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Two held for murder of Phuket taxi driver

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OLD LOGO Two men who shot dead a Patong taxi driver in Phang Nga Province last month, and then used his car as security for a loan from a loan shark, were arrested on Friday (November 11) in Karon.

The two men from Nakhon Pathom Province, Traithep Hintong, 29, and Nattawut Roongsawang, 27, admitted killing 25-year-old Kawee Sangrawee, a Patong taxi driver who worked in front of Jungceylon, and stealing his new car.

Mr Kawee disappeared on October 22.

His body was discovered three days later in an oil palm plantation in Kok Kloy sub-district, in Phang Nga Province.

Pol Capt Chaiya Seksan of Kok Kloy Police Station told The Phuket News that after their a r r e s t t he t wo t old police they had earlier rented a car in Karon, then “pawned” it in their home province.

As the date for returning the car loomed, the duo were unable to come up with the funds to redeem the car and take it back to Karon.

Fearing the possibility of painful physical repercussions for failure to return the car or pay t he loa n sha rk , the two decided they needed another car to replace the one in the hands of the loan shark.

The easiest way to do that, they figured, was to Continued Page 2

Freeing the butterflies.

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History and horror in Phnom Penh.

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‘DESPICABLE’ Good Riddence: ‘The public and vulnerable need to be protected from you for a long time,’ said the British judge.

Con artist kicked out of Phuket jailed for 4 years in UK British con artist Paul Christopher Ridden, who was arrested in Chalong in September for defrauding a number of expatriates, has been jailed for four years in the UK. The Argus newspaper reported that 58-year-old Ridden was jailed last Saturday (November 12) by Hove Crown Court in the city of Brighton for a run of property scams in nearby Eastbourne.

In 2008, the court heard, Ridden rented a Victorian house in Eastbourne and built up a property rental business.

However, he ran into cash-flow problems when some tenants failed to pay rent.

To cover the shortfall in his

finances, he turned to conning people, some of them with mental problems. He showed some people properties they had no chance of moving into, taking deposits from them. He also carried out petty scams, such as agreeing to sell one victim a TV for £400, then failing to deliver.

By the time police caught up with him, his cons totalled £55,000 (B2.8 million). He was arrested in 2010. Released on bail, he fled to Thailand.

He w a s a r r e s t e d by Chalong police on September 6 this year, after an expat made a complaint to police he had been ripped off for B120,000 to arrange a retirement visa

for him. The visa was never supplied by Ridden.

Follow the first complaint, many other victims showed up at Chalong Police Station to complain about being scammed by Ridden.

R idden ad mit ted to frauds totalling B354,000, though police said they believed the figure might be considerably higher.

They also discovered he was wanted in Britain so, rather than have him resting i n Phu ket at t axpayers’ expense, he was given a sentence of just one month on fraud and visa overstay charges, then shipped him off to meet the judge in Hove.

The Argus reported that Ridden was found guilty of 11 charges of fraud by false representation, three thefts and one count of dishonestly obtaining services from a hotel.

The court was also told that the conman had a history of fraud convictions going back to 1990.

The newspaper quoted Judge Anthony Niblett as telling Ridden, “You are a professional confidence trickster. The only word to describe these offences is despicable.

“The public and particularly the vulnerable need to be protected from you for a long time.”

–Paritta Wangkiat

A new Olympic sport?

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PLUS Hot Topic P11 Business P12-14 Arts P16 People P17 Health P18 Weird World P21 Shopping P23 Dining P24-25 Travel P26-27 Events P31-32 Jobs P33 Classifieds P34-37 Sport P38-43

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THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

NEWS

Weapon of war

Expat busted in possession of high-powered military rifle > 4

Shocked volunteers find Tsunami Wall blocked off Dismayed volunteers, including 12 crew from the USS Pickney, arrived at the Tsunami Wall of Remembrance in Mai Khao last Friday (November 11) to find that the only way they could paint the final few metres at one end was to climb over a new wall with spikes on top of it.

The new wall meets the existing one at right angles, completely blocking off the section built in memory of tsunami victims from Argentina, the Czech Republic and Egypt.

Pol Col Sakchai Limcharoen, Superintendent of Tha Chat Chai Police Station, explained how the new wall came to be built. “The area [beyond the new wall] was originally state property. Ownership was transferred to Provincial Police Region 8 for construction of a new office.”

A contractor was called in to build a wall around the site

last Friday, volunteers had to climb over the new spiked wall to paint the last section of the Wall of Remembrance. of the new office, and carried out the brief to the letter.

The Phuket News has learned, however, that a plan has been devised to solve the situation before December 26.

Col Sakchai explained that an agreement has been made with the Mai Khao OrBorTor that the inaccessible part of

the Wall of Remembrance will be demolished, and a new section added to the other end of the wall to accommodate the three countries.

Saraw ut Sasrik ukam, president of Mai Khao OrBorTor, said, “The new part of the wall will be completed before December 26.”

BRUTALITY

Man claims police beat him to confess A Thai man is calling for justice, claiming he was heavily beaten by up to six Phuket City policemen in order to make him confess he had drugs in his possession.

He received nine stitches above his left eye, wound on his neck and cheek inflicted by a sharp metal object, handcuff abrasions on his wrist, and various bruises on his body.

Chalermporn Kaewmanee, 20, visited the Phuket Damrongdharm Centre on Wednesday (November 16) to lay an official complaint about the violent attack.

Mr Chalermporn told The Phuket News the incident started when two patrol officers noticed him sitting alone in Phuket City last Friday night (November 11).

He said the two officers asked to conduct a body search, but began beating him instead.

Paraphernalia for using Ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) were found in his shoulder bag, which resulted in him being taken to the Phuket City Police station.

There, Mr Chalermporn alleges, four more officers continued beating him in front

Chalermporn Kaewmanee displays the scars on his forehead and cheek which he claims were inflicted in a beating by police to get him to confess to drug possession. of the cell, and forced him to admit that the 0.97 grams of ya ice the police were holding belonged to him.

“I admit I use drugs, but the drugs that appeared in front of me at the time were not mine,” Mr Chalermporn, who was

freed on bail on November 12.

The Phuket City duty officer on the day of the incident, Pol Lt Wirat Kongkawai, said he had yet to speak to the officers allegedly involved in the attack. He would not comment further.

2 held for taxi murder From page 1 steal one. Even better – steal a car whose driver would be willing to take them somewhere private where they could take the car off him. In other words, a taxi.

On October 22 Traithep and Nattawut searched for a suitable taxi to steal. They met Mr Kawee in front of Jungceylon and agreed to pay a fare of B800 for him to take them to Sarasin Bridge.

Once there, one of them pretended to receive a phone call from his girlfriend, asking him to pick her up from a remote oil palm plantation in Kok Kloy.

When they arrived at the plantation, Nattawut produced a pistol and ordered Mr Kawee out of the car.

Mr Kawee tried to grab the pistol, and Nattawut shot him five times in the back.

Later, the two pawned Mr Kawee’s car in Nakhon Phatom, receiving B140,000 for it. They used B80,000 of this to get www.thephuketnews.com

Nattawut, left and Traithep. –Photo by Kok Khloy Police the rental car out of pawn, then drove it back to Karon where they paid B20,000 in rental fees, leaving them with B40,000 pocket money.

Everything would have been fine for the duo, except that they then also pawned Mr Kawee’s phone in Chalong.

After Mr Kawee’s body was discovered, Phuket police swiftly tracked down his phone, discovered the names of the two from the pawn shop, then spent three weeks hunting them down.

Possibly adding to the zeal

of the hunters was the fact that one of Mr Kawee’s uncles is a police officer.

The two were finally arrested in their rented room in Karon on November 11.

The pistol used to murder Mr Kawee was found in the room.

Nattawut told police he had not intended to kill Mr Kawee; his intention was only to steal the car. But when Mr Kawee fought back, the pistol “inevitably” went off. Five times.

The two are currently enjoying new accommodations in Phang Nga Prison.

ISLANDNEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Pensioners battle govt British expat pensioners in around 120 countries worldwide are coming together in a new push to do something about what they see as disgraceful and unfair treatment by their government.

For reasons that are at best opaque, the British government pays index-linked (or inflationlinked) pensions only in some countries. In Europe, the US and even the Philippines, British pensions climb every year.

But in the other countries – some 120 around the world, including Thailand – the pension never rises.

There are half a million pensioners living in Thailand, Australia and other Commonwealth countries who still receive the same amount as when they retired. For the oldest of them, that’s as long as 40 years ago.

Over the past 20 years various groups have tried to challenge the rules in the courts.

Every attempt has failed, including an appeal to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights.

Now the half-million pensioners living on locked pensions overseas are being urged to join a new drive for justice, by signing an online petition to

British pensioner Peter Wyborn: ‘It’s the principle’. the government. If the number of signatories reaches 100,000, there is a chance of getting the matter debated in the British Parliament.

Heading the drive locally is Peter Wyborn, a spry 79-yearold who has lived in Thailand for the past six years or so. He currently has his home in Thai Muang, in Phang Nga, but travels to Phuket every week to shop and play bridge.

Now he is also lobbying for pensioners in the Phuket and nearby provinces to sign the petition.

Mr Wyborn says that he re-

ceives a government pension of £560 every four weeks. That’s about B28,000. As long as he chooses to live in Thailand, it will stay at £560 every four weeks. He will never get more.

The founder of an insurance-related company, he has other sources of income, so the money is not a particular worry. “I suspect the money I’ve missed out on [in the past six years compared with indexlinked pensions] is not that much. Of course, as the years go by it will have more effect.

“But it’s the principle,” he says.

He points out, “These ‘frozen’ pensioners made the same National Insurance contributions as those living in the UK who get the increases.”

He is incensed by what he sees as the cynical attitude of British politicians who, when in opposition, agree that the situation is disgraceful, but do nothing when they get into power.

Is the government trying to preserve dwindling pension funds? No, says Mr Wyborn. The National Insurance Fund balance stands at over £45 billion (B2.2 trillion)

and is growing about £9 billion (B450 billion) a year.

The International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP), which is sponsoring the petition, estimates that index-linking the 526,000 frozen pensions worldwide would cost about £540 million (B27 billion).

The latest push for pension parity is likely to be backed by far more pensioners than before, thanks to three factors: the formation of the ICBP as a lobbying organisation; the passing of the Freedom of Information Act in 2000, allowing access to government papers that had been kept secret until then; and the internet, which allows aggrieved pensioners from countries as far apart as Australia, South Africa and Canada to “get together”.

Mr Wyborn’s message to frozen-pension Brits is simple: visit the ICBP website at pension-parity-uk.com to learn about the sad history of British expat pensions, then go to epetitions.direct. gov.uk/petitions/16387 to sign the petition.

The petition was launched on September 8 and already has 11,000 signatories. It closes on the same date next year.

Officials warn bus firms: New bus routes in 2012 You are being watched Bus companies have been told that, f rom now on, whenever there is a crash involving one of their buses, the company may face the possibility of losing its licence to operate buses.

Up until now, the weight of the law has fallen mainly on the drivers of buses that crash.

But now companies could be penalised. The law allows for a fine of up to B50,000, a paltry amount, but more seriously, a conviction could lead to the bus company having its application for renewal of its operator’s licence refused.

Fifty bus companies heard this message at a meeting at the Phuket Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Tuesday (November 15) .

The meeting followed two tour bus crashes last month, in which one passenger died and dozens were injured.

LTO Chief Teeray uth Prasertphol told the meeting, “The authorities are now looking closely at bus accidents.

From now on, whenever there is a crash the police will prosecute not only driver but may also prosecute the bus company.”

Specific offences the companies may face include using

One of the accidents that sparked a harder line for bus companies: the 40-year-old Je Siam bus that crashed off Patong Hill on October 26, injuring 19 Russian tourists. a driver without the appropriate driver’s licence; allowing a driver to work while drunk; failing to renew a bus licence; making the driver work for more than four hours without a break; and allowing defective buses to go on the road.

On Monday police reported to a meeting of the Public Health Office that their investigations showed that the fatal crash on Patak Road on October 22 was caused by a combination of driver error and poor road design.

Pol Lt Woradech Chookau, Traffic Sub-Inspector, said, “The driver was going downhill in third gear and the bus was old. The road has no

shoulder and the sharp curve at that point has been the site of many accidents.”

A representative from the LTO added, “The owner of this bus cancelled its public use registration bus some time ago. The bus was registered in 1992 and had been moved from Bangkok.”

Pol Lt Col K it tipong Klaykaew, deputy superintendent of Kathu Police Station, reporting on the bus crash on Patong Hill on October 26, said, “The brakes were not working and the bus was very old. It was first registered in 1970. However, it was checked recently by the LTO and its registration was up to date.”

The Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) has not given up on its plans to launch two new bus routes, saying they will be introduced at the beginning of next year.

The two routes will connect Phuket International Airport with Rawai and with Kata, the latter via Patong and Karon.

The plan has been approved by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and other relevant local authorities, and is only awaiting approval from the Department of Land Transport in Bangkok.

Theerayuth Prasertpol, chief of the PLTO, said the two

routes were aimed at carrying passengers between the main stops – the airport, Rawai, Patong, Kata and Karon.

Bus stops may also be built in places in between, where the service does not conflict with “local people who have been running public transportation in the same area”.

Though final approval is close, Mr Theerayuth admitted he is concerned that getting a private company to run the services might be difficult, with “influential people” trying to stop the routes. If no private company shows an interest, the PLTO will try to get local authorities to run the buses.

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IN BRIEF Buffaloes die in collision A car, a bus and a motorbike were damaged when they collided with two buffaloes on Thepkrasattri Rd, in the early hours of November 10.

The car was overturned by the force of the ensuing collision, while the bus suffered extensive damage to its front end. Both buffaloes were killed but no people were injured.

Russian drowns at Karon Beach A Russian tourist drowned off Karon Beach on Wednesday afternoon (November 9). Gavrilov Romanskiy, 29, was reportedly swimming more than 100 metres off the shore in a red-flagzone.

Lifeguards swam out and pulled him back to the shore, but failed to revive him using CPR.

Schoolgirl, 16, dies in smash A 16-year-old schoolgirl, Wiparat Ketkaew, was killed instantly when her motorbike collided with a six-wheeled ice truck at the Saphan Hin intersection at noon on Tuesday (November 15).

A friend riding pillion received minor injuries. Reportedly, neither was wearing a helmet. The driver of the truck, Suwit Prachumchai, 45, fled the scene but surrendered to police an hour later.

Crash kills Kuwaiti tourist A 33-year-old Kuwaiti tourist, Asma Alotaibi, died instantly when she was run over by a tour bus in Karon last Saturday (November 12).

Mrs Alotaibi was a passenger on a bike driven by her husband. He swerved to avoid a parking car and lost control of the bike. Ms Alotaibi fell onto the road and was then run over by a tour bus, dying instantly.

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ISLANDNEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

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Growing in nicely: Seven of the 31 hirsute BIS teachers, From left, top row, Chris Greene, Dave Gow, Ian Jacklin and Jeff Fuller.

Bottom row, Patrick McEvoy, Paul Walby and Simon Bloom.

Managing Editor 08 3922 9265 managingeditor@thephuketnews.com From Hong Kong; nearly a decade’s experience as editor of magazines and newspapers in Shanghai (City Weekend, that’s Shanghai), Beijing (Urbane), Hong Kong (Time Out Hong Kong), Kuala Lumpur (Vision KL), Bangkok (Bangkok 101) and Phuket. Travel journalist for Esquire, Vacations & Travel, Travel & Leisure, DestinAsian, and CNNGo.

ALASDAIR FORBES Executive Editor 08 7884 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).

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

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

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

DANIEL OGUNSHAKIN Sports Editor editor@thephuketnews.com From the UK; Sport and Sociology degree from Sheffield Hallam University; Three years’ experience at The Phuket Gazette, Phuket Tatler, Business Traveler Asia Pacific, www.footballworldcupbrazil2014.com

SUKUNYA ‘BEAU’ PHOONPONG Reporter 08 1535 8080 reporter2@thephuketnews.com

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IT’S THE HEDGEUCATORS During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of facial fur on thousands of men’s faces around the world.

The aim is to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.

On November 1, guys register at movember.com with a clean-shave face and then for the rest of the month, these

Beach and reef clean A Patong Beach and coral reef clean-up will be held on December 16, in conjunction with the Phuket Carnival.

Members of the public who wish to help clean up the beach, and divers who are able to help remove rubbish from the coral reef in Patong Bay, are advised to meet at 8am at the corner of Bangla Rd and Thaweewong Rd to register.

Participation is free. For information contact the Patong Municipality Office at 076-344275 or the TDA at 08-1417-0448.

Calling for fun sports entries

The Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (OrBorJor) has called for entries for its annual ‘Sports For Fun’ event, from December 12 to 14 at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town.

The sports will include spr i nt, m idd le - d ist a nce and long-distance running races, relay races, long jump, high jump and triple jump, and shot, discus and javelin.

Students can apply to compete either individually or through their school or university, while others can register at the OrBorJor offices on Narisorn Rd, Phuket Town.

For more information call 07 621 7087.

hairy lipped men, known as “Mo Bros”, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of magnificent moustachery.

This year, 31 male teachers at British International School Phuket (BIS) will be joining the campaign in an effort to raise awareness and funds for the cause, and maybe have a little bit of fun in the process.

The funds raised support the battle

against the two most common malespecific cancers – prostate and testicular cancer – and go directly to programmes run directly by Movember, including The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research.

To donate to the Mo Bros at BIS, email BIS Marketing and Communications Executive Tim Pearson at communications@bisphuket.ac.th.

Expat arrested for having assault rifle

A 43-year-old Phuket expat and his Thai wife were arrested by Thung Tong police early on Saturday morning (November 12) after being found in possession of an assault rifle.

Ivan Vaclavik, a Slovakian who worked as a ship captain, and his wife Supasa Chaimusik, 32, were sent to court after their arrest and were granted bail, despite police objections.

Thung Tong police received a tip-off that Vaclavik might be in possession of the weapon, and tracked him down at a bar at the entrance to the Hope Land housing project in Kathu.

They searched Vaclavik’s car and found the rifle, a box

The M16 assualt rifle seized was similar to this. containing 29 bullets, a silencer, and a magazine. Vaclavik admitted to police the gun was his. He told police he had it to protect himself while he was sailing in the ocean.

Both were charged with

possession of a prohibited weapon, a high-powered assault rifle that has little legitimate use outside of the military.

Vaclavik is a long-term resident of Phuket, having had a home here for 15 years.

ICEC go-ahead report denied A local report that the Phuket International Conference and Exhibition Centre (ICEC) has been given the go-ahead by the Office of Natural Resources & Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) has been denied by the man spearheading the attempt to get it back on track.

ONEP called a halt to the project at the beginning of September, on the erroneous grounds that the site for the ICEC is in a mangrove forest area and abuts a beach on

which endangered marine turtle species lay eggs.

Pitak Direksunthorn, Director of the Bureau of State Property Management, Region 2, told The Phuket News last Monday (November 14) that the flooding in Bangkok had caused delays in sending additional information to ONEP in a bid to have it reconsider its ban on the project.

“All the documents and information should have gone to ONEP at the end of October, but this was delayed by the

widespread flooding in Bangkok,” Mr Pitak said. “Now I’m preparing all the paperwork to resend next week.”

Although the project is still on hold, Phuket Vice Governor Somkiat Sangkaosuttirak said in a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall last week that he was confident the ICEC project will get the green light soon.

“We are collecting as much supporting information as possible. I believe the project will happen soon,” he said.

ISLANDNEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

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officials Developers blamed for Commerce urged to increase Phuket Town flooding surprise price raids Unprecedented flooding in Phuket Town earlier this year was the result of unchecked development on hillsides, say officials.

As a result, the existing klongs that act as drains for floodwater in and around Phuket Town are not enough to clear the water quickly and efficiently.

The Mayor of Phuket Town, Somjai Suwannasupana, has therefore proposed the digging of a new klong to relieve pressure on the existing network.

At a meeting of the Pro-

vincial Flood Protection Committee on Monday (November 15), Mayor Somjai pointed out that most of Phuket Town is low-lying and is therefore prone to flooding by run-off from neighbouring areas.

“Two districts of Phuket Municipality, Talad Yai and Talad Neua, are lowland, so they are liable to flooding from Rassada and Wichit sub-districts.”

She blamed hillside property developments for this year’s floods. “Water from hills flows faster when there are a lot of new properties and

housing developments because there is no more soil to absorb the water,” she said.

The main flood drain for the entire area is the 20-kilometre-long Klong Bang Yai, which takes water from Wichit, Rassada, Phuket Town and places as far away as Kathu, and empties it into Phuket Bay at Saphan Hin. Near its mouth it meets Klong Thakrang, which channels run-off from southern Phuket Town and Wichit.

When both are full, they tend to back up and overflow.

The three municipalities

are now putting together information to present to the Phuket Irrigation Department to find ways to allow floodwater to drain faster and more easily.

Mayor Somjai made her own suggestion: “What we need to do is to dig a new klong to con nect Klong Bang Yai to the sea at Sapam [north of Phuket Town to relieve the pressure upstream],” she explained.

This would reduce the water level in Klong Bang Yai where it meets Klong Thakrang, allowing water from that klong to drain more easily.

11,000 to get piped water Water shortages in Thalang District are expected to be eased by next year, when the Phuket Irrigation Department (IRD) installs a 14-kilometre pipeline to carry water from Bang Neaw Dam reservoir to the north of the island.

Bang Neaw Dam reservoir, which is in Baan Manik, currently supplies water to residents of Cherng Thalay, Sri Soonthorn, Koh Keaw and Pa Khlok sub-districts.

An analysis by the IRD has shown that the reservoir, when full, holds enough water to supply all of Thalang for 23 months; the problem is not one of quantity, but of distribution.

The project, costing B40 million, will extend the distribution system, which currently ends at Baan Lipon, to Phuket International Airport, giving 11,000 households access to municipal water.

Initially, the new system will bring water to communities along Thepkrasattree Road, with water pipes being installed parallel to the road on both sides.

From these pipes, subsidiary pipes will take water to villages away from the main road.

The IRD is also preparing a plan to extend the system a further 14 km from the airport to the site of the Phuket International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Commerce Office in Phuket has been urged to set up extra “hit squads” of officials to make surprise visits, accompanied by police, on retailers around the island.

Chairing a meeting on Monday (November 14) between government officials and big retailers at Provincial Hall, V/Gov Somkiat Sangkaosuttirak urged the officials to take a more aggressive approach to cheating retailers.

An official of the Commerce Office explained to The Phuket News that although her office and the Internal Trade Office have inspection teams, they are not enough to cover the entire island and therefore tend to concentrate on Phuket Town unless they

receive specific complaints from the public in other parts of the island.

V/Gov Somkiat urged officials to see the Governor this week to get his approval for extra inspection teams.

He added, “We need cooperation from stores in Phuket to follow Commerce Ministry announcements about displaying clearly prices of goods and services, and measures to prevent retailers taking advantage of the flood crisis by raising prices.”

Anyone wanting to complain about stores hoarding price-control products (see full list here http://tiny.cc/ f49bm), not displaying prices, or other forms of unfair trading, can call 1569.

Hotels cutting rates for flood victims

2,000 butterflies to be released Two thousand butterflies are to be released on November 26 at Bang Pae Waterfall and Khao Pra Teaw Wildlife Reserve, with activities starting at 9:30 am.

Five hundred of the butterflies, all raised at the Phuket Butterfly Garden & Insect World in Phuket Town, will be auctioned to raise funds for the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project and the Phuket Panya Nukul School for Handicapped Children.

In addition to the butterfly

release, 800 bushes and trees that provide food for butterflies will be planted in the area.

It will be the fifth time the butterfly garden has organised a mass release. The garden’s managing director, Wasin Koysiripong, told The Phuket News: “Anyone can join in – there will be no park entry fee that day – and children who come along will get a free gift from us.”

The butterfly release will begin at 9:30am and the tree

planting at 9:45am. These will be followed by other activities including a show for children and organised games.

Companies are invited set up booths at the site. There is no charge for the booths but companies must pledge to donate all proceeds from the day to charity. The deadline for booth applications is November 21.

To book, call the butterfly garden at 076 210 861 or email info@phuketbutterfly.com

Some hotels in Phuket have reduced room rates for people escaping the floods in Bangkok.

The Phuket director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Bangornrat Shinaprayoon told The Phuket News, “Victims of flooding in central Thailand, especially Bangkok, are coming to Phuket at this time.

“Some are staying with relatives but others are going to hotels, so the TAT has arranged with some hotels to offer them special prices.

“Hotels that have already joined the scheme include Chandara Resort & Spa, Sino

Inn Phuket, Daeng Plaza Hotel, Rawai Palm Beach Resort, Woraburi Resort & Spa and the Pearl Hotel. I believe others will confirm soon,” she said.

However, demand from “flood refugees” may not be that great in Phuket, says Panu Maswongsa, Vice President of the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA).

He pointed out that Phuket is not as popular as Hua Hin or Pattaya, which are closer to Bangkok.

For more information about special hotel rates for flood refugees, contact the TAT Phuket at Tel 076 212 213.

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ISLANDNEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Temporary fix for moonscape road

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German tourist Julia, with her eco-friendly kratong.

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Green the way to go at Loy Kratong Most people who celebrated Loy Kratong last Friday (November 11) opted for kratong made of natural materials, even though these were more expensive than kratong made from environmentally disastrous styrofoam and plastic.

One vendor, at the municipal market on Ong Sim Phai Rd, Phuket Town, Somsri Tantisammarak, told The

Phuket News that people are generally using natural materials to make kratong.

“Many people are buying natural materials including banana leaves and flowers and, for the kratong base, slices of banana stalk, or bread.” Ms Somsri was also selling complete kratong made of natural biodegradable materials for B25 upwards.

The disgraceful Kathu-Nakoh Rd has finally been receiving the care it deserves, though only in some parts, and strictly temporarily.

There is a possibility, however, that funds will be found soon to rebuild the road properly before April next year. That’s when HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is scheduled to ride along it.

The road, which runs past the Loch Palm Golf Club, has been a minefield of potholes and lumps for more than a year, full of deep puddles in the rainy season and a dusty moonscape in the dry season.

The Engineering Division of Kathu Municipality spent five days and B700,000 at the beginning of November resurfacing some parts of the road and filling potholes in others.

“We were able to fix only the road surface to make it smoother and safer,” said an engineer who asked not to be named. “There was no rain at the time so we were able to do it quickly.”

In the long ter m, the Kathu Municipality and the Phuket Department of Rural Roads (DRR) want to reconstruct the road entirely, but lack the funds.

The Director of the DRR, Teeraporn Jirarattanakorn,

The same section of road in September (above) and today.

said the main problem was poor drainage. Once this was fixed, he explained, the road could be properly resurfaced.

“The first priority is drainage, which takes a long time to fix. Resurfacing will go faster,” Mr Teeraporn said.

“A design for the drainage system and plans for resurfacing have been done

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but we are waiting for the funds. It will cost B6 million for the drainage system and B15 million for resurfacing.

We can start as soon as we receive the budget.

“It should be completed before HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhor n visits the Phuket Mining Museum next April,” he added.

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Lt-Gen N.C. Marwah (right), Commander-in-Chief of Indian forces in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands pays a courtesy call on Gov Tri Augkaradacha on Tuesday (November 15). Indian and Thai warships had been carrying out joint patrol exercises, the 13th year such exercises have been carried out.

The second phase of CCTV installations in Phuket Town will be completed by early next year, with 189 extra cameras going up by January 19.

Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO) will spend B29.8 million carrying out the installations in Tambon Rassada (142 cameras), Tambon Talad Yai (nine) and Koh Kaew (38).

The CCTV cameras will feed live images to a control centre set up at the OrBorJor Hospital in Rassada.

It follows the first phase of CCTV installations, which saw 53 cameras go up around Rang Hill, 72nd Anniversary Queen Sirikit Park and on Thalang Rd early last year.

Police believe the camera network will assist them in apprehending criminals and resolving traffic accident disputes.

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NATIONALNEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

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Move for Thaksin amnesty Cabinet has endorsed a controversial amnesty decree that could pave the way for the return of fugitive ex-Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, local media said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is Mr Thaksin’s younger sister, has yet to confirm or comment on a move that already attracted harsh criticism from the opposition.

The draft, which needs to be approved by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, would grant an amnesty to “convicts who are at least 60 years old and are sentenced to under three years in jail”, according to the Bangkok Post.

Amnesties are granted each year on the King’s birthday on December 5. Mr Thaksin, who was ousted by the army in a 2006 coup, is 62 years old and lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid a two-year prison term for corruption.

Pol it ic a l n ov i c e M s Yingluck, 44, led the Pheu Thai Party to victory in a July election on the back of her brother’s popularity among Thailand’s rural poor and is widely seen as his political proxy.

She was absent from Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting because she was visiting a flood-stricken province, reports said.

The return of Mr Thaksin, a deeply-divisive figure in the country, would likely anger his foes in the Bangkok-based elites in the military, palace and bureaucracy and could spark further turmoil after years of violent protests.

It would also come at a politically-sensitive time for Ms Yingluck who has faced strong criticism in recent weeks for her handling of Thailand’s worst flood crisis in half a century.

The reported amnesty plan was immediately criticised by the opposition Democrats, whose own amnesty decree last year excluded corrup-

Rhino horn arrest South African officials on Friday (November 11) detained a Thai man they believe is linked to a poaching ring accused of hiring prostitutes to smuggle rhino horns out of the country.

The South African Revenue Service believes the man, Punpitak Chunchom, is part of a poaching syndicate they say is run by Thai national Chumlong Lemtongthai, who is charged with organising

rhino poaching expeditions masked as legal trophy hunts.

Mr Punpitak, who has a previous conviction in South Africa for smuggling lion bones and other illegal animal products, was trying to enter the country on a fake passport.

The revenue authority says Chumlong, who is awaiting trial in Johannesburg, would obtain trophy hunting permits then buy rhino horns from the

hunters for an average 65,000 rand (B247,800) per kilogram and send them overseas.

A rhino horn currently fetches up to half a million dollars on the black market, driven by booming demand in Asia, where it is used in medicinal treatments.

Newspaper reports said Chumlong made more than $8.9 million (B267 million) profit on 40 rhino horns. –AFP

tion convictions. “It shows that what they have done is intended to help one person,” Democrat deputy party spokesman Sakoltee Phattiyakul told AFP, predicting the move would make for a “tense” political situation in the kingdom.

“Because even though the floods are not yet over, the Cabinet still approved the decree,” he said.

After his sister’s election win, Thaksin said setting foot back in Thailand was not a priority, but he has previously expressed hopes to be at his daughter’s wedding in December.

–AFP

Fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Where the wild things are Two vets from Singapore were to arrive in Bangkok on Tuesday to help capture snakes and other roaming reptiles in flood-stricken Thailand, a global zoo body said.

The experts from Wildlife Reserves Singapore would bring medical supplies and equipment such as nets for catching snakes and crocodiles to assist their Thai colleagues, according to the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

Thailand’s worst floods in half a century, triggered by months of unusually heavy monsoon rains, have left at least 562 people dead and damaged millions of homes and livelihoods, while animals have also been affected by rising waters.

Experts have warned of the increased risk of snake bite as the creatures, like people, evacuate from flooded areas they normally live in, such as drainpipes, while crocodiles

have also reportedly escaped from inundated farms.

Authorities are offering a financial reward for each of the crocs caught dead or alive.

In Bangkok, where waters have started to recede, only Dusit Zoo was located in the pathway of the floods.

Most of the animals there have been moved to higher ground within the park, and some relocated to a nearby zoo.

–AFP

Anger as flood ebbs Angry residents in f looded Bangkok protested on Monday, briefly blocking a major highway as frustration mounted that parts of the capital are suffering badly while the centre stays dry.

After weeks of flooding, waters in some Bangkok districts have receded significantly. The water level in the Lat Phrao and Mo Chit areas, on the northern edge of the city centre, had fallen by nearly a metre in 48 hours and inhabitants were no longer using boats to get around.

But elsewhere anger is growing that residential areas

are being sacrificed to preserve Bangkok’s commercial and tourist heart.

In the west of the city, around 200 people blocked a section of the Rama II road, the main route linking the capital to the south, to demand extra water pumps to help drain their swamped neighbourhoods.

Around 70 people also gathered at a major floodwall in northern Don Mueang district, watched by about 30 police officers, to stop the authorities repairing a gap they had opened to allow water to drain away from badly-flooded areas.

A spokesman for the Flood

Relief Operations Centre (FROC), the government agency charged with dealing with the floods, said a compromise had been struck to partially repair the eight-metre breach.

People in the area – many of whom have been living in waters waist-deep or worse for almost a month – had threatened to step up their protest if the opening was repaired.

The 15-kilometre floodwall, mostly made up of huge sandbags weighing up to 2.5 tonnes, is a key defence preventing run-off waters from the north from swamping Bangkok’s glitzy downtown area. –AFP

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INTERNATIONALNEWS

IN BRIEF Casey Anthony TV movie plans revealed A spokeswoman says a television movie is in the works about the sensational trial of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman who was eventually acquitted of killing her twoyear-old daughter.

Fox Television Studios spokeswoman Leslie Oren also said her company has optioned the film and television rights to the book Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony.

Anders Breivik admits Norway massacre Norwegian anti-immigration militant Anders Behring Breivik has spoken in open court for the first time and admitted killing 77 people in attacks in July, but he denied any guilt, saying he was a military commander in a farright resistance movement.

It was the 32-year-old’s first public utterance since he planted a car bomb on July 22 that killed eight people at an Oslo government building, then went on to shoot dead 69 more at a Labour Party summer camp on the island of Utoeya.

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Neo-Nazi killing spree The German government admitted Monday (November 14) gross errors by the security services in dealing with a new brand of far-right “terrorism” after revelations of a decadelong killing spree by neo-Nazis.

Chancellor Angela Merkel called the murders of nine shopke e p e r s of m a i n ly Turkish origin and a Germany policewoman by right-wing extremists “shameful for Germany” and her interior minister said investigators were trying to learn whether a larger militant network had escaped their notice.

“It is deeply troubling that there was no connection made between the murder series

across Germany and the farright scene in Thuringia,” the east German state where the group was based, Hans-Peter Friedrich told the daily Bild.

“State interior ministers are calling for better coordination between police and domestic intelligence on the state level.

I strongly back that.”

Fe d e r a l p r o s e c u t o r s launched the probe last week after the discovery of a pistol used in the nine murders in the home of a 36-year-old woman, Beate Zschaepe, a self-confessed neo-Nazi.

Wanted by police for questioning over an armed robbery in the eastern city of Jena on November 4, she had turned

herself in after blowing up a rented flat in nearby Zwickau.

Two suspects in the robbery, who were close to Zschaepe in the far-right scene, were found dead in a caravan shortly afterwards in an apparent suicide.

Inside the caravan police found another firearm, that of the policewoman killed by a shot to her head in the southern town of Heilbronn in 2007.

In a chilling DVD left behind by the two men, Uwe Mundlos, 38, and Uwe Boehnhardt, 34, they admitted to the unsolved murders of eight businessmen of Turkish origin and a Greek between 2000 and 2006 as well as the policewoman.

The killings had long been called the “kebab murders” because many of the victims ran snack shops.

News weekly Der Spiegel said they also admitted in the video to a 2004 nail bomb attack against Turkish immigrants in Cologne in which several people were injured.

A judge issued a detention order for Zschaepe on Sunday, after arresting a 37-year-old alleged accomplice identified as Holger G. Newspapers splashed a front-page picture of the unassuming woman with her auburn hair tied back in a ponytail wearing a pair of blue-tinted eyeglasses.

She has reportedly refused to speak to police until she wins an agreement for a lesser sentence in return for a full confession.

Bild reported that the killers had shot many of their victims in the face at point-blank range and even filmed their bloodied bodies as trophies.

Friedrich said there was no evidence to indicate that any of the three had been working as informants for the intelligence services.

Merkel told a party congress of her conservative Christian Democratic Union that authorities would “do everything in their power” to track down all those responsible. –AFP

Two rhino species bite the dust

The northern white rhino is “possibly extinct in the wild”.

Several species of rhino have been poached into extinction or to the point of no return, according to an update of the Red List of Threatened Species, the gold standard for animal and plant conservation.

All told, a quarter of all mammal species assessed are at risk of extinction, the International Union for the Conser vation of Nat u re (IUCN), which compiles the list, said on Thursday.

About a third of the 61,900 species now catalogued by

the IUCN are classified as “vulnerable,” “endangered,” “critically endangered,” or extinct, with some groups, such as amphibians and reptiles, in particularly rapid decline.

Rhinoceros have been hit especially hard in recent years, with their fearsome horns – prized in east Asia and the Middle East – can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars on the black market.

The new assessment shows that a subspecies of the western black rhino (Diceros bi-

cornis longipes) native to western Africa is now extinct, joining a long list of creatures – from the Tasmanian tiger to the Arabian gazelle – that no longer stride the planet.

Central Africa’s northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is listed as “possibly extinct in the wild”, while the Javan rhino is making a last stand.

The last remaining specimen of its Vietnamese counterpart was killed by poachers last year.

–AFP

China peace prize awarded to Russia’s Vladimir Putin A group of Chinese academics has awarded its version of the Nobel Peace Prize to Vladimir Putin, an organiser said Tuesday, pointing to the Russian Prime Minister as “outstanding in keeping world peace.”

Putin beat other candidates such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Yuan Longping, a Chinese agricultural scientist, to nab this year’s “Confucius Peace Prize”, Qiao Damo, one of the organisers, told AFP. The prize emerged last year, when it was suddenly announced by the group two days before jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel prize much to Beijing’s anger, sparking speculation it was set up with the government’s guidance.

Members of the jury at the time denied links to the government, but the award’s executive chairman Liu Haofeng told AFP later that it had been set up by an association overseen

by China’s culture ministry.

Then, in a move that added www.thephuketnews.com

Vladimir Putin. to the confusion surrounding the prize, the ministry in September ordered organisers to scrap the award, saying they were not given official permission to promote it.

But Qiao on Tuesday contested this decision, saying it was “unreasonable” to cancel the prize, adding he had registered a research centre that organises the award in Hong Kong to try and circumvent the problem.

“There are 16 people in the evaluation committee, including me and three professors, eight PhD students and four of our centre’s researchers,” said Qiao, a poet.

According to a report in China Newsweek, a current affairs weekly, other members include professors from the prestigious Beijing and Tsinghua universities. Nine of the 16 voted for Putin.

“This April or May, Putin was against NATO’s idea to bomb Libya and he appeared to the world in a peaceful manner,” Qiao explained.

“This year’s peace prize was given to him because his act this year was outstanding in keeping world peace.”

Qiao, who said the Russian embassy had been informed about Putin’s win but had not yet given a response, said the group would hold its award ceremony in Beijing on December 9 – a day before the Nobel Peace Prize event in Oslo.

“I feel the Noble Peace Prize has gone too far away from peace, and their standard has gone too far away from the essence of peace,” he said.

“Western values are not perfect and need an alternative to balance them out.”

–AFP

INTERNATIONALNEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Gabrielle Giffords can’t recall shooting, wants to get ‘better’ Gabrielle Giffords said in her first television interview, which aired Monday, that she has no memory of the day she was shot point blank through the head while meeting with voters in a Tucson supermarket parking lot.

The Democratic congresswoman learned only later from her astronaut husband, Mark Kelley, that six people were killed in the January 8 rampage, including a federal judge, a nine-year-old girl and a member of her staff.

“Tough, tough, tough,” she said in the interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer.

Smiling and alert, the

congresswoman often responded to questions with one word answers and her husband acknowledged she has difficulty summoning the words to express her thoughts.

The hour-long show, however, showed home video that tracked her struggle to recover from a gunshot wound that ran the length of her brain, and the remark- Gabrielle Giffords in 2010. able progress she has made Kelly, who retired from relearning to walk, form NASA after leading the US words and even smile.

Asked if she ever gets an- agency’s last shuttle misgry at what happened to her, sion over the summer, has she responded: “No. No. No,” also written a book about adding with a shrug, “Life.” his wife’s recovery, entitled

Gabby: A Story of Hope and Courage, set to be released this week.

In it, Giffords says she wants to return to Congress and to work for the American people if she can.

“I will get stronger,” she writes. “I will return.”

“She doesn’t give up,” Kelly said. “If that’s what she wants, that’s what I want for her.

“You know, I think she has the right to a chance to recover. She was elected by a lot of people who voted for her in Arizona. When she knows she’s ready, she’ll make the decision.”

Asked in the interview if she wanted to go back to Congress, Giffords responded that she wanted to get “better”.

The suspected gunman, Jared Loughner, 22, has pleaded not guilty to the shooting, which shocked the country and briefly united a deeply divided Congress in dismay over the blood-letting.

Giffords made a dramatic return to the House of Representatives on August 1 to vote on a controversial debt compromise, drawing a standing ovation from Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

–AFP

Myanmar could chair ASEAN in 2014

Southeast Asian ministers said Tuesday they would approve Myanmar’s bid to chair their 10-member bloc in 2014, in a major boost for its new government after a series of reform gestures.

Their move goes against warnings that giving Myanmar’s nominally civilian administration the diplomatic prize so quickly will remove the incentive for more fundamental reforms in a nation still accused of major rights abuses.

“Everybody agrees to Myanmar, 2014,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman told reporters at Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) talks on the Indo-

nesian resort island of Bali.

“They have taken positive steps toward democratisation.

We should encourage them more by letting them host the meeting,” he said. The bloc’s leaders will make a formal decision this week based on the ministers’ recommendation.

In 2006, Myanmar was forced to renounce the ASEAN rotating presidency in the face of intense criticism over its human rights record and failure to shift to democracy.

But since elections a year ago that ostensibly ended decades of military rule, the new regime has unveiled surprising measures including prisoner releases that have

begun to rehabilitate the nation’s pariah status.

A decision to allow Myanmar to chair ASEAN would involve it hosting the 10-nation group’s summit, as well as the wider East Asia Summit that includes Myanmar’s arch-critic the US, which maintains sanctions against the regime.

But Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin indicated that the decision was settled. “All the ministers support Myanmar’s chairmanship in 2014 and I welcome the decision,” he told reporters.

Tan See Seng from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said the decision would be a dream

come true for Myanmar’s leaders who have long sought legitimacy and chafed against Western sanctions.

“Myanmar has really been putting in the right moves – putting on a good show – partly in regards to freeing up the political system, albeit in a very limited way,” he told AFP. “I think that for ASEAN leaders, giving Myanmar the chair would be a way of patting them on the back and encouraging them to continue what they have been recently doing domestically.”

Southeast Asian lawmakers also voiced concern that granting Myanmar the prize prematurely could end the

reform process, and that it should introduce more concrete measures before being rewarded.

“This is to ensure that Myanmar will not just fool ASEAN into getting the chairmanship, and that they will continue with the democratic process,” said Eva Sundari Kusuma from ASEAN’s Inter-parliamentary Myanmar Caucus.

“Our call is very clear.

Let us postpone. But if ASEAN agrees to let Myanmar be the chair of ASEAN, then they must put some conditionalities such as a specific action plan including the release of prisoners.”

– AFP

9

IN BRIEF Gillard may lift Indian nuclear ban Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is pushing to overturn a ban on selling uranium to India.

This follows an agreement by the US to support the civil nuclear programme in India, which is seen

by Washington as a counterweight to China.

Australia has refused to sell nuclear material to India because it has not signed the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty.

Strauss-Kahn and wife to sue over divorce claims Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his wife are to take legal action to protect their privacy following press claims they were seeking a divorce after the former IMF chief was linked to a prostitution scandal, lawyers for the couple have said.

The lawyers said they had been instructed by their clients to take all necessary legal action to put a stop to media reports which they described as “fantasising.

Burma: Monks stage rare protest Five Buddhist Burmese monks launched a rare protest inside a famous temple in Mandalay on November 15, calling on the government to immediately release political prisoners.

The monks locked themselves inside a museum at Maha Myatmuni pagoda before contining the protest at a monastery.

Italy’s man of the moment is Monti: the anti-Berlusconi Italy’s Mario Monti, the sober economist set to take over from the larger-than-life Silvio Berlusconi, is a former top European commissioner who could not be more different from the outgoing premier.

Affable but reserved, the professorial 68-year-old heads Milan’s prestigious Bocconi University– the breeding ground of Italy’s financial elite.

He has admitted he cannot tell a joke unlike the famously colourful Berlusconi.

In stark contrast to the billionaire tycoon’s years of fast cars, luxury villas and bimbos, he has spent the past few days being chased by packs of journalists around Rome while occupied with relatively mundane tasks.

The silver-haired econo-

mist picked up his wife of 40 years at the train station last Friday and caused a media scrum when he went to mass on Sunday.

Peppered with questions, he smiled and said: “It’s a nice day today.”

In a rare interview in 2005 after coming back to Italy from a 10-year stint in Brussels, Monti said: “Even though I’m not very good at remembering them or telling them, I do like jokes. Berlusconi has a real art for telling jokes.”

Berlusconi, who had lunch with him last Saturday (November 12) as one of his last acts as prime minister, has said Monti would work “in the interests of the country” and his People of Freedom (PDL) party has backed Monti.

–AFP

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THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

OPINION

Grand Tour

“local Thai guides prefer being in the ‘slavery of convenience’” > 11

Editor’s Viewpoint

NORACHAI’S WORLD

Gunning for pensions As we report in the paper this week, British expatriate pensioners in around 120 countries worldwide are coming together virtually to protest the British government’s ongoing policy of paying indexlinked (or inflation-linked) pensions in some countries, and not in others (see page 3).

A Phang Nga based British expatriate, 79-year-old Peter Wyborn, is behind the local drive to sign an online petition to have the matter debated in the House of Commons. Now, some may argue that a figure of around B28,000 per month (Wyborn’s own pension from the British government) is more than enough to live off in a country with such a cheap cost of living such as Thailand.

However, a policy that benefits retirees in the Philippines, where living costs are even lower, over Thailand, makes no logical sense – especially when the UK’s National Insurance Fund balance stands at over £45 billion (B2.2 trillion) and is growing about £9 billion (B45 billion) a year.

Elsewhere in local news, last Saturday a Slovakian man

It’s just not cricket.

Letters to the Editor Who the Hell?

[Re: Hell’s Angels bar venture downsized] Deputy Superintendent of Kathu Police Station Pol Lt Col Kittipong Klykaew saying he had received “no reports of violence or illegal activity”. He was not even aware of who the Hells Angels were.

Yeah, who are they?

Stuff5000

Stay away [Re: Bangkok tour cancellations surge] As it stands, I thin k all tourists should stay away until this flooding is over.

As for ‘helping’ out tourism in this country, stupid idiots like myself who came here during the height of the flood, unable to catch a train

up north, unable to get to Mor Chit bus station from the airport, had to pay three times the going rate to fly from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, plus a hefty fee for extra baggage.

A small bottle of water at the airport costs B55, B45 and B35, depending on the brand. I could not drink the supposedly “filtered” water from the water fountains at the airport (probably sabotaged so we would have to buy bottled water). Yay for tourist bucks.

Francisbowers

Lesson learnt [Re: More local teachers needed for Phuket] Good idea, with the exception that many Thai English teachers can barely speak English and should not be teaching others.

Craig

Walk the plank [Re: US Navy clean up Phuket Tsunami wall] Rules are rules. They have no work permits so lets see them in jail.

Stuff5000

On the bright side [Re: OrBorJor seeks solutions to ‘top 3’ problems] “As to bus crashes, Mr Paiboon said, “Bus accidents are a safety issue, and we need to be strict about checking vehicles.”

Doesn’t this guy read the news, I guess not. It’s a well reported fact by this newspaper as well as other sources, that the equipment for checking heavy vehicles in Phuket’s Transport Dept. is, and has been for sometime, and quite likely for evermore, inoperative.

It would also seem the problem with the tuk-tuk mafia is no longer considered

important possibly because the problem is too big for Phuket so we must wait for assistance or a directive from Bangkok.

What a load of c**p! We all know how the system works, forget any chance of a change.

These politicians and government officials never cease to amaze me with their comments which are so out of tune with reality.

Guess it boils down to the old saying, “Tell the people what they want to hear” or “like mushrooms, keep them in the dark and feed them BS”.

Don’t miss the latest release: “Phuket down the Plughole”, soon at a location near you.

Supreme Optimist

Stars and strops [Re: TV star alleges Phuket ‘toothbrush rape’] Shameful behaviour for all

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was arrested with his wife at a bar in Kathu for carrying a high-powered M16 assault rifle (in his vehicle, not in his arms). According to his statement to police, he claimed that the gun – which was found together with bullets, magazine and a silencer – was needed to protect himself while he was sailing in the ocean off Phuket.

Now, while it has its dangers, the Andaman Sea is no Gulf of Aden. This incident does, however, reflect Thailand’s status as a country with a very strong gun culture, where personal ownership of firearms is common (unlike, say, Singapore and Malaysia), and there are all-too-frequent incidents of g un-related violence.

While, thankfully, there are as yet no American NRAstyle organisations proclaiming the right of every citizen to bear arms, we still need to be wary – as the Slovakian’s arrest demonstrates – of becoming complacent. Unless we all want assault rifles tucked under our pillows to protect against unexpected visits of gentlemen from Mogadishu?

This week in history involved. The woman is no victim. She is part of scumbag TV. This stuff makes me ashamed to be American.

Woodyjons

Talking trash [Re: Gov’s anti-plastic bag drive gathers steam] Okay, so what do people do with their rubbish, which they normally place inside the plastic bags for collection at the roadside?

Sandy Shores

Movie magic [Re: Film review – Killer Elite] Dane Halphin [sic] next time do yourself and us all a favour and don’t review films, this is like a summary of the plot and then add your line at the end... crappy review. The film actually is pretty good. I think you need to watch more good films to develop your taste.

Adeel Salman

■■ November 18, 1969: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles ‘Pete’ Conrad Jr. and Alan L. Bean landed on the moon.

■■ November 19, 1928: Time magazine presented its cover in colour for the first time. The subject was Japanese Emperor Hirohito.

■■ November 20, 1985: Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released, the company’s first multitasking user interface.

■■ November 21, 1783: In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.

■■ November 22, 1963: US President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

■■ November 23, 1971: The People’s Republic of China was seated in the United Nations Security Council.

■■ November 24, 1859: Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in which he explained his theory of evolution through natural selection.

HOTTOPIC 11

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

TAKEN FOR A RIDE A

ccording to government figures, some B460 million has been spent in the past year to ‘improve’ the tourism industry in Phuket, and bring it up to an international standard.

The money has been put towards various projects that aim to improve hospitality, tourism facilities and amenities that enable visitors to better enjoy the charms of this tropical island.

However, the Bureau of Tourism and Guide Registration Phuket Office (BTGR) has reported a large rise in the number of tourist complaints sent to embassies, and local and national authorities.

Many of these complaints have centred on the behaviour of tour guides.

A question of origin

Today, Phuket-based guides cover a range of nationalities, including Russians, Koreans and Chinese.

So prevalent are foreign guides on the island that President of Phuket Professional Guide Association (PGA), Panompol Thammachatniyom, says: “With today’s circumstances, you might not even know that being a guide is a job reserved only for Thais.”

To be a registered guide, people must have full knowledge of local history and good language skills, Mr Panompol explained. Some unlicensed foreign guides have taken advantage of their language skills to lead a tour group, but lack the local knowledge required, and subsequently present misleading versions of Phuket history.

Ma ny also joi n t ou r companies without a proper work permit.

One such case reported by a local guide was of an unlicensed foreign guide who twisted the history of the Battle of Thalang so that it became a violent dispute between islanders, not a heroic defence of the island against an invading Burmese army.

Another suggested the two heroines – famous for their role in leading the battle – had resorted to prostitution, “pleasuring” the invading Burmese army in a bid to ward them off.

Another case included an unlicenced Korean guide taking a Korean tour group to watch the sunset at Promthep Cape. The only problem: they were actually at Saphan Hin, south of Phuket City. The guide was cutting fuel costs.

Complaints from tourists also mention being harassed

by guides who approach them on the street, being defrauded by guides who do not deliver on their agreed packages, and being taken to souvenir shops against their will – something most travellers would have experienced at least once.

“These are all examples of bad behaviours that are ruining Phuket’s reputation,” Mr Panompol said.

“They [unlicenced guides] perceive being a guide as a part of business that is only about making money. And it is easy for them to do, as they can simply disappear after they gain enough money from ripping off tourists.”

Slaves of convenience

However, Mr Panompol believes part of the problem lies with the complacency of local Thai guides; he says they prefer being in the “slavery of convenience”.

This attitude has led to an epidemic of so-called Thai ‘sitting guides’, whose job is to accompany a tour group.

Instead of actually leading the tour though, a sitting guide will simply remain in the background while an unlicenced foreign guide does the work.

If officials come to inspect the group, the sitting guide can show his or her guide licence to avoid any trouble.

The sitting guide effectively gets paid to do nothing except carry a permit.

This attitude of laziness and ‘convenience’ also highlights a flaw in the education and qualification system for guides in Phuket – the training course can be completed and a licence gained in just 10 days.

With this problem having existed for more than a decade, and with the number of complaints ever-growing, it is fair to ask why there is still no adequate fix in place to ensure both the quality and legality of tour guides in Phuket. There are almost no systems in place to weed out the bad ones.

Facing the truth

Due to the Thai cultural trait of not wanting to lose face, Mr Panompol said authorities would rather conceal problems than publicise them – the fear of damaging their personal reputations has effectively helped to cripple that of Phuket.

During a meeting of the Special Committee of Economics on November 8, Phuket Vice Governor Somkiat Sangkaosuttirak was informed by Chief of Phuket Tourism and Sport Office, Buayan Suwan-

Top and above left: Foreign tourists led by Thai guides at Chalong Temple. Above right: An English-speaking Thai guide explains the history of Chalong Temple to his tour group. Below: A tour group led by both foreign and Thai guides.

manee, that 455 registered tour companies will be invited for a conference later this year to explain the laws and the need for ethics.

The plan to crack down on suspected tour companies that might hire unlicenced guides, however, announced on July 20 this year, was quietly ruled out. There will be no face lost.

Many comments were made during the meeting, which was concluded by a short comment from V/Gov Somkiat: “The guide problem has occurred due to the lack of law enforcement,” he said, hinting at the endemic corruption which has hindered any attempt to apply rigid solutions.

The power of influence foreign guides, while others for them to police. There has “If we can control tour companies, we can control their guides,” the Head of Bureau of Tourism and Guide Registration Phuket Office, Piyasuda Sukjaruen, said.

BTGR’s records show about 2,000 tour companies and 2,000 local guides are registered in Phuket.

BTGR have built networks to watch over tour companies suspected of breaking the law.

During the past three years, the business permits of at least 40 tour companies were confiscated by BTGR. Of those, some companies had hired unlicenced

has defrauded tourists.

But the work of the BTGR comes with its share of risk and inherent frustration – several officials have been threatened by ‘inf luential’ people, sometimes resulting in the investigation to ‘disappear’. There is big money in running tours on Phuket, and powerful figures do not take kindly to losing their share.

Cooperation the key

“Perhaps controlling the number of tour companies is an option to consider,” Ms Piyasuda said.

“It will help restrict authorities’ work to a certain number of tour companies” and make it easier

been no response to this idea, and other proposed solutions have not yet been agreed upon by authorities.

The conference between authorities and tour companies at the end of this month could help change that, though after a decade of stalling, this is perhaps unlikely.

“Before authorities can achieve a solution, perhaps more attention and sincerity from them is needed,” said Mr Panompol.

“To solve this problem, we must acknowledge the fact that now we have a problem. Then we can cooperate to fix it.”

–Paritta Wangkiat www.thephuketnews.com

12

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

BUSINESS

Forex gains put THAI in the black

Thai Airways International (THAI) has published its operating results for the third quarter of 2011, showing a net profit of B2.4 billion, almost entirely due to gains on foreign exchange.

T he ai rl i ne’s t ot al revenues amounted to B50 billion, an increase of B4.5 billion or nine per cent year-on-year.

In the third quarter, passenger traffic increased by 15.3 per cent from the second quarter of 2011, which was also higher than the third quarter of last year by 4.3 per cent.

However, THAI president Piyasvasti Amranand said that the airline’s operating results were “severely affected” by the increase in jet fuel prices, which were 44.5 per cent higher than in the same period of 2010.

Mr Piyasvasti said that fierce competition, especially on European routes, meant that THAI was not able to pass on the fuel cost rise to passengers by bumping up fuel surcharges.

On the positive side, the airline made gains of B2.4 billion on foreign currency exchange, “a pleasing result” compared with the net loss of B15 million on currencies the company reported for the same period last year.

As of September 2011 the airline’s assets totalled B277 billion, a decrease of B20 billion year-on-year, while liabilities totalled B208 billion, a fall of B12 billion.

–e-Travel Blackboard

www.thephuketnews.com

Phuket Villa’s big plans Local developer set to launch two more major projects > 14

Kingfisher cuts Bangkok Indian airline Kingfisher has suspended some 50 flights until November 19, most of them domestic, but also including some of its flights between India and Bangkok.

It is not yet clear whether any or all of the flights will resume after that date.

The Indian website LiveMint.com, which has been following the Kingfisher crisis closely, quoted chief executive Sanjay Aggarwal as saying, “We have started aircraft reconfiguration. We decided to close flights that were kind of slow.” The airline has cancelled 50 flights.

Some Indian media reported, however, that flights were grounded after aircrew, who had not been paid, called in sick. This could not be independently confirmed.

Kingfisher has been in deep financial trouble for months.

On October 14, LiveMint re-

A Kingfisher Airbus taxis at Bangalore Airport in India. ported that Kingfisher’s main supplier of aviation fuel had suspended deliveries because of unpaid bills of Rp1.3 billion (about B800 million).

Airline staff have also had paydays postponed and some airports are reported to be reluctant to extend further credit

World PC output hit by flooding

Toyota and Mitsubishi may be restarting production at Thai plants (see right), but experts in the world of personal computer making are warning that production will be disrupted into next year because of the floods.

Consultancy International Data Corporation (IDC) has warned that the world’s production of PCs may drop by 30 per cent in the fourth quarter of this year.

In the worst-case scenario, there could also be a 20-per-cent decrease next year due to the disruption of hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturing in Thailand.

Most of the HDD plants in Thailand, which between them produce as much as 40 per cent of the world’s supply, are in the flood-hit central region.

IDC indicated that the distributors of personal computers and other related products such as netbooks will be hit hardest by the component shortage.

“Even the largest vendors are expected to face HDD shortages, particularly for portable PCs where the market is more consolidated,” said Loren Loverde of IDC. IDC predicts that supplies will not return to normal until June next year. –TAN, AFP

to Kingfisher for landing fees.

The airline is also in trouble with India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation for suspending flights without permission. The suspensions are expected to leave hundreds of travellers stranded.

Kingfisher recorded a loss

of about B6.3 billion for the year ended March 31, by which time it had accumulated debts of around B43 billion.

The cancellations resulted in the airline’s stock plummeting by more than 17 per cent, but recovered somewhat on Monday (November 14)

when the airline announced it would consider proposals, including selling property, in order to cut its debt.

Kingfisher is ultimately controlled by dollar billionaire Vijay Mallya, who owns United Breweries Group and the Force India Formula 1 team.

Toyota, Mitsubishi to restart car production

Japanese auto giants Toyota and Mitsubishi Motor have said they will resume production in Thailand next week after the country’s flood disaster closed their factories for more than a month.

Toyota said it would resume production from November 21 at its three Thai plants, which were forced to halt operations on October 10.

The closures triggered a shortage of parts in Japan, in other parts of Asia and as far away as North America and South Africa.

“Toyota is starting to get a firm grasp of the situation and would like to restart production as soon as possible so as to restore normalcy to those affected,” company president Akio Toyoda said in a statement last week.

Toyota, which has held off issuing its full-year earnings forecast while it assesses the impact of the f loods, has been forced to close some operations in Asia, the United States, Canada and South Africa due to a lack of components.

It has said it will resume normal production in North America next week.

Mr Toyoda said that de-

Toyota factories around the world have been hit by a shortage of parts as Thai component makers struggle to recover from the floods. This plant is in Indiana, in the US. spite the problems caused by the flooding the company had no plans to leave Thailand. “Toyota is not considering shrinking its operations here. If anything, we may expand,” he said.

Fellow automotive giant Mitsubishi said Thursday it would restart production at its Laem Chabang Plant in Thailand from Monday, after the plant closed on October 13, due to a lack of parts from flood-hit suppliers.

Suppliers were steadily recovering, “enough so that

par ts needed for models produced at the Laem Chabang Plant are now available again,” the company said.

“More time will be necessary for [Mitsubishi’s] supply chain to recover completely due to the devastating impact of the massive flooding on suppliers in Thailand,” it said.

“However, [the company] and its partners together will continue to put their best efforts towards resuming normal production levels at the Laem Chabang plant,” the company said.

–AFP

BUSINESS/TOURISM 13

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Confidence drops

At 100 floors and 441 metres, The St Regis Shenzhen in southern China is soon to be Starwood’s tallest hotel.

Starwood opens 200th Asia hotel

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced on Monday (November 14) that it has surpassed the 200-hotel milestone in Asia-Pacific following recent openings in China, India, Thailand and Malaysia. Starwood plans to reach over 320 hotels by 2014.

“The opening of our 200th hotel in Asia Pacific underscores the vitality of this market and its importance to our future growth,” said Frits van Paasschen, President and CEO of Starwood Worldwide.

“Demand for our highcaliber brands continues to soar across Asia’s many dynamic markets, driven by phenomenal economic growth and significant increases in out-

bound travel, particularly from China and India.”

Starwood’s diverse portfolio in Asia includes its highest, largest and tallest hotels. The soon-to-open, 100-storey St Regis Shenzhen tops the charts at 441 metres. Starwood’s most highly elevated hotel is The St Regis Lhasa, perched on the Tibetan Plateau, and its largest property is the nearly 4,000-room Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central.

“In 2001, Starwood had around 80 hotels in all of Asia Pacific. Just 10 years later we are celebrating the opening of our 200th hotel,” said Miguel Ko, Chairman and President, Starwood’s Asia Pacific Division.

Thailand’s consumer confidence index regarding the overall economy in October slumped to 62.8 from 72.2 in September, hitting its lowest level since November 2001 due to the ongoing flood crisis as well as the European debt crisis, according to a survey by University of Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) Economic and Business Forecasting Center.

T hailand’s consu mer confidence indices on job opportunities and future income in October dropped from 73.0 and 100.3 in September to 63.7 and 90.9.

The lower than usual indices in all categories indicated that Thai consumers remain very uncertain about the overall economic situation, job opportunities, and future income after the country’s worst flooding in decades.

The centre forecast that consumption is likely to slow in the fourth quarter through

Bank ‘ready to adjust monetary policies’

The Bank of Thailand has expressed its readiness to adjust monetary policies to bolster flood recovery while insisting that commercial banks have enough liquidity to support loans for both the business and household sectors.

Bank of Thailand Deputy Governor for Monetary Stability Suchada Kirakul expects demand for credit among the business and household sectors to increase after the flood crisis.

She gave assu ra nces that commercial banks have enough liquidity to fund loan demand, noting that the current excess liquidity among commercial banks remains high at B4 trillion.

Jobless ‘to rise to 700k’ As flooding continues, the Thai Chamber of Commerce University expects jobless numbers to reach 700,000.

The Director of the Economic and Business Forecasting Center of the Thai Chamber of Commerce University, Thanawat Ponwichai, said he estimates that the floods will increase the number of unemployed by anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000.

W hen the nu mber of people with temporary jobs is considered, he said, the number would be closer to 600,000 or 700,000.

The Government, he added, must restore the situation as soon as possible by addressing

people’s income problems so that lost jobs do not translate into problems of unpaid debt.

into the middle of the first quarter in 2012 due to concerns over flood-induced economic impact, high cost of living and a volatile global economy.

Meanwhile, the results of

He suggested the establishment of micro-financing such as village funds.

–TAN

a survey conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) were released on Friday, showing that more than half of those polled fear that the Thai economy will

deteriorate in the aftermath of the country’s worst flooding.

Slightly more than half the respondents said they believe the economy will decline.

– MCOT

THE TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANTS

Ms Suchada said the central bank is ready to adjust its monetary policies in order to assist with flood recovery, including cutting the policy interest rate and relaxing rules regulating financial institutions.

She admitted that the flooding has made the country increasingly vulnerable to internal and external risks to economic growth, and said the Government must work to shore up confidence of investors to ensure they do not shift production elsewhere.

The Gover nment will also have to appoint an individual to oversee long-term infrastructure and water resources management as well as seek expert advice during the planning process from countries with experience of disaster recovery.

–TAN FROM ONLY THB

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14 BUSINESS/PROPERTY

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Big plans by Phuket Villa Group Buyers of units in the first phase of one of the island’s biggest housing developments yet, the 426-unit Phuket Villa Kathu, can expect to move into their homes in a couple of months, Maetapong Upatising, Director of the Phuket Villa Group, told The Phuket News this week.

Phuket Villa Kathu, the tenth project by the local developer, went on sale in June this year, and sold out within a day. Construction began immediately on the B1.5 billion project on 60 rai of land on Praphuketkaew Rd. Altogether, the finished project will have 426 homes of seven different types: 57 three-storey shophouses, 63 three-storey home offices, 70 two-storey twin homes, 86 single-storey twin homes, 71 single-storey houses, 34 single-storey town houses and 45 two-storey town houses.

Mr Maetapong said, “We chose this site because it borders two roads – Phra Phuketgaew Rd on one side and Wichitsongkhram Rd, close to Loch Palm Golf Club, on the other, making it easy for

home owners to get to Phuket Town or Patong.”

He added, “We believe this project is the biggest housing development yet built in the Kathu area.

“The first phase will be complete and ready to transfer to owners in January next year. The second phase will be finished in June and the third phase in January 2013.”

Around 80 per cent of the buyers are local people. Prices range from B1.7 million to B4.9 million. There are two rai of communal gardens, along with a club house with pool.

Mr Maetapong revealed, “The Phuket Villa Group will launch another two projects in the first quarter of next year.”

The first is a condominium project next to Phuket Villa Kathu. Known as Phuket Villa Panorama, it will have 450 condos in seven-storey blocks.

The second will be another record-breaker: Phuket Villa Chao Fa 2 on 120 rai near Kajonkiet International School Phuket. It will have 660 single houses and twin homes.

–Apinya Saksri

Phuket Villa Group director Maetapong Upatising with models of homes in the Phuket Villa Kathu development.

JD Pools to open new factory

Architect’s CG rendering of the new B100 million JD Pools Co factory in Thalang.

Demand for its products has seen Phuket’s JD Pool Co take the decision to build a new B100 million factory on 12 rai of land at Baan Pakrongcheap in Thalang.

The company’s president, Thanusak Phungdet, told The Phuket News, “We have been producing pools at the old factory since 2004. In that time our business has grown to the point where we have 20 agents around Thailand and 15 abroad.

“The old factory’s capacity is lower than demand.”

The old factory can make 1,000 pools a year; the new one will be able to produce twice as many.

The new plant is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.

www.ayudhya.net Tel: 0 7 6 3 8 4 6 6 4 -

www.thephuketnews.com

Bangkok housing market paralysed Among major property sectors in Bangkok, the housing market has been the one most severely affected by the flooding, with many major housing areas across the city now submerged in the floodwater.

On the other hand, there are a few property sectors that are benefiting from the flooding, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) reports.

House sales in the areas affected by floods have completely stopped, JLL says.

Sales in areas that have not yet experienced flooding are heading the same way as buyers postpone purchase decisions, waiting to see if or how floods will hit the housing projects they are interested in.

“The Bangkok condominium sector is in a better position,” JLL reports, “because of the general percep-

info@ayudhya.net Mob: 087 898 8647

tion that high-rise properties are less likely to be affected by floods. That said, sales in condominium projects that are located in the flooded areas have inevitably been affected by the flooding.”

Suphin Mechuchep, Managing Director of JLL, said, “Some Bangkok residents who live in the areas that are currently flooded may consider buying condominiums in low-risk locations as a second home in the future.

“However, we do not expect concerns over future floods will result in a dramatic shift in residential demand from landed houses to high-rise condominiums.”

One equation people are trying to figure out, she explained, is whether this year’s flooding is an isolated incident, or whether more big floods can be expected in coming years.

As to the hospitality market, Andrew Langdon, Senior Vice President of JLL Hotels, said “Hotels in Bangkok are experiencing a softening in occupancies as international tourists and business travellers postpone travel to the city.

“On the other hand, serviced apartments are receiving strong short-term demand from the domestic market and expatriates that have been displaced from homes affected by floods.”

SPONSOREDFEATURE 15

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Rawai-Nai Harn South Coast Experience

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Your Phuket partner

Phuket Consult was established when now-owners Lek and Angela Prajantabut realised that what they were doing every day to help expatriates on the island could be turned into a business.

And a very successful one at that – the company, which opened in 2008, now has eight staff members and business is booming.

Phuket Consult provides Personal Executive Assistance in Insurance, Accounting, Company Set Up, Work Permits, Visa, Land and Property Sales and Rentals, Legal Assistance, and Police/ Emergency Assistance.

In short, if you need a helping hand with some of life’s more tricky situations, chances are Lek and Angela can help you.

Lek and Angela run the company together, along with the assistance of a lawyer, a certified accountant, and a public accountant (one of only two in Phuket).

Both have extensive knowledge of Phuket: Lek is a Phuket local and Angela has lived in Phuket for 27 years. Angela, from Ireland, was recently awarded Thai nationality and speaks fluent

Angela Prajantabut.

Thai, something which is vital when conversing with authorities and translating for her clients.

Having lived on the island for so long, Angela and Lek found themselves regularly offering assistance and advice to foreigners while they ran Phuket’s first international mini mart, back in 1995.

“We found we were helping people with a wide range of things – from where to get this and that, to translation, mediation and car accidents,” Angela says.

Then, a light came on and Angela realised that their service was something that could be turned into a business, and Phuket Consult was born in Rawai.

live in Phuket, he’s one of the people you should know.”

Spend just 10 m i n u t e s with Lek and A n g el a a n d you will understand why so many people use their services. Both are friendly, speak Phuket Consult opened in 2008. a language you “We provide a service understand, are approachthat’s a bit more personal, able, and clearly know their and following through is stuff. Their clients are mostly a strength of ours. We are foreigners living on the isefficient, fast, and helpful, land, who come to them for and good at explaining what help with diverse issues, is happening and why,” An- sometimes for police related issues, disputes, or simply gela says.

So how do they do it – setting up a company.

“I have not known anyone helping out expats with all kinds of difficulties and we haven’t been able to help,” getting them out of tricky Angela says.

Phuket Consult offers situations?

“Lek’s vast network of a range of discounts for those who hold a Rawai Nai connections,” Angela says.

“Anything can be done Harn Business Association in Thailand, as long as you Benefits card. know the right people. It’s Phuket Consult, 21/6 not what you know it’s who you know. Lek being a local Moo 4, Viset Rd, Rawai, can provide assistance that 076 288 988, 081 691 9679, is second to none, and he info@phuketconsult.com; speaks perfect English. If you www.phuketconsult.com

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www.thephuketnews.com

16 ARTS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

CULTURE

Panda poo: expensive brew > 21

Giants among men Photographer Netnapa Tanyongthong said that she was happy to be able to get so close to the elephants at the Elephant Hills Camp at Khao Sok in Surat Thani Province.

“Elephants are used for tourism and other work.

There is no longer much forest left for them and very few animals can roam wild.

“But if we understand the ways of the elephants, we can still provide them with good food and space for them to play, so that they can at least be happy, as can be seen in this photo,” the photographer said.

These elephants are obviously in their element, almost completely covered with cooling water. The bath is just reward for all their hard work during the day, giving

The constant gardener GALLERY focus

Live-wire artist Watcharin Rodnit rides to the door of his studio, Watcharin Art Studio on Yaowaraj Rd right in the old town, on his old motorbike with a sidecar.

At first glance, he is surely transporting plants back from the nursery to his already crowded studio. But no, the green shrubbery rides around with him wherever he goes as his mobile garden.

Broadly-smiling Watcharin has just finished teaching some of his many students, young and old, who come for their three-hour lessons during the day.

The st udents need to squeeze a little through the shophouse entrance that is stacked with more pot plants, a bubbling cement fountain with goldfish and stacked canvases.

There is sound of a waterfall in the back somewhere.

Deeper in the long shophouse studio, in which he also lives, the large swirling images of nature, pushed and scraped freely in flowing oil paint on the surface of the canvas, surround you, as do shelves of art books, and just about everything else that a productive artist studio needs, and more.

“I wanted to tidy this up a little for you, but didn’t have the chance,” says Watcherin with an apologetic smile.

For his graduation from www.thephuketnews.com

Random view

rides to paying tourists.

Long may we be able to continue to enjoy the company of these gregarious and intelligent animals.

Each month the best image wins a B500 gift voucher courtesy of Photo Hut (see www. photohutgroup.com).

At the end of 2011, The Phuket News and Photo Hut’s ‘Photo of the Year’, chosen from all the entrants, receives a grand voucher for B5,000.

Photos must have a Phuket theme, and be at least 1MB and 300dpi in size. Email to: editor@thephuketnews.com

Phuket galleries Ceramics of Phuket:

71/3 Vichitsongkram Rd, Kathu; 185/6-7 Srisoonthorn Rd, Cherng Talay, 076 326 870, info@ceramicsofphuket.com; ceramicsofphuket.com.

Chatriya Gallery:

2/18 Limelight Ave, Dibuk Rd, Phuket Town, 076 225 284, chatriyagallery@gmail.com.

Gallery Café:

106 Rassada Rd, Phuket Town, 076 223677, gallerycafe-phuket.com.

Open daily 8am-10pm.

I Mon Art Gallery:

29/2 Phang Nga Rd, Phuket Town, montien_29@live.com.

Open daily 8am-7.30pm.

King Art Studio:

21 & 50 Soi Bangla, Patong, 086 682 9130, info@kingartstudio.com; kingartstudio.com. Open daily 10am-midnight.

Lat Design and Art Garden:

95/33 Sai Yuan Rd, Naiharn, 086 294 3971, ja_rassri@hotmail.com.

Little Monk Gallery:

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

99 Art Studio:

23 Lagoon Rd, 076 270 845, s.niamkhuntod99@gmail.com.

Phuket Modern Art:

5/28 Haad Patong Rd, Patong, 089 646 8838, phuketmodernart.com.

Red Gallery:

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

Sarasil Art Galllery:

121 Phang Nga Rd, Phuket Town, 076 224 532, somkiatkaewnok@yahoo.com; oilpaintingsphuket.com.

Open daily 8pm-9pm.

Silpakorn University in Bangkok, the artist showed his approving teachers long series of huge canvases, twice his

own height, painted out in the university courtyard, again of the same bold natural pattern pushed to abstraction.

He had to paint perched on makeshift scaffolding.

Shades of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.

Life is busy as talkative Watcharin shows his work at this gallery and that shopping centre. He also makes time to teach disadvantaged and autistic children.

Watcharin points to a newly-framed photo of him recently receiving a recognition certificate for his community work from Governor Tri Augaradacha.

–Norachai Thavisin See gallery listings.

Soul of Asia:

5/50, 2/F, The Plaza Surin, Surin, info@soulofasia.com; soulofasia.com.

The Love Art Studio:

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

The One Gallery:

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

Veerachan Usahanun:

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

Watcharin Art Studio:

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

Wua Gallery and Studio:

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

PEOPLE 17

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

It’s a wonderful (island) life Paul Moorhouse

Owner and founder of Andaman Tropical Development Co. Ltd Since 1999 Paul Moorhouse has been designing and developing ‘high end’ gated communities of villas and apartments in the Laguna and Layan area, as well as restaurants, bars and stand alone ‘bespoke’ villas. He is now just about retired and is planning to enjoy plenty of rest over the next few years.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Up until June 1995 I was the Global Chief Operating Officer for TNT Ltd, a major, multinational logistics company, based in Singapore and Amsterdam.

Why did you move here?

I bought my first home here in 1994 but had been visiting since 1982, very different days then and a wonderful, totally unspoilt island. Somewhat different now in many, many ways… some better, some not! But still a wonderful place to live.

What is the best thing about living here?

I love the ease of doing most

of the things I want to do like playing golf, going out on my boat and drinking and eating in some super bars and restaurants. Above all though I love the climate and most of the Thai ‘way of life’!

What do you do to relax?

Swim, golf, go out on my boat, walk my dogs on the beach at Layan or Cape Panwa, ride my bike and enjoy the company of some good mates and my family over a few cold beers.

What hobbies or sports are you interested in?

Apart from those I have already talked about I love watching International Rugby and the EPL, in fact just about any sport except beach football which I think is a joke! I also enjoy sitting and practising my new acoustic bass guitar.

What is your favourite childhood memory?

Playing football and cricket and going swimming in the nearby lakes with my young mates in Yorkshire during the long, hot

up there for many reasons including changing my life and making millions of people very happy, all over the world, both with The Beatles and since. Top man, great singer and songwriter and a very accomplished musician.

Exposed school summer holidays, which seemed to go on forever!

Favourite food or dish?

I love just about everything.

Having lived in Asia for 28 years I adore Asian and particularly Chinese and Thai and also Japanese. I also love pie and mash or fish and chips with mushy peas. Quite frankly I’ll eat almost anything if it’s good and cooked properly.

What kind of music are you into?

I have 1450 different artists and 35,000 tracks on my iPod so I am into just about everything from Sinatra to Led Zeppelin and from Fairport Convention to Kasabian, but if push comes to shove I always resort to Paul Rodgers and Free, early ‘70s rock! Funnily enough though I love chill out and ambient beach grooves also.

What is the best tip you have for people considering moving to Phuket?

Don’t expect everything to happen at once, and don’t expect

Where in Phuket would you take someone on a first date?

Joe’s Downstairs or the Reggae Bar at Layan Beach at 6pm on a beautiful evening. Stunning sunsets, great cocktails and the food’s damn good as well.

Paul Moorhouse bought his first house in Phuket in 1994.

Phuket to be a sunnier version of where you just came from!

Take your time with everything and have an open mind to absorb what’s going on and how to enjoy it to the fullest.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you while living on the island?

There are hundreds of things that have amused me over the last 20 years or so here, but the most amusing was arriv-

ing home drunk one night and breaking into my neighbours house because I thought my wife had locked me out of mine, which was next door!

It wasn’t funny at the time though but I laughed about it after... when I had sobered up.

The person you admire the most and why?

There are many people I admire tremendously but I guess Paul McCartney has to be

If you could come back as any other person who would it be and why?

It would definitely be a musician and would probably be either Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Nathan East or John Paul Jones, all tremendous players who literally live to play music.

Favourite place on the island, and why?

The beaches at Layan and the west side of Cape Panwa. They have beautiful sand, lovely breezes all year round, are nearly deserted and have wonderful views. Both places remind me of ‘old’ Phuket as they are virtually unspoilt.

EVERYDAY PEOPLE

Making breakfast It’s only about 6.30am but a ha nd f u l of ea rly-bi rd guests are already helping t hemselves to t he big breakfast buffet spread at the Vijitt Resort Phuket at Rawai

by Chalong Bay. On the roster this month it’s Kai’s turn to help lay out the food in the early shift that

starts at 6am and finishes at 3pm.

Kai only arrived in Phuket from Haad Yai in southern Songkla Province just over a year ago. She says the work at the resort is okay so far.

As she is making sure that the fresh pastries are nicely laid out, Kai says these sweets

have just been prepared fresh by the three pastry cooks in the dedicated kitchen.

As the morning sun brightens the waters of nearby Chalong Bay, more guests arrive. Most are arrivals from western Europe, though recently the resort was filled with mainland Chinese guests. www.thephuketnews.com

18 HEALTH

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Looking to live longer?

Try turning off the television RAW TRUTH

Dr Richard Cracknell

E

very hour of watching television takes 22 minutes off your life.

Spending six hours per day watching television is shortening your life by five years.

In an Australian study done in 2000, scientists from the University of Queensland wrote: “TV viewing time may have adverse health consequences that rival those of lack of physical activity, obesity and smoking; every single hour of TV viewed may shorten life by as much as 22 minutes.”

Referring to Australian and American guidelines that suggest children should spend no more than two hours a day in front of a screen, the academics concluded: “With further corroborative evidence, a public health case could be made that adults also need to limit

the time spent watching TV.” Although health campaigners – and parents – have long warned of the dangers of watching too much television, its effect on life expectancy had never before been calculated.

In a paper published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dr J Lennert Veerman and colleagues looked at the results of a survey of 11,247 Australians taken from 1999 to 2000, which asked about time spent watching TV, and mortality figures for the country.

They constructed a model in which they compared life expectancy for adults who watch TV to those who did not, and worked out that every hour spent glued to the screen shortened life by 21.8 minutes.

For those in the top one per cent of the population who watch six hours of programmes a day, they “can expect to live 4.8 years less than a person who does not watch TV”.

T he r e s e a r che r s s ay watching TV is among the most common form of sedentary behaviour, along with sitting in cars.

“Because TV viewing is a ubiquitous behaviour that occupies significant portions of adults’ leisure time, its effects are significant for overall population health.”

England’s Chief Medical Officer, Sally Davies, said: “Physical activity offers huge benefits and these studies back what we already know – that doing a little bit of physical activity each day brings health benefits and a sedentary lifestyle carries additional risks.

The advent of television in the early 1950s brought on hope for a new communication tool that would educate, entertain and bring us together as a family and community.

But today it is anything but.

I like the use of the word “programme”, because every

Switching off the tube could extend your life by five years. time you sit down in front of the tube, you are being programmed; with the selection, content, format and not to mention, commercial ads.

So live longer and healthier, turn your TV off, and get a bit of exercise.

■■ D r R i c h a r d P a t r i c k Cracknell ND, PhD is a chiropractor and Traditional Naturopath. He also runs the Living Food Cafe (Phuket’s only raw vegan restaurant), Nai Harn Beach, Rawai, 076 388 638; livingfoodcafe.com

–Photo by espensorvik The opinions and advice contained in this column are those of the author only.

The Phuket News is not responsible for the outcome or results of following any advice in any given situation.

Healthy rice bran oil

Rice bran oil boasts increased health benefits over more conventional cooking oils.

Flowering of the soul The lotus plant (Nelumbo nucifera) is commonly confused with waterlily.

However, while the flowers and leaves of the beautiful waterlily (Nymphaeacea family) float on the surface of the water, the equally pretty lotus leaves and flowers stand tall out of the pond.

The lotus also produces a fruit in the shape of a shower head after the big flower petals, usually either magenta and white in colour, fall off, growing further to produce good-tasting fleshy seeds.

Like the banana, the entire www.thephuketnews.com

HEALTHY herbs

plant of the lotus can be used.

The entire tender bulbous roots (rhizomes) are edible and are stir-fried in Chinese cooking, or pickled with chili and sesame oil in Korean cuisine.

The lotus’ large round leaves are used for wrapping other foods, while its stamen can be dried and brewed into a fragrant herbal tea used in traditional medicine. The shower-head fruit, dotted with embedded nutty-tasting, ovalshaped, white pulpy seeds, is

commonly sold in markets across Thailand.

The seeds can be enjoyed fresh or dried. Boiled and combined with sugar, the lotus-seed paste is used in making Chinese mooncakes, for example. In Thai traditional medicine, the tea made from dried lotus stamen is used to fortify the heart, treat tiredness and add energy.

For those of a spiritual nature, the lotus represents the flowering of the soul, standing aloof above the pond of base desires and temptations that wallow below it.

Healthy food trends are very popular in today’s world, and many people now prefer to cook with healthier products, one of which is rice bran oil.

Rice bran oil is produced f rom r ice bran and r ice germ, which are the most nutritious parts of rice. It is also rich in vitamins and micro-nutrients that have many benefits to the body.

The freshness of the rice bran and rice germ has significant effect on the nutrient level of rice bran oil. For the best quality rice bran oil, the rice bran and rice germ need to be processed within 24 hours of rice milling, to ensure a high

quality product.

Oryazanol is a natural antioxidant found only in rice bran oil and not in any other vegetable oils. It has the same function as vitamin E does in lowering blood cholesterol and reducing risk of cardiovascular disease.

Oryazanol also has more than six times the antioxidants compared to vitamin E. In addition, vitamin E and phytosterols found in rice bran oil are powerful antioxidants that help protect against the damaging effect of free radicals and maintains the structure and function of cell membranes to a normal

level, and may even help to prevent cancer.

Rice bran oil has also been used in hospital food as an ingredient for patients with chronic diseases such as high blood cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

The cosmetics and spa industry, meanwhile, have used rice bran oil for massage products, soap, and lotion, citing benefits such as UV protection, moisturising and anti inflammation.

One litre of rice bran oil is priced at around B60, while palm oil is around B42 and soya been oil is around B55.

ENVIRONMENT 19

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Oasis of green research Located at 166 Thepkasattri Rd in Thalang, on the way to the airport, this land was once a research centre for rubber production, hence the plantations of rubber trees still surrounding around it.

Today an agency of the Agriculture Ministry with a staff of 50 on 30 rai of land, the Phu ket Ag r icult u ral Research and Development Centre teaches and advises on all matters agricultural in the province.

The centre also assesses various permits required for commerce in agricultural products and supplies. For example, if someone want to open a shop to sell fertiliser, the centre’s staff has to first check their goods and standards before they can be granted a permit, and that permit is reviewed annually. The same also applies if someone plans to export agricultural produce, which needs the centre’s approval.

They are also involved in agricultural tourism – interested groups can come to conduct agricultural camps here. There is a big meeting room that they can use, plus home stay-style accommodation, in timber

houses and some half dozen separate timber bungalows, is provided cheaply.

To stay overnight in the basic bungalows available, the centre charges a minimal fee of B200 per head to cover costs. Then you are free to wander over the weekend and tune in to the greenery, and see shiny green pepper growing thickly on vines growing on a plot right next to your bungalow, for example.

Many thousands of students from Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi come here every year to learn about useful herbs and other productive local plants that are important for agriculture. International student and visitor groups also visit, mostly to learn more about the process involved in making rubber, from tapping the trees to preparing dry sheets of latex largely for export to be used in making car tires.

Many tourists come along and try to tap the trees themselves and watch the white latex bleed into the little black collection cups. They are informed about the fascinating process of turning the runny milk dripping out of the trees

Hibiscus flower with dew. into a more solid substance that can be subsequently transported and stored.

If the rubber milk is left to dry and harden by itself in the air, it rots and goes bad.

It is required to be treated in factories outside Phuket, where water and small quantity of formic acid are added.

These turn the milk into soft whitish-grey substance like soft cheese or tofu. This is in turn pressed and dried with heat to become thick latex mats. Latex is also exported in more concentrated liquid form in vats to be used to make pliable medical gloves or bottle teats.

There are now many factories, especially in the northeast, making car tires for companies based in China, from locally-grown latex. Still currently some 80 per cent of local latex is exported, priced

Above: The Phuket Agricultural Research and Development Centre in Thalang.

Below: Green pepper growing on vines (left) and rubber trees with their collection cups.

about B100 per kilo, mostly to China, the US and Japan.

A rubber tree takes seven years to start producing latex in a productive life of some 20 years. As the rubber tree grows for the first three years,

masses of pineapples can be grown among the saplings.

Meanwhile the centre continues doing its bit to keep Phuket green and agriculturally productive.

The centre is at 166 Thep-

kasattri Rd, Thalang (076 62 1157, rpuket@doa.in.th; doa. in.th). It’s on the right hand side as you drive to the airport after passing through Thalang district centre.

–Norachai Thavisin

ADOPT A DOG

If the shoe fits

Looking at this creature on the fish-seller’s table in the market, or displayed on ice in front of Phuket’s many seafood restaurants, and one suspects that the horseshoe crab has been in this world a long time.

Hardly altering over millennium, the ancient animal once shared the sea with other prehistoric animals, and was a contemporary of the likes of the crocodile, turtle and lizard.

There are two species of horseshoe crabs that live in Southeast Asia, Tachypleus gigas and the mangrove variety Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, with ancestry in the region dating back more than 50 million years.

They live on the sea floor, and survive on a diet of other crustaceans and small fish.

As there are no fleshy parts to eat, unlike other varieties of crab, the green and

MEET the natives orange roe of the horseshoe crabs are eaten instead, mostly either grilled or steamed.

However, as several Korean tourists discovered to their misfortune last week, diners risk being poisoned by tretodotoxin, found in the roe of the mangrove Carsinoscorpius, but not Tachypleus. The two species look similar, especially in young crabs, and eating it can make one very sick indeed.

SWIZZLE NEEDS SOMEWHERE TO CALL HOME! Swizzle came to the Soi Dog Shelter as a small puppy. We felt certain someone would adopt this sweet dog as she was pretty, playful and very affectionate. She’s now one year old and has never known life outside of the shelter. We’d love to find her a family of her own, and would love for someone to adopt her. If you’d like to make Swizzle a part of your family, contact cindy@soidog.org or phone the Soi Dog shelter on 081 788 4222.

You can also visit our website www.soidog.org or follow us on Facebook!

If you are interested in adopting a dog please do not buy from the markets. Soi Dog Foundation has over 200 dogs and puppies available for adoption at any time. For more information on how to adopt visit soidog.org. All animals are fully vaccinated and desexed. Young puppies will be desexed free of charge as soon as old enough.

www.thephuketnews.com

20 EDUCATION

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

New principal for BIS Following four years as head of United World College of the Atlantic, Neil Richards has returned to Asia to take up his new position as Headmaster of the British International School, Phuket.

Mr Richards began his career as a teacher in a national boarding school in Kath mandu, Nepal, and has since worked in the Canary Islands, Egypt, Chile, Lesot ho, Japa n a nd t he United Kingdom.

He has held senior management positions in schools for over 30 years, including 20 years as headmaster.

Eleven of these years were at the Yokohama International School in Japan, and it was for his services to British education in Japan that he was awarded his MBE in 2007.

His professional publications include contributions to a number of books on international education, most recently for a forthcoming publication on the International Baccalaureate(IB) Diploma programme.

Over recent years his main focus of interest has been social emotional development and approaches to learning,

Mr Neil Richards, the new headmaster at BIS Phuket, began his career in a national boarding school in Kathmandu. and research in the field of cognitive neuroscience.

Mr Richards also has substantial experience both with IGCSE and the IB and

his immediate focus will be upon ensuring that the high standards at the school are not only maintained but improved upon across the

entire ability range.

One of his first decisions at BIS Phuket was to open the school doors to the children of international school

families who have moved to Phuket to escape the flooding in Bangkok, an offer which remains open.

To date, eight students

have already joined BIS under this offer.

He strongly believes that acts of compassion should not only operate on a personal level, but also at an institutional level, and he will be directing much of his attention in the years ahead to involvement of the school within the wider community.

“BIS Phuket has an amazing campus and facilities which can only provide a wonderful foundation for further success,” he said.

“It is also a very fertile ground for innovation and also for professional development; I was delighted that the school has a focus upon ‘Learning about learning’, and it was this that greatly attracted me to the position in the first place.”

“Education must embrace the spiritual and the moral; it must touch the heart as well as the intellect; it must anchor a person’s self-esteem and provide a sense of purpose; it must ask more questions than it answers; in the final analysis, it must be an affirmation of the wonder of life itself,” Mr Richards wrote as his personal philosophy.

Passing down artistic talent Seven students from 36th Rajaprachanugroh School in Kamala spent a fun day at Phu ket I nter nat ional Academy (PIA) attending a special art class on Saturday (November 12).

The students are part of the Coconut Club, the extra curricular programme run by the Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation, which offers the programme to residential students at 36th Rajaprachanugroh School.

PIA art teacher Jo Moon taught the students about drawing and using water colour and oil pastels to

www.thephuketnews.com

Coconut Club students posing for the camera at PIA. create abstract visual art.

Seven art works will be on display and for sale at

the Think Design art exhibition at Royal Phuket Marina from December 27-30.

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Russian police arrest real-life mummy’s boy

Maybe it was all just an elaborate Halloween decoration?

Twenty-nine ‘mummies’ were discovered at the home of a Russian historian who dug the bodies up from local cemeteries and dressed them in clothes scavenged from graves.

The bodies were all dressed as dolls and posed in various interesting positions.

Russian media reports identified the man as Anatoly Moskvin, a 45-year-old historian who was considered the ultimate expert on cemeter ies in Nizh ny Novgorod – a fact which probably should have already had alarm bells ringing.

Moskvin had also apparently spoken openly about rummaging through cemeteries and studying grave stones to uncover the life stories behind them.

Russian newspaper reports

quoted police as saying that the man had only selected the remains of young women for his grisly collection.

The arrest followed a long-running investigation i nt o t he dese c r at ion of graves at several cemeteries in Nizhny Novgorod, police spokeswoman Svetlana Kovylina said.

In a 2007 interview with the newspaper Nizhegorodsky Rabochy, Moskvin said he had inspected 752 cemeteries, often travelling some 30 kilometres a day by foot.

He said he drank from puddles, spent nights in haystacks or at abandoned farms and once even slept in a coffin readied for a funeral.

He said he was repeatedly questioned by police, who then always let him go.

Most expensive brew – made from panda poo A man in China is trying to break the record for the world’s most expensive tea – by using panda poo.

College lecture An Yanshi has collected five tonnes of panda faeces to create his new brew.

He believes the rich fertiliser will give rise to a unique aroma that will make his brew a connoisseurs’ favourite.

And despite the unique aroma of poo not sounding particularly pleasant for any form of consumable product, Mr An is convinced he will be able to sell his tea for up to B2.5 million per kilo.

“Pandas have a very poor digestive system and only absorb about 30 per cent of everything they eat. That

THE BIG LIST Alarming Additives Everyone now knows that processed foods are far from bastions of nutrition. They may not all involve being pooed on by a panda (see below left), but they do send a pretty clear message: when a packaged food contains more than five ingredients and includes some that are difficult to pronounce, probably best to stay away.

Fertile grains: While chemical fertilisers inevitably make it into our produce in trace amounts, you would hardly expect it to be a common food additive. However, ammonium sulphate can be found inside many brands of bread, including that of fast food chain Subway. The compound is loaded with nitrogen, which is why it’s most common use is as fertiliser.

And Subway does the same thing; the ammonium sulfate nourishes the yeast and helps the bread turn brown. Eat fresh.

Beaver bums: The anal glands of a beaver, conveniently euphemised as castoreum (which doesn’t actually sound that much more appetising), are a common ingredient in perfumes and colognes, but are also sometimes used to – believe it or not – enhance the flavour of raspberry candies and sweets. Who knew beaver bums were such sweet pieces of tasty goodness?

Meaty buns: While this may not bother the most ardent omnivore, others are shocked to discover that the quintessential junk food – Twinkies – contain straight-up beef fat. The manufacturers claim “a very small trace used in the creamy fillings of our cakes for taste. Also, it is used in a trace amount in the vegetable oil frying medium.” Vegetarians beware.

Bugs in the system: The words ‘natural colouring’ are supposed to make you feel better, right? You’re picturing lush green meadows and flowing streams. Think smaller. And with more legs. To make the red food dye carmine, thousands of cochineal insects are killed, dried and boiled to produce a liquid solution which can be added to foods. Au naturel.

Skittled: You know that shiny coating on candies like Skittles? Or the sprinkles on cupcakes and ice cream sundaes? Well, they get that glaze from the secretions of the female lac beetle. The substance is also known as shellac and commonly used as a wood varnish. It was also once used as insulation in electrical appliances, which doesn’t exactly sound like something you would ever want to put near your mouth. But it’s just so shiny!

Chinese tea entrepreneur An Yanshi - he’s a bit nutty, just like his panda poo blend. means their excrement is rich in fibre and nutrients,” Mr An explained.

“It has a mature, nutty taste and a very distinctive aroma while it’s brewing.”

Mr An, who collects the poo by the lorryload from the Giant Panda breeding centre in Chengdu, aims to secure the Guinness World Record once his first batch of the expensive

blend is ready for sale.

All he needs now is for someone to buy his nutty flavoured poo tea – not that farfetched considering the price of civet ‘processed’ coffee.

A ravenous appetite for roadkill Forget ice cream and tomato sauce – that’s just so cliche.

Instead, British artist and taxidermist Alison Brierley is craving feasts of roadkill as a result of her pregnancy.

The 42-year-old has taken to eating an array of animals killed along her local roads in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

Brierley used to collect roadkill to make jewellery from their hides – a perfectly reasonable pastime – but now the mum-to-be has gone full throttle with her new diet.

“Usually I eat really healthily, but now I’m pregnant I get strong cravings

WEIRDWORLD 21

Alison Brierley has developed a taste for ‘street food’. for roadkill,” she explained.

“It’s more gamey than other meat and I love the taste. I also

don’t have to feel guilty about eating it because I know it’s had a completely free range

and natural life.”

Ms Brierley has eaten hare, deer, pigeon, rabbit and owls, with pheasant being the most prevalent of her dishes.

“I wou ld li ke to t r y fox and badger but they’re never in good enough condition to eat,” she said.

The 42-year-old admitted she has even hosted roadkill dinner parties for friends, proving that her friends are either very open-minded, or completely insane.

“The best meat has been from friends who tell me about a kill they’ve spotted on their way to work,” she added.

Like sheep’s wool? The oils inside sheep’s wool are collected to create the goopy substance called lanolin. From there, it ends up in chewing gum (sometimes under the guise of “gum base”), but is also used to create Vitamin D3.

Seeing red: So you’ve managed to find red candy that wasn’t dyed with crushed bugs. Unfortunately the colouring Allura Red AC is probably worse. It’s derived from coal tar and is commonly found in red c olou r e d c a nd ie s , s o d a s a nd other sweets. Coal tar is listed as number 199 on t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s l i s t of ‘d a n g e r o u s goods’, but that doesn’t stop people from using it in food, because what would the UN know anyway?

Life’s a beach: One ingredient found in Wendy’s chilli might sound familiar from high school chemistry class: silicon dioxide. If that’s not ringing any bells, it’s also known by a far more common name: sand. Apparently they use sand as an “anti-caking agent”, perhaps to make sure the chilli can last for days and days over a heater, which is also equally gross.

Smoker’s breath: If you don’t know by now that cigarettes contain a lot of nasty stuff, there is probably no expletive strong enough to describe you level of ignorance. What you might not know though is that they also contain skatole, the name of which is derived from the Greek root skato meaning ‘dung’. The compound occurs naturally in faeces, and has a strong faecal odor. So basically, that stuff that makes your poo smell – you’re smoking that. You’re setting fire to poo-smell and putting it in you mouth. www.thephuketnews.com

22 DOWNTIME BOOK

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

MUSIC

FILM Tower Heist 104 minutes Rating: 13+

Steve Jobs

Crazy Clown Time

At a time when business elites are the subject of mass protests around the world, the passing of Apple’s billionaire chief executive became something of a global tragedy.

Walter Isaacson’s timely authorised biography (seemingly prepared in readiness) will probably contribute to this obsession rather than explain it. But for those curious about this iconic figure – which in the past month has seemed to include just about everyone – Steve Jobs provides an irresistible glimpse into his complex and often contradictory life.

Based on more than 40 interviews with the Apple founder, as well as interviews with family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues, Walter Isaacson has pulled no punches in detailing the roller-coaster life of the man who revolutionised modern consumer technology.

Whether you consider him a genius or a lunatic (or both), film director David Lynch (Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive) has released a solo album, and needless to say, it’s gonna get weird.

At the centre of it all is Lynch’s rumbling, tremoloheavy blues guitar playing and his shaky voice singtalking lyrics that are at times little more than nonsensical streams of consciousness.

Lynch’s voice has received a fair amount of criticism, but it’s a fitting narration to the album; his paranoid, nasal delivery feels at times like the mutterings of a madman.

Like any of Lynch’s films, Crazy Clown Time is sure to be divisive and heavily debated. Some listeners will regard it as the album of the year; others will continue to insist that Lynch is an overrated, self-absorbed hack.

He could be a genius; or maybe just a crazy clown.

David Lynch Sunday Best

by Walter Isaacson Simon & Schuster, 656 pages

It may seem like a back-handed assessment, but maybe the best way to sum up Tower Heist is that it is not as terrible as you might expect.

Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovacs, manager of ‘The Tower’, one of Manhattan’s most luxurious addresses, and home to billionaire financier Arthur Shaw (played brilliantly by Alan Alda).

Sh aw i s eve nt u a l ly busted on fraud charges, a situation made especially sticky since Kovacs trusted Shaw to invest the pensions of the entire Tower staff.

When he’s informed by FBI agent Claire Denham (Téa Leoni) that there is little chance of recovering the lost pensions, Kovacs decides he must take matters into his own hands by stealing back the money from Shaw's penthouse.

There are no real surprises in how the plot pans

out from here, but needless to say people seeking a rich and intelligent heist film should search elsewhere.

In saying that, director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour trilogy) keeps the film moving at a nice steady pace, and scene to scene, the movie tends to keep the viewer engaged and entertained. It's kind of like a painting done by a toddler – it's not very good, but they're trying so hard to impress that you can't help but smile.

Ratner also has a penchant for odd-couple casting, and while on paper, a cast that consists of Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alda, Leoni, Casey Affleck,

Michael Peña, Precious star Gabourey Sidibe and Matthew Broderick would seem pretty strange, this eclectic group has great chemistry and keep things light and humorous. Nobody in the cast is wasted, and they in fact become the real strong suit of what would have otherwise been a very average film.

Perhaps the highlight of Tower Heist though is the return of Eddie Murphy. After so many years lost in the vacuum of kids movies playing cheap, hammedup stereotypes, he returns to the realm of adult comedy, showing glimpses of what made him such a prodigy so many years ago.

On a less positive note,

Tower Heist can’t overcome the sense that in aspiring to be a movie of so many different genres, it doesn’t really satisfy any one particularly well. As a straight comedy, it’s hardly laugh-out-loud.

As a heist film, it doesn’t take itself seriously enough to maintain interest in the plot.

Typically, a heist movie has to be somewhat believable in its execution of the actual heist, and offer a few surprises along the way. Upon close inspection, very little of what happens in Tower Heist’s third act can be construed as believable, the misdirection is pretty transparent, and the surprises will have you laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of it all.

But at the end of the day, Tower Heist is a carefree popcorn flick that succeeds in being fun, often funny, and is generally very enjoyable – so long as you don’t look too hard at the plot and all of the many, many, holes that riddle it.

–Dane Halpin

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

SFX COLISEUM PHUKET (CENTRAL FESTIVAL) 1911 (T) [15+]: 12:00, 16:50, 21:40 30 Gum Lang Jaew (T) [15+]: 11:45, 14:15, 16:45, 19:15, 21:45 In Time (E) [13+]: 11:50, 14:10, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10 Killer Elite (E) [18+]: 12:30, 15:00, 17:25, 20:00, 22:30 Mid Mile (T/E.SUB) [15+]: 11:30, 13:30, 15:30, 17:30, 19:30, 21:30 Top Secret Wai Roon Pun Laan (T/E.SUB) [15+]: 14:05, 19:00 Tower Heist (E) [13+]: 11:15, 13:25, 15:45, 18:00, 20:15, 22:25 Tower Heist (E/F) [13+]: 12:30, 14:45, 17:00, 19:20, 21:35SFC

SFC JUNGCEYLON PHUKET (PATONG) 30 Gum Lang Jaew (T) [15+]: In Time (E) [13+]:

11:30, 14:00, 16:30, 19:00, 21:30 11:20, 13:40, 15:55, 18:10, 20:25, 22:40

Killer Elite (E) [18+]:

12:00, 14:30, 17:00, 19:30, 22:00

Paranormal Activity 3 (E) [18+]: 11:15, 13:20, 15:25, 17:30

Tower Heist (E) [13+]:

19:35, 21:40 11:10, 13:25, 15:40, 17:55, 20:10, 22:20

STRETCH YOUR BRAIN Across 1. Short for Satan or Lucifer, perhaps. (9) 6. United Nations agent goes hungry. (5) 9. Poison victory east of Parisian name. (5) 10. Tube close to bull.

(5) 11. In the middle, Bella’s 45 inches. (3) 12. Ann goes into pier for basket. (7) 13. Girl cut? Move fast! (6) 16. Shield strangely tense couch. (10)

Solutions to last week’s puzzles

18. She returns to dine.

(4) 20. After South Africa, lieutenant may be worth this. (4) 21. Oppose secret, taking on shirt, right?

(10) 23. Post Office created hairy stuff. (6) 24. Fighting weight of warship. (7) 28. Circle turn I agree in France. (3) 29. A small shoot – it’s nearly Spring. (5) 30. Every year, take out a void. (5) 31. Each decade consumed. (5) 32. Beating and preparing fish for frying. (9) Down 1. We hear Jack’s in church. (4) 2. Dance drum. (5) 3. Note about Mina: enter! (8) 4. Unmarried state over with no runs to headgear. (10) 5. Stars of the family,

www.thephuketnews.com

it’s said. (4) 6. Yes vote in Egypt and Syria at one time causes a lot of noise.

(6) 7. Out of jail, Lance is a writer. (9) 8. Edit a plaid ruin.

(10) 14. She was abducted by underworld boss through southeast phone. (10) 15. Scottish river hand is plain-spoken. (10)

17. Writer includes most of ex-pupils in cost. (9) 19. Give incentive to Thai ant four consumed. (8) 22. Inventor gives direction to Diana and offspring. (6) 25. Three directions turn – I find boredom.

(5) 26. Food for creepycrawly. (4) 27. Promote tobacco twist. (4)

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

LIFE&STYLE Business owner

History and Horror Two days in the Cambodian capital > 27

ACCESSORIES

street fashion

Puttiwat Wisudharom

SHOPPING 23

Chayamon Kasibarl Businesswoman

Khun Puttiwat bought his black singlet (B150) and his fashionable sunglasses ( B15 0) f r o m Chatuchak Market in Bangkok.

His pants (B300) and his brown shoes (B4,000) were bought at Siam in Bangkok, while he picked up his hat (B150) from t he Plat i nu m Mall in Bangkok.

H e r Pl a y b oy shirt (B1,520) and funky shoes (B2,290), her earrings (B450) and her Evita Peroni necklace (B450) were bought at Central Festival Phuket. She purchased her brown checked Louis Vuitton bag (B23,000) while in Macau.

2

1

Tanya Living

1. Necklace B750 2. Earrings and necklace B1,200 per set.

Various patterns and colours are available.

Shop 889, G/F, Turtle Village, Mai Kao, 076 314 898. Open daily 8am-10pm.

WEDDING DRESS How to keep your yacht’s glossy shine SALE AT LAGUNA ADVERTORIAL It’s not only when you want to sell your boat that you want her to look her best. Every boat owner will feel this urge once in a while. Seeing the sea reflected in the hull as shiny as new also impacts on the way you feel about her.

“It is the most asked question at East Marine Chandler y,” says shop manager Peter Fowler, “but there is no easy answer as Products available to help improve your boat’s look. it largely depends on the scratch pads, or polish- you have GRP yacht or combination of hull mateing compounds. a painted yacht and even rial and the application of • Distilled white vinegar depending on the type of special products. and hot water can be used painted top-coat, different “Make sure you ask us to remove stubborn salt approaches and products here at the Chandlery first stains. do apply. in order to avoid disap• Use 3M liquid polish by “We are happy to give pointment. Once you start hand only, to remove stub- personal advice on the best applying the wrong products born diesel soot stains. way to maintain your boat or techniques it is quite difficult, or costly, to undo the • Use non-abrasive, non- and give her that stunning silicon protection sealers shine back,” says Mr Fowler. consequences.” of 3M or AWLGRIP for Here are some tips from ■■ For more information, painted hulls.

Mr Fowler to start you off: • Frequently wash your boat • For GRP gelcoats: if you visit the East Marine Chandecide to wax your boat, dlery in Phuket Boat Lawith a high-quality marine you will need to maintain goon; +66 81 0823 113; detergent, rinse thoroughly the wax layers. info@eastmarineasia.com; and dry with soft cloth.

• Do not use abrasives, Depending on whether eastmarineasia.com.

The Laguna Phuket Wedding Chapel Salon is holding a mass sale for imported new and preloved wedding gowns, with some priced as low as B2,000.

The wedding gowns are on sale at the Chapel Salon located within the Canal Village at Laguna Phuket.

Some 60 dresses are available, originally valued at approximately B20,000 per garment.

Director of Wedding Services at Laguna Phuket, Crystal Riedemann, says: “There are gowns to suit various tastes, size and budget, and alterations can be arranged by our on-site tailor if required.

“The gowns are all made of the highest quality Italian fabrics and were all designed and manufactured in Japan.”

The Laguna Phuket Wedding Chapel hosts around 150 wedding ceremonies per year. It is soon to host its 700th wedding. This year the chapel hosted a record 23 weddings in the month of October and has 17 weddings scheduled for November.

Customers are welcome to try on the gowns by making an appointment with Laguna Phuket’s wedding planner, Khun Ann. Phone 076 362 300 or email weddings@lagunaphuket.com.

www.thephuketnews.com

24 DINING

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

An all-Austrian affair The Austrian Ambassador His Excellency Dr Johannes Peterlink’s blond wife, Dr Ria-Usula, was resplendent in a Thai silk dress in the brilliant red of her national flag.

Dr Peterlink also sported the striped red-and-white tie of his national colours as he opened the Aust r ian Wine-tasting Evening at the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket last month.

The Trattoria outside in the garden, slightly reminiscent of the garden pergola love scene in The Sound of

Music, was brimful with different wines imported for the promotional occasion from three Austrian wineries.

Representatives of the w i nema ker s were t here too, each standing behind a separate table full of empty glasses, happy to pour their best wines for the select group of local wine-lovers, including a few expatriate countrymen, to taste.

The Szibeti winery only makes sparkling wines and had a big selection of them to pour into long glasses.

The fresh taste of the wines introduces the high quality of the other wines that were being offered for sampling.

Maria Grabt came to Thailand to market her Nepomukhof wines. Tanned coppery by the Phuket sunshine, she says that her husband doesn’t like to fly, so it is up to her to flit about overseas to promote their products.

Hans-Peter Hofmann of Szibeti wines says that many Austrian wineries are traditional and small, and tend to use organic methods.

Ambassador Johannes Peterlink and his wife Ria-Usula are fourth and fifth from left.

Made from age-old grape varieties grown in different mountainous regions, the many wines, of the deepest red and the palest rosé, have different subtle tastes than

others available on the market.

Served with a selection of delicious creamy cheeses, a salami and the outstanding prosciutto-style, air-cured pork from the Austrian Vulcano

company, one can sit back and easily imagine grapevines growing on the mountain slopes with snowy peaks rising gloriously above them.

–Norachai Thavisin

SPARKLING COMPANY Above: Ballotine. Below: the evening’s amuse-bouche.

P

huket’s top chefs are constantly challenged these days, required either to create menus around a particular food or theme or, possibly the most difficult, to complement the creations of a particular wine maker.

After all, as Bart Duykers of Bangkok Beer & Beverages points out, the wine is what it is. It can’t be changed to suit the occasion, so the chef is the one who has to change.

He or she has to create food that showcases the wine, food that’s delicious, preferably unusual, that walks comfortably arm-in-arm with the wine over one’s palate.

Creating this easy companionship is no easy task.

www.thephuketnews.com

From left, Giancarlo Moretti Polegato and Laura Dassiè of Villa Sandi, with Dr Yupares ‘Ae’ Mimkarn and Jimmy Cumming.

If the food flavours are too robust there’s a high risk of a battle which the wine loses.

The temptation to back away from such a conflict must be very strong. But back away too far and the opposite happens – the food ends up paling by comparison, forming only a wan backdrop.

Imagine, then, the challenge posed to the chef when the

wine menu consists entirely of whites. And not just any white, but two very special proseccos, a blanc de blanc and a pinot grigio from the Villa Sandi vineyards, near Venice.

Not a single big red to wrestle with.

That was the challenge facing Chef Ryan Arboleda of Paresa resort on Millionaires’ Mile on Friday (November 11).

One could detect that he was worried about upstaging the delicate wines, and ended up erring on the side of caution with a seafood, fish and chicken menu that fell short of exciting.

That said, the wines sparkled, literally and metaphorically, against the culinary backdrop. Bright and refreshing, and just right for tropical nights, they will probably find

their way swiftly into the cellars of the island’s cognoscenti.

Worthy of special mention was a “surprise”, not included in the menu: Villa Sandi’s Cartizze, a lively, slightly spicy prosecco from a 300-metrehigh vineyard of 107 hectares owned by 140 growers. The classification forbids the production of more than 6,000 bottles per hectare. Not easy to

get hold of, so a special treat.

Also worth mentioning was the menu itself, printed on a CD of Italian music, from soul by Laura Pausini to opera by Pavarotti, each piece of music chosen to complement a course of the meal and its accompanying wine – quite literally making the meal music to our ears.

–Alasdair Forbes

DINING 25

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

A cracking time An odd creature greeted diners at DiVine Restaurant, Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club in Thalang.

A man masquerading as an orange crab, complete with large rubber claws, welcomed all to the Crab Festival Buffet, which was also heralded by the distinctive aroma of crab shells being grilled.

Very fresh blue-green swimmer crabs, and greenbrown mud crabs were piled up on ice at the buffet bar. Diners could request their crabs to be cooked grilled or steamed, while in the middle of each table was a small wooden

mallet and a thick wooden cutting board to help you crack the crabs’ outer shell.

Once they had managed to crack the crabs open, diners discovered that the firm white flesh was cooked au point (not over or underdone), with an amazing flavour that sent this crab-eater directly to culinary heaven.

Laid out along the long buffet bar were also a large selection of other delicious crab dishes, plus salads made from produce from Thanyapura’s organic farm resort near Khao Sok in Surat Thani province.

Chef Sathaporn ‘Moo’ Bootmeecha has a staff of 60 to help cater for the culinary needs of the many functions of the Thanyapura complex, from feeding the students at the Phuket International Academy (PIA), to the sport groups that come to use the Olympicsize swimming pool and the f lood-lit fields all around, to guests visiting the Mind Centre for meditation.

–Norachai Thavisin ■■ D i V i n e R e s t a u r a n t , 076 336 000, info@thanyapura.co.th; thanyapura.com.

Daily 7am-10pm.

Fresh mud and blue swimmer crabs at DiVine, ready for either grilling or steaming.

SWEETS FROM ANGELS Phuket’s fave fish dish Located in Royal Phuket Marina, Les Anges (angels in French) is a boutique bakery and restaurant serving Thai and international cuisine, including a variety of sweet treats such as pastries, croissants, cake slices, ice-cream and chocolate, as well as wedding and birthday cakes.

Hailing from Saint Tropez in France, head chef and manager Bernard Garcia has been at Les Anges for seven months. A qualified chef and baker, Mr Garcia has more than 20 years experience in the food business, having previously worked in an array of countries such as France, Mexico, and Canada.

He has more than 20 people lending him a hand in the restaurant and bakery, including the hardy few who rise before 4am to ensure all items are freshly made daily.

Mr Garcia and wife Laetitia have been living in Phuket for six years, with three of those spent running French bakery Au Des Lys in Phuket Town. The bakery has since been renamed Sacs, and is now run by an English couple.

Mr Garcia’s favourite dessert to make is croquembouche, a traditional French cake served at special events, made from pastry similar to chocolate éclairs and stacked up in a large triangle shape.

Royal Phuket Marina events and group manager, Murat Can Sakarya, said the bakery and restaurant also caters for MICE events, weddings, seminars, team parties and tour groups. It offers an extensive range of food and beverage packages.

Les Anges’ Thai chef Khun Dawn prepares the local dishes, while every Friday, Indian chef Khun Padam hosts their special Indian night.

Les Anges sell their baked goods wholesale to various restaurants around Phuket,

STREET EATS

Above: Bernard Garcia, left, and Murat Can Sakarya. Left: Some delicious baked goods.

and have a kiosk bakery at Central Festival.

Their current kiosk stand at Villa Market, Chalong, meanwhile, will be turned into a sit-down café in late December. The bakery and restaurant also doubles as the venue for a salsa dancing night once a month.Customers at Les

Anges are a mix of expatriates who live in the area and Thai locals, with everyone eager to sample their top-quality coffee and treat themselves.

When you visit, be sure to check out their famous macaroons, available for B30 each in a wide range of flavours including chocolate, passionfruit and blueberry.

■■ Les Anges, Royal Phuket Marina, 68 Moo 2, Thepkrasattri Rd., Koh Kaew. lesangesphuket.com. For event enquiries please contact Murat on 081 797 3364. For all other enquiries contact Bernard on 081 968 0738.

One of the most popular items of street food on the island is tod man pla, or Thai fish cakes. But there is a big difference between the standard Thailand recipe and Phuket’s variation on this favourite.

Generally, tod man pla is made from chilli paste, ground fresh fish, and sliced beans, then turned into a patty and deep fried. It is soft and often a bit spicy. But in Phuket, people usually add in shredded coconut flesh, which makes the fish cake much crispier.

Two Phuket siblings who are well known for their tod man pla are Wallapha ‘Tho’ Sae-ong and Mongkol ‘Gao’ Navee. Their stall is located next to Bang Niew School.

The siblings have used the same recipe for 30 years. “Tod man pla in Phuket usually has more fish flesh inside. We mix fresh yellow stripe trevally fish with our own curry paste, so it is more flavoured and can be kept longer,” Mrs Wallapha says.

Their stall is open daily from 4pm to 7pm, except Sundays. Two fish cakes cost B5, or you can order bulk ones to cook at home yourself.

Above: Popular street food: tod man pla. Below: Wallapha ‘Tho’ Sae-ong, left, and her brother Mongkol ‘Gao’ Navee, who make delicious tod man pla, or Thai fish cakes.

www.thephuketnews.com

26 TRAVEL

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Beach of inactivity D

espite a Thai name that means ‘active’, Khuk Khack Beach couldn’t be any more different.

The long white stretch of sand, on the Phang Nga coast just north of Khao Lak, stretches out into the sea spray haze on either side as far as the eye can see.

It’s early on a blue morning.

A solitary visitor jogs along the edge of the lapping waves from the calm sea. He is not in too much of a hurry either.

On the tourist map, the beach is dotted with resorts, the dots all bunching up towards the south of the beach, although few can be seen when you are on the sand.

Certainly at this northern end, there are only Adamania Beach Resort and, at some distance along the beach from it, JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa. Khao Lak resort managers will tell you that many Thai and foreign tourists, especially from Europe, come to this long beach to escape the crowded western coast of Phuket.

But there are hardly any visitors to be seen this morning, and very few during the day, even though the high season has just started.

The white sand is, for a good change, almost free from litter. Instead, a small army of hermit crabs scuttle happily along this morning, dragging an assorted selection of mobile

Above: Enjoying a long, leisurely day on the beach in Phang Nga. Below left: a runner takes to the sand. Below right: A hermit crab on the beach.

homes. Their little eyes are on the look out with little feelers sensing the air, always ready to retreat into their shells and shut the front door at the first hint of disturbance.

A little grey and white wader bobs along on the wet sand, scooting after its breakfast of scurrying wind crabs.

On a branch perches a family of birds. One takes off after an insect, flashing yellow plumage on its body and iridescent blue above its wings.

Now and then wrecked holiday bungalows on Khao Lak beaches, overgrown with creeping vegetation, still provide sobering reminder of the

tsunami of 2004.

The sunny hours are long here – you can catch up on your reading, get tanned or to have a massage in the sea breeze.

As the sun slowly sets, one looks forward to sipping a cold beer and dining on freshlycooked prawns, fish and squid.

The dark horizon ahead now

shows lights of local boats that are netting your seafood meals tomorrow.

The moon is becoming full for the Loy Kratong festival on the walk back to your resort. It’s very comforting to anticipate the same care-free day tomorrow...

–Norachai Thavisin

To get there: Drive north from Phuket on the Highway 402 across Sarasin bridge into Phang Nga province. Then follow Highway 4 north, left along the coast in the direction of Takuapa to Khao Lak town, and further north to Khuk Khack beach on your left, some 110 km in all.

Southern resorts motor on Solar Air starts

Phuket and Phang Nga’s tourism is motoring on despite declines in tourists arriving at the country’s main aviation gateway, Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

Southern hotels are enjoying an 80 per cent occupancy at the moment, driven by travellers who are transiting at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport or fly direct to Phuket from other regional hubs.

Over the weekend, Phuket International Airport was packed with international tourists arriving on direct f l ig ht s f rom Si ngap ore and other regional airports as well as Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.

However, passenger traffic at Suvarnabhumi Airport is dropping daily as cancellations make a 25 to 30 per cent dent in airline bookings to Bangkok.

This may ultimately cause cancellations for holidays in South Thailand in December www.thephuketnews.com

The Bangkok floods haven’t affected tourism in the south. if the floods crisis continues in the capital. Even though southern resorts are not in the flood crisis region, a crisis in Bangkok causes issues for other destinations that rely on the capital to feed traffic their way.

However, for the time being hoteliers in Phang Nga and the Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket office indicate that tourism in the

two main resort cities is still unaffected by the flood in the capital.

“Around 60 per cent of flights to Phuket are direct as there are also many international charter flights scheduled for the peak season,” said TAT Phuket office director Bangornrat Shinprayoon.

Phuket is currently served by 25 international airlines and four domestic airlines that

provide 539 weekly flights.

Charter airlines provide another 483 flight weekly.

“During November we are running at 85 per cent, and we are receiving advanced bookings as normal,” said JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa director of sales and marketing Roger Parnow.

“But for how long,” he questioned, claiming the media was flooding TV channels with negative footage of the Thai capital that would wash out advance bookings even for resorts not in the flood zone.

“News report makes matters more terrible than reality and that it is going to affect long-term bookings as tourists will get the impression that floods are covering all of Thailand,” he said.

“Normally during January to March OCR at our property will be 80 to 90 per cent but we adjusted our goal for next year to 70 per cent,” he added.

–TTR Weekly

flight to Hua Hin Solar Air, a domestic airline that was based at Don Mueang Airport until it closed due to floods, transferred its base to U-Tapao Airport in Sattahip (about 45minutes from Pattaya) on Thursday (November 10).

Three airlines vacated the flooded domestic airport in late October – Nok Air, Orient Thai Airlines and Solar Air. Both Nok Air and Orient Thai moved to Bangkok’s main aviation gateway, Suvarnabhumi Airport, while Solar Air decided to resume services from the Navy controlled airport 30 km south of Pattaya.

Solar Air kicked off a daily service to Hua Hin – the first air link to the area since Nok Mini (then called SGA Airlines) halted services in March 2009.

Solar Air hopes to finalise a timetable for flights to other destinations such as Chumporn, Phrae, Nan, Leoi and Mae Sot

from its temporary base.

Initially, passengers have to arrange their own transport to and from U-Tapao, but the airline says it will set up a shuttle services between Bangkok and U-Tapao shortly.

Solar Air said it was not prepared to operate out of Suvarnabhumi Airport due to flight congestion.

Nok Air announced it will extend its current flight operations from Suvarnabhumi Airport to 15 destinations until 31 January 2012 instead of 30 November as Don Mueang Airport will remain closed well into December. Officials say it will take two months to clear the water from the airport complex and surrounding areas.

As for Orient Thai Airlines, it says the operations at Suvarnabhumi Airport will continue until Don Mueang Airport re-opens.

–TTR Weekly

TRAVEL 27

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

The S-21 Museum shows the horrors of Khmer Rouge rule.

View from the banks of the mighty Mekong.

History and horror

in Phnom Penh I

had been told a lot about Cambodia before I arrived, but nothing could prepare me for stepping off the plane, and being exposed to the dust, heat, noises and crazy sights of central Phnom Penh.

“Lady, you want taxi?

Where you go lady?” I’ve been here five minutes and already the calls are more relentless than Phuket.

But, after being awake since 4am, and following an eight hour stopover in Kuala Lumpur, for once I am happy to be guided toward a tuk-tuk and driven to my hostel – whatever the price.

Turns out it was US$7 (the main currency is US dollars, but smaller items are normally purchased in Cambodian Riel), just over B200. Not bad for the 45 minute trip in rush hour traffic, which in Phuket wouldn’t even get you from

one end of Patong to the other.

Situated on the banks of the Mekong River, the city is home to around 2.2 million people and is insanely busy.

English is widely spoken.

A former colony of the French empire, cuisine and international food in general is at an exceptionally high standard too, and it is cheap – most western dishes in Phnom Penh are around $3, or B90.

There are also many cafés that would not look out of place in the capital city of any western country, with practically all of them offering free Wi-Fi, great coffee, and sweet treats. Street food is around the same price as Thai dishes, around $1, or B30.

I covered most of the major sights in two days, and other travellers I spoke to agreed that was enough time to see the best of Phnom Penh. In

those two days I covered the killing fields at Choeung Ek, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (aka S-21), the National Museum, the Silver Pagoda, Royal Palace, and had a tuktuk ride around the outskirts of the city to some villages along the Mekong.

My first day was spent at the killing fields – something I was not particularly looking forward to but knew it had to be done. The fields, situated around seven kilometres out of the city, were where thousands were killed during the Khmer Rouge regime from the mid to late 1970s.

Today, a large memorial stands in the middle of empty fields. There are many graves and other reminders of the horror that took place there. It is such a peaceful place now, with many tourists wandering around in awe, and just try-

ing to gauge the full extent of what took place here.

To cap off a very depressing yet humbling day I visited S-21 in central Phnom Penh.

It was here where many innocent Cambodians and other nationalities were tortured and killed during the Khmer Rouge regime. A former school, its classrooms were turned into row upon row of cells and torture chambers. Today, the rooms are largely empty, but with a few beds and torture equipment still present.

What is most shocking is the rooms filled with prisoner mugshots; a stark reminder of just how many people died.

The National Museum was interesting but probably not somewhere I’d go again, while the Silver Pagoda and Royal Palace were quite impressive. The Royal Palace resembled Wat Chalong in

Downtown Phnom Penh is a hive of activity. style, though on a larger scale.

The temples were packed with hundreds of tourists, and unless you’re particularly interested in temples, if you have seen the ones throughout Bangkok and the wider Thailand, you can probably give this stop a miss.

All in all, I found Phnom Penh a fantastic place for a holiday. It was very sad – the horrors of the Khmer Rouge

are still very visible with effectively a whole generation wiped out. Poverty is everywhere, as are landmine victims and beggars. But the hospitality and warmth of the local people made for a great experience – they were always smiling, even the ones who seemed to have nothing.

Next week we’ll visit the ancient temples of Angkor.

–Claire Connell

Getting there: AirAsia flies through Kuala Lumpur, for B8,700 return – one of the cheapest fares available.

penh) has rooms priced at $80 (B2,400) and up.

Where to stay: For a budget option, try Capitol Guesthouse (www.capitolkh.com), where private rooms start from $3 (B90) per night.

Alternatively, Juliana Hotel, (julianahotels.com/phnom-

Where to eat: Friends restaurant (www.friends-international.org) is an NGO-run restaurant in central Phnom Penh which acts as a hospitality training ground for street kids. It serves great food for around $4-$6 per dish (B120-B180).

Vietnam Airlines to London Viet nam Airlines has launched its latest ex-Bangkok fares for travel to London to mark the introduction of the new Vietnam-Gatwick link on December 8.

It requires a change of aircraft either in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, though, and even its best offer is not that competitive against other one-stop or even nonstop services out of Bangkok.

Another disadvantage for busy travellers is the frequency. Vietnam Airlines will operates just four flights a week; two each from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. It departs Hanoi on Monday and Thursday and HCMC on Tuesday and Friday. There are other complications.

The carrier operates just two daily flights from Bangkok, but to connect seamlessly, passengers need to catch the

evening flight on the outbound sector and the morning flight on the return sector.

The service is to London’s Gatwick Airport rather than the more popular Heathrow Airport served by most airlines from Bangkok.

Economy class fares start from B36,610, but they are not always available when com-

bined with the best connecting times on outbound sectors. It costs B2,000 more for the best departure time to minimise connecting time. The business class fare is B118,610.

Thai Airways International’s best fares are quite close to the higher fares offered by Vietnam Airlines, and are nonstop to Heathrow.

Thai Airways offers twice daily flights and online promotional fares for departures until 31 January 2012. A Fly 2gether sells for B41,140, but two persons must travel together. If travelling alone, the fares start from B44,645.

Business class promotion, Europe Great Attraction, is B111,235.

–TTR Weekly www.thephuketnews.com

28 ONCAMERA

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Miana De Gardeyn, Export Sale Manager and Bart Duykers from Andaman Wine Club.

A TASTE OF PURITY

The Tussock New Zealand Sampler Table event, hosted by the Andaman Wine Club, was held at the Blue Elephant Restaurant in Phuket Town on Monday (November 14), attracting many keen participants eager to try some of the best New Zealand wine.

Picture Above: Harold Schwarz with wife Yen and the crew. Below left: Harold Schwarz with admirers. Below right: Anne Bonnesen, Claire Mossop and Claire Cookson.

Right: Blue Elephant manager Kim Steppe and his chefs. Below: Assembled guests enjoy the splendid evening out.

ALL PHUKET'S BEST EVENTS ARE HERE

Celebrating 15 years of fusion food Tatonka Restaurant in Tin Lay Place, Cherng Talay, celebrated its 15th anniversary on Saturday (November 12) with free food, free drinks,

and an appeal for donations to support the Soi Dog Foundation in its efforts to save animals abandoned in the flooding in Bangkok.

Restaurant owner Harold Schwartz also took the opportunity to thank and reward long-serving staff at the popular restaurant.

ALL PHUKET'S BEST EVENTS ARE HERE

Chef Jean-Noel Lumineau with Boathouse GM Mrs Marie-Laure Fleury, and guests.

Cocktails at the Boathouse

The Boathouse Wine and Grill, Kata, hosted a select group of guests when it held a cocktail party last Wednesday (November 9).

Management and staff of Delicious celebrate the restaurant’s grand opening.

ECO-FRIENDLY NETWORKING

Bangkok SPA owner Rin Poinwarin, left, and Bob Moses, SGS contracts manager. www.thephuketnews.com

A small but enthusiastic group turned out at the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP) monthly networking meeting at Full Moon Brewworks in Jungceylon on November 11. The guest speaker was conservationist John Jerrold Kippen, partner at G ray who spoke Duensing Kippen, left, and about the Phang Nga James Firth, IBAP president.

Bay Conservancy.

Just Delicious European restaurant Delicious opened in Patong on November 10, ready to serve the public European sandwiches, waffles, and Italian and French bakery snacks, from Farmbreab bakery in Surin, as well as imported Belgian beer and Italian coffee.

Delicious can be found inside Aspery Hotel next to Wine Connection, on Haad Patong Road. It is open every day from 7am to 10pm.

Contact them on 088 169 1400.

From left to right, Olivier Julien Dubois, Phuket News PR and Marketing Manager Tamakorn “Boo” Khowpon and Amita Dubios enjoy themselves.

ONCAMERA 29

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

ALL PHUKET'S BEST EVENTS ARE HERE

Finding the perfect kratong at Saphan Hin.

Lighting the kratong at OXY Cafe & Bar.

Celebrating in style at Centara.

THE LIGHTS OF LOY KRATONG ALL PHUKET'S BEST EVENTS ARE HERE

Thousands of people gathered in various spots around the island, including Patong, Saphan Hin, Centara, Sukko Spa, OXY Cafe & Bar and

Rawai to celebrate the Loy Kratong festival. The tradition of the festival is to either create or buy a kratong, put some money (or

some hair or fingernail clippings) in it, and send it out to sea when the full moon arrives. The belief is this will bring you good luck.

The hardworking team take a moment to celebrate at Centara.

ALL PHUKET'S BEST EVENTS ARE HERE

English teachers enjoy their night out at OXY Cafe & Bar during Loy Kratong.

All dressed up for the special occasion at the Rawai Loy Kratong festivities.

ALL PHUKET'S BEST EVENTS ARE HERE

A Phuket lady shows off her impressive kratong.

Glamorous dresses were in plentiful supply at Sukko Spa, Phuket.

Becky from Hong Kong at Patong beach. www.thephuketnews.com

30 ENTERTAINMENT

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Tata Young heads for Hard Rock Popu la r T h a i singer Tata Young will perform at the Hard Rock Café Phuket, adjacent t o t h e C o u r tyard by Marriott Phuket at Patong Beach, on November 26 at a charity concert to raise money for the country’s many flood victims.

Young has released eight studio albums, three in English and five in Thai. Her most recent album is Ready for Love, released in 2009.

In 2010, she Singer Tata Young will perform in was voted the Best Phuket on November 26 to raise Thai Female Sing- money for Thailand’s flood victims. er by Mademan. com, and in 2007 she was a 10 per cent discount for voted the Sexiest Singer in advanced booking. The show Thailand in the FHM 100 runs 7pm till late.

The Phuket News and Sexiest Women in the World.

Young’s Phuket show Live 89.5 are proud media also features performances sponsors of the concert. by international show bands For info call 076 366381, Li’l Eyes and K2Z. Tickets are on sale from email csr@phuket-hrc.com, B99 to B2,999 each, with or see hardrock.com/phuket

www.thephuketnews.com

Jenny Irwin, host of the Night Grooves show, is one of the DJs manning Phuket’s newest radio station, Live 89.5.

Grooving the night away If you’re driving alone in Phuket in the evenings, tune into Live 89.5 radio DJ Jenny Irwin’s Night Grooves show to keep you company.

The DJ is one of four to join the new Live 89.5, which as well as taking to the airwaves, is also streaming online at phuketliveradio.com.

Jenny is an experienced broadcaster – she got her first video jockey job straight out of high school at the age of 18, working for Channel V in

Bangkok, as well as running a radio show on Virgin Radio.

The American-born talent initially moved to Phuket in 2007 to work as a journalist and translator for Channel 11, the government television channel. Then Live 89.5 came calling for her talents.

“I was interested because I already knew Jason the DJ, and K the sound engineer.

We had all worked together before, so to have them there was a big yes from me.

“Helping set up a radio station is a fun challenge when you have energy and new ideas coming together. It’s an explosion of creativity from everyone.”

During her time as a DJ, Jenny has interviewed many famous artists including Incubus, Holly Valance, the Cranberries, Blue, and Simple Plan.

“I enjoy doing the show – I feel I’ve got a bit of leeway, it’s great. I like working here because of the work environ-

ment, it’s a nice atmosphere.”

Her show, Night Grooves, r uns f rom 7pm to 11pm Mond ay to Fr id ay, a nd features music from the 1980s, ‘90s and today.

“My show is good for late night chillout vibes. When you’re driving at night, and you’re all alone at 11pm, you just want someone’s voice for the long drive home.”

Jenny also hosts the Sunday Brunch show, from 12pm to 3pm every Sunday.

EVENTS 31

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

WHAT’S ON IN PHUKET UNTIL DECEMBER 3

NOVEMBER 26

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

DECEMBER 5

Asian Hospitality & Travel Show Be seen...

HM the King’s Birthday A public holiday celebrating the birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX).

Also observed as National Day and National Father’s Day.

18TH - 20TH NOVEMBER 2011 @

TSLC Ironkids TSLC Ironkids Phuket Triathlon after- school training sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3.45pm to 4.45pm. Open to all children from six to 15 years old. Priced at B350 per person.

Tuesdays: Swim and bike and Thursdays: Bike and run. Pre-book sessions by email activities@thanyapura.co.th. Bikes available for rent at B100 per session. More info at www.ironkidsphuket.com.

NOVEMBER 19

Fundraiser For The Soi Dog Foundation CC Bloom’s Hotel will hold a fundraiser to help the Soi Dog Foundation with their work helping dogs and cats stranded in the Bangkok floods. A raffle will be held where you could win a three day/two night stay at CC Bloom’s Hotel, trip to Phi Phi or James Bond Island, dinner for two at the CC Bloom’s Beaches Café, a bottle of wine from the wine collection, etc.

All money raised through this fundraiser will be donated to the Soi Dog Foundation.

Time: 5pm -10 pm. Contact 076 333 222, email: sales@ccbloomshotel.com.

NOVEMBER 26-27

Help Us Save The Marine Life Guest Chef Laurent Révéillac specialises in molecular cuisine and will showcase some of his renowned creations using liquid nitrogen in the name of charity to raise funds for the Pure Blue Foundation (www.purebluefoundation. com), which is committed to the regeneration and sustainability of marine environments.

Live cooking stations will be set up on Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga beach where guests will savour some of Chef Révéillac’s specialties. The evening will start with the release of leatherback turtles into the sea, followed by an exclusive cocktail dinner which will be accompanied by entertainment and music spun by DJ Me. Starting at 7pm, the charity evening costs B2,900 net per person and includes the dining experience and free flow of drinks. To reserve email : help@pureblue founda tion.com or call 076 580 333.

NOVEMBER 19-20

Camp Quest Adventure A 2 days/1 night camp at Quest Laguna Phuket Adventure in our “Go Green” series of camps for children aged 8-12. Two full days of fun, adventure and environmental awareness with offsite excursions, evening campfires, BBQ parties and Quest’s famous adventure activities. Children sleep in large tents in our very own private jungle.

Limited to 25 children - B2,500 (incl.

VAT) per child. Price includes absolutely everything.First-come, first-served basis.

Visit www.facebook.com/questadventurephuket to download information, view photos, contact us directly and download the registration form; e-mail sales@quest lagunaphuket.com; or contact 082 423 0578 (Jazz). Remember....Quest rocks!!

Phuket International Soccer 7s 2011 The one and only Phuket Soccer 7s will celebrate its ninth anniversary this year.

Also with the 6th Andaman International Soccer 7s on December 3-4 there is a lot to look forward to this year. Register your team now by emailing info@Thai7s.com, www.Thai7s.com.

DECEMBER 6 NOW FULLY BOOKED!

The Thailand Property Awards 2011 Now in their sixth year, The Thailand Property Awards are widely recognised as a benchmark for excellence in Thailand’s residential real estate industry. The Gala Award ceremony will take place at the Grand Hyatt Erawan in Bangkok on November 5. The event is expected to attract more than 600 leading figures from the Kingdom’s property sector.

Over a thousand developers, property agents, architects and real estate companies are represented on the submitted list of entries, including many of Bangkok’s top residential developers, plus stand-out projects and real estate firms based in Thailand’s most popular resort destinations, with Phuket well represented. See thailand propertyawards.com. Contact 02 662 5195.

DECEMBER 10 Constitution Day The anniversary of the first permanent constitution in 1932. It is a public holiday.

FEBUARY 2-4, 2012

NOVEMBER 27

Phuket’s biggest ‘trade show’ for organisations whithin the Hospitality & Travel industry Hosted Buyer programme - buyers from Asia, Australia, India and more.

For more information Contact: info@eventsthailand.net Mobile: 089 725 6994 www.eventsthailand.net

NOVEMBER 26-27 Jazz & Ska Music Lovely Night @ Koh Yao Yai Village Koh Yao Yai Village is hosting a special night of jazz under the stars. A weekend island getaway close to Phuket where you will can appreciate dining on the best seafood from the Andaman Sea, while listening to the sounds of jazz and gentle rhythms of the sea.

Book now! Only B4,500 per person. For further enquiries please contact Khun Yutthaya 076 363 700, email: yutthaya@kohyaoyaivillage.com, www.kohyaoyaivillage.com.

™

5,117.27

Thailand 2012 Sport Fishing Tournament (Phuket).

Laguna Phuket 2011 Double Triathlon Festival The Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) is on November 27 and Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship is on December 4. Hundreds of athletes from around the world will arrive for a week-long Tri-Fest of training and social events with top triathlon professionals, in the lush surroundings of the beachfront Laguna Phuket resort. LPT involves a 1.8km swim; 55km bike ride and 12km run; Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship has a 1.9km swim; 90.1km bike ride and 21.1km run.

Laguna Phuket is using the events to raise funds for its community project to give survival swim lessons to local youngsters.

Online registrations at lagunaphuket triath lon.com and ironmanphuket.com.

NOVEMBER 30

This is Thailand’s largest-ever international sport fishing tournament. Prize money totalling over B3,000,000 ($100,000 USD). Boats and teams are filling fast. For further information, please contact Warren Crowe on 081 270 4291 or email: info@rawaibeach fishingclub.com.

FEBUARY 14, 2012

:

Radio TM

by

Amcham Event: David Keen

Andaman Pearl The First Step of Love at Promthep Cape

At Anantara Resort in Mai Khao. Guest speakers will be brand guru David Keen of Quo Global and marketing communications expert David Johnson of Delivering Asia.

This event is a “must attend” for those in the hospitality, travel, property and hotel sectors. As Phuket makes the transition into a mass tourism and hotel market, what is the future of the island’s brand? To register visit amchamthailand.com or contact sheree@ amchamthailand.com, Tel 02 254 1041.

The island is aiming to break the national record for the biggest mass wedding on Valentine’s Day next year. The Thai traditional style mass wedding for 108 couples at Laem Promthep, the best sunset in Thailand. Other activities might include offering alms to 99 Buddhist monks and planting trees as part of a schedule running from February 12-15 next year.

Contact Suanluang Inter Wedding 076 221 976, email: info@interwed dingphuket. com. See interweddingphuket.com.

DECEMBER 3 TSLC Ironkids Phuket Triathlon for kids 6-15 years old.

Registration is open until November 27.

More information and registration forms at ironkidsphuket.com. www.thephuketnews.com

32 EVENTS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

WHAT’S ON IN PHUKET

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

FRIDAY Thai BBQ B230 per person. 6-10pm, free Karaoke from 7-10pm. CC Bloom’s Hotel, 076 333 222, www.ccbloomshotel.com.

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

Champagne Brunch at Trisara Every Sunday, the beachfront bar becomes a celebration of fine wines, exquisite tapas, live cooking stations and Phuket’s best dessert, featuring the cool sounds of a jazz trio.

Come and indulge in Roederer Champagne or a wide variety of wines.

Kids club welcome all children with complimentary snacks. Advance reservations recommended on 076 310 100 or guest@trisara.com.

BBQ Ribs All You Can Eat O nly B29 5 per per son at Shaker s.

Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim. For reservations call on 081 891 4381.

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

Phuket Brasserie Eat, drink, look and party. Live band, Dj and dancers from 10pm till late. All welcome. Call 076 210 511 for more information or look on www.brasseriephuket.com

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Tapas & Wine Night O rder t apas, as muc h as you like, plus one bottle of wine. B1,200 net per person. 6 -11pm at White Box Kalim.

Call 076 346 271.

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

Curry Fridays at Navrang Mahal

Wednesday Quiz Night @ Peppers Quiz Night every Wednesday at Peppers Sports Bar near Laguna.

-Great food -Great music -Great beer.

Contact 081 728 1010. Facebook Peppers Sports Bar.

www.thephuketnews.com

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

Sunday Brunch Enjoy the original Sunday brunch in Phuket at Twinpalms, Surin Beach. 123pm (from B1,190++ per person). Reservations please call 076 316 577.

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

Half-Chicken Spit Roast O nly B2 25 per per son at Shaker s.

Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim area. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

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

AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub 82/15 Moo 4 Patak Road, one km from Chalong circle.

Contact for details on 081 895 4763.

DAILY

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

Sunday Family Brunch At Club Yamu by Twinpalms. Noon till 3pm.

Enjoy delicious pasta, BBQ, Thai home cooking. Call 076 310 557.

MONDAY

Brew Great Beer Phuket’s one and only small batch handcraft beer. Happy hour daily from 4pm to 7pm. Draft beer B110/pint, cocktails two for B220. Live music at 7.30pm onwards. Behind the ship, the port zone at Jungceylon. Call 076 3667 753.

BBQ Buffet All You Can Eat

Sam’s Steaks & Grill

Only B325 per person at Shakers. RatU-Thit Road, Patong. Free pickup Patong and Kalim. Reservations 081 891 4381.

Patong’s finest steaks. Special offer: Caesar salad, fillet steak with you choice of sauce and a glass of Shiraz or Cabernet.

Only B999++ per person. Holiday Inn Resort. Contact 076 370 200.

Colin Hill Colin Hill performs (duo) now every second Saturday at Legends Bar in Kamala, with local guitarist Florian. 081 079 1069.

Roaring Bhoys

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

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

TUESDAY

Half-Chicken Spit Roast

Half-Chicken Spit Roast

O nly B2 25 per per son at Shaker s.

Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim area. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

O nly B2 25 per per son at Shaker s.

Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim area. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

Don’t leave Phuket before you’ve tried our lobster. We serve a daily selection of great value Thai sets for two.

AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM

From B599++ - B699 ++ per person or simply try the wonderful creations of amazing Thai cuisine by Chef Wisuth.

Holiday Inn Resort. Call 076 370 200.

All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub, 82/15 Moo 4 Patak Road, one km from Chalong circle. Contact 081 895 4763.

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

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20% off all Pizzas At Shakers. Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road, Pa t o n g . Fr e e p i c k u p Pa t o n g a n d Kalim areas. Reservations please call 081 891 4381.

Champagne Brunch at Trisara

Eat, drink, look and party.

Every Friday and Saturday from 10pm till late live band, DJ and dancers. All welcome.

Call us on 076 210 511 for more information or visit our website: www.brasseriephuket.com.

New on Monday : Russian Night with Russian DJ, Saxophone player and a special shooter menu + Special surprise act.

Roast beef, BBQ ham, chicken, pork and Yorkshire pudding. All you can eat B399.

Irish Times, Jungceylon, Patong.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Phuket Brasserie

Best Sunday Carvery in Phuket

O nly B29 5 per per son at Shaker s.

Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim. Reservations call on 081 891 4381.

Live Music every Monday night. The largest selection of draught beer in Phuket.

Irish Times, Jungceylon, Patong.

AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM After the overwhelming success of our popular “Salsa Night” events, once again we are delighted to invite you to Royal Phuket Marina for another breathtaking Salsa Night !

Dance A Cha-cha, Bachata, Samba & Rumba to the sounds of DJ’s. Live on the Boardwalk outside “Les Anges” Upon request from our customers a Snack Buffet is also available. Time: 8pm onwards, free entrance. Dress: colourful.

For all reservations & enquiries please contact Mr Murat Can on 081 797 3364. muratc@royalphuketmarina.com.

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

BBQ Ribs All You Can Eat

Star t November 2011-Januar y 2012.

Every Fridays, all-you-can-eat authentic Indian curry buffet, B449 net per person.

Draught beer B50. 7pm-11.30pm. Call 076 286 464.

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

Salsa Night - November 26

wine, 50 per cent discount. Children under 12 eat for free. Call for reservations on 076 360 803.

Every Sunday, the beachfront bar becomes a celebration of fine wines, exquisite tapas, live cooking stations and Phuket’s best dessert, featuring the cool sounds of a jazz trio.

Come and indulge in Roederer Champagne or a wide variety of wines. Kids club welcome all children with complimentary snacks. Advance reservations recommended on 076 310 100 or guest@ trisara.com.

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

Family Brunch on The Boardwalk Les Anges at RPM. From 11am to 3pm.

B795++ adults, include one glass of house

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

All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub, 82/15 Moo 4, Patak Road, one km from Chalong circle. Contact for more details on 081 895 4763.

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

Beach BBQ Enjoy a beach BBQ at Catch Beach Club (from B1,190++ per person). 7pm-10pm.

Call 076 316 567.

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Charm Thai

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

Grizzly’s Sports Bar & Restaurant Watch all the sport that is on TV this weekend with us. Located bet ween Loc h Palm G olf C our se and Kathu Waterfall. Call 087 471 8747.

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Sunset Happy Hours & Ninjazz

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

Don’t miss the Sunset happy hours.

Between 5pm and 7pm. “Buy one get the same one free” promotion. The Luna Bar, Centara Grand Beach Resor t.

076 201 234.

WEDNESDAY

3-Hour Happy Hour

Rotary Club of Patong Beach

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

Facebook Peppers Sports Bar.

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Three-hour Happy Hour Monday-Friday, 4pm-7pm. Beer from B50. House spirits B90. Australia Bar & Grill, Kata Beach.

Contact 089 226 2878.

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Duke’s Sports Bar at Kata

Interactive Pub

Watch your favourite sports and enjoy a cold beer at the best little sports bar in Phuket. Special “drink of the day” B110, all day – every day. www.dukesbigboard. com.

Q uiz night. St ar ts from 8 pm ever y Wednesday night. The largest selection of draught beer in Phuket. Irish Times, Jungceylon, Patong.

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Salsa Class At RPM Salsa class at Royal Phuket Marina from 7.30pm-9pm. For more info on www.phuket-dance.com.

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Peppers Quiz Night Peppers Sports Bar. Daily happy hour, great food, full English breakfast. Open from 8.30am. All sports shown. Laguna area. Please call 088 443 4166.

33

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

CLASSIFIEDS JOBS IN PHUKET Sales Genius Wanted: International operating company is building a Google-like street tour.

Apply at max@panomat ics.com.

Qualified Personal Assistant: We are looking for a personal assistant for the CEO of an important events company. Conditions : Must speak read and write French, English and Thai languages with administrative and computer skills.

We offer a salary of B20,000 plus accomodation included. CV and reference required. yna habed@hotmail.com.

computer. Contact Meaw on 076 322 663 or email phuket@pexgo.com.

New Italian Bakery & Supermar t: New Italian bakery & supermarket in Surin Beach. Kitchen (basic English required): Pastry/baking kitchen sous chef, chef de partie/commis, steward service (good English required), waitress/ waiter, bartendy/bartender, supermarket assistant and cashier.

Send CV by email marcellamocci@gmail.com, by fax 076 618 130 or contact 087 270 5806 or 076 618 127.

Promotional Staf f: Sales Assistant UrEnglish-speaking Thai, full gently Needed: Flutraining given, airport and Patong locations. Basic plus commission. 087 105 4566. Immediate start.

Personal Assistant: Full-time. Western. Must have excellent organisational/negotiation/computer skills, self-motivated/good communicator.

Home-based. Send CV/ salary to admin@esxoa sia.com.

Sales Job Available at MAGpal: MAGpal imports international magazines for rent. We provided rental service of 1,000++ titles of magazines from all over the world. Please visit our website w w w.mag palthailand.com.

Job available: Sales representative. English f l u e n c y, e n t h u s i a s m , sales skills, punctual, responsible. karita@mag palthailand.com.

ent in spoken and written English, to assist manager on a daily basis dealing with clients & office duties, effective interpersonal skills, creative and resultoriented.

Experience in interior design will be advantage. Good compensation to the right candidate.

Send CV to abfabsales@ gmail.com.

Native EnglishSpeaking Teacher: Need native English -speaking teacher with ability to speak, read and write Thai. Call Robin on 081 803 7189.

Close to Chalong Pier > 36

To advertise here visit www.thephuketnews.com Wai t ress N e ed ed: in Phuket, must speak some One position available.

Very good money. Patong area, night time work, good salar y,tips,c ommission and a m e a l d a i l y.

Dynamic and friendly team.

English necessary. Nice presence preferred. car lopatong@gmail.com.

Staff Wanted For Bellini Restaurant: - One person in the kitchen, Thai speaking, no experience required, we will show you how! Salary B9,000 +Bonus+Service charge and insurance per month.

- One person in service, speaks Thai and English. No experience needed. Salary B9,000 +bonus+service charge and insurance per month.

- One person to make deliveries. Driving licence. Salar y B9,000 +bonus+service charge and insurance per month.

Contact Jackye 085 749 9914.

Health Consultant: www.atsumihealing.com is seeking a Thai national to join our detox team. Excellent English required. shell@atsumihealing.com.

Prime land for sale

English. Only Thai national.

Salary B12,000 per month.

Call 076 322 663.

for cooking school and food ser vices business.

Thai national. Cont a c t 0 8 2 816 012 6 o r send CV to info @ fo o d servicesth.com.

Looking for a TeamMember: Sea Bees Diving is looking for a reliable and responsible person (Western or Thai) for our Office in Chalong.

Applicants need to be completely 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 being service- orientated is a must.

This position is for a long-term & full-time contract.Please send your CV & photo to: of fice@sea-bees.com.

English, positive attitude, good in sales, outgoing personality. Salary B12,000 plus commission.Contact Phuket Pool Tables 085 782 1200.

Office Boy: Office boy Hotel Receptionist for company in Kamala with R e q u i r e d : E n g l i s h driving licence for deliveries

Office manager/Administrator Purchase Manager Secretary/Receptionist Draftman (M/F) Electrical/AV design engineers. (M/F) Trainee draftsmen, IT technicians and Systems programmers.(M/F)

Accountant Wanted: Accountant wanted

Waitress/ Waiter and Receptionist: Ur- S a l e s S t a f f f o r gently required for Sensive Cherng Talay: Good Hill in Kathu. Similar background and experience required, excellent salary on offer. Please contact K. Rin at 076 203 012 or send CV to guy@sensivehill.com.

TechWorX are Recruiting

speaking Thai national with

CV with picture, references and expected salary to please. good computer skills required for reception, restaurant and bar work in Kamala. Salary and hours negotiable based on experience. To apply phone 086 941 8880 or send CV to phil@royalembas syresort phuket.com.

.T

r a v e l l i n g Salesman: Sale rep-

resentative available to travel around Thailand for our range of fast-moving consumer products. Thai national, English-speaking, computer skills, driving licence and proven experience of sales to minimart, supermarket.

We already have more than 500 customers in Thailand. Salary B15K plus commission. Contact via email skgf@ skgf.asia.

CAD Technician : To work in new office Phuket. Proficient in AutoCAD (2004 or higher) for 2D drawing. Experience of 3D AutoCAD, Google SketchUp, Adobe Photoshop or Adobe InDesign would be a bonus. Proficient in Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook.

Thai national, good s p o ke n a n d w r i t t e n English, send CV indicating qualifications and experience, expected salary and recent photo to: david@yes.co.th.

V i s i t w w w. s o u n d ideas.co.uk to see the type of work we do.

The Phuket News is looking to add to its ever growing team of professionals and seeks: Sales Representatives Qualifications:

Thai Staff Wanted: Two Thai staff wanted for new sandwich shop “Delicious” in Patong. B10,000 per month. Contact ram bomuis@hotmail.com or call 083 738 7139.

Driver: PEXGO courier requires driver for pick up and deliveries in Phuket.

Must be able to work at night. Must speak some English, basic use of

- Thai or Expat.

- Excellent communication and negotiation skills in Thai and English.

- Highly motivated self-starter with a positive attitude.

- Works well under pressure and has a will to succeed.

We offer:  Competitive

salary, bonuses and travel expenses. friendly work environment.  Social security paid by the company.  Excellent career progress opportunities. A

Please email full resume in English indicating expected salary with recent photo to

adminmgr@thephuketnews.com or call 076 6212 550-2 for mor info.

www.thephuketnews.com

34 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

BUY & SELL IN PHUKET

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com BUSINESSES FOR SALE

Bar for Sale-Kamala: Chickys Bar on main road.

Has B/R with ensuite, pool table, stock furniture, fridges, motorbike. Good takings and ready for high season. Owner returning to Australia. Best offer accepted. Call Chompoo 084 844 3504.

Laundry To Let: Lease B220,000 plus B8,500 monthly rent. Pisitkoranee Road, Patong. Fully-furnished. Contact Khun Lek, call 089 232 9807.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Office For Rent: In middle

BOATS & YACHTS

Marine MP3 stereo player.

Shower. Two places for trol. ENGINE: Honda fourstroke. Power: 225 HP. Model: BF 225 A6.

PRICE: From B760,000.

CONTACT: Mobile 087 518 1347 Mr.Stan. E-mail: sss_ box01@yahoo.com.

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.

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

of Patong, new office for long term rent. Quiet area. 28 sq metre and 56 sq metre. Parking avail. For more info: con tact@roomsatthe9th.com.

SPEED BOAT FOR S A L E : N a m e:“ B & B BOAT ”.Building: Pattaya,Thailand. Length: 27 ft. Year: 2007. Hull GPR: Fiberglass. Max capacity: 10 persons. Max velocity: 35 knots.

assistance, legal assistance, police and emergency assistance, property management sales and rentals, company registration, visa and work permit and accounting. Call 081 691 9679.

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

Email info@digifoxmarine. com.

for Phuket Province 2011.

Ages 3 months to 4 years.

Open 7 days a week and from 6.30 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.

Rock Garden Village, call 076 528 862, mobile 082 539 8252 or kiddies home nursery@gmail.com.

Buds Nursery: Phuket’s oldest bi-lingual international child care facility. High quality time proven schedule and curriculum. Experienced native English teachers to teach ages 1½ -6. Mon-Fri 8am-5pm. Bus service available. 076 282 232.

ABC International Nursery: Education for chil-

CLUBS Phuket G ol f & C.C. M e m b e r s h i p: Fo u n d -

Farang Food Paradise:

Phuket Consult Services: Insurance, personal

Kiddies Home Nursery: Award for top Nursery

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

BUSINESS SERVICES Your specialist of imported food and drinks in Phuket. Visit our shop at the Billion Plaza, opposite Tesco Lotus. Contact 076 612 733, 076 248 900. Fax 076 612 734. See our website phuketfood.com.

CHILDCARE

e r m e m b e r s h i p f o r s a l e.

B600,000 include transfer fee.

Call 084 839 4868.

Full course with conversation practise and home study material.

Both at beginner and more advanced levels. Call 081 797 1497 or Email teacher joy_phuket@hotmail.com.

TTT Language School Chalong: Ministry of Education ED Visa - Learn Thai TEFL/TESOL Teacher Training. Stay in Thailand! FREE English test! Many languages with Native Teachers.

Teacher Training. Stay in Thailand! FREE English test! www.ttttefl.com, info@ttttefl.com Contact 076 280 869 087 467 8719

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

Cooking School: Fire up

your creative flare with Food Services Cooking School. Italian, Western and Thai cuisine.

Try our famous pizza school.

Call 082 816 0126, info@food servicesth.com.

SK A L I nt e r na t i onal Phuket: Skål is a profesToursys: Tour operator software. Presented by Blue D Zine Co., Ltd. See bluedzine. com.

Green House: Construc-

sional organisation of leaders from all branches of the travel and tourism industry.

See www.skalphuket.org.

Singapore Club Phuket:

tion, renovation, electric, metal work, wood work, shop fitting.

Please contact 085 654 2244.

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

CARS FOR RENT

COMPUTERS

A1 Car Rentals: Fully insured start B12,000 to B18,000 per month.

Please call 089 831 4703.

Email for more info: a1car rent@gmail.com.

CARS FOR SALE

English Computer man: Sales (new and used), service and repairs, WLAN a speciality. Free telephone advice.

DIVING Paradise Diving Asia: All courses and diving trips.

Boat charter and individual tours. w w w.dive-paradise. com.

Dos & Don’ts of Thai Culture: Learn Thai and Thai culture that is necessary for enjoying life in Thailand. Group classes three days per week learning about the real dos and don’ts of Thailand.

Free English-Thai dictionary for the first 10 students for enrolments until October 20, 2011. The Genius Language School, c 089 203 9270 (Aooddy). Visit www. thegeniuslanguageschool. net.

Phuket Scuba Club:

Toyo t a J e e p B150,000: 2 - Yellow and red. Call 083 456 2185.

Mazda Familia: Pick-up, manual, excellent condition, engine rebuilt, brakes, battery, body and paint excellent. Must see. Price B85,000. Mobile 086 270 5462.

Toyota Pickup 4: Turbo diesel auto. 148,130 km, year 1992. Price B195,000. Call 089 822 7547 (Thai and English).

www.thephuketnews.com

PADI 5 Star Centre. Half day, daytrips, live-aboards and diver education. Phuket’s only dive club! Contact 076 284 026. All 4 Diving 5/4 Sawatdirak Road, Patong Beach. For more info call 076 344 611. only dive club!

MOTORBIKES FOR SALE

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

Learn Thai at Home: Female Thai teacher with 8-9 years’ experience gives Thai and English lessons for company/hotel staff and Thai cooking at your home.

Hond a CB 75 0 Chopper for Sale: Recently had major overhaul and re-spray black, kick and electric start. This bike is a real head turner. Nice and loud. Has green book so all legal. Get ready for Bike Week 2012. Only B95,000. Call 087 267 8602.

CLASSIFIEDS 35

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

BUY & SELL/HOMES IN PHUKET MOTORBIKES FOR SALE

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com

Atmanjai: World’s best brand new fully-furnished, one natural health programmes to improve health, reduce stress, weight loss, detox, rejuvenation, vitality and overcome disease. www.atmanjai.com.

PET ADOPTION

bedroom, balcony, 200 metres to Jungceylon shopping. Huge pool and gym. 24-hour security. B22,000 per month, longterm required. Enquire to mark louisw@hotmail.com

Why buy a pet?: Soi Dog Houses for Rent - Long Foundation have over 300 Term: Chalong, ver y priChopper for Sale: Call 083 456 2185.

MOTORBIKE SERVICES Dynamic Tire Balancing: Dynamically balance your motorcycle tires for a smoother ride with DYNA BEADS! Available at West Coast Service Center Phuket.

Your big bike specialist on the bypass road. Call for more info on 085 785 4440.

Southern Big Bike Chopper Shop: All your

beautiful dogs and puppies available for adoption. Fully-vaccinated and sterilised.

Contact 087 050 8688, john@ soidog.org.

vate with mountain views, two bedrooms, kitchen, fully-furnished, Sat TV, ADSL, UBC and common swimming pool.

Contact 089 724 3669.

PET HOSPITAL

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We provide the following:

Property for your budget. complete overview of Phuket’s property market.

Professional advice.

You should not buy property in Phuket without consulting with us first! appointment.

Chaofah Pet Hospital: 8/28–29 Moo 9, Chaofah East Road. Contact 076 283 365, 083 501 8488.

POOL TABLES Phuket Pool Tables:

chopper needs. Located on the hill before Safari heading south from Patong. Get ready for Bike Week 2012. Please contact 076 292 079.

J I N DA R I N B E AC H CLU B & R ES O R T:

PROPERTY CONCIERGE Selling Your Property?

PERSONAL SERVICES

R AWAI BE ACHFRONT HOUSE: Please call for more info on 089 649 9939.

Get maximum exposure on our top ranked website. Call 080 143 2929 or visit realestate.phuket.net.

PROPERTY FOR RENT

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

Considering buying property in phuket?

Contact ben at 084- 305 4953 to book an

www.phuketpooltables.com.

Your number one billiard and snooker supplier in Phuket.

Sales, rent and profit-sharing.

All accessories and services.

Call 081 823 4627.

Chalong Land: Land in

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Oceanfront Eco Resort on Coconut Island (three minutes off shore from Phuket).

Private pier, private boat taxi, beach, beach pool, spa, sunset restaurant, elegant cottages. Coconut Island is only 20 minutes from Central Festival shopping. Plots start at B1.5 million, cottage and plot start at B3 million. Hurry... 26 plots already sold.

Call 083 520 0020 or 076 238 732 Web: jindarin.com.

Boat Lagoon Pool Villa: Modern four-bedroom, four-bathroom villa with 8x4 metre pool for sale freehold with chanote title or leasehold. Newly-built, 316 sq metre internal area.

In beautiful marina complex, just 5 minutes drive to British International School.

Photos and price online: See www.thevillaphuket. com Contact owners to view: 081 270 1970 (Josh) and 081 270 2070 (Michi). Agents welcome.

Nice Three Beds House for Sale: Three-bedroom house in Moobaan Tarn Thong Villa opposit Moobaan Chao fa California. B3.1 million. Contact Lee for more details on 081 803 7189.

Gorgeous Beachfront Land: With or without house in very quiet, well-maintained, safe bungalow-village on Ko Siboya, Krabi for sale. See picture at www.sackenheim.net.

Spacious Four Beds/ Four Baths Home in Private Estate: Four cars spaces, cool pool and gardens, 10 minutes to international schools, Central, five minutes to golf courses, price B15.9m fully furnished.

Contact Jen 083 967 5777 English/Thai.

Land for Sale Rawai: Soi Saliga, Rawai. 1,908 sqm, clean ready to build, Chanote Title.

Sell by owner. 084 745 4132.

5 Minutes From Laguna For sale or rent. Four bedroom.

Family pool home. 1,000 sq metre land, 330sq metre builtup area. Agents welcome.

Contact (Thai) 087 418 5924 (English) 089 875 9609.

Luxury Pool Villa: Has everything, low rates. Day/ week/month. Three bedroom.

Near Laguna. 089 594 4067.

Townhouse for Rent Ao Makham: Newly-renovated. 2 bedrooms, parking.

B8,000 per month, minimum 6 months. Call 081 895 4318 (Thai). Email: wapeebow@ gmail.com.

Comfor table Private and Quiet: Three bedroom English-Thai Law Off ice: Visa, work permit, company formation, property transfer etc. Please telephone for advice. Contact for more info on 084 063 9223.

Live Music By Colin Hill: Popular expat pro musician (guitar/vocals) with work permit. Can perform solo, duo or band. www.play-guitar.net, please call on 089 777 3063.

American Health Clinic: Chiropractic spinal adjustment with an experienced chiropractor can take away the pain almost as quickly as it began.

Call 076 612 707, 080 530 3376.

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

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Daily, Monthly rates Sea views, Mountain views Sauna, Gym, Swimming pool Located in Kamala Beach Shuttle service to the beach Wi-fi available Surrounded by nature

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

Call 081 396 0880.

Contact ben at 084- 305 4953 benjamin@propertyasia.co.th www.propertyasia.co.th

Luxury Villa Rawai-Naiharn Beach: For long-term rent. Four bedrooms, four bathrooms, maid rooms, big swimming pool. B40,000 per month. Minimum one year.

Contact 081 397 1835.

One-Bedroom House, Kata: Fully-furnished, one bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, terrace, WiFi and cable TV. Price B9,000 per month. Located in Kata. Contact 081 606 2827.

Beautiful New Condo in Patong: ART@patong.

Luxur y Five Bedroom: Luxur y five bedrooms all with ensuite, pool villa set in large garden 1.2 rai huge 472 sq metre living area near Laguna.Fully-furnished from Island Furniture with modern European kitchen, movie room, kids room or office phone line and WiFi, cable TV and maid room.

Asking B20 million for sale, or B9 0,000 per month re nt al. Pl e as e c all 0 81 597 6911. Email: niny@ electrical- marine.com.

Phuket’s biggest “trade show” for organisations within the Hospitality & Travel industry

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: INFO@EVENTSTHAILAND.NET MOBILE: 089 725 6994 www.eventsthailand.net/hosposhow.php www.thephuketnews.com

36 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

HOMES IN PHUKET

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Phuket Paradise Property

Private Pool Villa In Centre of Nai Harn

Rawai Two bedroom on 180 Sqm. With Sea View now 3.0 million

New Price 2.5 m Apartment With Seaview in Rawai

Nice Garden Villa in Nai Harn: Private sale. Must see. 1,600 sq metre land, 240sq metre living area. Located in a quiet area. Check out webpage at www.villa-sophiaphuket.com. Call Johny on 087 823 7371 (Deutsch and English).

SEAVIEW LAND FOR SALE: Near Chalong pier, 150 metres from the sea.

Three rai and one ngan plot. Chanote title. Price: B2 0 milli o n p e r r ai. N o agent. Call 087 278 7206

Nice One Rai Chalong B7m: 200 metre off main road. In great location. Full Chanote title. Contact for more details on 089 651 3479.

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

Seaview Land AoMakham for Sale: 33 rai land upon hill with seaview. Very easy access from road. B5 million per rai. Contact for details on 081 895 4318 (Thai).

Email: wapeebow@gmail.com.

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

Luxury Condo Central Kathu: For sale or rent.

Two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms. Guest toilet. Total 161-212sq metre. Very nice view, large balcony, common facilities pool/gym. 086 268 7901 (English), martin@per tinax.asia.

3 Steps to Re-sale 1.Valuation.

2.List your property. 3.Sale.

-Promotional booths with fully trained staff through out Phuket.

-Five International offices supplying customers direct.

-Nine sales staff all nationalities.

“Phuket Paradise Property” A Step In The Right Resale Direction.

Visit our website www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com. Please contact 083 595 6733.

Two Rai Beachfront Land Khao Lak: Freehold Chanote land at Khao Lak Beach, 3,312m2, price only B5,500,000 a rai. Call 081 651 9687.

PRICE: 2.5m. THB TYPE: Condo PRICE: 9.9m. THB

BEDROOM: 1

TYPE: Villa BEDROOMS: 2 REF.: MS-003 Stunning two bedrooms villa with big pool. Big modern kitchen and living room.

2 minutes walk from Tesco Lotus Express. Call 083 595 6733. Visit us at www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

Sunset Plaza in Kata Two Bedroom with Seaview

PRICE: 3.0m. THB TYPE: Condo BEDROOM: 2 REF.: MS-006 Big living room and kitchen.

Two bedroom and bathroom. Two minutes walk to the beach. Common pool.

Call 083 595 6733. www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

Heading ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......

Villa 300 metres from Kata Beach

PRICE: 9.9m. THB TYPE: Villa BEDROOM: 2

PRICE: 8.3m. THB TYPE: Condo BEDROOM: 2 REF.: AB-002

Write your classified advertisement

Modern one bedroom apartment. With pool. New kitchen. Bathroom with spa. Big living room and balcony. Fully-furnished.

Contact 083 595 6733.

Visit us at www.PhuketParadiseProperty.com.

Kata – Sea View Apartment

Singapore Property for Sale: Luxury property of Singapore for rent sale. Help with loan from 1% per year. Russian speaking. Call +65 9144 0268. www.sourceinvestsing.com.

REF.: MS-002

Modern furnished two bedroom. Apartment in Kata.

Western kitchen. Balcony with sea view. Two big common pools. Call 083 595 6733. Visit us at www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

3 Bedroom Pool Villa in Rawai

PRICE: 9.9m. THB TYPE: Condo BEDROOM: 2 REF.: AB-001 Modern furnished two bedroom apartment in Kata.

Western kitchen. Balcony on 21 sq metre with sea view. Two big c ommon po ols. Please c all 083 595 6733. Visit us at www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

REF.: JP-001 Fantastic oppor tunity in the heart of Kata Phuket, Detached family home set on its own plot of fering convenient access to Kata beach 300 mtrs away and all surrounding facilities.

Call 083 595 6733. www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

Cozy Villa Near Kata Beach

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

3 Bedroom Pool Villa in Chalong

Body ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B99 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B198 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B297 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B396 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B495 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B594 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B693 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B792 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B891 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B990

Box B200

Colour Background B200

Colour Headline B200

Colour Picture B395

Deadline: Monday 12Noon for that Friday’s issue

Please hand this form to our office or Fax to: 076 612 553 www.thephuketnews.com

Price : 9.5 m. THB Type: Villa Bedroom : 3

Price : 5.7 m. THB

Ref. : JP-005

Type: Villa

Property is directly opposite Suksan Villa. Has electric gates to off road parking for one, possibly two, cars. The garden around the villa is mature and decorative. The house has a large lounge area directly overlooking the 8x4 metre pool.

There are two large bedrooms. The master bedroom has a shower and large decor, bath, and both have pool view. Third bedroom is slightly smaller with a double bed and fitted wardrobes.

This property has a European fitted kitchen and dining area . Please contact 083 595 6733. Visit us at www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

Bedroom : 2 Ref. : MS-008

Price : 5.8 m. THB Type: Villa Bedroom : 3 Ref. : MS-009 Cozy pool villa near Chalong circle. The villa has a very large living room with view over the large garden.

There is direct access from living room to the swimming pool. Three large bedrooms and bathrooms.

The villa is situated on a closed road. Close to beach and Phuket Town. Call 083 595 6733. www.PhuketParadiseProperty.com.

Cozy villa near Kata Beach.

Huge living room with open kitchen. Extra outdoor kitchen. Two large bedrooms.

The villa is located within walking distance from Kata Beach. Contact 083 595 6733. Visit us at www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

PROPERTY WANTED Villa for Rent Wanted: 3 or 4 bedroom villa for rent in Cherng Talay area or near. With pool or without pool, furnished and garden preferred. Contact Nataliya on 083 645 5321.

CLASSIFIEDS 37

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

TRADES IN PHUKET

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

COURIER

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STORAGE

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HOME IMPROVEMENT

Reserve Your Storage Space

Call 076 29 29 09

or visit mystorageasia.com

 Sizes to Suit all Budgets  Personal & Business Storage  Motorcycle Storage  Left Luggage Service  We Sell Boxes  Storage Insurance Inclusive

Secure, Clean & Cost Effective Self Storage Jungceylon Shopping Center, Patong, Phuket

HOME IMPROVEMENT

REMOVALS

ADVERTISE HERE!

WE'RE NOW AVAILABLE AT ALL OUTLETS IN PHUKET This is in addition to 400+ locations including all 7-Eleven, Big One Supermarkets, Se-ed book stores and all major shopping outlets.

For full list of outlets please visit www.thephuketnews.com/distributionlists.php

Tel: 076 612 550-2 www.thephuketnews.com

38

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

SPORT

They like Ike

Former LA Laker star returns to Phuket > 40

Phuket Soccer 7s to be biggest yet FOOTBALL

Asia tennis champ

Nash Ladha, tennis professional at the JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Mai Khao, returned to Phuket recently after a successful week at the Asia Senior Open Tennis Championships in Pattaya held from October 31 to November 6. Ladha won the men’s over-60s singles final against Ali Tapir and finished runner-up in the men’s doubles.

The first of two football tournaments held over back-toback weekends at Thanyapura Sport and Leisure Club (TSLC) gets under way next Saturday (November 26) as the Phuket International Soccer 7s returns to the island for its ninth instalment.

The hugely popular Phuket International 7s will be followed by the sixth staging of the equally successful Andaman International Soccer 7s over the weekend of December 3 and 4.

A total of 80 teams from 20 different countries will contest four tournaments, with the number of teams per tournament split equally over the two weekends.

Both the Phuket International and Andaman International Soccer 7s contain two age group categories, with 24 teams contesting the Open Age category and 16 teams battling it out for Masters Over-40 glory each weekend.

Since the inception of the Phuket International Soccer 7s, this annual event has grown every year and the two tournaments combined have developed into one of Asia’s largest and most sought-after

The name of this team in last year’s tournament shows the fun atmosphere of the 7s.

7s events as a total of 1,500 players, relatives, friends and supporters are expected to descend on the island over the two weekends.

Those involved, including one or two former professional footballers, will contest some 300 matches, with 24 trophies, 300 medals and 150 pennants up for grabs.

Matches are 15 minutes long and are played to Fifa

rules with the exception of rolling substitutes and no offside. Teams are allowed a maximum of 12 players in their squads and the games will be played on 70m x 45m pitches, with full-size goals.

Both tournaments will start with a welcome party, conclude with an awards ceremony and, if the stories are anything to go by, will feature plenty of socialis-

ing in between. None of the four tournaments have prize money at stake which means that all of the players involved participate purely out of their love for the beautiful game.

Spectators are welcome at TSLC to enjoy to weekends of high quality football action.

For more information on the 7s visit www.thai7s.com.

Rochette takes inaugural title

30/11/2011

www.thephuketnews.com

Frenchman Laurent Rochette was the toast of Thanyapura Sport and Leisure Club (TSLC) after he beat Taipei’s Jimmy Wang in straight sets to lift the Chang ITF Thailand Pro Circuit Tour title, the first event of its kind held in Phuket.

The Frenchman took the first set 6-4 but required a tie-break in the second to overcome his dogged opponent, second seed Wang.

After two weeks of high quality tennis action on TSLC’s world-class courts, the last remaining pair strode out on court on Saturday morning.

Third seed Rochette made a blistering start, storming into a 5-1 first set lead, having broken his opponent’s serve twice.

Staring down the barrel of a first-set thumping, Wang responded well by taking the next

TENNIS

three games to close to within one game, but Rochette kept his cool to take a one-set lead.

With Wang having found his rhythm, the second set was a much closer affair.

Both men held their serve for the first six matches of the set before Rochette struck what initially seemed to be a decisive blow when he broke Wang in game seven for a 4-3 lead.

Rather than fold, Wang showed tremendous character and broke back immediately before holding serve to lead 5-4 and force the Frenchman to serve to save the set.

Rochette duly did with a service game to love but was under pressure to do so again when Wang led 6-5.

The eventual champion sent

Laurent Rochette with trophy. the second set into a tie-break.

Rochette managed to gain the upper hand early in the tie-break and once 3-1 ahead pulled further away to win the tie-break 7-3, the title and the

$10,000 first prize (B300,000).

Canada’s Kelsey Stevenson and China’s Zhe Li lifted the men’s doubles crown the previous day, beating home favourites and number one seeds Weerapat Doakmaiklee and Kirati Siributwong.

Stevenson and Zhe broke their Thai opponents in game seven of the first set and held their serve in their next two games to take the first set 6-4.

As befitting their position as number one seeds, Weerapta and Kirati stormed into a 4-1 lead in set two before wrapping it up 6-4 to level the match.

Unlike in singles tennis, the final set in doubles is now played as a tie-break and Stevenson and Zhe quickly started to run away with the match, jumping to a 7-2 lead before sealing their first ever title 10-3.

ISLANDSPORT 39

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Meet the IFCL teams The 2011/12 Island Furniture Cricket League (IFCL) season is up and running and a total of seven cricket clubs are competing for IFCL glory this season. Here are the team profiles, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses and foibles (there are a few).

Patong Cricket Club (PCC) PCC have been competing in the league since its inception and have a wealth of ex p e r ie nc e d playe r s from the cricket powerhouses of England, India, New Zealand and South Africa.

They are the cu r rent 35-over champions and are o n c e a g a i n p r i m e d fo r another season.

PCC are captained by Richard Folds, who is also the Phuket Cricket Group umpires representative.

The batting lineup includes stroke makers Dave Thomas, Ian Lenton, Neil Quail and Anil Rawat, balanced out by the likes of Anthony Van Blerk, Richie Desmond, Richard Folds and Mark Whetton, who can steady the ship.

Their bowling attack is headed by speedster Rawat, who is ably supported by medium pacers Seemant Raju, Joshi Naresh, Feroz Khan and spinner Rishi Sardarangani.

Verdict: With a never-say-die attitude, likely to be strong contenders to defend their title.

Laguna Cricket Club (LCC) Recent newcomers to the league, competing for the last two seasons, the Laguna

CRICKET

team comprises players mainly from Australia and India (plus the odd Englishman), most of whom work at the Laguna Phuket resort complex.

LCC are captained by Stuart Reading, Chief Financial Officer of Laguna.

A very strong batting line up includes 62-year-old veteran top order batsmen Billy “The Kid” Stahmer, Andrew Cole and Mike Ayling (the odd Englishman) ably supported by their exiting stroke makers Sameer Khan, Reading, Sami Ullah, Damian Clowes and Mario Piazza.

LCC also have a strong bowling attack spearheaded by speedsters Val Guiraud, Jojy Abraham and Sami Ullah, supported by medium pacers Roly “Sultan of Swing” Cooper, Lijo Jose, Sameer and Ayling, plus Shane Warne wannabe, Darren Shaw.

Verdict: A force to be reckoned with, LCC are seeking their first league title.

Island Cricket Club (ICC) The ICC, like Patong, has competed in the league since its inception, with players mainly hailing from India.

ICC are captained by Anand Chand, a long-time league veteran.

Their batting lineup contains some very exiting stroke makers but they’re a little like the French rugby team, so it really depends upon whether they “turn up to play on the day”.

Their bowling attack main-

Best and Mack.

The same players also feature in their bowling attack, but expect to see the emergence of new talent this season, with Yo, a tall left arm pace bowler, particularly making rapid progress.

Verdict: While probably not yet experienced enough to lift the league title, they will be looking to be provide stiff competition for several teams,

Thanyapura News Tigers (TNT) The Phuket Cricket Group’s Bill Stahmer (far right) with coach Khun Took (second right) and three of the Phuket Leopards, who are one of seven teams in this season’s IFCL. ly consists of accurate line and length medium pacers, who will be difficult to get away.

Verdict: A very talented team, who could easily raise the trophy for a record fourth time.

Liquid Lounge Lizards (LLL)

Verdict: If their core players can keep it together (though that’s a big if), they will be very competitive all season.

Village Coconut Island (The Village)

LLL, in one form or another, have also competed in the league since its inception, and mainly contains players from England and Australia.

LLL’s batting lineup includes the accomplished Peter Ferrier and Sean Raine as openers, supported by stroke makers Dave Kellerway and Dave Langley, plus stalwart Alf “Guitar Hero” Hodges.

The bowlers are led by Nifty Catts, who has been one of the league’s best bowlers in recent seasons, left arm swinger Raine and medium-pacer Hodges.

Stewart Lees, the team’s heart and soul, had this to say: “It’s serious boys; come on let’s have a laugh”.

Having played in the previous three seasons, The Village team took a break last time due to the construction of their sponsor’s resort.

T he t e a m c ompr ise s players from England and Australia plus, ahem, up and coming cricketing nations such as Scotland.

The Village team’s motto is to have fun both on and off the field.

The Village are captained

by James Firth, who “runs a tight ship”, if there is such a thing.

Their batting lineup has some hidden talents with the likes of Kevin Quilty and extras (joint highest run scorers for the past three seasons), plus Martin Platts and will be bolstered this year with

manage to contain the runs in the final overs, and eventually both batsmen finished unbeaten with 35 runs apiece.

At the end of 40 overs, Laguna had posted 178 runs for the loss of five wickets, with Kishor the pick of the Patong bowlers, picking up two wickets for 29 runs.

Dean Noble and Richie Desmond opened the batting for Patong and got off to a solid and aggressive start before Desmond was given out lbw for 17 runs off the bowling of Lijo Jose.

Next in was Neil Quail, who was initially rattled by a couple of short-pitched balls from young speedster Val Guiraud but he survived the onslaught and after 10 overs Patong were 47 runs for 1.

During the second session Laguna put the squeeze on the

defending champions courtesy of some great bowling from Guiraud and Khan.

While wickets fell around him Quail battled on resolutely before he was caught and bowled by Khan for 36 runs.

By the end of the second session Patong had lost six wickets for just 53 runs and at the 20 over mark were in deep trouble at 100-7.

Despite only having three wickets remaining, Patong battled on bravely, lasting another 13 overs before finally being dismissed for 149.

The pick of the bowlers for Laguna were Khan who finished with four for 39, Cooper with two for 23 and Guiraud with two for 28.

Man of the match was Khan, with Quail and Cole awarded the rest of the points by the umpires.

the addition of the “Little Big Man”, Martin Foster, who memorably scored 164 in a match a few seasons ago.

Their bowlers are headed up by Craig Patterson (you name it, he can bowl it), Tom Gordon, Quilty and others ready to roll their arm over.

Verdict: The Village will be looking forward to competing, having plenty of fun and cause a few upsets along the way.

Phuket Leopards (Leopards) This will be the Leopards’ third season in the IFCL. The team comprises Thai schoolboys around 15-16 years of age from the PCG’s youth program, who continue to hone their skills with the help of mentor Bill Stahmer and coach Khun Took.

The Leopards are captained by Pow who has been with the Thai youth squad.

Their batting lineup features captain Pow and the free-flowing stroke makers

The Thanyapura News Tigers are a ragtag bunch of cricket enthusiasts who are keen to relive former glories.

The team is made up largely of Brits and Aussies, ably supported by one or two players from other locations around the world such as Sri Lanka and cricketing powerhouses the USA and Ecuador.

The TNT are skippered by Barrie “Safe Hands” Buck who also keeps wicket, fetches the drinks and much more.

Like the England team that toured Australia for the 1986/87 Ashes tour, TNT can’t bat, can’t bowl and can’t field.

Spearheading the attack is Aussie Ryan Jon Dunn and Roshan Jayasuriya, ably backed up by Dane Halpin, Dan Smith and Martin Hill, plus the pie-chucking Dan Ogunshakin.

T he w illow w ielder s include Jayasuriya, Smith, Hill, Dunn, Joseph Nagy and Simon Samaan, who will trouble the scorers if he can avoid running himself out.

Verdict: Expect plenty of fireworks from the TNT.

LCC land first blow Famous brands A steady 61-run partnership between Laguna Cricket Club’s (LCC) Andrew Cole and John Anderson, combined with a an impressive all-round bowling performance, saw last season’s runners up exact a small measure of revenge over Patong Cricket Club – the side that beat them in last season’s final – in the opening match of the 2011/12 Island Furniture Cricket League (IFCL) season at the ACG last Sunday.

LCC posted a respectable 178-5 off 40 overs before dismissing the defending champions for 149 in the 33rd over.

Patong won the toss and put Laguna into bat.

LCC openers Mike Ayling and Bill Stahmer got off to a steady star t before Ayling was bowled by Joshi Naresh for 21 runs.

Stahmer (25) was next to

CRICKET go with the scoreboard showing 71-2, which brought Sameer Khan and Andrew Cole, the PCG’s 2010/11 cricketers of the year, together.

Khan was particularly looking threatening before he was brilliantly caught by Dean Noble for 18.

John Anderson, 56, and Cole then put on their matchwinning 61 with a wonderful display of careful batting.

Patong’s bowlers Anil Rawat and Kishor Jaghta did

from home available at MBS Thailand Co., Ltd

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www.thephuketnews.com

40 ISLANDSPORT

YFH victorious in U18 trophy FOOTBALL Despite fielding a side containing players as much as four years younger than their opponents, the Youth Football Home (YFH) in Thalang secured a memorable victory in last Sunday’s under18s tournament.

The YFH overcame Muang Thalang school – the under-18 Phuket schools champions – by two goals to nil thanks to strikes from Wuttichai Sooksen and Natthapol Maneemai.

In Sunday’s other match Cherng Talay school finished third after beating the British International School Phuket (BIS) under-18s team by five goals to three.

The tournament was played over the Saturday and Sunday, with the YFH and Muang Thalang emerging victorious from their semi-finals on Saturday against Cherng Talay and BIS respectively, in full 11-a-side, 90-minute matches.

The following day, Cherng Talay won an exciting thirdplace match before the YFH under-16s demonstrated outstanding teamwork to overcome their older opponents with goals

Most Valuable Player of the tournament, 14 year-old Phonlawat Nanta. from Wuttichai and Natthapol.

Phonlawat Nanta, 14, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player despite being three years younger than many of his opponents.

The young central defender spent some time in Germany last year, training with VFB Stuttgart – a team in Germany’s Bundesliga – and is hoping to secure a place at a football academy in England in 2012.

After the tournament YFH sport manager Hannu Tuukkanen said that playing games abroad against other high quality teams had made the players stronger.

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

THEY LIKE IKE BASKETBALL

Former LA Laker Ike Nwankwo returned to Phuket last weekend to host a two-part coaching clinic with students at the British International School Phuket (BIS).

The former teammate of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant was joined by two members of his Bangkok-based coaching company Top Flight: coach Eric, a former college basketball player in the States; and coach Pong, a member of the Thai national team.

The opportunity to be coached by someone who has played at the very highest level was not lost on those who attended, as Nwankwo and his coaches had the students practicing their ball handling skills, shooting technique, attack versus defence drills and much more. “ It wa s a lot of f u n today; the kids had a lot of energy,” Nwankwo said.

“They were really excited to be part of the clinic which made it a lot easier for us as coaches.”

The first session featured some of the school’s younger children, while the second, more advanced session was made up of older BIS students.

Tall order: Getting past Ike Nwankwo is no easy feat.

“With the younger kids we just tried to work on reinforcing and emphasising the fundamentals of the game,” he said.

“We wanted to challenge the older kids a little bit and make it a little bit harder for them.

“I was very impressed by the standard of all those who attended. A lot of the older kids looked like they’d had some previous basketball training, and we were impressed

at how quickly they retained what we taught them.”

As well as teaching some of the game’s basics, Nwankwo also stressed the importance of working hard if you want to succeed in all walks of life, not just basketball.

“There’s no short cut or secret to success; it’s all about working hard to achieve whatever you want to do, be it in basketball or anything,” he said.

Phuketians are likely to see Nwankwo on the island

–Photo by Dan Miles more regularly in the future.

“I really like it here. After being in the crowded city it’s a nice breath of fresh air to come down here,” he said.

“Hopefully I’ll be setting up a lot more programmes in the future, and making Phuket a regular destination for Top Flight.”

After the sessions, Nwankwo and coaches Eric and Pong posed for photographs and signed autographs for those who attended the clinics.

Linda, Niña win IT series SAILING

Jack Christensen’s Linda and Bob Mot t/Grenville Fordham’s Niña took overall honours in their respective classes in the Ao Chalong Yacht Club’s (ACYC) Irish Times Series, which came to a conclusion on Sunday, November 6.

On a day of mixed weather, including some periods of heav y rain, Linda in the racing class, and Niña in the multihulls sailed to victory in the final race of the seven-race series to finish the event on a high.

Linda was the only everpresent boat in the entire Irish Times Series, winning four of her seven races, finishing second twice and third once, in a display of domination.

Niña competed in all of the rounds bar one, winning half of her races, finishing second once and fourth twice, seeing off challenges from the likes of Roger Kingdon’s Moto Inzi and Alan Carwardine’s Sidewinder.

Despite the changeable weather conditions, six boats took to the water for the final race of the season around Koh Lon and back.

Much of race seven’s drawww.thephuketnews.com

Niña took the multihull trophy after winning three of six races, including last weekend’s. –Photo by Leslie Hand ma came early on. The start line was set for an upwind start, but that soon became a downwind start as a small weather cell passed overhead, bringing rain.

More rain behind Koh Lon separated the multihulls from the monos as Linda took her

time to get going, eventually sailing lower and faster to separate her from Iruvai who sailed her stately course around Koh Lon. After Koh Lon, Linda and Niña pulled away from the rest of the fleet to finish the seven-race in true style.

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

INTERNATIONALSPORT 41

THE PHUKET NEWS TIPPING COMPETITION: 12

This month's competition is supported by:

Unbeaten records on the line

After a two week break for international football, which saw countries across the globe involved in qualifying matches for Euro 2012 and the 2014 Brazil World Cup, plus international friendlies, attention turns back to the next round of the world’s most exciting league.

After 11 rounds of the 2011/12 Barclay’s Premier League it is Manchester City who sit proudly at the top of the league with 31 points from a possible 33.

This weekend sees the Citizens come face-to-face with the league’s only other unbeaten side, surprise package Newcastle United.

Despite the Toon Army’s incredible start to the season it would take a brave man to bet against City on current form, and even the most diehard Newcastle fans would be surprised if their team came away from the Etihad Stadium with their unbeaten run still intact.

Although City and United currently occupy first and third place, most neutrals would argue that the biggest game takes place on Sunday when Chelsea host Liverpool, pitting Fernando Torres against his former club.

WEEK 12 Home Team W D W Away Team

i r i

n a n w 19/11/2011 Norwich Everton Man City Stoke Sunderland West Brom Wigan Swansea 20/11/2011 Chelsea 21/11/2011 Tottenham

Arsenal Wolverhampton Newcastle QPR Fulham Bolton Blackburn Man Utd Liverpool Aston Villa

Please fax this form to 076 612 553 or hand it in at The Phuket News office before Friday 18 2pm. Alternatively, visit our website www.thephuketnews.com to enter the competition online.

Lampard scored England’s winner v Spain. –Photo AFP Since Roman Abramovich took over the West London club in 2003 these two sides have met each other more than any other club, having faced off in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup. Liverpool’s Luis Suarez heads into the match brimming with confidence after scoring all four goals in Uruguay’s win over Chile last

week; the Liverpool number seven will fancy his chances against a Chelsea defence that has creaked of late.

However, Chelsea will be boosted by their 1-0 win in their previous match and Frank Lampard will return full of confidence after he scored and led England to a 1-0 win over World Champions Spain.

In other fixtures, in-form

Arsenal – with nine wins from their last 10 matches – travel to Norwich, Everton host Wolves, QPR travel to Stoke, Sunderland are at home to Fulham, West Brom face Bolton, Wigan will hope for three much-needed points at home to Blackburn, while Swansea face Manchester United at the Liberty Stadium.

The final fixture of round 12 sees Spurs host Aston Villa in the early hours of Tuesday morning Thailand time.

Top of the league after one round in November is “Jauntingjason” who scored a rather impressive 23 points.

The top points scorer for the month of November will win themselves a B3,000

voucher to be spent at the Australia Bar & Grill in Kata where you can watch all the international sport on 50” plasma screen TVs or on the big screen.

The overall winner will win a return flight to the UK come the end of the season; currently the overall lead still belongs to “gafferworld” who tops the table with 176 points.

You can now enter your predictions for round 12.

Either enter them online by 23:59 on November 18 at www.thephuketnews.com, fax them to the office on 076 612 553 or hand them to us personally here in Billion Plaza, opposite Tesco-Lotus before 2pm on the 18th.

the final qualifying round but must beat Oman in February and hope that Australia beat Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon had been smashed 6-0 by South Korea, ranked 115 places higher, in September but they seized the initiative in Beirut when Ali Al Saadi pounced on a loose ball from a free-kick after just four minutes.

South Korea levelled through a Koo Ja-Cheol penalty but Abbas Ali Atwi’s spot-kick 10 minutes later proved decisive.

The teams are now level on points at the top of Group B, but Kuwait’s 2-1 win at home over UAE kept Kuwaiti hopes of preventing one of the top two of progressing alive.

In Jakarta goals from Milad Meydavoodi, Mojtaba Jabbari and Gholamreza Rezaei put Iran out of sight within 25 minutes, before Javad Nekounam wrapped it up with a 73rd minute penalty.

Iran’s place in the next phase was assured when Bahrain failed to beat Qatar as they fought out a drab 0-0 draw.

China’s faint hopes of reaching the next phase were briefly given a boost after they thrashed hapless Singapore 4-0 and Iraq trailed Jordan 1-0 at half-time in Amman.

However, two goals from Nashat Akram inspired Iranqto a 3-1 victory, inflicting a first defeat of the group stage on their hosts and ensuring Iraqi progression to the next stage.

In Pyongyang, North Korea defiantly downed bitter rivals Japan with the only goal of a game which yielded nine yellow cards and one sending-off in an electric atmosphere at Kim Il Sung Stadium.

ROUND 11 RESULTS: Newcastle 2-1 Everton Arsenal 3-0 West Brom Aston Villa 3-2 Norwich Blackburn 0-1 Chelsea Liverpool 0-0 Swansea Man Utd 1-0 Sunderland QPR 2-3 Man City Wolves 3-1 Wigan Bolton 5-0 Stoke Fulham 1-3 Tottenham DAN’S TIPS ROUND 12 Norwich v Arsenal: away win Everton v Wolves: home win Man City v Newcastle: home win Stoke v QPR: home win Sunderland v Fulham: home win West Brom v Bolton: home win Wigan v Blackburn: draw Swansea v Man Utd: away win Chelsea v Liverpool: draw Tottenham v Aston Villa: home win TOP 10 PERFORMERS (NOVEMBER): 1. Jauntingjason 23 2. rutherman 22 3. Eak 21 3. scottkip 21 3. zestrealestate 21 3. TimBIS 21 7. phuketelectrician 20 8. A1CR 14 8. alanphuket 14 8. Allard 14 TOP 10 PERFORMERS (OVERALL): 1. gafferworld 176 2. alanphuket 172 3. MRB 164 4. dcoutts 163 5. Mal Kenyon 158 6. chasman 156 6. MAMCHAM 156 8. Allard 154 8. apollo131 154 10. rutherman 147

Thai 2014 hopes hit by defeat FOOTBALL

Australia scrambled into the last stage of Asia’s 2014 World Cup qualifying with a narrow victory over Thailand on Tuesday as Lebanon stunned South Korea 2-1.

Iran thumped Indonesia 4-1 and were assured of their place in the next round when Bahrain could only draw with Qatar, China’s flickering hopes were finally extinguished and North Korea upset Japan in a spiteful match loaded with political tensions.

After concerns that Thailand’s fixture against Australia in Bangkok would be postponed due to the floods, the match was given the green light and Brett Holman’s second-half header was enough to give Australia a scrappy win and take them through with 12 points from five games, joining already qualified Japan, Jordan and Uzbekistan.

It was far from the majestic procession earlier promised

by Australia, who won their first three games – including a last-gasp home victory over

Brett Holman scored the only goal of the game in Bangkok.

Thailand – but came badly unstuck with Friday's 0-1 shock against Oman.

A near-capacity crowd at Supachalasai National Stadium, used instead of the normal Rajamangala venue which is occupied by refugees from Bangkok’s crippling floods,

provided vocal support as Thailand shaded the first half.

But with 15 minutes to go, a cross from former Blackburn man Brett Emerton on the right found Holman unmarked six yards out and he made no mistake with the header.

Thailand can still reach

Pak Nam Chol’s 50thminute header avenged North Korea’s September defeat in Tokyo and sparked delirious scenes from the packed crowd.

But North Korea’s first qualifying win came too late to save their campaign, which was killed off last week by Uzbekistan, while Asian champions Japan were already through to the last round.

The top two teams from each of five groups reach the f inal stage, a round robin where four places in Brazil are up for grabs along with a shot at an intercontinental play-off.

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42 INTERNATIONALSPORT

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

NBA players head to court T he N BA lo ckout now shifts to the American legal courts after the players union decided it was time to “push back” and reject the latest offer from the owners.

In a high-stakes game, with the 2011-12 NBA season hanging in the balance, the players said they had no choice but to risk it all and move to disband their union and begin the process of filing an antitrust suit against the league.

“We understand the consequences of potentially missing the season; we understand the consequences that players could potentially face if things don’t go our way, but it’s a risk worth taking,” union vice president Maurice Evans said. “It’s the right move to do.”

Billy Hunter, executive director of the union, said the union didn’t like commissioner David Stern’s ultimatum that if they didn't accept the latest proposal then they should brace for an even harsher one when, and if, talks resume.

Hunter added he thought the latest proposal from the owners was “extremely unfair” adding they are aware what this battle might cost them.

That proposal called for a 72-game season, beginning December 15.

“This deal could have been done. It should have been

BASKETBALL

done,” Hunter said. “We’ve given and given and given, and they got to the place where they just reached for too much and the players decided to push back.”

Players ignored Stern’s warnings, choosing instead to blow up the union. That paved the way for a potentially lengthy lawsuit which could be filed in the next few days.

It could also net them billions of dollars in damages.

The union filed their “notice of disclaimer” with the NBA head office in New York an hour before they held their news conference on Monday.

Hunter said the players would be represented in a class-action suit against the NBA by lawyers Jeffrey Kessler and David Boies – who were on opposite sides of the National Football League labour dispute, Kessler working for the players, Boies for the league.

The NBA owners had already filed a pre-emptive lawsuit seeking to prove the lockout is legal and contends that without a union that collectively bargained them, the players’ guaranteed contracts could legally be voided.

The NBA’s last work stoppage reduced the 1998-99

Should the lockout continue much longer, there is a real threat that Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks (right) won’t get on court to defend his NBA title until the 2012/13 season. As things stand, players and owners have been unable to agree on terms for a new collective bargaining agreement, leading to the disbanding of the players’ union.

–Photo by Keith Allison season to 50 games and the NBA players now find themselves heading down the same path as the NFL players who went through a 136-day lockout this year.

In its labour fight, NFL players tried to get the courts to overturn the lockout and let players get back to work.

A Minnesota judge initially ruled in favour of the players, but then that ruling was put on

hold by an American appeal court. “Given the rulings that came down in the NFL case... right now the owners are not in a bad spot,” said New York antitrust lawyer David Scupp.

“It could very well be that the players have an uphill battle toward getting that lockout enjoined. If they can do that, then it might swing things in their favour.”

The two sides can remain

Farewell Joe Frazier BOXING

Boxing’s most celebrated figures gathered last Monday (November 14) to pay their last respects to former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier, who passed away after a four-week battle against severe liver cancer.

Frazier’s long-term rival Muhammad Ali was the most high profile name among those who turned out to say goodbye, and the self-styled “greatest” was joined by the likes of Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson and promoter Don King who set up the 1975 “Thrilla in Manila” between Frazier and Ali. Given the battles that Frazier and Ali fought in the early to mid ’70s it was poignant that Ali – his body ravaged by Parkinson’s – was at the ceremony given the once bad blood that ran between them because of Ali’s taunting of Frazier in the build up to their fights.

Ali called Frazier an “Uncle Tom” and “gorilla” in the build up to their fights, and although the placid Frazier shrugged off the insults, pledging to let his fists do the talking, Ali barbs hurt Frazier so much so that, even when he was unable to see his great adversary going into the 15th round of their third www.thephuketnews.com

Frazier hammers Ali in the “Fight of the Century”. –AFP Photo fight, he still wanted to fight on.

Frazier’s suffering after being on the receiving end of Ali’s sometimes wicked tongue even caused him to express delight at his great rivals’ struggle with Parkinson’s, before announcing just two years ago that he had forgiven Ali. Whatever ill-feeling the two shared outside of the ring, the respect that the pair had for each other inside it was immense. After the pair’s legendary third fight, Ali told the press: “I always bring out the best in the men I fight, but Joe Frazier, I’ll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I’m gonna tell ya, that’s one helluva man, and God bless him.”

Frazier was equally effusive: “Man, I hit him with punches that’d bring down the walls of a city.

“Lawdy, Lawdy, he’s a great champion.”

Also present at the ceremony was the Reverend Jessie Jackson who called on the city of Philadelphia to recognise Frazier as it did Sylvester Stallone’s fictional boxer Rocky Balboa.

“Rocky is an imaginary figure who never existed,” said Jackson.

“Rocky never tasted his own blood. Rocky never faced Ken Norton. He never faced Ali. He never faced Larry Holmes.

“Joe paid real dues and he is a guy who we can emulate because of his sense of family, an ordinary Joe with extraordinary things.

“He remained our neighbour.

He remained a church member. He remained a guy from the streets, so Philadelphia will honour itself by honouring Joe Frazier, but better late than never.”

Frazier’s final resting place is yet to be decided because of a disagreement between the former champion’s 11 children. Some of his family want Frazier to be buried in Philadelphia, while others want him to be buried in Beaufort, South Carolina where he grew up.

negotiating during the decertification and legal wrangling so no-one wants to write off the season just yet.

But in order for the NBA to have a 72-game season, Stern admitted the two sides would likely have had to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement within the next week. Now it appears Stern will move to cancel more games sooner than later.

The owners say they need fundamental changes to allow for a chance to make money and provide competitive balance for all teams.

Their desire for a 50-50 split of basketball-related income, after players were guaranteed 57 per cent under the old deal, meant owners would be receiving at least $280 million (B84 billion) per year more from the players.

Stern’s latest proposal also capped the maximum player salary at $20 million (B600 million) by 2013-14 and shrunk the maximum contract length to five years from six. Rookie contracts would also be reduced by 12 per cent.

Former LA Laker Ike Nwankwo, speaking to The Phuket News last Friday, said it was disappointing that the lockout was still ongoing.

“As a fan of the game of basketball it’s frustrating that the two parties can come to some sort of agreement and end the lockout,” he said.

“It’s sad that this has been able to carry on for so long as it is affecting those who rely on NBA matches to earn a living and the fans.

“All they can see is a group of millionaires arguing with a group of billionaires over money.”

–AFP/The Phuket News

SEA Games boss urges focus on Olympic sports Future Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) should feature fewer traditional sports and focus on Olympic events i f t he reg ion’s at h let e s a re t o compete at a higher level, Indonesia’s organising body said this week.

Rita Subowo, president of the SEA Games organising committee, said sports such as Indonesia’s pencak silat and Vietnam’s vovinam dilute the Games line-up and divert resources from the showpiece Olympic athletic disciplines.

“I have asked for future Games to focus on Olympic sports so we can qualify for the big events,” Subowo, who is also a member of Indonesia’s Olympic committee, said.

“But at every SEA Games the same thing happens. The hosts always ask for traditional sports – the sport they are very good at – and there’s so much pressure to include it that there’s nothing we can do about it.”

The pressure is exerted by individual sports associations and governments keen to secure regional bragging rights with a big medal haul, she added.

A Thai representative from the nation’s Olympic committee has also said the biennial SEA Games risk becoming less competitive as hosts choose niche sports favouring their athletes.

Their comments came as Indonesia streaked ahead in the medals table, hav-

SEA GAMES ing harvested 60 golds and 147 medals overall as early as Tuesday, which put them well ahead of nearest rivals Thailand who had 36 golds at that stage.

Indonesia enjoyed a clean sweep in the roller skating races, which debuted at the Games this year at their request, while indigenous martial art pencak silat was likely to see another gold glut by the hosts.

“We proposed roller sports one-andhalf years ago and asked the other Games delegates for their opinion. Nobody complained at the time,” Subowo said, somewhat contradicting her earlier beliefs.

Thailand, whose gold rush on Monday was offset by Indonesia’s roller skating and karate exploits, basked in glory after besting the home side in the women’s team badminton final.

But the Thais had their work cut out to eclipse Indonesia, after the home athletes continued their fine run with a sackful of golds as they targeted finishing with the most medals at the Games for the first time since 1997.

Indonesia was awarded this year’s Games in 2006 but the government has been criticised for failing to release cash to organisers Inasoc to build venues, causing an embarrassing delay to the athletes’ village in Palembang.

INTERNATIONALSPORT 43

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

English Premier Team Man City Man United Newcastle United Chelsea Tottenham Liverpool Arsenal Aston Villa Norwich City Swansea City QPR Stoke City Wolves West Brom Sunderland Fulham Everton Bolton Wanderers Blackburn Rovers Wigan Athletic

P 11 11 11 11 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 11 11 11

W 10 8 7 7 7 5 6 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 1 1

Ligue 1, France

D 1 2 4 1 1 4 1 6 4 4 3 3 2 2 4 4 1 0 3 2

L 0 1 0 3 2 2 4 2 4 4 5 5 6 6 5 5 6 8 7 8

F 39 28 17 24 21 14 23 16 16 12 10 8 12 9 14 14 11 18 13 7

A 10 12 8 15 15 10 21 15 18 15 20 19 18 16 13 15 15 27 24 20

Pts 31 26 25 22 22 19 19 15 13 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 10 9 6 5

Bundesliga, Germany Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

Bayern 12 Dortmund 12 Werder Bremen 12 B’sia M’gladbach 12 Schalke 12 Hannover 12 Stuttgart 12 Leverkusen 12 Hoffenheim 12 Hertha Berlin 12 Köln 12 Kaiserslautern 12 Wolfsburg 12 Mainz 12 Nuremberg 12 Hamburg 12 Freiburg 12 Augsburg 12

9 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 5 4 5 3 4 3 3 2 3 1

1 2 2 2 1 4 3 3 2 4 1 4 1 3 3 4 1 5

2 3 3 3 4 3 4 4 5 4 6 5 7 6 6 6 8 6

32 26 23 15 24 16 18 15 15 16 20 10 15 16 13 15 16 9

4 9 16 9 18 17 12 16 13 17 26 15 25 23 20 25 27 22

Pts 28 23 23 23 22 19 18 18 17 16 16 13 13 12 12 10 10 8

P

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

PSG

Team

13

9

3

1

26

11

30

Montpellier Lille Lyon

13 13 13

8 6 7

3 6 2

2 1 4

28 22 21

16 13 15

27 24 23

Rennes

13

6

4

3

22

16

22

Toulouse

13

6

4

3

13

12

22

Lorient

13

5

5

3

15

12

20

Marseille

13

4

6

3

17

14

18

Caen

13

5

3

5

20

19

18

Saint-Étienne

13

4

5

4

12

16

17

Sochaux

13

4

5

4

20

25

17

Auxerre

13

3

6

4

19

18

15

Evian

13

2

7

4

15

18

13

Bordeaux

13

2

7

4

15

19

13

Brest

13

1

9

3

Valenciennes Nice

13 13

2 2

5 5

6 6

13 13

14 14

12 11

12

14

11

Nancy

13

2

5

6

10

16

11

Dijon

13

3

2

8

13

28

11

Ajaccio

13

1

4

8

10

26

7

Coming up this week English Premier League Fixtures

Bundesliga Fixtures

(Times in Thailand)

(Times in Thailand)

Saturday November 19 Norwich v Arsenal 19:45 Everton v Wolves 22:00 Man City v Newcastle 22:00 Stoke v QPR 22:00 Sunderland v Fulham 22:00 Wigan v Blackburn 2200

Saturday November 19 K’slautern v Leverkusen 01:30 M’gladbach v Bremen 20:30 Cologne v Mainz 20:30 Freiburg v Hertha Berlin 20:30 Schalke v Nuremberg 20:30 Wolfsburg v Hannover 20:30 Bayern v Dortmund, 23:30

Sunday November 20 Swansea v Man Utd 00:30 Chelsea v Liverpool 23:00 Tuesday November 22 Tottenham v Aston Villa 03:00

Sunday November 20 Stuttgart v Augsburg 20:30 Hamburg v Hoffenheim 22:30

Sport on TV: Times in Thailand Friday November 18

Serie A, Italy Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

Udinese

10

6

3

1

13

4

Pts 21

Lazio

10

6

3

1

16

8

21

Milan

10

6

2

2

23

14

20

Juventus

9

5

4

0

15

7

19

Palermo

10

5

1

4

14

12

16

Napoli

9

4

2

3

13

7

14

Roma

10

4

2

4

13

11

14

Catania

10

3

5

2

12

16

14

Siena

10

3

4

3

12

8

13

Cagliari

10

3

4

3

9

10

13

Genoa

9

3

3

3

12

12

12

Atalanta

10

5

3

2

13

12

12

Fiorentina

10

3

3

4

10

9

12

Chievo

10

3

3

4

8

11

12

Parma

10

4

0

6

12

18

12

Bologna

10

3

1

6

9

16

10

Internazionale

9

2

2

5

11

16

8

Lecce

10

2

2

6

8

16

8

Novara

10

1

4

5

12

19

7

Cesena

10

0

3

7

3

13

3

EVENT TIME CHANNEL

Volleyball: Women’s World Cup 13:00 Astro Supersport 3 Golf: Alfred Dunhill Links 18:30 Golf Channel

Saturday November 19 Golf: Presidents Cup 03:00 Rugby: Heineken Cup 03:00 Golf: Alfred Dunhill Links 18:30 Rugby: Heineken Cup 20:30 Rugby: Heineken Cup 22:40 Football: Norwich v Arsenal 19:45 Football: Man City v Newcastle 22:00 Football: Sunderland v Fulham 22:00 Football: Everton v Wolves 22:00 Football: Wigan v Blackburn 22:00

Golf Channel Eurosport Golf Channel Eurosport Eurosport TrueSport 1 TrueSport 1 TrueSport 2 TrueSport 3 TrueSport 4

Sunday November 20 Football: Swansea v Man Utd 00:30 TrueSport 3 Rugby League: Aus v Eng 00:55 Astro Supersport 2 Golf: Presidents Cup 06:30 Golf Channel Golf: Alfred Dunhill Links 18:30 Golf Channel Rugby: Heineken Cup 19:45 Eurosport Rugby: Heineken Cup 22:00 Eurosport Football: Chelsea v Liverpool 23:00 TrueSport 1

Could this be a common sight in London next year?

Security is top priority Britain may deploy surfaceto-air missiles (SAMs) to protect London during the 2012 Olympic Games, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said this week, shortly after the government rejected reports of US security fears.

Hammond told lawmakers that “all necessary measures” would be taken to protect the London games following reports that the United States was set to send 1,000 of its own agents to the sporting event.

“I can assure you that all necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of the London Olympic Games will be taken including, if the advice of the military is that it is required, appropriate ground-toair defences,” Hammond said.

He was responding to a query by his predecessor Liam Fox who said SAMs had been deployed at every Olympic games since Atlanta in 1996.

The Guardian newspaper said US officials had raised “repeated concerns” about security at the London Games and were planning to deploy 1,000 of their own agents, including 500 from the FBI. The paper added that the London Organising Committee for the Games had underesti-

OLYMPICS mated the number of security staff it would need at the 32 Games venues, with 21,000 guards now required, 11,000 more than first thought.

A spokesman for the Home Office insisted that security planning was “on track” and that the International Olympic Committee had “full confidence” in the blueprint.

“The Government is committed to delivering a safe and secure Games that London, the UK and the world can enjoy,” the spokesman said.

Meanwhile the US Embassy in London stressed it had the “utmost confidence” in the security arrangements.

The US Embassy’s Charge d’Affaires Barbara Stephenson said it was “entirely normal and prudent for the US to engage in discussions with UK officials about security arrangements”.

Security has been a key concern for all Games hosts and organisers ever since the 1972 Olympics in Munich where nine kidnapped Israeli athletes, four of their captors from the Palestinian Black September group and a German policeman were killed in a gun battle.

–AFP

Hash House Harriers Run 1341: Saturday November 19 at 3:30pm.

Hares: Who the F- is Alice, Turncoat and Stupid Canard Directions: Chao Fa West, Soi Anusorn 200 Pi. From the Honda Garage, drive south for 0.923 km and turn right. From Chalong circle drive north for 5.6 km and turn left at the Granite Andaman shop. Follow the soi for 1.3 km and the Laager is at the end of the road.

Bus: Bus will leave the Expat Hotel, Patong at 14:00 and Baan Rim Klong, Kamala at 14:30.

Formula 1: Brazilian Grand Prix (Times in Thailand) Friday November 25 Practice 1 19:00 Practice 2 23:00 Saturday November 26 Practice 3 20:00

Saturday November 26 Qualifying 23:00 Sunday November 27 Race 23:00

Formula 1 Driver Standings after Abu Dhabi 1. S. Vettel 374 (2011 champion); 2. J. Button 255; 3. F. Alonso 245; 4. M. Webber 233; 5. L. Hamilton 227; 6. F. Massa 108; 7. N. Rosberg 83; 8. M. Schumacher 76; 9. V. Petrov 36; 10. N. Heidfeld 34; 11. A. Sutil 34; 12. K. Kobayashi 28; 13. J. Alguesuari 26; 14. P. di Resta 23; 15. S. Buemi 15; 16. S. Perez 14; 17. R. Barichello 4; 18. B. Senna 2; 19. P. Maldonado 1. All others 0.

www.thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

www.thephuketnews.com