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Tragic car crash claims life of popular Phuket personality Christian Roth, boss of the Xana Beach Club, at age 30

FULL STORY ON PAGE 2

This photo of Christian was taken for an August 10 interview, in which he told The Phuket News about his plans for the future.

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PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

THE PHUKET NEWS

NEWS

Councillors get trashed

Officials told to clean up their act with environment in ‘crisis’ > 5

Alasdair Forbes, Jody Houton & Claire Connell execeditor@thephuketnews.com

Xana boss dies Claire Connell editor1@thephuketnews.com

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popular Phuket personality died in a traffic accident early last Friday (September 14).

Christian Roth, 30, beach complex operations manager at Angsana Laguna Phuket, was reportedly involved in a head-on collision at 2.55am near Baan Lipon, in the island’s north.

A representative of the Kusoldharm Foundation told The Phuket News that Mr Roth was driving his car towards Phuket Town when he appeared to have crossed on to the wrong side of the road.

He then collided with another vehicle close to Siam City Cement Co at Baan Lipon.

Mr Roth suffered a broken neck and internal injuries in the crash, and reportedly died instantly.

The three passengers in the other car – Kitjakarn Manajit, 23, Khuntap Alaisuk, 21, and Taksin Sirijan – were injured and were taken to Thalang hospital, along with Mr Roth’s body.

Mr Roth’s father Frederick posted in Spanish on his son’s Facebook wall confirming the death and saying his “beloved son has gone”. Others also posted messages of condolence.

Jerry John, the general manager of Angsana Laguna Phuket, said, “If I were to write an eulogy for Christian, I would call it an eulogy to a gentleman, because that is probably the word most used by people when describing Christian.

“His calm and gentle demeanor – that was never as-

Boy George, now a DJ, will perform at Bliss Beach Club.

Pop legend Boy George heading for a bit of Bliss Well known Phuketian Christian Roth, pictured at Xana Beach Club, died last week.

Claire Connell editor1@thephuketnews.com

suming and always appealing – is probably the memory I will always carry of Christian.

His desire to be a success in everything he did was evident over the last eight months during which he opened and developed the beach club operation at Xana.

“We will all miss him and never forget him.”

Mr Roth was born in San Luis Potosi, in northern Mexico, but grew up in Mexico City.

During an interview with The Phuket News last month, Christian said after graduating from the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, he started to work for Banyan Tree. He was part of the opening teams for both

FORMER CULTURE CLUB singer turned DJ Boy George will perform on Thursday, October 4 at Bliss Beach Club in Bang Tao. Having sold over 100 million singles and 50 million albums as lead singer and songwriter of Culture Club, Boy George has also been one of the most successful DJs since the late 1970s and continues to be in-demand across the globe.

Since early 2010, George has rolled out a bed of new studio releases that include Amazing Grace, Sunshine Into My Life featuring Shalene Hector of Basement Jaxx fame, Brand New and Turn 2 Dust.

Bliss Beach Club General

Banyan Tree hotel operations in Mexico, Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, and Cabo Marques in Acapulco.

He then opened a third hotel for Rosewood hotels and resorts in San Miguel de Allende before heading to New York, where he opened a restaurant with a couple of friends in New York.

This year he started work as the beach complex operations manager at Angsana Laguna Phuket – basically the boss of the Xana Beach Club.

More than 100 people attended Christian’s cremation at Wat Cherng Talay on Monday (September 17) and a reception at Xana Beach Club that followed.

“I lost my little brother... rest in peace bro!”

Jorge De la Torre “Such a lovely young guy.

A great loss. My heart goes out to his friends and family.”

Sue Ultmann “Safe travels Christian, we all know you will have a hospitable place to stay when you get there.”

Daniel Donatelli “On behalf of Xana kitchen team, It’s a sorrow time for us. Rest in peace... I’ll remember you forever.”

Natthapat Waewsanga

Manager Giuseppe ‘Pepe’ Viva said the event will be a memorable one.

“We are expecting a great set by the beach with an artist we all know.

“Thoughts of the ‘80s will be out of everyone’s minds as George will lead the crowd into dance hysteria in his two hour set.”

Boy George will be accompanied by international DJ Marc Vedo, who has played at Avalon in LA, Zouk in Singapore, The Guvernment in Toronto, X2 in Jakarta and Ministry of Sound in London.

General tickets are B600, while VIP tickets are B1,000, and are available on the door.

The event starts at 9pm.

Boy George was last in Phuket in 2010 when he performed at Seduction in Patong.

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

PHUKET NEWS

BAD LAND AGAIN

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Wanted Philippines governor in Phuket? Another 84 rai of suspect land found AUTHORITIES IN THE Philippines believe that a fugitive governor of the province of Palawan, wanted for organising an assassination, may be in Phuket.

The Philippine Star newspaper last week quoted Immigration Chief Ricardo David Jr as saying that a man identified as Joseph Lim Pe – believed to be the alias of fugitive former Palawan governor Joel Reyes, 60 – is reportedly hiding in Phuket.

Reyes and his brother Mario, 51, the former Mayor of Coron in Palawan, are wanted for ordering the assassination in January last year of pro-environment and anti-corruption campaigner Gerry Ortega, gunned down in Palawan.

Mr Ortega made enemies among the rich and powerful in the Philippines, particularly through his radio programmes and for organising a mass campaign to block mining companies from Palawan.

The brothers fled the Philippines in March, passing through Ninoy Aquino Airport in Manila with the help of two Immigration officials (who have since been suspended) and flying out to Vietnam.

The Star added: “David said that the bureau received information that ‘Lim Pe’ left Manila on March 18 and spent a few days in Vietnam before proceeding to Phuket. It is not clear whether Mario Reyes came with him. “[Lim Pe] left Thailand only once, went to Malaysia, but returned and has been staying in Thailand.

“As far as [Philippines] Immigration is concerned he

Paritta Wangkiat reporter3@thephuketnews.com

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Wanted: Joel (above) and Mario Reyes, from the Facebook page ‘Justice for Ortega’.

is in Phuket. He left once and went to Malaysia but he went back to Phuket.”

Mr David said that officials were about 70 per cent sure that Joel Reyes and Joseph Lim Pe are the same person.

“On the passport you would not see Joel Reyes because he is not using that name,” he told the Star. “Joseph Lim Pe went to Vietnam. The confirmation is in the picture,” he added.

An official at the Philippine Embassy In Bangkok confirmed having been notified by Manila of Joel Reyes’ possible presence in Thailand.

He said that he had notified Lt Gen Viboon Bangtamai, Commissioner of Thai Immigration.

Pol Col Panuwat Ruamrak, Superintendent of Phuket Immigration told The Phuket News he had yet to receive an alert about Joel Reyes.

nother suspect land paper covering 84 rai, which officials believe encroaches on Sirinart Marine National Park, was discovered this week.

The Chief of the Sirinart Marine National Park, Cheewapap Cheewatham, told The Phuket News on Friday (September 14) that the land paper was uncovered when Krungthai Bank contacted the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) to ask about the status of the land.

Officials suspect that the purported owner of the land planned to raise a loan from the bank, using the land paper as collateral.

When the DNP contacted the Land Office, it was found that the “owner” had attached to the land paper a road master plan.

Permission must be obtained from the Forestry Department and the DNP for the construction of any road in a national park, yet the Sirinart Park Office – the local DNP representative – had no knowledge of this plan.

According to maps based on aerial photographs taken in 1978, three years before the declaration of the Sirinart Park, no road appears on the map in that area, leading officials to be suspicious about the origin of the road on the master plan.

“We’re sure that the [84 rai] is inside the boundary of the park,” said Mr Cheewapap.

“However, to confirm this, we

The robbers are caught on CCTV fleeing the gold shop.

Hunt is on for gold-robbing crims in wigs Park chief Cheewapap Cheewatham: ‘How much of the park is actually still owned by the state?’ are waiting for the survey of the forest boundary to be completed by the Forestry Department.”

That survey is due to be completed before the deadline of September 25 set by the Director of the DNP, Damrong Pidetch.

Another oddity was the discovery of a pile of about 20 land marker posts found dumped close to the 84 rai.

It is not clear yet whether the posts were intended for marking out the boundary of the 84 rai, or for other land to which people may already have titles.

Normally marker posts are kept in the Land Office until survey teams are ready to hammer them into the ground to mark a piece of land they have surveyed and confirmed.

The discovery of land claims beyond the 12 already under investigation has sparked concern among DNP officials that far more land than they thought may have been en-

croached upon.

“How much of the park is actually still owned by the state?” Mr Cheewapap asked.

“The forest we’ve seen today may already be ‘owned’ by people, or may be on its way to being grant land papers.”

He believes more land ‘owned’ by individuals will be uncovered inside the park boundaries.

In addition to the 84 rai discovered this week, the sites under investigation are the Trisara resort, Hotel Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach, Peninsula Spa & Resort at Nai Yang Beach, Pavilion Beach Resort, Layan Beach Resort, Andaman White Beach Resort, La Colline property development, Malaiwana property development, West Sands property development, cleared land belonging to Landstate near Layan Beach, a private villa next to Trisara and a half-rai piece of land next to the Peninsula Resort.

PHUKET POLICE POURED officers into the Kathu Waterfall area on Wednesday (September 19) to search for one of two “wigged robbers” who robbed a gold shop in Phuket Town on Monday (September 17).

The hunt followed the arrest of the wife of a man known only as Kosol, who is believed to be one of the two criminals.

His wife was nabbed in Bangkok last night (September 18) as she got off a bus and was found to be in possession of 1,029 grammes of gold jewellery, worth about B1.8 million – roughly half of what was stolen. She said her husband might be found in the area of the Kathu waterfall.

The two robbers escaped with about two kilos of gold from the Yong Shuan gold shop in Mubaan Kaeha, in the Rassada Port area of Phuket Town, at about 1pm.

The two wore wigs to help disguise their identities during the robbery, but were caught wigless on CCTV as they drove away from the scene.

Detective hurt in smash A PATONG POLICE DETECtive was injured after the car he was driving smashed into a power pole on Sunday morning (September 16) in Rassada and ended up in a water-filled ditch. The cause of the crash is yet to be determined Toong Tong police were notified at 4.30am on the morning of the crash, which happened at the three-way intersection

at Pra Phuket Kaew Rd. At the scene they found the car half submerged in the roadside ditch.

Rescue foundation staff removed the driver, identified as Patong station Investigations Division detective Pol Capt Jakrapongs Leuong-On, who was taken to Bangkok Hospital Phuket for treatment for leg and chest injuries.

– Source: Siang Tai

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SIMON OSTHEIMER Managing Editor 083 922 9265 managingeditor@thephuketnews.com From Hong Kong; a decade’s experience as editor of magazines and newspapers in Shanghai (City Weekend, that’s Shanghai), Beijing (tbjhome, Urbane), Hong Kong (Time Out Hong Kong), Kuala Lumpur (Vision KL), Bangkok (Bangkok 101) and Phuket. Journalist for Esquire, Fah Thai, Vacations & Travel, Travel & Leisure, CNNGo, Surface and Dwell.

ALASDAIR FORBES Executive Editor 087 884 9964 execeditor@thephuketnews.com From the UK; 40 years as a journalist and editor on magazines and newspapers in the UK, Middle East, Hong Kong and Thailand: Cheshire Observer, Chester Chronicle, Saudi Gazette, Gulf Mirror, Gulf Construction, Gulf News, Hongkong Standard, Asian Business (Editor) and Phuket Gazette (Managing Editor for seven years).

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

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

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

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

THE US EMBASSY, CLOSED on Tuesday because of an anti-American protest outside its gates, has updated its security warnings to US citizens in Thailand, warning them “to exercise caution and to be aware of their surroundings, particularly around large

crowds or gatherings.

“Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence with little or no warning,” the advisory said.

The worldwide warning followed recent riots in Benghazi, Libya, in which the US

Ambassador to that country and three other embassy staffers were killed.

The deadly riots were sparked by clips released on the Internet from a film made in the US, Innocence of Islam.

Distribution of parts of the film on the Internet has caused

an international outcry and sparked the protest march on Tuesday (September 18) from Lumpini Park in Bangkok to the US Embassy.

The embassy was closed for the afternoon. The protest passed off peacefully amid a massive police presence.

Troubled condo makes deal Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter4@thephuketnews.com

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committee set up by the Damrongtham Centre (DC) to hear disputes between property developers and their buyers yesterday brokered a deal that may solve a long-standing problem over the 69-unit Chalong Bay View condominium.

The meeting, chaired by Boonthop Lanthong, Phuket’s Chief Public Prosecutor, was attended by four of the buyers – one of whom is also an investor in the development – two directors of the development company and their lawyer, and an interpreter.

The three buyers said that the project was almost complete; it was just waiting for interior decoration. Between them they had paid the developer about B13 million, but the ownership of the condos had not been transferred, as promised.

Mr Boonthop asked the company’s representatives if they were contractually obliged to transfer ownership.

Their lawyer replied, “Yes, the company has an obligation

The Chalong Bay View condo building. Buyers may now get some of their money back. to transfer ownership to the customers but it has a problem with the bank. As a result it is not possible to transfer ownership at the moment.”

He said that the company was ready to return a proportion of the money paid by the buyers if, in return, the buyers would sign a contract absolving the company of all further obligations to them.

After consideration, the three buyers decided to accept Chalong Bay View’s offer of 60 per cent of money paid within six months, and signed an agreement to that effect.

The company’s lawyer told The Phuket News after the meeting, “The agreement is fine. We are confident that we can pay all the buyers the agreed amount within six months.”

It is not clear yet what will happen to the building when the buyers have all been paid.

The company was not represented at the meeting. An officer of the DC said that the Centre had earlier written to the developer, Napawan Asia Ltd, asking for an explanation.

In a letter written in March to Governor Tri Augkaradecha, with a copy to the DC,

Napawan said that it was very close to being able to transfer ownership.

The letter explained that because of the unexpectedly bad international economic conditions for the past several years, the company had not been able to repay a bank loan as fast as expected.

Both Mr Boonthop and the lawyer for the complainants agreed that flexibility was in order, and the company should be given a further 30 days to meet with the committee to present its side of the dispute.

The following day, a spokesman for Napawan Asia Ltd told The Phuket News, “The company is pleased to confirm that it has already reached an agreement in principle with ChomTawan buyers to proceed with a proposal for settlement of the bank debt that will enable the transfer of ownership of all properties. “Forty-four property buyers, from a total of 47, have given their support, with one undecided and two who cannot be contacted at this time.

“We will update Mr Boonthop and the lawyer [for the buyers] about this progress as soon as possible,” he said.

CLOSE TO CRISIS Lax law enforcement ‘is ruining Phuket’ THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Paritta Wangkiat reporter3@thephuketnews.com

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nvironmental authorities have urged Phuket’s local elected councils – OrBorJor, OrBorTor and municipalities – to enforce laws more effectively to control the unbridled growth of economic development on the island.

The environmental specialists told a meeting on Monday (September 17) that they believe the island’s environmental problems are rapidly approaching crisis point.

Natthakrit Ponpetch an environmental specialist of the Phuket Office of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) gave the meeting at the Phuket Merlin Hotel some worrying statistics.

Sixty per cent of the island’s natural forest – 65,000 rai out of 107,000 – is claimed by people who have land papers for it; The volume of garbage has increased 9 per cent from last year, from 550 tonnes a day (tpd) in 2011 to 590 tonnes now.

That number soars in the high

season to 640 tpd. The island’s two incinerators – the second just opened – have a combined 950-tpd capacity, but this will quickly be exceeded if the rate of growth continues; With the government expecting the number of tourists coming to Phuket to climb from 8 million this year to 12 million by 2015, Mr Natthakrit estimated that the volume of garbage would expand to between 800 and 1,000 tpd.

Since 2005, Initial Environment Examinations (IEEs) for about 1,400 building projects have received approval from the NRE. Another 163 projects passed Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), with around two to three projects asking for approval each month from the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) in Bangkok.

A survey in 2005 discovered that land titles were granted for more than 300 pieces of land despite the fact that they are higher than 80

PHUKET NEWS

Phuket’s incinerators are likely to hit capacity as early as 2015. metres above sea level – which means they should not be developed.

In a random survey carried out by the NRE, 80 per cent of 59 property developments and resorts examined had not followed environmental regulations after being granted permits to build.

“Phuket has been growing with no [controls or] direction,” Mr Natthakrit said. “Authorities [who are supposed to enforce the law] are not keeping up

with the growth.”

He added that the problems arising from Phuket’s rapid growth had multiplied to the point where they could damage the island in a variety of ways.

For example, he said, despite efforts, Phuket has failed to build a good reputation for waste water treatment.

A total of 18 places around the island have been earmarked as locations for water treatment plants. But only four – in Patong, Karon, Kathu and Phuket

City – has actually been built.

The rest have not happened because of a lack of funding.

Mr Natthakrit said he was particularly worried about Raya Island.

The NRE recently checked the quality of water at three points where it runs off the island into the sea and found that in all three the water quality was substandard, containing an average of 1.5 million MPN of total coliform bacteria per 100

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millilitres – around 300 times the maximum of 5,000 MPN for good-quality water.

“With high numbers in every statistic, we are concerned about massive environmental damage in the near future,” said Mr Natthakrit.

“Personally, I think Phuket should not be a commercial island. I don’t think tourists will want to see huge buildings on slopes here.”

The biggest concern is lax control of property developers by local authorities.

“After [projects] have passed their IEE or EIA, local authorities are mainly responsible for enforcement of the law on the projects,” Chief of the Community and Specific Area Environment Section of ONEP, Weeranit Thansuporn, told the meeting.

“I think local authorities know the environmental laws.

The question is, will they enforce the laws or not?”

“We urge local authorities to enforce the environmental laws. Otherwise, there is no point in having the laws.”

BRIGHT BOYS Two students from the technical college replace a dud rear light bulb

on a motorbike as part of the Phuket Community Foundation’s ongoing back light replacement project. At the mosque in Bang Rong the students replaced 42 bulbs in three hours, assisted by the local OrBorTor and rescue service, who directed bikes to them.

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respected local geologist has warned that great care must be taken in the construction of the new B600 million underpass next to Central Festival to ensure that it does not collapse after it is completed.

Speaking at an informal public hearing at the Wichit Municipality offices on Tuesday (September 18), Professor Amnart Tantitamsopon explained, “The intersection is in low land and there was once a tin mine in the area. ” He questioned the four-man panel – two from the contractor and two from the Highways Department – about details of soil testing that had been undertaken.

“Phuket sometimes has earthquakes and it rains here very often,” he said. “It’s difficult to know for sure whether the land [around the underpass] will collapse or not.”

Panel members Ittiwat Krit-

Professor Amnart Tantitamsopon: Phuket has earthquakes and heavy rain. sanawanit, the project engineer, and Narong Horee, the project manager, from contractors Italian-Thai Development Co, assured the meeting that all the necessary soil tests had been done, and pointed out that the company had built similar underpasses in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, with no problems.

Prof Amnart responded that the success of the previous contracts was no guarantee because the soil conditions and land structure are very different in Phuket. He urged them to ensure that very comprehensive studies be undertaken before construction begins.

The professor, who runs

a geology practice in Phuket, explained later to The Phuket News, “The soil in that area is a mixture of granite and sandstone.

“I would like to know more about the underground strata.

What rock will be under the underpass? How heavy will the underpass be?” These things

were not made clear at the meeting, he said.

Apart from Prof Amnart, the hearing drew a mix of local people along with representatives from the Traffic Police, local government officials, and a teacher from the Darasamuth Phuket School, which is right next to the intersection.

Most of the people at the meeting were in favour of the underpass, though there was some dissension from people living in the area.

One said, “Perhaps this will not solve traffic problems.

Phuket is too full of cars, and people drive with no respect for the rules.”

Instead of building underpasses, he said, “We should find measures to reduce the number of cars in Phuket.”

The project is the first of three. It will be followed by an underpass at the intersection next to Tesco-Lotus, costing B850 million, and then another underpass at the Bang Ku intersection at the north end of the bypass, costing B500 million.

Women caught for human trafficking A THAI WOMAN SUSPected to be a member of a Thai-Bahrain human trafficking gang, who forced Thai women to work as prostitutes in Bahrain, was arrested at Phuket International Airport on Sunday (September 16).

Dutdao Yarana, 27, was caught when about to fly from Phuket to Bangkok, where she was to board a flight to Bahrain.

Though she denied any involvement, police believe she had a major role in a gang which lured Thai women to go to work in Bahrain to earn large sums of money. However once they were there, they were forced into prostitution.

A Deputy Commander of the Police’s Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD), Pol Col Prasert Pattanadee, told the press during a police press conference in Bangkok on Sunday (September 16) that the arrest came after the gang’s victims made a phone

call to Bahraini police officers asking for help.

The officers then contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and AHTD, which resulted in officers raiding an apartment unit in Manama in Bahrain, where the gang was keeping the victims hostage.

Eleven Thai women were rescued, with one of the victims later claiming that Dutdao and another gang member, Ben­jawan Promma, 37, held the victims hostage in a room inside an apartment.

Another Thai woman, whose name is known only as “Pat”, forced the victims to work as prostitutes in brothels and entertainment venues in Bahrain, the victims said.

AHTD believe that there are several known Thai-Bahrain human-trafficking gangs currently in operation, and Pol Col Prasert urged Thai women to be careful of any job offers in Bahrain.

It’s love, officially THE NEW DIRECTOR OF Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket Office, Chanchai Doungjit, was among the many dignitaries that attended the official opening ceremony for Land Art No.8 at the At Panta resort.

A well known Thai composer, songwriter and arranger named Pongprom Snitwong Na Ayuthaya decided to extend his birthday greetings to His Majesty the King with a “music and art” project, entitled “Nitarn Pandin” (‘The Chronicle of the Land’).

Pongprom had planned to

come out with this work to mark the King’s 84th birthday anniversary in 2011 but because of the severe flooding postponed the project.

The project is made up of two parts. The first being a song entitled “Nitarn Pandin”, which narrates the meaning of “King” or “Raja” in different eras and features lyrics in ancient languages.

The second, entitled “Niwet Silpa” or “Land Art” features the creation of 9 pieces of ‘Land Art’, inspired by nine different national artists, and erected in nine provinces around Thai-

land, the artists and provinces being Tawee Ratchaneekorn here in Phuket, Sakarin Krueon in Khon Kaen, Nopadon Viroonchatapun in Nakhon Nayok, Amrit Chusuwan in Songkhla, Thongchai Srisukprasert in Chiang Mai, Pairoj Wangbon in Trat, Panya Vijinthanasarn in Sukhothai, Suriya Namwong in Chiang Rai and Kamol Tassananchalee in Bangkok.

Land Art No.8 is free to all visitors until December 31. It’s open from 9am – 6pm.

For more information, visit atpanta.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

PHUKET FOCUS

7

A mother’s desperate love Mission begins to raise B230,000 to buy respirator for sick son Nattha Thepbamrung reporter2@thephuketnews.com

S

ingle mum Yuparate Kiawwan does not sleep at night. She can’t. If she does her son, Patchara “Petch” Samana, may die.

Now she’s on a mission to find B230,000 to buy a new respirator, to keep her son, born with a rare genetic disorder, alive and breathing during the night, so she can rest easy.

“When he was born, I noticed unusual signs. He didn’t cry or move much,” Mrs Yuparate says.

After 12 hours a pediatrician examined him and diagnosed him as having Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS), a disorder that affects one in 10,000 to 25,000 people.

Tests at Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok when he was a month old confirmed the diagnosis. Petch stayed 15 days in the hospital’s nursery.

The child was unresponsive and could not breast-feed, so had to be fed through a tube.

“The treatment at Chulalongkorn hospital continued for a while,” Mrs Yuparate says, “but the treatment had to stop when he was about five years old because we could not afford the transportation costs from Phuket to Bangkok and the cost of the medicine, which was not covered by the 30-Baht Health Care Scheme.

“Then my husband and I divorced [11 years ago]. I had to work alone. It was hard to continue with the treatment.”

Time passed. Petch grew, learned to feed, and life became more normal. No more traveling up and down to Bangkok. He began to go to school, learning in a special class for children with learning disabilities.

But when he reached the age of 11, another effect of Prader Willi Syndrome began to take hold.

He gained weight rapidly.

Even when Mrs Yuparate

WHAT IS PWS? Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder characterised by low muscle tone, short stature if not treated with growth hormone, incomplete sexual development, and a chronic feeling of hunger that, coupled with a metabolism that utilises drastically fewer calories than normal, can lead to excessive eating and life-threatening obesity.

The food compulsion

controlled his food intake, he still grew fatter.

That’s when the sleeping disorder, another effect of Prader Willi, began. Frighteningly, he would stop breathing in his sleep.

Partly this was because of his weight causing Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) – a condition in which the throat is constricted by the fat around the neck and the sleeper stops breathing.

But while sufferers from OSA usually start breathing again on their own, Petch did not. The only way to get him to do so was to wake him up.

Treatment began again, this time at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok.

They tried to get Petch to use a respirator with a face mask, but he would not. So instead, he was fitted with a tracheal tube to ease his breathing.

Things got a lot worse.

While at Ramathibodi, Petch had an episode of diabetic shock, brought on by his overeating. He was rushed into the ICU. “At that time, we had had no recommendations on his diet. As a result my son had developed diabetes as an effect from the eating disorder.

“I had no guidance from the doctors about this and my son was returned to the ICU again, a year later, with diabetic shock.”

Eventually, Petch recovered, the tracheal tube was removed and he went home.

But he continued to gain weight. By the time the boy had passed his 12th birthday, he weighed a shocking 100 kg and the breathing problem had become much more severe.

“I rushed him to the Prince of Songkhla Hospital [in Songkhla],” Mrs Yuparate recalls.

“The medical team were helpful. They provided a bigger respirator on a stand which could help him breathe.

The hospital also tested his sleep patterns. They found makes constant supervision necessary. Average IQ is 70, but even those with normal IQs almost all have learning issues. Social and motor deficits also exist.

Children with PWS have sweet and loving personalities, but this phase is also characterised by increased appetite, weight control issues, and motor development delays along with some behaviour problems and unique medical issues. WebMD.com

Petch and his mother Yuparate. She watches over him every night, helping him to breathe. that he stopped breathing on average 12 times a night.

“This was why the doctor changed the respirator to a larger one. My son was big and he stopped breathing too often.”

The hospital loaned Mrs Yuparate a Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) respirator to take home, gave him medication to help him lose weight, and drew up a diet plan to counter the diabetes.

Life seemed as if it was once again settling down.

In the calm after the storm, Petch lost some weight – he is

now 86 kilos – and no longer rejected the respirator. Mrs Yuparate could sleep at night.

But two years ago the respirator broke down.

Mrs Yuparate sent it back to the hospital in Songkhla but there were no spares to fix it. Apparently, two years later, there are still no repairs.

“My son has been sleeping without the BiPAP for almost two years until now” she said.

During the day, he breathes normally. Now 16, he goes to school. He is in grade 6, where his fellow students are 11 years old. He is no taller

than they – he is 146 cm tall – but he is very fat.

He is also prone to outbursts of rage and violent behavior towards the other students because, his mother says, of the insufficiency of oxygen to his brain.

“A recent examination showed that skin around his neck is very thick and it constricts his trachea. This happens with all Prader Willi Syndrome patients. “All the doctors say he can’t breathe normally because of the syndrome – it’s not because of other causes.

Now his nighttime breathing problem is worse than ever. “I have to make sure he sleeps on his side. If he sleeps on his back, he cannot breathe. I have to stay awake almost all night, waking him up whenever I notice he has stopped breathing.”

The only solution is a new respirator but Mrs Yuparate simply doesn’t have the money.

Before the divorce she had a job but she had to quit to look after Petch.

Now she and her brother have a small car repair business, which keeps the two households going but having to stay awake most of the night means she is desperately tired during the day and cannot work.

The business provides a living for her, her brother and Petch, but not enough for the expensive BiPAP respirator.

Mrs Yuparate has battled for 16 years to keep Petch alive, and the battle is far from over. She has invested exhausting amounts of love in that battle. But love is not enough. B230,000 is needed to buy the new respirator.

She has been trying to raise the money, using social media such as Facebook, but so far it’s not nearly enough.

To donate, contact Mrs Yuparate on 090-069-7488 or 080-693-4268, or deposit funds into her bank account: Siam Commercial Bank account No. 897-208-0176, Chaofa Rd 2 branch, account name: Mrs Yuparate Kiawwan.

Daily baked Italian Breads and Italian Pastries, from our Executive Pastry Chef Francesco Giordano.

Wide selection of Italian cold cuts and cheeses, delicatessen, fruit and vegetables, pasta, fine extra virgin olive oils, and special gourmet products.

Enjoy our Illy coffee at the coffee bar, or a nice lunch from our carte of Italian traditional specialty.

thephuketnews.com

8

THAILAND NEWS

IN BRIEF Don Mueang airport to open soon

THE PHUKET NEWS

Foreigner account? No bank you Pattaya Today

Thailand’s Don Mueang Airport is currently under renovation and on track for its scheduled October 1 opening.

The Royal Thai Police are planning on increasing the numbers of customs officials to 391 officers per day, to deal with an estimated 6.5 million passengers.

Low cost carriers have also been preparing to restart their operations at the inner city airport, with AirAsia planning to start operating 146 flights per day at Don Mueang Airport starting on the same date.

Bangkok protests anti-Islam movie Severe downpours did not dampen the spirits of around 500 Thai-Muslims who congregated in Lumphini Park in downtown Bangkok to protest over the anti-Islam film ‘The Innocence of Muslims’.

Speakers blasted out condemnation in both English and Thai, with messages such as “We hate hate” and “Down with Israel.”

After wrapping up the demonstration, protesters gave themselves a round of applause, and made their way home.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

T

Under the mattress or inside a bank? The choice isn’t yours.

he Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has announced new regulations for the opening of Thai bank accounts in a bid to reduce financial crime conducted by foreigners.

There have recently been several prominent arrests of foreigners accused of money laundering and currency fraud.

As a result, from next month Thai banks will be instructed to check more carefully the background and identities of foreigners wanting to open an account in the Kingdom.

Currently, the only documentation required is a photocopy of the ‘alien’s’ passport and, in some cases, a certificate obtained from the immigration

bureau to confirm their address.

The minimum deposit to open an account varies from bank to bank but can be as low as B500. Police Colonel Seehanat Prayoonrat, chief of AMLO, said that in the future banks will be required to question applicants as to their reasons for wishing to open an account.

“In future, applicants need to show more documents as proof,” the colonel explained.

No definitive list of additional documents has yet been issued, but are likely to include a work permit or a one-year visa. Aliens might also be asked to provide proof of their residence address in their home country.

Ongoing checks will be made to verify whether the

amounts being deposited and withdrawn fit the background profile and income of the applicant. For example, foreigners claiming to be students yet holding accounts of millions of baht would be suspect.

Thailand is believed to be a high-risk country for money laundering which can fund terrorism.

Financial experts say that banks are likely to react in different ways to the new regulations.

Some might restrict new alien accounts to those holding a work permit, whilst others will want documentation additional to the passport and the immigration certificate.

Others might even require police clearance from their home country.

Army behind Thai protest death: inquest THE THAI MILITARY SHOT and killed a taxi driver during 2010 “Red Shirt” rallies, an inquest found Monday, in the first ever ruling on deaths during the country’s worst political violence in decades.

Phan Kamkong, 43, was caught in a volley of gunfire when he ran out of a central Bangkok apartment block to see what was happening after hearing

soldiers open fire at a minibus that had strayed into an area under army control, a Thai criminal court found.

“He was killed by gunfire from weapons of military personnel who fired at a van which drove into a restricted area,” said judge Jitakorn Patanasiri, adding the troops were on duty and following orders at the time.

More than 90 people, mostly ci-

vilians, were killed and nearly 1,900 were wounded in street clashes and a military crackdown on the opposition rallies, which drew about 100,000 “Red Shirt” demonstrators at their peak.

The violence marked the bloody nadir of Thailand’s bitter political divides that have pitted Red Shirt supporters of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra against the Bangkok-based

elite and military.

No prosecutions have been made over the unrest, which occurred under the previous government that was later swept from power by the Red-allied party of Thaksin’s sister Yingluck.

The court acknowledged that there had been conflicts between the testimony of civilian and army witnesses to the event. AFP

Estonians make own bank cards Pattaya One

THE SECOND CASE OF alleged bank card fraud in Pattaya last weekend saw the arrest of two Estonian nationals and the seizure of bank cards and sophisticated equipment used to imprint stolen bank account details onto fake cards.

thephuketnews.com

In a joint operation involving the Centre for Economic and Cyber Crimes units of Bangkok and Pattaya Police, a raid was carried out on a rented apartment in Soi 13 off Thappraya Road in South Pattaya.

Police arrested Estonians Maksim Prijatkin, aged 19, and Aleksandr Melnik, aged

24. Inside the room police seized 40 bank cards, swipe machines, along with iPhones.

Further investigations revealed the two men work for a transnational network of fraudsters who obtain credit card details from unsuspecting account holders from the UK, US, South Korea and Finland.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Cambodians fight malaria with the push of a button C

ambodian villagers armed with a little medical know-how – and their mobile telephones – are the nation’s new foot soldiers in the fight against drug-resistant malaria.

In the small village of Phnom Dambang near the Thai border, locals know that early detection and treatment is crucial to containing the virulent strain of the mosquitoborne disease that is blighting the region.

“The malaria here... can kill people in a short period of time if we don’t have the right treatment,” said Long Vuthy, whose home doubles as a walk-in clinic. The village is dotted with bright yellow signs emblazoned with pictures of mosquitoes, warning that the disease is prevalent in the area.

Vuthy, 41, who is also the chief of the village in Pailin province – considered to be at the epicentre of drug-resistant malaria in Cambodia – is one of more than 3,000 volunteer malaria workers in the country.

They diagnose the disease with a quick blood test and provide treatment, free of charge, in remote parts of the

A village malaria worker fixes a mosquito warning sign at a village in Pailin province, around 350 kilometres northwest of Phnom Penh.

Photo: AFP impoverished nation.

Under a new pilot project, he is now also using a dedicated text message service to report new cases, allowing health experts to monitor and respond to patients’ needs in real time.

“It’s a very good way to help the community,” said Vuthy, who was taught how to use the mobile phone service two months ago by the Malaria Consortium, a non-

profit group working with the government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to eradicate malaria from the country by 2025.

Cambodia has already had success tackling malaria. In 2011, it reported over 108,000 cases, of which 96 were fatal, compared to 102,473 cases and 154 deaths the year before and over 600 deaths in 2000, according to government sta-

tistics. But the prevalence of the drug-resistant strain has caused concern.

Malaria resistant to regular forms of treatment was confirmed in western Cambodia eight years ago, likely as a result of patients taking an incorrect or incomplete course of anti-malarial drugs.

To control the spread of this drug-tolerant form, health workers must catch cases early

and ensure patients strictly follow the right treatment plan.

The alert system is simple. If Vuthy’s diagnosis test shows a person has malaria, he immediately starts them on medication and composes a message with the patient’s age, sex, location and the type of malaria.

Using a toll-free number, the text is sent instantly to the district health centre, provincial health officials and a national malaria database in the capital Phnom Penh – a process that used to take a month.

The information is also fed into Google Earth to create a map of reported cases and of potential hotspots of resistance.

Together, the data helps officials track each case and make sure the right treatment is available or that more medication is supplied when stocks are running low.

“I think this system is very important in eliminating malaria in Cambodia because it provides information very fast,” said Pengby Ngor from the Malaria Consortium, which developed the database. “In this way there can be intervention and the patient can get treatment quickly.” AFP

New Stoc k

ASIA NEWS

9

IN BRIEF Suu Kyi calls for further easing of Burma sanctions Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is visiting the US, has said she supports further easing of sanctions against Burma’s government.

She made the comments after talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

We s t e r n s a n c t i o n s against Burma have already been loosened since the new government began enacting a series of political and social reforms.

Hong Kong jails mainlander for ‘pregnancy lie’ A Hong Kong court sentenced Tuesday a mainland Chinese woman to eight months in jail for lying about her pregnancy upon her entry into the city, as measures to limit mainland births are stepped up.

The 26-year-old woman entered Hong Kong in late August, when she was 38 weeks pregnant, after she produced a fake medical certificate that claimed she had completed 28 weeks of pregnancy, a government statement said.

has

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thephuketnews.com

10 WORLD NEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

No justice for Lebanon victims S

hahira Abu Ardeini lost her husband, sister and pregnant cousin in a massacre in Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps 30 years ago. She and so many others are still waiting for justice to be done.

“There was no moon that night, so they lit up the sky with flares,” said Abu Ardeini, aged 53, her dark eyes framed in deep wrinkles that speak volumes of her pain.

“The militiamen stormed our house with machineguns, and finished off some of my relatives with knives. They slaughtered my cousin Amal, and then sliced open her womb. They pulled her unborn baby out. I never thought I would survive.”

Lebanon was consumed by civil war.

For three long days in 1982 – September 16 to 18 – Christian militiamen allied with Israel massacred between 800 and 2,000 Palestinians in the two camps, on the outskirts of Beirut.

They also murdered at least 100 Lebanese and some Syrians.

Israeli troops, which had invaded Lebanon in June, had sealed off the camp while the militiamen committed their killing spree, targeting unarmed civilians.

“Thirty years have gone by, but I can remember every single detail of what I saw,” said Abu Ardeini. “My young-

A woman mourns for her relatives, killed in a massacre 30 years ago in Beirut, Lebanon. est child was just two weeks old. The children were screaming, while the militiamen were competing to see who could kill the most people.”

Every year, activists from all over the world travel to Lebanon to join survivors of the massacre, and visit the graveyard in Shatila, where many of the victims were buried.

But despite a global outcry, no one has ever been arrested, no one ever tried, no one convicted.

In Israel, an official inquiry placed personal but indirect responsibility on then defence minister Ariel Sharon.

It blamed Elie Hobeika, intelligence chief of the Lebanese Forces, for the killings.

The LF, a right-wing Christian militia then allied to Israel, have never responded to those accusations, and maintained total silence.

“No Lebanese or international court has ever indicted any of the men behind the massacre. They all got away with impunity,” said Abu Ardeini.

“We have lost all faith in the law. We Palestinians are the weakest link in the Arab world. We don’t have a state, so the killing of our people does not matter to anyone.”

Abu Ardeini also lamented

the conditions of life for some 280,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the majority of whom still live in squalid camps, deprived of many social and economic rights, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees.

“Our relatives died quickly, whereas we die a slow death,” she said.

Samiha Abbas, a Lebanese woman married to a Palestinian resident of Sabra, cried: “That day was different from all others.”

She lost three of her children and four other relatives.

“Zeinab was 16, Ali was 10,

Photo: AFP

and Fahd was 20 years old.”

Gripping their framed photographs to her chest, she collapsed in tears as she recalled the events.

“I demand to know why they killed my children. I have lost my mind to grief!” she cried. “I am Lebanese, but one Lebanese government after another has treated me like dirt.”

Living in close quarters with Palestinians who fled to Lebanon following the creation of Israel in 1948, Lebanese survivors have fared no better than the refugees in attaining justice. Abbas lives in Sabra, where a chaotic jumble of

electrical cables runs from house to house, rats scurry around poorly built homes and rain pours through ceilings in the cold winter.

“I practically had to beg to raise my children,” said Abbas.

“We are the victims, but successive Lebanese governments have treated us like criminals, marginalising us to make sure our voice isn’t heard.”

A group of survivors tried to launch a lawsuit in Belgium against Sharon over the massacre, but the court threw out the case in September 2003.

Mohammed Surur, 50, lost five family members to the massacre.

Surur joined some 200 Lebanese, Palestinian and Western activists in Beirut on Tuesday to commemorate the victims. They marched through Shatila, with children waving Palestinian flags, singing patriotic songs.

“They killed my father and my three siblings, including my sister Shadia, who was 18 months old at the time,” said Surur.

“I call on the Lebanese state to open the Sabra and Shatila file, to investigate what happened, to reveal who was responsible and to bring justice to the victims. I am sure it won’t happen, though,” he said resignedly. “But we Palestinians, we know how to get justice our own way.

And one day, we will.” AFP

Court bans spread of Kate topless pics amid criminal probe FRENCH AUTHORITIES ON Tuesday banned Closer magazine from any further distribution of topless pictures of Prince William’s wife Catherine and began a criminal probe into how they were obtained.

An injunction granted by a court at Nanterre in the Paris suburbs ordered the magazine to hand over all forms of the pictures to the British royal couple within 24 hours or face a 10,000 euro (B402,000) fine for every day’s delay.

thephuketnews.com

The injunction also bans the glossy magazine from reusing them in print or on its website and re-selling them on pain of further 10,000 euro fines for each infraction.

William and Catherine flew home Wednesday from a nine day tour of Singapore, Malaysia and the Solomon Islands, grateful for a ban on further publication of topless photos of the duchess.

The couple welcomed a verdict aides hope will act as a deterrent

against future intrusions on their privacy.

The injunction will have no impact on the pictures that have already been widely circulated on the internet following publication

by Closer as well as Ireland’s Daily Star and Italy’s Chi magazine.

It was granted hours after a prosecutor launched a preliminary investigation into whether the magazine and the photographer or photographers who took the pictures

had committed a criminal act.

The terms of the injunction mean it is virtually certain to lead to a full investigation of allegations that taking and publishing the pictures violated the couple’s right to privacy.

Tuesday’s ruling said the pictures were “by their nature, particularly intrusive” and had been taken in a place where the couple could “legitimately assume they were safe from prying eyes.”

The royals’ criminal complaint cites persons unknown but aides say they want proceedings against both the editor of Closer and the photographer (or photographers) who took the shots.

In theory both could face fines of up to 45,000 euros and prison terms if convicted. In practice, no one has ever been imprisoned for breaching the privacy law and fines are usually well below the maximum. AFP

THE PHUKET NEWS

LETTERS/VIEWPOINT 11

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

OPINION editor@thephuketnews.com

Editor’s Viewpoint

Norachai’s World

Understanding the underpass

B

Hey Mon, are you sure we look scary in these wigs?

ridges, tunnels, overpasses and underpasses. All have been proposed in the last few years to ease traffic congestion on Phuket’s roads.

But are the ‘powers that be’ simply failing to understand the route cause of the problem?

Numerous feasibility studies have been done into plans to build a tunnel through Patong Hill, with wild cost estimates thrown about, and potential completion dates suggested.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island a further three projects have been given the green light: An underpass next to Central Festival at a cost of B600 million, an underpass at the intersection next to TescoLotus (B850 million), and another underpass at the Bang Ku intersection at the north end of the bypass, costing B500 million.

At a recent informal public hearing for the project, respected local geologist Professor Amnart Tantitamsopon said that he had reservations about the safety of the underpass next

to Central Festival.

Professor Amnart believes that as the intersection is in low land and was once a tin mine, that it might actually collapse in on itself.

It’s certainly positive that people are concerned about the safety and costs of these projects, however if one of the main reasons for the project is to reduce traffic, isn’t there an easier, more cost-effective, more environmentally green and more obvious way of doing it?

Creating these extra roads is not going to reduce the number of cars, motorcycles nor the already dangerously-high toxic levels of pollution in the air.

If local or even national government was seriously interested in reducing levels of traffic and improving road safety, they would introduce reasonably-priced and well organised public transport.

There is no need to accommodate more cars, what Phuket should be doing is looking at ways of reducing the number on the roads.

Letters to the editor Regulate the regulators [Re: 1,000 black taxis register to ‘go green’] “Regulation fares?” We could see that coming.

I think it is great if a group of people want to take an initiative to make a better quality service across the board with a registration service/organisation, but they should not have a monopoly.

It should be “illegal” for you to not be a part of this registration system, [or] else the people who run it will surely get greedy with power and start introducing more fees, regulations and penalties on drivers who will have no choice but to accept the fees or pay large penalties for not registering.

I, as a passenger, may want to exercise my freedom of choice and choose to not use a ‘regulated’ taxi and this lets the driver of my taxi manage his own business how he wants and not have to pay as many fees.

I do this at my own risk so long as I am aware if it is registered or not, it’s my life/my decision to put myself in his car.

This way, if the regulators do start increasing fees to ridiculous amounts and introducing new penalties not for people’s safety or customer service but for ulterior political/financial motives, taxi drivers can abandon the system and go and make an honest one elsewhere keeping their greed from getting out of control!

Amused Observer

Don’t let it happen here as well

[Re: Will the AEC really change anything?]

Asia is not ready for Asean but is being led down the same path by the same group that created the current fiasco at the European Union.

Thailand has the most to lose when Asean arrives in 2015 as nobody in Thai politics has so far raised the serious questions that need to be addressed before signing up.

Let’s take one example of what is likely to happen to Thailand after 2015: All people from Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines (amongst others) will have the right to border-free travel and the right to work and live in Thailand.

This potential mass influx of people will destroy the

Thai culture and the Thai way of life.

Look what happened to the UK when Eastern Europe was admitted to the European Union. Despite government claims that only 15,000 Polish people would be moving to the UK, the actual number is over one million and still growing!

The UK government is powerless to stop this mass migration from east European Union members as it is part of the European Union (European equivalent to Asean) and bound by the treaty.

Thailand is by far the most attractive destination within Asean and there will be a mass migration of poor people from other Asean countries into Thailand, which after the Asean treaty is signed the Thai authorities will be powerless to stop.

Benjamin

Losing loved ones [Re: Angsana manager dies in road smash] I still cannot believe it... I lost my little brother... Rest in peace Bro! Jorge De la Torre

What do you expect?

[Re: Security warning to US citizens] The video released is fiction and falsely depicts the religion of 23 per cent of the people of the world, it does this in a very vulgar manner.

Where is the surprise here? When a government suppor ts this action and facilitates its promotion, do you expect 1.6 billion people to “let it go”?

No, they are drawing a line in the sand, it is time for the US to listen (the US government is giving its people a bad name). Don’t believe the

hype, if you do not support the US government’s politics you are not an anti-patriot.

USLiesalot

Better ways available [Re: Thai MP: Marry a farang for easier life] No matter what his point was in bringing this subject up, he needs to understand one thing that not all Thai women who marry foreigners want better welfare or want to escape their current position in Thailand.

There are plenty of Thai ladies who hold well-respected positions in Thailand who marry for love and not for those reasons mentioned.

He can not generalise about Thai women, there are much better ways in a public speech to bring about the same point of getting better welfare to the country.

Thai woman

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

thephuketnews.com

12 AVIATION/TOURISM

THE PHUKET NEWS

BUSINESS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

It’s a miracle

The promotional Miracle Card, a tourist debit card that includes insurance and discounts, finally begins to take off > 14

Alasdair Forbes execeditor@thephuketnews.com

MCOT boss moves over to run THAI MCOT Online

A FTER J UST NI N E months as chairman of the state-owned MCOT Plc, Sorajak Kasemsuvan is on the move again, having been selected as president of stateowned Thai Airways International.

He succeeds Piyasvasti Amranand, whose employment contract was abruptly terminated by the THAI Board of Directors in May. THAI chairman Ampon Kitti-ampon said Mr Sorajak was the only candidate qualified by the selection panel.

Dr Sorajak will not be moving immediately. Mr Ampon said that once Dr Sorajak is informed of the board’s decision, negotiations over salary and benefits will begin with officials from the Ministry of Finance, which is the majority shareholder in both MCOT and THAI. In addition, the Transport Ministry must be informed, and the decision forwarded to the Thai Cabinet for approval.

Only then will Dr Sorajak become THAI’s 16th president.

Dr Sorajak has a PhD in international law from the London School of Economics, on the back of which he joined the Foreign Ministry, remaining in government circles since then.

He was president of MCOT in 1999 but resigned before his four-year term expired.

He returned to MCOT in December last year as chairman

of the board.

In between, he had served as vice minister to Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai under the Thaksin government.

When he does take his seat at THAI, one of his first jobs may be dealing with labour relations. On the same day as his Thai appointment was released, some 100 THAI employees, led by labour union leader Jaemsri Sukchoterat, rallied at the lobby of THAI headquarters to demand a change in the employment contracts of temporary workers.

Temporary staff of THAI are hired on a two-year, fouryear or five-year basis. They called on the management to review workers’ employment contracts to entitle them to work with THAI until the compulsory retirement age of 60 – and not on short term contracts.

If their demand is not met, the demonstrators said, they would lodge a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Ms Jaemsri said more than 2,500 Thai workers are employed on a contract basis when – given their special skills – they should be employed on a full-time basis.

The jobs they do, she said, are the jobs that need experienced people, and not short-term employees.

Ninth out of 16: Bangkok has a way to go before the reality meets the expectations, the survey shows.

Bangkok lags in city brand survey propertyguru.com.sg

B

a ng kok h a s b e e n ranked ninth in a new report which rates the “brand value” of 16 Asia Pacific cities.

The Location Branding 2012 report, produced by PublicAffairsAsia and Ogilvy Public Relations, surveyed 300 senior executives in the communication industry between June 20 and August 21 this year.

Singapore emerged top of the list with a score of 9.7 out of 10. The city state was recognised for its low-tax, political stability, clean and safe environment, and its growing arts, leisure and gaming scene. However the city was poorly rated in terms

of press freedom and small-c conservatism.

According to the survey’s criteria, a city’s positive brand is built mainly on its infrastructure, transport, economic growth, culture, environment, political stability, low crime, healthcare and sanitation.

T he r e p or t e d not e d: “Building an iconic location brand needs a well-honed narrative which marries marketing and messaging with real-life experiences which reflect the brand position.

“A disconnect between the brand statement and the investor or visitor experience is likely to have negative effects on development.

“As this research confirms, word of mouth heavily influences brand reputation, so the

real situation within locations has to live up to the branding.”

The survey gauged participants’ views on the importance of different communications mediums to a city, region or country’s brand values.

Word-of-mouth ranked highest, with nearly six in 10 respondents citing the views of their peers as “very important”.

Next to this in terms of importance came PR and news reporting (51 per cent), social media (40 per cent).

“We can see from the analysis that the strongest city brands in Asia Pacific – Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney – are the cities whose reputations are comparatively long-standing,” said Steve Dahllof, Chief Executive Offi-

45x90 |

cer of Ogilvy Public Relations Asia Pacific.

“With 11 of the 16 rated cities receiving a very good rating from less than a third of respondents, many cities across the region still have their work cut out for them when it comes to defining their brand image,” he added.

Top Asia-Pacific City brands: 1. Singapore; 2. Hong Kong; 3. Sydney; 4. Tokyo; 5. Melbourne; 6. Shanghai; 7. Seoul; 8. Osaka/Kobe; 9.

Bangkok; 10. Beijing; 11.

Kuala Lumpur; 12. Ho Chi Minh City; 13. Mumbai; 14.

Delhi; 15. Jakarta; 16. Manila.

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THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

PROPERTY/TOURISM 13

Malaysian tourists are back in force TRAVEL FROM MALAYSIA to Thailand recorded yearon-year improvement for the first time since the car bomb in Haad Yai on March 31, according to the latest tourism report released by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Malaysia has always been a top supplier of tourists to Thailand, based mainly on strong overland travel, but in recent years airline travel has increased due to low-cost carriers serving routes between the two countries.

During August, Thailand welcomed 240,453 Malaysians, an increase of 4.2 per cent compared with the same month in 2011. This was viewed as an indication that Malaysians are

again confident about travel to South Thailand.

Arrivals from Malaysia registered year-on-year declines since the blast: down 22.18 per cent in April, 16.42 per cent in May, 11.43 per cent in June and 24.56 per cent in July.

Ramadan this year started July 20 and ended August 18, which contributed to a greater decline in July and a smaller than usual increase in August.

Security in Haad Yai has since been beefed up. Vehicles in and out of the municipality are being checked. Hotels and departments stores have also invested in more CCTV cameras and guards, and have introduced security check-

TOURIST ARRIVALS FOR THAILAND January to August 2012

Country

Arrivals

% change YOY

China 1,685,896 +35.38 Malaysia 1,602,141 -5.81 Japan 872,101 +9.86 Russia 780,337 +19.96 S Korea 756,736 +9.86 India 681,089 +8.35 Laos 652,749 +4.81 Australia 621,122 +15.31 United Kingdom 567,870 -0.32 Singapore 525,235 +18.34 points.

In the latest move, Diana Department Store erected rows of cement pipes in front of the department store to reduce the impact of a car bomb. Crit-

SOLD!

ics said it would undermine tourist confidence, but Diana executives countered that the measure made shopping safer for tourists.

Despite soft travel trends

in the Malaysian marker, arrivals from China continued to be robust. In August, which was still the summer holiday in China, Thailand welcomed 278,677 Chinese tourists, up 43.74 per cent. Over eight months, China continues to be the top source market with 1,685,896 trips, a growth of 35.38 per cent.

Malaysia, continued in second place supplying 1,602,141 trips, posting a 5.81 per cent drop over January to August 2011.

Overall, in August, Thailand tallied 1,925,806 international tourists, improving 11.54 per cent, the most positive percentage growth recorded this year so far.

From January to August, the accumulated numbers are 14,344,33, an 8.66 per cent growth, marginally up from 8.34 per cent for January-July.

At the other end of the spectrum, travellers from Europe grew just 0.5 per cent, with many countries showing declines, including the United Kingdom (-0.32 per cent) and France (-4.76 per cent). The only bright star in Europe was the Russian market, with travellers to Thailand up by 19.96 per cent.

The data were collected by the Immigration Bureau from all checkpoints – air, land and sea – and is preliminary data subject to review.

BTS sells huge Phuket site hailand’s publicly listed BTS has announced that its subsidiary, Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Co Ltd (BMTS), has sold a massive 455-rai piece of land in Kamala.

Local proper t y commentator Bill Barnett, in his thephuketinsider.com blog, reported that the sale was achieved by BMTS selling its subsidiary Kamala Beach Resort & Hotel Management Co, which owned the land.

The buyer’s name has not been disclosed; all that was said by BTS was that the buyer is a Thai company.

The transaction was valued at B1.64 billion, which equates

T

to approximately B3.6 million a rai. BTS said its book value was B1.24 billion, so it has technically reaped a profit of B400 million on the deal.

BTS had previously planned to develop the site with both property and a hotel to be run under hospitality group U Hotels.

“A portion of the site includes a prime beachfront portion on the Northern side of Kamala Beach and large inland piece near to the Swissotel (formerly Courtyard by Marriott). Next door to the ocean fronting side is the new Novotel which is moving towards completion,” Mr

Barnett reported.

“Industry sources are viewing the transaction with interest given the high potential for both upscale hotel and residential property development on the land.”

Stock brokers saw the news as positive for BTS. Reuters quoted Thanachart Securities as saying, “Our concerns over [BTS’s] real estate business had eased since the company decided to slow down its investment.”

BTS shares jumped – an indication, perhaps, that investors in Thailand are becoming very wary of anything to do with land in Phuket.

International tourists ‘to hit one billion this year’ INTERNATIONAL TOURism arrivals remain on track to reach the one billion mark by the end of year, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

According to its half-year results, a record 467 million tourists travelled across international borders in the first six months of 2012 – up five per cent year-on-year – and fullyear arrivals are expected to break one billion. That’s one person in seven of the world’s population.

“Amid the current economic uncertainty, tourism is one of the few economic sectors in the world growing strongly,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, at the opening of

the Global Tourism Economy Forum in Macau.

The Asia-Pacific region (up by eight per cent) led the global growth, boosted by the recovery of Japanese tourism

and other major source markets throughout the region.

Destinations in South Asia and Southeast Asia (both up nine per cent) showed some of the best results worldwide.

Sharp feller: Australian Peter ‘Razor’ Slade speaks at the IBAP meeting last Friday.

IBAP gets a bit edgy THE INTERNATIONAL Business Association of Phuket (IBAP), having had a run of heavyweight guest speakers including the head of Google Thailand, Ariya Banomyong, crisis management expert Richard Hancock, and political commentators Dr Thitinan

Pongsudhirak and Voranai Vanijaka, opted for something a little different for its most recent meeting.

Packing them in at Urban Food in Central Festival last Friday (September 14) was Peter ‘Razor’ Slade, Australian soldier and mercenary, who

has fought on battlefields as far apart as Vietnam, Cambodia, Africa and Iraq, and is now retired in Phuket.

Mr Slade regaled members and guests with tales of his many exploits, now also recorded in a book he has written, Razor’s Edge.

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14 BUSINESS/TOURISM

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

BATTLE OF BOTTLES ThaiBev tackles beer giant Heineken

A

battle for dominance in Asia’s beer market broke out late last week as a Thai tycoon made a S$7.1 billion (B179 billion) bid for a Singapore conglomerate, throwing into doubt Dutch beer giant Heineken’s expansion in the region.

Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) and its partner TCC Assets offered S$8.7 billion to take over Singapore’s Fraser and Neave (F&N), the parent of AsiaPacific Breweries (APB), which makes Tiger Beer and other popular brands.

The two firms, controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, said in a statement they were offering S$8.88 per share for the 70 per cent of F&N shares they do not yet own.

F&N asked for a trading halt in its shares after the Thai bid was announced.

The all-cash offer came two weeks ahead of a September 28 shareholders’ meeting called by the F&N board to approve Heineken’s S$5.6 billion offer for its 40 per cent stake in APB, which has 14 breweries across the region.

Heineken already owns 42 per cent of APB and a takeover would give it

a major advantage in the Asian market, where beer consumption is booming as sales fall in mature markets such as Europe.

The Thai group’s offer represents a 4.3 per cent premium on F&N’s last traded price of S$8.51 on Wednesday and values the Singapore conglomerate – also involved in property, food, soft drinks and publishing – at S$12.5 billion.

ThaiBev makes Chang Beer and is also involved in food and non-alcoholic drinks.

According to Forbes business magazine, Mr Charoen is the third-richest person in Thailand with an estimated fortune of US$6.2 billion (B186 billion) as of August, the bulk of his money coming from his beverage business.

Justin Harper, a market strategist with IG Markets Singapore, said the Thai move could scuttle Heineken’s takeover of APB but Mr Charoen’s final goal remained unclear.

“It will definitely create some uncertainty among F&N shareholders as they head to the September 28 [meeting].

ThaiBev have been a bit secretive about what their true intentions are and this bid sheds no real light on [this],” he told AFP. “Thai Bev may still want to sell F&N’s

APB share to Heineken and use the money to buy F&N and then break it up. They also may want to take control of F&N to stop it selling its APB stake to Heineken. Both scenarios have equal probability.”

The Thai offer for F&N became mandatory after Singapore-listed ThaiBev and TCC Assets jointly crossed the 30 per cent ownership level. “From a financial discipline perspective, ThaiBev has determined that it will not incur additional debt or expend any funds to acquire more F&N Shares or to make an offer for F&N,” it said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange.

Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, chief executive of ThaiBev, said, “We believe the offer represents an opportunity for F&N shareholders to realise the value of their investment in cash and to make a complete exit from F&N. F&N has a diversified portfolio but the crown jewel is its stake in APB, which reported in August that its revenues for the third quarter to June rose almost 10 per cent to S$781.33 million from a year ago. AFP

Pimex set for March 2013 THE ORGANISERS OF THE 2013 Phuket International Boat Show (Pimex) have announced that it will run from March 21 to 24 at the Royal Phuket Marina (RPM), with a large in-water boat display, 2,500 sqm indoor show space and marina-side activities on the boardwalk.

The 10th Anniversary PIMEX will be “the biggest and best yet”, they say, with up to 60 boats in the water, and exhibition hall and a new “Marine Market”.

Organisers moved the Show in 2012 from the traditional

January slot to March, to accommodate a larger display of quality boats in the water, which proved successful. This year’s show was claimed to be “the largest and highest quality boat display ever seen in Asia”.

New for this year is the Marine Market – an outdoor exhibition space for display of trailer boats and marine products.

“We have noted a growing demand in trailer boats – both from exhibitors wanting display space, and from buyers,” said Andy Dowden, Show Director.

“We have created an open space which will allow sellers to display small boats on trailers, together with areas for products, gadgets and widgets.

The aim is to attract exhibitors who don’t display in the Exhibition Hall or in the water, and give them the chance to be a part of Pimex,” he said.

Already, say the organisers, 30 per cent of the in-water space is booked and indoor space has seen early reservations above 20 per cent.

For more information, visit www.phuketboatshow.com.

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Gallerne Ludovic.

New DSM joins JW NOW PART OF THE TEAM at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa is the new director of sales and marketing, Gallerne Ludovic.

Mr Ludovic has been with Marriott International in Thailand since 2007, when he joined the group as cluster director of sales – leisure and then cluster director of sales & marketing for the chain’s properties in Bangkok, Hua Hin and Pattaya.

Most recently he was operations manager at Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa. During this time he led the rebranding of the property from Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa. A French national who also speaks English, Thai and Spanish, Ludovic holds a master’s degree in marketing and international business from Lincoln International Business School in Paris and a French Baccalaureat in economics.

The Miracle Card – a slow start but now it’s taking off.

Miracle Card finally begins to levitate TTR Weekly

THE ASSOCIATION OF Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) says the new Miracle Thailand Card – a debit card for visitors – should help to attract more international tourists to the country, despite a shaky start last March.

ATTA public relations director Adit Chairattananont, who is responsible for the Miracle Thailand Card, said that despite the wobbly launch earlier this year, the new card will eventually have a strong impact in international markets.

He explained that the wobbly start was “due to difficulties securing discounts from sponsors and because finalising the agreements took longer than anticipated.” However, he added, “Sales have just started to pick up last month.”

The Tourism Authority of Thailand signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 22 with Krungthai Bank to issue the debit card.

ATTA is assisting with promotion through its travel agency members to reach bona-fide tourists before they arrive in Thailand.

“So far, the feedback from association members has been fine. However, we need to give more information on processing so they can help to promote the card to their clients overseas.”

Mr Adit said, “Asian travellers were the main target, particularly India, China, Vietnam and Indonesia.”

However, there have been no reports so far on how many cards the association has sold through its members.

The Miracle Thailand Card reduces the need for travellers to carry cash during their holiday in the Kingdom. They buy the card and deposit up to B30,000 cash in a linked ATM account.

It also offers extra value in the form of discounts at leading shopping malls and tourist spots, as well as medical and life insurance cover in the case

of an accident.

The biggest benefit is the life insurance cover for foreign tourists. If there is a fatal accident, the family or next of kin will receive compensation of B1 million from the insurance firm underwriting the card project.

The card will also include a seven-day personal accident insurance scheme of up to B10,000 for outpatient treatment and B500,000 for inpatient treatment.

“If tourists are involved in an accident they can present the card at any of 260 participating hospitals across the country.”

It will also function as a debit card, allowing travellers to buy items up to the limit of cash in the account supporting the card.

A n off icial f rom the Krungthai Bank Marketing Strategy Department told TTR Weekly that 30,000 cards had been sold to international travellers. No details of the ATTArelated sales were given.

“Since the start of the campaign in March, the life and accident insurance cover attracted the most interest followed by the shopping discounts linked to the card,” the official said.

Japanese and Chinese were the main card customers, the source added.

“Because of the positive feedback, we will expand the card’s use to delegates attending events including spa and medical market [shows] next year.”

Travellers can buy the card on arrival at the ATTA counter at Suvarnabhumi Airport, or at Krungthai Bank Currency Exchange booths or Tourism Authority of Thailand offices nationwide.

The basic card costs B100 or B50 for ATTA members who sell cards on to travellers.

The card is valid for use from now until December 31, 2012, but there are plans to extend the card beyond that date, depending on feedback from the market.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

09

Everything’s on the menu at the homely Cafe Janduan

13

New Resident Evil film suffers from lack of anything good

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

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2 ART

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, 21, 2012 2012 FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 21,

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Clockwise from top: Thiwa Singha next to an image of Buddha; Jayda, on a table surrounded by art; the artistic couple inside Jayda Art Studio.

Abstracting the meaning of art

Jody Houton editor3@thephuketnews.com

Jayda often takes ‘her’ art to Bangkok, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia as she admits her rather unique style does not always appeal to Phuketians. “It’s hard to explain abstract art to many local Thai people. They don’t really understand it. Elephants, yes!

They can recognise that and understand that, but anything else... not really.”

J

ayda Ponlid is a lady who is hard to define, and not only by occupation, which she currently lists as artist, model, jewellery designer, and artistic food creator.

Phuket-born Jayda has owned her eponymous studio for more than five years, and although she creates art herself, she also sells a good deal, including artwork created by her boyfriend and fellow artist, Thiwa Singha.

Although Thiwa now makes most of his money from creating wax renderings of jewellery designs so they may later be turned into pieces, his artistic career started in a rather unique and humble way back in his hometown of Nakhon Sawan.

“He learned his art apprenticeship from the guys who used to paint the movie posters,” said Jayda.

Although less commonly seen today, in the pre-print past minivans

that drove around showcasing a hand-painted movie poster were incredibly popular ways to advertise the latest cinematic release.

She explained that this artistic route was quite common for Thais from a working class background.

“Going to art college is very expensive in Thailand, so this was like his education and apprenticeship.”

“It was very serious,” explained Jayda. “He had to mop his master’s brow and everything like that. It was very much like an old Chinese movie.”

Each poster would take around half a day to do, and for every movie they would make five posters, one for every ‘movie van’ that would drive around.

Jayda herself creates art and has been interested since she was a child. Unfortunately her artistic enthusiasm was not always matched by her father.

“I remember drawing on the walls in charcoal because I wanted

to make it pretty, but obviously he didn’t like it.”

However, Jayda’s love affair with art has continued unabated. Her whole life is of artistic expression, including her food. (Speaking of which, keep your eyes on the Dining section in coming weeks).

She believes that Phuket art is rather distinctive. “There’s a lot of variety and many different styles.

It’s much different when compared to Chiang Mai, for example. It contains many more vivid colours”.

Jayda often takes ‘her’ art to Bangkok, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia as she admits her rather unique style does not always appeal to Phuketians.

“It’s hard to explain abstract art to many local Thai people.

They don’t really understand it.

Elephants, yes! They can recognise that and understand that, but anything else... not really.”

Jayda Art Studio, 17 Yaowarat Road, 089 289 8852.

Obama artist avoids prison in copyright row

T

he US artist who illegally used a copyrighted Associated Press photo in an iconic poster of Barack Obama during his 2008 election was sentenced Friday to 300 hours of community service for falsifying evidence.

The Manhattan federal court also ordered Shepard Fairey to pay a US$25,000 fine. However, he escaped prison time demanded by pros-

thephuketnews.com

ecutors.

Fairey, 42, had pleaded guilty to manufacturing documents to support his claim that he had not stolen the AP image as the basis for his posters, which showed Obama gazing upward with the words “HOPE” or “PROGRESS” inscribed below.

After AP accused Fairey of copying the image for his hugely popular poster, the art-

ist sued the US news agency in 2009, asserting that he had not infringed copyright law and was working under the “fair use” doctrine.

He then concocted “multiple false and fraudulent documents” to back his position, federal prosecutors said. Later in the litigation he destroyed documents and attempted to cover up his actions.

AP president Gary Pruitt

welcomed the end of the saga.

“After spending a great amount of time, energy and legal effort, all of us at The Associated Press are glad this matter is finally behind us,” he said in a statement.

Pruitt added: “We hope this case will serve as a clear reminder to all of the importance of fair compensation for those who gather and produce original news content.” AFP

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EDUCATION 3

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Holiday Inn Resort helps out children

GCSEs will be scrapped

T

S

Above: Members of the Holiday Inn Resort Phuket team alongside other charity workers.

Left: Children from the Ban Pakrongcheep School at play.

chool was out on September 6 for children from the Ban Pakrongcheep School when the Holiday Inn Resort Phuket team, led by Charity Organiser Rouengsak Sahakaew and including members from all of the hotel’s departments, organised a great day for the kids.

The students enjoyed games, musical entertainment and even learned to cook. B200,000 was raised and handed over in scholarships, games and gifts.

The charity day was presided over by Phuket Member of Parliament Raywat Areerob.

Phuket girls perform to help local orphans

F

ive Year 11 girls from the HeadStart International School, Phuket received a certificate to commemorate their impressive fund-raising abilities on September 18.

Teenagers Minjoo, Ploy, Peang, Aun and Earn (left) entertained crowds by playing the guitar and singing for five nights during the Por Tor Chinese Festival in Phuket Town earlier this month.

They collected more than B14,000, which will be given to the Phuket Sunshine Village. The small sign written in Thai reads ‘Please donate for orphan children’.

he General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) – an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in Britain – is to be scrapped in favour of new Baccalaureate Certificates (EBaccs) following plans by the British Coalition government.

The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, said that the exams will be completely redesigned to prevent schools “teaching to the test” and address possible issues concerning dumbing down.

The new EBaccs will focus on traditional academic disciplines such as English, maths and science. Other planned changes include the scrapping of performance tables.

thephuketnews.com

4 ENVIRONMENT

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, 21, 2012 2012 FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 21,

Cambodian ‘logging’ reporter slain “Before he was murdered, other journalists had warned him not to write critically about the forest crimes,” said Pen Bonnar, provincial coordinator for rights group the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association. He said Ratanakiri was “a dangerous area” for reporters and activists working to combat forest crime, adding that illegal logging was linked to powerful and rich individuals in the region.”

thephuketnews.com

A

Cambodian journalist who exposed rampant illegal logging has been found murdered in the boot of his car, in a country where environmental activists often face violent retribution.

Hang Serei Oudom, a reporter at local-language Vorakchun Khmer Daily, was discovered on September 11, said senior police officer Song Bunthanorm. The vehicle was abandoned in a cashew nut plantation in northern Ratanakiri province.

“It is not a robbery case. It is a murder,” he said, adding that the victim had suffered several blows to the head, probably with an axe.

The 44-year-old had been missing since leaving his home on September 9.

“He wrote stories about forest crimes involving business people and powerful officials in the province,” said Vorakchun Khmer Daily editor-in-chief Rin Ratanak, adding most of his stories were about “illegal logging of luxury wood”.

Rampant illegal logging contributed to a sharp drop in Cambodia’s forest cover from 73 per cent in 1990 to 57 per cent in 2010, according to the United Nations.

Local activists said fellow journalists had recently started to fear for Oudom’s safety, as a result of a string of stories he wrote about deforestation and timber smuggling in the province.

In his latest story, posted on the newspaper’s website on September 6, Oudom accused the son of a military police commander of smuggling logs in military-plated vehicles

Piles of illegally-logged wood. and extorting money from people who were legally transporting wood.

“Before he was murdered, other journalists had warned him not to write critically about the forest crimes,” said Pen Bonnar, provincial coordinator for rights group the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association.

He said Ratanakiri was “a dangerous area” for reporters and activists working to combat forest crime, adding that illegal logging was linked to powerful and rich individuals in the region.

In its haste to develop the impoverished nation, the Cambodian government has been criticised for allowing well-connected firms to clear hundreds of thousands of hectares (acres) of forest land – including in protected zones – for everything from rubber and sugar cane plantations to hydropower dams.

Rights groups and environmental watchdogs have linked many of these concessions to illegal logging, and say armed government forces are routinely used to act as security guards for offending companies.

“How many more campaigners have to die before Cambodia’s donors and the UN insist that their ongoing support requires the government to act to thoroughly investigate these cases and end impunity?” asked Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch Asia.

The murder also threatens freedom of expression in the kingdom, according to Ramana Sorn of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, saying it sends “a strong, intimidating message” to the Cambodian media “to practise self-censorship”.

In late April, prominent environmentalist Chhut Vuthy was shot dead by a military policeman after he refused to hand over pictures showing logging in southwestern Koh Kong province.

Vuthy championed grassroots activism, including forest patrols by communities who depend on the woodlands for their survival.

Campaigners said the patrols burnt loggers’ caches of luxury timber worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Following the outcry over Vuthy’s death, Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a freeze on new land grants, a move cautiously welcomed by environmental groups, who nevertheless argue it will not save the forests already under threat. AFP

HEALTH 5

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Balancing on the moon Kim White editor@thephuketnews.com

A little dose of yoga mythology: The moon is symbolic in yoga mythology.

Chandra is also the golden moon god known as Soma.

Soma is the elixir of immortality drunk by the gods. So in doing the posture Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose), one tunes into the unconscious energy of the moon which changes by waxing and waning.

H

ello and welcome to the start of a new series of yoga, focusing on balance.

Balance is a word that you hear often in daily conversations: “Balanced diet” and “work-life balance” are familiar to most. So I thought I would add to the ‘balance topics’ and chime in with: It is important to be able to balance on your feet.

“No shinola Sherlock,” you might say, but you would be amazed how many people find ordinary balance an issue.

I have had a few friends who have lost a loved one from a fall, simply because their hand-eye co-ordination was not great. Bone breaks can be avoided if you are steady on your feet, and don’t get me started on the silly things that happen to people when a little inebriated.

Yes, alcohol does throw a spanner in the works, but if you have basic dependable balance and ankle strength, you may not end up looking so silly with a fall in the gutter or a bump on the head. This month the balance asana we are looking at is called Ardha

Chandrasana, otherwise known as Half moon pose.

Listed below are the amazing benefits that await you once adding this posture to your yoga practice: Strengthens the abdomen, ankles, thighs, buttocks and spine; Stretches the groins, hamstrings and calves, shoulders, chest, and spine; Tightens the lower region of the spine and the nerves connected to the leg muscles; Strengthens the knees and ankles; Improves coordination and sense of balance; Helps relieve stress Improves digestion Here are the steps involved for practising Ardha Chandrasana: 1. Reach your right hand forward toward the floor (if you feel that is too challenging place your hand on a block as seen in photo one). The right hand placement is just beyond the little-toe side of the right foot, at least 12 inches.

2. Exhale, press your right hand and right heel firmly into the floor, and straighten your right leg (if straightening your bottom leg is

challenging you can keep your leg bent as seen in photo two), simultaneously lifting the left leg parallel (or a little above parallel) to the floor.

3. Extend actively through the left heel to keep the raised leg strong. Be careful not to lock (hyperextend) the standing knee; make sure the kneecap is aligned straight forward and isn’t turned inward.

4. Rotate your upper torso to the left, but keep the left hip moving slightly forward.

Most beginners should keep the left hand on the left hip and the head in a neutral position, gazing forward.

5. Bear the body’s weight mostly on the standing leg. Press the lower hand lightly to the floor, using it to regulate your balance.

6. Stay in this position for 30 seconds to one minute, then lower the raised leg to the floor with an exhalation and return to standing. Then perform the pose to the left for the same length of time.

Happy balancing! See you next month.

Metta, Kim

Nurse Caroline will fight next Friday

C

aroline Davey, the 51-year-old Australian nurse who has never watched a Muay Thai fight owing to “empathising too much”, will be entering the ring at Bangla Boxing Stadium next Friday (September 28) for her first bout of Thai boxing.

Despite having trained for only a month, Caroline is confident that she’ll be able to hold her own when she fights.

“My style will be lots of confrontational defence. I know I have a very powerful kick, so if I can stay on my feet long enough I know I’ll be all right,” she said.

Up to now, however, Caroline – who finished her month-long course of Muay Thai training at the Sumalee Boxing Gym yesterday (September 20) – is unsure who she will be facing in the ring.

“They [the promoters and the boxing stadium] have started doing the posters now, so I’ll find out soon.”

Caroline has admit-

Caroline delivers a thunderous kick to the protective pads held by her trainer Deackkalon ‘Oron’ Sumalee.

ted that the thing she is most nervous about is performing the Wai Khru – the traditional pre-bout

dance. As to the match, she said, “Whether I win or lose, it’s going to be a great experience.”

"It's about making it your culture not just training"

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

Our training is highly interactive. info@foodhygieneasia.com 076 617 692, 081 862 4439 www.foodhygieneasia.com

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6 SHOPPING

THE PHUKET NEWS

Rainbow bright

Cap/DC ► Super Sport /Central Festival /B1,450

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Jacket ► /Sara /Central Festival /B1,400

► Black collar B200

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BONNE DESIGN Blue flower ► earring B29

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FRIDAY, 21, 2012 2012 FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 21,

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Open daily 11am-10pm.

PEOPLE 7

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Legal and loving it

The Phuket News sits down at the desk of Weeraya Imchai, the Associate Partner at local legal firm Duensing Kippen, to ask her 10 Questions

10 QUESTIONS Claire Connell editor1@thephuketnews.com

Weeraya Imchai is an Associate Partner at local legal firm Duensing Kippen, a a multi-service boutique law firm specializing in transactional real estate and corporate/ commercial matters as well as arbitration proceedings arising therefrom. Duensing Kippen has offices in Phuket and Bangkok.

1. How long have you lived on the island and why did you move here?

Sweet and sour fish, tom yum goong, fresh oyster and bacon (not all at the same time, of course).

I’ve been in Phuket for almost three years, and Duensing Kippen for two and a half of those, but I was born in Samutprakarn Province.

I moved from there to Koh Samui, where I lived and worked as a lawyer for three years. I’ve spent my whole life in Thailand, except for one year as an exchange student in the US.

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

Try learning water sports. Phuket’s beautiful sea, nice wind and sunny beaches are all yours, so enjoy them to the max.

8. Who is the person you admire the most and why?

2. Tell us some more about your job at Duensing Kippen.

My parents. They are very open-minded, cool and kind Thai folks.

I am a lawyer and litigator. Law has always been my passion and it feels great when I can use it to help others.

9. If you could change one thing about Phuket, what would it be?

How people drive. I think many drivers here have very little patience and tons of rudeness. If they could be more patient, less rude, we are all good!

3. What is the best thing about living in Phuket?

It’s a good mix between civilisation and nature.

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

4. What do you do to relax?

Watching movies at home and getting a massage once in a while, but I also like kite-surfing, reading and shopping.

Hanging out with my bicycle gang and doing all the goofy stuff we could imagine.

5. What is your favourite childhood memory?

6. What’s your favourite food or dish?

I’d take them to Promthep Cape – during low season though. My favourite place is probably Khao Rang viewpoint. It has good food and breathtaking views. My favourite night out however is probably the restaurants and clubs on Surin beach.

EVERYDAY PEOPLE

Studying to be a star

T

wenty-three year-old Titchaya Tivararoje, is a model, actress and student, and the gorgeous host of the Sao Sao TV show on Cable TV. Although she was born in Bangkok, she moved to Phuket when she was four years old and stayed on the island until she graduated from Downroong Wittaya High School.

It was then that she went back to Bangkok to study art at degree level at Suan Sunantha University.

As well as her studies she is also busy at various social events, “I meet lots of famous actors, actresses and models every day. I often keep myself busy doing photo shoots, fashion shows and MC at events.”

Despite her busy work schedule, Miss Titchaya is still hesitant to define her extra-curricular activities as a job, “I enjoy it a lot, but I would rather call it a hobby because I’m studying as well.”

When she is not hard

at the books or on the catwalk, she spends her free time dining out.

“I love tom yum goong

and fresh seafood BBQ, but there are too many good restaurants around Phuket to choose from.”

thephuketnews.com

8 DINING

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, 21, 2012 2012 FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 21,

Fungi lovers unite Advertorial

On the menu: Porcini mushroom risotto with aged parmesan Reggiano, grilled Tasmanian lamb chop and port wine nage; and right, porcini mushroom and Alba truffle icecream on crispy charcoal smoked brandy snap.

A

ngsana Laguna Phuket’s restaurant, Bodega & Grill, has launched a special porcini mushroom menu to delight diners at the five start resort.

Executive Chef Mirko Cappa and his team have created a six-course menu showcasing the great flavours of the Italian imported fungi, which was chosen because of its popularity and quality.

The special mushroom-themed menu will run from today (September 21) until the 30th, and is priced at B2,690 net.

The menu includes: Organic Greens with pan seared garlic and parsley breaded fresh

thephuketnews.com

porcini mushrooms drizzled with Norcia truffle vinaigrette; gratinated Dover sole with fresh mushroom porcini salad, crispy polenta and Garda extra virgin olive oil; limoncello sherbet with wild strawberries; porcini mushroom risotto with aged parmesan Reggiano, grilled Tasmanian lamb chop and port wine nage; porcini mushroom and Alba truffle ice cream on crispy charcoal smoked brandy snap; and followed by coffee/tea and biscotti.

The standout dish has got to be the risotto, which executive sous chef Yifan Chu says brings out great flavours thanks to the combination of porcini mushroom and lamb.

Executive chef Mirko Cappa’s 20-year culinary career has taken him across the globe, but the cuisine and culture of his Italian homeland remain close to his heart.

In his current role overseeing the culinary programme of Bodega & Grill, in addition to leading all seven outlets of the resort and supervising a team of over 140 people, Chef Mirko has an idyllic setting in which to showcase his flair with Mediterranean cuisine.

Angsana Laguna Phuket, 10 Moo 4 Srisoonthorn Road, Cherngtalay, Amphur Talang, Phuket. For reservations phone 076 324 101 or visit angsana.com/en/phuket/

DINING 9

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Home away from home Claire Connell editor1@thephuketnews.com

From top, Janduan’s beef tenderloin salad, complete with crispy noodles and an onion pepper sauce; deep fried tiger prawns with a Japanese sauce; and spicy prawn spaghetti.

I

t’s not often on Phuket you can show up to a restaurant, say to the head chef “surprise me”, and he delivers you a delicious, creative meal.

But Cafe Janduan in Phuket Town has created such a strong following for this exact reason, and because the owners are so friendly.

Sakulyot ‘Beaver’ Phongpheng and his girlfriend Biim own and run the small restaurant, which is open every day except Sundays, from 6pm until 10pm.

Beaver, a former hotel chef, set up Cafe Janduan six years ago because he wanted the freedom to cook his own food – most of which is Thai fusion.

Then Biim started visiting regularly as a customer, and the two “fell in love”, Beaver says.

They became an item and soon Biim was working behind the counter as coowner. Another owner of the business is singer Singha Toee Numchok, famous for his song ‘Wake up’, who is now based in Bangkok.

On the ever-changing menu at Janduan is a mix of regular staples, but the real draw is that you are free to order anything and, provided Beaver has the ingredients, he can make it for you.

The most popular dish is the grilled salad, including whatever meat the customer wants – shrimp, tiger prawn, beef tenderloin, chicken, pork or oysters – served with a spicy fusion salad dressing. They are priced from B90.

The menu also includes deep fried tiger prawns with a Japanese sauce (B120) and pasta with salty fish (B90), lasagne (B140) and prawn spaghetti with tobiko (fish eggs) for B140.

Daily specials, such as the lasagne, are posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Also recommended is the lemon iced tea, which is probably one of the best on the island. And if you’re after a change from the normal iced coffee, try Janduan’s vanilla and macadamia coffee for B45.

About one year ago, Beaver and Biim decided to move the kitchen from out the back of the restaurant to make it a focal

Cafe Janduan owners Beaver and Biim. point inside, mainly to make it more social for chef Beaver, whose friends would always visit.

Now eating at Janduan is a very interactive experience – you can sit opposite the couple as they prepare the dishes in the kitchen, or you can have your own table.

Biim, a full time architect who designed the interior, says the restaurant has been set up to resemble a dining room (where the kitchen is) and living room (where the remainder of the restaurant tables are).

“It’s a cosy atmosphere. We wanted our friends to come, eat, and relax like it’s their home.”

And I can vouch that it is a home away from home for many of Phuket’s residents, and with very good reason.

Cafe Janduan, 156/49 Phang Nga Rd, Phuket Town (opposite the Honda dealership close to the old bus station in Phuket Town); 083 520 7968; facebook. com/cafejanduan.phuket

thephuketnews.com

10 TRAVEL

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, 21, 2012 2012 FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 21,

A city of contrasts Walking through the narrow and dusty streets of Calcutta, the former capital of British India.

Story and photos by Dane Halpin

I

t’s been more than a month since I left India, yet that song is still stuck in my head.

It’s not even that the song itself was memorable – quite the opposite – but the circumstances of its delivery go some way to summing up the whole crazy experience that was Kolkata (Calcutta).

With its rich heritage and at times brutal history, the only way to truly describe Calcutta is that, like India as a whole, it is a place of contrasts – inspiring yet heartbreaking, vibrant yet chaotic, fascinating yet at times incredibly frustrating.

But this also creates a distinct challenge: In a city of more than five million unique stories, capturing a single image that can portray the essence of Calcutta is an overwhelming task.

Luckily, there is some local knowledge at hand.

Manjit Singh Hoonjan runs Calcutta Photo Tours, which, as the name suggests, encourages tourists, and even locals, to peer through the lens at the overwhelming architectural and social beauty of the city.

“Calcutta is a magical city, and to really understand the magic one has to live in it,” Manjit says. “The history, architecture, people, heritage even the climate do make up a city, but there is something deeper than all this that really makes Calcutta different from anything elsewhere.”

Manjit, 39, said starting up the tours was a logical way to express his passion for the city and photography.

Going on a tour with him, that passion for history and for his home city is infectious, and his knowledge of British colonial history in particular quite astounding.

“For me, it’s heritage, history, the magic of this city and photography all rolled into one,” he says.

It’s not hard to see why Manjit draws such strong inspiration from the city’s narrow, dusty streets. Beneath the chaotic surface lies a living, breathing history that overwhelms and doesn’t let go. If you can look past that decrepit façade, there exists a city full of heart and history, from fire temples to the former British Bow Barracks. Old, disused canons are used as street posts, spicy curries simmer away by the roadside, people straighten and recycle nails from old pallets, and a chaotic maze of streets can transform dramatically into a place of tranquility.

thephuketnews.com

Top: There’s never a dull moment in Calcutta’s colourful backstreets. Above: Rickshaw pullers are a common sight around the city streets, though new government regulations are slowly forcing them off the road.

TRAVEL 11

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

TOURS

C

Above left: Cramped quarters for the owner of a small textile shop; Above: Life in Calcutta can be a delicate balancing act; Left: A young boy at one of the city’s fresh markets - not for the faint hearted; Below left: One of the many general stores that line the city’s narrow streets.

Even after walking the same streets for so many years, Manjit says he never gets bored, and it’s easy to understand why.

“The routes might be the same, but it is never the same tour. Because even if it’s the route that I have walked for years – so much so that the natives know about what is happening in my life – no tours are the same.”

Manjit says the main vision behind starting the tours was to give the people who come to Calcutta a slice of what this city really is. It can be a difficult place to really break into as a tourist, and he says even locals, who are often complacent about their history, can learn a lot from simply taking a walk.

“I have had numerous locals come on these tours.

And every single one of them has said: ‘Hey I did not know this existed in my city.’ They have all gone back pleasantly surprised.”

And while branded as photography tours, at their core these are just journeys into the heart of one of the world’s most vibrant cities, suitable for people who shoot on their cell phone cameras, point-and-shoots to the top end SLRs, or even don’t shoot at all.

If you are absolutely new to photography, Manjit can teach you the basics. If you’re an enthusiast, semi-pro or even pro, the tour is all about exposing you to sights that are conducive to shooting.

“I really love photography, and since I love shooting this city,” Manjit says. “I felt people who love photography should experience the magic. The history, the heri-

tage and the stories; they captivate me, so I had this urge to share it with the others, and Calcutta Photo Tours was born.”

Of course, at the end of the day, the camera is just a medium to record the experience and capture what you see. If you don’t have a camera, Manjit still encourages people to “experience things and etch them on your soul... whether it’s your SD card or your mind.”

In my mind, the song still sticks. There we were, deep in the heart of India’s seventh largest city, standing in a Chinese temple, listening to a woefully off-key cover of Ben E King’s ‘Stand By Me’, delivered by a

alcutta Photo Tours run six ‘regular’ tours, each with its own distinct focus, though these are easily customisable if you have particular areas of interest.

Group sizes are generally limited to bookings of 8-10, but larger groups can be arranged on an individual basis.

A shared tour (others can join the tour) costs INR1,500 (B850) per person, or INR2,000 (B1,100) including pickup and drop off. Private tours cost INR2,500 (B1,400) per person, or INR3,000 (B1,700) with pickup and drop off. Kids below 12 pay half price.

For more information visit CalcuttaPh otoTours.com; face book.com/Calcut taPhotoTours; email info@calcuttapho totours.com; or call +919831163482.

smiling, toothless, elderly Chinese man, in perfect English, with a thick Indian accent.

Needless to say, the rendition wasn’t quite up there with King’s or John Lennon’s, but the sheer strangeness of the scenario gives at least some idea of the unique flair and the massive confluence of cultures that exists in the former capital of British India.

Okay, it probably doesn’t really do it justice, but in a city like Calcutta, it’s still probably never really possible to capture a single image that sums it all up, that can tell all those different stories and those wildly contrasting mix of influences. Still, trying is all the fun.

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12 DANE’S WORLD Monk trips in the forest

F

amed street artist Banksy once held an exhibition caller ‘Religion is Intoxicating’, but a German monk appears to have taken that title a little too literally.

At least, that’s what a group of hikers feared when they saw a spaced out monk stumbling naked through the woods in Bavaria.

It is believed the Bavarian monk mistakenly ate a selection of toxic berries during a camping trip, not realising their powerful hallucinogenic properties.

“They were toxic and cause hallucinations,” a police spokesman was quoted as saying.

The helpful hikers attempted to assist the lost camper, but the monk refused his offer of assistance before wandering off. They then called police who quickly managed to track down the monk who, according to one officer, appeared “disoriented and cold”.

It was reported that the monk had planned to camp in the Traunstein area for several days before his unfortunate mishap.

He seemingly failed to find his way back to his tent and ended up instead wandering around the woodlands aimlessly.

Police believe the monk may have eaten belladonna berries, a herbaceous plant native to Europe, north Africa, and western Asia.

THE PHUKET NEWS

Pat-down reveals 7-inch monkey in man’s pants

THE BIG LIST The High Life

It’s not every day you see a naked German monk wandering through the woods higher than writer Hunter S. Thompson at the Kentucky Derby. But here are a few other things that can ‘accidentally’ send you to the moon.

Is that a 7-inch slender loris in your pants, or are you just excited to see me?

T

hree men were arrested in India last week after one was allegedly caught with a small primate stuffed in his underwear while travelling from Bangkok.

Officials at the New Delhi Airport noticed something poking around in the young man’s nether regions as he was passing through security. They figured

he wasn’t just excited to see them.

Upon a body search, officials found a six to seven inch slender loris monkey packed in a polythene bag and hidden in his underwear, the Hindustan Times reported.

The young man told officials that he wanted the animal for a pet and had bought it in Bangkok. The creatures are widely and controversially available at the

city’s Jatujak Weekend Market.

The man was travelling with two others, and one of his companions reportedly threw away a monkey that he was smuggling into a trashcan. The monkey was apprehended, along with the other suspect.

The condition of the lorises was “Okay, but deteriorating”. Both animals were put in the custody of wildlife authorities.

Clean cars, dirty men at Malaysian car wash

N

ever before has a car wash felt so dirty. But then again, clean cars and prostitution rarely go hand in hand.

A business in Malaysia has been busted by police after allegedly offering car wash customers free sex after their ninth wash.

The alleged reward-programme-to-end-allreward-programmes was born out of a partnership between the car wash and a massage parlor, according to police.

After becoming suspicious that the massage parlor was harbouring illicit activity, authorities raided the business and found several of its patrons had customer cards for the car wash.

The cards offered a little more than your average discount, though.

“To get the extra ‘offer’, customers must send their cars for washing nine times within a certain period,” Officer Emmi Shah Fadhil said. “The tenth car wash will entitle them to free sex.”

Nine Vietnamese women believed to be prostitutes were arrested.

thephuketnews.com

FRIDAY, 21, 2012 2012 FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 21,

Non-veg: In the remote areas of Sudan live a tribe whose cunning and determination to enter new realms of highness knows no depths. The Arabicspeaking Humr people are strictly forbidden to consume plant-based drugs like alcohol and cannabis.

But that restriction is rather prone to abuse – they can still make drugs from dead giraffes. Umm Nyolokh is a narcotic made from the liver and bone marrow of giraffes, and apparently contains DMT and other psychoactive components. Basically, it makes you hallucinate like a fat man in a sauna – like a really guilty fat man, we should add, because Umm Nyolokh apparently makes you see visions of, yes, giraffes, the very animal you just smoked.

Headstrong: The salema porgy is pretty safe to eat if you stick to the fleshy parts, but the head is filled with all kinds of crazy, and those brave enough to dip their fork into the fishy brains run the risk of ichthyoallyeinotoxism, a scientific term for the 48 hours of mind-bending hallucinations that follow. But before you go down to Rawai market and start hacking of the head of every fish in sight, you should know that the fish is rarely hallucinogenic, and the trip is about as fun as a Satanic mutilation ritual – crippling terror, unearthly howls, and visions of demonic animals are reputedly common.

Ergonomic rye high: Rye bread might seem like the healthy option next time you’re at the bakery, but be warned that you might end up having philosophical conversations with your sandwich. That’s because the rye grain can become infected with the ergot fungus, which contains a chemical called ergotamine, used to synthesise LSD. Of course, with modern food hygiene standards, ergot outbreaks are pretty rare, so smashing down that Reuben probably won’t turn you into Timothy Leary. But if mouldy grain sounds like a fun night out for you, we should let you know that an ergot high is roughly one part psychosis, two parts weeping gangrenous sores.

Baked goods: So you’re probably not surprised if we tell you the opium poppy can get you high. But you might not have been aware that the humble poppy seeds on top of your breakfast bagel still contain minute amounts of morphine and codeine, which can actually cause you to fail a drug test. Of course, we’re talking about some serious bagel-age here – you’d pretty much have to be fattest-man-on-the-planet Keith Martin to be able to stomach enough to feel even a minor buzz.

Scorpion King: Like ghosts, spiders and Michael Jackson’s bedtime stories, scorpions are something best left to the darkest realms of our nightmares.

But, in defiance of logic and sensibility, some people choose to live their lives – or at least their highs – directly inside these nightmares. While the venom of most scorpions is relatively harmless to humans, some species contain powerful neurotoxins, which can play all sorts of havoc with neural receptors, and consequently cause all kinds of awesome or all kinds of death. Scorpion venom can actually cause a massive release of serotonin, making the venom operate a lot like an opiate, meaning you could get the same high without involving one of Satan’s footsoldiers.

FILM 13

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Resident Evil: Retribution

James Cameron missed out on ‘Jurassic Park’ by only ‘a few hours’

S

No good in latest ‘Evil’ FILM REVIEW Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

95 minutes Rating: 18+ Director:

Paul W. S. Anderson

Starring:

Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory

F

ans (and non-fans) of the longrunning Resident Evil game franchise have been fairly vocal in their criticism of the film adaptations for being overblown and hollow action flicks with convoluted plots.

Retribution is unlikely to allay any of those criticisms: empty, stilted and dull, this is the weakest installment in what is already a pretty awful franchise.

Picking up shortly after the events of the previous film, Resident Evil: Afterlife, we quickly embark straight back into another round of the convoluted storytelling and explosive action combo that director Paul W.S. Anderson has relied on since the first film.

Subtlety has never been the director’s strength, and once again, little imagination or creativity is shown in the plot, character development or action sequences.

While this time around, more effort has been made to include characters from the games, in practice their presence is little more than cosmetic, and the films have now strayed so far from the original plot that it’s actually more

distracting than satisfying to see them in there.

And that remains one of the key problems with the latest film, and the franchise as a whole – while the earlier Resident Evil entries were mindless but passable action experiences, Retribution falls apart entirely, unable to sustain all the different plot threads that have been brought in by different directors over the course of five films.

In particular, Anderson’s attempt to stitch all these separate pieces together into a compelling drama rather than the campy popcorn flick it should have been fails, and only accentuates the flaws.

Still, for those who enjoyed the previous four incarnations, you will still find enough weird creatures, zombie hordes, and brutal kills to satiate the action fans.

And, if we’re being honest, most people are really only going to watch this as an excuse to see Milla Jovovich running around in skin-tight leather, in which case you will definitely get your B140 worth.

ometimes it’s fun to take an alternate route through history and swap directors or actors for now-famous films.

Well, now we can add another pretty big one to the pile: What if James Cameron had made Jurassic Park?

Talking to the Huffington Post recently, Cameron explained that he missed out on helming the film to eventual director Steven Spielberg by mere hours.

“I tried to buy the book rights and he beat me to it by a few hours,” Cameron was quoted as

No fairytale for Disney

M

edia and entertainment group Disney revealed last week an unexpected US$50 million writedown at its movie studio and lower-than-expected summer advertising revenue at broadcaster ABC. The write-down was linked to a project that was abandoned, said Disney’s chief financial officer James Rasulo.

Although he did not provide further details, the Wall Street Journal cited an unnamed source

The Expendables 2 (E) [15+]: 12:30, 17:15, 22:10 Jan Dara (T/E.SUB) [18+]: 11:30, 13:55, 14:50, 16:20, 18:50, 19:40, 21:40 Resident Evil: Retribution (E) [18+]: 13:15, 14:00, 15:30, 16:15, 17:45, 18:30,

20:00, 20:45, 22:15 Resident Evil: Retribution (E/F) [18+]: 14:45, 17:00, 19:15, 21:30 Resident Evil: Retribution (T/D3D) [18+]: 14:30, 15:40, 16:40, 18:50, 20:10, 22:20 Ted (E) [18+]: 13:30, 17:50, 21:00

Film

Weekend gross

Gross

1

Resident Evil: Retribution

$20.6m

$20.6m

2

Finding Nemo

$17.5m

$17.5m

3

The Possession

$5.8m

$41.2m

4

Lawless

$4.22m

$30.1m

5

ParaNorman

$3.04m

$49.3m

6

The Expendables 2

$3.03m

$80.3m

7

The Words

$2.88m

$9.16m

8

The Bourne Legacy

$2.88m

$108m

9

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

$2.51m

$46.3m

$2.4m

$82.9m

SFC Jungceylon Phuket (Patong) The Dark Knight Rises (E) [G]: The Dinosaur (E) [G]: The Expendables 2 (E) [15+]: Jan Dara (T/E.SUB) [18+]: The Possession (E) [15+]: Resident Evil: Retribution (E/3D) [18+]: Yes or No 2 (T/E.SUB) [13+]:

as saying that the move concerned a stop-action animated film directed by Henry Selick, whose credits include The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), which Disney pulled the plug on in August.

As for the lower advertising revenue, “We did not see the kind of rebound after the Olympics that we thought we would see,” Rasulo told an analyst conference.

But he insisted the company remains in solid standing.

US BOX OFFICE TOP 10

10 The Campaign

SFX Coliseum Phuket (Central Festival)

saying. “But when I saw the film, I realised that I was not the right person to make the film, he was. “Because he made a dinosaur movie for kids, and mine would have been Aliens with dinosaurs, and that wouldn’t have been fair.

“Dinosaurs are for eight-year-olds. We can all enjoy it, too, but kids get dinosaurs and they should not have been excluded for that. His sensibility was right for that film, I’d have gone further [and] nastier, much nastier.” AFP

16:10 12:20, 14:15, 19:20, 21:15 13:30, 17:50, 22:10 12:00, 14:25, 16:50, 19:15, 21:40 11:20, 15:40, 20:00 11:30, 13:40, 15:50, 18:00, 20:10, 22:20 11:50, 14:10, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10

As some movies and movie times change every Thursday morning, after The Phuket News has gone to press, the accuracy of the following information cannot be guaranteed.

For up-to-date information, visit sfcinemacity.com, or call the cinemas directly: SFX Coliseum Phuket 076-209000 and SFC Jungceylon Phuket 076-600-555.

thephuketnews.com

14 ISLAND SCENE

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, 21, 2012 2012 FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 21,

Saneha owner Noi and Pinky Jatikavanich.

PARTYING ON

Not even a large storm could stop the party at the Blue Siam beach club in Bang Tao, as the venue celebrated its soft opening on Saturday.

Amber and Pat.

Blue Siam staff member Pai, left, with Chaiya the manager.

Maggie, Songphon, Kanittha and Nok.

Julie, Add and Nid.

Buddha Bless rocked the house.

HANGING TOUGH The Quiksilver Open Phuket Thailand 2012 surfing competition wrapped up in style on Saturday evening with a party and concert at the Phuket Graceland Resort & Spa in Patong. The concert featured Thai performers Buddha Bless and J Jetrin.

thephuketnews.com

Thai comedian Tukky with Bee and Pai, Phuket Best Group.

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

ISLAND SCENE 15

A WARM HELLO Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket welcomed the Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts executives when Andreas Mattmuller, Chief Operating Officer Middle East and Asia, (third from left) and Bruno Huber, Vice President Operations Asia, toured the company’s two Phuket properties on September 15. Hansruedi Frutiger, General Manager, (far left) and his manage team welcomed them.

LIVE PARADOX Phuket welcomed Thai alternative rock band Paradox last week when they performed at the Hard Rock Cafe Phuket, along with local band Legends of Siam. The group also paid the Live 89.5 studio a visit and were interviewed by DJ Jason Wilder.

FOOD FAIR The Phuket Food Fair wraps up on Sunday (September 23) after a week of stallholders serving delicious food to the public. The fair runs from 4pm until 11pm at the Saphan Hin Public Park.

thephuketnews.com

16 ISLAND SCENE

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, 21, 2012 2012 FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 21,

FUN FESTIVITIES AT CENTRAL Central Phuket celebrated its 8th anniversary with a host of fun events held at the famous shopping mall and department store.

Harold McCarthy, Tina Hall, and Angela McNoe from the foundation, with Wasana Hiran, Phuket Top Model representative, and Wandee Deeraksa from Famous (far right).

PARTYING THE DAY AWAY Phuket’s first underage party, ‘The Ultimate Social’ at the Famous night club in Jungceylon was a hit with teens on Saturday as local school children got together for an afternoon of fun.

The event was a fundraiser for the Phuket Has Been Good To Us foundation.

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Phuket’s white party returns Advertorial

Far right, Ben De Bellis, Catch Beach Club manager.

P

huket will be partying in style tomorrow night (Saturday, September 22) when the Twinpalms 8th Anniversary Party kicks off at Catch Beach Club on Surin Beach.

Known locally as the “white party”, it is one of the main events on the island’s social calendar every year, attracting around 2,000 people to the beach club to celebrate the anniversary of its mother company Twinpalms.

“People call it the white party because a couple of years ago for the anniversary there was a white themed party, and people have called it that ever since,” says Catch Beach Club manager Ben De Bellis.

There is no strict dress code but guests are recommended to wear white.

Free cocktails and finger food will run from 8pm to 10pm, then drinks are at discounted prices, paid for using a special “coupon” system.

This year the entertainment lineup includes French DJ Romain, American soul singer Patrick Chappell, fire

ENTERTAINMENT 17

dancers and an acrobatic show from Palazzo.

Taking over the position of Catch Beach Club manager four months ago, Ben added: “This will be the first year I’m attending from the other side of things, so it’s really exciting.

“Saturday’s going to be huge, and I’m really looking forward to it.

“Catch Beach Club is the first beach club in Phuket, and when they had their first anniversary party they created a lot of hype, and it’s been going ever since. Every year it gets more and more popular. Last year we had 1,700 people and this year I think it will be around 2,000. It’s only once a year so people look forward to it, and you can’t beat the location.”

Ben says around 150 staff will be working on Saturday to help keep guests fed and watered.

The Twinpalms 8th Anniversary Party starts tomorrow (Saturday) from 8pm. There are no seated tables available, and no dinner menu for the night.

Catch Beach Club is at the northern end of Surin Beach. See catchbeach club.com for more information.

Disco the night away

J

oin the Good Shepherd Sisters on September 29 for ‘Disco Fever’, the ultimate disco night fundraiser for the charity, to be held at Taste restaurant on Surin Beach.

Jay Leshark will spin a disco theme night, with a best dressed award and a lucky door prize.

There will also be a silent auction and raffle prizes, including prizes by Paresa, Silk, Indigo Pearl, Stand up Paddle, Delish, Dewa Resort, Bliss, Andaman Wine Club, The Surin and more.

Guests will also receive a sneak peak into Phuket photographer Adriano Trapani’s ‘Gaze of Hope’ project capturing the life of Burmese migrant workers in Phuket, and debut the Good Shepherd Diaries featuring his photography.

Start celebrating the amazing work of this charity by attending this fun event and shaking your booty.

Tickets are B1200 and include a free shot upon arrival and all inclusive barbecue buffet. Tickets are available from Donna on 0812702180 or Jade on 0878866401.

The Good Shepherd Sisters work directly with women, children, families and victims of human trafficking on Phuket.

The charity provides social services, medical care and education to help improve the dignity, self-sufficiency, and enhance the quality of life of many migrant workers and others who have been excluded from the benefits of society.

The merchandise shop also provides an opportunity for many of these individuals to develop skills, which can support their families and the Good Shepherd to therefore support others in need.

Many products have been handmade by or help those that have been abused, are poor, or suffer from HIV. The shop is situated at Plaza Del Mar, behind “Bake”.

For more information contact 084 842 8869; gsphuketinfo@gmail.com; thegoodshepherd.info

Advertorial The Good Shepherd Sisters work directly with women, children, families and victims of human trafficking on Phuket. The charity provides social services, medical care and education to help improve the dignity, selfsufficiency, and enhance the quality of life of many migrant workers and others who have been excluded from the benefits of society.

thephuketnews.com

18 EVENTS

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, 21, 2012 2012 List your event for FREE at thephuketnews.com/events.php FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 21,

Twinpalms Phuket 8 th Anniversary Party 22 September 2012 Catch Beach Club Surin Beach Open for All . 20:00 to 02:00 hrs . Dress Code ‘Sexy White’.

Tel 076 316 567 . catchbeachclub.com

FRIDAY SEP 21-23

SATURDAY SEP 22-28

Special Saturday at Hogs Breath A Mindful Weekend Yoga Retreat New Life Foundation in Chiang Rai is pleased to announce a four-day retreat in September with our friend Kim Roberts on our beautiful sustainable farm. This is an excellent chance to learn with a truly inspiring and experienced yoga instructor and meditation teacher. Single room/twin share room B6,500 per person. Please contact us at: retreats@newlifethaifoundation.com.

He has become a well-known and celebrated artist, with a passion for love of the underground, graffiti and protest. His work has been displayed in galleries in Los Angeles, New York and Spain. Contact Mom Tri’s VR Gallery in Kata Noi, 076 333 568, www.momtriphuket.com.

FRIDAY SEP 21

FRIDAY SEP 21-30

B99 pints during live sports coverage.

Locate at Patong Promenade, www.hogs breath.co.th

Polaris ATV Phuket brand launch The Grand Opening for the new Polaris ATV will be held at the Home Pro Village, Chalong from September 22 – 28.

The Polaris ATV Motor Show will be held every day, from 10am – 8pm. Customers will have the opportunity of speaking with professional mechanics and technicians throughout the day to ask advice. Bookings for vehicles and individual parts can be made on the day. For more details, please contact Khun Noom : call 089 473 0551 or email polaris_phuket@hotmail.com.

BBQ at Expat Hotel Time 8pm, Expat Sports Bar, Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. www.expatsportsbar. com.

SATURDAY SEP 22 Wine & Cheese Pairing Time for a wine and cheese boost. Relax with a glass of wine from our extensive cellar and a cheese platter while being entertained by a wide variety of sports on our big screen.

The cost is B380 per person. It is B650 for two persons. Prices subject to 10% service charge and 7% applicable government tax.

For reservations, please contact DiVine restaurant. Call 076 336 000, www.thanya pura.com.

FRIDAY SEP 21-30

Centara Grand Chef’s Table Charity 2012 In Mare Restaurant at the Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket. A five-course menu will be prepared by five Centara chefs.

The concept of the dishes is to use the best ingredients relating to the sky, ocean, mountain, and forest. Each course of the sumptuous menu will be paired with a fine wine from the Central Wine Cellar. Price at B1,990++ per person. All proceeds from this dinner after deducting expenses will be donated to Karon community to help needy children. For more information and reservations, please contact Khun Cherry at 076 201 234 or email: asstprcpbr@chr.co.th.

Two Chefs Saturday Brunch

Mr Louis Filli’s 90th Birthday The Tropica Bungalow Hotel and Restaurant is celebrating the 90th Birthday of its Swiss guest Mr Louis Filli. Mr Louis has been a regular visitor to Thailand for over 20 years and has stayed more than 60 times already in the Tropica. All his friends are welcome. Time: 7 p.m. Tropica Restaurant Patong Beach. Call 076 340 204 Email: tropica@loxinfo.co.th.

Special Friday at Hogs Breath

BBQ Dinner Bufffet with Live Music

New Exhibit - Gomez Bueno

thephuketnews.com

Kids eat free when adults buy main courses.

B99 pints during live sports coverage.

Located at Patong Promenade, www.hogs breath.co.th.

Live acoustic band. B99 pints during live sports coverage. Located at Patong Promenade, www.hogsbreath.co.th

FRIDAY SEP 21 - OCT 17 Original art work by international artist Bueno Gomez. The Spaniard continues his run in Asia. Gomez has been living in Los Angeles since 1988.

SUNDAY SEP 23

Special Sunday at Hogs Breath

Five-Course Porcini Gourmet Special From 6-11pm except Monday, Bodega and Grill, Italian and Mediterranean cuisine at Angsana Laguna Phuket offers five-course Porcini Gourmet at B2,690 nett and enjoy with complimentary coffee and tea. For reservation, please call 076 324 101 or email bodega-lagunaphuket@angsana.com.

At Two Chefs Kata Centre. Every Saturday 12pm-3pm. You can enjoy a big delicious buffet with a touch of Scandinavia, and listen to our live music. For example smoked fish or seafood from our smoke house roasted pork tenderloin, pickled Herring, different meat and poultry cold cuts, salads, homemade bread and dessert from our bakery. ONLY B395. www.twochefs.com, 076 330 065, katacenter@twochefs.com.

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

Starting from September 22. Every Satuday at 7.30pm onwards. Venue RPM Yacht Club.

For all reservation and enquiries please contact: Khun Mai 084 306 6729 or Murat 081 797 3364, email events@royalphuketnmarina.com. “Mention The Phuket News or Live 89.5FM and get a 20% discount on food”

Sunday Roast Pork Sunday Roast Pork or Beef Dinner every Sunday 2pm onwards Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. B290 per person. See www. expathotel.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS FRIDAY, List your event for FREE at thephuketnews.com/events.php FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Ao Chalong Yacht Club

EVENTS 19

WAHOO THAILAND 2013 SPORT FISHING TOURNAMENT

Everyone welcome

Offshore The Similan Islands

19th - 21st February 2013

Proudly organised by the Rawai Beach Fishing Club, (RBFC) Phuket, Thailand.

57 hours of non - Stop fishing!

Huge media coverage!

“Award winning chef from Airlie Beach, Australia.

Fabulous breakfast, and authentic western Sunday roast from 12 - 4pm - just like home! Home made desserts eg. cheesecake, bread & butter pudding, apple pie made fresh every day.”

CASH AND PRIZES TOTALING OVER APPROX. 3,000,000 BAHT ($100,000)

There is parking on site, cool breezes and a beautiful view.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 8.00am 7 days per week.

Tel: 090 890 8993 email: amandaleehay@bigbond.com

For further details please contact Warren Crowe or Andy Bright info@rawaibeachfishingclub.com Warren tel: +66 (0) 812604291 Andy tel: +66 (0) 862739948 Website: www.rawaibeachfishingclub.com RAWAI BEACH FISHING CLUB IS AN OFFICIAL SPONSOR CLUB OF THE INTERNATIONAL GAME FISHING ASSOCIATION. RBFC SUPPORTS IGFA’S STANDARDS OF GOOD SPORTMANSHIP IN RECREATIONAL FISHING

TUESDAY SEP 25

FRIDAY SEP 28

Pool Competition at Expat Guesthouse Come Hear The Loving Words of Jesus At The Seed Church in Cherngtalay. Enjoy a great fellowship, practical preaching, contemporary music and free snacks in one of the fastest growing churches in Thailand! English services every Sunday at 2pm in Cherngtalay. Visit our website for directions or call for more information. See www.seedchurchthailand.com. Call 098 764 5353, 084 056 7027, 081 891 2503.

Sunday Session at ACYC Every Sunday. Live music and roast day.

Call 090 890 8993.

WEDNESDAY SEP 26

Kick back and enjoy a lazy Sunday breakfast at Paresa with jazz music, free flow sparkling wine and stunning selection of breakfast dishes. Spend the rest of the day at Paresa’s Infinity Pool or Beach Club.

B600++ per person. Every Sunday 9am to noon. Call 076 302 000.

MONDAY SEP 24

Two Chefs Surf Night At Two Chefs Kata Beach. Every Monday from 6pm-12am. You can enjoy our big BBQ Buffet with Blackened red snapper, beef burgers, Chicken Fajitas, Tacos, ChimiChurri marinated chicken, desserts from our bakery and much more. One member from our house band will sing pleasant music during the night. Only B495. See www.twochefs.com, 076 284 155, kata@ twochefs.com.

Mix & Match Food & Wine Indulge your taste in unlimited, quality and valuable wines from around the world.

Along with food stalls and snacks offering all you can eat, whilst enjoy a relaxing atmosphere and live music at our Air Rooftop Bar & Lounge. Only B399 net per person.

Great seats and tickets available now. Call 080 538 7566.

Two Chefs Tex Mex Night At Two Chefs Karon 6pm-1am. Every Wednesday you can enjoy Phuket’s best Mexican food. Chili con carne, Mexican rice, Mexican springrolls, nachos, pork fillet skewers, salmon quesadillas, grilled corn cob, desserts from our bakery and much more. Our house band will be here to play live music. B495 or B795 include free flow Chang draught and Sangria. See www. twochefs.com, call 076 286 479, karon@ twochefs.com.

Lazy Sunday Jazz Morning at Paresa

.

Ticket B1,200 (all tickets have to be prepaid). Venue: Taste restaurant, Surin Beach. Bar opens 7.30pm till late night.

Contact 087 886 6401.

Pool Competition every Tuesday 9pm Expat Guesthouse Sports Bar, Patong. See map at www.expatguesthouse.com.

The Lost Legends at Underwood Phuket Venue: Underwood Art Factory, Bypass Road. Doors open: 7.30pm, show starts 8pm. Tickets: B1,900. Phuket residents B950, including continuous food. Email: info@underwood-phuket.com.

EVERY DAY

Double Happy Hours At end of the Rawai beach strip, Rawai Plaza is the best entertainment venue for those who seek a bit more fun after a good meal. Listen to good music, enjoy sport on large TV. Play pool or dart games or just enjoy the unique surroundings. Selected cocktails B90, bottled beer: Singha, Heineken, San Miguel B60 Tiger Leo, Chang B50. House Liqueurs: Vodka, Gin, Rum, Wine B70, Scotch B70, Sangsom B60. At 4pm-8pm and midnight till late. Plus free pool sponsored by Komodo Bar. From 8pm- 9.30pm. Come on everybody - Let’s party. Call 082 280 3282.

Traditional Homecooked Food

Pool Competition: Meet The Best Players in Town Designed and built by Thai-Canadian family in 2011, The Plaza is a very fine sculpture and wall relief garden and entertainment centre. Artist’s pictures can be seen at the plaza walls all year around. The art pieces are donated by “The Unique One” rare selection of art by Khun Manop and Mike.

Pool competition is sponsored by Komodo Bar at 9pm. Entry fee B100 plus one free local beer. Come on everybody-let’s party.

Call 082 280 3282.

Authentic Indian Buffet at RPM Phuket’s best Indian buffet is back with a new chef and new menu. Homemade authentic Indian. Special promotion at B449 per person. Happy hour drinks from 6pm-9pm buy one get one free. Reservation recommended call Anges 076 360 803 or Mr Murat 081 797 3364. “Mention The Phuket News or Live 89.5FM and get a 20% discount on food”

SATURDAY SEP 29 Disco Fever at Taste Surin

Wicked Wednesdays Ladies day, buy one cocktail get one free.

Located at Patong Promenade, www.hogs breath.co.th.

A night of charity and celebrations. Dress to D.I.S.C.O the night away to the tunes of DJ Jay Le Shark, as you swing back your free shots on arrival and dig into your very favourite BBQ buffet. All this and more for a great cause as all proceeds go to The Good Shepherd Charity.

Traditional homecooked food, also special club membership for expats entitling members to discounts on food and drink.

Ask Jamie for details. All major sporting events shown live on big screen. Sugar Reef opposite Tescos Cherngtalay. www. sugarreefbar.com.

Going to Surin Beach?

If you have time this week head to Sea Breeze Surin Beach for a great lunch time offer. We are doing any of our burgers with homecut fries for only B175 and cold beers from only B50 per bottle between 12pm and 5pm every day. For expats we are also offering B20 off beers all day, every day ask a manager when you arrive. Live sport every day including our 100” HD screen.

Ask about our new Pool Club, plus kids and adults parties planned and catered for. Call 076 270 399, www.thebestbeachclub.com, info@theburgerbarandbeachclub.com.

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

20 TIME OUT GOT YOUR NUMBER

GUESS WHERE THIS IS AND WIN!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

GERRY’S VIEW THIS WEEK’S HINT:

6,000

“Wherever they are staying on the island, the fun-goers and the curious want to visit what could be considered the most exciting street in Thailand south of Pattaya.

“The street is blocked to traffic after 6pm, leaving it open to hawkers, buskers and the curious who shuffle along whilst being confronted by countless types who are after their money.

“The building in the picture is relatively new, but its namesake across the street recently burned down in a tragic fire.”

–Gerry Cummings

The number of times per minute that lightning strikes somewhere on Earth.

160

A p p r ox i m a t e w i n d speed of a sneeze, in kmh.

21

Percentage of people who don’t make their bed every day (5 per cent never make the bed.)

editor@thephuketnews.com

6

www.photohutgroup.com

Visits to the toilet each day by the average person

thephuketnews.com/ login-game-view.php

GUESS THE CORRECT LOCATION AND WIN A B500 GIFT VOUCHER FROM PHOTO HUT

Congratulations go to Richard Coles, who correctly guessed that last week’s photo was of Bake Restaurant at Tinley Place in Cherng Talay, on the corner of Pasakkoktanod Road.

This week in history ■■ September 21, 1933 Salvador Lutteroth runs the first ever EMLL show in Mexico, marking the birth of Lucha Libre wrestling.

■■ September 22, 1888 The first issue of National Geographic Magazine is published, nine months after the Society is founded.

■■ September 23, 1889 Nintendo Koppai (later the Nintendo Company, Limited) is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi.

1. Which comedian was born with the name Nathan Birnbaum?

2. What movement did Lord Baden Powell found?

3. Which bean is used to make baked beans?

4. How many wings does a bee have?

5. The sturgeon fish is the source of what delicacy?

Answers at the foot of the page.

■■ September 24, 1979 Compu-Serve launches first consumer internet service, featuring the first public electronic mail service.

■■ September 25, 1992 NASA launched a US$511 million probe to Mars in the first US mission to the planet in 17 years.

Across

Down

1. Stone difficulty? Yes. (4) 3. Fairytale character in deer-call twist. (10) 9. Sister takes point back, at sleep. (6) 10. Drug agent, is silicon blooms. (8) 12. Fuel trick, they say, of stomach. (7) 14 & 19. Golf course?

Young lady, I am on hummocks. (7, 5) 16. Solar line east, to clip twitch. (8) 19. See 14.

21. Music for golfing action. (5) 22. Drone and I mess up tidy dampness. (8) 25. In which children and Ed dwelled. (7) 27. Snooker component a signal to dance. (4,3) 30. Socialist abandoned flying essential. (4-4) 32. Palace’s slatted opening. (6) 33. Having no writer, heart and souls redesigned. (10) 34. Without this, you’d give up. (4)

1. Quit about doctor’s clue. (6) 2. Complains about meats.

(5) 4. Almost nine to a Columbian ship. (4) 5. With cereal part, scold insect. (6) 6. Almost lost the Spanish. (3) 7. Shrink a creditor’s right with one saint. (8) 8. Overcharge with, er, 50 in currency. (8) 11. Tax department is about right. (1,1,1) 13. Capture difficulty. (5) 15. Small island is rented out.

(5) 17. Capital company in air. (5) 18. Firm with sound equipment is amusing. (5) 19. Hospital limit to monopolize animal. (8) 20. Is a ringer a queen? (8) 23. Gainsayer of unit of fineness. (6) 24. Cheat warmer. (6) 26. Scrap or shirt. (3) 28. Hammering block not viable initially – be sick about it. (5) 29. Shivers at end of plague.

(4) 31. Well seizure. (3)

Solutions to last week’s puzzles:

Answers to this week’s Pop Quiz:

1. George Burns; 2. The Boy Scouts; 3. Haricor or Navy beans; 4.Four; 1. Eight; 2. Potatoes; 3. Dolly; 4.Two; 5. Flax.

5. Caviar.

thephuketnews.com

September 26, 1973 The Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in recordbreaking time.

SUDOKU

■■ September 27, 1937 The Balinese Tiger is declared extinct after a female is shot at Sumbar Kima, west Bali.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

thephuketnews.com

16 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

JOBS

Rent at The Plantation Area of 240 sqm, has pool > 20

classifieds@thephuketnews.com

Pizza Maker / Cook: Full time! (only Thai applicants) see www.phuketad ventureminigolf.com or call 080 548 3345.

THE PHUKET NEWS is Phuket's leading weekly English News-paper.

Our mission is to serve the Expat community, tourists and residents of Phuket by publishing an independent, comprehensive and informative community newspaper on a weekly basis.

Office Staff Wanted:

We are seeking a dynamic Admin/PR assistant to support Admin & PR tasks in PR planning & promoting, customer services, social network updating & general administrative responsibilities.

Swimming Pool Industr y: Wanted: an

ADMINISTRATIVE/PR ASSISTANT

electrician with electronics and pump motor repair experience, part time leading to full time .Ideal for semi retiree. Please contact 076 620 193, 081 797 5545, Email info@ mobilepooldoctor.com.

Responsibilities:● Answering/forwarding the incomng calls to relevant staff ● Welcoming guests/visitors of Phuket News & LIVE 89.5 FM ● Providing customer services via emails & face to face ● Managing inventory/stock of stationery including purchasing ● Providing administrative support to Admin & PR including faxing, filing, copying etc. ● Assisting PR Manager on promoting company’s products & services ● Assisting on translation from Thai to English & English to Thai

Qualifications :-

● Thai nationality ● Bachelor Degree in related field ● Excellent communication in English ● Has excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to handle multi-tasks ● Proactive, detailed-oriented & work well in a fast-paced environment ● New graduated students with excellent English are welcomed to apply!

Marcom and E-Commerce Manager: Pro-

We offer:-

● Working 5 days a week/Monday-Friday (8.30 am - 6.00 pm.) ● Friendly work environment ● Social security (10%) paid by the company ● Excellent career progress opportunity Interested candidates are invited to send application with full resume in English indicating qualifications, experience, expected salary with recent photo via email to adminmgr@thephuketnews.com or fax your resume to 076 612 553.

Contact telephone number: 076 612 550-2 ext 101 - Khun Jariya

thephuketnews.com

O f f i c e A s s i s t a n t days. Good English writWanted: Office Assis- ten and spoken. Contact tant for Villa Suksan Development. Full time. 6

Kay, email: sales@villasuk san.com.

motes a positive image of the hotel in the community and abroad through public relations and promotion activities. Communicates and submits appropriate materials to all marketing channel. Email your CV and photo to hrmgr@ millenniumpatong.com.

Female, English-speaking staff to work in nice environment with outgoing personality and basic bookkeeping skills. Call K. Nam 076 272 702. Island Curtains.

Kindergarten Teacher: Female caucasian native English speaking teacher with experience to teach class of 10-12 children ages 2-6, Mon-Fri, 8am - 4pm, Chalong. Please contact 080 624 7060. www.budsphuket.com, email buds. span@yahoo.com.

Cook/ kitchen cleaner: Another Thai national cook required for expanding boat charter company. Thai and farang food. Cooking experience a must. Call 086 011 5340.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

CLASSIFIEDS 17

List your ad for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

JOBS IN PHUKET For our offshore software development company Nobuzane Ltd. based in Phuket, Thailand we are looking for:

Accountants/ Bookkeepers: Ex-

Sales & Marketing Manager: We are look-

perienced Thai staff for immediate openings.

English, written and verbal, are essential. Salary based on qualifications.

Email resume to hr@ freshgardenfarms.com.

ing for: *Thai individual who possesses exper ienc e in sales and marketing or as a sales/marketing manager. *This individual must be very responsible, and must be able to lead a team. *Can converse in English (speak/read/write) with ease, and can work with different types of media. *Has strong computer skills, (Microsoft Office, Photoshop etc). *Is outgoing, comfortable with people, clean and presentable to the public. *Have good social connections around Phuket.

Duties include taking care of new marketing projects, recruiting sales, attending PR functions, maintaining monthly budgets and reports, as well as business proposals.

Must be willing to learn about all aspects of the Two Chefs company and services.

Please apply by email: billy@twochefs.com.

Bar Staff with basic cooking: Experienced bar tender/barstaf f, with good command of English and basic food cooking and preparation skills (bistro food). Must have 1 year experience. Some overtime required. Call 080 143 3660.

Drama Teacher Needed: HeadStart International School is looking for a certified native English speaker to teach Drama for after school activities to kids ages 5-teenage. Call 081 968 1562.

Head of English Department: We are looking fo r a T hai Female Nationality with teaching skills to handle four English teachers to teach English to our Security Guards. Contact 081 607 6637.

Newly Renovated Hotel Opening: CC Bloom’s a Boutique Hotel located in the lush hills of Kata/Karon is looking for dynamic English speaking Thai nationals to join our expanding team as bookkeeper, wait staff, engineer, receptionist, bartender, driver, housekeeping and cooks. For more information, please contact 076 333 222 or submit your CV together with recent photo and expected salary to sales@ccbloomshotel.com. We welcome walk-in candidates. team with tasks including: develop/budget catering and event packages, market research, and working with the F&B service staff.

Call: 081 893 4122.

outgoing personality with ability to sell to farangs, flexible hours. Retainer, fuel, phone and commission. Call Khun Nam: 076 272 702. Island Curtains.

4 (four) medior level Software Developers Young growing international software company looking for intelligent, English speaking Software Developers to join our team. Your main responsibility will be to work with the chief software architect to design and develop web based custom business applications.

►

General skills: ► Good communication skills (English) for information exchange and technical documentation ► Experience diagnosing & debugging problems Job specific skills: ► 2 to 5 years experience with ASP.NET/C# ► 2 to 5 years experience with MS Visual Studio development environment ► Skill considered an advantage: ► Knowledge/experience with SQL Server ► Knowledge/exprience with Javascript For enquiries and/or job applications please contact nobuzane@live.nl.

Semi-retired UK/Ca- Free Security Trainnadian businessman ing Course: Free secuseeks Companion: rity training course open accommodation available. for servicing, repairing and English speaking female only. Free high end separate accommodation. All expenses paid. Call 089 054 4354.

Pharmacist: Position as licensed pharmacist in Rawai, Phuket available valid lic ense required; English language skills a plus competitive salary++; accommodation available, contact us now: 076 344 531.

to all Thai nationals over the age of 24. You must have a basic command of English and be physically fit. Please email info@ securitysafestop.com for details. Contact 076 620 010.

Call 089 054 4354.

Wanted Admin Assistant Part Time: One or two days plus one evening per week to start. Must be fluent in English and Thai.

Call Larry on 081 487 4812 or email: lamsden@phuket. ksc.co.th.

Female Driver Wanted: Semi-retired UK/Ca- Air Con/Refrig Techninadian businessman seeks cian: Looking for a techniEnglish speaking female driver. High-end separate

cian has experience electric, air or refrig (compressors),

maintaining equipment.

Competitive salary and bonuses. Call 084 915 9507.

Web/Graphic Designers Wanted: Degree in Arts Graphic Design. Proven experience in creating, designing and maintaining websites. Photoshop, Dreamweaver, CSS,HTML/ DHTML & Design Principals.

Email jobs@hotel travel. com.

Sales Staff Wanted: Catering and Events English-speaking female.

Intern: Intern is required Thai with previous selling to work closely with our

experience with own car,

Claims & Suppor ting Admin: Claims and Supporting administration, male/female, age 22- 45 years old. Experience in position will be advantage.

Good command, written and spoken English. Well organised, self-motivated. Email info@lamber t brothers.co.th.

Class Act Media is Phuket's leading media company - publishing The Phuket News , Phuket's leading weekly English Newspaper and broadcasting Live 89.5 – Phuket's premier English radio station. Class Act Media also has other publications and a host of other products in Phuket and Samui.

Due to recent expansions we are seeking the following position

Sales Manager Administrative Employee: Responsible for relations with our agents (tour agents & hotels) Assist with day-to-day operations of our company.

Must speak English. 5 days a week. info@phuket phototours.com

Sales Representative: O ur c ompany is sp e c ialise d in p r o duc t development and distribution of high quality beverages. Please send your most recent resume, picture, and cover letter to hr@ premiumthaibrands.com.

Thai or Foreigner (Located in Phuket) Responsibilities : - Managing the sales team (including responsibility for recruitment of new sales staff when needed) - Weekly & monthly sales budget meetings and reporting - Developing and following up new sales leads - Reaching own personal sales targets and responsibility for reaching team targets We offer: - Competitive salary, bonuses and travel expenses - Friendly work environment - Social security (10%) paid by the company - Excellent career progress opportunity ***The company may offer accommodation plus local transportation costs to successful candidates.***

Interested candidates are invited to send application with full resume in English indicating qualifications, experience, expected salary with recent photo via email to adminmgr@the phuketnews.com

Please email full resume in English indicating expected salary with recent photo to

adminmgr@thephuketnews.com or call 076 612 550-2 for more info.

thephuketnews.com

18 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

BUY&SELL

Adopt a new dog or puppy Animals available for adoption > 19

โรงเรียนสอนภาษากะทูภู้ เก็ต KATHU PHUKET LANGUAGE SCHOOL

Learn Thai For 200 Hrs. and Get 1 year VISA Offering German Consulate A1 Course.

Tel.084-0085673 www.phuketacademy.com email:khroojee@gmail.com

ART & COLLECTIBLES

Charter Fishing Business: Owner is changing

Fi shin g Ya c h t f o r S a l e: F o r s a l e 19 9 1 Tairia sport fishing yacht USD275,000. Please email mar tin@phuketfishboat. com.

Wooden Ship/Boat/ Yacht Models: We are a Bangkok-based company specialising in a wide variety of wooden ship/boat and yacht models and display cases. Our models are safely packed and shipped within Thailand or worldwide. Contact 083 886 1668. www. globalchannel.com

BOATS & YACHTS

tram 510 Flybridge luxury yacht. USD825,000. Email mar tin@phuket fishboat. com.

BUSINESS SERVICES Tile It: Thalang. Wana Park on Srisoonthorn Rd. Phuket’s quality tile boutique. Tiles for interior, exterior, residential, commercial. Contact 076 620 168 or 081 424 2828. Email info@ tile-asia.com.

Near New Inflatable Tender: West Mar ine hypalon RIB 3.5 metre including all accessories.

Plus SAIL (made by Yamaha) 15 HP four stroke outboard. One month old.

B175,000 negotiable. Call 08 7388 3090.

BUSINESSES FOR SALE L u x u r y Ya c h t f o r Sale: For sale 2002 Ber-

business disciplines and wants to exit the charter fishing business. For sale ‘02 Bertram 510 Flybridge and ‘91 Tairia sport fishing yacht. Plus website and all past customers. www. phuketfishboat.com, email mar tin@phuketfishboat. com.

Sell Freelance Company: Sell freelance (Diver.OK) company B40,000.

Call 086 280 9282 Marc.

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

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

Natural Mountain Stone: Original from ancient time. Shaped by expert craftsman. Unique with its texture and colours. Harmony with traditional and contemporary. Commit to best and always available to our valued customers. Call +66 (08) 1719 6930. Email: info@maxxnova.com

CHILDREN’S CLUB

COOKING CLASS

Funstart: Family sports and leisure club. Swimming/golf/ playcentre/gaming arcade.

Contact 076 203 185, 087 882 5544. See funstartphuket.com.

CLUBS & MEMBERSHIPS SK A L I nt e r na t i onal Phuket: Skål is a profes-

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

CHILDCARE Buds

sional organisation of leaders from all branches of the travel and tourism industry. www. skalphuket.org.

Singapore Club Phuket: Calling all Singaporeans in Phuket to join Singapore Club Phuket. Contact Robin on 081 803 7189.

Nursery:

Phuket’s oldest bilingual international childcare facility. High-quality, timeproven schedule and curriculum. Now in brand new purpose-built school.

Experienced native English teachers to teach ages 1.5-8. Monday-Friday. 8am -5pm. Bus service available from Patong, Karon, Kata, Phuket, Rawai and Chal o ng. Website: www.buds-phuket.com.

Club Asia Fitness: Royal Phuket City Hotel.

Of fers Zumba /LesMills classes/ weight training/ s a u n a /s te a m /s w i m m i n g pool, all inclusive. For a free trial workout, come along and join the action. Tel 076 35 4 027, 087 275 3614. www.clubasiaphuket.com.

Phuket Cooking Academy: Offers many cooking and baking classes in our top-class professional facilities. Come to learn how to cook with our professional chefs and discover the art of bakery, and Thai and European cuisines. Open to all from the age of 12 years old and without any prior cooking experience. For more info visit us at: www. phuket-cooking-academy. com or call 081 821 40 64.

EDUCATION

Kathu Phuket Language School: Enjoy living in Thailand for one year or more. Get the most out of your stay here by learning Thai for 200 hrs and get a VISA for FREE. Contact person: Khun Jirancha Khongsuk.

9/4 Moo 6 Wichitsongkram Road, Kathu, Kathu, Phuket 83120 Thailand. 076 323 201, 084 304 6521, 081 417 0478.

Email: khroojee@gmail.com, www.visathaiphuket.com.

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

CLASSIFIEDS 19

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FOR SALE

PERSONAL SERVICES

Sales Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Free tablet case/ Keyboard case.Insurance for 1 year,can be negotiated. Please email: singhon.p@gmail.com.

agreements in real estate field, web sites and tourist information. Email malaikaya@ yahoo.com for more info.

BUY & SELL IN PHUKET

PET ADOPTION

Playgroup Open 09:00-21:00 Mon-Sat Play Park Open 16:00-21:00 Mon-Sat

Backgammon: Players Wanted. Tel: 081 577 8443, email: phuketconnection@ yahoo.com

Birthday Parties, Educational Games Etc.

Health Food : Online health food in Thailand. Good Karma, all natural healthy, natural and organic products.

Please contact 082 276 1675, www.goodkarmathailand.com.

MOTORBIKE SERVICES Dynamic Tyre Balancing: Dynamically balance your motorcycle tyres for a smoother ride with DYNA BEADS! Available at West Coast Service Center Phuket, your big bike specialist on the bypass road. Contact 085 785 4440.

Fisherman Way

Viset Road, Chalong, Rawai Phuket Tel : 088 819 2526

• Movement • Stillness • Balance M obile:0 81-728 - 9 9 8 0 Email: Serenethai@yahoo.com

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

Sound Engineer! AV Home system! : We’re exper ts in systems and control designs of highest quality Home Automation, AV, Cinema Room, Lighting Control. Professional services certified by CEDIA. English speaking call +66 (08) 1719 6930. Email: i n f o @ m a x x n ova . c o m , www.maxxnova.com

MOVING & STORAGE Haris & Hawr yluck Attorneys at Law: Unit

Safeway Storage: Self storage from B800/M. Container rental B3,000/M. Sales/ Site of fice A /C B6,000/M. Mobile toilets B2,80 0/M month. Chalong, opposite Wat Chalong. Thalang, main highway. Please contact 076 313 235 or 081 125 1873.

6D CCM Complex. Call 076 510 111, email info@hhlegal advisors.com, www.hhlegal advisors.com.

Are You Thinking Of Getting A New Dog O r Puppy ?: Please consider adopting a homeless dog, rather than buying from a pet shop or puppy mill. Contact: Gone2thedoggies@gmail.com

If your interested in seeing some of the many dogs looking for a new home.

Why buy a pet?: Soi Dog Foundation have over 300 beautiful dogs and puppies available for adoption. Fully vaccinated and sterilised. Contact 085 574 4258 or email cindy@ soidog.org.

POOL TABLES Phuket Pool Tables: 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.

Atmanjai: World’s best natural health programmes to improve health, reduce stress, weight loss, detox, rejuvenation, vitality and overcome disease. See atmanjai.com.

Buon A pp et i to: D e li Prot ec t Your Ho m e w i t h CC T V: C C T V & We Sell Boxes & Moving Supplies: At MY STORAGE Self Storage you can buy quality moving and packing supplies like individual boxes, bubble wrap, packing tapes & knives plus secure padlocks. We also help you to move and store.

Call 076 292 909.

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

mar ket and bi st r o. N um ber one supplier of Italian Deli in Phuket. Call 076 384 273, email info@buonap petitogroup.com, www.buon appetito group.com.

Ghost Writer: For life story English-Russian Translations: Profes sional translator specialised in translation of contracts and

of successful business man.

Gambler, playboy, world traveler now living Patong Beach.

Email: pent house2102@gmail. com.

thephuketnews.com

20 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

PROPERTY House For Rent

Land for sale 6.1 rai, five minutes to Naithon Beach > 21

walking and running around the dam. Call 086 664 5575.

contact : 081 787 9191, 083 391 7556

Bali modern style, fully furnish, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, hot water, cable TV. Housekeeper service every week

U RG E NT L a n d for sale: Plot for

The Plantation - A2 - Rental: Phuket - West.

B6,900 - 15,000 per night.

Unit size: 239.6 sq me tre. Facilities: swimming pool and fitness centre.

Pets not allowed. Contact Ms.Laddawan - CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) 076 239 967/085 661 0623.

Located at West-Chaofah Rd. 25,000 THB/month

Discount Rentals

sale in Cherng Thalay.

Just 3km to blue flag Surin Beach, total 14 rai (22400sqm) Chonote title, land suitable for apar tment complex contruction up to 3 floors or private big villa. Land for sale is located in prestigious region nearby hotel, resort, spa and shopping areas. Call 081 619 9501.

Email: limraksasins@gmail.com. bathrooms, Western kitchen, 130 sq metre. Nice garden with large pool in quiet area.

Price: B5.5 million or minimum three-month rental. Call 081 496 9070 (Eng/Swedish) or 081 719 1175 (Thai).

Daily / Weekly / Monthly / Lease LUXURY VILLAS NEAR LAGUNA

Rawai Beachfront Pool Villa Rent/Sale: Rawai

Info: 089 594 4067

PROPERTY FOR RENT Kata Beach For Rent: 5 star apartment, stunning seaviews with all Mod Cons, pool, gym, restaurant. A must see, call James 090 864 4519.

Well worth a viewing.

Nice House for Long Term Rent: Just a few min-

utes walk to Nai Harn beach.

Two-three bedroom, aircon. two bathroom, kitchen, garden.

Minimum one year B15,000.

Call 081 397 1835.

Beach front pool villa for rent/ sale.3 bedrooms,furnished.

Contact Siriporn on 089 649 9939.

Private Pool Villa For Rent: Three bedrooms,

House for Rent-Kathu: Loft Style Flats: Central location with easy access to main roads, near Bang Wat dam Country Park in the middle of the island. The area is quiet, minimal traffic, great

Two b e dr o o ms / t wo bat h rooms. Calm and clean area.

Built in early 2012, first occupant. Aircon in all rooms.

Floor area 120m2 + back and front yard, furnished. Call 091 034 0035.

WRITE YOUR CLASSIFIED FREE ONLINE: 189 CHARACTERS + 1 PICTURE

Ayara Surin - Villa 22 - Rental: Phuket - West.

B15,0 0 0 - B 3 0,0 0 0 per night. The villa is located in one of the most convenient locations on the island being walking distance to Surin Beach within 20 minutes driving distance of the airport, four golf courses including Blue Canyon), Laguna Phuket, home of The Banyan Tree Hotel & Spa, The Amanpuri and Chedi Hotels and numerous superb restaurants and shops.

Contact Ms.Laddawan - CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) 076 239 967/085 661 0623. .

three bathrooms, fully furnished. Five minutes to Chalong centre, 10 minutes to Rawai Beach. Please contact Khun Poy for more details: 089 472 9870 or 086 471 522.

PROPERTY FOR SALE Furnished House for Sale/Rent in Kathu: Land size 153.85 sq metre.

Furnished, garden, swimming pool. For sale B17,000,000 or rent plus Honda civic B65,000 per month. Please contact: ket.phuket@hotmail.com.

S e avi ew L a n d Fo r Sale: Near Chalong Pier, 150 metres from the sea.

Three rai and one ngan plot.

Chanote title. Price: B25 million per rai. No agent. Call 087 278 7206

Kamala Two Brand New Villas: Two bedrooms, two

Headline: ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......

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Online upgrades:

Website link B199

Urgent banner B199

UPGRADE TO PREMIUM

FOR JUST B1,099 GET AN ADDITIONAL 9 PICTURES

Allamanda (Laguna) Residences/Phuket: One Condo Unit, half of a deluxe twin house, fully furnished and equipped, set direct on the picturesque lagoon with balcony right over it. 3 bedrooms each w i t h s h owe r/ b at h r o o m, r o of te r r ac e. Lo ngte r m rent or sale. 081 737 0365, utaipan@yahoo.com.

PLUS 1 ISSUE IN THE PRINT COPY OF THE PHUKET NEWS Print upgrades:

Box B199

Colour Background B199

Colour Headline B199

DEADLINE: MONDAY 11.59PM (MIDNIGHT) FOR THAT FRIDAY’S ISSUE Hand this in at agent shops, our office or fax: 076 612 553

thephuketnews.com

Villa Resort Style: Villa resort style six bedroom.

Loc ated in peac eful area South of Phuket, Rawai. This villa has been designed and furnished to the highest standards. Email mintra99@gmail. com.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

CLASSIFIEDS 21

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

PROPERTY IN PHUKET

Phuket Cottages

Near British International School, pool-villas starting from THB 8,800,000.

www.phuket-cottages.com

Call: 089-724-7211

PROPERTY FOR SALE CONT.

House in Phuket Town / Samkong 3 bedroom, 3 bathrooms: Semi detached house with large 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, large open living/dining area and entertainment deck outside. Large western kitchen with all appliances.

Commercial Building for sale: Prime location in 6.1 Rai Land for Sale: 6.1 rai (10,000sq metre).

B2,500,000 per rai. Total price: B15,600,000. - 5 minutes to Naithon Beach. -10 minutes to Naiyang Beach.

-10 minutes to Airport. -7 minutes to New Tesco Lotus.

- Roadside land and Chanote title. Call 085 793 2718.

The Billion Plaza and main road to Patong. Building 80sqm + 6m of patio behind.

4 storey, 4 bathroom, chanote title. Sale by owner, price B13.8m. Email aew28325@ gmail.com, 081 807 9914.

West. B51,000,000. Land area:1,862 sq metre. Legal wwnership: Leasehold. Contact Ms.Prakaipeth 076 239 967/081 538 6879.

Phuket Condominium Resale (PKS0280): The Plantation, Phuket - West, B16,9 0 0,0 0 0. Unit size: 241.8sq metre. Legal ownership: Leasehold. Contact M s . P r a k a i p et h 076 2 3 9 967/081 538 6879.

Great area very conveniently located 5 minutes from all amenities including both international hospitals, Central festival, international schools and the centre of town. Selling due to relocation.

Priced to sell at B4.3M including 4 air cons. and all modern style furniture. Nothing more to spend. Contact (English): 084 768 0536 or (Thai): 085 888 0502.

Pool Villa in Chalong: 3 0 0sq metre. Three bed rooms, four bathrooms, one western kitchen, one living room, private pool, two car parking. electric gate, fully furnished. Price: B10 million / Rent: B50,000. Call 081 539 7311 Th/Eng.

Phuket-Surin Beach Area for Sale: Chanote title at Manik-township.

20x25 metre in natural surrounding, B2.6 million. Free design+construction permit.

Phone 087 275 9621, email nuttapol_trateng@yahoo. com.

Phuket Villa Resale (PKS 0 019) - L aya n E s t a t e: P h u ke t -

Beach Front Plots:

Rawai Pool Villa:

Located opposite Yacht Haven Marina in a very peaceful, natural environment. Ready to build, electricity and water on site, road and boat access. 2 Rai plots each with 60 metre of ocean frontage, perfect for living as well as investment. For sale direct from owner, price only B12 million. Call 081 343 0777.

Unique three bedroom pool villa “off the plan�. In Rawai.

Three easy payments over eight months build time.

Over looking a peac eful, fish-filled lake. Valued at B12 million on completion.

Save MILLIONS!! Contact 081 270 4291, email: thai landmls@gmail.com.

Luxury Private Pool Villas: Brand new Bali style three and four bed villas, one km to Nai Harn Beach. High rental guaranteed investment. Prices from B12.9 million (include full furniture pkg). Enquiries sakt27@gmail.com, call +66 (0)87 897 4421.

Rawai B eachf ront Pool Villa Sale/Rent: Three bedroom house for sale: O n Land and Villa for Sale at Kathu: Overlooking golf course.

Fully furnished. Land size 800sq metre. Living area 487sq metre. Large pool. four beds, four baths. Fully-fitted Western kitchen.

Lifetime membership. B20 million. Call 087 222 4770.

House Park, Chalong. Gym, swimming pool and nice restaurant on site. Price reduced to sell quickly. Furnished or unfurnished. Call 089 291

Land for Sale at Loch Palm Kathu: 20 Rai overlooking golf course with concrete access road and electric. Ready for building project. Call 087 888 4770.

7078.

Land for Sale at Loch Palm Kathu: 20 Rai overlooking golf course with concrete access road and electric.

Ready for building project. Call 087 888 4770.

Rawai Beach front pool villa for rent/sale.3 bedrooms, furnished. Contact Siriporn on 089 649 9939.

Two Bed Villa 1/2 Rai B7.2m: Gated community, Pa Klok, land 832 sq metre, house 212 sq metre. Unfurnished, full aircon. two bed, two bath, big garden for pool/ extentions. 10 minutes from Heroines Monument. Priced to sell, offers. Call 081 737 0722.

400sq metre Beautiful Land for Sale: In Soi Suksan, the land has views of the Nai Harn and Rawai mountains, and would be ideal for a family home. Ready to build. Quality western villas on the same soi. Contact 089 973 1180.

Condo in Phuket Town for Sale/Rent: New condo, one bed, fully-furnished, WiFi, maid service, sea view. Call 081 893 5188.

Land for sale: 6 rai beautiful hilltop land near Mission Hills golf club, was 4.2million baht per rai now drastically reduced to *B3.2 million per rai* for very quick sale. Full chanote, water/electric, office, sea/mountain views.

Call 087 978 5804(Eng), stanjsmith25@yahoo.com

Land for sale near Golf Course: Near British International School, 18 Rai with public road access. Suitable for resort or housing project. Can be divided. Price B80 million.

Contact owner at 089 724 7211.

thephuketnews.com

22 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

EQUIPMENT SALES & RENTAL

HOME IMPROVEMENT

MARINE SERVICES

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

PEST CONTROL SERVICES

P.S.C PEST MANAGEMENT CO.,LTD. Pest Control And Hygiene Service.

Termites Treatment.

- Bait System.

- Pipe System.

- Chemical. ● Pest Control : - Ants, Cockroaches, Rodents and Mosquitoes etc. ● Hygienic Machine Service : Insect & Fly Killer. ●

Phuket Branch ● Krabi Branch ● Samui Branch Contact : Khun Kwanchanok - 081 537 7328 pcs_pkt@hotmail.com Tel : 076 263 427-9 Fax:076 263 726

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

REMOVALS

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

STORAGE 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

HOME IMPROVEMENT

Wana Park, Srisoonthorn Road, Thalang, Phuket 83110 Tel 076 620168 info@tile-asia.com

Secure, Clean & Cost Effective Self Storage

HOME IMPROVEMENT

SWIMMING POOLS

Jungceylon Shopping Center, Patong, Phuket

w w w. e m

p ir e p o o ls p h u k e t . c o m

1,800 baht pool service

for the first 20 customers (standard size pool)

19/43, 19/45 Moo 7, Srisoontorn Rd, T. Srisoontorn, A. Thalang, Phuket 83110.

Tel: 076-620113 or 084-8506140 Fax: 076-620015

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

PHUKET SPORT 23

Draw leaves Islanders’ still facing relegation Thai Division 1

FOOTBALL

Team Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

P

huket FC have made sure their battle to avoid Division 2 relegation goes down to the wire, wasting several second half opportunities in their entertaining 1-1 Sunday draw with Phattalung FC at Surakul Stadium.

After a close first half, The Islanders conceded early in the second before dominating for the rest of the match. But despite finding a free kick equaliser, Phuket couldn’t capitalise on their momentum and ended up sharing the points.

With just seven matches now remaining in the season, and the Islanders just three points clear of the relegation zone, star midfielder Marcio Santos told The Phuket News he is confident his side can remain outside the bottom five, despite Sunday’s lacklustre result.

“I really wanted to win that game. [Earning] three points was very important… so to draw almost feels like a loss.

Phuket’s Niran Phanthong attacks down the left wing as Chairat Phong-hoam gives chase. Photo: Dane Halpin “But this year I feel confident we won’t go down [to Division 2]. I think it’s important that we stay in Division 1 this year, then next year we can fight for the Premier League.”

Sunday’s game saw both sides come of the blocks firing, with several attacking chances in the opening exchanges, including two corners for the Islanders off their first two plays. Watcharapong Channgam had the first genuine chance for Phuket, but his

shot picked out Phattalung goalkeeper Warut Mekmusik.

But despite it being a half of end-to-end football, with clear chances and strong counterattacking from both sides, the half time scoreline reflected what was an even tussle; 0-0.

The impasse didn’t last long into the second half though – a break down the middle by Phattalung’s Wasan Sungkhaphan caught Phuket goalkeeper Worapoj Sabaijit out of position, and a clean chip over

D

L

F

A

Pts

1

Ratchaburi

MP W 27

20

4

3

66

23

64

2

Bangkok United

27

18

4

5

45

26

58

3

Suphanburi

27

17

5

5

46

15

56

4

Sriracha

27

17

4

6

54

31

55

5

PTT Rayong

27

16

4

7

55

27

52

6

Krabi

27

14

5

8

38

21

47

7

Siam Navy

27

10

9

8

40

33

39

8

Air Force United

27

11

6

10

36

33

39

9

Nakhon Ratchasima

27

10

8

9

31

36

38

10

Saraburi

27

9

6

12

37

40

33

11

Phuket

27

7

10

10

25

35

31

12

Phattalung

27

6

12

9

28

38

30

13

Khonkaen

27

8

6

13

27

37

30

14

Bangkok

27

7

7

13

44

43

28

15

Songkhla

27

7

7

13

27

39

28

16

Rangsit JW

27

5

7

15

26

51

22

17

Raj Pracha

27

4

7

16

25

46

19

18

Chanthaburi

27

0

3

24

20

96

3

his head saw the ball roll in the Phuket goal and send the visitors ahead.

The equaliser came from a rather dubious free kick, awarded to Watcharakorn after what looked a fairly soft challenge. From 30 metres out and straight in front, his low shot probably would have missed had it not been for a deflection off the boot of a Phattalung defender; 1-1.

A last-minute free kick to the Islanders from 25 metres

out offered the Islanders a chance to take home the three points, but they had to settle for one after the shot went just to the right of the post.

With three of their next five games against top-four sides (Sriracha, Suphanburi and Bangkok United) though, Phuket’s failure to secure three points could come back to haunt them.

Their next game is away to Saraburi on Sunday (September 23), kickoff 6pm.

IN BRIEF TSLC sixes comp next month Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) is holding its first six-a-side soccer tournament on October 6 and 7.

The tournament will consist of an open age category in a 32 team round robin. The winning team will receive B20,000.

Registration deadline is September 30, with the draw to be held on October 1. To register of for more information, call 076 336 000 ext. 5055; 083 184 4702; 090 705 5439.

Open day at ACG The opening day for the Phuket senior cricket league will be held at the ACG on November 4, allowing members to renew their annual membership.

Aside from various family activities, there are also plans to stage a triangular competition between teams representing the Northern Hem isphere, Souther n Hemisphere and the Subcontinent.

Anyone interested in playing can email tours@ phuketcricketgroup.com for more information.

thephuketnews.com

24 PHUKET SPORT

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

THE PHUKET NEWS

Flynn flies high SURFING

RESULTS: ASC/ISC Men’s Open Division 1. Mega Semadhi (INA) 2. Raditya Rondi (INA) 3. Lee Wilson (INA) 4. Darmayasa (INA)

P

COOL RUNNINGS About 340 runners helped raise over B150,000 for UNICEF and local charities at the Siray MiniMarathon last Sunday (September 16). The 10.5km mini-marathon was won by Ekkarat Phantip in the overall male bracket, while Leonie Plaistawe placed first in the female bracket. The funds raised will go to UNICEF for an immunization programme against childhood diseases, as well as the Koh Siray School and a school building project of the Good Shepherd Foundation.

huket’s Annissa Flynn is on top of the world – or at least on top of Asia – after the Quiksilver Open Phuket Thailand wrapped up last Saturday (September 15) The 14-year old wunderkind from Kata Beach bested the boys to win the Grommet Division (Under-16), going straight out into the Women’s Division and winning that as well, coming into the beach to receive the 2012 Asian Surfing Championship Women’s title.

From the podium, after receiving the trophy from Quiksilver’s Stephanie Gilmore, Flynn said: “I’m so happy, I can’t tell you how happy I am to win this title. It’s like insane that in five years I’m now the Asian champion.” Gilmore also complemented Flynn, saying:

ASC/ISC Women’s Division 1. Annissa Flynn (THA) 2. Yasnyiar ‘Bonne’ Gea (INA) 3. Salini Rengganis (INA) 4. Gemala Hanafiah (INA) ASC/ISC Longboard Division 1. Arip ‘Mencos’ Nurhidayat (INA) 2. Luke Landrigan (PHP) 3. Tipi Jabrik (INA) 4. Wenling Chou (TWN) ASC/ISC Masters Division 1. Wayan Widiarta (INA) 2. Graham Raisbeck (AUS) 3. Made Lana (INA) 4. Michael Anthony (AUS)

Photo: Phuket Best Group

Grommet Division 1. Annissa Flynn (THA) 2. Rory McDonald (TWN) 3. Panu Wisetsombat (THA) 4. Pancho Schneider (THA)

result of his second place finish.

Other highlights included Bali’s Wayan ‘Cupak’ Widiarta winning the Masters Division and Arip ‘Mencos’ Nurhidayat and Luke Landrigan going head to head in the Longboard Division, with Mencos coming out on top and winning his second consecutive ASC Longboard title.

“I think this is a really special moment for Thailand, to have a local Thai champion.”

Bali’s Mega Semadhi took out the ASC/ISC Open Division final for his first contest win this year, while reigning Men’s Asian Surfing Champion Raditya Rondi (also from Bali) hoisted his second consecutive ASC Championship trophy as a

Rugantino lose to Morning Star in thriller FOOTBALL AS THE THIRD SEASON OF the Super Six football league nears its halfway mark, competition is starting to heat up with round six seeing several tense affairs in Division 1.

Morning Star required a win against struggling Rugantino if they were to hold their place at the top of the table, and the game started well for the league leaders as they ran out to what looked like an unassailable 5-1 lead at the break.

However, a phenomenal comeback by Rugantino in the second half clawed back the lead and saw them only a goal behind; 7-6 with five minutes to go.

But Morning Star remained calm under pressure, upping the ante in attack and firing in a decisive final goal to win the game 8-6.

The match of the evening was between Shakers FC, keen to keep the pressure on the league leaders, and Nanai Boys, eager to pick a few points after

thephuketnews.com

SUPER SIX SOCCER Division 1

Team

P

W

D

L Goals GD

1

Morning Star

6

5

0

1

28

9

Pts 15

2

Shakers FC

6

4

1

1

18

6

13

3

Joy Dive FC

5

4

0

1

26

18

12

4

Sweet Lemon FC

5

2

2

1

17

1

8

5

Nanai Boys

6

1

2

3

21

-2

5

6

The Hulk

6

1

2

3

13

-9

5

7

Ristorante Rugantino

6

1

1

4

22

-7

4

8

PSU Alumni FC

6

1

0

5

15

-16

3

Team

P

W

D

L Goals GD

1

Puensil FC

6

6

0

0

42

21

18

2

Pita Bar Phuketeers

5

5

0

0

31

16

15

3

Phuket Serenity Villas

6

4

2

0

33

16

14

4

Mr. Moo

5

3

0

2

22

9

9

5

Shambhala FC

6

2

2

2

34

3

8

6

Pluto Italian Ice Cream

6

2

0

4

30

-8

6

7

Vanilla FC

6

2

0

4

19

-10

6

8

Seduction

6

1

1

4

22

-10

4

9

Thai Nee FC

6

1

0

5

19

-18

3

10

Atmanjai

6

0

1

5

21

-19

1

Division 2

a run of unlucky games.

In a fast-paced match, Nanai Boys deservedly took a 2-0 lead early on. But it was followed by a period of intense pressure from Shakers, who managed to pull back the two goals to make it 2-2.

Pts

In other Division 1 matches, Sweet Lemon FC drew with Hulk 1-1, while Sergiy Kytayev helped Joy Dive run out 7-1 winners against PSU Alumni.

For more information on the Super Six league, visit phuketfootball.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Thai FA could be disbanded FOOTBALL TH AILAN D’S FOOT ball Association could be forced to disband following allegations of corruption, according to an article by Reuters which quotes a spokesman for a parliamentary committee looking into the issue.

The FA of Thailand (FAT) is facing an investigation over alleged tax evasion and for setting up the Thai Premier League as a profit-making arm of the group, the Reuters article quoted Supachai Chaisamut, a spokesman for the house corruption committee, as saying.

FAT president Worawi Makudi, who has been a FIFA executive committee member since 1997, reportedly spoke to the committee last Thursday (September 13), before telling Reuters: “If FAT is found to have deliberately set up the Thai Premier League for profit-making purposes, the Thai Revenue Department will follow up the case.

The FAT will then have a duty to withdraw the name of the football association, disband and set up again.”

Worawi said he was in discussions with his lawyers and would respond to the allegations at a news conference next week.

Afghans gripped by football fever FOOTBALL

I

t’s a long way from the glamour of the Champions League and the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, but the first professional football league in Afghanistan kicked-off on Tuesday to fan fever, goals and vibrant enthusiasm in Kabul.

The modest stadium of the Afghan football federation was packed to a near capacity crowd of some 3,500, with the crowd largely made up of men-only sections, apart from a small one where families and women were welcomed by officials in a country where human rights are a constant debate.

Les Maiwand Atalan (Heroes of Maiwand) took to the pitch and defeated the Shaneen Asmayee (The Asmayee Eagles) 3-1 to great applause in the first match of the newly

The beautiful game is being appreciated by Afghans. founded Afghan premier league (APL).

“I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved today. I’m proud that we managed to organise such an event and I would like to send more positive messages, not only about today.” enthused APL commissioner Said Shafir Gawari, in the wake of a suicide attack that killed 12 people, including nine foreigners in Kabul on Tuesday.

“Most of the Afghan popu-

lation are young people. They’re under 25. We would like to bring our message to the majority of Afghans, and to the world, that Afghans can play together, and that we have teams composed of different tribes, of different ethnicities.

“If you look at the Kandahar team, they are not only composed of Pashtuns. They are Hazaras and other ethnicities too,” continued Shafir Gawari. AFP

Brains, not brawn, for knockout punch MARTIAL ARTS BR A I N P OW E R , NOT brute strength, may explain how karate experts can break bricks with a bare-handed strike, according to scientists who say years of martial arts training alter the organ’s wiring.

Researchers in Britain compared the short-range punches of a dozen karate masters to those of 12 physically fit novices and found the

Brain power. black belts’ secret lay not in muscle power but an ability to coordinate the peak velocity of their shoulder and wrist.

T h is a l lowe d h ig he r acceleration and a bigger impact force, the scientists say in the latest issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex.

The scientists then scanned the two groups’ brains, and found that those who threw the bigger punch had changes in the structure of their white matter, which transmits signals between the brain’s processing regions. The longer they had been training, the more changes. AFP

WORLD SPORT 25

IN BRIEF Martinez survives knockdown to dethrone Chavez Sergio Martinez survived a late knockdown to reclaim the World Boxing Council’s middleweight belt on Saturday when he defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by a unanimous points decision.

Martinez, 37, dominated and was leading comfortably on the judges’ scorecards when he got into trouble in

the 12th and final round, and the Argentine had to survive a late onslaught by Chavez as they went toe-to-toe.

Chavez knocked Martinez down in the final round but the veteran was able to hang on in front of a soldout crowd at the Thomas and Mack Center arena in Las Vegas.

England star Foden sidelined by ankle injury England rugby full-back Ben Foden will be sidelined for several weeks after suffering an ankle injury during Northampton’s victory over Bath last week.

Foden has severely damaged his ankle ligaments and, although he will see a specialist on Wednesday to determine the full extent of the injury, there is little

doubt the Saints star will be out of action for some while.

T h e 27-ye a r- old i s unlikely to recover in time for Saints’ European Cup opener against Glasgow next month, while news of Foden’s injury will be of considerable concern to England head coach Stuart Lancaster.

Blue Jays Escobar banned for gay slur Major League Baseball slapped Toronto Blue Jays player Yunel Escobar with a three-game ban Tuesday after he appeared in a game with a homophobic slur writ-

ten in eye black on his face.

The gay slur was written in Spanish and appeared in the shortstop’s eye black during Saturday’s contest against the Boston Red Sox.

Wallaby trio fit for South Africa, Argentina matches Injured trio Stephen Moore, Sitaleki Timani and Dominic Shipperley have been passed fit to travel with the Wallabies squad to South Africa and Argentina for Rugby Championship matches.

Australian rugby officials said they were expected to be

available for the clash with the Springboks in Pretoria on September 29.

But flyhalf Quade Cooper is missing after being ruled out of the remainder of the southern hemisphere championship with damage to his recently reconstructed knee.

Lawrie climbs to career-high ranking ahead of Ryder Cup GOLF SCOTLAND’S PAUL LAW rie has achieved his highestever position on the world golf rankings released on Monday, a week before he returns to the Ryder Cup after a gap of 13 years.

Although the 43-year-old

did not play last week, his ranking improved from 29th to 27th.

The biennial golf competition between teams from America and Europe will this year involve 24 of the top 35 players in the world, 17 of whom also compete this week at the Tour Champion-

ship in Atlanta.

All 12 of the American side have made it through to the final leg of the FedEx Cup play-offs, plus world number one Rory McIlroy – he leads the race for the 10 million US dollars bonus – Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.

The competition takes place from September 28-30 in Chicago, USA. AFP

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thephuketnews.com

26 WORLD SPORT

THE PHUKET NEWS

PREMIER LEAGUE PREDICTIONS: ROUND 4

No handshake, no goals as Chelsea, QPR draw 0-0

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

THIS YEAR’S GRAND PRIZE IS SPONSORED BY:

FOOTBALL

A

rsenal’s 6-0 thrashing of Southampton should have dominated all the talk in the fourth round of Premier League matches, but it was the nonhandshake between QPR defender Anton Ferdinand and Chelsea captain John Terry that captured headlines.

Following claims that he racially abused Ferdinand in a match last season, Terry was snubbed by both he and QPR captain Park Ji-Sung before their meet-up last Saturday.

The “incident” became the highlight of the match, as both teams played to a scoreless draw in West London.

Chelsea’s three-game winning streak to start the campaign came to an end, but they still sit atop the standings with a one-point lead on Manchester United, who took care of Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford with an easy 4-0 win.

Paul Scholes, appearing in

DANE’S TIPS ROUND 5 Chelsea v Stoke home win Newcastle v Norwich draw Southampton v Aston Villa away win West Brom v Reading away win West Ham v Sunderland draw Wigan v Fulham draw Swansea v Everton away win Liverpool v Man U away win Man City v Arsenal home win Tottenham v QPR draw MONTHLY STANDINGS

OVERALL STANDINGS

Anton Ferdinand ignores John Terry’s handshake during their weekend draw. Photo: AFP

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his 700th match for The Red Devils, celebrated the occasion by scoring his 167th goal for the club – leading the charge in the second half. New signings Alex Buttner and Nick Powell as well as Mexican forward Javier Hernandez joined Scholes, 37, on the scoresheet.

victory.

In The Phuket News tipping competition, ‘suncat100’ takes the lead and replaces ‘tim at acorn’ atop the standings for the first time. Keep in mind: there are two rounds left for the month of September.

The win propelled the Red Devils from fifth to second in the standings, leapfrogging their crosstown rivals, defending champions Manchester City.

Arsenal, with their 6-0 romp of Southampton, placed themselves securely in third

place in the standings, while Manchester City drew with Stoke City after a controversial goal by Peter Crouch in the first half. The match marked the debut of City signing Javi Garcia who had a fabulous game in the middle but failed to energize his new team to

THIS MONTH'S COMPETITION IS SUPPORTED BY:

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86 80 80 80 80 80 80 77 77 75

The winners of this month’s competition will win a B3,000 voucher to spend at Angus O’Tool’s in Karon. The overall winner at the end of the year will win a brand new Honda Scoopy courtesy of AP Honda.

Rooney to make early return FOOTBALL MANCHESTER UNITED striker Wayne Rooney is back in full training, according to British tabloid The Sun, 24 days after suffering an horrific thigh injury.

The England star was originally tipped to be sidelined for two months after gashing his right leg in an accidental clash with Fulham’s Hugo Rodallega on August 25.

But the 26-year-old has reportedly stunned United’s medics and has been back in training for more than a week.

Wayne Rooney should line up for Man U’s Sunday match.

Rooney will now almost at Anfield. certainly be available for The striker is still wearing Sunday’s Premier League light strapping on his thigh to showstopper with Liverpool avoid infection.

Over 90 Cities, One Perfect Gateway.

SilkAir and Singapore Airlines Connecting you to Places.

thephuketnews.com

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

THE PHUKET NEWS

WORLD SPORT 27

Hamilton ready for Sunday night under lights FORMULA 1

The softly spoken Alonso has won in Malaysia, his home country Spain, and Germany, and has finished out of the points only once, when he retired in Belgium after a pile-up

From page 28 “Both those races were unlucky for me – I think I need a better roll of the dice this time around!” he told the Formula One website.

Alonso meanwhile will look to stretch his 37-point lead over Hamilton – with Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen and defending champion Sebastian Vettel not far behind – in a Ferrari car written off at the start of the year as a dud.

Driver Standings: 1 2 3 4 5

Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton Kimi Räikkönen Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber

Constructor:

1 2 3 4 5

Red Bull-Renault McLaren-Mercedes Ferrari Lotus-Renault Mercedes

79 142 141 140 132 272 243 226 217 126

English Premier League Team

World Twenty20 lifts off

on the first corner.

Vettel, who became Formula One’s youngest double champion last year, is struggling in the pursuit of a third straight world title in a Red Bull car whose innovations have been crimped by new technical rules.

However Raikkonen has impressed in his return to Formula One from rallying, while Sauber’s young Mexican Sergio Perez claimed his second runner-up spot this year in Italy – fuelling speculation he could replace Massa at Ferrari. AFP

CRICKET TIGHT SECURITY AND empty seats failed to dampen a party atmosphere this week as cricket’s World Twenty20 began under a cacophony of vuvuzela horns in Sri Lanka.

Mohammad Sajid, among a group of 20 students who travelled from the nearby town of Tissamaharama, said the three-week tournament in Hambantota, Pallekele and

French Ligue 1 D

L

F

A

Pts

D

L

F

A

Pts

D

L

F

A

Pts

Chelsea

4

3

1

0

8

2

10

1

Marseille

5

5

0

0

8

1

15

1

Barcelona

4

4

0

0

12

3

12

2

Manchester United

4

3

0

1

10

5

9

2

Olympique Lyonnais

5

4

1

0

11

4

13

2

Málaga

4

3

1

0

6

2

10

3

Arsenal

4

2

2

0

8

1

8

3

Lorient

5

3

2

0

11

6

11

3

Mallorca

4

2

2

0

5

3

8

4

Manchester City

4

2

2

0

9

6

8

4

PSG

5

2

3

0

6

3

9

4

Sevilla

4

2

2

0

4

2

8

5

Swansea

4

2

1

1

10

4

7

5

Bordeaux

5

2

3

0

5

3

9

5

Atlético Madrid

3

2

1

0

9

4

7

6

West Brom

4

2

1

1

6

4

7

6

Valenciennes

5

2

2

1

6

3

8

6

Rayo Vallecano

4

2

1

1

6

5

7

7

Everton

4

2

1

1

6

5

7

7

Toulouse

5

2

2

1

5

5

8

7

Real Betis

3

2

0

1

7

5

6

8

West Ham United

4

2

1

1

4

3

7

8

Reims

5

2

1

2

6

5

7

8

Deportivo

4

1

3

0

7

5

6

9

Fulham

4

2

0

2

10

6

6

9

Saint-Étienne

5

2

0

3

9

5

6

9

Real Valladolid

4

2

0

2

3

3

6

10

Tottenham

4

1

2

1

6

5

5

10

Nice

5

1

3

1

7

6

6

10

Real Sociedad

4

2

0

2

5

7

6

11

Newcastle

4

1

2

1

5

6

5

11

Lille

5

1

3

1

7

7

6

11

Valencia

4

1

2

1

6

6

5

12

Stoke City

4

0

4

0

4

4

4

12

Bastia

5

2

0

3

7

12

6

12

Real Madrid

4

1

1

2

5

4

4

13

Aston Villa

4

1

1

2

4

5

4

13

Brest

5

2

0

3

5

10

6

13

Getafe

4

1

1

2

5

8

4

14

Wigan

4

1

1

2

4

8

4

14

Ajaccio

5

2

1

2

3

5

5

14

Levante

4

1

1

2

5

8

4

15

Sunderland

3

0

3

0

3

3

3

15

Evian TG

5

1

1

3

6

7

4

15

Athletic Club

4

1

1

2

8

12

4

16

Norwich City

4

0

3

1

2

7

3

16

Montpellier

5

1

1

3

6

8

4

16

Celta de Vigo

4

1

0

3

4

5

3

17

Liverpool

4

0

2

2

3

8

2

17

Nancy

5

1

1

3

2

6

4

17

Real Zaragoza

4

1

0

3

2

5

3

18

QPR

4

0

2

2

2

9

2

18

Rennes

5

1

0

4

5

9

3

18

Granada

4

0

2

2

2

6

2

19

Reading

3

0

1

2

4

8

1

19

Sochaux

5

1

0

4

4

9

3

19

Espanyol

4

0

1

3

7

10

1

20

Southampton

4

0

0

4

5

14

0

20

Troyes

5

0

2

3

5

10

2

20

Osasuna

4

0

1

3

2

7

1

0–0 6–1 2 – 0 3 – 0 4 – 0

West Ham Utd Southampton Swansea West Brom Wigan Athletic

QPR Stoke City Sunderland Reading Everton

Live Sports TV Schedule END

SPORT

Chelsea Manchester City Liverpool Tottenham Hotspur Newcastle United

CHANNEL GUIDE

1XX - True Visions; 8XX – Astro; 8 – Setanta

*Times may be subject to change

START

0 – 0 1 – 1 1 – 1 1 – 3 2 – 2

EVENT

TEAMS / INFO

Friday, September 21 16.50

18.30

Aussie Rules

AFL

Sydney v Collingwood

17.00

20.30

Cricket

T20 WC

Bangladesh v New Zealand

21.00

00.30

Cricket

T20 WC

England v Afghanistan

Saturday, September 22 14.15

16.00

Aussie Rules

AFL

Hawthorn v Adelaide

16.45

18.30

Rugby League

NRL

Melbourne v Manly

17.00

20.30

Cricket

T20 WC

18:45

21.00

Football

EPL

20.00

22.00

F1

Sri Lanka v South Africa Swansea v Everton

Singapore GP Qualifying

21.00

00.30

Cricket

T20 WC

Australia vs West Indies

21:00

23.00

Football

EPL

Chelsea v Stoke

21:00

23.00

Football

EPL

Southampton v Aston Villa

21:00

23.00

Football

EPL

West Brom v Reading

21:00

23.00

Football

EPL

West Ham v Sunderland

21:00

23.00

Football

EPL

Wigan v Fulham

Bulldogs v Rabbitohs

Team

Spanish Primera Liga

1

RESULTS Norwich City Arsenal Aston Villa Fulham Man Utd

MP W

shakes from dignitaries, as Sri Lanka’s biggest ever sports event got under way.

And at the start of the match, the 35,000-capacity stadium was not even half-full.

The tournament hosts expect a sellout however when Sri Lanka face South Africa in the last Group C match in Hambantota tomorrow (September 22).

The final is scheduled for Colombo on October 7. AFP

Colombo would shift perceptions of Sri Lanka.

“We have formed a group of 20 to suit Twenty20 cricket,” said Sajid. “It is befitting that Sri Lanka is the first Asian country to host the World Twenty20 and we hope that it will help lift our country’s image.”

Unlike some tournaments, there was no glitzy opening ceremony or parade, just the national anthems and hand-

RESULTS Troyes Saint-Étienne Evian TG Nice Reims

MP W

1 – 1 0 – 1 3 – 0 4 – 2 3 - 1

Italian Serie A 1

Team

Juventus

Lille Sochaux Bastia Brest Montpellier

PSG Valenciennes Rennes Lyonnais Nancy

MP W 3

3

2 - 0 0 – 0 1 – 2 2 – 0 0 – 1

D 0

L

0

Toulouse Bordeaux Lorient Ajaccio Marseille

F

9

A Pts 2

9

Team

RESULTS Málaga Valencia Getafe Sevilla Espanyol

MP W

3 – 1 2 – 1 1 – 4 1 – 0 3 – 3

Levante Celta de Vigo Barcelona Real Madrid Athletic Club

Granada Osasuna Real Sociedad Atlético Madrid Real Valladolid

1 – 1 1 – 1 2 – 0 4 – 3 0 – 1

Deportivo Mallorca Real Zaragoza Rayo Vallecano Real Betis

German Bundesliga Team

D

L

F

1

Bayern München

MP W 3

3

0

0

12

A Pts 2

9

2

Eintracht Frankfurt

3

3

0

0

9

3

9

Hannover 96

3

2

1

0

9

4

7

2

Napoli

3

3

0

0

8

2

9

3

Lazio

3

3

0

0

7

1

9

4

Sampdoria

3

3

0

0

6

3

8

3

5

Internazionale

3

2

0

1

6

3

6

4

Schalke 04

3

2

1

0

7

3

7

6

Fiorentina

3

2

0

1

5

3

6

5

Borussia Dortmund

3

2

1

0

6

2

7

7

Roma

3

1

1

1

7

6

4

6

Nürnberg

3

2

1

0

5

3

7

8

Catania

3

1

1

1

5

6

4

7

Fortuna Düsseldorf

3

1

2

0

2

0

5

9

Torino

3

1

1

1

3

2

3

Freiburg

10

Milan

3

1

0

2

3

3

3

8

3

1

1

1

6

6

4

11

Genoa

3

1

0

2

5

6

3

9

Borussia M’gladbach

3

1

1

1

4

4

4

12

Chievo

3

1

0

2

3

5

3

13

Parma

3

1

0

2

3

5

3

14

Bologna

3

1

0

2

4

7

3

15

Atalanta

3

1

1

1

2

2

10

Wolfsburg

3

1

1

1

1

4

4

11

Werder Bremen

3

1

0

2

5

5

3

12

Bayer Leverkusen

3

1

0

2

3

5

3

2

13

Greuther Fürth

3

1

0

2

1

5

3

Mainz 05

3

0

1

2

2

5

1 1

16

Cagliari

3

0

2

1

2

4

2

14

17

Udinese

3

0

1

2

4

8

1

15

Augsburg

3

0

1

2

1

5

18

Palermo

3

0

1

2

1

7

1

16

Stuttgart

3

0

1

2

1

7

1

19

Pescara

3

0

0

3

2

9

0

17

Hamburger SV

3

0

0

3

2

6

0

20

Siena

3

0

2

1

3

4

-4

18

Hoffenheim

3

0

0

3

4

11

0

RESULTS Palermo Milan Chievo Fiorentina Genoa

1 – 1 0 – 1 1 – 3 2 – 0 1 – 3

Cagliari Atalanta Lazio Catania Juventus

Napoli Pescara Roma Siena Torino

3 – 1 2 – 3 2 – 3 2 – 2 0 – 2

Parma Sampdoria Bologna Udinese Internazionale

RESULTS Borussia Dortmund Bayern München Borussia M’gladbach Stuttgart

3 – 0 3 – 1 2 – 3 0 – 0

Bayer Leverkusen Mainz 05 Nürnberg Fortuna Düsseldorf

Hannover 96 Greuther Fürth Freiburg Eintracht Frankfurt

3 – 2 0 – 2 5 – 3 3 – 2

Werder Bremen Schalke 04 Hoffenheim Hamburger SV

Sunday, September 23 16.45

19.00

Rugby League

NRL

17.00

20.30

Cricket

T20 WC

19.00

22.00

Formula 1

19:30

21.30

Football

EPL

21.00

00.30

Cricket

T20 WC

21:00

23.00

Football

EPL

Newcastle v Norwich

22:00

00.00

Football

EPL

Man City v Arsenal

22:00

00.00

Football

EPL

Tottenham v QPR

New Zealand vs Pakistan

Singapore GP Grand Prix Liverpool v Man Utd England vs India

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

SPORT

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Dash for cash Phuket mini-marathon raises more than B150,000 for local children in need > 24

Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

ALL IN BRAWL ICE HOCKEY

Jean-Pierre Mestanza editor2@thephuketnews.com

E

mpty arenas are on the horizon for the National Hockey League (NHL), as a deadlock in negotiations between league officials and the player’s union resulted in a lockout, putting the upcoming season in jeopardy and forcing players to look for opportunities abroad.

Since 1992, the NHL has had four work stoppages, including a suspended season in 2004-2005. The sticking point is how to divide the league’s annual revenue, an average of just over US$3 billion (B92 billion).

Both sides say they are committed to working out a deal, but so far have no plans

to meet face-to-face at the bargaining table.

“You see [players] that are interested, that’s not just because they care about their finances and what they’re going to get paid,” said Pittsburgh Penguins Canadian superstar Sidney Crosby to a room full of reporters last week.

“They want to play. They want to know what they’re standing for, and I think they believe in it.”

Facing the threat of a second lost season in eight years, NHL players are starting to jump ship to European leagues, including Ottawa’s Sergei Gonchar and last year’s Most Valuable Player Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both have signed with Metallurg of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.

Other players have also signed contracts

with teams in Sweden, Finland, and Germany as more are expected to follow suit the longer the lockout lasts.

In 2005, after the season was suspended, the player’s union reluctantly agreed on a salary cap system as well as an immediate 24 per cent rollback on current salaries in exchange for a 57 per cent share of revenue.

This time around, NHL owners are offering to cut that revenue to 47 per cent, a move several players have openly said they found insulting.

“The fact of the matter is we believe as a league, we are paying out too much money,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman before the work-stoppage started.

“If you’re dedicated to the negotiating process, you can move this along quickly. If, for whatever reason, you’re not interested in

making a deal, you drag it out.”

Bettman said that annual salaries have gone up an average of 75 per cent in seven years.

According to NHL Player’s Association president Donald Fehr, the players are willing to reduce their share of the revenue to the 53 per cent area with room to negotiate more, depending on what the union would get back.

Still, players are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best after finding themselves in a similar situation seven years ago.

“If the league [NHL] continues to insist on their [demands] then it will take a full year. That’s because we are not going to cave in,” said Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin to a US newspaper, “then I will spend the entire season in the KHL. It’s an absolute reality.”

All eyes on Hamilton before Singapore sling FORMULA 1 FORMULA ONE ENFANT terrible Lewis Hamilton is again in the spotlight this week as fevered speculation over his future dominates the build-up to this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old Briton lies second in the standings behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso,

thephuketnews.com

after a consummate drive in Italy brought his third win of the season and renewed hope of a second world title.

Formula One is embarking on a four-stop Asian swing, from Singapore’s glittering, skyscraper-studded night race, to Japan, South Korea and India, which may settle this year’s unpredictable title race.

But the precocious Ham-

ilton’s off-track affairs are dominating headlines after he admitted his future was undecided at long-term employer McLaren, and a reported cooling of relations with team-mate Jenson Button.

The 2008 world champion brought a sharp rebuke from Button after he tweeted sensitive team information during this month’s Belgian Grand

Prix. His muted victory celebrations in Italy were widely noted.

In the run-up to Singapore, the 14th of 20 races, Hamilton stressed he was “happy with McLaren” – but said he had not committed to any team next season, when he is out of contract. Mercedes are courting his signature.

“No, I haven’t committed

to any team as yet. I don’t have a timeline either,” Hamilton said, at a promotional event in Mumbai.

“I won my first world championship with McLaren and I am happy with their background, the people and environment there,” he added.

It is the latest in a series of distractions for Hamilton, whose 2011 season was affected

by problems with his girlfriend, Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger, and who lost his aunt to cancer last month.

The bejewelled driver won on Singapore’s “darty”, demanding street circuit in 2009, but retired with a puncture in 2010 and finished fifth last year after tangling with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

Continued page 27

Photo: AFP

Players and officials lock horns as lengthy lockout looms