been dead for days.

A tragic week indeed that seems incongruous when presented with the image of a dream island, and a dark side that is seemingly more befitting to that of a big city.

It seems all the more startling among the backdrop of the recent violence that has recently befallen Phuket. In the last week or so, there have been variously stabbings, slashings and beatings.

Unfortunately, these types

T

When we attend a performance we dutifully take our seats and wait for the performers to appear on stage. But what goes on behind the scenes is sometimes not what we think about. I happened to have the chance to peak behind the scenes in this instance, and caught these ladies prepping for the show in rather rudimentary conditions. No star on the dressing room door in this case, but they sure made themselves look good for the performance. Gerry Cummings

If you have a Phuket photo to share, email it with a caption to editor@thephuketnews.com

Comments, Facebook & Twitter Don’t be quick to judge others

[Re. Russian gang attack Phuket couple at Catch Beach Club] This is so narrow-minded, judging the whole nation for a couple of cases like this one.

I had an accident with Swedish guy a year ago in Krabi.

He hit my motorbike. My bike was ruined and my leg was hurt.

This guy saw what he did but didn’t even ask me if I was okay or if I needed some help.

He just left his car and went to a bar.

When I managed to wake up and came to that bar he was sipping his beer and laughing with his friends. He didn’t want to hear what I’m saying. And none of his European friends suggested me even a glass of water or something.

I was too shocked to call the police. So I took my broken bike and left. And it cost me a lot to repair.

Do I need to think that all Swedish guys are drunkards and violators?

Do all Europeans behave like that?

I don’t think so and I don’t judge. I hope you won’t judge all Russians too.

Elena

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

La-la-la. Russians are bad, Russians are bad. In Australia, there are no Russians but every time there’s fighting in the beach area.

So police come for what?

To look around?

Irina I had the same situation with two English guys in a bar.

I am Russian, I did not want to fight, they made me.

Everybody saw that they started that fight. But I can’t say that all people from England are same and we must ban all tourists from England.

Andrey This will continue to be an ongoing saga with these Russians.

This island used to have a culture set in place.

But now with the invasion of Russians it is of the belief that Phuket owes their economy to them!

Antimus

Seeking a second opinion on floods

[Re. Phuket Town flooding cures could cost up to B2bn] I would suggest, though it won’t be considered, at least one overseas assessment, I’m not saying Panya Co’s assessment is wrong or in any other way lacking, but a second option would help.

Laurie Howells

No more megaparties, please

[Re. Was the Phuket Sydictive megaparty worth it in the end?]

It was yet another failure in Phuket by a so called organisation party, trying to make as much money as possible out of the paying guests and tourists.

Over the many years I have now lived here, thousands of us have gone to Patong beach to see in the New Year, nothing wrong with that and very enjoyable, so why do various people try jumping on the bandwagon, to make

money for themselves?

Let us hope that they or anyone else don’t try it again.

Derek Priest

Questionable content decision

[Re. She’s almost famous] I like your newspaper most the time, but why a full page story on Cindy Carino?

She has a nose that would make a male elephant blush, and hair that looks my poodle’s tail.

Her body is nothing more than that of the thousands of tourists on Phuket’s beaches. Why waste the paper and bore your readers?

Jon W.

Old Town trip’s always a charm

[Re. A trip down Phuket’s ‘Amulet Alley’] Worth investigating – never sure how much to pay for an amulet.

Tim

Have a question about Phuket you want answered? Email editor@thephuketnews.com

of occurrences are nothing new on the island of late. Safe is something that many in Phuket and especially Patong do not necessarily feel – grand display of police officers or not.

In these times of expansion, celebrity visits, rapid growth of tourist numbers and facilities, things don’t appear to be as they may seem in Phuket, but have they ever been?

A city is only exciting, convenient and of endless possibilities if you are not trapped in the drudgery of an over-populated and polluted environment.

Its expanse is only positive if you can escape the confines of the subway, the box apartment and the stinking office every once in a while to put it all in perspective.

A tropical island is only paradise, relaxing and beautiful for those whom holiday on it, for the rest, it’s business as usual. We swap a skyscraper for a palm tree and a subway train for a car, a coat for a T-Shirt, but other than that, it’s another day, another baht.

Another day in paradise.

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Rus sian gang attack Phuket couple at Catch Beach Club ‘They started it’ say Catch brawl Russians New ambassadors discuss issues with Phuket Governor Phuket Catch Club brawl Russians named Runaway ‘Zorb’ accident kills Russian [VIDEO] UFO sighting startles Thai school students Mystery over tourist’s body found floating off Phuket beach Koh Phangan: ‘Don’t go if you value your life’ Phuket expat, 50, dies from liver disease No deal in talks over Phuket bottle slashing

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MEET THE GOVERNOR Tanyaluk Sakoot sits down for an interview with Phuket Governor Maitree Intusut > 3

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Ajarn Pranee meets Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn at the Prambanan temple in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Notice how Ajarn Pranee gives the traditional and most reverential ‘wai’ in order to pay the highest respect to Princess Maha.

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Ajarn Pranee explains how you should properly pay respect to elders

Veerachan Usahanun

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ‘WAI’ POLITE PHUKET

Professor Pranee Sakulpipatana, or Ajarn Pranee as she is known on the island, is the founder of the T h a i Pe r a n a n a k a n Association of Phuket and an ac t ive and prominent member of the Baba community.

T

he first thing you are likely to learn when in Thailand is the ‘wai’.

Also a way of paying respect to the elderly, it is a short cut to understanding Thai culture.

It may seem like we Thais ‘wai’ a lot, and in fact we do, but it’s important to know the right way and right time at which

to wai.

Being at a friend’s home for example, it is absolutely necessary to give your friend’s parents a wai and I am sure that they don’t mind if you do not know how to make it in the traditionally Thai way.

On the other hand, if you are a guest at a five star hotel, then those working on the front desk are likely to pay you a highly respectful wai, with the head bowed quite low and the hands together in a lotus shape in the middle of the chest.

It will also be nice if she smiles with her lips and her heart while giving you a wai. You can notice this by looking at her eyes.

I suppose you’re thinking how to answer her with

your body language. Well you should smile if you can and also return her friendly manner with a wai, but you don’t have to bow your head low.

Why not? It’s because you have a higher status as a spender or you are probably older than her. Generally speaking it is the younger that wais the older first.

My friend, Paul from Switzerland, likes to do his shopping at certain places like Tesco-Lotus. He said he likes to see all the cashiers give wais to the customers when they pay bills.

When I was young and studying at the Suansunantha Teachers College in Bangkok I stayed at the school dormitory.

The teachers there were so strict, she trained us to be very polite with good manners. She wanted us to be the lady of the house when we graduated.

It used to be the norm for Thai ladies to learn the perfect wai in the good old days, but nowadays Thai teenagers love to act like farangs more than Thais.

Could anybody answer me why? I suppose it’s rather like a showcase of liberty, isn’t it?

Sweet sixteen honoured as 2012 national artists

S

ixteen outstanding artists have been honoured as 2012 National Artists in three categories – visual arts, literature and performing arts.

Culture Minister Sonthaya Khunploem yesterday announced the names of 16 people honoured as national artists in the three categories.

The visual arts artists recognised for 2012 are Khemrat Kongsuk (sculpture), Nueng Faengseekham (craftsmanship of gold ornaments), Vichok Mukdamanee (mixed media) and Aree Suthipan (painting).

In the literature category, the award winners are Nongchanai Prinyathawat, Khunying Kulasap Ketmenkit, Khunying Wimol Siripaiboon (whose pen name is Tommayanti) and Makut Ornreudee.

In the performing arts category, the recipients are Buasorn Thanomboon (folk music), Dokdin Kanyamarn (movies), Somsuan Promsawang, better known as Ploen Promdaen (folk song singer), Manas Pitisan (Thai classical music), Lt Col Sanoh Luangsunthorn (Thai music), Lt Col Vichit Horthai (marching band), Khlaonoi Rojchanamethakul (shadow plays) and Thas-

sanee Khunthong (musical arts).

Khunying Kulasap yesterday said she was delighted and honoured to be chosen as a national artist.

She has worked in literature for over 60 years and said she was most proud of her work honouring Their Majesties the King and the Queen and members of the royal family.

Those who have been honoured will receive a monthly allowance of 20,000 baht, medical welfare, disaster relief and financial aid for funerals and the publication of memorial books.

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THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Leading from the front

Governor Maitree on the ways he plans to improve our island

Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter4@thephuketnews.com

Phuket is among the 10 provinces of Thailand that people are most interested in.

And not just people in Thailand – the whole world watches what is going on here. I have lived in Phuket about three months. It is a small province but it differs from others in its challenges.

Some of these are little things; others are big and hard to resolve. However, I think Phuket can be improved if we are all better organised

Gov Maitree began work as a planning and policy analyst in the office of the National Security Council.

After about 10 years he moved to the Ministry of Interior. In 2003 he was appointed a Vice-Governor of Phang-nga province.

M

aitree Intusut is a man of great charm. He smiles at anyone he meets. He is witty. He has an apt Thai proverb or anecdote to fit every occasion. When you meet him you don’t just get a warm welcome; you also learn something new.

After slightly over three months as Governor of Phuket (he arrived on October 1 last year), Gov Maitree agreed to talk exclusively with The Phuket News about his background, his beliefs and his approach to the top job on the island.

Gov Maitree, now 56, is a career civil servant. Having graduated with a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s in political science from Thammasat University, he entered the District Chief’s College, graduating in 1989.

He also studied in the government’s Chief Executive Programme, graduating in 2000 and in the National Defence College from 2006 to 2007.

He began work as a planning and policy analyst in the office of the National Security Council. After about 10 years he moved to the Ministry of Interior.

In 2003 he was appointed a Vice-Governor of Phang-nga. Clearly on the fast track, he moved two years later to the equivalent job in Nakhon Sri Thammarat then the following year to Lopburi and that same year to Srisaket and then back to Lopburi in 2008.

In 2009 he received his first provincial governorship, in Trang. This was followed by Payao in 2011 and Phuket the following year.

In a comprehensive two-hour session with The Phuket News, he explained, “I came from a place that was very different from Phuket – it was an agricultural province. Phuket is completely a tourism province.

“To some, Phuket seems like a difficult province but I prefer to see it as a ‘challenging’ one – I have to put my whole heart into the job.

“Phuket is among the 10 provinces of Thailand that people are most interested in. And not just people in Thailand – the whole world watches what is going on here.

“I have lived in Phuket about three months. It is a small province but it differs from others in its challenges. Some of these are little things; others are big and hard to resolve.

“However, I think Phuket can be improved if we are all better organised.

“Management of provincial officials is important. I have shared my philosophy with my Vice Governors on how they might improve

the tuk-tuks, taxis and jet-skis.”

“My three main concepts of working are adjustment, regulation and cooperation. I think Phuket people need to be more selfless and community-minded.

“For example, the number of vehicles in Phuket being used as taxis is constantly increasing. Now we have a system that allows them to be properly registered.

“One very complex thing to improve is security for Phuket’s tourists. But this is not the only challenge. Phuket has seven ‘areas of risk’ – tourism, land problems, roads, urban disorganisation, disaster preparedness and mitigation, misuse of beaches and consumer protection.

“For example, road: There are about 370,000 cars registered in Phuket; that does not include cars in Phuket that are registered in other provinces.

“We had nine deaths on the roads over the New Year period. Most of them were not from Phuket; two came from Russia and most of the rest came from other Thai provinces.

“Or there is the problem of dealing with trash – about 640 tons a day.

“But overall I think Phuket is still well organised. There are three sectors that are important contributors to this: private organisations such as tourism and industry associations, non-governmental organisations, and local community organisations, all of which carry on with their work without needing to be pushed.

“As to sport in Phuket, if anyone is looking for classic international sports in Thailand, they can be a bit hard to find, but we have

them in Phuket – Phuket is an international province. For example, Phuket will host its first International Taekwondo competition on January 26 and 27.

“This is the first time that Phuket has hosted an international competition at this level. But I have full confidence in the island’s ability to organise it. I fully support this initiative, which will help push Phuket into an international role in sports.”

He also spoke clearly and concisely about recent events in Phuket.

For example, he had this to say of the Sydictive Element New year megaparty: “There were only a few places on the island suitable for such a huge concert. The concert was staged in Patong following a decision just a week before to move it from Surin Beach, where they were not successful in getting it organised.

“I thought it was not clearly managed and organised. I heard all the criticisms, but how I could I resist the concert if they really wanted to do it? In the end, everyone could see that although they predicted 50,000 people would attend, the final number was only about 5,000.

“If they wanted to try to do this again, I would show them photos, and all the criticisms I received. I am not worried about this. I reckon it’s ‘Game Over’.”

He clearly feels his time is better spent on community subjects that matter to the people living here.

For example, he says, “I have supported the Muslim communities to join us in the ‘Resist Drugs Project’. After all, they form 24 per cent of all residents in Phuket, and have 51 mosques; it’s a big community.

“Good organisation and coordination will lead Phuket to be successful. It is not only the Phuket provincial government I want to push along, but also everyone on the island.”

Asked what he thought of The Phuket News, he said, “I buy it myself every weekend.

It has many interesting topics.

“For example, when the ambassadors [of Britain, Canada and the Netherlands] came to Phuket Provincial Hall on January 8, I was able to talk with them about Thomson Airways’ new flights to the island because I had read it in The Phuket News.

“In the end I am just a tool, a facilitator and supporter for Phuket to run smoothly. I never think, ‘I am cleverer than others,’ or ‘I understand everything.’”

He smiles again. “I love to learn more and more. Many things are waiting for me to seek them out and learn about them.”

4 ENVIRONMENT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 18,2013 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 18,

Are we all just wasting time?

Jody Houton asks the tough questions after attending a meeting about waste

L

ast Friday’s IBAP meeting entitled ‘Waste Management’ was, although rather poorly attended, a lively, interesting and surprisingly useful affair.

Martin Hauke, the founder and owner of Phuket-based composting specialist HET Asia, began his 45 minute speech in much the same way as he finished it - in a clinical, scientific and calm manner.

After posing the question of ‘What is compost?’, Mr Haukes proceeded to say that even a specialist such as HET does not currently have any composting equipment to sell - in Phuket.

Mr Hauke explains the reason, “Commercial scale composting just does not exist in Thailand. They incinerate everything.”

As a result of this, Mr Hauke said, the level of dioxins (a class of chemical contaminants that are formed during combustion processes such as waste incineration, forest fires, and burning rubbish) in Phuket was at a dangerous level – 10.48 ng/m3, with the acceptable emission limit level standing around 0.5 in Thailand. In Europe, it is closer to 0.1.

“Dioxins are created by untreated waste. This is the reality of using an incinerator,” said Martin, “This is serious.

Pet

Malcolm Thompson takes the room and the island to task.

Martin Haukes delivers a speech on sustainable waste management.

Dioxins are deadly serious.”

The main aim for the night therefore was to raise awareness of the issue, and to stir emotions and a desire to begin the change at a government level.

It was only then, when people were composting at sizeable amounts when his invention for example (or other simi-

lar composting processes), the Mobile Aerated Floor Composting System, could be theoretically implemented and used as part of the island’s waste management system.

Martin said that he had on many occasions tried in vain to accomplish this, and had even spoken to workers at the Phuket incinerator plant, where the concept of composting was met with intrigue and interest yet always fell at the last hurdle.

“When I tell them how much it’s going to cost, I always stop getting reply emails.”

Government officials, believes Martin, don’t like to work with small companies as there is a desire to not change the status quo – regardless of how toxic the situation may be.

It was all the more important therefore for Phuket businesses and residents, starting specifically with the attendees in the meeting room at the A2 hotel in Phuket, to start making a difference.

“Separate the trash at home into separate bags filled with plastic bottles,

Every month, the best pet wins a B500 voucher from:

cans, paper and other metals.

“Do your own back yard composting with compost bins and compartments.

Report illegal waste dumps to the police. Report any flagrant misuse, don’t just think it’s Thailand and forget it!”

There was a pause as an awkward silence fell among the 20 or so men in the room, much like stupefied students on the eve of an exam whom believe that they know all of this stuff already and if they didn’t, then it’s too late now anyway right?

Perhaps sensing that Martin’s calm delivery wasn’t having the desired effect on the room, Malcolm Thompson, Martin’s International Marketing Manager of another of his companies - MAF Composting Systems, tried a rather unorthodox method.

“Sorry guys, but it’s a joke. You’re all a joke,” bellowed Malcolm.

“All the GMs on the island for all the best hotels, none can give me a straight answer of where all their waste goes!

Into the sea, in landfills. They don’t know!”

The exams were coming – like it or not. It was clearly time for some cold hard truths.

“Let’s face it, anybody who tries to do much against the natural order of things are scared about getting a visit in the middle of the night!”

It was enough to stir discussion amongst all in attendance.

Attendees referenced the good work that was being done in Koh Yao Noi, recycling reward cards for Rawai residents, and even the work of Thailand’s scavengers (see Environment, January 11 issue).

One attendee posed the question as to whether Martin and Malcolm would be so passionate if they weren’t working in the industry, or had something financially to gain from it.

However, it was quite clear to everyone that all of us living here have something to gain from recycling, composting and environmentally sustainable living. All Martin and Malcolm wanted to know was, ‘What are we prepared to do to make it happen?’.

My name is Saffie and I’m a pedigree English Springer Spaniel, all the way from the UK. I belong to Robin Wilson. I was bred for hunting so I love to chase anything that moves, especially lizards, frogs, birds and of course, cats. I also love going for long walks on the beach and splashing about in the surf.

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

The new Phuket incinerator is up-and-running and burning around 700 tons a day.

HEALTH 5

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Six steps to making facelifts last

W

hile a facelift procedure produces a renewed yout h f u l ap pearance that lasts for many years, its results can be enhanced and maintained in the post-surgical period, says Dr. Kiya Movassaghi, a leading Oregon plastic surgeon recommends six steps to make a facelift last: Protect against further sun damage.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Poor choices such as smoking or extreme fluctuations in weight will have a negative effect on plastic surgery results over the long term, undoing the gains made through the procedure.

Enhance with injectables. While most patients will maintain a youthful look for years after a facelift, refreshing the results with dermal fillers is an increasingly popular option.

4. Refresh with Exilis treatments. Exilis is an FDA-approved device for non-surgical tissue tightening and spot fat reduction.

Treat with laser resurfacing.

Because the aging process inevitably continues, fine lines, skin laxity, and discoloration might arise after a facelift.

Use professional skin care products.

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3

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For more information on Movassaghi Plastic Surgery & Ziba Medical Spa. visit drmovassaghi. com

Make 2013 your best year ever LOSE FAT WITH PAT Patrick du Preez editor3@thephuketnews.com

Patrick du Preez, MD Club Asia Fitness, Royal Phuket City Hotel, Phuket Town, clubasiaphuket.com

N

ew Year’s resolutions are inspiring. Maintaining them can, however, be challenging.

For those of you that have set yourself a challenge to improve your health and get into shape, here are a few guidelines that will help you achieve your goals.

■ Set yourself realistic goals ■ Join a gym ■ Train with a partner ■ Start off slowly – easy workouts ■ Proper nutrition is important ■ Get a personal trainer ■ Aim to get to the gym 3x times a week for an hour ■ Persevere, don’t give up and you will succeed Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and staying active as you age is really important. As previously indicated it is never too late to start no matter what age you are.

If you have not been active for a while it would be best to get a medical check-up from your doctor prior to starting your fitness programme.

As we age our muscles weaken, bone density becomes less and we become short of breath just after walking up a flight of steps. You need

to focus on improving these symptoms by proper exercise, nutrition and cardio workouts.

The advantages of joining a commercial gym/fitness centre are numerous.

The obvious benefit of a gym is a chance to get fit. If you want to lose weight, gyms offer cardiovascular exercise options and workout areas for aerobic exercise. If you want to add muscle, you can use the gym’s strength-training equipment, such as free weights and resistance machines.

When joining a gym you should firstly receive professional advice on proper training methods and how to actually use the extensive array of exercise equipment.

Gyms may offer various facilities that may include aerobic, spin bike, yoga or zumba classes that are taught by expert instructors.

Sauna and steam rooms provide relief and relaxation at the end of a strenuous workout. In addition gyms may offer swimming pool facilities where members can swim a few laps.

Gyms are also a great place to socialise and meet people that have a similar interest in diet and exercise goals.

Having contact with other people dealing with the same challenges you are facing can be a powerful motivator.

Benefits of gym workouts: ■ Access to a variety of types of equipment ■ Opportunity to attend classes ■Regular exercise schedule ■ Access to fitness pro-

FOOD SAFETY TRAINING Educating all food handlers to understand the importance of food safety standards.

Our training is highly interactive.

info@foodhygieneasia.com 076 617 692, 081 862 4439 www.foodhygieneasia.com

Often it’s easier to keep motivated when you exercise with others. fessionals ■ Support from others These are just a few of the many benefits of joining a gym when undertaking a healthy

weight loss programme.

Don’t forget that the key to losing weight and improving your overall health and fitness are eating a healthy,

balanced diet and participating in an on-going programme of rgular exercise. Keep at it, there’s likely to be someone watching you.

6 EDUCATION

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 18,2013 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 18,

Active learning with super teacher TEACH BY DESIGN Jason Stanley drjasonstanley@gmail.com

The end game of this series is to make education interesting and fun for students and improve academic results. At the same time, this will simultaneously improve the working conditions of teachers to make teaching fun and in fact easier

What Is Active Brain Based Learning & Teaching?

#1

Teach by Design Jason Stanley

Proven Effective Classroom Methodologies Jason Stanley Ph.D.

This is the third excerpt from Dr Jason Stanley’s Teach By Design book.

H

i readers, recovering administrator Jason Stanley here for another article about understanding and applying ‘brain-based learning’.

The end game of this series is to make education interesting and fun for students and improve academic results. At the same time, this will simultaneously improve the working conditions of teachers to make teaching fun and in fact easier.

To start we have to carefully clarify a point of confusion by reviewing a foundational issue: What is ‘active learning’?

Active learning has been a staple of Western education theory and practice for the past 30 years, yet in schools and classrooms where it really counts, I have found that there is considerable confusion in its definition and use.

This confusion leads to administrators pressuring teachers for the wrong things and teachers accepting tasks that just don’t work.

When outcomes and methods are confused and don’t match, results are destined to be disappointing with the students suffering from our own confusion.

There are two distinct perspectives to active learning that are unfortunately generally interwoven, without distinction, in theory and in practice throughout the educational literature and system.

Both perspectives are important and bring value to the classroom. Only one is critical for student success.

The two perspectives of active learning are: 1. Students are personally engaged in and responsible for their own learning.

Therefore they are actively learning.

2. Students are presented with an activity-style learning environment. Therefore they are active in the classroom, and hopefully learning occurs.

There is a fundamental difference between the two perspectives.

The first is based in the student’s internal operation no matter what the environment.

The second is based in the environment

with the teacher responsible for the actions and learning of the student.

The distinction between motivation and an activity is missed: motivation and internal desire is to be developed or capitalised on; while an activity is to be used.

The problem comes when administrators and teachers believe that creating an active environment will automatically cause students to become actively engaged in their learning.

We have been taught to expect that students will get engaged in learning when presented with activities such as classroom discussions, student debate, and a class game.

It sounds good, but it just doesn’t happen in real classrooms. Activity in the classroom does not mean that students are actively learning. It only means that they are active – sometimes.

In classroom discussions, out of a class of 30, three or four kids generally talk while the other 26 zone out. How much do you enjoy trying to get your unengaged kids to talk?

It becomes a war of wills that effectively causes the majority of students to be less engaged.

Student debate is identified in the literature as a “fun activity”.

Really? My experience shows that very few like it. What happens to the rest of your class when the two debaters debate? Are they bored, zoned out, fidgeting, disruptive?

Class games can energise students.

Brain research shows games usually overstimulate students. Then how much work is it for you to get them to re-focus on the lesson?

Well known expert on classroom activities and author of the book series Activities That Teach, Tom Jackson, said: “Activities without discussion are just games.”

We see that activities create activity rich environments but do not necessarily create active learning.

Motivated and engaged learners are successful regardless of the environment. Activity rich environments always have some failing students.

It is more important to ask: ‘What motivates students to become actively engaged learners?’

Motivation will be the topic for a later article in the Teach By Design series.

Dr Jason Stanley will be happy to address your additional questions concerning the impact of brain-based learning or how to do brain-based teaching. Contact him by email at drjasonstanley@gmail.com

KAJONKIET KIDS DAY As part of the Children’s Day activities held last Friday at

Kajonkietsuksa School Phuket, Kathu Campus, students enjoyed arts and crafts, movies, face painting a disco and a performance of ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’.

SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS OF SCIENCE Congratulations to 12-year-old Keenno

from Year 7A (left) and 8 year-old Potter (right) from Year 3B at Headstart International School Phuket for recently passing the first round of tests conducted by the The Institute for Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology.

WEIRD WORLD 7

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

THE BIG LIST

Weird Aircraft Cargoes In these days of tough aircraft security, frequent fliers are often bombarded with reminders of the sorts of things they cannot take on to a plane. But sometimes that message just doesn’t get through. Here are some of the stranger aircraft cargoes that have been recorded.

Corpse on a plane: A woman and her daughter were arrested at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport when they tried to sneak a corpse onto a flight to Germany.

Police said they sat the body of the woman’s dead 91-year-old husband in a wheelchair, and placed sunglasses to cover his eyes. Airport officials stopped the pair as they pushed the corpse through the departure area. When they were caught, the women expressed disbelief that the man was dead, and claimed that he was only sleeping. But a doctor said the man had been dead for at least 24 hours, and the two women were charged with failing to report his death.

Croc on a plane: An animal smuggler in the Democratic Republic of Congo who hid a crocodile in his luggage didn’t count on the beast getting out of the bag. The animal struggled free as the aircraft was about to land, and caused panic in the cabin. As the passengers and flight crew fled to the front of the plane, the sudden redistribution of weight caused the pilot to lose control and the plane crashed. Twenty of the 21 people on board died, and the lone survivor related the bizarre tale to the crash investigators. The crocodile survived the crash, but was later dispatched with a machete.

Fake on a plane: An elderly white man who boarded a plane in Hong Kong disembarked in Canada a few hours later as a young Asian male. The man had disguised himself with a silicone mask to make himself look old, donned spectacles, a brown cardigan and flat cap, and used a borrowed boarding pass to get on the plane. Although he moved with exaggerated effort in an attempt to appear elderly, the cabin crew became suspicious when they saw his “youthful” hands and were watching when he emerged from the aircraft toilets without his disguise. The man was was arrested when the plane landed, and filed a claim for refugee status after admitting his ruse to authorities.

Cocaine cast on a plane: Spanish police arrested a man arriving at Barcelona airport from Chile after finding that the cast on his broken leg was made almost entirely from cocaine. Officials became suspicious of the leg cast when other drugs were found in the man’s luggage, and it turned out to be made from cocaine mixed with plaster.

But they also found that the 66-year-old man had genuinely broken his leg in two places – possibly on purpose, to allay suspicions in case his leg was X-rayed by airport security.

Skeleton on a plane: A Christian monk and two accomplices were arrested trying to board a plane in Athens in Greece with the skull and bones of a nun in a suitcase. When the remains were discovered, the monk explained that the nun, named Eleni Vathiadou, was a saint, and that he had planned to take the bones as holy relics to a monastery in Cyprus.

Vathiadou’s bones were stolen after a memorial service in Greece to mark four years since her death. But the Cypriot Orthodox church denied Vathiadou was a saint. “It appears to be the work of charlatans with a financial interest,” said a spokesman.

Snake on a plane, seriously!

P

assengers on an Australian jet bound for Papua New Guinea spotted a three-metre snake clinging desperately to the wing of their aircraft throughout the flight.

The early-morning Qantas flight from Cairns to Port Moresby, with 40 passengers on board, was already aloft when the reptilian hitchhiker was spotted on the wing flaps, just a short distance from one of the engines.

One passenger, Robert Weber, was able to video the snake’s journey from his seat on the aircraft.

He said that the snake was tucked away “quite neatly” when it was first seen, but the wind caught the end of its tail, “pulling him straight out.”

“I felt quite sad for it, really. For the remainder of the flight, he was trying to pull himself back into the plane, even though he was fighting against 400 kilometre-an-hour winds. The cabin crew told us that at cruising altitude, it was minus 12 degrees outside but not even that was able to finish him,” he said.

But the high altitude, cold air and the battering the snake took from being swept against the fuselage took their toll, and the animal was dead on arrival when the plane touched down at Port Moresby.

It has been identified as an amethystine python, a non-venomous snake which is relatively common in Australia and can grow to be more than eight metres in length.

A Qantas spokesman said they had never encountered a python on board one of their aircraft, until now.

“We have never heard of this happening before,” he said. “The python must have taken refuge on the exterior of the aircraft at Cairns Airport overnight before take off.”

The battered python clings to the wing flaps of a Qantas jet above Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, after hitching a ride from Australia. Photo: Robert Weber Aircraft engineers suggested that the snake had crawled up the landing gear when the plane was parked at Cairns, and found its way into the flap assembly.

It had probably made itself comfortable there until the plane took off and the flaps moved back, when it got caught by the wind and dragged out of its hiding place.

But unlike the 2006 movie Snakes on a Plane, starring Samuel L Jackson, there was no danger to anyone inside the aircraft – experts say the snake would not have been able to get inside the passenger compartment from its hideout on the wing.

‘Wonky’ sat-nav sends Brussels-bound driver to Croatia

A

Belgian woman ended up driving across Europe after mistakenly following directions from her satellite navigation system.

The Het Nieuwsblad newspaper repor t ed that 67-year-old Sabine Moureau left her home at Erquelinnes, in Belgium’s Hainaut province, to pick up a friend from a train

station in Brussels, about 90 kilometres away.

But what should have been a 90-minute drive ended in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia in southern Europe, more than 1400 kilometres from her destination.

Mme Moureau told the newspaper: “I was absentminded so I kept on putting my foot down.”

Cops find angry croc guarding dope stash

C

alifornia police officers were confronted by an aggressive crocodile guarding an illicit marijuana stash when they visited the house of a suspected drug dealer this week.

The sheriff’s deputies in Alameda County had stopped at the house of 32-year-old Assif Mayar to check that he was complying with his probation orders.

Inside the house they discovered a stash of about 16 kilograms of marijuana, guarded by what appeared to be a five-foot long alligator.

A police spokesman said Mayar had bought the animal – which he named “Mr. Teeth” – in 1996, to “commemorate the death of rapper Tupac Shakur.”

Mayer kept the beast in a plexiglass tank beside his stash, to act as a deterrent

Say hello to Mr Teeth. Photo: Alameda County Sherrifs for “would-be marijuana thieves,” the spokesman said.

“As soon as you get near it – the plexiglass area – the alligator gets agitated,” said the spokesman.

Police valued the marijuana at over $US100,000 (B3 million.)

Mayar was found guilty of possessing and selling drugs, and may face charges for not having the proper permit to keep an exotic pet.

Mr Teeth was taken to a zoo hospital, suffering from stress. He died the next day.

“ I sw itched on the GPS and punched in the address. Then I started out. My GPS seemed a bit wonky. It sent me on several diversions and that’s where it must have gone wrong.”

“I saw tons of different signposts, first in French, later in German, but I kept on driving.”

She had to fill her gas

tank twice and slept for a few hours beside the highway to complete the journey.

But she claimed that she didn’t realise that she was on the wrong route until she arrived in the Croatian capital.

“It was only when I ended up in Zagreb that I realised I was no longer in Belgium,” she said.

8 DINING

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 18,2013 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 18,

A NOBLE NEW HANGOUT Claire Connell editor1@thephuketnews.com

The inside of the former optical shop has been stripped out and mostly brought back to its original interior from around 90 years or so ago.

A notable new addition is a huge steel spiral staircase, which was purchased from Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market for B1,000

A

new bar and restaurant in the Old Town is designed to cater to foreign tourists and expatriates.

Duke’s is the creation of Bangkokians Leilani Chiaravanond and Vattanee “Jun” Srikraivin, and quietly opened on December 28 on Ratsada Rd. The pair also own Anna’s bar just opposite. While Anna’s caters more to the Thai market, Leilani and Jun want Duke’s to attract foreigners, hence it features a menu including international, Japanese, Thai, Korean and fusion dishes. Customers are welcome to order from both menus They also say Duke’s offers a more relaxed “after work drinks” alternative to the bustling Anna’s.

The beverage menu includes around 30 or so drinks created specially for Duke’s by a famous Bangkok mixologist. These are priced at B250, while Guinness is on tap for B270 a pint.

Duke’s also scores major points for its industrial-chic design, with strong use of wood and metal.

The inside of the former optical shop has been stripped out

and mostly brought back to its original interior from around 90 years or so ago. A notable new addition is a huge steel spiral staircase, which was purchased from Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market for B1,000. When they have the time, the pair love to stroll the antique markets of the capital, and bring their finds back to Phuket.

The food ranges in price

from B120 to B350, with most dishes positioned around the B200 mark. Standouts include the penne pasta with cream and mushroom sauce and braised pork (B220), chicken Caesar salad with home-made dressing (B280), and chicken quesadillas (B220).

For us though, top prize goes to their fish and chips (B180, pictured above). The local fish,

similar to sea bass, is coated in beer batter and then deep-fried and served with crinkle cut fries and tartare sauce. One of the few places in Phuket Town to serve the dish, it gets 10 out of 10 from this Kiwi reviewer.

Duke’s, 14 Ratsada Rd, Phuket Town (next to Brasserie).

Open Tuesday-Sundays, 6pmmidnight. 087 389 5436.

Sweet treats in Bangkok Coconuts Bangkok

THE RESTAURANT WHERE YOUR INDULGENCE WILL BE COMPLETED

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Magnum Café pop-up restaurant was launched along with the newly revamped Siam Center in Bangkok last week.

This is the fifth temporary venue from the ice cream bar brand, following others that have opened in London, Paris, Edinburgh, and Jakarta.

The 400-square metre store on Siam Center’s first floor is the world’s largest, with the capacity to seat 170 customers. Not only does Magnum Café offer chocolate-inspired ice cream and sweets – like the Sticky Chewy ice cream bar pictured – it also serves dishes such as pasta, pizza and tapas. It is open until May 31.

Bangkok Beer & Beverages, island's largest wholesaler of 500+ premium beverages from 12 countries.

Ask for our extensive portfolio: bart@bbb.co.th and visit www.bbb.co.th for more info.

Tel: 076-200751-3, Fax: 076-200754

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 List your restaurant here: call 076 612 550 or email sales@thephuketnews.com

DINING GUIDE 9

EUROPEAN

INTERNATIONAL

ITALIAN

SEAFOOD

Bodega & Grill

Weaves Restaurant

Acqua

Trisara Seafood

Bodega & Grill is situated on a picturesque patio by the lagoon. The restaurant serves premium char-grilled steaks and seafood from a wood-fired oven, as well as authentic homemade pastas, risottos and paellas. Bodega’s generous steaks are available in portions of up to 1.2 kilogram. Angsana Laguna Phuket, Cherngtalay; 076 324 101

Watch the evening sunlit ocean in the lavish and contemporary ambient atmosphere that is the Weaves restaurant. With its intimate low lit private dining, Weaves serves a variety of delectable Asian and International fusion cuisine, rich enticing desserts and tropical blended refreshments. Manathai Resort Phuket, Surin Beach, 076 270 900

Connoisseurs of fine cuisine can revel in Acqua’s experiential concept. The Acqua restaurant experience promises to deliver only the freshest of ingredients, sourced from only the best producers both local and international. Taste explosions from the portfolio of Chef Alessandro Frau, of both traditional & contemporary are offered. Kalim Bay-Patong, 076 618 127

The first truly world-class destination seafood dining experience on Phuket. A private entrance leads guests either to an outdoor, beachfront deck or to the cool, relaxed interior. The menu is a balance between local and imported seafood prepared and served in a Mediterranean way.

Lunch 12.30pm-3pm, Dinner 7pm-10.30pm (Closed Sundays). Trisara, 076 310 100

Mom Tri’s Villa Royale

Irish Times

Art Caffè

RE KÁ TA Beach Club

Enjoy fine dining with panoramic sea views in sensually indulgent setting. Delicious Thai and European creations are served on the open-air terrace. Mom Tri’s Villa Royale is the winner of the Wine Spectators Award of Excellence. Situated on the only road into to Kata Noi Beach.

Reservations recommended. momtriphuket .com; 076 333 568

The only Irish owned and managed Irish Pub in Phuket. A real Irish Pub at the heart of Phuket’s world famous nightlife. In this traditionally styled Irish pub you will find a very warm welcome from the Management and their fantastic staff. All your favourite Irish food and beverages. Jungceylon, Patong Beach; irishtimespub-phuket.com

The idea of Art Caffè comes from the need to have a place to stop and enjoy something different. Meet friends, exchange ideas, propose initiatives, organizing events or reflect only reading, watching and perhaps enjoying a good cup of coffee. The exhibition space is an affront to the repetitiveness of the artistic culture of the island. Naiharn-Saiyuan Road, 076 388 546

The beachfront restaurant off­ers modern innovative cuisine with a strong focus on seafood.

In the evening RE KÁ TA transforms with Kata’s magical sunsets and cool sounds along with the delicious drinks and tapas, right on the beach.

Open daily 6.30am-11pm; Kata Beach (next to Boathouse); info@rekataphuket.com, rekata phuket.com, 076 330 421

Tablespoon Salad & Grill

Super Natural

DaVinci

Baan Kalim Restaurant & Seafood

Discover newest stylish restaurant in modern vintage setting. Creative and unique salad and grill menus are served while you experience a delectable dining in romantic and intimate atmosphere with a reasonable price tag.

Open 11am-10pm. 2nd Floor, HomePro Village, Chalong; 076 383 244

Super Food deserves a Super Location. SuperNatural and more. The only waterfront restaurant in Phuket serving exciting raw vegetarian cuisine in addition to our delicious seafood, Thai and International menu. Great selection of fresh to order juices & smoothies, as well as great wines and chilled beers.

Open 365 days a year. Facebook Supernatural -Phuket, 2.5km south of Chalong Circle.

Great food and people you know! Authentic Italian cuisine in Nai Harn area. Three different dining areas, cocktail lounge, children’s play area, Delicatessen, live music....DaVinci is not just a meal, it is an experience of taste, atmosphere and more. Restaurant open daily 5pm-11.30pm; Deli open 11am-6pm; Sunday close; Naiharn 076 289 574. davinciphuket.com

Start your evening with delicious food and fine wine. Pick the perfect spot to take in stunning views of Patong bay, as the evening breeze surrounds you. Relax and enjoy live music to make your evening into that truly wonderful and unforgettable dining experience. Open daily 11am-Midnight. Patong; baankalim.com; baankalimrestaurant@hotmail.com, 076 618 125

FRENCH

Gallery Cafe by Pinky

Diavolo

THAI

Breeze Restaurant

Baan Vijitt Restaurant

Phuket’s most exciting new restaurant is situated on the waterfront at Cape Yamu. Chef Cheryl Johnson is providing diners with her innovative modern French interpretations of local ingredients. Open from Tuesday to Saturday for dinner, and from Wednesday to Saturday for lunch. Our menus change frequently. Cape Yamu, Paklok, 081 271 2320

Gallery Cafe by Pinky proudly present to you cafe food at its best. Whether you’re looking for an excellent breakfast or a quick light lunch or dinner plus an outstanding range of fine wines or cocktails. A homemade cake or freshly roasted premium coffee.

Open everyday from 8am - 10pm. Rassada Road, Phuket Town. Facebook page ‘Gallery cafe by Pinky‘. www.gallerycafe-phuket.com, 089 103 7000

Tre by DoublePool Villas

Sala Bua Restaurant

An array of culinary experiences is offered to tempt and intrigue in Tre - the exclusive contemporary French Vietnamese restaurant set among the superb surroundings of the DoublePool Villas. Tre’s signatures dishes include scallops and green apples and tartar with pan-fried foie gras. Banyan Tree Phuket, Cherngtalay; banyantree.com

Sit alfresco to embrace the view of Andaman Sea and enjoy an elegant dining experience, where the art of cooking is personally steered by the newly arrived Executive Chef, Hans Engerer. There are many great dishes to whet your appetite, ranging from the East to the West.

Open daily 6am to 12 midnight. Patong Beach, www.impiana.com; 076 340 138

A menu of modern Mediterranean influences created by Chef Ryan to tantalize the senses in a modern ambience. Offering everything from fresh seafood pastas to simple good pizzas. An impressive selection of well priced beverages and stunning sea views complete the experience. Open daily for lunch or dinner. Paresa Resort, Kamala Beach; 076 302 000

JAPANESE Tamarind Restaurant

To complement an already distinctive cuisine, Tamarind is bringing to the island high quality authentic Japanese cuisine, courtesy of Master Chef Shiraishi. Gracing our Japanese menu will be fresh sushi, sashimi, healthy salads, yakitori and tempura and much more. Tamarind is your ultimate destination to savour the best Japanese cuisine in Phuket. Cherngtalay; banyantree.com

A half-century old Sino-Portuguese style house at The Vijitt Resort Phuket offers a unique authentic experience of Thai cuisine with a focus on regional specialties. Thai Select Premium Award certifies the quality and standard of product and service here. The Vijitt Resort Phuket, Rawai; fb@vijittresort.com, 076 363 600

Talung Thai

The restaurant has a stunning sunset location, offering views of the Andaman Sea. The menu of southern Thai specialties and true local dishes, are not seen on many other restaurant menus in Phuket. Chill with a cocktail from our award wining mixologist at sunset and then relax with authentic Thai cuisine. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Paresa Resort, Kamala; 076 302 000

10 EXPLORE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 18,2013 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 18,

TREASURE ISLAND Jeunesse Meldrum lists her top 10 things to do in Phuket with children

This restaurant is somewhat of a local secret.

The “tables” are small floating huts which, once you “board”, are moved by pulley out into the lake. The novelty is a winner with children. Even more of a winner are the huge carp that swim to greet you and jump out of the water begging for food, which by the way, is pretty good

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s a holiday destination or a home town, Phuket is a fantastic place for families.

There is much to love about this beautiful island in the Andaman Sea – pretty beaches, tropical weather, healthy and delicious food, relaxed lifestyle, interesting culture, value-for-money accommodation and many, many activities for children.

Here are 10 top ways to entertain children of all ages, because in Phuket babies and toddlers do not have to miss out on the fun!

Slide and climb at King Rama IX Park.

2. Play at King Rama IX Park

Enjoy the sunset at Surin Beach on the west coast.

1. Hit the beach at Nai Yang or Surin

Jeunesse Meldrum travels with her husband and their two-year-old daughter. She writes for a website about travelling with children at www.littlepeopleon theroad.com. This year Jeunesse and her family have lived in Phuket on their sailing yacht, Zinc.

Author Jeunesse Meldrum travels with her husband and their two-year-old daughter.

Nai Yang Beach and Surin Beach are the perfect place for families to have fun and cool down when Phuket steams.

These beaches are low key, yet retain an element of the tourist infrastructure that makes life at the beach in Phuket comfortable – there are umbrellas, loungers, massage/beauty parlours, bars, restaurants and trinket stores, but not too many.

Head to Nai Yang Beach to lie beneath the Casuarina trees and build sandcastles in the shade. Head to Surin Beach to watch the sunset and feast on street food and fresh tropical fruit shakes.

Location: Both beaches are on the north west coast of Phuket

King Rama IX Park is a large green space in Phuket Town. It is a lovely place to sit and relax while your children run wild.

The park contains one of the few outdoor children’s playgrounds on the island. The playground is bright and colourful and is equipped with swings, slides, climbing frames, tunnels, a seesaw, balancing discs, monkey bars and more.

As well, there is a lake that is surrounded by jogging paths and exercise stations – these are very busy around sunrise and sunset.

Location: Phuket Town

museum, a walk-through butterfly garden, a breeding room, a bee yard, and a silk museum.

Youngsters will be enchanted by the colourful butterflies, the peculiar looking insects and the large, ever-hungry carp in the garden’s water feature. A butterfly landing on your child just might become the greatest moment of their life so far.

Location: Sam Kong (in Phuket Town near Tesco Lotus) Opening hours: Daily 9am – 5pm Cost: B300 (adults), B150 (children).

Free under the age of four Website: phuketbutterfly.com

An entranced visitor to the Aquarium.

4. Fish-spot at the Aquarium

A butterfly landing on your child at the Butterfly Garden just might become the greatest moment of their life so far.

The Phuket Aquarium is small and sweet. It offers an insight into the magical world beneath the waves and will amuse children and adults alike.

A diverse selection of marine life is represented in the large tank displays.

Highlights for children include dancing cuttlefish, snarling giant eels, surreal seahorses and turtles – everyone loves turtles.

But the main attraction is a tank with a short walk-though tunnel where you are surrounded by pelagic fish, sting rays and sharks, circling and darting around. The tunnel is apparently a hoot to run through if you are less than four feet tall.

Location: At the end of Cape Panwa Opening hours: Daily 8.30am – 4pm Cost: B100 (adults) B50 (children) Free for babies/toddlers

3. Visit the Phuket Butterfly Garden & Insect World

5. Boat-spot at Royal Phuket Marina and Boat Lagoon Marina

The term “butterfly garden” can often be applied loosely, however in the case of the Phuket Butterfly Garden & Insect World, it is most definitely not.

This place is delightful. It is interesting and calming. There is an insect

Royal Phuket Marina and Boat Lagoon Marina exhibit an array of water craft – motor boats, sail boats, mono-hulls, multi-hulls, private yachts and charter boats.

If you take a day trip from Phuket

EXPLORE 11

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Spot boats at Royal Phuket Marina. the surrounding islands, you might depart from one of these marinas. In any case, the marinas are worth a visit in their own right.

Boat Lagoon Marina in particular is a hive of activity (except on Sundays) with many interesting “boatie” things happening in, and out of, the water that will cause little eyes to goggle.

And, for the mums and dads who fancy treating themselves, at both marinas there are yacht brokers, day spas and fine restaurants.

Location: The marinas are adjacent on the central eastern coast of Phuket

Drive a tuk-tuk at Big C shopping centre. and cheerful mechanised rides, and a craft centre that runs activities for older children.

Location: Bottom level, Big C Shopping Centre Opening hours: Daily 9am – 11pm Cost: B40 for the jungle gym and jumping castle. B10 per mechanised ride

Celebrate the Thai New Year by ‘sprinkling’ water at everyone else.

8. Celebrate Songkran and the Thai New Year

Feed the restaurant’s hungry carp.

6. Dine at Pae Ma Nam lake floating’ restaurant This restaurant is somewhat of a local secret. It is a treat.

The “tables” are small floating huts which, once you “board”, are moved by pulley out into the lake. The novelty is a winner with children.

Even more of a winner are the huge carp that swim to greet you and jump out of the water begging for your food, which by the way, is pretty good.

Location: Soi Rattatammanoon. On the road between Central Festival and Patong – heading toward Patong – turn left and follow your nose.

It is well worth timing your visit to Phuket to coincide with the Songkran Festival.

This festival is celebrated throughout Thailand as the traditional New Year.

The celebrations include the sprinkling of water on animate and inanimate things; in practice this means one huge water fight. It is a marvellous festival for children – cool, crazy fun.

Kit out your kids with super-soakers and buckets, and join the masses on the streets.

Oh and remember to wear old clothes, often coloured water (which stains) is “sprinkled” indiscriminately.

Location: Everywhere When: Annually April 13-15

Opening hours: Daily 11am – 10.30pm

7. Escape the heat at Big C indoor play area To visit a shopping centre play area while at a tropical beach resort destination is pitiful, perhaps.

Nevertheless, on very hot days the attraction of somewhere to entertain children in air-conditioned comfort can be great. In which case, Big C is the place to go.

There is a large padded jungle gym and a jumping castle where energetic youngsters can burn off energy safely and coolly, as well as umpteen cheap

Putting at Phuket Adventure Mini-Golf.

9. Putt-putt at Phuket Adventure Mini-Golf Whether living close by or here on a fabulous holiday, this is the place for the whole family, friends and couples to

Visit the Big Buddha and ring the bell.

10. Visit the Big Buddha

Location: 72/44 Moo 3, Bangtao Beach Road, Soi 2, Cherngtalay

The iconic Big Buddha statue, which can be glimpsed from most locations in the south of Phuket, has been under construction for a very long time.

Nevertheless, scaffolding and all, the statue up close is impressive and the views of Phuket and its surrounds are spectacular.

Also, there is much to engage young minds – huge bells, chimes that hang from trees and ring in the wind, monks chanting, small gold statues, melted wax candles, rogue monkeys and a cat that sleeps on the visitors’ book. Little people will be entranced.

Opening hours: Daily 11am – 11pm

Location: Nakkerd Hills, Chalong

Cost: B280 (adults), B200 (children)

Opening hours: Daily 8am – 7.30pm

Website: phuketadventureminigolf.com

Cost: Free but donations appreciated

A young player lines up a hole-in-one. enjoy at all times.

Putter and golf ball are already included in the price but if you have your own favorite putter, bring it with you. The 18 holes of mini golf take about 1-1.5 hour to play depending on how many players you are. The owners recommend not more than 4 players per team, and from 4 years age and up.

12 GAMING

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 18,2013 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 18,

IN BRIEF Pokemon X and Y release date revealed Nintendo will have a worldwide release of their first new Pokemon game made specifically for the Ninendo 3Ds handheld system in October 2013.

The game, Pokemon X and Y, will have three new starter Pokemon: grasstype Chespin, water-type Froakie, and fire-type Fennekin. All of the characters will be rendered in 3D and a trailer of the game has been released online.

The worldwide launch is a departure from the company’s traditional strategy of regional releases and is intended to give gamers a chance to trade and battle each other immediately, according to reports.

Wii U outsold by original Wii The December 2012 sales of Nintendo’s recently released next-generation gaming console, the Wii U, fell short of its predecessor, the Wii. The Wii U sold 460,000 units consoles while the Wii sold 475,000 units in the same month. The newer system did, however, generate US$300 million (B9 billion) compared to the US$270 (B8.8 billion) the Wii sold in its first month.

New Super Mario Bros.

U has emerged as the console’s best-selling game, with over 585,000 units sold.

GAMER OF THE MONTH

CES 2013 showcases future of handhelds Jean-Pierre Mestanza editor@thephuketnews.com

No study into violent games A proposed law calling for a study into violent video games and their effects on children, introduced

by United States Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, died in Congress after the session ended on January 3.

The law would have directed the National Academy of Sciences in the US to look into the effects of violent games. The proposal was made in response to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut in December, in which 26 people died.

T

he annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week allowed users to experience the future of gaming, specifically for handheld devices developed by companies other than the big three (Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft).

The event served as a showcase for these companies to unveil several new systems that would otherwise get pushed aside at the annual E3 gaming convention that will take place later this year.

Nvidia, the company that produces the next-generation Tegra 4 mobile processor, unveiled their handheld gaming device, which was a big hit at the event.

Nvidia’s Project Shield is a mobile gaming device that uses a normal-sized controller, similar to an Xbox 360 controller, with a flip-back screen.

It is designed to stream full PC games from your home computer and uses an Android-based system through the Nvidia Tegra 4 Processor.

Another device that made a splash was the Razer Edge by Razer. It is

a new gaming tablet that runs on Windows 8, has up to 8GB of RAM (memory), and has several optional accessories available: docking station, side-mounted controllers, and a transforming keyboard.

One of the downsides of the device though is the one-hour battery life available without a power chord.

However, the system that made the biggest splash was the Oculus Rift, a headset that transports gamers into the world of a video game through virtual reality. Users are immersed in a 360-degree gaming world.

The Oculus Rift started as a project on fundraising website Kickstarter, and set out to raise US$250,000 (B7.5 million), eventually raising US$2.4 million (B75 million) instead.

After a few years of tinkering with the technology, the makers unveiled it at last week’s CES event to help entice developers to produce games specifically designed for the Oculus Rift.

Though the system could be several years away from a public release, the blogosphere raved about the future of gaming with this type of technology.

Microsoft unveils new technology in IlumiRoom

T

he future of video games is about to jump out of the screen and take over your living room with Microsoft’s Iluminroom, which was announced at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2013) last week in Las Vegas.

The new technology, patented by Microsoft, uses the console’s Kinect motioncapture system and a projector to scan your living room – taking into account the environment in which the gamer plays – and then uses that information to augment the user’s gaming

TOP VIDEO GAMES THIS WEEK

experience. The technology uses the gamer’s playing space as an extension of the TV. For example, in a first person shooter, the gamer could see an extended version of the map on the walls surrounding the TV while the game is played on the screen.

TOP MOBILE GAMES

1

Fifa 13

Xbox 360, PS3, Wii

6

Forza Horizon

Xbox 360

1

Don’t Look Back

2

Far Cry 3 (18+)

Xbox 360, PS3, PC

7

Need For Speed Most Wanted

Xbox 360, PS3, VITA, PC

2

Skyriders

3

Call Of Duty: Black Ops II (18+)

Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U

8

Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed

Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, VITA

3

Symphonica

4

Halo 4

Xbox 360

9

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Xbox 360, PS3, PC

4

Sonic Jump

5

Hitman Absolution (18+)

Xbox 360, PS3, PC

10 Assassin’s Creed III (18+)

Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC

5

Super Bunny Breakout

Name: Malik Watson Age: 20 Gamer Tag: @bambam dafreak Console: Xbox 360 What’s the first game you ever bought?

NFL2K on Sega DreamCast. I did what felt like three years of hard labour washing dishes, taking out the trash, even cleaning my mom’s birdcage but I didn’t care.

I needed that game.

When did you start gaming?

I started gaming when I was about 5 when I had the NES and would play the original Nintendo Paperboy all day.

What type of game do you prefer?

I love all of them, but I prefer first-person shooters. Something about those headshots just captivate me.

Why do you game?

I love the escape from reality in a video game, there are pretty much no restrictions. [You can] be exactly who you want and do what you want.

Toughest game?

Ninja Gaiden. The first boss was the hardest in the entire game. I’ve lost three Xbox controllers because somehow the controllers would magnetically pull into a nearby wall every time I died...

Favorite all-time game?

Madden. It’s been with me since 1995, basically my whole life playing it since Sega.

Favorite ever gaming moment?

The buzzer beater in any NBA game. When the team is down by two points, I pull up with the three-pointer as the clock goes double zero and the ball goes ‘swish’.

Are you a gamer?

Let us know at editor@ thephuketnews.com

FILM 13

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

IN BRIEF ‘The Hobbit’ accused of lining pocketses, precious

Gangster Squad

Tough guys with hats FILM REVIEW Tom Metcalfe editor2@thephuketnews.com

Director: Reuben Fleischer Starring: Josh Brolin Ryan Gosling Sean Penn Emma Stone Nick Nolte Running time: 113 minutes

I

t’s 1949 in Los Angeles: John “Sarge” O’Mara (played by Josh Brolin) is a tough, uncompromising cop with a heart of gold, charged with bringing down LA crime kingpin Mickey Cohen.

O’Mara recruits a vigilante ensemble of other tough, uncompromising cops, who will stop at nothing to bring peace and justice to the city.

If you think you’ve heard this before, you have – the set-up is almost identical to gangster movies like The Untouchables and even Dick Tracy. Brolin’s O’Mara is a direct steal from Nick Nolte’s tough, uncompromising cop in Mulholland Falls, which is one of the many, better, gangster movies that “inform” Gangster Squad.

As if to emphasise this link, Nolte himself appears a few times as the tough, uncompromising chief of police, using a voice so gravelly that he sounds like he’s choking.

Sean Penn is convincing as Cohen, the tough, uncompromising gang boss who wants to rule Los Angeles. His mean face is enhanced by a prosthetic broken nose, and although his gravelly diction is not on par with Nolte’s, he still sounds like he’s swallowing a bowl of driveway. He speaks only in rhetorical devices: “A cop that’s not for sale is like a dog that’s got rabies – you just gotta put em down.”

With all these tough, uncompromising types around, Ryan Gosling’s character Jerry Wooters – a tough, somewhat compromised cop – is almost a relief.

Gosling expands his dramatic range in this movie, showing that he’s now able to express at least two or three different emotions, which is at least one more than Brolin is allowed. And he looks good in a double-breasted suit, which is some sort of an achievement.

Unfortunately, the subplot he’s given is preposterous. Wooters is having a long-term affair with the kingpin’s moll (played by Emma Stone, channelling Jessica Rabbit) and we’re expected to believe that Cohen – a man who has his enemies torn in half and eaten by coyotes – has overlooked the fact that his girlfriend is enjoying regular breakfast dates with a policeman.

To be honest, this is a celebrity dress-up film, and director Reuben Fleischer vividly indulges style over substance. It looks perfect: an opportunity to fill the studio lot with Packards and Studebakers, and for the wardrobe department to break out the three-piece suits, spats and fedoras.

Indeed, natty hats are such a key feature of this film that some characters keep theirs on at all times, even when indoors in their own home. Prolonged shoot-outs with machine guns are not enough to dislodge the gangbusters’ headgear, and O’Mara even keeps his hat on when he’s blown across the street by a car bomb.

But it seems that so much has been spent on wardrobe and other details that the producers of Gangster Squad had to economise on the script.

The story has almost no dramatic tension – it seems little more than a schedule to carry the main characters between gun fights, which are presented in the style of MTV videos choreographed to period music pieces: wild free jazz in one shoot-out scene, Copacabana swing in another.

Gangster Squad’s frequent borrowing from other gangster movies – from Chinatown to Scarface to The Godfather – might be intended as homage, but they end up as little more than window dressing in this fairly average, if stylish, vigilante tale.

‘Argo’ wins at Golden Globes, letdown for ‘Lincoln’ Michael Thurston

B

en Affleck’s Iran hostage drama Argo and the musical Les Misérables were the big winners at the Golden Globes, while Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln went home with a disappointing sole award.

Affleck won both best dramatic film and best director for his movie about a CIA mission to rescue diplomats in Tehran in 1979, while Les Misérables won best film, actor and supporting actress in the musical/comedy category.

Daniel Day-Lewis won best drama

actor for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, but that was the only top award for Spielberg’s film, which had been nominated in seven categories.

Jessica Chastain won the best drama actress award for her role as a CIA agent

SFX Coliseum Phuket (Central Festival) Chinese Zodiac (T) [15+] Gangster Squad (E) [18+] The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (E/F) [G] Jack Reacher (E) [15+] Khun Nai Ho (T) [15+] Texas Chainsaw 3D (E) [18+] Upside Down (E) [G] Wreck-It Ralph (E/3D) [G]

2:45, 15:15, 21:00 12:50, 15:10, 17:30, 19:50, 22:15 12:10, 15:20, 18:30, 21:40 13:50, 18:50, 21:30 10:50, 12:50, 15:05, 17:20, 19:35, 21:50 11:35, 13:40, 15:45, 17:50, 19:55, 22:00 11:00, 13:00, 15:15, 17:30, 19:45, 22:00 11:30, 16:30

tracking down Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty, while Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained won two key prizes.

But the night belonged to Affleck, who paid tribute to real-life agents and diplomats involved in the Tehran rescue, including the character he played.

“Really this award is about Tony Mendez. You saw him. He’s an American hero. He represents the [US] foreign service making sacrifices every day for Americans,” Affleck said.

The movie has been accused of taking liberties with history, by exaggerating the role of the CIA in the rescue. AFP

A New Zealand politician has called on the producers of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit to give back NZ$67 million (B1.7 billion) in government subsidies, saying the deal was “more about lining pockets” than creating jobs.

Winston Peters, the leader of the New Zealand First political party, said the subsidy deal was based on the claim that making the movie in New Zealand would create 3,000 jobs.

But Peters said that emails between the film’s producers and staff in the New Zealand Prime Minister’s office showed that number had been “plucked out of thin air.”

“Now the first movie has grossed more than 1 billion, Warner Brothers should repay the 67 million subsidy the movie moguls sucked from Kiwi taxpayers,” Peters said.

Peters added that other local industries were right to be annoyed they were not getting the same treatment.

“The film industry fat cats deserve millions of dollars in tax breaks because they are on a ‘worldwide playing field’,” he said. “Yet somehow that same logic does not apply to our manufacturing industry.”

Oldest and youngest vie for best actress Oscar This year’s nominees for the best actress Oscar include the oldest ever and the youngest, nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, who reportedly lied about her age to get the job.

At 85, French actress Emmanuelle Riva is tipped for her role in Austrian Michael Haneke’s Amour, which is also nominated for best film and best foreign language film, after winning the Cannes film festival’s Palme d’Or last year.

Schoolgirl Wallis has been nominated for her role in the fantasy drama Beasts of the Southern Wild.

According to the IMDb movie website, Wallis had to fib about her age to audition for the movie, because she was five at the time and the minimum age to be considered was six. AFP

US BOX OFFICE TOP 10 1

Zero Dark Thirty

$24.4M

$29.9M

2

A Haunted House

$18.1M

$18.1M

3

Gangster Squad

$17.1M

$17.1M

4

Django Unchained

$11M

$125

5

Les Misérables

$9.64M

$119M

6

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

$9.17M

$278M

7

Lincoln

$6.34M

$153M

8

Parental Guidance

$6.09M

$60.6M

9

Texas Chainsaw 3D

$5.28M

$30.9M

10 Silver Linings Playbook

$5.02M

$41.3M

SFC Jungceylon Phuket (Patong) Chinese Zodiac (T) [15+] The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (E) [G] Jack Reacher (E) [15+] Life of Pi (E) [G] Texas Chainsaw 3D (E) [18+] Upside Down (E) [G]

Weekend Gross gross

Film

12:30, 19:40 15:00, 18:15, 21:30 11:50, 14:10, 16:50, 19:30, 22:10 12:10, 14:40, 17:10, 22:10 11:35, 13:40, 15:45, 17:50, 19:55, 22:00 12:00, 14:20, 16:40, 19:00, 21:20

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 call the cinemas directly: SFX Coliseum Phuket 076-209000 and SFC Jungceylon Phuket 076-600-555.

14 ISLAND SCENE

A DAY FOR THE KIDS Thailand’s Children’s Day (January 12) was celebrated across Phuket, with fun activities and concerts held around the island.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 18,2013 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 18,

ISLAND SCENE 15

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

IT’S ALL GREEN At the A2 resort on Friday (January 11), the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP) welcomed composting specialist Martin Haukes who spoke about commercial scale composting, waste management, and sustainability. See Environment page 4.

Porn and Dan.

Jay, Wewi and Oracha.

Guenter.

GRAND OPENING It was a great night out at the official opening of diving company Sea Bees’ new office on Saturday evening (January 12) on the Chalong Pier road.

Heike and Liana.

Volker, Herbert and Vanessa.

Mig and Meike.

Worrakamol, Pachara, Siriwan, Aree and Backe.

Thomas, Susie, Scott and Richard.

Sea Bees boss Holger Schwab with Joffrey from Aquamaster.

16 ISLAND SCENE

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, 18,2013 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 18,

MALAYSIAN MINGLE On Sunday (January 13) The Malaysia Club Thailand for Southern-Phuket Chapter held a Sunday lunch at the Royal Phuket Marina.

ROYAL PRINCESS VISITS PHUKET FOR HOLIDAYS DUSIT WELCOMES STAR Peter Komposch (second from left), General Manager of Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, welcomed South Korean actress Han Chae Ah to the resort this week. Han Chae Ah is best known for her work on Korean television dramas.

HAPPY NEW YEAR Banana Walk on Patong Beach celebrated the start of 2013 with a concert and countdown event on New Year’s Eve. Indie bands who performed were Error 99, Somromband, Mocca Garden, Miraculous with DJ Karn, DJ Tuche and MC Andy.

BIG BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS Pisarn ‘Lek’ Trangkasombat, CEO of thailand-resort. net and owner of the recently-opened O2 Beach Club in Chalong, celebrated his birthday at the beach club on Monday evening (January 14). He is pictured here receiving flowers from Tamakorn “Boo” Khowpon, PR and Marketing Manager for The Phuket News.

Thai Luxury Charters welcomed HRH Princess Siribhachudhabhorn, the Royal granddaughter also known as Princess Ribha, to Phuket.

Princess Ribha is the eldest daughter of HRH Princess Chulabhorn and Royal Thai Air Force Flight Lieutenant Virayudh Tishyasarin. She spent the day cruising around Phi Phi Island and Koh Racha.

Pictured from left are Ketkanok Yoosook, Waroon Kahapana, Lamai Thepeerat, Princess Ribha, Vichen Kuruwong and Panintara Budsingkorn.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 18,2013FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Nakadia rocks Xana

B

erlin-based Thai DJ Nakadia was in Phuket last weekend to perform her latest tunes at Xana Beach Club last Saturday evening (January 12).

Nakadia, originally from Nakhon Ratchasima in Isarn, has been based in Berlin since 2005, and tours Europe and Asia regularly.

This time she was back in Phuket as part of her two-month Asia-Pacific tour.

After years of dealing with immigration, Nakadia secured an official German artist visa in 2010, meaning she could stay and work in Germany for two years, and reapply when it expired.

Despite immigration officials initially telling her being a DJ wasn’t an ‘artist’, Nakadia persevered. “I told them a DJ makes art – you have to choose the tracks, and bring the crowd up and down. I tried really hard to explain it to them.

“I first visited Berlin in 2002. I fell in love with it, so in 2005 I moved there.”

But it has not been an easy road to establishing herself as one of the top DJs in Asia – particularly as a female.

Nakadia, now 32, moved from her farmer parents’ house in the country to the city when she was 15, and started deejaying in her bedroom.

“I wanted to play in clubs, so I decided to move to Koh Samui in 2003. It was so much harder to be a girl DJ back then, and I was asking around offering to play for free. I didn’t want to be a resident DJ because I wanted my job to be exciting, and I didn’t want to be playing at the same place every night and be told what to play.” “[People in the music industry] really did look down on girls. They thought girls cannot play or be good at being a DJ. When I was in Koh Samui my boyfriend/ manager Sebastian said I have talent, and let’s do a European tour, so we decided to go to Europe. We were living in Germany, and we were so poor and living in a place with no hot water, but I wanted to be a DJ and I wanted experience in Europe.

“Berlin now is not like it was 10 years ago. Now, a lot of girls have become DJs and because everything is on MP3s, it is easier to carry. I was a DJ in the time when there was vinyl, and everywhere I went I had to plan it myself, and carry my vinyl, which was in a suitcase with wheels.”

“Once I got my first gig in Europe, I was paid 500 euro (about B25,000 in 2003), and I thought, ‘Wow, I’m professional now.’ I worked really hard to make people respect me.”

What is your favourite thing about playing?

It is fun playing the music and performing.

Do you get stage fright?

No. Tell us about your best performance.

Sergeant Peppers band at the British International School Christmas Concert 2011.

Phuket talent on show DJ Nakadia during her set. Photo: Jessi Cotterill Ahead of the gig, Nakadia said her plan at Xana would be based strongly around house music. “I will mix it with jazz, funk and soul, and some sexy music.”

She said her main style is electronic house, tech house, and techno, “But I’m always happy to play something different, otherwise I get bored.

“But there’s no Gangnam Style of course. I don’t like it and I don’t play it, and so far I’ve had no requests for it,” she says with a laugh.

“I usually start with deep house, for people to listen to while they are talking and drinking. Then when they stand up I make it more pumping, then at the end I play more harder, party music.

“My job is my life. DJs are artists because we play from the heart.” www.soundcloud.com/nakadia

P

The day’s schedule is as follows: 12.30 – 13.30 Registration

T

une in on Live 89.5 on Saturday mornings from 9am to 10am with your host Siobhan McGovern as she interviews Phuket’s up and coming talent.

Hear them perform and find out why they love the arts.

What instrument do you play?

Singing (voice) and piano.

SPONSORED

given out: the first to the “Best Pro Snapper”, the second to the “Best Young Snapper” (both chosen by a committee), and the third for the most likes on Facebook.

Live 89.5’s Got Talent

Name: Finn de Bruin Age: 11 years

Photographing Baba life in Phuket hoto competition ‘Baba Life Photo @ Phuket’ will be held on Sunday, February 3, along Thalang Road in Phuket Town, where photographers will take photos of models in traditional Baba dress.

Registration takes place at Lan Mangkon, next to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office on Thalang Rd in the Old Town, and the photo shoot will take place from 12.30pm to 6.30pm.

With an expected participation of 100 photographers, all models will be standing at seven stations along Thalang Rd. Many Baba ladies will join the event as part of the Peranakan Association.

Three awards will be

ENTERTAINMENT 17

at Lan Mangkon 13.30 – 14.30 Opening speech by the mayor of Phuket Town 14.30 – 17.30 Photo shoot along Thalang Road 17.30 – 18.00 Photo collection From February 3 -10, photographers should promote their photo on the

event’s Facebook fanpage (facebook.com/BabaLifePhotoAtPhuket). Those with photos that receive the highest number of “likes” will be given the award of “Most Popular Like”.

On February 13, the three winners will be announced. Then from February 15-17, the winning photos will be shown in a three-day exhibition.

This event is being held to promote Phuket’s unique culture and architecture.

Online applications for the competition can be submitted from now until January 27 by visiting www.123contactform.com/ form-440349/ (Thai only).

For more information visit facebook.com/BabaLifePhotoAtPhuket The Phuket News and Live 89.5 are media sponsors of this event.

T

he Book Cafe in Rawai will be staging its first “Book Cafe Unplugged” night on Saturday, January 26 at 7.30pm.

Locals are invited to bring along an instrument and go solo or join in with others, or just bring their voice to share in a musical evening.

It’s an informal event and everyone is welcome to put on a performance or just watch and encourage.

Bev Sangsuwan of the Book Cafe says she is ex-

cited about the evening as many people have already been in touch to join in the fun. There will also be a special cocktail unveiled

by Everfly (Quetta Locchi), along with spirits, beers and wine by the glass on sale, as well as a selection of healthy juices and savoury nibbles.

For directions on where to find The Book Cafe visit www.bookcafephuket.com and click on ‘Location’.

For more details about the event phone 085 794 2371.

18 EVENTS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, 18,2013 2013 List your event for FREE at thephuketnews.com/events.php FRIDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 18,

FRIDAY JAN 18

Saturday Shopping at The Good Shepherd Charity Shop Live Music at Underwood Art Factory The home of Phuket’s finest performers coming together to bring a night of entertainment, delicious food, and great fun.

The lost Legends: Colin (ILLY) Hill and Pjae Stanley. Every Friday. All performed on a unique built stage at the Underwood Art Factory. For booking call 091 034 3381.

We have a wide and creative range of handicrafts such as toys, greeting cards, ornaments, lanterns, bags, purses and many more. You can also find exquisite arts and craft made by local residents.

Pre-loved items include books, clothes and toys. Handicraft items are handmade by the women from The Good Shepherd centres.

All proceeds go directly to The Good Shepherd’s mission of helping those in need as well as empowering them. Place: Plaza Del Mar, Laguna (Behind Bake). Time: 9am to noon. See thegoodshepherd.info.

free BBQ or buffet, free karaoke, free pool table. Happy hour every day midday to 6pm, beverages from B60. Bar open every day midday until late. Farang hospitality, everybody welcome. Sunsets bar and guesthouse, 62 Hasip Pee Road, Patong.

For more information call Kiwi on 083 640 1082.

air on the terrace with an invigorating view of waterfall, Karon bay sunset and Andaman Sea. Every Monday enjoy BBQ Night Buffet by Swimming Pool at only B590 nett per person. Every Thursday, Pasta Night [Buffet] at B390 nett per person. Contact 076 337 800; secretary@karonphunaka. com.

TUESDAY JAN 22

Sunday Roast Pork Sunday roast pork or beef dinner every Sunday 2pm onwards Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. B290 per person. See www. expathotel.com.

MONDAY JAN 21

Half Chicken Spit Roast Tuesdays and Saturdays: Half chicken spit roast with French Fries, Salad buffet, Potato Salad & Gravy sauce for B225 per person. 7pm-11pm. Located in Patong on Rat-U-Tit 200 Pee Road next to Hotel Mercure.

Fish and Chips Friday Night B250 per person. At Irish Times Pub, Jungceylon Patong.

Schnitzel Day Live Music at Underwood Art Factory

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

The home of Phuket’s finest performers coming together to bring a night of entertainment, delicious food, and great fun.

Every Saturday live music from The Blues Revival. All performed on a unique built stage at the Underwood Art Factory. For booking call 091 034 3381.

SUNDAY JAN 20

SATURDAY JAN 19

Sunday Carvery B399 per person all you can eat. Roast beef, BBQ ham, chicken, pork, fresh vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and a glass of selected beverage. At Irish Times Pub, Junceylon Patong.

8pm, Expat Sports Bar, Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. www.expatsportsbar.com.

Sunday Chillout at Sunsets Bar Sunday chillout every week. Live music,

Starting January 29, every Tuesday nights.

Snacks available. Registration 7.45pm.

1,000 Baht voucher to winners. Grizzly’s Sports Bar and Restaurant, located between Loch Palm Golf Course and Kathu waterfall. Contact 086 951 4962.

Pool Competition at Expat Guesthouse Pool Competition every Tuesday 9pm Expat Guesthouse Sports Bar, Patong. See map at www.expatguesthouse.com.

daily event updates on BBQ Night Buffet at Karon Phunaka Restaurant

BBQ at Expat Hotel

Quiz Night at Grizzly’s

BBQ All You Can Eat Mondays and Thursdays. BBQ all you can eat: Pork, Chicken, Beef, Prawns, Fish and Squid with salad buffet, cold and hot sauces, Garlic Bread, baked potatoes, potato salad and more for B325 per person. pm-11pm. Located in Patong on Rat-U-Tit 200 Pee Road next to Hotel Mercure.

Curry Fridays at Navrang Mahal Every Friday, all-you-can-eat authentic Indian curry buffet, B449 net per person.

7pm-11.30pm. Call 076 286 464.

Kokosnuss Restaurant - Every Monday, Schnitzel, fried potatoes and salad buffet B190 per person. Starts 5.30pm. For more info please visit phuketkokosnuss.com.

Offers diverse and exquisite menus, served indoors open fresh air, or in the crisp open

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 List your event for FREE at thephuketnews.com/events.php FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

EVENTS 19

Ao Chalong Yacht Club Everyone welcome

“Award winning chef from Airlie Beach, Australia.

Fabulous breakfast, and authentic western Sunday roast from 12 - 4pm - just like home! Home made desserts eg. cheesecake, bread & butter pudding, apple pie made fresh every day.”

There is parking on site, cool breezes and a beautiful view.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 8.00am 7 days per week.

Tel: 090 890 8993 email: amandaleehay@bigbond.com

WEDNESDAY JAN 23

Chalong Yacht club. Starting at 7pm. Call 090 809 8993.

EVERY DAY

SATURDAY JAN 26

Plus free pool sponsored by Komodo Bar. From 8-9.30pm. Come on everybody - Let’s party. Call 087 280 3282.

BBQ Ribs All You Can Eat Wednesdays and Fridays. BBQ ribs all you can eat with salad buffet and potato salad for B295 per person. 7pm-11pm. Located in Patong on Rat-U-Tit 200 Pee Road next to Hotel Mercure.

Phuket Wake Park

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on January 26, the date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet of British settlers at Sydney Cove in 1788.

Come wake board at Asia’s BEST and newest wake park located in Kathu. Full morning just B550 and evening sessions from B500! We have happy evening! All evening riding only for B650. Wake in the day or wake up your night! See www. phuketwakepark.com.

FRIDAY FEB 1 Phuket’s First Audio Video Interactive Pub Quiz B99 per drinks and selected beverages buy 1 get 1 free. Quiz master Dj Doris, from 91.5FM. Bar Tabs: 1 Prize B1,500. 2 Prize B1,000. Every Wednesday Night From 8 pm.

Free entry. Maximum 4 people per team. At Irish Times Pub, Jungceylon Patong.

THURSDAY JAN 24

Sugar Reef’s 1st Year Birthday Bash Live music by “Our Father ” band plus free buffet and free special jellies. 8pm start, opposite Tesco, Cherngtalay, 087 898 9160.

SAT FEB 3 - SUN FEB 4

Pork Roast and Roast Chicken Every Thursday. Buffet includes salads, soups, mashed potatoes, bread dumplings.

ALL YOU CAN EAT B190. www.phuketko kosnuss.com.

Karaoke Night Fever Enjoy Karaoke night every Thursday at Ao

Pool Competition: Meet The Best Players in Town Designed and built by a Thai-Canadian family in 2011, The Plaza is a very fine sculpture and walled relief garden and entertainment centre. Artist’s pictures can be seen at the plaza walls all year round.

The art pieces are donated by “The Unique One,” a rare selection of art by Khun Manop and Mike. Pool competition is sponsored by Komodo Bar at 9pm. Entry fee B100 plus one free beverage. Come on everybodylet’s party. Call 087 280 3282.

Mom Tri's Baan Kata Arts Fest You are invited you to join the Baan Kata Arts Fest 2013 at Mom Tri’s Villa Royale.

Sunday February 3 and Monday February 4. On February 3 there will be an opening exhibition for paintings by Mom Tri Devakul at the VR Gallery and on February 4 ML Usni and his ensemble will perform a classical music concert at Villa Royale. Tickets for the concert are B500 each. Contact 076 333 568. See: http://momtriphuket.com/ baankata-artsfest.html.

Double Happy Hours At the end of the Rawai beach strip, Rawai Plaza is the best entertainment venue for those who seek a bit more fun after a good meal. Listen to good music, enjoy sport on large TV. Play pool or dart games or just enjoy the unique surroundings. Selected beverages. At 4-8pm and midnight till late.

The Unique One Rare Selection of Art by Khun Manop & Mike Runs until January. 31, 2013. Born in 1982, Nakonsitumarat, Thailand. Monap (Boy) Srisawang graduated with a Bachelor of fine arts degree in 2004 from Rajamangala University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. He worked in Chiang Mai for two years after graduation. He moved to Phuket island in 2006. During this time, Khun Boy has proven himself as a very fine relief sculpturist and created many relief sculptures that can be seen all over Phuket. His work will be on display at Home-Pro Shopping cetre, Chalong, from 9am - 9pm daily and at Rawai Plaza, Rawai Beach all year round.

Tel: 087 280 3282.

Monday Party, Tue. Party, Wed, Party, Thur. Party, Fri. Party What the Puck Saturday Party, Sunday Party Come on everybody, let’s party At Rawai Plaza, cool atmosphere, unique setting. happy people.

WILL PERFORM JUST FOR ASKING!!!

POLE DANCE BY EMMY THAI DANCE BY NANCY & HIS FRIENDS SO, DON’T BE SHY!!

Shows sponsored by Emmy & Joey Bar Nancy Ni Nancy Bar Rawai Plaza, Rawai Beach, Phuket 087 280 3282

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

20 TIME OUT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013 FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

This week in history

GOT YOUR NUMBER

■■ January 18, 1671 The English buccaneer Henry Morgan sacks the Spanish Caribbean settlement of Panama, unaware that England and Spain have already signed a peace treaty.

■■ January 19, 1915 Two German Zeppelins drop bombs on Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn on the eastern coast of England, exacting the first British fatalities from aerial bombing.

■■ January 20, 1841 In an attempt to end the First Opium War, China signs the Chuenpi Convention, ceding the island of Hong Kong to Britain in perpetuity.

■■ January 21, 1793 King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine in Paris after being convicted of conspiring to overthrow the French Revolution.

■■ January 22, 1879 A troop of 139 British soldiers successfully defends a Natal mission station against 5,000 Zulu warriors in the Battle of Rorke’s Drift.

■■ January 23, 1957 The American toy company Wham-O rolls out its first “Pluto Platter” – a flying disk that becomes famous as the “Frisbee.”

■■ January 24, 41 The Roman emperor Caligula is assassinated by his Praetorian Guards, who then proclaim Caligula’s uncle Claudius as emperor.

2,100,000 The number of people working for Walmart in 2012.

500,000

Number of eggs typically laid at one time by a female mackeral.

70

Mick Jagger’s age on July 26 this year, his next birthday.

30

Percentage of people who can flare their nostrils.

Detail from The Defence of Rourke’s Drift, by Alphonse de Neuville (1882).

1. In which country is Marrakesh?

2. On 10 December 1868, what innovation was installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London?

3. From which country would you get ‘Chorizo’ sausages?

4. Which teams compete in the Six Nations rugby union competition?

5. Who had a 1950s hit with the song This Old House?

Answers at the foot of the page.

SUDOKU

Across 1. Saw in favor of word.

(7) 4. Quietly recede before the French stones. (7) 8. Encounter reverse swarm. (4) 9. Laid up? Use the phone! (4) 10. In the sun at southern town. (5) 13. A carrot sits badly with peers. (11) 16. Weaving tapes? Try. (8) 19. Do they follow heads?

(5) 21. I have a rat returning about headgear. (5) 22. It’s instrumental in the way Tom takes right corset part. (8) 26. Wishing evil to male rodent, point to a couple of keys. (11) 29. Little old guy is alter ego with half a mind.

(5) 32. Strangely quiet steak.

(4) 33. The only fish? (4) 34. Nearly tried, but in testimonial. (7) 35. Give now! (7)

Down 1. Irishman has wild parties for country lovers. (8) 2. Works in La Scala. (5) 3. Skin condition from Chablis territory. (7) 4. Cops put little politician on ice. (6) 5. Electrical conductor in public transport. (3) 6. The fate of a biblical character. (3) 7. Cardinal beneath split. (6) 11. Appropriate and able. (3) 12. Oddly, enlist Mr Singer. (8) 14. Scary Al supplying weapons.

(8) 15. Cannon fire wrecks ovals. (5) 17. Prim about southern optical device. (5) 18. Still, nearly mythical animal.

(3) 20. Penny shelter, say? Sorry. (8) 23. Flatten cleaner fish. (7) 24. Surgical material to scan belly. (6) 25. Disliking a bit of poetry. (5) 27. Mia’s back in goal. (3) 28. Direction to jog when you run away together. (5) 30. We say yes in Marseilles. (3) 31. Bird in the museum. (3)

Solutions to last week’s puzzles:

Answers to this week’s Pop Quiz:

1. Morocco; 2. The world’s first traffic lights; 3. Spain; 4. England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales; 5. Rosemary Clooney.

WEEKDAYS Breakfast The Power Hour Lifestyle Drive Non Stop Music

Sam & Natasha Live 89.5

SATURDAYS 7am - 11am 11am - 12pm

Live 89.5 Got Talent Weekend Brunch

Siobhan McGovern Kirsty Meyer

9am - 10am

Best Of Breakfast

10am - 1pm

Live 89.5 Dance Anthems

SUNDAYS Sam & Natasha

5pm - 7pm

Weekend Brunch

Kirsty Meyer

10am – 1pm

Steve

7pm - 10pm

The Spin

Tim Newton

1pm - 4pm

Jason Wilder

4pm - 7pm

Steve Johnston

12pm - 3pm

Phuket News Radio

Live 89.5

1pm - 2pm

Saturday Night Fever

Live 89.5

10pm – 12am

International Chart Show Top 40

Jason Wilder

3pm - 7pm

Box Of Neutrals

Live 89.5

2pm – 3pm

Non Stop Music

Live 89.5

12am – 10am

Sunday Night Chill

Live 89.5

7pm - 10pm

Live 89.5

7pm - 7am

Going Green

Nick Anthony

3pm – 5pm

Tel: 076 612 895 SMS: 090 490 7895

Non Stop Music

Live 89.5

10pm – 7am

16 CLASSIFIEDS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

Jobs

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Great buy in Rawai

Lovely house with 2 bedrooms > 19

classifieds@thephuketnews.com

Boomerang Village Resort: Job Opportunities at Boomerang Village Resort Cafe Del Sol Restaurant.

C & C M a r in e Urg ent Posi t ions: Store Supervisor: Good command in English/Responsible/Leadership/Problem solving skills. Please contact : 076 273247, 076 272049 or send resume by: info-phuket@candc-marine.com

Waiter / Waitress (4) Restaurant Captain (1) Bartender / Bartendy (1) Boomerang Village Resort Receptionist (2) Manager, Receptionist (1) Guest Relation (1).

Contact: Email boomerangvillageresort@gmail. com, 085 692 3474.

Graphic Designers team player and with good basic English and good in- pany is hiring new staff 2 Positions Wanted: organisation skills. Working terpersonal skills. Develop members. Required: good SPIKEMEDIA is a creative media agency based in Phuket working for a variety of national and international clients. We are seeking fulltime Graphic Designers, to work on a diverse range of print and web design projects. Salary depending on experience and talent level. Please send CV and some samples of work to: info@spikemediagroup. com.

hours 11.00-22.00. Good tips. Please contact 086 940 4801.

Kindergarten Teacher: Female cau-

Admin O f f icer re quired: Club Asia Fitness

requires an Admin Officer urgently. Good salary and benefits. Candidates must have good English communication skills. Email cluba siaphuket@hotmail.com.

Thai Cook-Sous Chef Wanted: Thai/Western Webdeveloper: Knowlrestaurant is looking for a experienced Thai cook.

Must work under pressure,

edge: HTML, CSS, JQuery, Javascript, Photoshop, Thai nationality and speak

Looking for a young Thai chef for new restaurant in a villa complex in Phangnga. Successful candidate will be trained in Spain with three Michelin stars chef.

Good command of English required. Email: hr@iniala. com.

DaVinci Restaurant in Nai Harn: Thai nationality only. Waitresses 2 positions, Bartender 1 position. Experience and good English will be an advantage. Good salary and benefits. Contact Khun Jana 086 947 5197, jana@davinciphuket. com.

panding car rental com-

● Designing advertisements for clients ● Layout of our The Phuket News and other publications ● All artwork and graphic design work related to production

Applicants must have: ● Excellent skills with InDesign, Photoshop, In Copy and other graphic design software

f reelanc e w r iter s f ro m around the globe to contribute 400 – 1,200 word articles. Submission guidelines: See http://sam bawalker.com/about/writers-wanted. Email: contrib utor@sambawalker.com.

K nowledge: Illustrator,

Class Act Media is southern Thailand's most comprehensive media company, incorporating Phuket’s leading English newspaper ‘The Phuket News’, Phuket’s leading English radio station ‘Live 89.5’, a host of publications & services including ‘The Phuket Colouring book’, ‘The Southern Sun Samui’ & ‘Phuket Ticket Master’. WE ARE CURRENTLY SEEKING

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS The job: We require Full Time Graphic Designers to handle:

Sales Manager Thai or Foreigner (Located in Phuket)

Responsibilities : ● Managing the sales team (including responsibility for recruitment of new sales staff when needed) ● Weekly & monthly sales budget meetings and reporting ● Developing and following up new sales leads ● Reaching own personal sales targets and responsibility for reaching team targets

● Min. 1 year experience in designing and layout of newspapers

We offer:

or magazines ● Good English (written and spoken)

● Competitive salary, bonuses and travel expenses ● Friendly work environment ● Social security (10%) paid by the company ● Excellent career progress opportunity

We offer: ● Competitive salary ● Friendly work environment ● Excellent progress opportunity and job security Interested applicants are invited to apply in person or send application with full resume indicating qualifications and experience, expected salary and recent photo to: Simon Ostheimer: managingeditor@thephuketnews.com or K.Nisakorn: graphic2@thephuketnews.com

Class Act Media Co., Ltd. 99/7 Moo 1 T. Kathu A. Kathu Phuket 83120 Tel: 076 612 550-2 Fax: 076 612 553

And would like to do some volunteer work looking after sick, injured and homeless dogs in Thalang area. Contact: Sherin. peace@gmail.com.

is looking for talented programmers to join our team in PHUKET! Qualifications: Min. 2 years experience in related field. - Excellent working knowledge of PHP, MySQL and JavaScript.

Email: hr@netzilla-phuket. com.

Class Act Media Co., Ltd.

99/7 Moo 1 T. Kathu A. Kathu Phuket 83120 Tel: 076 612 550-2 ext 100 Fax: 076 612 553 adminmgr@thephuketnews.com

-Purchasing Manager: 1 Position -Chief Engineering: 1 Position

-Reservation Officer: 1 Position Contact 076 338 888.

Email: pncphuket@sala phuket.com.

Restaurant Manager Wanted: Thai National - English Speaking/Writing - Managing Experience Preferred. Contact 085 478 8366.

Thai Chef Cook Wanted: Thai National. ExperiPhuket Brasserie Jobs Recuitment:

enced Chef for Thai Cooking. Please contact 085 478 8366.

-Waitress 5 Positions.

-Bartender 2 Positions.

Salary B9,000. Service charge B4,000. If you worked in hotels before it will be an advantage. Contact 076 210 511. Send CV and photo to linkwanjai@me.com.

Restaurant Manager Wa n t e d: Re st au r a nt manager / accounting with experience managing restaurant, accounting, managing staf f and ser ving customers. Call 087 471 1351.

We are looking for Sales Staff Wanted: key members: ResEnglish-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.

taurant manager, executive chef, waiter / waitress, guest service agent (English speaking and writing, male preferred) room maid, room boy, cleaner, technical engineer. Care@ bydlofts.com.

Japanese Teacher Wanted: Looking for Na-

***The company may offer accommodation plus local transportation costs to successful candidates.***

Interested candidates are invited to send application with full resume in English indicating qualifications, experience, expected salary with recent photo via email to adminmgr@thephuketnews.com or post to below address.

Sala Phuket Jobs Vacancy:

-Spa Therapist: 4 Positions

Travel Writers Wanted: SambaWalker seeks

Mobile Car Rental is hiring!: Rapidly ex- Graphic Designer:

Class Act Media is southern Thailand's most comprehensive media company, incorporating Phuket’s leading English newspaper ‘The Phuket News’, Phuket’s leading English radio station ‘Live 89.5’, a host of publications & services including ‘The Phuket Colouring book’, ‘The Southern Sun Samui’ & ‘Phuket Ticket Master’. WE ARE CURRENTLY SEEKING

We are currently recruiting for a graphic designer to join our team to handle the layout of our publications, including online.

English knowledge, driving license, independent thinking, positive attitude, computer skills. Call us: 081 970 5204.

Email: m.hill@phuketsoc cerschools.com.

Looking for people who love animals:

Net z illa Co., Ltd.: A p p r e n t i c e C h e f : Programmer: Netzilla

casian native English speaking teacher with ex p e r i e nc e to te ac h class of 10-12 children ages 2-6, Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm, Chalong.

Contact 080 624 7060, www.buds-phuket.com.

Email: buds.span@ yahoo.com.

Content Management /Marketing: Qualifications: Thai Nationality and speak basic English and good interpersonal skills.

Preference given to those with driver’s license. Please email: kritsanaphat@lepep group.com.

and modify websites on detailed design specifications. Email: kritsanaphat@ lepepgroup.com.

Photoshop, Thai nationality and speak basic English and good interpersonal skills. Create professional website design, f lyers, banners, business cards.

Email: kritsanaphat@lep epgroup.com.

Thai Admin Wanted: tive Japanese speaker to Organizing paper wor k, documents and computerbased information. Taking care of inventory and stock levels. Providing secretarial support to the Director. Basic accounting.

Dealing with customers.

help me improve my Japanese skills. Need to study grammer and Kanji and have Intermediate level conversation. Willing to do English language exchange. Email: basima_ naser21@hotmail.com.

T

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

CLASSIFIEDS 17

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

JOBS IN PHUKET

List your ad for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

As Phuket’s most exciting and unique resort, nowhere else comes close to The Village Coconut Island.

Sea Bees Diving is looking for a reliable and

Phuket, The Village offers a range of beautifully designed luxury villas and suites to rent, superb leisure facilities, and fantastic dining options.

responsible person, Western or Thai, for our Head Office in Chalong. Applicants should be fluent in English and other languages (German preferred) with good communication, sales skills and willing to work in a highly professional & diverse team. Flexible, able to work under pressure and be service orientated is a must. This position is long-term & with a full-time contract. Please send your CV & recent photo to: office@sea-bees.com

Chinese, Russian and Thai Guest Service Agent We are currently recruiting for Guest Service Agents with the following language skills: • 2* Chinese Nationals or Fluent Chinese language skills • 2* Russian Nationals or Fluent in Russian language skills • 5* Thai Nationals

Responsibilities: The Guest Services Agent performs check-in / check-out of hotel guests established hotel requirements. He/She provides information to any guest or visitor enquiry.

• Input and access data in system • Listen and respond to guest enquiries • Prom ote positive relations with all individuals who approach the Front Desk and by telephone • Focus on guests’ needs, remaining calm and courteous • Work with the required computer systems.

• Develop and update the guest history • Handling guest complaints • Ensure security of guest room access • Comply with the grooming and uniform standards • that the highest level of service and communication in maintained • Comply with all Hotel Standards and Procedures • Actively promote a work environment, which cares for guests and as sociates alike • Perform any other duties that may be assigned to him/her

S w e d i s h / F i n n i s h Secretary KindergarS p e a k i n g G u i d e : ten: Must have good EngSwedish/Finnish speaking tour guide wanted for cruise boat, for tours around Phuket and Krabi. Great customer service skills & knowledge of Phuket & Thailand. Email Lotta - lotta@lamoet.com.

lish and computer skills Monday-Friday, 7.30am5pm, Chalong. Contact 0 8 0 6 24 70 6 0 . Em a i l: phuketpreschool@yahoo. com, www.buds-phuket. com.

Office Manager WantStaff for Dive Cen- ed : Female /Thai , fluter Office: Immediate ent in speaking and writing Housekeeper Surin Apprentice Chef: 6 start. 6 days/week. Good English, good computer Beach: Good base pay, Star resort on Natai Beach salary, adjusted to ability/ experience. Thai female with good English/computer/book-keeping skills required. In-house training possible. Chalong area. 088 380 9712.

skills, Accounting and administration skills required.

Preferably experience of at least two years. Please send your CV and photo to: monsoonpatong@gmail. com.

conditions and tips. Working with high end clients. Live in or live out. Will consider couples as well as individuals. Call Todd for more details 089 005 0700.

is looking for young Thai chef with positive attitude, motivation and creativeness to work with 3 Michelin star chef. Good English speaking is required.

Email: hr@iniala.com.

Contact : The Village Coconut Island 51/7 Moo. 6 T.Kohkaew A.Muang Phuket 83200 Thailand Tel : 076-352153, 081-9686912 E-mail : Laddawan@thevillage-coconutisland.com, hr@thevillage-coconutisland.com

www.thevillage-coconutisland.com Join Your Team: The photo to altimthai@yahoo.fr.

Charolais Steakhouse Looking for staff waiter and waitress. Room, Social Security, Bonus. Come join our team. Please send CV and

S i t u a t i o n Va c a n t: Cleaner part time Patong area. 3 - 4 hours, 2 times weekly. Call 089 972 3861.

Internships Thailand is Phuket's leading company in facilitating professional internship placements for international students and graduates within the Hotels & Hospitality organizations in Phuket and other cities in Thailand.

Due to recent expansions we are seeking:

Internship Placement Manager (Thai or Foreigner)

WRITE YOUR CLASSIFIED PREMIUM: PAY ONCE UNTIL SOLD B2,799+VAT. PAY ONCE UNTIL SOLD WILL RUN ONLINE AND IN EVERY PRINT EDITION UNTIL YOU HAVE SOLD. INCLUDES ADDITIONAL 9 PICTURES ONLINE.

The applicant would be responsible for: Dealing with existing as well as sourcing new Agents abroad Handling direct inquiries from potential applicants Sourcing internship opportunities within Hotels in Thailand & handling the placement process Marketing activities with agents, hotels as well as interns Supervising admin staff

Headline: ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......

Body: ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......

The ideal candidate would be:

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

Fluent in English (written and spoken) Previous Experience in Hospitality and / or in a similar role Some experience in sales/marketing Good knowledge and contacts within the Hospitality industry in Thailand an advantage Knowledge of other European languages an advantage

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

The company will provide: Work Permit (if required) Good salary and bonuses Opportunity for growth within a growing company Travel expenses Great friendly work environment

To apply please email CV (in English) and salary expectations to jorge@internshipsthailand.com

189 CHARACTERS

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

Online upgrades:

Website link B199

Print upgrades:

Extra lines B99

Urgent banner B199 Box B199

Colour Background B199

Colour Headlines B199

INCLUDE NOVOSTI PHUKETA (FREE TRANSLATION TO RUSSIAN) B1,699+VAT.

DEADLINE: MONDAY 11.59PM (MIDNIGHT) FOR THAT WEEKS ISSUE Hand this in at agent shops, our office or fax: 076 612 553

18 CLASSIFIEDS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

Property

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Phuket villa for sale

4 bedrooms, located in Rawai > 21

“More than just office space”

Phuket Cottages

Near British International School, pool-villas starting from THB 8,800,000.

For your private or virtual office

www.phuket-cottages.com

call Martin on 08 9874 9080 info@asiapacificoffices.com

Call: 089-724-7211

www.asiapacificoffices.com

PROPERTY FOR RENT

ศูนย์ธุรกิจปาล์มพลาซ่า

Laguna area, Cherngtalay From 8m2 to 120m2

Massage, Tours, and Services.

Start from only B599. Contact 083 173 9636. B.Jack, email: naiharnbeachresort@hotmail. com.

Prakaipeth - CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) 076 239 967/081 538 6879.

Absolute Beachfront - EVA: Set on the beach-

Near Beach 3 Bed Pool Villa: Fully equipped

To Let Penthouse Studio Apt: Andaman Beach Suite Condo Patong Beach, Phuket, has kitchenette, terrace, TV, CD player, telephone, WiFi, has full use of hotel facilities, restaurant, room service, Swiming Pool, Tennis Courts, Gym. 120mt to beach 5 minutes to Patong. email penthouse2102@gmail.com, 089 972 3861, 089 570 1519.

Guesthouse for Lease in Patong: 12 rooms, good location Nanai Road. 9 years lease: very low rent, strong starting, easy to manage and good return on investment.

Price 1.2MLN. Take this opportunity. Thamad17@yahoo. com. 089 728 4005.

holiday home with private garden and pool. Within easy reach of Rawai and Nai Harn beach. For full details and pictures please contact me. 084 850 1340.

Patong Bangla Building for Sale: B28 million, Surin Beach Office For Rent: Prime location

fully renovated sales office/ shop with initial lease of 6 years. Internal area 144 m2, walled back garden 60 m2, 4 parking spots, 3 phase, kitchen, internet, phone/ fax, TV, 5 AC. Contact 085 060 0033.

Chanote, 4 floors 6m x 14m. 1st & 2nd tenanted.

Flr 3-staff accom, bath, kitchen. Separate office with access to lower floor.

4th flr private Penthouse one bed. 087 881 7600.

Bar, Pi z zer ia , Ho t el, Rawai Beach:

Commercial Building For Sale: 5 metre x

B800,000 yearly rent, longterm lease. Negotiable, 9 bedrooms, full guest. No key money, 60m to beach.

Call 084 242 8914, email: rawai4@yahoo.com.

18.30 metre, three floors, located close by condo at Saiyuan, two big halls, two bedrooms, four bathrooms, clean and new building.

Negotiable price. For more details please call 087 881 7979, 081 472 0770, email: ss.kijrungruang@gmail.com.

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Office for rent Patong Tower: 3 Offices for rent

on 5th floor of Patong Tower, close to beach, post office, Jungceylon. 69 sq.metre: B34,500 per month. 106 sq.metre: B53,000 per month.

126 sq.metre: B63,000 per month. 076 341 369-71.

la, fully furnished and ready to move in, 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms with infinity 10 metre long swimming pool and truly beautiful sea view.

Located in a small development, only 50 metres from the sea and 3 mins from Ao Po Grand Marina. For sale B19.9 million or for long term rent B150,000 per month.

Call 081 343 0777, email: montha_ phuket@yahoo. com.

NaiHarn Beach Lagoon Resort: on South end of Naiharn Beach, Phuket, just 10 minutes to Kata. Nice and quiet nature for your relaxation.

Restaurant / Guesthouse: Established restaurant covering two shop houses with private terrace and owners apartment or 8 room guesthouse. Freehold (no lease/rent). Includes all equipment and newly renovated kitchen. Contact for details. Projected ROI 4 years. Call 081 956 3166.

House For Sale In Chalong By Owner: Chanote title. 412 sq.metre.

2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms.

Extra penthouse with open k itc he n an d sto re r o o m.

Lovely garden, very quiet and cosy place. Access to pool nearby. Price B3.9 mill. negotiable. Telephone 087 881 3062 (After 5/4-13 +47 47390581) email: kjellsyvertsen@hotmail.com.

Ocean Front Villa for rent: Luxury brand new vil-

Double your money in 5 years!: New Year special promotion: Studio in brand new, world class, east coast development. Never seen on Phuket; Amazing luxury at Real prices. Tel 080 882 1377 email: beachprojects1@gmail.com.

Investment Property for sale!: New, modern waterfront townhome at the Boat Lagoon for sale. Rented out long term at 570,000 Baht/year. 3 bed/4bath, 2 balconies, terrace at canal, 6 m berth in front of house.

250 sqm living space. Top condition. Luxury finishings. Brokers welcome.

B9.9 million. 086 747 9292 (English) or 081 970 5204 (Thai/English).

Luxury Ocean View Apartments for Rent in Kata and Karon: 1 or 2 Bdrm, 2 Bathrm, Kitchen, large Balcony, Parking, 24 hrs Security, Gymnasium, Swimming Pool. Ph: 076 486 624 and 086 281 9311.

Email: bao200@gmail.com.

front, the ff villa offers uninterrupted sea and island views of the south east coast of Phuket. Situated between t wo 5 star resor ts: Vijitt and EVASON near Laem Kanoi. 081 480 3834, http:// www.facebook.com/Phuket.

Beachfront.

Patong Free Hold Condo: Studio condo on 4th floor 50s/m. Huge swimming pool, beautiful gardens, completly renovated new tiles, light, painting, new furniture, kitchen, shower and toilet. 2.5 B/T Eng 085 471 9246, Thai 087 621 3405.

Mission Heights: Land area 50 0 m2, House area 164m2. 3 bed, 4 bath, fully furnished, aircon in all rooms, fans, Internet, satellite TV, swimming pool, independent water supply wells. Finish work December 2012. B10 million.

Call 088 838 3242.

Happy Home Apartment for sale: Nice apartment is fully furnished at Rawai. The apartment is set in a private compound with pool. It is located only 5 minutes from beach and convenient to Phuket Town.

Only B15 million. Tel :081 893 2165 www.happyhomeapartmentphuket.webiz. co.th.

Phuket Villa for Sale (PKS0259): B39,000,000.

Resort Land for Sale (L752): Price On Application. Address: Naka Yai Island. Land Area: 6-1-20 rai.

Frontage: Approximately 115 meters of beach frontage. Ms

4 Bedrooms, 4 Bathrooms.

Address: Kalim, Typical Unit Size: 636 sq.m. Land Area: 644 sq.m. Ms Prakaipeth CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) 076 239 967/081 538 6879.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

CLASSIFIEDS 19

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php PROPERTY FOR SALE CONT.

for living + dining, 1 laundry, big kitchen + long island 1 front off + aircon. Nice view of club house: big garden, pool, tennis. 300 sqm, B5.9 Million.

Call 089 925 5486.

PROPERTY IN PHUKET

with own well. Restaurant and bar with satellite TV and Adsl.

Opened for 15 years, with lots of repeat customers, parking, quiet. 086 940 1860.

Beautiful Karon Villa: 3 Bed Pool Villa Pa Khlok: 3 Beds, 2 Bath Pool Villa nex t to PIA: Brand new, luxury villa with 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 12 metre swimming pool, guest bungalow, ready to move in. Perfectly located in a development with underground electricity and security, only 800 metres from Mission Hills golf course, less then 10 mins to airport, Phuket International Academy and Ao Po Grand Marina. For sale B14.9 mil or long term rent 100,000 Baht/month.

Tel 081 343 0777, Email : montha_ phuket@yahoo. com.

House for sale near Loch Palm: Three bedroom pool villa in Kathu close to international schools. Views over Loch Palm. All bedrooms with aircon and en suite bathrooms. Two car garage and secluded garden. Chanote title. Call 084 844 0991

for sale in Permsap Villa, Cherng Talay. Land 735 m2, original 4 bedroom house w it h 2 3 0 m 2 f l o o r are a modified to 3 bedroom, all windows and doors from SUNPARADISE, separate carport from Shades. Very quiet estate. First owner since 2009. Price B10.9 mln o.n.o. Call 083 509 8797 for information.

205/34 Soi Thamdee Nanai 6: House for sale in a very good location in the heart of Patong. The house has 3 floors, 3 sleeping rooms, 1 living room, 3 bathrooms and a roof terrace with jacuzzi, garage. Good rental return. Price on request. 084 188 4544.

B24,500,000. Deceased Estate - Absolute waterfront.

Occupying a stunning location on the east coast of Phuket this five-level villa has panoramic sea views from every level. Renovation work required. 085 793 2667. See exotiqproperty. com. Ref AB-V453, email: dmuir@exotiq.com.

room, kitchen, washing machine, aircon, balcony, fully furnished. Condo with gym, 24hr security, car park. 5 mins to Patong, Loch Palm golf. Good view. B1.25 million. Call 086 947 1273.

Rawai Great Buying:

Pool Villa For Sale Nai Harn: Modern, open

Lovely house with 2 bedrooms or separate SC flat downstairs.Well ventilated with natural light in pristine condition.Distant sea views.

B5,500,000. Ph:081 270 4291 or thailandmls@gmail. com.

design villa with a large 9x3 metre pool, 2 floors, nice garden, car park and mountain views, 6 years young, 120 sqm floor, 2 bedrooms, chanote, located close to center & beach. Call 085 473 7812.

aircon, warm water, 2 aircon

unit, half of a deluxe twin house, fully furnished and equipped, set direct on the picturesque lagoon with balcony right over it. 3 bedrooms each with shower/bathroom, roof terrace. Long term rent or sale. 0 9 0 487 8 08 4, utaipan@yahoo.com.

Laguna/Layan. Luxury private pool villas in secure development. Available now.

All beds ensuite. Fully furnished. Rental programme available. B12-20 million.

Contact owner: 085 549 7110.

Ocean Front Villa for Sale: Luxury brand new villa, fully furnished and ready to move in, 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms with infinity 10 metre long swimming pool and truly beautiful sea view.

Located in a small development, only 50 metres from the sea and 3 mins from Ao Po Grand Marina. For sale B19.9 million or for long term rent B150,000 per month.

Call 081 343 0777, email: montha_ phuket@yahoo. com.

Sea-View ChalongResidence: Dream pool

Rawai B eachf ront Pool Villa for Sale: Rawai Beach front pool villa for sale. 3 bedrooms, furnished. Contact Siriporn on 089 649 9939.

villa with 5 bedrooms all with ensuite on 1 rai of land. Big hall, office, maid’s room. Brand-new construction opposite Wat Chalong on the way up to the hill.

A huge 685 sq.m of living area, fully furnished. Modern European- designed kitchen. Big sea view pool terraces incl sala and attractive bar area. Security alarm system. Selling price on request. By owner directly. Call 085 654 4011 or 089 404 0737. Email: schulz.th@gmx.de.

7.5 M House and Pool Bypass Rd: Very clean 5

Best Functional House for Sale: 3 bed + 4 bath,

Allamanda (Laguna) Residences/Phuket Sale/Rent: One condo

3 & 4 Bed Pool Villas:

NEW Studio Apt in Kathu: 30 sqm, 1 bed-

Freehold House for sale: Freehold house

Opportunity Knocks:

6x3m pool. Full aircon and funishings. Ready for occupation and rental. Secure estate, private parking. 6km from Heroines monument.

Close to PIA , BCS and shops. 081 737 0722.

Modern open living villa has it all, fully furnished, private secure estate close to beach.

Enjoy the private salt water pool and undercover parking, 3 large bedrooms freehold investment. 081 719 4688.

Resort for Sale: Resort 2 rai, with Chanote. 22 Double villas with kitchens, large pool and big coconut garden

bedroom, 3 bathroom house with 5 x 10 metre pool 10 minutes south of Central Festival, walking distance to Kajonkiet Bilingual School.

To see: 083 301 3470, email: wpdrake@hotmail.com.

Luxury Villa in Chalong: Perfect condi-

BanYan Villa: 2 year-

tion, 660 sqm on 3 levels, 1,600 sqm land, 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, swimming pool 12.5m x 6m with jacuzzi, large sala, double garage. Top quality construction. Reduced price: B25.5 million www.tamataphuket.com crishausb@ hotmail.com Tel. 086 271 3260 or 086 273 4149.

old 3 -storey townhouse 31.5 s.q wah or about 126 s.q.m at BanYan Villa, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1 kitchen, 1 aircon, fully f ur ni s h e d an d l o c ate d nearby Land and House park, Chalong. Price 3.2m.

Contact owner tel 081 535 1252 Mr Krich.

Pa tong Towe r fo r Sale: And for rent. Sea view and mountain views.

Freehold from 64 to 448 sq metres. Phone no: 080 692 6114. Email: orsoreal estate@hotmail.com.

20 CLASSIFIEDS

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

PROPERTY IN PHUKET

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

House in Phuket Town / Samkong 3 bedroom, 3 bathrooms: Semi detached house with 3 large bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, large open living/dining area and entertainment deck outside. Large western kitchen with all appliances. Great area very conveniently located 5 minutes from all amenities including both international hospitals, Central Festival, international schools and the centre of town. Selling due to relocation.

Priced to sell at B3.5M including 4 air cons and all modern style furniture. Nothing more to spend. Contact (English): 084 768 0536 or (Thai): 085 888 0502.

PROPERTY FOR SALE CONT.

20M Baht. Rent minimum 6 months. High season 90K per month.Twelve months or more 70K PM. 087 078 6379.

Busy Bar for sale: Very busy Mushroom bar for sale in Soi Bel Air. Wally Bar. All stock, TV sound system, beer boxes and fridges included in sale, rent B10,000 monthly, only 850,000 baht ono. Call

Rawai 6 Bedrooms:

086 725 0771.

House on The Corner for Sale: Quiet locaOne + Two Homes for Sale with AC, Rawai:

Main home: two bed, extended bungalow with outside kitchen, shower and seating salas set in mature, walled, private gardens. Own well, tanks and pumps. Sold, furnished.

Will sleep 8+ can be sold with a 30-year land lease for non-Thai. Price B5.5 nego: Mobile: Eng 082 416 0150. 3BB WiFi internet also.

Golf View Villa For Sale: Near British International School, state-ofthe-art villa overlooking the Loch Palm Golf Course: 4 bedrooms + maid’s room; 485 m2 built on 1,860 m2 land. B28million. Contact owner 089 724 7211.

tion and only 500m from the main road. Thepkrasattri, Heroines Monument.

70sqw x 280sqm, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, big living room with open-plan kitchen (9x9m), 1 separated kitchen, carpark for 3 cars and a small storehouse, 2 aircons, cable TV, 1 phone line TT&T. Price: B3.5 million including furniture.

Excl. furniture B2,995,000.

Must see! Email: jochenschmitz16@gmail. com. Call 081 607 8000.

Lovely 6 bedroom/office.Inc: 2 bedroom SC disable flat.

Pool, garden, garage, storage. Opp.Tesco in well established area.Priced to sell at B9,000,000. Ph:081 270 4291.Email:thailandmls@ gmail.com.

Seaview Townhouse Patong: Bet ween the city and the jungle at the northern edge of Patong.

70m alt., 10mn walk to the beach. 4 storey +/- 290 sqm, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1 toilet. 4 aircon, par tly furnished. andamanhills@ gmail.com.

Single House Special Price B9.5 million: Nice house fully furnished with teakwood furniture, ready to move in. 240 sqm. 4 bed 4 bath, close to Kathu waterfall and market. Near Loch Palm, major stores, BIS and KIS. Call Oranwan 086 883 3169.

Furnished House for Sale Phuket Villa 5: 3 bedroom house with furniture, close to Kajonkiet School. Secure area, Cul De Sac. Nice gardens, two b at h r o o m s. 3 . 5 M B a ht .

Negotiable. 081 370 8114 (Thai) 087 889 3838 (Eng), e m a i l:d av i d g e m 9 8 @ h ot mail.com.

Sea-View Contemporary Pool Villla: Located near Phuket town. Land: 855sq.m. House: 650sq.m.

Furnished. 3 beds, 2 offices, 2 staff quarters, 1 free room.

2 car parks. Price B54.9 mill.

Tel: 081 895 3628 E-mail: jin_koy@yahoo.com.

good condo deal now. 1-bedroom corner condo 56sqm, fully furnished. Only 1.99 mil.

Normal price 2.6 mil. 10mins walk to beach and Bangla Road. Tel: 089 872 6895 or jospeder@live.no.

Seaview 1 BDRM New Condo Patong: Stunning seaview, city view 1 bdrm condo on hill 500m from Patong beach. Fitness centre, roof top pool, security,car park, freehold.

Only B4,40 0,0 0 0. Keith 084 628 3430, keithb025@ gmail.com.

Patong Lof t Condo: Pool Villa in Marina: Ready to move in, single storey pool villa with 3 bedroom situated in the impressive Park Residence sector of Boat Lagoon Marina.

Impressively constructed along a modern Asian theme. 076 238 948, email: marketing@phuketproper tytrip.com.

Townhouse Chalong Bargain!: Town house on 3 levels with mezanine, 112 sqm, fully furnished, 3 BR, 3 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 3 air con. Tasteful western decoration, MUST see, HP English 0854415115. Thai 081 555 1230.

Patong Condo: Makes a

Kathu- Pool Villa for sale: Hillside setting. Luxurious 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom pool villa for sale or rent. Sale

Makes a good condo deal now.

1-bedroom, fully furnished, 67 sqm living area. Only B2.99 million. Big swimming pool.

Normal price B3.7 mil. Tel: 089 872 6895. Email: jospeder@ live.no.

Karon Hill Condo for sale! Foreign Freehold: Seaview over Karon B eac h. 10 0 sqm. Liv ing area. 1 bedroom, walk in closets, luxury bathroom, terrace, etc. Fully furnished.

Many upgrades. Luxury furnishings. Only 6.9 million baht. Brokers welcome. Call 086 747 9292 (English) or 081 970 520 4 (English/ Thai). Email: claudstrey@ gmail.com.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

CLASSIFIEDS 21

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php rai. Full chanote, water, electrical, sea/mountain views. Call 087 797 8503 (Eng).

PROPERTY FOR SALE CONT.

New Condo “Phuket Villa Patong”: Prime location, deluxe 43sqm, 1 bed 1 bath apartment, freehold, modern full furnished, pool, gym, sauna, CCTV + security 24hrs, private park.

3.5MB. Call Jeab: 087 225 8311 (English/Thai) Email: nho j0512hotmail.com.

Rawai Condo Sale/ Rent: Sell 1.1MB, Full own-

Donsak Beachfront Land 3 Rai: 67 metres

ership forever-beyond the financing plan of 10 years.

Rent 9,000B/Month. Studio room renovated with furniture. A/C, WiFi, kitchen, 200m to beach.084 242 8914. Rawai4@yahoo.com.

absolute beach frontage, fully infrastructured, ready to build. Close to ferry going to Koh Samui. Chanote title. 6.6MB for all. Contact 087 225 8311 (English/Thai) Jeab. Email: nhoj0512@ hotmail.com.

Paklok L and O nly B7,999/Sqwah: Only B7,999/Sq wah at Paklok, Chanote, Mountain View, 200m from main road, 11 km from monument and 4 km to Mission Hill. Interested/ Wanted larger size, CALL 084 305 6667, email: mari sar1978@hotmail.com

1 Rai Sea-View Land:

Patong Apartment Reduced Price: Condo 4 years old. Swimming pool, security 24/7, cafeteria. Studio 46sqm fully furished. Freehold for foreigners. Price:2.6MLN. Urgent sale, no agent. tel.089 728 4005. Mail:thamad17@ yahoo.com.

Urgent Sale - Make an Offer: Studio condo at The Point near Lotus, Big C, Central. All furniture and inventory include. Great views 6th floor. Cost over 2.8M Baht.

Call 087 889 3838 or 081 370 8114. Email: davidgem98@ hot mail.com

Condominium in Patong for Sale: Less than 1 Km from the beach, large 2-bedroom apartment with communal swimming pool and balcony. FREEHOLD (can be foreign owned). B7.5M. Call owner 089 724 7211 or julien@phuket immo.com.

Opposite Wat Chalong on the way up to the hill, Chanote, ca. 36 m x 45 m, sophisticated hillside project, proratable, B8.5 mil direct to owner: 085 65 44 0 11 or 089 40 40 737.

Apartment for sale in Patong: Apar tment for SALE in Patong; 50 sqm of the living area, sea-view / mountain view, furnished, Po o l, 24 h r s e c u r i t y, f o r SALE B2.8M - B3.3M. Contact +66 (0) 83 103 3801, 081 415 7774.

3 gorgeous lots, clean Titles: For sale or long lease. 2 Lots on IslandBeachfront (Bungalow-/ Housing-Estate) and 1 big Mainland-Mountain property all in very quiet, safe, well maintained locations near Krabi. 089 291 4671.

Patong/Kalim sea view condo: Freehold, 2nd floor, corner unit, stunning sea view, pool, car park, security, best location, ca. 110sqm, 2 bedroom, German kitchen, all new, terrace, only a few metres to beach, B10.6 M 081 824 1385.

PROPERTY IN PHUKET

meters (0.927 Rai). Chanote Title. New Survey. Public road, electric and good well water. 450m walk to Chalong Pier and all boat tours. Build your dive resort. 085 784 0209.

Ama zing Sea View Penthouse: Panoramic

Ocean Front Land: 7 rai with 185 metres of sea frontage. Water, electricity, road and boat access, located 800 metres from Yacht Haven marina, perfect site for small beach front development. For quick sale only B5 million per rai. Tel 081 3430777 Email : montha_phuket@yahoo.com.

Land At Kathu For Sale: Only 15 minutes to

for immediate sale located at Lotus Residence, a small 3-storey boutique condo of only 12 apartments total.

It is located on a southern hillside above Patong Bay. Call 084 436 2540.

Beachfront land for sale: 2 rai absolute amazing beachfront, few min. boat ride from Phuket, facing west to sunset and views of Phuket.

B13 million per rai +66(0)86 278 8300 or izzy.serenitygroup@gmail.com.

180 degree oceanview plot for sale near Bang Pae Waterfall. Peaceful with a lot of privacy. One of Phuket’s last available seaview plots.

Only B3.8 M per rai (total B7.6 M). Brokers welcome.

Call 086 747 9292 (English) or 081 970 5204 (Thai/English). Email: claudstrey@ gmail.com.

G o l f Co u r s e L a n d For Sale: Near British Intl School, 17 rai with public road access. Suitable for resort or housing project. Can be divided. Price: B 4. 5 m p e r r ai. C o nt ac t owner 089 724 7211, email: julien@phuketimmo.com.

nice location hill land by the Bangwat Dam, total 60 rai, 96,000 square metre.

Contact: Attapong 081 892 0610 (Thai), Jantiwa 081 890 8268 (Eng). e-mail: jantiwa_ j@hotmail.com.

Seaview Land Patong: Two parcels of superior land 11 rai. Inc seaview. Main road frontage. Ideal for resort or condominiums. 150 mil baht. (Thai) 081 370 8114 or (Ger) 081 892 1108. Email: davidgem98@hotmail.com

Rawai Half Rai for Sale: Land for Sale: One rai.

6 Rai Hilltop Land for Sale: Mission hills 6 rai hilltop land for sale. B4.2 million per

Land For Sale: 3/4 of rai in small community, very quiet and private, close to all services, 10 min to school, airport, beach, golf, Tesco B2.5M. 087 276 0529 for info.

Patong and only 10 minutes to Phuket Town, located at Kathu, total 141 square wah or 564 square metre with ready public utility. Call 081 892 0610,081 472 0770, tan_ohio@hotmail.com.

2 Rai Seaview Landplot for sale: Beautiful Patong Condo for Sale: My condo is ready

near new deep sea por t.

4.5 Rai divided into 7 Chanote plots. Reluctant sale.

B4.9M the lot. Email: jmic chia@yahoo.c om or c all 087 276 0529.

1 Rai Chalong Pier Land Sale: 1483 square

Hill Land for Sale: Very sea view, mountain view and Big Buddha. 310 sq metre, 2 beds, 2 baths with option to convert in 3 beds. Contact: Izzy +66(0)86 278 8300 or izzy.serenitygroup@gmail. com.

Absolute Beach Front Land: S o ngk la dist r ic t

Very quiet and private, close to all services, 10 min to school, airport, beach, golf, Tesco. B3.4M. 087 276 0529 for info.

Land plot 100 metres to Rawai Beach, about 850 sq.metre.

Chanote title deed, private road with sewer, 3 phases electricity and wall around the land. Email: rawai.steen@ gmail.com, call 080 530 6880.

Land for Sale - in Marina: Design and build your own home with good location and gated community. All the infrastructure you need is available such as water, underground cabling for power, telephone, ADSL internet etc. Contact 076 238 948, email: market ing@phuketproper ty trip. com.

Prime Location 35M Lake Front: Fantastic views over the lake and Loch Palm. Very quiet, secluded plot but with all facilities ready to go. 1551 sqm plot, freehold leasehold with full Chanote title. 081 273 6959.

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THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

Buy&Sell

6.5M RIB for sale

New Hypalon tubing and blue cover

(EFI) Mercury engine, Yamaha 5 HP back up engine. Blue book. Including: trailer, 2 anchors, and cover, Garmin deep sounder and fish finder brand new. Call 081 477 5637 THAI; 086 283 0082 ENG, RUS.

tourist related soft furnising manufacturing & retail business. Genuine enquires only, no tyre kickers. For further info email samos1941@gmail.com.

A Steal For A Quick Sale: 2007 Italian demo yacht Cranchi 47ft Hard Top. Fully loaded with Tropical air con, genset, Electrical winches, garage, roof, Raymarine Premium Navy, BBQ, Ice Maker, 3 Fridges, “Bose” Sound, Neon light, Twin 570HP with reliable shaft drive, under 300 hours, Brand New Condition.

Euro385,000. Call: 089 971 0278, eddyelan@yahoo.com.

BOATS & YACHTS

Speedboat for sale - Hull Only: Excellent

Lodestart RIB: 3.8m, Tohatsu 40hp, trailer, skis, tube, lifejackets. B140,000.

Contact: 080 073 5371.

condition, 12.18m Fiberglass Bowrider, 12mm thick hull, 600ltr fuel tank, 150ltr water tank, licensed for 25 passengers, storage area, manual head, 5 years old, B1.4 million o.n.o, please contact 076 362 300 Ext.1801.

Ski Boat for Sale: Charter Boat: 62ft Hatteras Style yacht, 35 + 4 crew, large upper deck includes website: www.char terboatsphuket.com, price B5,370,000 or best offer. email: eastcoastefi@aol. com or 087 889 8044.

Glastron Carlson design, Thai registered, 120ltr fuel tank, 200hp Yamaha engine in excellent condition.

Includes trailer, boat cover, wakeboard pole, ropes and ski equipment. Call 081 894 5822, email: markbreitis@ gmail.com.

Cem ent Produc t ion Plant: Ready Mixed Concrete

6.5M RIB: New Hypalon tubing and blue cover. On a fiber glass V shaped hull.

240HP Mercury Giving comfortable cruise at 25-30Kts and 40 Kts Max Ideal for family day trips to beach skiing etc. 081 273 6959.

Exceptional Yacht For Sale: Beautifully maintained Wauquiez Yacht 41FT. Specs and photos : www.wauquiezforsale.blogspot.com. Robert: 087 632 8259 or email: camina ta40@hotmail.com. Priced to sell: $199K US. Can be seen in Phuket.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Business for sale: BusiSpeed boat for sale!: 6 metre body Bayliner, 200 HP

the trade from international award winning Chef, Lionel Raiffort. Learn how to cook, from Thai & European cuisines, to the art of baking.

Get involved and make a day of it, groups are welcome. For more information, visit www. phuket- c ooking - ac ademy. com or call 081 821 4064.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FOR SALE

Moonsoon for sale: 28Ft, registered for 15 passengers.

200Hp/ V6 Mercury motor, only 240 hours, totally restored 40 hours ago, perfect for snorkeling, diving trips, island hopping, water taxi navigation system + fishfinder, 5hp spare motor. Boat and motor in very good condition. Located at Boat Lagoon. Priced for quick sale at B330,000. Contact at : 086 747 9292 or claudstrey@ gmail.com.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

ness only or business & property. Est 2003. Repeat business from big data base, non

Company’s factory. 446.92 Horse power. Output of workers in the production of 22 people per day at an average yield of about 100 Q / Day (1,800 Baht / Q) average revenue per day for about 180,000 baht. Manufacture of ready-mixed concrete.

Can continue immediately. Just buy a cement truck then start delivery. Ready water source to be used for production. Address: Moo. 4 T. Maikhao Thalang Dist. Phuket 83110. Land Size: 20 rai 2 Ngan and 56 talang wah. Price: B130 Million.

Contact: Mr. Lee, mobile: 081 803 7189.

BUSINESS SERVICES

Motorbike Trailer with Tow bar: Professionally built motorbike trailer, with tow bar and coupling. Cost B45,000 to build, will sell for B25,000.

Ideal for dog caring or shopping. Very stable. Please ring 084 858 1917.

Health Food: Online health food in Thailand. Good karma, all natural, healthy, and organic products. Please contact 082 276 1675, www.good karmathailand.com.

PERSONAL SERVICES

Tile It: Thalang. Wana Park 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.

CAR FOR SALE

Lady Car for sale: Nissan Tida 2010 model, automatic, as new condition, white, mag wheels, air con, CD stereo controlled from steering wheel, 1 year 1st class insurance.

B590,000 ONO, call 087 276 0529.

Backgammon: Players Wanted. Tel: 081 577 8443, email: phuketconnection@ yahoo.com

POOL TABLES

COOKING CLASS

Football Table for Sale: Brand new “Heavy duty” Soccer/Football Table for rent and sell. Suitable for bars and hotels. Call us now at 081 823 4627, 085 782 1200.

Phuket Cooking Academy: Cooking and baking c lasses have never been more fun using our top-class professional facilities. With complimentary transport from around the island, head to the best Masterchef kitchen on the island. Learn the tricks of

SPORTING GOODS & EXERCISE Life Fitness Walking Machine: Brand new retail B150,000. Sell for B70,000.

Call 0872760529.

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CLASSIFIEDS 23

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

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24 PHUKET SPORT

Chonburi Sharks take a bite out of Phuket United FUTSAL

Kazira Hans editor@thephuketnews.com

T

hailand’s top-ranked futsal team Chonburi Sharks inflicted a 3-2 defeat on Phuket United at the Saphan Hin gymnasium on Saturday (January 12), bringing an end to the Andaman Pearl’s five-game winning Phuket United futsaler Jardel battles with Sharks at Saphan Hin Gymnasium on Saturday, while Jackson looks on. streak.

Phuket’s “Coach Hum,” fast enough to slide over and The second half began Suphol Senapheng, determined block the shot with both arms. with a strong counterplay by to score an early lead, began Phuket could only defend Phuket that almost earned by sending on his Brazilian themselves from the strong at- them an equaliser, but a shot trio of Jackson, Jardel and tack, and the first 10 minutes from Jackson was blocked by Marcos, but the visitors’ strong went by with Phuket cutting Chonburi’s goalkeeper. experience determined the Chonburi’s attacks out to the A minute later the Sharks outcome of the game. sideline. stretched their lead with anThe Sharks breached Chonburi came back from other goal, when Chonburi’s Phuket’s defence with a first their first timeout with a strong Kritsada Wongkaew squeezed shot only seconds after kick- powerplay and finally took the past Jardel and Jackson for a off, but the shot went straight first bite at The Pearls, scoring shot at close range, taking the to the goalkeeper, who held in the 14th minute when their score to 0–2. his position well throughout star Sarawut fired a narrowA few minutes later, the game. angle shot from far corner Phuket United’s Brazilian Chonburi missed another Three minutes before the trio worked their samba skills opportunity to lead when the whistle, Chonburi fired at from Phuket’s own half.

Phuket goalkeeper blocked a long range from half-way, Jackson sent a corner past shot and the ball bounced off but it was easily saved by the the Chonburi goalkeeper, to his right, where a Chonburi Phuket goalkeeper, and the who slapped the ball out but player was waiting to strike. first half ended with Phuket didn’t see that Jardel was right behind him – and Jardel But the Phuket goalie was trailing 0-1.

fired a one-yard shot straight back through the goalkeeper’s outstretched hands, giving Phuket new hope.

After a few hit-and-miss attempts at goal, Jackson set a play for Jardel to score, but he collided with a Chonburi player who went down clutching his torso.

The referee didn’t stop the game, and Jackson passed the ball to Jardel, who clipped a 1-2 play between them before charging the ball through to the back of the net in the 32nd minute of the game.

Both teams now applied more pressure, but Phuket handed Chonburi their win when a Phuket player sending the ball into the game from the sideline pitched it right in front of his own goal.

Chonburi’s Kritsada stole the ball and shot it straight through the goalkeeper’s grasp, putting Chonburi in the lead at the final whistle.

Phuket United’s Coach Hum said his team’s mistake was due to their inexperience and lack of focus when playing such a high pressure game.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Youth Academy training at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club, with Phuket Soccer Schools head coach Martin Hill.

International youth football tournament coming soon ANTICIPATION IS BUILDING for the Phuket Soccer Schools (PSS) 3rd Phuket International Youth Tournament, which will be held in just three week time at the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club in Thalang.

More than 25 teams from Phuket and across Asia have already signed up for the tournament on Saturday, February 9 and Sunday, February 10.

The tournament features competitions in the Under 8, Under 10, Under 12 and Under 14 levels, with trophies and plates awarded in each age

group. The younger teams will compete in five-a-side games, while the Under 12s and Under 14s will compete in six-a-side games.

“All players will receive medals and the weekend is sure to be a great spectacle with a plenty of exciting football action on show”, said PSS head coach Martin Hill.

Teams who want to register for the tournament can contact Martin Hill at Phuket Soccer Schools by calling 085 331 0295, or by emailing info@ phuketsoccerschools.com.

Hash House Harriers Run 1402: 3:30pm on Saturday, January 19 Hares: No Hope, Apeman & Singha Directions: Head north of the airport on the main highway (route 402). Approx 2 km north of the Yacht Haven bend, turn left at the mosque with the green domes and pink bus shelter. Follow the tarmac road (not concrete side sois) for approx 1.5 km, turn right through the yellow gates and drive approx 300m down the track to the laager by the lake. Any changes just follow the HHH signs.

More info: phuket-hhh.com

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

PHUKET SPORT 25

Laguna overcome Patong CRICKET

R

From left to right: SSI’s Doug McNeese, Sea Bees’ Simone Allène, Robert Stoss and Guido Watzig.

Decades of diving THE LIFE AQUATIC Simone Allène editor@thephuketnews.com

I HAVE BEEN PRIVILEGED to meet some great names within the diving community: the Cousteau dynasty, Ron and Valerie Taylor, and Jacques Mayol to name but a few.

But I have never before met three people who seem to handle business in the way they wish to dive: as a team, with humour and respect but also with the ability to complement each other’s expertise when it comes to running their business.

Put Doug McNeese, Robert Stoss and Guido Wätzig in a room together and they’re bouncing off each other.

“Who?” many will ask. But for those in the diving industry, these are well known names to be reckoned with.

Consider the constant growth rate of their business over the last few years and it is the envy of many a Fortune 500 company.

Scuba Schools International (SSI) has been one the main diving agencies for more than 40 years. At its core is a renowned educational system.

Combined with their sales and marketing expertise, these factors have made it one of the fastest growing diving agencies over the past few years.

Impressive when “austerity” and “cutbacks” are part of the daily vocabulary.

What makes SSI different is its unique approach to the diving industry encompassing the best of retail, resort and manufacturing to support locally-based businesses, as well as its unique attitude to diving education.

Add a degree of flexibility that allows the instructor to grow more confident, this creates a strong natural attraction for many as it allows courses to be customised to the customer’s needs.

The SSI Global Meeting took place in Phuket in November, and the choice of venue was obvious. Asia has become an area of great growth and SSI are focusing on this part of the world because of its increased importance.

At the core of the their phi-

losophy is “education” and this comes across with a simplicity that was reached after many long brainstorming sessions.

“We don’t want to teach people to dive, we want to create divers”, says Doug.

“By educating them to be responsible and increasing their awareness through our Mission Deep Blue and Ocean Rangers programmes, instead of aiming for 100 per cent of one diver, but getting just one per cent of all divers, the environment benefits in the long term.”

It’s fine to ask Doug, Robert and Guido about their strengths, but when I brought up their weaknesses, they did not mind acknowledging that they are not as well known by the public as other dive agencies.

But that is not the case with the diving-related businesses who are key to SSI’s success.

The more they work together, the more those businesses want to show SSI off.

And it seems the “end user” is not keeping quiet either – not when you have 149,000 Open Water Diver certifications in the US alone in 2011. So word is obviously getting around.

But it’s not just a case of creating a diver but keeping them enthusiastic and generating environmental awareness.

“If the dropout rate for divers is 90 per cent, imagine what we could do if we could just reduce that to 80 per cent?” points out Robert, relishing the challenge.

“Incorporating the best of SSI’s expertise, strategic sessions and turning the needs of the industry into decisions means so much more can be accomplished at a local level,” states Guido.

By adapting to local businesses, cultures and demands, the SSI diving agency allows the dive resorts and businesses to retain their name and unique style, and to incorporate a successful diving programme that is recognised worldwide.

Brilliantly simple and extremely successful.

Simone Allène worked for financial institutions but left the sharks of ‘The City’ for the ‘real’ ones in 1998. She has been based in Egypt, Maldives, Fiji, French Polynesia and Thailand with 5,231 dives and counting. She’s now PR & Marketing for Sea Bees Diving.

eigning JLL league champions Laguna Cricket Club faced early league contenders Patong Cricket Club (PCC) in the fifth match of the Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels League on Sunday, January 13, at the Alan Cooke Ground in Thalang In a match where dominance see-sawed throughout both innings, it was only fitting for the winner to be decided in the last over of the second innings – and despite a determined effort by PCC, Laguna showed their class and walked off with the spoils.

Laguna elected to bat first after wining the toss. Evergreen opener Bill Stahmer and batting partner Darren Shaw anticipated a full blown attack from the PCC bowlers.

While Stahmer prevailed, Shaw lost his wicket in the 8th over.

Youth and experience partnered up next when Valentine Guiraud came out to bat. While putting the PCC under the cosh, Stahmer mentored young Guiraud (32) as they put on a 92 run partnership for the 2nd wicket.

A 3rd wicket partnership

Laguna Cricket Club’s batsmen face the Patong bowling attack at the Alan Cooke Ground in Thalang on Sunday. of 53 runs between Sameer Khan (36) and Stahmer signaled the inevitability of a big score being accumulated

by Laguna.

Manish Sadarangani, 1 for 25, together with Raju Seemant, 2 for 36, were the stand out bowlers for PCC. After delivering a master class in batting and tormenting the PCC bowlers with the slash of his willow to leather, Bill Stahmer lost his wicket on 83.

A cameo performance by Stuart Reading, 27 runs of 11 balls, further aided Laguna to set a intimidating total of 244 for Patong to chase.

Patong have never shied

from a challenge and Laguna were under no doubts that the match was yet to be secured.

The PCC batting line up has proven to be rather resilient this season and would have been quietly confident.

Buoyed by the performance of their batsmen, the Laguna bowlers came out guns blazing, and the final bowling figures for Sami Ulla, 2 for 41, and Valentine Guiraud, 1 for 34, proved the point. By the 14th over, with the score on 62, four PCC batsmen had hit the showers.

A 5th wicket stand of 87 runs between Preston Smith (48) and Paddy Morton (68), showing that he was as com-

fortable with the bat as the ball in hand, brought some stability to the PCC run chase.

Smith lost his wicket with the score on 149 after 26 overs.

Captain Van Blerk came to the crease looking to guide his team to victory. With some swashbuckling hits by the captain, it was game on.

Come the final over the match was far from decided.

Odds were in favor of Laguna, as Patong needed 30 runs for a win. When the captain lost his wicket for 40 the fat lady started to warm up her voice and by the end of the over it was Laguna who undoubtedly enjoyed her sweet song.

The match once again proved the competitive nature of this season’s JLL league, and although Laguna had won this game they are under no doubts that there are a multitude of challengers vying for the Phuket cricket throne.

This Sunday sees Thanyapura News Tigers play against the Village cricket team at the Alan Cooke Ground. Both teams are well renowned for their good spirit on and off the pitch, and spectators are sure to be in for a treat.

Buakaw demo fight delights local crowd MUAY THAI A CROWD OF MORE THAN 1,000 spectators and media packed the Patong Boxing Stadium on Tuesday for a demonstration fight by one of the country’s most popular Muay Thai fighters, Buakaw Por Pramuk.

After a Muay Thai demonstration by two fighters from his Por Pramuk camp, Buakaw appeared on stage in the fifth round to cheers from the audience, before commencing the show fight with both opponents in the ring.

The combination of fighting and martial dancing featured the traditional Muay Thai method of wrapping the fists and lower arms in rope instead of box-

Buakaw Por Pramuk goes through his moves for the crowd in a show fight at Patong Boxing Stadium on Tuesday. ing gloves. The performance lasted just 10 minutes, not long enough for those gathered, who responded with loud cheers and

applause.

Buakaw was born in Surin province in Northeastern Thailand, and started Muay

Thai training at the age of eight.

Now aged 32, he is one of Thailand’s most accomplished Thai boxers, a two-time K-1 World Champion and the current holder of the Thai Fight tournament 70kg division title.

He has also appeared as an actor in Thai films such as The Samurai of Ayothaya, a 2010 action movie set in the historical Ayutthaya period.

But he had a troubled sporting year in 2012, and left the Por Pramuk camp for several months over a dispute about his salary and share of profits from his non-fighting activities.

He returned to the Por Pramuk camp later in the year after renegotiating his contract, but now trains at the Banchamet boxing camp in Surin province.

26 WORLD SPORT

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

PREMIER LEAGUE PREDICTIONS: WEEK 24

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

THIS YEAR’S GRAND PRIZE IS SPONSORED BY:

City keep United in sight FOOTBALL

P

remier League champions Manchester City stayed within seven points of leaders Manchester United after a 2-0 win away to Arsenal.

First-half goals from James Milner and Edin Dzeko put City in the lead against the Gunners, who were reduced to 10 men when Laurent Koscielny was sent off in the 10th minute for bringing down Dzeko inside the box.

The visitors, too, went a man down 15 minutes from time, when Cit y captain Vincent Kompany was dismissed for a challenge on Jack Wilshere.

City’s cross-town rivals Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Van Persie gave United a 19th minute lead when he swept in Patrice Evra’s cross, and United made it 2-0 nine minutes after half-time when Evra’s header from van Persie’s free-kick deflected in off centre-half Nemanja Vidic.

Liverpool substitute Daniel Sturridge clawed a goal back

TOM’S TIPS WEEK 25

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, seen here in 2012, was sent off for a challenge on Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere at Emirates Stadium. Photo: AFP/Paul Ellis for the visitors three minutes later, on a rebound from a save by David de Gea. Jon Walters scored an unfortunate pair of headed own goals as Chelsea won 4-0 at Stoke City to reclaim third place in the league.

The first came when Walters put a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta past his own goalkeeper with a bullet header.

Unlucky Walters next diverted a Juan Mata corner into his own goal to make it 2-0 in the 62nd minute.

Three minutes later Lam-

pard blasted home his 194th Chelsea goal from the penalty spot, and Eden Hazard added a fourth in the 73rd minute.

Tottenham Hotspur were held to a 0-0 draw by Queens Park Rangers, who are now five points from safety with 16 games to play.

They remain at the bottom of the table, however, after Reading stormed back from two goals down to win 3-2 at home to West Bromwich.

Aston Villa’s miserable week continued as they lost 1-0 at home to Southampton to slip into the relegation zone.

Wigan Athletic climbed out of the relegation places at Villa’s expense after Franco Di Santo cancelled out Georgios Karagounis’ opener to give the Latics a 1-1 draw at Fulham.

A 3-0 win by Sunderland at home to West Ham United lifted them further away from the bottom three.

Everton missed a chance to close on fourth-place Spurs by drawing 0-0 at home to Swansea, while Newcastle United’s trip to Norwich City also ended goalless.

In The Phuket News tipping competition, Keefers Kathu

Liverpool v Norwich Man City v Fulham Newcastle v Reading Swansea v Stoke West Ham v QPR Wigan v Sunderland West Brom v Aston Villa Chelsea v Arsenal Tottenham v Man United Southampton v Everton

Win Win Win Draw Win Lose Win Lose Lose Lose

THIS MONTH'S COMPETITION IS SUPPORTED BY:

MONTHLY STANDINGS

OVERALL STANDINGS

1. Keefers Kathu 46 2. Damian 43 3. suncat100 41 4. diggersd 38 5. simonostheimer 38 6. Campanil 35 7. Blackrosebar 32 8. dan1405 32 9. jamiemonk 32 10. NEIL 32

1. suncat100 439 2. scottkip 414 3. mickyleeds 408 4. Blackrosebar 405 5. diggersd 405 6. apollo131 398 7. bazerb 387 8. toptipster 387 9. alanphuket 385 10. Ping 382

leads the monthly table with 46 points, just a few ahead of player Damian in second place.

In the overall standings, suncat100 with 439 points has stretched his lead to a comfortable 25 points over the nearest challenger, scottkip.

This month’s competition

is sponsored by Australia Bar and Grill in Kata; the monthly winner will receive a B3,000 voucher to spend at the venue. The overall winner at the end of the season will win a brand new Honda Scoopy, courtesy of AP Honda.

Sunderland out of Cup, Fulham survive scare SUNDERLAND WENT OUT of the FA Cup to second-tier Bolton Wanderers after losing their third-round replay 2-0 on Tuesday, while Fulham celebrated the narrowest of narrow escapes against Blackpool.

Sunderland have enjoyed an upsurge in Premier League fortunes in recent weeks, moving six points clear of the relegation zone, but they joined northeast rivals Newcastle United in falling at the first hurdle in the cup.

England Under-21 striker Marvin Sordell was the matchwinner at the Reebok Stadium, striking twice in the space of

nine second-half minutes to earn Bolton a home game with Everton in the fourth round.

His first goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 64th minute after a foul on Darren Pratley by Jack Colback, before he dispatched a Tyrone Mears cut-back in the 73rd minute to complete the scoring.

“This is a big club and we shouldn’t be spending 40 years without winning something, we really shouldn’t,” said Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill.

“I know some people field weakened sides but we didn’t.

We tried to win tonight and we

weren’t able to do it, and that was very disappointing.”

Fulham were on the verge of elimination to Bolton’s Championship rivals Blackpool after on-loan Aston Villa forward Nathan Delfouneso put the hosts 1-0 up in the 82nd minute at Bloomfield Road.

However, a stunning 25-yard strike by Kieran Richardson in the last minute took the game to extra time and Fulham skipper Brede Hangeland scored the winner with four minutes left to secure a 2-1 win.

Fulham will now meet either Manchester United or West

Ham United, who lock horns in a replay at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Jon Walters went some way towards atoning for his horror show in Stoke City’s 4-0 loss to Chelsea at the weekend by scoring twice as the team saw off Crystal Palace 4-1 after extra time.

Walters netted twice in extra time at Britannia Stadium, after Glenn Murray’s 87th-minute penalty for Palace cancelled out Kenwyne Jones’ opener.

Cameron Jerome claimed a late fourth for Stoke, who will tackle English champions

Manchester City for a place in round five.

Chelsea face a trip to thirdtier Brentford in the fourth round after the League One outfit saw off Southend United 2-1.

Queens Park Rangers won 1-0 at West Bromwich Albion with a 75th-minute header by Jay Bothroyd.

Wigan Athletic avoided an upset as Mauro Boselli’s emphatic 18th-minute strike gave them a 1-0 win away to third-tier Bournemouth, who twice hit the frame of the goal.

Former Senegal star El-Hadji Diouf celebrated his 32nd birth-

FA Cup. Photo: Carlos Yo day by scoring the decisive goal from the penalty spot as Leeds United won 2-1 at Birmingham City to set up a home tie with Tottenham Hotspur.

Over 90 Cities, One Perfect Gateway.

SilkAir and Singapore Airlines Connecting you to Places.

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

WORLD SPORT 27

Peterhansel en route for 11th Dakar Rally victory MOTORSPORT

F

r a nc e’s d efe nd i ng champion Stephane Peterhansel took a huge step towards his 11th Dakar Rally win this week, as his main rival Nasser Al-Attiyah dropped out of the race with mechanical problems during the ninth stage, the longest of the race.

Spaniard Nani Roma won the ninth stage – his second this year – with 47-year-old Peterhansel second and Argentinian Orlando Terranova third in a BMW. Al-Attiyah had to stop several times during the stage in his Red Bull Buggy – and on Tuesday his team announced he had dropped out of this year’s rally due to mechanical failures, dashing his dreams of another title in the celebrated race.

Al-Attiyah and his codriver Lucas Cruz had been pushing for the overall lead until repeated break-downs on the 851km stage nine between Tucuman and Cordoba in Argentina forced them to

abandon. A broken water pump was to blame.

The Qatari driver won the race in 2011 and was second in 2010.

The Red Bull Rally Team’s other buggy, driven by Spain’s Carlos Sainz, was withdrawn on the sixth stage, also because of mechanical problems.

In the tenth stage on Tuesday, Terranova delighted the home crowd by becoming the first Argentinian to win a stage of the Dakar Rally.

The 33-year-old BMW driver – competing in his seventh Dakar Rally – came home 2min 07sec ahead of Monday’s stage winner Roma , with Peterhansel in third place, another 12sec adrift.

The result extended Peterhansel’s overall lead to 52min 38sec over South African Giniel de Villiers.

Peterhansel admitted that he had changed his strategy now that Al-Attiyah had been forced out, and conceded that it did not make for a great spectacle.

“For the race, for the show, it’s no good, for the suspense,

Live Sports TV Schedule

CHANNEL GUIDE

CHANNEL START

END

SPORT

EVENT

TEAMS / INFO

Friday, January 18 813, 109 29

15:00 10:30

19:00 18:00

Tennis Cricket

Australian Open ODI No. 3

Melbourne Australia v Sri Lanka

Saturday, January 19 813, 109

15:00

19:00

814

20:35

22:30 Rugby Union

812, 103

22:00

00:00

Tennis

Soccer

Krzysztof Hołowczyc in his BMW X3 during the 2011 Dakar Rally. Photo: Eduardo Díaz it’s not really good, but for me it’s not so bad and it’s more comfortable,” he said.

“I can manage for example the stage tomorrow and the stage at Copiapo which will be really complicated in the dunes. So if I have more time I’ll be able to manage the race, to wait to see the good places to cross the dunes, so it’s better for me for sure.”

Earlier, defending motorbike champion Cyril Despres took the overall lead after the

10th stage, a 636km ride including a 357km timed section from Cordoba to La Rioja.

The 38-year-old KTM rider had made his charge on Monday when, having been over 24 minutes off the pace, he stormed to his first stage victory of this year’s edition.

O n Tuesd ay Despres showed he was the man in form by finishing second in the stage.

Spaniard Joan Barreda Bort took the stage honours on

Team

his Husqvarna bike, finishing 1min 15sec ahead of Despres.

Despres, seeking his fifth Dakar title, led overnight leader and team-mate Ruben Faria by 1min 37sec in the overall standings in the race.

Despres said he was in good form and that his tactics of not racing all-out throughout the rally was paying off as the race entered its decisive stages.

“Picking up seconds in the general standings is not the most important thing,” he said.

Spanish Primera Liga

English Premier League

1XX- True Vision, 8XX - Astra; 8 - Setanta

*Times may be subject to change

“What matters is making statements, making a difference, gaining in confidence and letting the racing do the talking. As a result, the general standings reflect that on paper in the evening.”

While Despres entered the overall picture, two of his compatriots fell away completely on the race’s long ninth stage, 852km from Tucuman including 593km of it timed.

David Casteu – who led overnight going into the stage – hit a cow with his Yamaha during the timed section, which resulted in him dislocating his shoulder, and another stop on the stage saw him slip from pole position to not having a hope of winning the title.

His compatriot Olivier Pain also had a day to forget as he came off the bike on several occasions and lost about 32 minutes, to also lose sight of overall victory.

The final stage of this year’s Dakar Rally ends in the Chilean capital Santiago on Sunday. AFP

MP

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

MP

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

1

Manchester City

22

14

6

2

43

19

48

1

Barcelona

19

18

1

0

64

20

55

2

Chelsea

21

12

5

4

43

19

41

2

Atlético Madrid

19

14

2

3

40

18

44

3

Tottenham Hotspur

22

12

4

6

39

27

40

3

Real Madrid

19

11

4

4

45

20

37

4

Everton

22

9

10

3

35

26

37

4

Real Betis

19

11

1

7

30

29

34

5

Arsenal

21

9

7

5

40

24

34

5

Málaga

19

9

4

6

29

16

31

6

West Bromwich Albion

22

10

3

9

31

30

33

6

Rayo Vallecano

19

10

1

8

27

34

31

7

Liverpool

22

8

7

7

35

28

31

7

Valencia

19

9

3

7

27

27

30

8

Swansea City

22

7

9

6

31

26

30

8

Levante

19

9

3

7

24

27

30

Team

9

Stoke City

22

6

11

5

21

24

29

9

Real Sociedad

19

7

5

7

28

25

26

10

West Ham United

21

7

5

9

24

27

26

10

Real Valladolid

19

7

4

8

27

25

25

11

Norwich City

22

6

8

8

24

34

26

11

Getafe

19

7

4

8

24

30

25

Australian Open

Melbourne

12

Fulham

22

6

7

9

33

38

25

12

Sevilla

19

6

4

9

23

28

22

13

Sunderland

22

6

7

9

24

29

25

13

Real Zaragoza

19

7

1

11

21

28

22

Heineken Cup

Glasgow v Northampton

14

Southampton

21

5

6

10

28

38

21

14

Athletic Club

19

6

3

10

23

39

21

15

Newcastle United

22

5

6

11

27

39

21

15

Celta de Vigo

19

5

3

11

19

24

18

Liverpool v Norwich

16

Wigan Athletic

22

5

4

13

23

40

19

16

Espanyol

19

4

6

9

20

30

18

17

Aston Villa

22

4

7

11

17

42

19

17

Granada

19

4

5

10

16

29

17

18

Reading

22

3

7

12

26

42

16

18

Mallorca

19

4

5

10

18

33

17

19

Queens Park Rangers

22

2

8

12

17

36

14

19

Deportivo La Coruña

19

3

7

9

23

40

16

20

Queens Park Rangers

21

2

7

12

17

36

13

20

Osasuna

19

3

6

10

14

20

15

EPL

813, 101

22:00

00:00

Soccer

EPL

Man City v Fulham

817, 102

22:00

00:00

Soccer

EPL

West Ham v QPR

106

22:00

00:00

Soccer

EPL

Newcastle v Reading

161

22:00

00:00

Soccer

EPL

Swansea v Stoke

817, 103

00:30

02:30

Soccer

EPL

West Bromwich v Aston Villa

29

13:30

21:30

Cricket

ODI No. 3

India v England

32

15:00

22:30

Cricket

ODI No. 1

South Africa v New Zealand

Sunday, January 20 813, 109

15:00

19:00

Tennis

Australian Open

Melbourne

812, 101

20:25

22:30

Soccer

EPL

Chelsea v Arsenal

817, 101

23:00

01:00

Soccer

EPL

Tottenham v Man United

29

10:30

18:00

Cricket

ODI No. 4

Australia v Sri Lanka

RESULTS QPR Aston Villa Everton Fulham Norwich

0–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 0–0

Tottenham Southampton Swansea Wigan Newcastle

Reading Stoke Sunderland Manchester United Arsenal

3–2 0–4 3–0 2–1 0–2

West Brom Chelsea West Ham Liverpool Manchester City

RESULTS Athletic Club Real Valladolid Espanyol Osasuna Valencia

1–2 3–1 1–0 0–0 2–0

Rayo Vallecano Mallorca Celta de Vigo Real Madrid Sevilla

Real Betis Real Sociedad Atlético Madrid Málaga Getafe

2–0 1–1 2–0 1–3 2–2

Levante Deportivo La Coruña Real Zaragoza Barcelona Granada

Sport

THEPHUKETNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

Buakaw shows Phuket moves

Patong show-fight delights local Muay Thai fans > 25

editor2@thephuketnews.com

IS THIS MURRAY’S MOMENT IN THE SUN?

Britain’s Andy Murray plays a return to Netherlands Robin Haase during their men’s singles match on the second day of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15, 2013. Photo: AFP/Peter Parks

TENNIS

L

eading contenders A ndy Mu r ray and Roger Federer were fast out of the blocks with straight-sets victories in their opening matches at the Australian Open this week.

Murray was impressive as he clinically dismantled Dutchman Robin Haase, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to progress safely to the second round, while Federer made light work of his first outing of 2013 with a three-set demolition of Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Murray needed just 1hr 37min to take apart the erratic Haase with eight service breaks and making just 20 unforced errors in the 25 games.

Much has changed in Mur-

ray’s life since his careertransforming victory over world number one Novak Djokovic in last year’s US Open final, and he is among the favourites at the year’s opening major tournament.

Murray said he didn’t notice anything significantly different in his first Grand Slam match since his Flushing Meadows triumph last September, but that it would steel him should he make the final rounds of the Australian Open.

“I think when I would see the benefits of that is if I get myself deep into a Slam this year and you’re playing against the top players. That’s when I think you’ll draw on that experience and use it in the right way,” he said.

Murray, 25, has twice been runner-up at the Australian

Open. He is drawn to face Federer in the semi-finals and possibly defending champion Djokovic in the final.

“It was a good start and it was nice to win in straight sets, it was the hottest day of the tournament so far,” Murray said.

“It took a little while to get used to that and the court was playing much quicker and bouncier because of it.”

Last week, Murray admitted that his breakthrough at Flushing Meadows in 2012 had eased the pressure and set him up perfectly to build on the best year of his career.

“Not just Grand Slams.

You know, I kind of maybe always felt like I was having to prove something every time I went on the court because I hadn’t won a Slam,” he said before the start of the

Australian Open.

“Even when you win a Masters Series, people still asked me always about the Slams. So it’s nice just to kind of not have to worry about that anymore.

“I think it will help me throughout the rest of the year, as well, on the tour because I just won’t be worrying and thinking about the Slams all the time, I can focus on all of the events that I’m entered in.”

Murray started his season in perfect style by winning the Brisbane International against Grigor Dimitrov and entered the Australian Open determined to better the two runner-up spots he earned in 2010 and 2011.

The Olympic champion started the tournament as one of the favourites, alongside holder Novak Djokovic, with

their task made easier by Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal through illness.

“I’m very revved up,” Murray said ahead of the opening-round clash with Haase. “I feel more relaxed than I have done the week before a Slam.

“Obviously last year was by far my best year on the court. I had my first Wimbledon final, the Olympics was obviously a great experience, then my first Grand Slam after that.

“I finished with my highest ranking that I ever finished before, so there were a lot of firsts for me last year, and that’s pretty important.”

Working against him in Melbourne is the fact that no first time Grand Slam winner, in the open era, has gone on to win their next major tourna-

ment, but Murray said he won’t let that stand in his way.

“I have no idea how I’m going to play here. I have no idea how I’m going to feel when I go on the court,” he said.

“I said I feel more relaxed, but I don’t know, the day when I play my first match, I could be unbelievably nervous. I don’t know what effect it will have on me until I’m put in that situation.

“But I also know how hard these events are to win.

If I don’t win the Australian Open, I don’t think it will be down to having won the US Open.

“It’s down to the level of competition and how tough it is to win these events rather than what happened, you know, four or five months ago.” AFP