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• Massive head injuries for Muay Thai boxer • Police say bike crash, family say no way • ‘Injuries are consistent with being hit by a club’ • Victim has no memory of late night incident READ THE FULL STORY ON PAGE 2

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NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Liu Yang flying high

China’s first woman astronaut blasts off into space > 11

Alasdair Forbes & Claire Connell execeditor@thephuketnews.com

Aussie ‘left for dead’ Claire Connell editor1@thephuketnews.com

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he parents of an Austra­ lian 21-year-old alleg­ edly beaten and left for dead in Naiharn are calling for an awareness campaign about the dangers of driving alone on motorbikes at night.

Daniel Ketley, a top Muay Thai fighter, suffered exten­ sive and serious injuries in an incident near Soi Saiyuan in Naiharn on June 8, sometime between 12.30am and 2am.

Daniel left a friend’s house in Laguna around half past midnight on his way to the Rawai/Naiharn area to see another friend. His last memory is of being in the Soi Saiyuan area. After that it’s all a blank. He believes he may have stopped for petrol and been attacked then.

Police in Chalong are treat­ ing him as yet another motor­ bike crash victim, but Daniel and his family, friends and doctor dispute this.

Daniel Ketley suffered severe head injuries and remembers nothing about the late night incident in Naiharn.

They believe he was hit on the head several times with something hard and then robbed of his wallet and his mobile phone.

The police point out, logi­ cally, that until Daniel remem­ bers more, they can’t do much.

Daniel suffered a fractur­ ed skull which required 45 stitches, haemorrhaging and compression on the brain, air bubbles in the brain, a shattered

eye socket, jaw broken in three places, four lost teeth, a frac­ tured vertebra, nerve damage to his neck and shoulder, and a fracture in the skull between his nose and upper lip. He spent five hours in surgery undergo­ ing facial reconstruction.

Both parents, and everyone who has visited Daniel at the hospital and at home, where he is now recovering, believes the circumstances are too suspi­

cious for it to be a motorbike accident.

“His injuries are consistent with being hit by a club or something – not a bike acci­ dent. When I saw him, I was wondering why he didn’t have any grazes,” Mrs Ketley said.

His motorbike had no scrapes, either, the only damage being to the front, consistent with being hit by something, and the two rear view mirrors were smashed.

The T-shirt and jeans Dan­ iel was wearing were wet from the rain, but had no mud, gravel, rips or damage.

Daniel believes it was a random attack because, he says, he was not aware of anyone who would want to harm him, and even if they did, he said his movements were usually pretty unpredictable for anyone to follow him.

“I know I can’t have crash­ ed. I know the roads very well, and the damage to my body... if I had crashed I would have put my hands down for sure, but they aren’t grazed.”

Daniel has lived in Phuket for three years as a full time Muay Thai boxer with Sumalee Boxing Gym, near Laguna Phuket. He trains every day and has fought regularly and successfully. His family say he is one of the top foreign Muay Thai fighters in Phuket.

That career hangs in the balance now.

Michelle Smith suffered horrific wounds to her chest.

Travel agent, 59, stabbed in heart

A 59-YEAR-OLD AUSTRA­ lian travel agent, Michelle Smith, was stabbed to death by snatch-and-grab robbers in Kata Noi on Wednesday night (June 20).

Another women, Tam­ mee Lynn, 42, in the party of 10 travel agents from Perth, Western Australia, had her arm slashed in the attack.

The stabbing came just after 10pm on Wednesday night as the group walked back from dinner to the Katathani Resort, where they were stay­ ing on a familiarisation trip.

Just about 100 metres from the hotel, two men on a mo­ torbike swooped, attempting to steal Ms Smith’s handbag.

Chalong Police Lt Col Boonlert Ongklang said that when Ms Smith resisted, the passenger on the bike stabbed her violently, in the chest.

“The other woman [Ms Lynn] was slashed in the arm

when she tried to help,” Col Boonlert said. “It was all over in less than a minute.”

The two women, one sup­ porting the other, staggered towards the hotel. At the staff entrance Ms Smith collapsed and died at the staff entrance.

Col Boonlert said the wounds to Ms Smith’s chest were “horrific”. One was 15cm deep and 15cm wide, penetrating her heart.

CCTV footage of the two attackers on their motorbike was not clear enough to show the number plate but it did show that neither was wear­ ing a helmet, so police were hoping yesterday that it would be possible to identify them.

A fellow travel agent de­ scribed the 60-year-old as feisty and “full of life”.

“I’m not surprised she fought back. It’s just tragic it would end up like it did, though.”

Autopsies to solve Phi Phi deaths THE BODIES OF NOEMI Belanger, 26, and her younger sister Audrey, 20, who died horribly in mysterious circum­ stances were sent on Tuesday (June 19) from Krabi to the Police General Hospital in Bangkok.

The two, from Quebec, were found dead in their room at the Palm Residence Hotel, on Phi Phi, on June 15.

The Director of Krabi Hos­ pital, Dr Komkrit Phukrit­ yakame, said the two may have died from food poisoning.

But he said there were many possible causes of death includ­ ing exposure to pesticides, or arsenic mixed with a narcotic.

The Canadian embassy in Bangkok has asked authorities to delay autopsies on the sisters until their relatives fly into the country.

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THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

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CITY ABUZZ...

Graft busters probe ‘kingdom on Kathu hill’ Incinerator blamed for plague of flies

SEVEN PIECES OF LAND covering more than 80 rai on Kathu Hill, north of Patong Bay, supposedly in the Kamala National Forest Reserve, have been found to have title deeds, which investigators suspect may have been obtained through bribing government officials.

Applications for deeds for another 13 pieces of land covering more than 120 rai, may be in the process of acquiring deeds.

Officials from the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), led by Secretary-General Pol Col Dutsadee Arayawut, have found connections between the “owners” of the land, whose names appear on the deeds, and senior officials, including a former Vice-Governor of Phuket who is said to want “to create his own kingdom on the hill”.

During a visit to the site on Monday (June 18) a sign and a rock painted with the legend, “Honey Green View Resort”, a backhoe and a well-built timber villa were found in the middle of the forest during examination

of the various pieces of land.

“From looking at the various pieces of land today, [we can say that] the deeds may have been issued illegally,” said Pol Col Dussadee.

The PACC’s investigation found that every deed had been upgraded from Sor Kor 1, with the justification that it had been used for plantation, mixed in with natural trees.

The land owners claimed the land had been used for plantations before the current land laws were enforced in 1954.

However, no trace of agriculture or land use was evident during the site examination and an aerial photograph taken in 1995 shows the land were covered with dense forest.

In addition, PACC found some of the officials involved in issuing the deeds on Kathu Hill were also involved with obtaining deeds for the land at the Freedom Beach, also under an investigatory cloud.

“From our investigations of one piece of land after another, we have found more and more officials probably involved in corruption,” said Col Dussadee.

“So we’ll keep going like this.”

M

any people in Phuket Town have noticed an unusual number of flies swarming this year.

Outdoor cafés, food stands and market vendors are largely at a loss what to do.

Asked about the fly problem, Paiboon Upatising, president of the Provincial Administration Organisation (OrBorJor), said he thinks the problem lies with Phuket’s trash incinerator at Sapan Hin. “I expect this is happening because the incinerator cannot burn all the trash, so they take the remainder and bury it. That landfill has become the flies’ breeding grounds.

“I want this problem solved at the source and I want every spot that serves for the flies’ spawning grounds eliminated.”

On Monday (June 18), Jaral Sangsan, a member of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce board of directors, talked about discussions held the previous Friday by the Civil and Private Sector Committee to Solve Economic Problems in Phuket, chaired by vice governor Miss Sommai Preechasilapa.

“The Chamber has re-

Just one fly. But Phuket Town is getting more and more.

Photo: JJ Harrison ceived many complaints about the number of flies swarming across Phuket province,” Mr Jaral said, “and each day the number increases.

“If we allow the problem to continue unabated it could turn into a terrible mess and affect tourism. We want the relevant government units to hurry up and solve the problem. It is urgent.

“We therefore brought the issue before the Economic Problems Committee, which

is charged with carrying out measures in a logical and thorough fashion.”

V/Gov Sommai said that at the next Economic Problems Committee meeting, officials from the relevant units would be called to explain the situation. “Activities will be coordinated so as to solve this problem with as much urgency as possible.”

Phuket provincial health officer Dr Sak Tanchaikul agreed that flies have become

a problem.

“We must accept that the number of flies now is tremendous because of spawning grounds in Phuket,” he said.

“The relevant units must take care of this problem, which is urgent, and must do it from the source.

“As a first step, the Provincial Health Office is now aware of the problem and will consult with other agencies in order to solve the problem.”

A vendor at Saphan Hin complained of the flies swarming over her stewed meats, adding that when she complained to the Municipal Office, the response was that the incinerator operated by the city at Saphan Hin was presently out of order.

When asked when it might be working again, the answer was that no one knew.

A municipal official confirmed that testing of the new incinerator continues and that no one knows when it will be complete. When it is, there will be a further delay while the power company increases supplies to meet the incinerator’s needs.

Police colonel ordered to move to Phang Nga THE FORMER SUPERINtendent of Phuket City Police Station Pol Col Chote Chichai has been ordered by Police Region 8 on June 13 to move to Takuatung Police Station in neighbouring Phang Nga Province.

Although no official reason has been given, Col Chote was relieved of command of Phuket City Police after a raid

by Phuket Provincial Police on the JS2 night pub in Phuket City on April 21, where 11 underage staff were caught working.

On May 7, he was transferred to Phuket Provincial Police Office pending further investigation of the case. Now he is back in harness, but in Phang Nga. Replacing Col Chote is the Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, Pol Col Sermpan Sirikong.

This is the second move for Col Sermpan in the space of two months. Until midApril he was Superintendent of Investigation Police in Chumphon Province.

His place will, in turn, be taken by Pol Col Jirapat

Col Chote: No official reason given for the move.

Phoa­chanapan, transferred from Bangkok.

Col Jirapat, too, has had his difficulties. On June 5 he was relieved of command of Samranrat Police Station in Bangkok and given a temporary posting at the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB).

Sources say that the order came after anti-government posters were found in the area under Col Jirapat’s responsibility.

The Acting Com missioner of the MPB, Maj Gen Karomwit Thupkrajang, told Bangkok-based media that there was no particular significance in Col Jirapat’s transfer to Kathu beyond the fact that he had requested the posting.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Body confirmed as missing American CONTACT US

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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).

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THE BODY FOUND AT KALIM Beach on June 14 has been confirmed as that of missing American student Joshua Shane.

Pol Lt Chavalit Niemwadee, an investigator at Kathu Police Station confirmed on Wednesday (June 20) that the body had been identified. Mr Shane, a student majoring in Sustainability at Arizona State University (ASU), went missing on the night of June 11 after he and three fellow-students got into difficulty after going swimming in heavy surf off

Patong Beach. Though the other three were rescued or made it back to shore by themselves, Mr Shane could not be found.

The Kansas TV station KCTV5 quoted Mr Shane’s family as saying, “Joshua is a beautiful soul and was truly at his best while travelling and exploring. He was passionate about international social justice and global sustainability. He was here to make the world a better place.

“We would like to thank those involved including the people of Thailand and Arizona State University for their

dedication and compassion during this difficult time. We will continue to be inspired by Joshua’s life and appreciate the outpouring of support and prayer.”

The Kansas City Star quoted Julie Newberg, an ASU spokeswoman, as saying that the university would provide counseling services to Mr Shane’s classmates and others who may be affected

by Shane’s death.

“ASU is deeply saddened and we offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Joshua Shane,” she added.

EATEN BY THE SEA

June storms caused 'worrying' erosion Paritta Wangkiat reporter3@thephuketnews.com

he storms that hit the Andaman coast of Thailand earlier this month are estimated to have caused erosion damage of as much as B100 million.

A survey done by specialists from the Erosion Prevention on Andaman Coast (EPAC) project revealed that 15 metres of shoreline disappeared on Koh Lanta between June 6 and 9, with more than 60 beach-front hotels and homes effected.

The damage in terms of loss of land and coastal natural resources is estimated on Lanta alone at round B40 million.

The survey has not yet been completed for Phuket.

But from damage seen on the shore, environmental experts see Phuket as one of the most worrying areas for rapid coastal erosion.

Engineering expert Prof Payom Rattanamanee, who is also head of the EPAC project, said that coomparison of aerial photographs showed that around 30 metres of Phuket’s shore had been lost to the sea in just two years.

“Nai Yang beach is the most worrying because of the value of its natural resources,” said Prof Payom. “When we have finished analysing the situation, we expect the results

T

Large casuarina trees at Nai Yang Beach, whose roots would normally prevent erosion, have been knocked over. will show that coastal erosion on Phuket has been severe.”

Since the Asian Tsunami of 2004, Phuket’s coast has been battered by waves that have left only a thin buffer zone to protect the shore.

This has been aggravated by beach-front areas in many places being cleared for new development.

Clear evidence of the loss of beachfront to erosion can be seen in the location of bungalows and a restaurant run by the Sirinat National Park office .

The tropical-style buildings were wiped out by the tsunami, when they were located 30 metres inland from the sea.

The location where they were is now next to the water.

This year, waves and currents are reported to be unusually strong at Nai Yang, and local people told The Phuket News that around 10 metres of Nai Yang Beach have been devoured by waves in the first half of the year. In addition, trees that are valuable in containing erosion have been knocked over.

One of the local fishermen earning a living in the sea off Nai Yang beach, Suwan Plodbhut, 44, said that fish catches had been falling because the coral reef off the beach, which acts as a nursery, had been damaged by erosion.

“The number of fish close to shore has fallen off, so we have to sail further for our catches, which means we have

to pay more for fuel,” said Mr Suwan. “We only lose.”

He added that if Phuket’s shore continues to be eroded, fishermen will soon have no space to repair their boats on seafront land.

An environmental expert who is part of the EPAC project, Prof Nopparat Bamrungrak, said that there are various ways to protect coastlines from erosion, but they have both pros and cons.

“We could build an embankment to protect the coast, but it would ruin the scenery,” said Prof Nopparat. “Or we could plant some strong-rooted plants, but we would need to wait for two years or more before the plants would be effective.”

Surat-Phuket rail link to be studied THE STUDY IS EXPECTED to begin this year and will take around 14 months to complete.

The OTP’s initial concept is to have the railway pass through the site of the International Convention and Exhibition Center in Mai Khao and Phuket International Airport, before ending at Phuket City.

In addition, the OTP is preparing to submit a request

to the Ministry of Transport (MoT) for B30 million to do a new study of mass transport for the island.

Ms Kobkul said that the study done in 2006 was outdated. “Phuket has changed since 2006. For example, the number of tourists and social conditions are different now,” said Ms Kobkul.

“So we propose a new study to match current conditions.”

The 1995 Joint Venture Act states that the Thai government alone may conduct studies for mass transit projects, in order to prevent the studies being done in a way that might benefit particular private companies.

The 2006 st udy was based on a system of buses.

Ms Kobkul said the new one will have as its focus the much-discussed Light Rail Transit system, and will

include design and environmental impact assessments.

The budget will be proposed for the 2014 fiscal year and the new study would take around a year to complete.

Quite how the light rail system might connect with the Surat-Phuket railway, and which parts of the island would be served by it, is not yet clear.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

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PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

THE PHUKET NEWS

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Phuket Seven Day Weather Forecast FRI JUNE 22

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n apparently abandoned grass-roof hut has become the focus of a multi-agency investigation into the precise boundaries of the Sirinart Marine Natuional Park, public land and the land the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa stands on.

The investigation comes after the resort’s general manager, Tony Pedroni, filed a complaint letter with the Governor’s office on January 12.

The letter was the third he had sent to various authorities drawing attention to a small grass-roofed hut under trees in front of the Marriott.

The hut, he said, probably encroached on the National Park. In addition, he was worried that it was in poor condition and someone might be injured if it collapsed.

Mr Pedroni explained on Monday (June 18) to officials

Marriott GM Tony Pedroni makes a point during his meeting with officials. headed by Vice-Governor Somkiet Sangkhaosuttirak, “The JW Marriott has a good relationship with local people and we do not mind helping them. In this case, we are not trying to [make difficulties for] them.

“But the hut may break and fall down… because no one is taking care of it. They don’t know who the owner is.”

T he gove r n me nt officials – including Sarawut Sisakhukram, Head of Mai Khao Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor); Wichart Pankong, an expert from the forestry office of the Sirinat Park; and representatives of Tha Chat Chai police station, the Damrongtham Centre and others – inspected the area.

They also inspected the empty hut, which has a banner advertising “Tour Information”, but found that no one seemed to know who it belonged to.

Mr Wichart explained, “Between the marker posts for the park and the beginning of the Marriott’s land is a public area. No one may make a living in that area [where the hut is].

If someone encroaches on that area, the authorities will stop them by legal means.”

Now the exact boundaries of the national park, the public land and the JW Marriott land will be researched to pin down where one ends and the next begins – and just who is building in the wrong places.

V/Gov Somkiet said, “Since the JW Marriott sent this letter, I have to consider the matter in a way that is fair to all sides, the local people and the hotel. But first I will allow Mr Sarawut [of the OrBorTor] to measure the area and check the title deeds.”

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DOZENS OF DOCTORS and nurses from both public and private hospitals spent a morning last week at Phuket International Airport, rehearsing procedures for dealing with an aircraft arriving with possible victims of deadly flu on board.

The training session was aimed at dealing with all subtypes of HxNy influenza, which includes such killers as Spanish

’flu, Asian ’flu, bird ’flu and swine ’flu.

Dr Wiwat Seetamanotch, a doctor with the Provincial Health Department, explained, “The training session is aimed at protecting the other passengers and Phuket.”

After the “call” came in to the control tower, the emergency medical team, wearing hazmat (hazardous material) suits prepared an area for

He shot the sheriff A POLICEMAN WAS INJUR­E D ON Monday night (June 18) when he was shot in a small bar west of Chalong Circle, after another customer was told he could not listen to the music he wanted to hear.

The policeman, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Nikom Jeanyuen, 42, went to the Sarapan Plaeng bar on Patak Rd with three friends.

A member of another group in the bar asked for a certain song to be played on the stereo. When the bar owner refused to play the song, the group promptly walked out.

Not long after, they returned and the music lover opened fire with a homemade shotgun pistol, firing five shots into the bar.

Sgr Maj Nikom was hit by shotgun pellets in the head, neck, chest, arm and stomach.

One man has so far been arrested.

screening passengers on the aircraft. For the exercise, there was even an aircraft full of volunteer “passengers”.

Some of the medical team entered this and separated the passengers into green, yellow and red sectors – with green wristbands for those sitting far from the “sick” passenger, yellow for those sitting close to him, and red for the victim himself. While the “red” pas-

senger was rushed to hospital, the “yellows” were interviewed about their travels in the past 15 days, were rescreened with the Thermoscanner, underwent chest X-rays, and were then quarantined in a special negative-air-pressure room in hospital.

Finally, the medical team spray-disinfected the aircraft and the screening area in the airport.

FAIRY TALE ENDING: Congratulations to Meisie van de Mosselaar, a student from Kajonkietsuksa School, who was this week presented with four tickets to see Shrek the Musical in Kuala Lumpur, courtesy of Tourism Malaysia and Phuket Live 89.5 Radio.

Meisie is pictured receiving her prize from ‘Drive on Live’ host Jason Wilder in the Live 89.5 studio. Another four tickets were also taken home by Issareeya and Rada Bhattaramark, students at PIA, who won last week’s Phuket News ‘Win Activity’ (see page 42 for this week’s competition).

IN BRIEF Mayor Somjai reelected Incumbent Somjai Suwansupana won reelection as Mayor of Phuket City on Saturday (June 16) with 11,477 votes from 15,786 people who gave their votes.

The Kon Num Party, led

by Ms Somjai, won 21 of the 24 seats in the counsel. The other three seats went to Paroj Ruampanpong, leader of the Khon Run Mai Party and two of his colleagues.

Motorbikes torched Police are inspecting CCTV footage to discover who poured petrol on three motorbikes parked at the end of Chalong Pier on Monday, destroying them.

Officers spent 20 minutes fighting the flames and managed to prevent them damaging a nearby pickup truck.

Diabetic in suicide A 59-year-old man was found hanged in his Mae Luan Rd home in Phuket Town on Sunday (June 17).

There were no signs of violence and police have concluded that Wirapol Thepnarong’s death was probably suicide. A relative told officers that Wirapol had been depressed because of chronic diabetes.

Volunteer dies in smash A Civil Defence Volunteer, Somyod Pewsalab, 42, died after his pick-up truck smashed into the base of the Heroines Monument at 3am on Sunday (June 17).

Witnesses told police that they saw Mr Somyod’s vehicle coming from the north at high speed. Police believe he may have fallen asleep.

Burmese crewmen electrocuted Two Burmese crew members of a Phuket-based fishing boat were found dead from electrocution on the boat early on Wednesday (June 20).

The owner/skipper of the boat returned to shore, where the bodies of the two, one named as Zawlawin, 28, but the other not identified were taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital.

THE PHUKET NEWS

PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

7

Cycling-mad couple on 9,000-km journey newly married couple are spending their honeymoon in a rather unconventional way – cycling 9,000 kilometres on a tandem bike around Thailand.

Thai national Nattharee and her Australian husband Paul Haman arrived in Phuket on Friday morning (June 15) on their two-person bike, a Hase Pino, after starting out from Surat Thani on May 29.

The couple live in Bangkok and their trip is expected to end around November, after they visit every province in the country. They will cycle around 100 kilometres every day.

“We just wanted to do something different for our honeymoon, and also wanted to promote green tourism and cycling,” said Mrs Haman, who works as a tour guide.

The Hase bike is perfect for the couple, she says, because they used to have difficulty staying together on two separate bikes.

“This bike makes us share our strength and we can interact more. It’s not like two separate bikes, where you are often separated because he is riding far ahead of you,” said Mrs Haman. The trip has given

A OOPS: An 18-wheel-truck carried more driving toward Phuket City, forcing him to than 1,600 crates of M-150 energy drink crashed on the bypass road on Monday afternoon (June 18), causing traffic chaos.

The driver of the truck, Rawin Hangnak, 42, said he crashed after a pickup truck cut across in front of him while he was

brake hard.

The truck jackknifed and the trailer over­ turned. No one was reported injured.

The M-150 slogan is “Devotion, Courage, Sacrifice”. In this case, the sacrifice of a lot of bottles of liquid energy.

Slugfest to benefit turtles THE TURTLES OF PHUKET are set to benefit from a good boxing on July 6.

It has been announced that proceeds from ticket sales for two World Boxing Organization (WBO) Championship bouts will go to conserving turtles.

The first fight will be between Kwanpichit 13 Rien Express and Paithong Meaung Siima in the Oriental Flyweight Division, and the second between bantamweights Puengluay Sor Singyuu and Ray Mattrino of the Philippines.

There will be three other matches on the bill, involving local fighters.

The matches are a unique initiative involving the Department Of Special Investigations (DSI), the Sakhoo Tambon Administration Organization and the Third Area Naval Command of the Royal Thai Navy, which has supported turtle conservation in Phuket for decades.

The slugfest will take place at the Nai Yang boxing ring, starting at 3 pm, and will be

broadcast by Thai TV Channel 7.

Dr Kongkait Kittiwattanawong, head of the rare sea animal group at the Ministry of Nature Resources and Environment, explained that only about 100 turtles nest on Mai Khao beach every year, compared with as many as 10,000 in the past.

“That is a warning of turtle extinction. And the turtle is a way to evaluate the environment of the Andaman Sea as a whole,” he said.

Keep pedalling: Nattharee and Paul Haman. the couple more understanding and knowledge about Thailand.

For example, they found the three southernmost provinces did not appear to be as dangerous as reported in the media.

Unlike being in a car, cycling means you can smell the local smells and get a real sense of each place, they said.

“You can interact with people,” said Mr Haman. “The best part of the trip is meeting people.”

The Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office, Bangornrat Shinaprayoon, said the bicycle touring market in Thailand is continuing to expand, and she encouraged it.

It is not the couple’s first visit to Phuket; three years ago they cycled from Chiang Mai to Phuket.

Follow the Harmans’ cycling honeymoon trip at everyprovincechallenge.com.

thephuketnews.com

FIGHTING FAT 8

PHUKET FOCUS

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Phuket scores in battle to slim down schoolchildren Marque A Rome editor@thephuketnews.com

D

r Tasanee Aikvanich was shocked by the figures: “In just one year obesity has increased from 7 to 15 per cent,” said Dr Tasanee, director of medical services at the Public Health Office, “The rate should not be over 7 per cent, which is why we have launched this programme.”

The Public Health Office is operated by Phuket Town’s municipal government, which, among other things, is responsible for overseeing the health of students attending the city’s seven municipally-run schools.

Viewed from a certain angle, the doctor’s programme is nothing less than a blow against Neo-Liberalism’s most hallowed tenet: that the market is always right.

However, Dr Tasanee is not trying to effect economic or political revolution; she merely wants to change how people, especially kids, eat and play, to make them healthier and happier as they grow, and thereby reduce the public sector’s medical burden.

It sounds disarmingly noncontroversial: eat healthy, exercise and ipso facto live longer; what could be simpler? In reality however, she is finding it rather hard...

In order to meet her goals she must confront market forces head on, for the distressing fattening-up of society is apparent across culture, age, educational and income groups; it transcends national boundaries. It is occurring, not because of “fat genes” but because people like fattening foods and because marketing necessarily indulges consumer tastes.

So Dr Tasanee is fighting the momentum of popular desire, and, wonder of wonders, she’s having a bit of success.

At the end of April, a delegation from Phuket – including the doctor, Mayor Somjai Suwansuppana and Vice-Mayor Khawee Tansukatanon – were invited to talk about the city’s anti-obesity crusade at the International Congress of Educating Cities organised by the city of Changwon in South Korea.

For 12 years Changwon has held workshops on a variety of matters interesting public administrators. The topic for

thephuketnews.com

Above: Not a healthy shape.

Left, Dr Tasanee Aikvanich at the congress in South Korea, where Phuket City’s slimming programme for children attracted a lot of notice.

this year’s congress was Green Environment and Creative Education.

Dr Tasanee delivered a paper to representatives from some 451 cities on Health Impact Assessment in Relation to Childhood Obesity wherein she outlined the city’s sevenpoint “Five-Star” programme to tackle fat kids: Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables at lunchtime; Replace soft drinks with plain milk and low-sugar drinks; Eliminate the sale of deepfried foods; Increase the number of healthy food and low-sugar drink vendors operating in schools’ vicinity; Educate children about food; Forbid junk-food advertising; Ensure that children have the opportunity to exercise

for at least 15 minutes a day.

The invitation came after a contingent from Changwon visited Phuket to inspect the programme. The city had already won Thailand’s National Health Award for Healthiest City in 2011. Mayor Somjai spoke at the congress’ Mayors Round-Table.

The doctor regards hers and the city’s achievements modestly. “Health Impact Assessments usually involve factory workers,” she explained.

“I just applied the concept to public health administration.”

Under the programme, each of the roughly 10,000 students attending city-run schools is evaluated: the obese are referred to a pediatrician in a special programme subsidised by the city.

The rest are trained in good-eating and exercise habits.

On December 26, 2009, at the urging of Mayor Somjai, parents, vendors, students, teachers

and administrators – whom Dr Tasanee calls ‘stakeholders’ signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the mayor to implement the Five-Star programme.

Results have been heartening, though not triumphant.

At one school, no junk food is sold and vendors have been moved from inside the school gates to outside. Other schools have not been as successful in eliminating problem vendors, but throughout the school system the overall rate of obesity has dropped from a high of 17.04 per cent in 2010, to 13 per cent last semester.

Keeping down the fat requires constant vigilance and promotion. As part of the programme, for example, students at Pibul Sawadi School have learned to role-play – Mayor Somjai even brought a troupe of them to the Bangkok meeting that ended with Phuket Town’s Healthiest City award.

Dr Tasanee says genetic factors undoubtedly contribute to obesity but thinks the condition results more from lifestyle choices by parents.

“Kids get fat as infants,” she explained, “from overfeeding or mal-feeding (meaning too much sugar in the diet) and too little physical exercise.”

She also thinks the paradigm in mothers’ minds of what constitutes “cute” in infants must change from rosy-cheeked pudge-buckets to something a little trimmer.

The doctor insists on a “back to basics,” approach to diet: “More vegetables, less oil, less fried stuff.”

She knows she’s bucking the trend. Modern convenience stores and fast-food stands sell mostly junk. But Dr Tasanee feels there is no alternative to putting up a fight.

“Fat kids don’t understand why they’re fat. If they knew, though, that one coke contains

six teaspoons of sugar or that after eating a piece of pizza you should run or walk fast for 30 minutes, they might be encouraged to take control of themselves,” she added.

Of course, the problem is far greater in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.

Americans, though only 6 per cent of the world’s population, constitute more than one-third of the world’s obese, according to researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Other nations where weight gain is seemingly out of control include Egypt, Mexico, Qatar and South Africa, the London School researchers say.

In Asia, too, especially in developed areas (with the notable exception of Japan), the trend towards a porcine roundness of figure is clear – and thus rather alarming, because Asia holds 61 per cent of the global population.

If the trend continues, the researchers say, humanity’s fatty excess will weigh as much as a billion more people of normal weight, which may prompt an environmental disaster of unknown proportions.

So it’s important now to fight fat. Perhaps one day, the world will look back on the likes of Dr Tasanee – on those who saw the problem and initiated processes by which it might be overcome – as the real heroes of our time.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

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10 THAILAND NEWS

IN BRIEF ‘Dreadlock drug smuggler’ sentenced to 15 years A Bangkok court on Monday (June 18) sentenced South African “dreadlock drug smuggler” Nolubabalo “Babsie” Nobanda to 15 years in jail for smuggling 1.5kg into Thailand hidden in her dreadlocks.

Nobanda was arrested at the Bangkok International Airport in December for trying to smuggle cocaine from Brazil to Thailand.

Police found 1.5kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of $150,000 (B4.7m) in her dreadlocks. ................................................

Plans for Don Muang Airport Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to fully reactivate Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport to ease strain on Suvarnabhumi Airport, deputy government spokesmen Chalitrat Chantarubeksa said.

The plan was proposed

by Airports of Thailand (AoT) not only to relieve congestion at Suvarnabhumi, but to increase potential in the transport sector, increase revenue, reduce accumulated losses, solve the problem of depreciation of assets at Don Mueang and to have the additional airport available as an “alternative… in case of the unexpected”. ................................................

Durian farmers protest over destroyed crops

Earlier this month a group of Nonthaburi durian orchard owners, in central Thailand, protested against a government compensation plan for their orchards which were destroyed in floods last year.

The government plan to pay them B5,000-6,000 per rai of destroyed orchard was too little they said, and demanded B12,000-15,000. on the issue for them.

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

‘No risk of mega flood’ – official MCOT Online/NNT

T

here is no risk of a mega flood this year if the rainfall level is normal, according to a meteorological department forecast, while two major dams will not overflow, said a senior official of the Royal Irrigation Department.

Mr Suthep Noipairoj, Deputy Director General of the Royal Irrigation Department, affirmed that the two major dams – the Bhumibol dam and the Sirikit dam – are capable of retaining more water and that reserve water is adequate for crop cultivation in the central region.

However, he conceded that low-lying areas in Ayutthaya and Ang Thong are likely to be submerged as is a normal occurrence every year. Nevertheless, residential, commercial zones and industrial estates will be safe from flooding, he added.

Meanwhile, farmers in Phitsanulok, in lower Northern Thailand, have reinforced sand embankments to protect paddy fields from floods originating from upstream North after northern run-off started overflowing some areas.

Farmers in Baan Krang sub-district filled sandbags to build temporary dykes to protect 3,200 acres of paddy

Authorities say there is no risk of a major flood this year. fields nearly ready for harvest.

As rain continues and some rice paddies have been flooded, farmers asked the Provincial Royal Irrigation to speed up the dredging of two canals and a river to drain flood water into waterways flowing into the Yom River.

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) spokesman Wasan Meewong said that agencies are acting quickly to get contingency plans in place

for flooding, especially given the recent amount of rain, NNT reported.

Mr Wasan said that Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra had ordered canal dredging and sewer unclogging to be sped up and that highcapacity water pumps are being installed, NNT reported. He added that the city has learned from last year’s flooding and has a more efficient and effective plan this year.

Photo: AFP The BMA also said that it will try to deliver compensation money to victims of last year’s flooding by July 29. Wasan said the BMA will receive allotted funds from the government and begin transferring it to victims by Krung Thai Bank on June 26.

According to an Assumption University ABAC poll, over 70 per cent of Thais believe that the country will be hit by flood again this year.

Cabinet extends emergency decree MCOT Online

THE CABINET ON TUESDAY (June 19) approved further extension of the emergency decree in Thailand’s three southernmost border provinces for another three months.

The emergency decree will be extended from June 20 to Sept 19 as proposed by the National Security Council (NSC) to facilitate the authorities

operations in the insurgencyprone areas.

The Cabinet assigned the Internal Security Operations Command to collect detailed information in affected areas on the number of attacks, security issues, and official operations in the next three months to evaluate whether the implementation of the decree can be reviewed in any particular district.

Agencies concerned were instructed to accelerate processes to bring insurgentrelated cases to court.

The NSC affirmed that enforcement of the decree does not result in any human rights violations as feared by human rights bodies.

Formally termed the Executive Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations, the measure first

took effect on July 19, 2005 in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala. It was renewed for three months on Oct 19 that year, and subsequently has been renewed every three months.

More than 5,100 people have been killed – both Muslims and Buddhists – in attacks across Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat since unrest escalated in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Thaksin and 27 others indicted MCOT Online

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL indicted ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and 27 others on Wednesday for alleged malfeasance involving a state-owned bank’s loan extensions to a debt-ridden major real estate company and its subsidiaries.

The Supreme Court announced it would rule on Monday (July 25) whether to accept the case for deliberation.

Attorney-General Chulasingh Vasantasingh assigned a prosecutor to bring 17 boxes containing 150 files of evidence to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions, seeking prosecution against Thaksin, former Krung Thai Bank President Viroj Nualkae and 27 others for malfeasance and corruption.

The Attorney-General Office (OAG) spokesperson Winai Damrongmongkolkul said the indictment was a decision jointly made by a working team of prosecutors and the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission after they found that there were sufficient grounds to indict Thaksin and others involved.

Supreme Court president Phairoj Vayuparb will call a meeting of all the supreme court judges to select a bench of nine judges to consider the case.

The long-running case was dated back to 2008 when the now-defunct Assets Examination Committee (AEC), set up by the 2006 coupmakers ,submitted evidence and recommended the OAG to indict Mr Thaksin on malfeasance charges.

The charges also involved Krung Thai Bank’s B9.9 billion in non-performing loans provided to three subsidiaries of the debt-ridden Krisada Mahanakorn real estate company.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

Liu Yang : China’s first female astronaut Agence France-Presse

A

s a child, Liu Yang once wanted to be a bus conductor and later had her sights set on becoming a lawyer, but decades later she has travelled into space as China’s first ever female astronaut.

It was a visit by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to her school in central China that changed young Liu’s mind as she realised she wanted to become a pilot – a decision that eventually saw her take on the historic role.

Liu, 33, was unveiled as China’s first female astronaut last Friday, and blasted off to space last Saturday along with two other male colleagues aboard the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, in China’s most ambitious space mission yet.

“From day one I have been told I am no different from the male astronauts,” Liu, a trained pilot who is married but has no children, said in comments carried by state media before the launch.

Liu first joined the army in 1997, and has racked up

China’s first female astronaut Liu Yang waves to the crowd on Saturday prior to boarding the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft.

Photo: AFP 1,680 flying hours since then, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

She was recruited as a prospective astronaut in May 2010 before being confirmed as one of six candidates shortlisted for the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft mission three months ago.

“As a pilot, I flew in the sky. Now that I am an astronaut, I will fly in space. This flight will be much higher and further away,” Liu – a

keen cook who likes to make “cola chicken wings” – told reporters ahead of the launch.

China is the third country after the Soviet Union and United States to send a woman into space using its own technology. Liu joined two male colleagues, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang.

“As much as possible, I would like to experience the weightless environment of space, appreciate the beauty

of Earth, to see our beautiful home,” she told reporters.

“I will record my own feelings and experiences, and bring them back to share with everyone.”

But as a child, Liu did not dream of the stars, and instead wanted to become “a lawyer like the ones in television series,” according to Xinhua.

“The first time she sat on a bus with her mother, she also thought becoming a bus conductor would be great, as she could ride the bus every day,” it said.

Decades later, she has become a national heroine, and her mission is being excitedly followed in the Chinese media and on the country’s popular microblogs.

Banners have reportedly been put up at her former high school in central China’s Henan province to celebrate her selection as the country’s first female “taikonaut”, as the country dubs its space travellers.

State broadcaster CCTV said Liu was selected for her “excellent skills and psychological qualities”.

She was once praised for

her cool handling of an incident when her jet hit a flock of pigeons, but she was still able to land the heavily damaged aircraft.

Liu is married with no children. State media have said that China requires female astronauts to be married and preferably have a child, due to concerns over potential exposure to radiation that could harm their fertility.

In a CCTV interview, she expressed her gratitude to her husband and said she felt “very guilty” that she had not been able to spend time with her family due to months of training that saw her rehearse for the mission 16 hours a day.

“He has been very supportive of me,” Liu said. “I am very thankful to him.”

She said she would discuss having children after her return from the mission.

“I love children and life.

Being a housewife and spending time with the family is a type of happiness, but being an astronaut perhaps is another type of happiness that not everyone could have,” she said, according to Xinhua.

ASIA NEWS 11

IN BRIEF One dead as typhoon cuts across Japan One man was killed as a powerful typhoon bringing heavy rain and strong winds cut across Japan’s main island Honshu overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, the weather agency and national media said.

Some 50 people were injured and over 400 flights were cancelled, while road and rail transport was badly affected.

Taiwan soon to clear all mines near China: Ma In yet another sign of warming ties with former rival China, Taiwan said Monday that all landmines laid on the frontline islands off the mainland during the 1950s will be removed within six months.

The shores of Kinmen and Matsu, two Taiwan-controlled island groups sitting just a few kilometres away from the southeastern Chinese province of Xiamen, were carpeted with tens of thousands of mines after the two sides split in 1949, at the end of the Chinese Civil War.

thephuketnews.com

12 WORLD NEWS

IN BRIEF French ‘Al-Qaeda’ man held in Pakistan: official A French militant described as an Al-Qaeda leader linked to the 9/11 attacks has been captured in Pakistan, experts and a Pakistani official said Wednesday.

Naamen Meziche was detained after disclosures

by Younis al-Mauritani, apparently tasked by Osama bin Laden to plot attacks on Australia, Europe and the US and captured in Pakistan last year, the Pakistani security official told AFP.

Saudi appoints Prince Salman as crown prince Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has appointed Defence Minister Prince Salman as crown prince and heir apparent, ensuring a smooth succession at a time of tough challenges for the world’s biggest oil exporter.

The appointment was announced one day after the burial of Crown Prince and Interior Minister Nayef, who died on Saturday, and means King Abdullah’s cautious reforms are likely to be continued.

Mladic trial put on hold The United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia says the trial of Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, which was due to resume this month, is suspended until further notice.

Mladic, who was arrested in Serbia in May 2011 after 16 years on the run, is accused of genocide for his role in the siege of Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo and for allegedly orchestrating the 1995 killing of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica.

The court decided to suspend proceedings because of an error in disclosing documents to the defence team, the court said.

Major restructure, redundancies for News Limited Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited Wednesday announced a major restructure to consolidate its Australian operations, merging its print and digital businesses with an unspecified number of job losses.

Under the plans, News will cut its operations in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria states from 19 to five divisions, “adopting a one-city-one-newsroom strategy”.

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Women’s rights law is no match for tradition Agence France-Presse

I

n June 2011, Iraqi Kurdistan passed a landmark law that criminalised female circumcision and domestic violence, but one year on, activists remain frustrated with its patchwork implementation.

In what is a conservative society even by Middle East standards, the passage of the law last year was hailed by rights groups and NGOs as a major step forward after years of struggle.

The law punishes physical, sexual and psychological assault committed within the family, creates conditions for the protection of victims and mandates the establishment of specialised courts.

It also carries penal and financial punishments for those who promote or practise female genital mutilation.

Kurdistan is a three-province region in Iraq’s north that enjoys great autonomy from the central government, with its own parliament, budget, and armed forces.

The region benefits from a markedly more stable security situation than the rest of the country, and an improving economy, two factors that mean life for women in Kurdistan is widely regarded as better than Iraq’s other provinces.

Amina Osman sells second hand clothes in the city of Arbil, in the autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

Photo: AFP But terrible problems remain, one of which is female genital mutilation.

Though often perceived as a problem mostly prevalent in Africa, the practice is widespread in Kurdistan, according to German NGO Wadi, which published a report in 2010 on the subject, based on interviews with 1,700 women in the region.

According to that report, 72.7 per cent of women in the region’s two biggest provinces

of Arbil and Sulaimaniyah were victims of female genital mutilation, with the rate rising to almost 100 per cent in some areas.

Wadi pointed to a “clear link” between the practice and illiteracy, pegged at 51.1 per cent among women in Kurdistan.

The adoption of the law marked a “big victory”, said Suzan Aref, head of the Women’s Empowerment Organisation, a local NGO established in

June 2004.

“At least now we are talking about this,” she said.

Pakhshan Zangana, secretary general of the High Council for Women’s Affairs, a Kurdish government agency, agrees: “In our society, just to recognise domestic violence is very important.”

“Society recognised that, yes, we do have domestic violence, it is a crime. This is so important.

“In other societies, it is

(considered) the right of the family, that they have the right to do anything,” she said.

But both women agree the battle will not be won until the law is fully applied, which appears a long way off.

“Yes, we have laws, but... we don’t have implementation,” Aref said. “This is a big problem.”

Police in the region are widely seen as reluctant to investigate deeper in to violence against and the causes of apparent suicides, which may well be so-called honour killings, Aref noted.

Women see the law not being applied, she said, and “they lose hope”.

Ramziya Zana, head of the Arbil-based Gender Studies and Information Centre Organisation, is more direct.

“It has been one year since the law was passed, and it has still not been applied,” she said. “It’s a disaster. Now, you have to either return the law to parliament, or apply it.”

According to her, judges and religious leaders have stood in the way of the law’s full implementation.

Zangana admitted there have been difficulties in applying the new law, particularly in the creation of special courts, but insisted an implementation plan was being developed with the United Nations, and said patience was needed.

WikiLeaks founder Assange Up to 27 million are living in slavery: US seeks asylum in Ecuador Agence France-Presse

Agence France-Presse

WIKILEAKS FOUNDER Julian Assange on Tuesday walked into Ecuador’s embassy in London and applied for political asylum in a sensational bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes.

The former computer hacker, who last week exhausted all his legal options in Britain to fight extradition, was holed up at the embassy in central London while Quito examined the request, officials said.

Britain’s Foreign Office said Assange was “beyond the reach of the police” because he was on diplomatic territory, but stressed it would seek to work with the Ecuadorian authorities “to resolve this situation as soon as possible.”

Assange will remain at the embassy under the protection of the Ecuadorian government while his application is

Julian Assange. considered.

“The decision to consider Mr Assange’s application for protective asylum should in no way be interpreted as the Government of Ecuador interfering in the judicial processes of either the United Kingdom or Sweden,” the embassy said in a statement.

Pr ime Mi nister Julia

Photo: Espen Moe Gillard said Tuesday that Australia will continue to offer consular assistance to Assange.

“Australia will continue to support Mr Assange just as we do support any Australian overseas who faces legal difficulties or dilemmas,” Gillard told reporters after a Group of 20 summit in Mexico.

UP TO 27 MILLION PEOPLE are living in slavery around the world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton estimated Tuesday as the US unveiled its annual report into human trafficking.

“The end of legal slavery in the United States and in other countries around the world has not, unfortunately, meant the end of slavery,” said Clinton.

“Whatever their background, they are the living, breathing reminders that the work to eradicate slavery remains unfinished.”

The State Department’s annual report said however that progress was being made on cracking down “on the scourge of trafficking in persons” with more governments bringing prosecutions while setting up systems to help victims.

Out of the 185 countries included in the 2012 report,

only 33 complied fully with laws in place to end human trafficking, such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights which prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude.

But five countries had moved up from the bottom ranking Tier 3, including Myanmar and Venezuela, to be included among the 42 countries now on a US watchlist.

Among the 17 countries on the bottom of the table were Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.

Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, from the office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, said while the number of people officially identified as victims of trafficking and slavery had gone up by 28 per cent since last year to 42,291, the numbers of prosecutions in 2012 had also increased by 10 per cent to 3,969, he said.

THE PHUKET NEWS

LETTERS/VIEWPOINT 13

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

OPINION

Editor’s Viewpoint

Norachai’s World

Answers to mystery deaths are essential

T

he results of the autopsies on two Canadian sisters who were found dead at a hotel in Phi Phi are likely to reveal more to the world about Thailand than just the cause of their deaths.

Audrey and Noemi Belanger, aged 20 and 26, were found by hotel staff showing signs of having apparently suffered extreme toxic reactions last Friday (June 15).

Police released a statement on Sunday night saying that serious food poising might have been to blame. However, the Thai authorities quickly rebutted those claims, saying that it was too early to pinpoint the cause of the deaths.

As The Phuket News went to press, all evidence was at Bangkok’s forensic department and the autopsies had still to be performed, with the parents of the two women requesting a delay until they arrived in Thailand.

There will be no happy ending to this tragic story, but one hopes there might be some answers and their family

A plague of flies

Letters to the editor Food vendors threaten lives [Re: Sisters died of ‘ food poisoning’ on Phi Phi] This is very sad indeed but I have to say the general state of some places serving food is absolutely disgraceful and life-threatening.

I ran a restaurant on Surin Beach with my wife for two years and used to watch people running up from the beach to buy food in the car park. These vendors had no hygiene facilities whatsoever, never washed their hands and raw food was open to insect infestation. There is no control by the health authorities – just another nail in the coffin for tourism. Surin Beach has two raw sewage run-offs going straight into the sea (swim if you must but keep your mouth closed): cholera free of charge.

Blindeye

No flies on this letter writer [Re: Incinerator blamed for plague of flies] “Testing” of the municipal incinerator is a word that can cover many contingencies; and one hard to find fault with, for it subtly demonstrates the right kind of responsibility.

But what precisely does it mean in this case? What steps are involved in the testing?

How long is this “testing” to last? Is there a schedule? Do key people in the provincial office and OrBorJor know what it is? (If they do they’re altogether too coy about it).

Why have city officials, who are directly responsible, been mum on the subject?

These sorts of questions, I know, make our local officials choleric, so I don’t expect answers to them.

One day, breeding season will cease and fly numbers will abate... for a time. Then

Officialdom will allude to the wisdom of their continuous, step-by-step approach.

But here’s another question: The city office is pure Democrat. Might not it be that Phuket Town is suffering a plague of flies in truly biblical numbers merely because the Reds will do anything to drive the Dems from their power-base?

M, Phuket Town

Phuket, forget about Canadian tourists [Re:Canadian sisters found dead in Phi Phi hotel room] Our travel agency, based in Quebec, Canada, from now on will be issuing serious travel warnings to any travellers who wish to go to Phuket. We will no longer recommend your destination. There are too many mysterious deaths that occur in your region.

You should be ashamed, you have no respect towards the family of the victims.

[Phuket] you are pitiful... the entire planet has their eyes on you, and how you tried to hide the truth of what really happened.

You can say farewell to tourism on your island. No more Phuket for Canadians.

You lose.

Nalu Quebec

Flu flight fright [Re: Medical teams practice halting flu at Phuket airport] In practice a lot of very angry and frightened people will be trapped in the course of these sensible protective measures – actually everyone on that flight plus check-in staff would have to be detained, isolated and monitored for several days.

There will be mayhem so

might be able to leave with closure, unlike many friends and relatives who have left with unanswered questions about their loved ones’ deaths in Thailand.

That growing list includes six mysterious deaths of foreigners in the past year – including four in a single Chiang Mai hotel and another two on Phi Phi – the causes of which have still to be revealed.

This may be because of a genuine inability to establish cause of death. Or, the suspicious will say, it may be a cover-up in a desperate attempt to salvage Thailand’s reputation as an amazingly safe place to take a holiday.

Neither of these scenarios is good enough. Neither will benefit Thailand. The family needs an explanation. They need closure. And the world needs reassurance that Thailand cares enough to work until it finds the answers and that it is transparent enough to reveal them publicly.

This week in history look out for special clauses appearing in all airline tickets soon! Those of us who do not fly will not be sympathetic, though.

C. Smith

Liar deserves harsher sentence [Re: Rape ‘victim’ sentenced to 15 days in jail] Women like this should receive much harsher punishments because false rape claims do nothing but diminish the response to actual rape cases.

People are less likely to bother reporting a real rape case when these liars make rape out to be something you can joke about or use as an excuse to hide your own pathetic indiscretions. Honestly, people like this make me so angry...

Jessitar

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

■■ June 22, 1969 – The Cuyahoga River in Ohio, USA, catches fire, triggering a crack-down on pollution in the river. It was the 13th time the river had caught fire due to pollution.

■■ June 23, 1942 – The first selections for the gas chamber at Auschwitz take place on a train full of Jews from Paris.

■■ June 24, 1939 – Siam is renamed Thailand by Gen Plaek Pibulsonggram, the country’s military dictator.

■■ June 25, 1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.

■■ June 26, 1936 – Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.

■■ June 27, 1923 – Capt.

Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane.

■■ June 28, 1846 – The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax in Paris, France.

thephuketnews.com

14 BUSINESS

THE PHUKET NEWS

BUSINESS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Wealthy Thais eye London

British developers find in Thailand a ready market for second homes > 16

Alasdair Forbes execeditor@thephuketnews.com

Teamwork the key to success SUCCESS

Stor y

Auttharawan ‘Gay’ Pratumwan Island Technology

T

he company was formed by you and your late husband John. When he died, how difficult was it for you to carry on the business?

It was quite scary when I realised I had to run this business alone. John passed away when the company had just turned five years.

Because John didn’t speak Thai I was involved in the day-to-day operation from the beginning, such as hiring staff and dealing with Thai suppliers. I learned the technology with guidance from John and also by working directly with suppliers.

I guess I just got on with the operation of the company and keeping myself busy. I already had responsibility for the financial affairs of the company so now I had to widen my responsibility to all aspects – project planning, technical support, business planning and so on.

It was hard and of course I had no one else to share problems with, but you have to just move on and believe

you can do it.

Was it hard to learn the business?

It was sometimes hard to understand the technical issues and understand more about the IT market and our competition.

For general business management I was okay, as I trained in accountancy, but my experience of IT was very limited at the beginning. But we had a good team and my knowledge grew over time. I am curious by nature and I like to have confidence in what I am talking about, so building better product knowledge was always important.

How much has the company grown since then?

We have enjoyed good, steady growth despite the downturn in the global economy. The profitability of the company increases and this year we are enjoying a significant increase over 2011.

There has been a strong focus on sales and marketing during 2011 and 2012 and we are doing a lot to help our sales team become more efficient and therefore more successful.

Initially the company concentrated on providing fast, stable internet connections.

Has the focus changed?

These days the internet is just

Auttharawan Pratumwan: Nothing is better than emails of thanks from a satisfied customer.

30-35 per cent of our overall revenue.

The rest of our business is based around a range of different but integrated technologies so that we can bring a full suite of solutions to small, medium and large businesses, and individual customers.

We have what we call the “Super Seven” which is a variety of technologies such as electronic security, servers and networking, TV systems,

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

telephony and so on.

We are also doing more and more M&E infrastructure for large projects. This means communications and IT infrastructure (sometimes based on fibre-optics) for commercial and residential projects.

We are also an authorised re-seller for Apple, so we have grown into many areas.

What’s the most difficult thing to do in your business?

I think it is the same as every

liberto@construction-thailand.com

liberto@construction-thailand.com 40 years experience of more than 20 years at your service in Thailand.

Main Contractor:

Study Project Architecture Design Construction & Management

Office 3.L.H & I.C.P. Manufactory 3.L.H & I.C.P.

thephuketnews.com

business. The most difficult thing is to get people working together as a team and all keen to provide good service to the company and to our customers, as well as focusing on attention to detail.

When you have more than 40 people in the company, it is not always easy.

We have a great team but not everyone always sees things in the same way as the owner, so I have to spend a lot of time and effort getting the ‘people issues’ in the company as good as I can get them.

What gives you the most satisfaction?

I value the respect and appreciation that our customers have given us over the last 11 years. Nothing is better than emails of thanks from a satisfied customer.

I also get a lot of enjoyment from working with my staff and spending time with them after work sometimes.

And of course it is very satisfying to see the company grow and continue to do well even in difficult economic times.

Is it hard in Phuket to find the highly qualified people you need?

Yes, this is one of the biggest challenges. The availability of well-educated or skilled

employees in the IT field is much less than in Bangkok, for example.

We frequently have to recruit outside Phuket but even this has its difficulties as many employees either don’t want to move away from Bangkok, or if they do, they often find after six months that they want to go back.

We are very committed to in-house training but it is important to have the right people to employ and train.

I see you have a company football team.

We put together teams for various sporting events during the year, not just football.

This is a great way for the staff to get together outside work and do something fun and enjoyable.

I have to say that it was great fun for me to learn football from my staff. I may not be the best in the team but we all enjoy it very much.

What do you think is the biggest factor in your success?

It is hard to pick just one factor but I think having a strong team behind me is probably the most important.

Having great products, service, knowledge etc is certainly essential but without the hard-working team I have, things would be very different.

Govt ‘not worried’ about Euro fallout NNT

LEADERS OF THE THAI government have been uttering soothing words this week about how the economy is likely to be affected by the Euro zone crisis.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged all agencies to keep a close eye on the economic crisis in Europe as its impact could be “drastic” for Thailand.

But Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said on Saturday he was confident that the debt crisis would not have any serious impact on Thailand.

At a meeting of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and related agencies last Friday (June 15), the PM noted that Thailand has been preparing

itself to cope with the crisis fallout for some time but conceded that the situation must be closely monitored.

The following day Mr Kittiratt – while conceding that exports will be affected to some extent, because Europe accounts for a tenth of all Thailand’s exports – said tight coordination among government agencies has been initiated to mitigate the crisis impacts, if any.

Nevertheless, he said he believes that the government’s 15 per cent export growth target for 2012 will be achieved if new markets can be opened to offset any drop in Europe.

Bank of Thailand (BoT) Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul, too, is confident that current measures will be effective in handling any fallout from Europe.

THE PHUKET NEWS

BUSINESS/ECONOMICS 15

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

IN BRIEF Laguna Vietnam to open November Banyan Tree, owners of Phuket’s Laguna Resorts & Hotels, will open a similar complex, Laguna Lăng Cô, in Vietnam on November 1.

On the coast of Central Vietnam, Laguna Lăng Cô is Banyan Tree’s first foray into the country. It will have three kilometres of beachfront, a Banyan Tree and an Angsana Resort, conference facilities and an 18-hole golf course designed by Sir Nick Faldo.

Private villas and residences will also be built for sale. Phase 1 of the project represents a US$200 million (BB6 billion) investment funded through the Banyan Tree Indochina Hospitality Fund.

Army camp tourism gets boost The Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MTS) has signed a deal with the Ministry of Defence to develop tourism at military bases.

The director of The Royal Thai Army’s tourism promotion office, Maj Gen Pawarit Jamsawang, said he hopes to arrange a meeting between the Army, Navy and Air Force, with each being responsible for assessing what might have tourism potential.

Around 40 military camps nationwide could be opened to tourism, including beaches and islands that come under the jurisdiction of the navy.

– TTR Weekly

Lersuang name changed The Board of Directors of Club Lersuang, a private residential estate in Bang Tao, have renamed the estate Baan Puri, with effect from July 1.

Estate managers Jones Lang LaSalle explained, “The new name, voted as favourite by the leaseholders, represents a fresh start for the property, which has been under owner management since the dismissal of the former directors in 2010.

Mum gets planeload of winnings A mother of three from New South Wales, Australia, will treat 251 of her Facebook friends to a holiday in Malaysia in their own private jet, after winning AirAsia’s latest marketing showstopper, a plane giveaway.

Julie-Anne Foster, 42, and her friends will get return flights to Kuala Lumpur in a specially reserved AirAsia Airbus A330-300, as well as three nights’ accommodation .

Bangkok top tourist city in Asia – survey TTR Weekly

B

angkok will be the top destination in Asia/ Pacific in terms of projected international arrivals and expenditure, according to the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index 2012.

And Thailand’s capital will come third in the world, after London and New York, MasterCard made the projections earlier this week based on its second annual Global Destination Cities Index that looks forward and projects cross-border travel spend in 132 cities worldwide.

Authored by Global Economic Advisor for MasterCard Worldwide, Dr Yuwa HedrickWong, the report ranks the world’s leading destination

Rank

City

Visitor spend (US$ billion) 2010

2011

2012

% growth 2012 visitors 2011-2012 (Million)

1

Bangkok

11.1

16.6

19.3

16.6

12.2

2

Singapore

9

11.3

12.7

12.7

11.8

3

Sydney

9.2

10.1

11

9.7

2.5

4

Seoul

7.7

9.1

10.6

16.2

8

5

Taipei

6.1

8.7

10.5

201

5.4

6

Tokyo

10.2

8

9.9

24.2

4.3

7

Hong Kong

7.3

8.6

9.5

9.5

11.1

8

Shanghai

5.6

7.3

8.3

12.6

7.5

9

Beijing

4.2

5.5

6.5

19.2

6.2

10

Kuala Lumpur

4.7

5.6

6.4

13.7

8.1

cities and demonstrates their interconnectivity.

The report said Asia/Pacific exhibits the strongest growth in trips and crossborder spend.

Trips will improve by 9.5

per cent in 2012 to reach 6.6 million in the top 10 destination cities in Asia/Pacific and cross-border spend will increase to US$104.7 billion (B3.1 trillion) this year from US$90.8 billion (B2.7 trillion)

last year, representing a 15.3 per cent growth.

According to the report projections, Bangkok should gain the No 1 city slot in terms of projected international trips and spend within

the Asia/Pacific region. The city will witness a growth of 6.5 per cent to 12.2 million trips in 2012 and an impressive 16.6 per cent to US$19.3 billion (B579 billion) in international spend.

Meanwhile, thephuketinsider.com reports that arrivals at Phuket International Airport have increased 11 per cent year-on-year for the period of January though the end of May 2012.

International passengers arriving to the island increased 13 per cent with domestic arrivals growing 9 per cent.

Total passenger traffic at the airport for the first five months of the year stood at 4,115,231, indicating that Phuket may surpass 9-millionpassenger mark by year-end.

Smile Chinese top tourist markets Thai to take off TTR Weekly

Country

Arrivals

Change (%)

T H E M I N I S T RY O F Tourism and Sports’ data on tourist arrivals for May indicates security issues, mainly in the deep south following a car bomb attack in Hat Yai on March 31, are still affecting travel from Malaysia.

During May, arrivals from Malaysia dropped to 176,800, down 16.42 per cent compared with May 2011. In April, arrivals from Malaysia plunged 22.18 per cent.

China took Malaysia’s place as the top supplier of tourists to Thailand since April. In May alone, arrivals from China hit 185,886, a growth of 37.87 per cent.

Overall, Thailand received 1,523,782 tourists in May, up 8.27 per cent. Meanwhile, from January to May, visits reached 8,871,930, up 7.27 per cent.

Looking at arrivals by regions, there were improve-

China

185,886

+37.87

Malaysia

176,800

-16.42

India

115,867

+15.05

Japan

91,111

+15.88

Korea

72,655

-8.85

Australia

67,456

+15.59

Laos

66,962

-19.44

Russia

64,212

+52.94

United Kingdom

60,216

+12.08

United States

57,869

+18.89

ments in all regions. The largest market, East Asia (57.16 per cent share), which includes ASEAN, posted the smallest growth, up just 0.59 per cent, supplying 870,978 tourists.

Within the region, drops were monitored in Malaysia (-16.42 per cent, 176,800); Laos (-19.44 per cent, 66,962) and Korea (-8.85 per cent, 72,655).

However, there was a substantial increase of 15.88

per cent in Japanese tourists compared with May 2011 (Japan suffered a massive tsunami and earthquake in March 2011 stalling outbound travel for months).

Despite their economic problems, arrivals from Europe and the Americas grew over the same month last year at 27.27 per cent (296,670)

and 23.88 per cent (84,579) respectively.

All identified countries recorded double-digit growth with the exceptions of Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden. In Europe, Russia posted the strongest growth, +52.94 per cent (64,212).

Arrivals from South Asia and Oceania improved substantially, +14.44 per cent (137,827) and +14.18 per cent (76,242) respectively. In May, a 15-per-cent growth of Indian tourists sent that country up to third place of the Top 10 ranking.

The Middle East market grew marginally, +3.27 per cent (44,714), while Africa surged 32.81 per cent (12,772) In April, Suvarnabhumi Airport welcomed 1,021,246 tourists (+14.82 per cent) followed by Phuket Airport, 152,540 (+21.57 per cent).

on July 7

TTR Weekly

THAI SMILE, THE SOcalled “light premium brand” launched by Thailand’s flag carrier, will take off on July 7 with a service from Bangkok to gamblers’ heaven, Macau.

Services between Bangkok and Phuket, and Chiang Mai and Phuket will follow on September 16.

Fares will not be as low as the country’s budget airlines.

For example, the daily Phuket flight, which will leave Bangkok at 15:30 and return at 17:25, will start at B5,240.

Nok Air sells Phuket from B2,980, while Thai AirAsia sells at B3,400.

All fares quoted are allinclusive. Flights can be booked at the website, thaismileair.com

Take the plunge!

Daily Trips to Phuket‘s best dive sites Special packages for Residents Holiday programmes for Kids Unique customer service e-mail: info@sea-bees.com tel: +66 (0)76 381 765

thephuketnews.com

16 BUSINESS/PROPERTY

THE PHUKET NEWS

Sansiri launches sixth project Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter4@thephuketnews.com

B

angkok property giant Sansiri on Tuesday (June 19) unveiled its sixth project in Phuket in eight months: The Base, near Central Festival.

It has already launched dcondo Creek, dcondo KathuPatong, dcondo Kathu-Phuket, and Habitown and Habitia in Koh Kaew, totalling around 2,500 condos and stand-alone homes. Some of these sold out in just hours.

Uthai Uthaisangsuk, senior executive vice president for condominium business and project development, said he was not worried about grumbles in the local property industry that his company and other Bangkok giants releasing hundreds of lowend homes onto the market might cause upheaval in the local economy, or even create a property bubble.

He said: “Sansiri is not

‘In for the long haul’: Sansiri CEO Apichart Chutrakul and senior executive vice president for condominium business and project development Uthai Uthaisangsuk. worried about the investment because we have a good funding base for the project from the banks. It’s not a problem for us if customers buy more

than one unit for investment purposes.

“In fact, Sansiri’s responsibility covers only the deposit period. The rest of the price is

the bank’s responsibility. And they will naturally consider each customer’s financial position before extending a loan.

“We have the capital back-

ing to carry out The Base and whatever comes next.

[Sansiri’s CEO] Apichart Chutrakul and I are not in Phuket for the short term – we plan to stay for the long haul.

We have confidence that our revolving fund is stable.”

In fact, Mr Apichart added, “Our projects are good for Phuket; when these projects are complete we will have spent about B4.5 billion. That has to be good for the local economy.”

The Base is costing Sansiri and its backers B800 million.

Mr Uthai said research indicated that there is a demand in Phuket for urban living. The project will have two buildings on four rai of land, each with seven floors and comprising a total of 311 Units.

Deposits for condos at The Base will be taken at Central Festival from June 29 to July 1. Prices start at B1.9 million.

Construction will begin in February. For more info call 1685 or visit sansiri.com

Cebu ‘should copy Phuket’s success’ CEBU, AN ISLAND IN THE Philippines, and also the government seat of a province comprising 167 islands, should model itself on Phuket, says telecoms, tollways and TV mogul Manuel V Pangilinan.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported this week that Mr Pangilinan predicted at a roundtable discussion in Makati, Manlia, that Cebu could make great strides if it could privatise the Mactan international airport and market itself as a hub for easy access to tourist attractions such as Boracay, Bohol and Palawan.

The Inquirer also reported that he compared Cebu with the success of Phuket, saying the island of Mactan had the same potential to attract tourists if only major infrastructure, such as a third bridge to the main island of Cebu is built, and long-term planning is undertaken.

“You need a master plan for the island of Mactan. Why

thephuketnews.com

can’t you replicate what Phuket has done? It has its own international airport, it’s selfsustaining.

“It has developed an ecosystem of restaurants, hotels, night markets, entertainment, so [tourists] don’t have to leave the island.”

He said that he had met with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia in Manila in May, and discussed “a growth scenario” for Cebu’s tourism.

“I told her, ‘Governor, why not privatise the airport… build a light rail to the commercial centre. I think Cebu needs a third bridge.”

He told journalists, “Cebu has traditionally been a trading and commercial hub. You should [build] that into a bigger hub for other things.” he said.

“Make a master plan of Mactan island so it can develop.

If you have a master development plan that replicates what Phuket has done, that would be wonderful.”

London is seen as a desirable place for Thais to buy a second home.

Wealthy Thais eye London THAI PROPERTY buyers and investors are being tempted by London properties in ever-increasing numbers.

London property exhibitions, which take place almost every weekend in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, have so far been a relatively rare sight

in Bangkok.

But as wealthy Thais look overseas in greater numbers, so property developers are starting to bring their projects to the Land of Smiles.

Last weekend (June 16-17) Savills showcased Berkeley Homes’ 375 High Street Kensington development,

hot on the heels of Spenhill’s Woolwich Central project which was exhibited in the Thai capital last weekend.

Unlike buyers in other Southeast Asian cities, who are driven primarily by a desire to invest, the demand from Thai buyers is different.

Robert Collins, Managing Director of Savills (Thailand), said: “We are finding interest for Thai buyers is primarily led by owner-occupier use and a trend socially for buying a prime London home.

“There has been very limited buy-to-let interest so far, and the trend therefore differs quite significantly from the Hong Kong and Singapore markets. This is reflected in the types of apartments that Savills has been selling in Bangkok.”

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Ben Montgomery.

Ivy Chee.

Promotions at PATA PATA HAS MADE TWO promotions with effect from Saturday (June 16). Ben Montgomery has been promoted to PATA Regional Director for Greater Mekong, while Ivy Chee has become Regional Director for East Asia.

Commenting on the promotions, PATA CEO Martin Craigs said, “Ben and Ivy are the key contacts and liaison for PATA members in different regions in Asia. They have strong connections with many Chapters around the globe.

They will drive PATA’s Next Gen philosophy across Asia.”

Alan Joyce

Joyce takes on IATA role QANTAS AIRWAYS CEO and Managing Director Alan Joyce has become Chairman of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Governors for the coming year.

Joyce succeeds KLM President and CEO Peter Hartman.

He remarked, “IATA plays a critical role in the industry and I am honored to take on the role of leading its Board of Governors.

“The top priorities, as always, will be safety, security, and sustainability.

“Aviation delivers enormous economic benefits, supporting some 57 million jobs and US$2.2 trillion [B60 trillion] in economic activity.

“We need to ensure that governments understand what is at stake when they are making key decisions on taxes, regulation, and capacity expansion.”

THE PHUKET NEWS

ART 17

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

CULTURE

BIG LIST:

Why animals are more human than we think – in the bedroom > 21

Jody Houton editor3@thephuketnews.com

Painting a night to remember

PHUKET GALLERIES Designed by Woulfe Studio

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

Drawing Room

56 Phang Nga Road, Talad Yai, Muang, Phuket Town, 086 899 4888

I Mon Art Gallery

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

Jody Houton editor3@thephuketnews.com

Nakonnai Art Museum

S

P. Fire Studio

uthirak Chantragun star ted his ar tistic career much like many other Phuket-born artists: creating reproduction art.

But as time passed and he gained experience, Suthirak began to develop his very own unique style.

As well as garnering a significant amount of interest in Thailand, Suthirak has also had his work displayed oversees and many of his huge, sprawling, dynamic works can be found in villas, private residences, top restaurants and hotels around the world and, of course, in his native Phuket.

Suthirak’s brother Jay, in addition to being responsible for the development of the trendy BYD Lofts hotel in Patong, is also in charge of the marketing of his artistic brother’s work.

He says with a smile, “I help him because artists don’t know how to do business.”

It is also rather convenient, as BYD Lofts contain many of Suthirak’s original

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

Phuket Art Village, Soi Naya 2, Rawai, 085 591 1587, virat-uttakut@hotmail.co.th. Open daily.

Red Gallery

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

Sarasil Art Galllery

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

Open daily 8pm-9pm.

Tawan Ook Art Gallery

Above: Khun Jay. Right: ‘Singapore Grand Prix ’08’. pieces, over 100 of them, and many, regardless of whether in the bedroom or living room, command attention and demand to be the featured focus of a room.

“He used to do much more serious portraits and some abstracts, but when it came to the design of the buildings, and for him to provide the artwork for the hotel rooms, he had to adapt his style,” Jay explains.

Suthirak’s work is characterised by heavily applied layers of paint and bold vibrant colours. They are more often

GERRY’S

editor@thephuketnews.com

Phuket Art Village, Soi Naya 2, Rawai, 081 956 5872. Open daily.

The Love Art Studio than not executed on huge canvases and adorn, dominate and add an exciting dynamic to every wall that they hang on.

Jay says that there have been exceptions: “Although they are normally rather large, he also makes many which are custom-made. He often tailors the size to fit the width of sofas or beds, for example.”

Although the majority of the work Suthirak creates now would be considered abstract, he takes inspiration from real-life events as well as emotional stimuli.

“Each colour represents his feeling and what he’s going through at that time... Sometimes he’s inspired by events like the Singapore Grand Prix or something more abstract such as love.”

Jay adds that after the tsunami much of Suthirak’s work used dark and passionate colours such as reds and blacks, but a few years on his work became much happier, joyful and full of life and these are the ones that can be seen adorning the walls of the BYD Lofts today.

Phuket Art Village, Soi Naya 2, Rawai, 089 471 5653, pui.t.l.a.s.@hotmail.com; theloveartstudio.com. Open daily.

Veerachan Usahanun

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

Vichen Gallery Bzenter

Behind Da Vinci Restaurant, Saiyuan Rd, Rawai, 087 890 3722.

Open daily 3-9 pm. (Telephone to view before 3pm.)

VR Gallery & Coffee Shop

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

Watcharin Art Studio

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

Wua Gallery and Studio

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

KNOW WHERE THIS IS? GUESS RIGHT AND WIN!

thephuketnews.com/ login-game-view.php

view

THIS WEEK’S HINT: “The little rice paddy and farm house certainly looks the real thing, and they are, but they are only a display in the grounds of one of Phuket’s newer tourist facilities on the southeast coast of the island.

“Along with this display the grounds have a small butterfly garden and various collections of tropical and exotic plants in over 30 zones.

“A slow walk around the winding trails does give a sense of tranquility, and beckons one to sit awhile and take in the variety of plants, flowers and herbs from around the world.”

–Gerry Cummings

EMAIL US ENTER ONLINE

www.photohutgroup.com

editor@thephuketnews.com thephuketnews.com/ login-game-view.php

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

Last week’s photo showed the fruit and vegetable section of the Banzaan Market in Patong, on the corner of Phang Muang Sai Kor Rd and Soi Banzaan, behind Jungceylon. No winners – apparently no one could place it.

thephuketnews.com

18 PEOPLE

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

THE PHUKET NEWS

Creating memories Jeanette Skelton

Exposed

Managing Director & Founder, Luxury Events Phuket

W

he r e a r e you from, how long have you lived on the island and why did you move here?

I’m from Rotorua, New Zealand, but I went to school in Hong Kong from an early age.

I have lived here for seven years. Before that I lived in Hong Kong for 16 years.

I woke up one day and decided it was time to leave HK and was subsequently offered a job at Royal Phuket Marina (RPM) doing the sales/marketing/PR/events and any other hat I could wear at the time.

Jeanette Skelton left her hectic Hong Kong life for a more laidback existence in Phuket.

Tell us about your business.

It all began at RPM five years ago, when I was involved in the organisation of Mr Lalvani’s daughter’s wedding, when she married into the Cadbury family.

Suddenly I was a wedding planner. Phuket is an amazing destination for weddings. I recognised a big market for quality, high-end events on the island, and so Luxury

Events Phuket was born.

We produce beautiful weddings at the most gorgeous private villas on this island.

We do produce other types of events also, such as hen weekends, team building, birthday parties and so on, but our main business is the destination wedding market.

What is the best thing about living in Phuket?

One wardrobe – summer!!

What do you do to relax?

Sunset cocktails and massages.

What hobbies or sports are you interested in?

Yoga, cycling, and my personal trainer.

What is your favourite childhood memory?

Blackberry picking and weekends at my cousin’s farm.

Favourite food or dish?

I love all food but prefer to eat Italian when in Italy, Japanese when in Japan etc, so one

of my favourite dishes on the island is Martin’s crispy pork belly with broccoli from Taste. They also make an awesome margarita!

thing about Phuket, what would it be?

Town-planning would be a good start and sorting out the rubbish.

What kind of music are you into?

I have varied tastes depending on my mood but I am definitely a house music gal!

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

Amanpuri or Trisara.

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

Respect the culture and blend in with the locals.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you while here?

When I first arrived in Phuket, I ordered a Mojito at a restaurant and they bought me mosquito spray on a tray.

The person you admire the most and why?

All of my bosses through the years of employment have been such great teachers.

If you could change one

Favourite place on the island, and why?

My home, because it’s my peaceful sanctuary.

What’s your favourite night out?

Fly to Hong Kong!

Would you like to be interviewed? Do you have something to tell the island?

Do you know someone who would like to be featured in Exposed or in our new 10 Questions section?

If so please contact editor3@thephuketnews.com.

Or if you want to know more about someone or something on the island let us know.

EVERYDAY PEOPLE

A date with the clippers THERE ARE PLENTY OF upmarket hairdressers in Phuket catering to women, but for men there has never been a traditional Westernstyle barber shop.

Until a month ago, that is. That’s when Aselya Norubaeva and her sist e r Ja na opened t hei r Gentlemen’s Barber Shop in Cherng Talay.

Aselya, who was born in Kyrgyzstan but brought up mostly in Russia, worked in Phuket in the tourism business for two years but could see no future in it.

“I was worried I was going to spend the rest of my life like this,” says the cheerful 24-year-old. She and Jana, 28, considered opening a beauty salon or a Thai massage place, but then a friend said, “You know, one thing Phuket doesn’t have is a Western barber.”

Aselya happily admits that she has no background in barbering beyond shaving her grandfather from the age of 12, with a straight razor.

“Of course I never cut him – he’s my grandfather!” she says, scornful at the very

thephuketnews.com

Aselya in the head barber seat tended to by Khun On. suggestion.

The sisters did serious research on the internet, and then spent B500,000 on renting a shop, putting in a classic checkerboard floor, three traditional chairs and some mirrors, and then made their wisest decision: hiring hairdresser On, from Chiang Rai. There was a bit of luck involved here. On had been working as a hairdresser in Bangkok but when the floods came last year business did the opposite. It dried up.

She and her partner moved to Phuket, where he got a hotel job, and On

went into men’s barbering with Aselya and Jana.

Cheerful and chatty, she delivers a haircut just as you want it, and the shampoo that follows in plain luxury, with scalp and neck massage adding to a fine experience.

The shop provides other services, including pedicure and manicure, wet and dry shaves and hair colouring.

Aselya and Jana did consider waxing (essential for displaying one’s ripped muscle in the Muay Thai ring) but there was not much call for it in Cherng Talay, so the waxing room may now become a place for body massage.

But first, Aselya wants to install small TVs in front of each barber chair, with individual remotes so that customers can tune to their favourite sport while being barbered. There’s free wifi and newspapers for those waiting to be shorn.

The shop, in Bangtao Place, is open seven days a week. To book a haircut call 076 369 811. For more details, see phuketbarbershop.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Darasamuth students take first English step Jody Houton editor3@thephuketnews.com

I

t was all smiles at D a r a s a m u t h Phu ke t School on June 8 when 57 students were presented with their Cambridge Preliminary Level certificates at the English Programme Welcome Day. The exams, which are internationally recognised, are the first step in a long list of exams that students must take to gain entry to universities overseas.

Stephen Brady, the Head of the English Programme, said, “I feel very positive about the results of the Cambridge exams, especially as this was the first year some students were entered for the higher level Preliminary English Tests.

“The fact that some students achieved a pass with merit at this level is indicative of the hard work of both students and teachers over the year.”

Darasamuth English Programme was established in

EDUCATION 19

IN BRIEF One tablet, one child... one day Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s vote-winning 2011 pledge to give one electronic tablet to every Thai child was initially met with scepticism, but on June 7, the Thai PM dutifully handed over the first batch.

Earlier this month a deal was finally made with Chinese firm Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development for the provision of 40,000 tablet computers.

Thailand must improve to benefit from ASEAN

Above: A happy student. Right: Sister Srivieng hands out awards. the 2002/2003 academic year.

The English Programme (EP) and Intensive English Programme (IEP) operate as a small community within the grounds of the wider school that currently offers KG3-P6 (EP) and P1-P6 (IEP).

Students at the school now learn English, mathematics, science, art, social studies, sport and informa-

tion and computer technology – all in English. The school’s new principal, Sister Srivieng Apornrat, said she was very excited about developing the English Programme and ensuring the school will help to create model citizens for the community.

Mr Brady added that it was more than just lessons that was essential in a child’s

development. “I explain to parents how they can help their children through having a close partnership with the school. I discussed the school’s positive behaviour policy, so that parents are aware of how their children are progressing and which rewards they are capable of receiving,” he said.

The Darasmuth school

use a points system in classes which rewards students for good behaviour, rather than focussing on negative behaviour.

Mr Brady said, “I think it would be great if parents could ask their children how many points their team has earned in a day, to encourage them in both their behaviour and their effort.”

Thailand has been advised to improve education levels and logistic costs if it wants to reap full benefits of regionalisation under the coming Asean Economic Community.

The Oxford Business Group has said that knowledge of foreign languages, including English and Chinese are issues that need to be addressed.

The liberalisation of Myanmar and its location to Thailand could also be something mutually beneficial, if of course both parties are willing to work together.

Making Phuket dreams come true M A I K H AO DR E A M Hotels & Resorts donated a total of B247,000 to Child Watch Phuket at the Prince of Songkhla University last month.

The money will go to provide food, shelter and education for 108 children from the Phuket region.

Child Watch Phuket is an NGO set up and managed by the local community.

It co-operates with government and private organisations both inside and outside of the country to fund scholarships for needy children in Phuket.

The organisation is well

Back row from left: Thanyaporn Thirawat, Public Relations Manager; Wittanu Chumsuwan, Group Human Resources Director; and Lyubov Li, Vice President for Maikhao Dream Hotels & Resorts. recognised for protecting, assisting and taking care of children’s rights effectively.

In 2006, the organisation received a Royal Award for

its work on the rights and welfare of Thai children and youth from the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

HeadStart teacher Khru Nee receives a certificate from Phuket Governor Tri Akaradecha on June 14 for her workorganising a blood donation camp at the scool last term.

The school, alongside the Red Cross Society, ran an awarene s s campaign to promote the benefits and importance of donating blood.

thephuketnews.com

20 MY WHEELS

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

ORANGE LIGHTNING Alasdair Forbes execeditor@thephuketnews.com

A

dam Tepper says with a straight face, “It’s completely reliable and never overheats, even in traffic.” But you just know there’s no way that’s why he bought it, or why he loves it.

As far as software engineer Adam is aware, his Lotus Elige S is the only one on the island. Bright orange with black stripes, it’s certainly noticeable.

It wasn’t so easy to get it. Most dealers in Bangkok would not let Adam even testdrive a car; one went so far as to claim he couldn’t find the keys. But finally Adam found a recent model with just 13,000 kilometres on the clock, and a dealer who would let him try it out. B4 million. Sold.

The technical details: The Elige is a supercharged version of the Lotus Elise. The engine, mounted just behind the cockpit, is a 1.8-litre Toyota block pushing out 240 bhp. Its low weight of just 914 kilos gives it a a top speed of 240

thephuketnews.com

kmh and a 0-100 kmh time of 3.9 seconds.

The aerodynamics make it stick to the road like glue thanks to a downforce of 45kg at 160 kmh. The underfloor in a long smooth stretch of aluminum – nothing pokes below that.

What does he like about the car? “It’s very purposeful – there’s nothing that’s not connected with performance.”

After buying the car the next problem was service, with the Bangkok dealers simply not interested. Luckily, just a few hours down the road (by Lotus Elige, anyway) is Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian automaker Proton owns Lotus and has a superb service outfit there, he says. In two weeks, the car was fitted with extras and in perfect shape.

Optional extras he had installed included electric windows, a cup holder (no software engineer can be without coffee for long) and air-conditioning. “Even the AC takes second place to performance – when you put your foot down it automatically disengages.”

Lotus also arranges track days at Sepang, venue for the

Adam Tepper and his Elige S. ‘It’s very purposeful. There’s nothing that’s not connected with performance.’

Malaysian Grand Prix. Adam could not resist.

“The Lotus crew were great. After about 10 laps the brakes felt a bit spongy, but they had four guys on it and

in 10 minutes I was back out.

He also had the luck to meet Les Vorosmarthy, better known in Phuket for his occasional aerial stunt shows along Patong Beach.

Les has a race-prepped Elige, which he uses to get his adrenaline fix when he’s not f lying. He took Adam round the track, showing him what to look out for and the

line to take.

On his first track day, Adam scored 10th-fastest time. So expect him to disappear south for a couple of days every month. He’s hooked.

THE PHUKET NEWS

HEALTH 21 THEENVIRONMENT

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

One third of malaria IN BRIEF loos to sit drugs in SE Asia fake New well with old Agence France Presse

Hopefully this laughing yoga group is held nowhere near the Kurla suburbs. Photo: AFP

No laughing matter Agence France Presse

T

hey are designed to reduce stress and improve well-being, but one laughing yoga club in Mumbai had been ordered to stop its early morning giggling sessions after complaints from grumpy neighbours.

The Bombay High Court told police to clamp down on the laughing yoga group after a 78-year-old resident complained it caused “mental agony, pain and public nui-

sance”, the DNA newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“It is not proper to gather outside somebody’s house and laugh,” judges said while hearing the public interest lawsuit filed by Vinayak Shirsat from the Kurla suburb of Mumbai.

According to Shirsat’s petition, 10 to 15 members of the group gather at 7:00 am to sing, clap and indulge in “loud and vigorous spells of laughter”.

“They laugh at the top of their voices; every member encourages the others to laugh

to their heart’s content,” the complainant said.

Laughing yoga was made popular as an exercise routine by Indian physician Madan Kataria in Mumbai in 1995, based on the principle that laughter has physiological benefits.

Laughter clubs, at which members burst into infectious giggles, have since caught on in many cities in India and abroad.

The court bench on Monday gave police a week to inform judges how they planned to restrain the club from causing problems.

Pets

MORE THAN A THIRD of malaria drugs examined by scientists in Southeast Asia were fake, and a similar proportion analysed in Africa were below standard, doctors warned on Tuesday.

“These findings are a wake-up call demanding a series of interventions to better define and eliminate both criminal production and poor manufacturing of antimalarial drugs,” said Joel Breman of the Fogarty International Center at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Trawling through surveys and published literature, the researchers found that in seven Southeast Asian countries, 36 per cent of 1,437 samples, from five categories of drugs were counterfeit.

Thirty-percent of the samples failed a test of their pharmaceutical ingredients.

In 21 sub-Saharan countries, 20 per cent of more than 2,500 samples tested in six drug classes turned out to be falsified, and 35 per cent were below pharmaceutical norms.

Sub-standard medications are a major problem in the fight against malaria, a disease which killed 655,000 people in 2010, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Many of the drugs that are being faked or poorly manufactured are artemisin derivatives, the study said.

This is a special worry, for artemisinins are the frontline treatment for malaria, replacing drugs to which the malaria parasite has become resistant.

The study says there are many causes for the problem, ranging from widespread self-prescription of drugs to shoddy controls to monitor drug quality and prosecute counterfeiters.

“Poor-quality antimalarial drugs are very likely to jeopardise the unprecedented progress and investments in control and elimination of malaria made in the past decade,” said Breman.

Last month, it was reported that artemisin-resistant malaria, which was first spotted in Cambodia in 2006, has since surged 800 kilometres westward to the ThailandMyanmar border.

Thailand’s Health Ministry has announced plans to replace all its traditional squat toilets with western style ones in public places as soon as possible.

As well as being more foreigner and tourist-friendly, the decision to replace the public facilities is likely to also sit well with the kingdom’s ageing population.

Not so many Thai restaurants selected The number of restaurants awarded the Thai Select Programme – a seal given to quality Thai restaurants abroad – has dropped in recent years.

The seal, which recognises health and safety standards alongside culinary excellence, has only been awarded to 130 restaurants since the programme launched, a comparatively low figure out of an estimated 20,000 Thai restaurants that exist abroad.

The criteria restaurants need to pass in order to be awarded the seal were revised last year, making it much harder to be selected.

Every month, the best Pet of the Week wins a B500 voucher from...

“Hello, I’m beautiful th a ree year old d o g , a ppro priately na med Whit e White. I Kanchanabelong to ‘Y thikancha ing’ Sutnakul”

“Hi I’m Dam, meaning black in Thai. I’m a delightful five year old dog, belonging to Stefano who works for Events Thailand. I used to live on the street until Stefano started feeding me, and now I’m very happy to have him as my new owner. Now I live with him at his house and it is so nice to have a family again.”

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

thephuketnews.com

DANE’S WORLD SHELL SHOCK 22 WEIRD NEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

with Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

THE BIG LIST

Giant tortoises part after 115 years of ‘marriage’ hat is thought to be the world’s longest animal ‘marriage’ first looked shaky when Bibi bit off part of Poldi’s shell.

But as the attacks went on, staff at an Austrian zoo were forced to intervene in the marital dispute between the two giant tortoises after a mammoth 115 years together.

Happ Reptile Zoo even tried aphrodisiacs to put the passion back in a relationship, which started soon after they were born.

Now it is feared the 100kg tortoises will kill each other if they are left in the same pen.

Zoo boss Helga Happ said: “For some reason they can’t stand each other now but we hope they can make up.”

W

So the tortoise story got us thinking – if aphrodisiacs don’t work, just how do animals spice up their love life when things go a little stale?

Well, it turns out they may take a few cues from us.

■ Giving it back: The strategically timed back rub keeps everyone happy: The woman gets a scientifically proven relaxation treatment, while the man greatly increases his chances of touching boobies later that night.

But we’re not the only ones evolved and civilised enough to discover this magical ritual – the golden orb weaving spider has also discovered its love making capabilites.

Because despite having eight legs, the male spider has some serious manhood issues relating to his size. Indeed he’s so small compared to the female that he’s able to climb all the way on top of her before putting silk on her back and spreading it around in massage motions. This has nothing to do with romance: It’s all about survival. Because if the female isn’t satisfied by his performance, she will eat him. And not in a sexy way.

A face apparently not even a wife of 115 years could love.

50 Cent goose-steps shooting A GOOSE, WHICH WAS shot seven times with a pellet gun, has been named 50 Cent after the rapper who also survived a number of shootings.

The goose was brought into a northern Arkansas animal hospital with a damaged wing after the shootings, but is said to be on the mend and vets are now seeking out a home for him.

After seeing the X-ray, vets felt the need to insert a

Some say the goose is even a better vocalist. metal rod and a plastic tube in order to help the bird’s wing heal.

The story of 50 Cent (the goose) has now gone widespread and Dr Rob Conner, from the All Creatures Veterinary Hospital, told The Baxter Bulletin he has received lots of calls to adopt the plucky waterfowl.

“When we X-rayed the wing, we saw the fractured bone and we saw the reason,” Conner was quoted as saying.

“We counted seven pellets.

None of the shots were fatal.”

“Apparently, someone

didn’t like him. Sometimes, people get upset because the geese go to the bathroom everywhere.”

“There’s got to be a better way to shoo them away, pepper spray or something.”

He also revealed that staff had wanted to call the goose Tupac but decided against it as Tupac died after his shooting.

“50 Cent was shot several times and he survived, so we named him 50 Cent,” Dr Conner explained.

BUSTED! Single mum’s booty call bunker uncovered Irish Pubs • Restaurant • Guest Houses

KARON BEACH

PHUKET

Draft Beer Great Food Cool Rooms Good Music Live Sport

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Animal Aphrodisiacs

A SI NGLE M U M I N Sweden has sparked a major police operation after her secret sex bunker in dense woodlands sparked fears it may be a crime scene.

On June 8, two fisherman came across the old bunker and discovered what could have only been one of two things: A garden of earthly delights complete with a silk-sheet laden bed, ropes, dildos and leather items; or a crime scene.

The fishermen assumed it was a crime scene, according to Sweden’s The Local, especially since a similarly equipped dungeon was discovered in March 2011 in an abandoned farmhouse.

The fishermen immediately

reported their find to local authorities, and once word got out about the sex chamber, Swedish language newspaper Aftonbladet reported “a hard-working single mum in her 40s” came clean about her booty call bunker.

It seems the woman – who is calling herself “Lena” – set it up for trysts with a man she dated a few times. With news of her hideout becoming public, she decided to get in touch with the Swedish paper in order to clear up any misunderstanding.

“I just wanted to test my limits,” she told authorities, according to Joe.ie.

Experienced bondage buffs said the incident proves that the “D” in “BDSM” stands for discretion as well as discipline.

■ Attention seekers: Whether it be Psycho or Bloodsucking Freaks, men have for decades used scary movies to prey on vulnerable females. But it turns out birds caught onto that little trick way before we did. The splendid fairy-wren, a species from Australia, has basically figured out how to create its own horror movie in the middle of the forest. And let’s face it, with a name like splendid fairy-wren, you need all the help you can get. When the male wren hears the call of its predator, the much more masculine sounding butcherbird, they use a special call that, in defiance of logic, clearly gives away its position. To the ladies. Because it turns out female wrens are much more attentive to the male’s song when it comes right after the predator’s call.

■ Putting the boot in: There are few things in the world that man has not, at some point, managed to use for sexual pleasure. After all, we’re a pretty creative species, and we have a long list of sometimes hilariously impractical sexual fetishes to prove it. But some animals may also be more human than we think. Female orangutans, for example, actually make their own instruments of sexual pleasure. Or, as Petter Boeckman of the Norwegian Natural History Museum so delicately puts it, they “make dildos out of wood and bark”. They’re also capable of having fetishes, apparently. Take Gabriel, a chimp at the Southwest National Research Center, USA, who has developed an unusual attraction for shoes. According to witnesses, Gabriel pleasured himself by “obsessively rubbing his caretaker’s leather boot”.

■ Extra padding: A pimped-out bachelor pad is basically an extremely unsubtle way of screaming “I enjoy sex with ladies”. Most animals aren’t this sophisticated. But the male bowerbird isn’t most animals – he’s basically the Ron Jeremy of the animal kingdom, specialising in turning his nest into a funky sex shrine. First, the bowerbirds will take weeks gathering stuff to decorate their new bower. But they don’t just randomly throw it together – they actually arrange the various elements in the way most likely to attract the ladies.

You’d think that after all the effort to build these nests that they’d actually live there, but nope, they use them exclusively as their den of late-night lovemaking.

■ Trojan spider: We all probably believe that man is unique in the animal kingdom in that he’s the only one to lie about having a job/a car/no STDs in order to spread his seed. However, it turns out spiders lie for sex, too. More specifically, the nursery web spider does. The males actually seduce the females by giving them gifts – a delicious dead fly wrapped in silk perhaps – before climbing on her back and getting down to business. But that’s not the disturbing part. The male spiders sometimes wrap up some garbage in their silk, then present it to a female as if it were a real gift. At this point it really is business time, because if the male’s not before the female unwraps her (possibly literal) poop sandwich, she’ll realise she’s been duped and kick him out.

THE PHUKET NEWS

TIME OUT 23

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

BOOK

MUSIC

FILM Antapan 90 minutes Rating: 18+

Director: Kongkiat Khomsiri

The Watch

Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

There’s No Leaving Now

FOLLOWING A DESPERATE night-long battle, a group of beleaguered soldiers in an isolated base in Kandahar are faced with a lone woman demanding the return of her brother’s body.

Having survived that firefight, the soldiers inside the compound are wary and edgy.

Is she a spy, a black widow, a lunatic, or is she what she claims to be: a grieving young sister intent on burying her brother according to local rites?

Her presence quickly proves dangerous as the camp’s tense, claustrophobic atmosphere comes to a boil when the men begin arguing about what to do next.

The result is a powerful expression of the nature and futility of war.

RECORDED MOSTLY AT home over a leisurely fivemonth stretch, There’s No Leaving Now is notable more relaxed than Kristian Matsson’s earlier albums as The Tallest Man Alive.

The intimacy of tracks like ‘Revelation Blues’ and ‘To Just Grow Away’ even forgo the urgency of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie that Matsson channeled on previous album The Wild Hunt.

The most immediate quality though is how vastly improved Matsson has become as a vocalist. His vocals are still raspy, but he sings with more conviction and finesse than on any previous record, and his range has expanded considerably.

The Tallest Man Alive

Starring: Somchai Kemglad, Krissana Sukosol Clapp, Pongpat Wachirabunjong Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

G

etting two-for-one can be a positive in most situations. In Antapan however, it becomes a burden.

And it’s a shame, because by electing to combine what could have been presented as two isolated stories, the film’s creators have blunted what is otherwise a very progressive piece of Thai cinema.

Clearly taking its cue from the Hollywood gangster movies of the 90s (Goodfellas references abound), Antapan shifts the setting to late 1950s Bangkok – complete with an Elvis soundtrack and James Dean inspired costume design – observing two generations of mafiosos and the changing face of the city’s gangster culture.

Despite offering their own unique strengths and styles, the separate acts dealing with each generation feel like com-

pletely different films - the first more concerned with the visual setting, while the second focused on depth of character and plot progression.

It’s impossible not to feel that the film would have benefited by a more in-depth look at one of the stories, rather than trying to cram in both.

But even in its current form, Antapan takes too long to find its focus. As the first act goes about building the world of ’50s Bangkok, the script is overly convoluted, falling on the simplistic formula of random scenes of violence interwoven with moments of overt sentimentality between a seemingly endless array of characters.

Consequently, the pacing feels very off in these opening stages; major events pass by with little consequence, while

inconsequential scenes drag out without adding any new dimensions to the plot.

The film is based on a true story, and it’s interspliced with witness testimonials throughout the film. They’re not really as cohesive as they need to be to maximise their impact, but they do lend a certain authenticity to the film.

In the end, Antapan is a film that could have done with half of it being left in the editing room, or at the very least some more direction in its opening act. As it stands, it’s still a very enjoyable take on the gangster genre, but the true thrills come from the unique setting and great soundtrack rather than any creative leaps in storytelling.

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

SFX COLISEUM PHUKET (CENTRAL FESTIVAL) Antapan (T/E.SUB) [18+]: 14:45, 17:15, 19:45, 22:15 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (T) [G]: 11:20, 13:20, 15:20, 17:25,

19:25, 21:30 Men in Black 3 (E/F) [G]: 12:10, 17:05, 21:50 Piranha 3DD (E) [20+]: 14:20, 16:20, 18:20, 20:20, 22:20 Prometheus (E/3D) [15+]: 12:00, 14:30, 17:00, 19:30, 22:00 Snow White and The Huntsman (E) [13+]: 11:40, 16:40, 21:40 Snow White and the Huntsman (E/F) [13+]: 14:25, 19:20

SFC JUNGCEYLON PHUKET (PATONG) Antapan (T/E.SUB) [18+]: Chernobyl Diaries (E) [15+]:

12:20, 14:50, 17:20, 19:50, 22:20 11:35, 13:40, 15:45, 17:50, 19:55, 22:00

Men in Black 3 (E) [G]:

14:25, 18:55

Prometheus (E) [15+]:

12:00, 14:35, 17:10, 19:45, 22:15

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (E) [G]: Snow White and the Huntsman (E) [13+]:

12:20, 16:40, 21:15 11:20, 13:55, 16:30, 19:05, 21:40

BRAIN TEASERS Down

1. Going backward is prudent after worker with single timepiece. (13) 8. Inherent aptitude has Di looking fuzzy. (10) 9. None married – were in debt… (4) 10. …I, for example, have nothing. (3) 11. And French, as in “toward sunrise”. (4) 14. Tailor under the streets? (5) 15. Ratchet catch is quiet, boring tool. (4) 17. Kind of potato for cool weather? (6) 19. Caucasian architectural style. (8) 21. Not stereo, Tony ends in boredom. (8) 23. At 50, I’m with Penthouse girl…and mollusk? (6) 26. Sam takes cardinal to coal source. (4) 28. Float, hotel above. (5) 29. Solely on 50? Yes. (4) 32. Enterprise precursor takes us south. (1,1,1) 34. Spa essentials? (4) 35. Positive nerve with mist I went in. (10) 36. Twisted Emir’s vendetta is commercial. (13)

1. Not yet dead, Al takes four to the east. (5) 2. Surges when Delta’s in neckwear. (5) 3. Actors are thrown. (4) 4. Dickens lad has martini essential, right? (6) 5. Liquid is off, we hear. Ducks, maybe? (9) 6. Bend spoon to investigate.

(5) 7. Mars has Commie plan for alien. (3,6) 12. A half a laugh is not quite “Eureka!” (3) 13. A city too, in Kentucky. (5) 16. Boxer Al and I. (3) 17. Secret agent’s famed island.

(5,4) 18. After canine, some are very tasty. (9) 19. Chap’s tent piece. (3) 20. Stew contains part of a gumboot. (5) 22. By the way, a sports organization (1,1,1) 24. Wriggler Lee’s back! (3) 25. Twins – diamond, maybe in one. (6) 27. Direction in mud, reflected.

(5) 30. Dame follows it to college.

(5) 31. Boat? Yup, eight in Germany.

(5) 33. Long for conifer. (4)

1. In which movie did Sean Connery play a 14th century monk/detective?

2. Who scored the two winning goals for Ukraine in their opening Euro 2012 match?

3. Which rock star has children called Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom and Little Pixie?

4. What name is shared by a 1950s Ford UK car and a 1960s California serial killer?

5. How many letters of the alphabet are used as Roman Numerals?

Solutions to last week’s puzzles:

Answers to this week’s Pop Quiz: 1. The Name of the Rose; 2. Andriy Shevchenko; 3. Bob Geldof; 4. Zodiac; 5. Seven (I, V, L, X, C, D and M).

SUDOKU

Across

thephuketnews.com

24 KIDS PAGE

THE PHUKET NEWS

COLOURING CONTEST

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

E

very week, colour in Sophie's drawing, have a photo taken with your work, and email it to editor@thephuketnews.com This week, congratulations go to Rada Bhattaramark, age x, from Phuket International Academy Day School , who has won a B500 voucher for Phuket Adventure Mini Golf!

We look forward to seeing next week's entries.

mail@ sophieillustration.co.uk

Issareeya B h a t t h a r amark, PIA day school

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

LIFE&STYLE Paritta Wangkiat reporter3@thephuketnews.com

SHOPPING 25 Topless Talent

Thailand’s Got Talent sparks outrage > 31

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

editor1@thephuketnews.com

CREATIVE COWBOY Jakkrit Intana

Singer

His cowboy hat and green T-shirt are from the Indy Market.

His checkered shirt was found inside his house – he doesn’t know who it belongs to.

His Casio watch is a gift from friend.

His grey pants (B300) was bought in Bangkok.

He got his Zara sneakers (B2,000) from a shop in Bangkok.

IN THE PINK Alisara Na Takuatung

Sales and marketing manager Her earrings (B59) are from Jungceylon.

She bought her bright pink dress (B3,000) in Malaysia.

Her Titus watch (B3,000) was bought in Singapore.

Her Eclipse shiny red fabric purse (B1,500) is from Central Chidlom in Bangkok.

She got her sparkly silver shoes (B299) from Expo Market in Phuket City.

ACCESSORIES 1

2

JOB AND THINGS 5

3 1. Belt 2. Necklace 3. Necklace 4. Necklace 5. Bracelet

B800 B550 B600 B600 B150

4

Accessories from Job and Things shop, 2/4 Phang Nga Road in Phuket Town.

Open Mon-Sat 10.30am-6pm 076 223 966, 089 196 6086.

thephuketnews.com

26 DINING

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

An African affair The leader of the team in the kitchen, Candice Friedman.

Grilled pap and biltong cake, topped with smoked venison and chakalaka on the side.

a nation of all colours.” They could add, “and a nation of all cuisines.”

They also have a venerable tradition for making excellent wines going back 350 years when Jan van Riebeeck planted the first vineyards.

All of this excellence was on display at a wine dinner at the Boathouse in Kata on Thursday last week (June 14) at the end of a week of South African events that included, naturally, a braai (though no giraffes).

The five-course dinner, cooked by a team of three who had flown in from the enormous Emperors Palace casino resort complex in Johannesburg (68 game tables, 1,724 slot machines), started off with grilled pap and biltong cake, topped with smoked venison and chakalaka on the side.

Translations: Pap – a kind

“food in a pot”.

My dinner neighbour, Allan Riddell, director of the South African-Thai Chamber of Commerce explained: “During the time of the Voortrekkers, when the Dutch were still exploring the country, they would draw the wagon up in a laager at night – circle the wagons, then cook potjiekos with whatever food they had to hand.”

A stew, in other words.

In this case, the leader of the team in the kitchen, Candice Friedman, went for seafood.

The result was similar to bouillabaisse, without the roux. Toothsome, especially with the Madame Marlbrook from Klein Constantia, a mix of Semillon and Sauvignon grapes.

The main event was a serious piece of work: crisp rooibos-tea-smoked pork belly.

The pork is first smoked over coconut chips and rooibos (red bush) tea leaves, then pressed for 24 hours to remove a lot of the excess moisture and

Alasdair Forbes execeditor@thephuketnews.com

E

h! Pretorius! Thrown another giraffe on the braai, eh? That’s probably the general impression most people have of South African cuisine – large chunks of meat on a barbecue.

Those who don’t know better, of course. Those who do know better will know that Cape Town in particular has a thriving and eclectic mix of delicious cuisines, from Afrikaans specialties to Cape Malay food, Indian, Mozambican with its Portuguese undertones, and a whole swath of African cuisines.

South Africans can be heard referring to it as “rainbow cuisine”, part of the whole Rainbow Nation concept that says, “Since apartheid was chucked deservedly into the garbage dump of history, we’re

Potjiekos, translating to “food in a pot”. of porridge cake made from maize. Biltong – dried, or jerked beef. Chakalaka – a South African take on chutney.

With the venison, a stunning start, and accompanied by a smoky, dry, crisp 2009 Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch in Western Cape province. To my palate

the best, most distinctive wine of the evening.

Soup followed, a North African prawn bisque with morogo (a relative of spinach) and basil pesto croutons.

Bisques can be bitter. This was not. Just think, creamy and tasty. Washed down with a Porcupine Sauvignon Blanc 2007, also from Stellenbosch.

The third course was fullon Afrikaans in concept: a Potjiekos. This means, literally,

fattiness, then roasted, then sliced and finally, seared.

A wonderful smoky flavour, and served with Cape Malay curried samp cake (sort of a South African take of hominy) and a big red – Chocolate Block, a powerful Syrah-based blend.

Finally, dessert of Amarula cheesecake with a duo of ice cream. Amarula is a South African cream liqueur, while the ice creams were flavoured with powerful peppermint in one side and, on the other, Bar 1 – a local version of the Mars bar.

To wash it down, Vin Naturel de Constance from Klein Constantia. This, Allan explains, is said to be the last wine drunk by Napoleon Bonaparte before he died in exile on the island of St Helena.

Not this precise bottle, of course. But still, an interesting end to an interesting and fulfilling evening in both physical and metaphorical senses.

Wine Connection Kata opens today WINE CONNECTION will officially open its Kata branch tonight (June 22), with an grand opening party starting at 7pm.

The restaurant is located at the Kata Night Plaza in Kata Centre.

For more information contact marketingassist@ wineconnection.co.th.

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Great dining at Dairy Hut

DINING 27

JAMIE’S PHUKET Jamie Monk lifestyle@thephuketnews.com

D

airy Hut in Phuket Town was one of the first restaurants on my blog in 2006, and it’s still a favourite of mine.

Sounds like an ice cream parlour, and with a big cow outside the door, you might think you could stroll in and order a sundae, but in fact it’s a ‘normal’ restaurant in Phuket Town.

I first found it by accident.

On the day my son was born, I went for a walk with my daughter to look for some food near the hospital. We found a small cheap Thai restaurant, but unfortunately they were just closing up.

I asked where we could get some food, and they pointed down the road. We found Dairy Hut, and yes, I thought it was an ice cream place, but we went inside and were happy to find it air conditioned and smoke free. I checked the menu and realised we could get real food. The food was tasty and filling and inexpensive and they could do take away.

Dairy Hut is hard to miss with this large cow out the front.

Dairy Hut does Thai and some Western food (burgers, spaghetti, breakfasts), and is nicely decorated with big wooden tables and comfortable wooden chairs.

They have a big screen TV which sometimes plays Thai soaps, as well as shows like Survivor. There’s also live music at weekends. The indoor area is air conditioned, but there is also an outdoor area. I guess the total capacity would be close to 100 people if full. Food always comes fast, service is friendly.

I took my parents there

when they visited.

I ordered the “Yam Dairy Hut”. Yam is Thai for salad.

Thai salads can be killer hot, I made sure to order it with less chilli. Very tasty!

Parents ate fried rice with green curry, which mum said was a bit spicy.

Daughter ate a huge plate of spaghetti. Dairy Hut has another bonus – Draught Beer Chang. A one litre jug is B99. The draught tastes much cleaner and lighter than the bottled beer. Oh, the bill for four adults, plus kids food, beer and other drinks

totalled B460.

Dairy Hut is located on 2/12 Hongyok-u-thit Road in Phuket Town. Coming from the big Tesco Lotus on the bypass road, head along Yaowarat Road. Dairy Hut is located on the first soi on the right past Bangkok Phuket Hospital.

Read the full version at Jamie’s Phuket Blog, http:// jamie-monk.blogspot.com.

Jamie works at liveaboard dive specialists Sunrise Divers in Karon, 084-626-4646, sunrise-divers.com

FINE FOOD Guests were treated to superb cuisine at

the Boathouse Estates & Wines Iconic Wine Dinner, held in Kata on Saturday evening. Included on the menu was dover sole fillet, seven hour lamb leg (above), plus wines from Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

BUDDING MASTERCHEFS Cooking classes are being held at FunStart every Saturday from midday to 1pm, with teacher Anisa van der Laan. Last Saturday, children in the cooking class learned how to make scones, devine cream and apple sauce.

Wine Club tasting THE ANDAMAN WINE Club, in conjunction with Churrasco restaurant in Jungceylon, are holding a Sampler Tasting Table event on June 28.

The event is B1,375++. Wine club members get a 10 per cent discount. South American and Mediterranean food, and wine from Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy and Greece.

thephuketnews.com

28 EXPLORE

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Quiet Bangkok home of a man of many parts Alasdair Forbes execeditor@thephuketnews.com

M

om Ratchawong ( M R) Ku k r it Pramoj, who died 17 years ago at the age of 84, still casts a giant shadow over Thai culture and, to a lesser extent, politics.

The Oxford-educated Kukrit, descendant of King Rama II, was Speaker of the Thai Parliament from 1973 to 1974, Prime Minister from 1975 to ’76 and founder of Thailand’s first political party, the Progress Party, in 1945 and another, the Social Action Party, in 1974.

Amid all the politics, he founded and wrote for Siam Rath newspaper, founded the Kone Thammasat dance troupe, and wrote book after book, both fiction and nonfiction.

His home in Bangkok is open to the public. For such a grand figure, it is surprisingly modest, dwarfed today by towering skyscrapers.

The home is of traditional design in wood, standing on posts high enough to form a

shady open ground floor. It was constructed from five small wooden houses brought together and then connected.

The last addition was a large timber hall in which MR Kukrit would entertain guests and stage performances of Kone dance, in which he was an acknowledged expert.

Kone masks he collected are displayed in glass cases in the hall.

From there, one walks through a Chinese-style garden (there is a Chinese shrine off to the right – MR Kukrit’s great-grandmother, consort to Rama II, had Chinese blood), and then the house, with a comfortable sitting room and dining room beneath.

The upstairs rooms are small – a bedroom, a small sitting room and a study lined with books.

Beyond is a small pool and a bridge leading to a lawn with a sala in which he would hang his songbirds while reading.

Plainly, whatever one might think of his politics – he was rather too right-wing for most modern sensibilities – this was a man who valued

Main picture: Office blocks tower over MR Kukrit’s house. Right: The wooden sala where he entertained guests and staged Kone dances. Far right: MR Kukrit. the intellectual and cultural life beyond riches.

The Kukrit House is on Soi Phra Pinit on the Sathon area, and is open most days; it can also be (and frequently is) rented for functions. To inquire, call 02 286 8185.

.

MH Mega Sale...Return to K.L 5,400฿ P.P. all inclusive

Tourism Malaysia (Bangkok office) Unit 1, 3rd Floor, Zuellig House 1-7 Silom Road, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500 Tel. 02 6363380-3 Fax 02 6363384 Tourism Malaysia (Phuket office) 98/2 Krabi Rd. T.Talad nua Muang District Phuket 83000 Tel.076 220192-3 Fax 076-220196

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

TRAVEL 29

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

A NEW WEBSITE FOR THE GIRLS F emale backpackers across Thailand can add a new helpful travel tool to their wallet with the launch of the BlondeTraveler. com website.

For the first time, a travel website is targeting them, specifically, and offering membership cards that get them discounts of around 2025 per cent at guest-houses, restaurants, spas, dive resorts, and more.

The membership, which costs around B1,000 for one year, comes with the member’s photo and birth date (so can be used for ID). With that membership, they can get discounts at over 40 venues across Southeast Asia, with many of the discount partners being in Thailand.

The membership can be used to get 20 per cent discounts at two Southern Thailand dive resorts: Sail Rock Divers on Koh Pha’ngan and New Way Diving on Koh Tao. It can also be used for 20-40 per cent off room rates in Phuket at Eden Bungalow and Sky Dream Hotel.

The BlondeTraveler team regularly updates the site with

Making travel in Southeast Asia easier and safer for women: Kaila Krayewski. difficult-to-find travel information for the region, while also providing members with a host of services, from legal advice, to dietary counselling, to shopping and beauty advice, to transportation bookings, to extreme sports counselling, and health care advice.

And they have a special passion for making sure scammers are called out on their crimes. They also focus on helping their members out in an emergency.

Already, BlondeTraveler has partnered up with some big names in the industry, including AirAsia.

The team have big plans for the future. “My main goal is to make travel much easier and safer for women travelers in Southeast Asia,” says Kaila Krayewski, founder and Managing Director of BlondeTraveler. “If I can do that, I will have done my job.”

And no, you don’t have to be blonde.

TRAVEL NEWS Suvarnabhumi’s new luggage check system opens The Airports of Thailand (AoT) has opened its new luggage checking system on the east side of Suvarnabhumi Airport’s passenger terminal, to accelerate the immigration process.

Suvarnabhumi Airport Director Somchai Sawasdipol said the airport has installed several high-technology luggage scanners at a new security check area on the second floor of the departure terminal.

The new devices include 12 x-ray scanners, six walkthrough metal detectors and two explosive detectors. The airport has also introduced a new body scanner, which, according to the AoT staff, is not mandatory to all passengers. It helps facilitate a thorough body inspection without any violation to the passenger.

Although passengers usually have to walk through the immigration counters before having their luggage scanned for suspicious items, Mr Somchai noted that travellers at the new security check in area are requested to have their lug-

gage scanned first.

He said that instead of having prohibited items, such as hair gel or perfume, confiscated on the spot, this system allows travellers to leave the items with their friends or relatives before proceeding to the immigration counters.

With the new additions to the airport, staff are expected to be able to process passengers at the rate of up to 3,600 people per hour.

–NNT

Accor opens Sofitel in Sukhumvit Accor has opened the second Sofitel hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. The Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit, located close to both Asoke and Nana skytrain stations, features 345 rooms including 37 suites and 75 executive rooms (Club Millésime).

The Club Millésime lounge located on the 31st floor offers a refined and welcoming space to work or hold meetings, enjoy breakfast, evening cocktails and a wide selection of French, vintage and new world wines.

A key attraction of the hotel is the skyline restaurant, L’Appart, which

recreates the ambience of a luxurious apartment in Paris.

Win prizes from Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines is offering the chance for two to win prizes through an online contest launched on SIAjourneys.com.

Prizes will be given out during the contest period, which ends on 23 October 2012. These include 50,000 KrisFlyer miles, a pair of return Economy Class tickets to any SIA destination, and the grand prize of a pair of return Business Class tickets to the winner’s chosen destination on the SIA network.

Visit SIAjourneys.com for more details.

Myanmar beaches cut rates on hotels

Hotels on Chaungtha Beach are luring tourists during the monsoon season by offering discount from 10 per cent to 40 per cent according to a report in the Myanmar Times.

The Chaungtha Hoteliers Association announced the campaign for June to October to attract business during the rainy season.

Yangon in the past offered discounts during the same months.

thephuketnews.com

30 ENTERTAINMENT

THE PHUKET NEWS

THE TICKET

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Phuket’s got talent with Claire Connell

editor1@thephuketnews.com

W

arunee ‘Gig’ Suwannurak is a pintsized woman with a larger than life voice, and she’s hoping her talent will get her through to the final round of Thailand’s Got Talent and win the competition.

She has reached the semifinals of the television show, and now needs the support of people in Phuket to help vote for her when it screens on July 29.

Around 20,000 people auditioned from around Thailand with the hope of making it on television. Nearly 40 acts have made it through to the semi-finals, and that will be narrowed down to 12 acts in the final.

The winner of the competition will take home a contract with recording label Sony.

Khun Gig will sing two songs during her July 29 semifinal – versions of Irish superstar Adele’s Someone Like You and Rolling in the Deep.

She will need fans in

Khun Gig, pictured above, and far right performing at Phuket’s Loy Krathong festival.

Phuket to vote for her via SMS during the programme, when voting details come across the screen.

It has been a vigorous exercise making it through to the semis, with multiple trips to Bangkok and working with a singing teacher to help perfect the songs and fine tune

her voice.

Khun Gig began singing as a way to make money at age 18. She came from a poor family and says now, at age 32, singing has become a way for her to support her family.

“Usually I sing rock songs but Adele has such an amazing

voice, I just love her music.

And she’s very famous in Thailand, and I wanted to perform something that people will know.

“This is my dream and I really want it to come true, I really hope people vote for me. I’m not sure how I will go because there are so

many talented people in the competition.”

Khun Gig has lived in Phuket for around five years, and originally hails from Betong in Southern Thailand, near the Malaysian border.

She works full time as a singer, mostly around Patong, and performs in bars, hotels,

clubs and other venues, and has around 200 songs she can sing at people’s request.

As well as singing, she is also studying part time to be a singing teacher.

– To vote for Gig, watch Thailand’s Got Talent on July 29, at 5.30pm on Channel 3.

Lady Gaga in hot water over Bangkok concert Agence France-Presse

Lady Gaga.

Photo: Daniel Åhs Karlsson

FIRST SHE MADE A JOKE about buying a fake rolex. Now Thailand’s culture ministry has filed a complaint to police against Lady Gaga for misuse of the Thai flag during her show last month.

The ministry said the part of Lady Gaga’s performance when she wore a traditional headdress and sat on a motorcycle in a skimpy outfit with a Thai flag trailing behind was “inappropriate and hurt Thai people’s sentiment”.

“We are not asking police to prosecute her but it’s our normal procedure to file complaints to concerned agencies when we receive them,” a senior ministry official, who

declined to be named, said by telephone.

The ministry noted that the Thai national flag consisted of three colours – red for the nation, blue for the revered monarchy and white for religion.

Gaga caused a stir soon after her arrival in Thailand last month by tweeting that “I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy fake Rolex,” remarks that some Thais complained cast the kingdom in a negative light.

About 50,000 people attended her concert in Bangkok, which was part of a tour that sparked protests from religious hardliners in Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea.

Saudi ‘Got Talent,’ but no women or music Agence France-Presse

A SAUDI CITY KNOWN for its ultra-conservatism has created its own version of the Arabs Got Talent television reality show, but with no music and women banned from taking part.

Instead, competitors will be permitted to perform religious chants, recite poems

thephuketnews.com

and engage in sports events.

The contest is being held north of the capital in the city of Buraydah, known as a centre for Wahhabism, a strict interpretation of Islam that is followed in the desert kingdom, Al-Hayat daily reported on Sunday. Buraydah’s Got Talent is the title of the contest which will abide by the strict rules of segregation

between the sexes, meaning it is not open to women.

Music, singing and dancing are strict no-nos, despite being staples in Britain’s Got Talent and similar talent competitions that have become a global viewing phenomenon with national versions televised in 32 countries.

The Saudi version, organised by the Internet Buraydah

Forum, will take place in the open air before a jury comprising a poet, a television producer and TV presenters, Al-Hayat said, quoting forum supervisor Jalawi al-Shukair.

The Dubai-based Saudi television group MBC has for two seasons been running Arabs Got Talent, and a Saudi group is among this year’s finalists.

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THE PHUKET NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT 31

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Topless painter gets stern dressing down hailand’s Culture Minister Sukumol Khunploem said on Monday (June 18) that she will seek an explanation from producers of a popular television show after a woman appeared topless during Sunday’s prime-time slot, MCOT online reported.

Mrs Sukumol said she was shocked when viewing a clip from Thailand’s Got Talent, which featured a female contestant painting a canvas with her bare breasts.

The show, broadcast on Channel 3, featured contestant Duangjai Jansaunoi, 23, who introduced herself as an independent artist.

“There must be limits on artistic expression. I was shocked when I saw the clip,” Mrs Sukumol said, the Bangkok Post reported. “The ministry will meet the organisers of Thailand’s Got Talent to get an explanation.”

Actions may be taken against those held responsible if it is found that any wrongdoing was committed, she said.

“Although the performance aims to show the contestants’ skills, Thai society cannot accept a scene of a naked

T

IN BRIEF

King of the box: Alex the

Khun Duangjai created a painting using her breasts. woman on air,” she told the Bangkok Post.

The YouTube video is rapidly being shared across Thailand’s social media networks.

As of lunchtime Tuesday the video had 237,000 views.

Mrs Sukumol expressed concern about the part of the programme showing breasts, which she described as “inappropriate” for children.

“I don’t understand how the production team allowed the show to go on air unedited as the show was not broadcast live,” she said.

Panya Nirunkul, president of Workpoint Entertainment Plc, which produces Thailand’s

Got Talent, insisted the content aired was carefully censored.

He said producers were unaware that the contestant would disrobe but checked the appropriateness of the content before putting it on air.

Viewers could barely see anything due to the strict censoring of the contestant’s breasts, he said. Mr Panya said he is ready to provide an explanation to the Culture Ministry.

The female performer was voted through to the next round by two male judges, though she failed to win the heart, and vote, of the sole female judge.

lion and his wild friends in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted retained their crown as king of the American box office this weekend, industry figures showed Monday.

For the second week running, the cartoon romp starring Ben Stiller that sees the animals rampage through Europe with the help of a run-down circus as they try to return to a New York zoo stayed at the top of the charts, according to Exhibitor Relations.

The movie took US$34.1 million (B1.1 billion) over the weekend.

The third instalment of the wildly popular Madagascar franchise has now taken nearly US$120 million since its debut.

Osbourne diagnosed:

Jack Osbourne, 26, son of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), the former reality television star

revealed to People magazine.

“I was just angry and frustrated and kept thinking, ‘Why now?’” a distressed Osbourne told the magazine in an article posted on its website late Sunday.

“I’ve got a family and that’s what’s supposed to be the most important thing,” said Osbourne who recently had a daughter, Pearl Clementine, with his fiancee Lisa Stelly.

Still strong at 70: His

ballad ‘Yesterday’ is one of the most covered songs in history – but as he turned 70 on Monday, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney showed no signs of settling back to reflect on his extraordinary past.

Fresh from wowing huge crowds at Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee concert, and with another headline gig – the London Olympics opening ceremony – booked for next month, retirement looks a way off for the British legend.

“If I’m really enjoying this, why retire?” the most prolific, most commerciallysuccessful former member of

the Beatles told the British music magazine Mojo last year.

Stage collapse: The

drummer for the British rock group Radiohead paid homage Sunday to Scott Johnson, the sound technician killed when an outdoor stage set up in a Toronto park for a group concert collapsed.

“We have all been shattered by the loss of Scott Johnson, our friend and colleague,” drummer Phil Selway wrote in a statement.

Johnson died last Saturday when part of the metal-frame stage at Downsview Park collapsed, a Toronto police spokesman said.

Doc fears dying: Michael Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray reportedly fears he will die in jail.

Conrad was Michael Jackson’s personal physician at the time of his death in June 2009. The King of Pop died of acute Propofol intoxication and Murray was found guilty of his involuntary manslaughter.

According to TMZ, Murray is worried the care he is receiving there is affecting his health.

thephuketnews.com

32 ISLAND SCENE

THE PHUKET NEWS

LET’S DANCE P

huket Academy of Dance held its “Dance 2012” event at the Hilton Arcadia and Spa in Karon on Saturday

thephuketnews.com

afternoon. Performers ranged from very cute toddlers to experienced teenagers and adults, who performed in front of a 150-strong crowd.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

THE PHUKET NEWS

ISLAND SCENE 33

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

FIVE YEARS AND COUNTING

T

he Irish Times Pub in Jungceylon, Patong, celebrated five years on Friday evening with a free buffet and party for customers.

Nick Robinson and Pakkarin Mipol.

From Rich Condo, Narissa, owner Khun Chai, and Tan.

Irish Times staff Nancy and Hong.

The Irish Times team: From left, Mile and Thomas Corley, Ronnie Corley, and Sarah Corley. Noi, Golf, Kwan (from Rich Condo) and Chicky.

thephuketnews.com

34 EVENTS

THE PHUKET NEWS

UPCOMING EVENTS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

List your event for FREE at thephuketnews.com/events.php

JUNE 8 - JULY 1

and relax while their youngsters enjoy the Kidzsole Flying Trapeze, bouncy castle, trampoline and games in the Kidz Lounge.

It all kicks-off on Saturday evening, 23 June, with the grand “Skool’s Out” opening party at Canal Village featuring Phuket’s hottest bands – The Legends of Siam and The Screaming Hypocrites.

sale. Free admission. Games and jumping castle for kids, fireworks at sunset and live band.

Euro 2012 at Serenity Join us for one of the greatest global parties! Start June 8 till July 1 2012 East 88 Beach Lounge will show all matches of the Euro 2012 live on screen with English commentary. Group games start at 11pm and at 1.45am. All finals at 1.45am. All local beers at B100net; Six-Pack beer at B500net; Halftime snacks special at B250net Cool result guessing game with hot prizes! Contact East 88 Beach Lounge within Serenity, call 076 371 900, www.serenityphuket.com.

JUNE 11 - JULY 11

Chris De Meo at VR Gallery VR Gallery is excited to announce the 1st solo exhibition of artist Chris De Meo. So impressive are his works that he has been invited to exhibit “My Abstract Life” at VR Gallery. The exhibit will be predominately large abstract pieces. Contact 076 333 568.

JUNE 23 - AUGUST 31

Contact David Rucker 087 266 7514 or visit website navyleaguephuket.org.

JULY 9-20 Festival attractions during the two months include art classes with an Artistin-Residence, free Zumba fitness sessions twice a week in Canal Village, entertainment by a strolling troupe of international performers from the famous Palazzo dinner theatre, and theme parties. The Beer Tent offers a feast of televised big screen summer sporting events with coverage of the Euro 2012 Football Championship, London Olympic Games, F1 grand prix races, Wimbledon tennis and AFL games, as well as a variety of entertainment, weekly quiz night and Happy Hour drinks.

And a popular return attraction for the youngsters at this year’s Festival will be the Kidz Fun Zone, serving up daily afternoons of sports skills, cooking lessons, adventure and educational activities, golf excursions and outings to local amusement parks, for just B200 per session. For more information, a schedule of events and details on promotions, please visit http://www.lagunaphuket.com/events/family-festival.

Summer Camp at FunStart!

Summer Camp Details Where: FunStart When: July 9-20, 2012 Times: 9am-3.30pm.

Ages: 7-13 years Includes: Sports, survival in the wild, adventure, cooking, art, making new friends! Cost B12,000 (Special discount for HeadStart students) For registration details contact FunStart office from 10am-8 pm. Contact HeadStart Office, 076 612 876, miki@headstartphuket.com.

JUNE 30 Learn to Fly - Flying Trapeze

WAHOO THAILAND 2013 SPORT FISHING TOURNAMENT 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!

“Learn To Fly” Flying Trapeze Lessons at Laguna at Canal Village. Open to the public everyday for all ages 4 years and up! Starts 5pm till late. We have “Try and Fly” classes, 1/2 hour and one hour sessions And don’t miss “The Laguna Fantasy Fly Shows” presented by “Ordinary People doing Extraordinary things”. Contact K.Pee 084 837 5726 or K.Gee 086 003 0241, KidzSole@ KidzSole.com www.KidzSole.com.

JUNE 23 - AUGUST 25 CASH AND PRIZES TOTALING OVER APPROX. 3,000,000 BAHT ($100,000) 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

Summer Family Festival Laguna Phuket’s Summer Family Festival rocks into action on Saturday 23 June with a spectacular rock music opening party heralding the launch of a two-month treasure trove of fun and games for kids, together with a host of entertainment options for Mums and Dads. Right through until 25 August, Canal Shopping Village is transformed into a carnival playground, with a Beer Tent for parents to socialise

Summer Day Care at FunStart!

Summer Day Care Where: FunStart When: July 9-27, 2012. Times: 8.30am-3.15pm.

Ages:3-6 years Cost: B9,000 for 3 weeks B3,500 per week. Contact HeadStart front office. Call 076 203 185. Email: miki@headstartphuket.com.

Lamburg’s 18th Birthday at Andaman Horse Center

JULY 29

Please join Andaman Horse Center in celebrating Lamburg’s 18th B-day on Saturday, June 30 , 2012. From 11am to dusk. Horse “race” at 2pm. Free refreshments, cake and ice cream, and pony rides for children.

RSVP, please to 084 842 4581 or Info@ PhuketHorseRescue.Com. Directions and map at www.AndamanHorseCenter.Com.

JULY 1 American Independence Day Picnic American picnic at HeadStart with hamburgers, hot dogs and American beer for

www.phuketticketmaster.com

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

EVENTS 35

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

List your event for FREE at thephuketnews.com/events.php FRIDAYS

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.

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Sunday Roast at Sugar Reef Bangkok Travellers playing live on June 30 from 9pm, also special club membership for expats entitling members to discounts on food and drink ask jamie for details, also Sunday lunch served from 2pm. B299 adults and B150 children. Home cooked weekly specials. Sugar Reef, opposite Tesco at Cherngtalay.

ONGOING EVENTS

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.

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

EVERY DAY

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Sunday Roast Pork

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

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

MONDAYS

SATURDAYS

Surin Beach Just Got Better Sea Breeze has joined forces with The Burger bar and Beach club to bring you not only superb Thai cuisine in a beach front setting but also an excellent range of gourmet 100% Australian beef burgers. To celebrate we are offering up to two free kids meals with any two full paying adults. Look for the voucher inside this paper. Live sport every day including our 100” HD screen. Ask about our new Pool Club, plus kids and adults parties planned and catered for. Contact 076 270 399, info@seabreezesurin.com, www. thebestbeach club.com.

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Two Chefs Saturday Brunch 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: Our home-smoked salmon, smoked prawns, Swedish meatballs, roasted porkloin, home-made bread, delicious desserts and much more. B395 or B695 include free flow of Chang draught, wine, Sangria.

See www.twochefs.com, 076 330 065, katacenter@twochefs.com.

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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, Chimi-Churri 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.

Summer Promotions!

TUESDAYS

BBQ at Expat Hotel

Pool Competition at Expat Guesthouse

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

Pool Competition Every Tuesday 9pm Expat Guesthouse Sports Bar, Patong.

See map at www.expatguesthouse.com.

SUNDAYS

WEDNESDAYS

Best Mini Golf in Phuket! Phuket Adventure Mini Golf – Fun for Everyone! A challenging 18 holes miniature classic championship golf course surrounded by palm trees, stones, water, bamboo and bushes. Designed and built together with Scandinavian Adventure Golf. Whether living close by or here on a fabulous holiday, this is the place for the whole family, friends and couples to enjoy at all times. Contact 076 314 345, 080 147 2468, www.phuketadventureminigolf.com.

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daily event updates on Friday 21st Pub & Restaurant Lazy Sunday Jazz Morning at Paresa

Two Chefs Tex Mex Night

Kick back and enjoy a lazy Sunday breakfast at Paresa with jazz music, free flow

At Two Chefs Karon 6pm-1am. Every Wednesday you can enjoy Phuket’s best

Happy hour 6pm-9pm. B60 for beer. Every last Friday in the month free BBQ (start from 6pm.) Call 076 344 133, Tum 081 171 7993, Bas 080 523 5371. E-mail friday_21st@ hotmail.com, facebook: Friday Twentyone.

thephuketnews.com

36 JOBS

THE PHUKET NEWS

CLASSIFIEDS

Villa for sale or lease Prime property with 12 rooms, common swimming pool > 39

classifieds@thephuketnews.com

JOBS IN PHUKET

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

List your ad for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php Marketing Director: CC’s located in the lush hills of Kata is your home away from home. Currently under renovation but when open, our hotel will have gone through many major upgrades.

We are currently looking for a Marketing Director who will be responsible to direct and oversee the hotel’s marketing plans. Experience in understanding tourism trends in Phuket and able to adjust marketing plan as required is a must. At least 2 years of experience in the tourism industry and is familiar with a variety of the fields concepts, practices & procedures. Self-motivated and able to meet stated goals and objectives.

Attractive compensation package offered. Position available now. Contact Ken Miller, sales@ccbloomshotel. com, 086 604 1333.

commission. Contact 076 203 185 or 087 882 5544.

and references. info@katagardens.net.

R e s t a u r a n t S t a f f Operations Manager Needed: Spring Onion / Sales: Club Asia Fitness Restaurant located in Patong on the corner of Sirirat Road and Prachanukroh Road and we will be serving European and Thai dishes.

Staff needed: Head Chef, Chef Helper and Server. Call 084 059 9987.

- Phuket’s leading fitness centre requires an Operations Manager and a Sales Consultant. Requirements Thai National, degree and must be able to communicate in English. info@cluba siaphuket.com.

Electrican plus: SwimDay Care Staff Need- ming pool company requires Sales And Marketing sporty staff to conduct fun, ed: Looking for caring, an electrican with an elecExecutive: Thai, self mo- active, child-friendly games creative, energetic carers tronics and motor repair tivated, fluent in speaking and writing English, driving license, preferably experience in ad sales or property field, competitive salary plus commission. See Exotiq Property. Pleas call 076 527 568.

Summer Camp Staff needed: FunStart needs enthusiastic, energetic,

and activities from July 9-20 July/ August 13-24, 2012 at FunStart. Call 081 968 1562.

for our Day Care program at FunStart from July 9-27, 2012. Please contact me for more info. 081 968 1562.

background. English skills an advantage. 076 620 193.

Website Programmer required: Cybernok are

Swimming Teacher: Receptionist wanted looking for good HTML, Looking for a qualified Thai Rawai Area: English CSS and PHP programmers swimming teacher to teach and assist teaching swimming for HeadStart International school and after school classes at FunStart.

Salary B15,000 plus good

speaking helpful, outgoing personality. Well groomed, height/weight in proportion.

Thai or Indo/Filipina/Burma.

Join our dynamic team, send your CV with recent photo

(preferably with Joomla! experience) with good English skills. Please e-mail your CV with recent picture and expected salary. info@cybernok.com.

We are a newly built boutique hotel which is located in the heart of Patong Beach right next to the Patong Police Station. Blue Sky Patong is surrounded by all the main tourist centres such as the sophisticated shopping centre Junceylon, a colourful nightlife along Bangla Road, or even a short distance to explore many activities along the beachfront area. As a newly built 4 star hotel, we are looking for team members who are service minded and who are willing to act with the organisation's best interests at all times; if you think you are the one with a strong will to achieve the same goals with us, then please do not hesitate to apply.

We are currently recruiting for the following positions: General Manager-Qualification: •A degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management or higher with at least five years experience within the hotel industry in Hotel Management.

•Speak, read and write English fluently (it would be an advantage if he/she can speak a second language like Chinese or any other languages) •Good communication and listening skills with a sense of humor •Good accounting & budgeting, administrative & organisational skills •Hard-working, self-motivating, professionalism and a flexible work ethic •Proficiency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Human Resource Manager-Qualification: •Minimum of a Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Human Resources, Business and Organisation Development.

•Ten plus years of progressive leadership experience in Human Resources positions •Active affiliation with appropriate Human Resources networks •Excellent interpersonal and coaching skills •General knowledge of various employment laws and practices •Administering compensation, benefits, performance management systems, safety and recreation programs Front Office Manager-Qualification: •A degree in hotel or hospitality management will be preferred •Responsible for all duties of the front desk operation which includes: staff training, inter-department communications, and staff scheduling •FOM usually works a regularly scheduled front desk shift and must be available to work any shift as needed •Possess strong communications and demonstrate leadership abilities •Conduct the functions efficiently with a problem-solving minded •Must have extensive hotel experience, ability and mature judgment

Front Desk Agents-Qualification: •A degree in hotel or hospitality management will be preferred •Involve greeting, providing guests with necessary information •Responsible for promoting various offers and services of the organisation they are working with •Have some basic conflict resolution skills.

•Must be alert and sharp when it comes to their client's details.

•Have excellent communication skills, pleasant personality and should interacting with people

Financial Controller-Qualification: •A degree in accounting, financial discipline with the knowledge of tax laws and regulations would be advantage •Integrity and initiative •Require advanced knowledge of hospitality accounting skills, spreadsheets and financial management software •Previous experience in supervising employees is preferred •Plans, organises, directs and controls the accounting functions of a hotel and reports operational results to the general manager •Ensure timely and accurate report of financial information, handling yearly audits, and long-term financial forecasting

Purchasing Staff-Qualification: •A degree in business, economics or related field is preferred •Experience in purchasing, merchandising and associated fields would be preferred •Check invoices against purchasing department records and purchase orders, and verify the quality and quantity of all goods received •Monitors and controls the purchases of goods and services at the correct prices, in economics quantities and with acceptable quality

Accounts Payable Staff/Account Receivable Staff-Qualification: •A Diploma in accounting or business is preferred •Familiarity with word processing, spreadsheets, database, and accounting software and the internet •Perform account and month-end payable and receivable reconciliation •Input all approved journal entries into the accounting system

Payroll Staff-Qualification: •A Diploma in principles of accounting, computerised accounting and payroll accounting would be advantage •Experience in accounting field is required •Knowledge of payroll software is preferred •Need to stay updated on payroll tax laws and adjust a system as necessary Sales and Marketing Coordinator-Qualification: •A degree in business, sales administrative, marketing, organisational development or marketing related field •Computer proficiency with Microsoft Office, Dreamweaver, Front Page skills required •Ability to operate under solid pressure and meet tight deadlines •Sound understanding of latest technologies and should identify how to apply them in marketing •Good team player and should meet or exceed team goals Food & Beverage Manager-Qualification: •A degree in service-related field •Significant food and beverage experience at least for five years •Experience of working in positions of high responsibility in the hotel or food and beverage sectors and managing teams of at least 20 staff •To ensure that the customer promise is delivered and that customers are satisfied within the framework of financial targets set •Team management, leadership & team player •Financial awareness Restaurant Manager-Qualification: •A Diploma in service-related field •Significant experience of restaurant management •Dynamism/good relationship skills: maintaining the image of the restaurant •Staff management:recruitment, training, evaaluation and promotion •Monitoring customer service levels •Maximise restaurant occupancy to increase restaurant sales Sou Chef /Team Leader-Qualification: •A degree in Hotel and Food & Beverage studies with at least 3-5 years of culinary management experiences

All potential staff are expected to be fluent in English accordingly to the positions that they have applied. We offer a competitive salary and benefits to the suitable candidates; please send appplication letters with a detailed resume, recent photograph to jayeng89@hotmail.com

thephuketnews.com

•Manage daily operations of the kitchen and provides professional leadership and direction to kitchen personnel (including staff training) •Ensure that all recipes, food preparations, and presenta tions meet specifications and have a commitment to quality •Maintain a safe, orderly and sanitized kitchen, for instance: using proper food-handling techniques and hygiene control •Manage cost and stock controls, calculations and ordering •Possess the creative flair in menu design •Hands-on, motivational leadership style based in mutual respect Cafe Service Crew-Qualification:

•At least 1-2 years of experience in customer service (Fresh keen learners/graduates are welcome to apply) •Well groomed with a warm and cheerful personality and a professional appearance •Able to work shift, including weekends and public holidays •Maintain set standard of quality, service, product and cleanliness Waiter/Waitress-Qualification: •A Diploma in Hotel studies would be preferred •Good personal presentation •Multi-skilled with good time-keeping •To ensure the guests receive high quality services and service provision Bar Waiter/Waitress-Qualification: •A Diploma in Hotel/Food & Beverage studies would be preferred •Knowledge of drinks and cocktails •Good personal presentation •To ensure the guests receive high quality services and service provision Bar Bartender-Qualification: •A Diploma in Hotel/Food & Beverage studies would be preferred •Knowledge of alcoholics drinks and cocktail recipes •Complete knowledge of health and safety rules •To ensure service and product quality •To look after customer billing and stock of cash Housekeeping-Qualification: •A diploma or the highest level of a high school education •Ensure rooms are stocked and up to industry standards •Positive attitude with customer-service minded and friendly •Should have a neat, clean appearance with a strong attention to detail

THE PHUKET NEWS

CLASSIFIEDS 37

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php ‘91 Tairia sport fishing yacht.

Plus website and all past customers. www.phuketfishboat.com, email martin@ phuketfishboat.com.

ACCOMMODATION AVIALABLE

BUY & SELL IN PHUKET

Brunswick tournament pool tables, air conditioned carpeted pool hall. 20 tvs, 2, 2.5 meter projectors. Call 088 444 7912 (selling because of private health problems). https://www. facebook.com/pages/PatongPool-Club/322189594471781.

For Sale 35 Ft Speedboat: With 200 HP x 2 Yamaha engines. Recently reconditioned, spent B300K to rebuild the engines, paint, etc, needs another B100K to be like new. Offers to James 085 064 4806 alonglee52@ gmail.com.

Friday 21st (Room For Rent) Good cond i t i o n: H i g h S e as o n B800.- per day, B18,000.per month. Low Season B500.- per day, B13,000.per month.

Call 076 344 133, TUM 081 171 7993, BAS 080 523 5371, e-mal: friday_21st@ hotmail.com. Facebook : Friday Twentyone.

Speedboat Dive/Snorkelling: Customised speedboat diving, snorkelling, GPS radio, 2x Yamaha engines 200cc. Also available Bauer compressor 40 tanks regs BC DS boat. B900,000. Contact Joe 087 891 8912, joe@ similan-diving-safaris.com.

Boutique Hotel For Sale: Successful run ning Hotel business with 22 rooms fully furnished with Chanote title. Beautiful rooms. 3 retail shops paying very good rent.Reception, coffee shop. Good location and reviews. No Agents.

Call 084 189 7696.

study project, architecture design and construction and management. Contact: 076 381 895.

BUSINESS SERVICES

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.

Tile It: Thalang. Wana Park

BOATS & YACHTS

Absolute Beach Front Bar and Restaurant:

Custom Build Dive Speedboat: Fiberglass, 24 seats for divers, sundeck, 3 Honda Engine 225 HP each, site entry and exit doors, international survey. Excellent for business.

Must see with many extras.

15 metres. Radio, shower, bathroom. Contact 084 188 45 44, e -mail: michahildner@hotmail.com.

Motor Yacht Freezer for sale: Custom made H60 x D50 x L200cm, was made for a Hatters Motor Yacht 60 Ft in 1998 and still runs very well. Paid U$5K. Make me an offer.

Contact 085 064 4806 or alonglee52@gmail.com.

BUSINESSES FOR SALE

To t a l o f 18 5 s q m e t r e , at least 70 seats/covers, en-suite accommodation, bar and beach. Price includes furniture, fittings and lease/rent until Sept 2013 no further costs. Extendable for 3-5 years. Peter 081 415 2884, peterocket@hotmail. com.

Patong Pool Club & Sports Bar: Big pool club on NaiNai Road in Patong. 9

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

Car for rent: Car in good condition, shor t and longterm rental with first-class insurance and delivery servic e. Please c ont ac t 0 8 6 690 6007, email: k.niwatt@ hotmail.com.

CARS FOR SALE

CARS FOR RENT

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

Indo Construction: 40 years’ experience and more than 20 years at your service in Thailand. Main contractor:

A1 Car Rentals: Fullyinsured. Starts at B12,000 to B18,000 per month. Please call 089 831 4703. Email for more info: a1carrent@gmail.com.

Suzuki/Carry Pick-Up 1.6M/T: 2011 Suzuki/Carry Pick-Up 1.6M/T for rent. White, with 1.5 Metre High Cover, Roof Rack and Comprehensive Insurance. B15,000 per month.

Long Term Rental. Contact 081 080 3773, 081 978 2725.

ONLY 170,000 BAHT CASH!: October 2011, 8,000km. Proton Exora 7/8seat family car. Many options, including GPS, DVD. Price new: B940,000. Now B740,000, or on finance: B570,000 + B170,000 cash.

Call 081 788 8280. Email: mauric e.phuket@gmail. com.

Grand Sale 30-40% OFF! 15 June to End of June Villa & Hotel Furniture & Home Decor Items Showroom opposite Tesco Lotus Cherngtalay

L u x u r y Ya c h t f o r Sale: For sale 2002 Bertram 510 Flybridge luxury yacht. USD825,000. Email mar tin@phuket fishboat. com.

Bar For Sale Patong: Bar in Patong Otop. Good location. Fully Furnished Including 1.5 year contract.

Good profit and easy to run business! Price: 480,000 B. Call 084 342 6704, 086 278 5759. E-mail: skurki@ live.se.

Fi shin g Yac ht fo r S a l e: F o r s a l e 19 9 1 Tairia sport fishing yacht USD275,000. Email martin@phuketfishboat.com.

Charter Fishing Business: Owner is changing business disciplines and wants to exit the charter fishing business. For sale ‘02 Bertram 510 Flybridge and

Open Mon-Sat 10.00-19.00 Call us 076-325585 thephuketnews.com

38 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

BUY & SELL IN PHUKET CARS FOR SALE

cade. Call 076 203 185, 087 882 5544. See funstartphuket. com.

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php language) with friendly and energised Thai female teacher.

Call 080 386 5026.

Cooking School: Fire up your creative flair with Food Services Cooking School. Italian, Western and Thai cuisine.

Try our famous pizza school.

082 816 0126, email: info@ foodservicesth.com.

Site office A/C B6,000/M. -Mobile toilets B2,800/M. Chalong - opposite Wat Chalong. Thalang -main Highway. Contact 076 313 235, 081 125 1873.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FOR SALE Old Classic 1960 Benz for Sale: Old classic 1960 Benz. Spent B250,000 to recondition. Offers accepted. Call 085 064 4806 for more details or alonglee52@ googlemail.com.

CHILDCARE Buds Nursery: Phuket’s oldest bilingual international childcare facility. High-quality, time-proven schedule and curriculum. Now in brand new purpose-built school. Experienced native English teachers to teach ages 1 1/2-8. Mon-Fri 8am.-5pm. Bus service available from Patong, Karon, Kata, Phuket, Rawai and Chalong.

Website: www.buds-phuket. com.

CLUBS & MEMBERSHIPS Funstart: Family spor ts and leisure club. Swimming/ golf/playcentre/gaming ar-

Health Food : Online health

Club Asia Fitness: Royal Phuket City Hotel.

Of fers Zumba /LesMills classes/weight training/sauna/steam/swimming pool, all inclusive. For a free trial workout, come along and join the action. Tel 076 354 027, 087 275 3614. www. clubasiaphuket.com.

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

food in Thailand. Good Karma, all natural healthy, natural and organic products. Contact 082 276 1675. www.goodkar mathailand.com.

Palm House International School: Palm House International School, Rawai. Ages 5 -11years.

Qualified and experienced teachers, extensive grounds Extra curricular activities include: Swimming, Basketball, Mandarin, Russian.

Please look at our facebook page Palm House School or www.palmhouseprimaryschool.com for further information. Contact details: 076 288630, info@palmhouseprimaryschool.com.

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

EDUCATION Want to Practice your Thai? Thai courses and lessons for daily life (culture and

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Russian Language for Your Kids: Are your children starting to forget Russian? Sign up to our Russian Language For Kids program.

Visit http://PhuketRussian School.com, email us at info@ phuketrussianschool.com or call 082 804 9131.

PET ADOPTION 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.

1982 Lafitte Rothschild: 1982 Lafitte Roth-

er from the UK. With guaranteed results and over 10 years of experience in men and women’s health and fitness.

Pre- and post-natal exercise.

Nutrition and weight management. For a free consultation contact Sarah on 084 985 8161, email: sarah@one2onefitness.net.

Why buy a pet?: Soi Dog Foundation have over 300 beautiful dogs and puppies available for adoption. Fully vaccinated and sterilised. Please contact 085 574 4258 or email cindy@soidog.org.

PET BOARDING

PERSONAL SERVICES

schild Red Wine for sale, best offer. I bought it for my collection before. Please call me, James on 085 064 4806.

MOTORBIKES FOR SALE

Home Stay & Day Care For Dogs: Opening Soon in August 2012!

Dog-A-holics Thailand is ideal for small to medium size dogs. Owner Rose Nattanicha who is a dog lover.

For more information: doga holicsthailand@gmail.com.

Ducati 999 Big Bike f o r S a l e: 2 5 , 0 0 0 k m 10 0 0 c c c ost new B1m.

SALE B400,000. Green book (Year 2008 first registered). Contact English 088 447 6676 (Toni)/086 652 9904 (Kiekie).

Yamaha Nouvo 2009 B32,000: 2009 Yamaha Nouvo Elegance 135 cc auto gear. 14,000 km. Reliable bike.

Just serviced and new rear tyre. Leaving soon so will sell to best reasonable offer. Call if serious and know price. 087 047 2593.

Buon A p p et i to: D e li market and bistro. Number one supplier of Italian Deli in Phuket. Call 076 384 273, info@buonappetitogroup.com, www.buonappetito group.com.

PET HOSPITAL Chaofah Pet Hospital: 8/28–29 Moo 9, Chaofah East Road. Contact 076 283 365.

POOL TABLES Haris & Hawryluck - Attorneys at Law: Unit 6D CCM Complex.

Please call 076 510 111, e m ail info @ hhl e g alad visor s.c om, w w w.hhle galadvisors.com.

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.

PROPERTY CONCIERGE Bon Café Phuket: A

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.

MOVING & STORAGE

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

Pro t e c t Yo u r H o m e w i t h C C T V: C C T V & 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.

Safeway Storage: -Self storage from B800/M. -Container rental B3,000/M -Sales/

thephuketnews.com

Personal Trainer: Fullyqualified female personal train-

Selling or Renting Your Property?: We have buyers for foreign freehold, sea view properties and land. Call 080 143 2929 or visit realestate.phuket. net.

THE PHUKET NEWS

CLASSIFIEDS 39

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php PROPERTY FOR RENT

PROPERTY IN PHUKET

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

Info: 089 594 4067 Private Pool Villa: Private pool villa for rent, Rawai area, 5 minutes to Chalong centre, fully furnished. Contact 089 472 9870,

65% Off in Low Season!: This Peninsula Villa Sea View Villa Cape Yamu: 3 Bedroom/2 bathroom villa. Set in private gardens with swimming pool.

Furnished to high standard.

Only 15minutes to either PIA/British Schools. Private estate. B35,000 per month.

Call 086 279 628.

3 Bedroom Furnished: B11,000 per month, one bathroom, lock up garage and carport on 800 sq metre lot.

Close to PIA school, golf, beach and airport. Email gor don_asia@hotmail.com.

Luxury Pool Villa: Laguna, quality furnishings spa, bar, security, BBQ. B22,000 lease. Call 089 594 4067.

Big Luxury Villa: Pool, Laguna, designed for comfort.

Has everything spa, B32,000 lease. Call 089 594 4067.

Phuket is located in Cape Panwa. Phuket. This villa has swimming pool, aircon. and WiFi . Below rates are daily.

Weekly and monthly rates available upon on request.

• Standard room, share toilet and shower B1,000 • Deluxe room B1,500 • Superior room B2,500 • Penthouse B10,000. Please call James 085 0 64 4806 or email to alonglee52@gmail. com.

Loft Style Flat: Secure, quiet, spacious, new decoration. Great location for exercise. Long-term rental. 086 664 5575.

4 Bed/5 Bath HomeB30k month: Immaculate 4 bed/5 bath custom home with full western kitchen. Gated entry in quiet development across from Boat Lagoon, near BIS. ADSL, Satellite, Only B30k per month. Martin 087 850 4684.

House Villa for rent: Villa for rent in Rawai Beach, 3 Bed 4 Bath Jacuzzi Bath, Private pool, The striking two-storey homes feature a grand living room and dining area, kitchen. TV, DVD/CD Player, Internet Wifi. 089 727 7477, www.baanmari mar.com.

Cozy House and Garden for Rent: Fully fur-

nished 2 Bedrooms, 1 office, 2 bedrooms, living, dining and European kitchen with nice garden and private parking with remote gate inside Baan Permsap Villa. 5 aircon. 24h security. 081 823 4627.

Space for Rent in Patong: Office, Business space for rent on fifth floor of Patong Tower. Call 076 341 370.

Pool House Near Laguna Beach: Comes fully equiped with 3 bedrooms 2 bathooms tropical garden with nice pool. 084 850 1340.

renewable contract, B40,000 a month, building with three rooms, bathroom, living area and office. Second building up to three offices, two bathrooms, showroom, bike included in the price. Contact 084 552 9792.

Luxur y Condo Kata Beach: Stunning seaview 5 star, 1 bedroom lounge kitchen, micro wave, satellite TV, DVD WiFi. Weekly/Monthly rates. Call James 090 864 4519.

PROPERTY FOR SALE

FREE ONLINE: 189 CHARACTERS + 1 PICTURE Allamanda (Laguna) Residences/Phuket:

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189 CHARACTERS

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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 with shower/bathroom, roof terrace. Longterm rent or sale. 081 737 0365, utai pan@yahoo.com.

Designed specially for families, the Mission Heights Residence offer very spacious 540 Sqm houses, all with 12 meter long swimming pool, 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, guest bungalow, maid quarter and a nice garden in a very secure, children friendly environment only couple of minutes from Phuket International Academy.

Located only 10 minutes from Airport, Grand Ao Por Marina, new Tesco Shopping center, 2 golf courses, Naiyang beach, Thanyapura sport / leisure center and international school, the Mission Heights Residence is a perfect place to live for families without traffic in a very peaceful, secure and natural surrounding.

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THE SUNRISE OCEAN VILLAS

Home and Work Chaofa: 800sq.metre, seven years

WRITE YOUR CLASSIFIED Headline:

Mission Heights Residence

Villa for sale or lease: This Peninsula Villa Phuket was valued by Night & Frank realty recently at B123 million. It has 12 rooms, common swimming pool and gym facility. Give us an offer.

Contact alonglee52@gmail. com.

The Villas currently under construction being built to highest western standard and are launched at only 13.9 million Baht for the first 3 houses.

For appointment or more details contact project director, Khun Montha at 088 751 1750 or email mission_heights@yahoo. com.

After a great success of the first phase, the Sunrise Ocean Villas is now starting to build the 8 other villas of "Phase2". The price of 17.9 million baht makes the project one of the most competitive on the island for being only 60m from the beach.

Each villa has a living area of over 300 sqm, has 3 spacious bedrooms, all sea views, 5 bathrooms, a 10x4m infinity pool, maid's quar ter and a covered 2-car parking. The houses are specially designed to guarantee complete privacy, with an open panoramic view of the sea.

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

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

www.thesunrisevillas.com

1.5 Rai (2 X 0.75 Rai) Chanote at Cape Yamu: 1.5 rai flat land at Cape Yamu. 2 x 0.75 rai adjoining plots OrBorTor road access to super end of soi private location. Private sale direct from the owner. Only 3.5 million baht per rai. Contact 081 087 9237, www.phuketlandfor sale.net.

thephuketnews.com

40 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

PROPERTY IN PHUKET

Kathu : Ser viced Land for Sale: Near the

Kathu : Ser viced Land for Sale: Near the British International School, 500 sq. m. including road, water, electricity and security. B3,000,000. Call 089 724 7211. E-mail julien@ phuketimmo.com.

List your advert for FREE at thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

British International School, 500 sq. m. including road, water, electricity and security. B3,000,000. Call 089 724 7211. E-mail julien@ phuketimmo.com.

Renovated Condo for Sale: Patong near Simon Cabaret, 50sq metre huge pool and garden area. Everything new fully furnished plus kitchen, free hold. Sale B3 million, no stupid offers. Thai 087 621 3405/ English. Contact 085 471 9246.

Phuket- Surin Beach A r e a f o r S a l e: C h a node title at Manik-township.

20x25 meter in natural surrounding, B2.6 million. Free design+construction permit.

Phone 087 275 9621, email nuttapol_trateng@yahoo.com.

New Apartment for Sale Patong: Condo: swimming

for Sale, 3 floors,3 bathrooms, living-room,kitchen,3 sleeping rooms, roofterrace,parking,good location, 200 square meter living area must see. Call 084 188 4544, e-mail: michahild ner@hotmail.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).

Thai Style House for Sale: Teak wood f loors, stairs, walls, 2 bedrooms.

Land 330 sq metre, peace-

B6 million now. 200m off main road near Chalong temple. Full chanote title.

Call 087 053 6181/089 651 3479. Email philcroker69@ hotmail.com.

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.

Golf Villa for sale/ lease: The Lake View Golf Villa is only three years old located at Loch Palm Golf Club Phuket. Bought for B32.5 million plus landscape and renovation B6.3 million. Four bedroom plus extra room and pool. Any offers welcome. alonglee52@ gmail.com.

Petchabun Land for Sale: 8 Rai+448sq metre.

6.1 R ai Land

House with Pool: Three Bed, two bath, lounge and dining kitchen. Western kitchen and fully furnished throughout.

Patio and private pool. House 165sq metre, easily maintained grounds 290sq metre. Double car port. Call 081 273 7326.

Nice One Rai in Chalong: Reduced, just

pool, security 24/7. Furnished, 46sqm, freehold: B2.9 million.

089 728 4005, thamad17@ yahoo.com.

Kamala Two Brand New Villas: Two bedrooms, two

House in Patong for Sale: Very nice Town House

quiet, green area. Urgent sale for just B5 million total, nonnegotiable. 089 652 1951 or email phuket.pn@gmail.com.

ful location, five minutes to Patong, Chanote title. B5.5 million. 086 268 8701, email: f430spiderf1@hotmail.com.

PROPERTY FOR SALE CONT.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Chanote title and close to main road. One year teak plant on the land. Call 087 28 4 6142 o r email blue girl83150@yahoo.com.

Rawai Pool Villa: Unique three bedroom pool villa “off the plan�. Three easy payments over seven months.

Situated in a well established housing complex in Rawai over looking a peaceful, fish filled lake. Email for plans. Call 081 270 4291.

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

Luxury Private Pool Villas: Brand new Bali style 3 and 4 bed villas 1 km to Nai Harn Beach. High rental guaranteed investment.

Prices from B12.9m (incl. full furniture pkg). Enquiries sakt27@gmail.com +66 878 974 42.

Beach Front Plots: Located opposite of Yacht Haven Marina in a very peaceful, natural envirointment.

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.

SEAVIEW LAND FOR 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

Land for Sale Mission Hills: 800 sq metre. 1300 sq metre. 1600 sq metre. Very quiet and private locations, very close to airport, Tesco, Golf courses and Phuket International Academy. All Chanote title from B1.7 million.

Contact 087 276 0529.

Land for Sale: 11 rai, one kilometre from Naiyang beach. B6.5 millions per rai.

Please call : Siriporn +66 (0) 896 499 939.

PUBLIC NOTICE

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

Te r m i n a t e d S t a f f Notice: The Directors and

Condo in Phuket Town for Sale/Rent: New condo, 1 bed, fully-furnished, WiFi, maid service, sea view. Call 081 893 5188.

Perfect Land for Villa: Approx three rai, with chanote title, 2 km south of Thai Muang town centre. Just 24 km north of Sarasin Bridge. Good road access and electricity. Very

thephuketnews.com

Pent hou se Cond o with Sea Views: Genuine opportunity to buy 150sq metre (+100sq metre terrace) two double bed, B2.5m condo. Bang Tao Beach.

Superb facilities include pool and gym. Company or standalone. B6,990,000.

Call Paul 082 6 05 0138.

Management of Emerald Villa Services and Tamarind Villas Phuket wish to make it known that the person known as Sathitapron Dutwan (old name) or Pattrida Dutwan (present name), ID Card number 3 8599 00128 190, is no longer employed and no longer represents t h e a b ove c o m p a n i e s .

Signed: The management.

THE PHUKET NEWS

TRADES 41

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

EQUIPMENT SALES & RENTAL

HOME IMPROVEMENT

SPORTS EQUIPMENT

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SPORTING SERVICES

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REMOVALS

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Tel: 076-620113 or 084-8506140 Fax: 076-620015

thephuketnews.com

42 PHUKET SPORT

IN BRIEF Registration opens for Hua Hin tri Registrations are now open for the Queen’s Cup Hua Hin International Triathlon, which will be held in the seaside district on August 19.

In preparation for the event, a training weekend is also being held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) in Phuket from July 6-8.

The weekend will be run

by Fredrick Cronenberg, winner of the 2010 Ironman China 70.3.

To register for the triathlon, visit huahintriathlon. com. For more info about the TSLC training camp, contact 076 336 000 ext. 5020.

Surf’s up at Skyla’s Kids looking to make the most of Phuket’s monsoon surf during the school holidays can head down to Bangtao Beach for a series of surf camps being held next month.

The camps, organised

by Skyla’s Beach House, Longtail and Bliss, are being held each from Wednesday – Friday each week from July 4 – 20.

For more information contact: skylasbeachhouse@ gmail.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Phuketian counting down to epic Mekong mission WATER SPORTS

Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

P

atrick Gasiglia is like a kid before Christmas – he even says so himself.

With just three months remaining before the Phuket resident embarks upon his epic Mekong stand up paddle (SUP) board adventure, it’s now just two weeks until the eagerly awaited arrival of his specially designed ‘Hybrid’ board, created with the help of a team from Starboard.

The board has been designed from the ground up specifically for Patrick’s arduous journey – a 1000 kilometre paddle down the section of the mighty Mekong River that hugs Thailand’s northeastern border with Laos (about a quarter of the river’s total distance).

Made from solid rotomoulded plastic to increase durability, the SUP board features deep foot grooves that will allow Patrick’s feet to sit at water level, improving stability and maneuverability.

Between the two foot depressions is an elevated centre

Patrick Gasiglia has most of his gear in order – now all he needs is his board (inset). section, about 10 inches high, that will allow him to sit down and rest during his long days of paddling, and even use the board as a kayak if required.

The board’s two fins are also able to retract into the board if Patrick is going through shallow or rocky patches.

Of course, these features, and extra durability, come at a cost; the board alone will weigh a whopping 25 kg, compared to the usual 12 kg or so. He will then add an additional

15kg of gear – food, first aid equipment, communications equipment and his Intova Sport Pro HD camera – as well as six kilograms of water.

The addition of the gear, Patrick said, “also makes it less balanced on the board, because it is elevated about the water level.”

But the weight won’t be his only challenge; standing in the way of Patrick achieving his goal is the unpredictable, churning mass of water that is

the Mekong.

On a reconnaissance trip last September, Patrick noted whirlpools several metres in diameter, which have been known to break apart cargo boats. A SUP board, he said, would undoubtedly fare much worse.

But Patrick said his biggest fear “is to be injured in some way and not be able to paddle”. Given the large rocks that lie just inches beneath the water surface, that is a very

real threat.

Despite many challenges facing him, Patrick said he is well equipped to deal with all of them – evidenced by the dozens of crates loaded with hi-tech gear piled up in his home.

Most of that though – the food, water, generator and Karana camping gear – will be transported by 4x4. Patrick will be very much alone on the river during the day.

Of course, until the board arrives, Patrick is “a bit frustrated, because I can’t train with the board I will use.”

Instead, he is occupying his time preparing for the journey by spending about two hours a day either paddling, swimming, jogging, or riding motocross.

Even though he will be going for 10 hours per day during the actual journey, Patrick points out: “A marathon runner doesn’t train by running a marathon.”

The Phuket News is a sponsor of Patrick’s journey. For more information contact bambou53@hotmail.com or visit supmekong1000.wordpress.com.

B OWLE D OV E R

Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (right) visited Phuket recently for a family holiday. He is pictured here with Manish Pratap, director of revenue management of Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket.

Dev, a prolific rightarm pace bowler, captained the Indian cricket team that won the 1983 World Cup, and also coached the national side between October 1999 and August 2000.

He was named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002, and was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2010.

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

PHUKET SPORT 43

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

10-man Islanders break home-ground hoodoo Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

T

he small crowd at Surakul Stadium were unusually quiet when Phuket FC kicked off against Bangkok FC on Sunday night (June 17).

But they were unusually noisy after it. The reason: After more than eight months, the new look Islanders (formerly Southern Sea Kirin) of Phuket finally gave their home supporters something to cheer about with a fighting 2-1 win over Bangkok FC. The local side hadn’t won at Surakul since their 1-0 win over Customs Utd in October last year. The win also broke the side’s nearly three-month winless period.

With the threat of relegation next season a growing threat, The Islanders came out playing an attacking brand of football in the first half, and while communication in the midfield and up front remains an ongoing issue for the side, they were consistently applying

Above: Nene Bi scores the opening goal for Phuket FC after just 15 minutes of the game. pressure to the Bangkok goal.

It paid off after only 15 minutes, with Nene Bi getting his head to a high cross to put The Islanders up 1-0.

Despite playing with resolve, the home side were still out-skilled by their higher-ranked opponents (Bangkok were 10th on the ladder leading into the

match). Nonetheless, their opportunistic and at times scrappy style wreaked havoc with the Bangkok defence.

Just minutes before half time though, Bangkok’s Korean forward Kim Byung-Chae looked to spoil the party. He drew the visitors level off a free kick after squeezing a header between goalkeeper Alonso da

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Silva’s glove and the left post.

But with three minutes of added time announced in the first half, The Islanders made their most cohesive counterattack of the match, shifting the ball with precision through the midfield.

After showing some fancy footwork to catch Bangkok defender Suksayam Chanma-

neewech off balance, Watcharakorn Klaitin sent a curling right-foot shot that found the back of the net and gave the home side a 2-1 advantage at the break.

When Wuttipong Sittitanyakit received his second yellow card early in the second half for a poorly timed challenge though, The Islanders were

reduced to 10 men and their attacking flow stopped. For the rest of the game it was Bangkok with all the possession.

But Phuket’s defensive efforts displayed a strength of character that has lacked for most of the season, and with seven minutes of added time announced, the home side managed to absorb the pressure of a late free kick to hold on and claim a 2-1 victory.

Coach Miloš Joksić said after the match that he was “a little relieved” with the result.

“It was a very hard game for all of us,” he said. “My team showed fighting spirit.”

But he was reluctant to predict the win would signal a new era for the struggling side.

“Let’s wait until we finish the first half of the season. We have many problems in the team right now, but we still have a team that plays with patience, and plays full of heart.

“But this city, and this club, deserve many better things.”

Phuket now host bottomplaced Chantaburi on Sunday (June 24), at 6.30 pm.

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OWNER IS CHANGING BUSINESS DISCIPLINES AND WANTS TO EXIT THE CHARTER FISHING BUSINESS. The purchase of both boats entitles the buyer to www.phuketfishboat.com and its database of customers.

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thephuketnews.com

44 WORLD SPORT

IN BRIEF Tyson to take tale to Broadway From the boxing ring to Broadway – Mike Tyson said Monday he’s teaming up with director Spike Lee to take his one-man show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth to the New York stage.

Tyson, the former heavyweight world champion and self-styled “baddest man on

the planet”, debuted the show in Las Vegas in April, pulling few punches in recounting the highs and highly publicised lows of his career. Now he plans to bring the show to the Longacre Theatre for six nights only, July 31 to August 5, in what will be a Broadway debut for both Tyson and Lee.

Earnhardt Jnr ends four-year win drought Dale Earnhardt Jnr, the most popular driver in the most popular American auto racing series, snapped a fouryear win drought on Sunday by capturing a 400-mile oval race in Michigan.

Earnhardt Jnr, whose late

father was a legend known as ‘The Intimidator’ and killed in a wreck at the Daytona 500, had gone 143 races since winning before taking the US stock car feature event at Michigan International Speedway.

Welsh co-driver Roberts killed in Sicily Gareth Roberts, a co-driver taking part in the Targo Florio rally, was killed on Saturday when his car crashed on a bend.

The 24-year-old Welshman was competing in this fifth leg of the International Rally Challenge with Irish team-mate Craig Breen.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that their Peugeot 207 crashed into a security barrier, hitting Roberts in the passenger seat and emergency services were unable to save him.

Breen escaped unscathed, while no spectators were involved.

Serbia deny ticket scandal Serbia’s national Olympic Committee (OKS) on Monday rejected allegations made by British media alleging their involvement in the black market sale of tickets for the London Olympic Games.

“I am unpleasantly surprised by a British newspaper’s

report and by the fact that my words were put in such a context,” Djordje Visacki, OKS secretary general, said.

The IOC said it was investigating allegations that some national Olympic officials were breaking strict rules on selling tickets for the London Games.

No Schleck as RadioShack rolls out vets RadioShack on Monday announced two 40-year-old riders in their team for the Tour de France, already shorn of 2010 champion Andy Schleck, the Luxemburger having sustained a fractured pelvis last week.

German Jens Voigt and American Chris Horner, born within a month of each

other in 1971, will be on the start line in Liege, Belgium, on June 30 alongside Frank Schleck, third in last year’s Tour.

The team also includes Swiss Olympic time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara, German Andreas Kloeden, Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia and Frenchman Tony Gallopin.

Arthur vows Australia will attack England Australia coach Mickey Arthur has promised an aggressive approach from his side when they face England in their upcoming one-day international series.

thephuketnews.com

Australia have arrived in England for five one-dayers against which will serve as a scene-setter for next year’s tour where they will look to regain the Ashes.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

NalBANNEDian Angry Argentine faces 8-week ban after sinking boot into officials TENNIS Agence France-Presse

P

olice are investigating a complaint of alleged assault against Argentina’s David Nalbandian after a line judge was injured when the tennis player kicked an advertising hoarding.

The 30-year-old was defaulted from the Queen’s Club final in west London on Sunday (June 17) for angrily kicking an advertising board at line judge Andrew McDougall which left the official suffering a gashed and bloodied leg.

Scotland Yard said this week: “We are aware of an incident at the Aegon Championships on June 17. A complaint has been made and the Metropolitan Police Service is now investigating.

“The allegation is of assault.”

There was more bad news for Nalbandian, who had already been stripped of his 44,945 euros (US$56,802)

Line judge Andrew McDougall treats his wound while a remorseful Nalbandian looks on.

Photo: AFP runners-up cheque and 150 ATP ranking points, when he learned the ATP had fined him 10,000 euros (US$12,566), the maximum punishment allowed for his conduct.

“Nalbandian automatically forfeited his prize money and ranking points due to

Simpson latest to ride golf’s new wave GOLF

Rising English star dead at 23 CRICKET

Agence France-Presse

WEBB SIMPSON BECAME golf’s latest star on Sunday, the American’s triumph in the US Open at The Olympic Club making his the 15th different name to grace a trophy in the last 15 major championships.

The 26-year-old didn’t exactly come from nowhere.

He won twice on the US tour last year and challenged for the US money title before finishing second on the list behind Luke Donald.

But in just his fifth major, and his second US Open, few would have tipped him to be hoisting the trophy at Olympic’s mist-shrouded Lake Course, where luminaries

his conduct default,” an ATP spokeswoman said.

“A maximum 10,000 euro fine also was issued onsite by the ATP Supervisor for unsportsmanlike conduct.”

He could also face an eightweek ban having also been fined US$8,000 for throwing

water at an Australian Open tournament worker in January following a five-set defeat by America’s John Isner.

Nalbandian, who had won Sunday’s first set 7-6 (7/3) against Croatia’s Marin Cilic, had just lost his serve to fall 4-3 down in the second when he reacted with a frustrated kick at the board, which was just in front of McDougall.

A stunned and angry McDougall then rolled up his trousers to reveal a bloody gash on his leg before remonstrating with Nalbandian.

Officials immediately disqualified Nalbandian “due to unsportsmanlike behaviour” and Cilic was declared the champion of the ATP grasscourt event, a warm-up for Wimbledon.

Having already apologised on court for his actions, Nalbandian issued a further statement through the ATP late Sunday in an effort to limit the damage ahead of Wimbledon, where he was runner-up in the 2002 men’s singles final.

Agence France-Presse

Webb Simpson. like world No. 1 Donald, No. 2 and defending champion Rory McIlroy failed to make the cut, and others including world No. 3 Lee Westwood, 14-time major champion Tiger Woods, three-time major winner Padraig Harrington and perennial US hope Phil Mickelson fell by the wayside.

Simpson became the ninth successive first-time winner of one of golf’s Grand Slam titles.

SU R R EY’S TOM M AY nard, one of England’s most promising batsmen, has died.

Maynard, just 23, the son of former Glamorgan and England batsman Matthew Maynard, was killed after being struck by a London Underground train in the early hours of Monday morning.

He’d only been at The Oval for 18 months after joining Surrey from Glamorgan, but former England wicket-keeper batsman Alec Stewart, now Surrey’s executive director, said he’d become “a hugely popular figure” at the club.

And Stewart was convinced Tom, a batsman for the

Tom Maynard.

England Lions, the national A team, could have gone on to the senior side, arguing decent career statistics of 2,384 runs in 48 first-class matches at 32.65 with four hundreds did not reflect the true depth of Maynard’s talent.

“Tom was a very good trainer and a quick learner who did nothing by half-measures,” Stewart said.

THE PHUKET NEWS

WORLD SPORT

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Drogba set for move to China FOOTBALL

FOR M ER CH ELSEA striker Didier Drogba is set to sign for Shanghai Shenhua, joining Nicolas Anelka at the Chinese club, its chief investor said.

The Ivory Coast international, 34, will announce the move on his personal website, Zhu Jun told the state Xinhua news agency, in a deal that will reportedly put Drogba on US$314,000 (B10 million) a week.

French forward Anelka, who joined Shenhua in January also from Chelsea, has openly said that he wants Drogba to join him at the ambitious Chinese club.

Deep-pocketed Shenhua have spent lavishly on foreign talent, including coaches. They sacked head coach Jean Tigana earlier this season and replaced him with former Argentina manager Sergio Batista last month.

They are cur rently th 12 in the 16-club Super League.

Mayweather, Pacquiao KO Tiger for top spots Agence France-Presse

F

loyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, the boxers that fight fans worldwide want to see in the ring together, top the list of the 100 highest-paid athletes released by Forbes magazine on Monday (June 18).

Mayweather, who ranks No. 1 for making US$85 million (B2.7 billion) off two fights last year, is serving a three-month jail sentence for domestic battery in Las Vegas, having failed in a bid to serve the remainder of his time under house arrest.

But Mayweather will not be fighting Filipino icon Pacquiao in the mega-bout that boxing fans have sought for years.

Pacquiao, second on the list at $62 million (B2 billion) from earnings and endorsements, lost to unbeaten US fighter Tim Bradley on July 9 and they are set to fight a rematch in November.

Tiger Woods, who had topped the Forbes list since 2001, fell to third this time

Floyd Mayweather: World’s highest-paid athlete. with $59.4 million, his earnings off US$16 million from the previous year and by half since his peak in 2009, mostly due to lost endorsement deals.

It was in 2009 that Woods, a 14-time major champion chasing the 18 major titles won by Jack Nicklaus, saw a sex scandal erupt that caused him to start his 2010 season late and 2011 saw Woods nagged by injuries.

Miami Heat star LeBron James ranks fourth at US$53 million, the highest of 13

basketball players and on the list.

While a lockout last year trimmed 20 per cent off his salary, endorsement deals boosted his total and a marketing partnership made him a stakeholder in English Premier League football side Liverpool.

Swiss tennis star Roger Federer was fifth at US$52.7 million followed by NBA star Kobe Bryant at US$52.3 million, US golfer Phil Mickelson at US$47.8 million, English football star David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy at US$46 million and Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo at US$42.5 million.

American football boasts 30 players on the list, topped

by No. 10 Peyton Manning, the former Indianapolis Colts star who was cut in March and signed with the Denver Broncos for US$96 million over six years.

Manning’s US$42.4 million ranks 10 th overall and he continues to be the top endorsement pitchman among gridiron stars.

In total, the top 100 made $2.6 billion (B82 billion).

Only two women, both tennis players, cracked the list – Russian star Maria Sharapova, the newest career Grand Slam winner after her French Open final triumph earlier this month, and China’s Li Na, the 2011 French Open champion.

Sharapova was 26 th at US$27.9 million, thanks in great measure to huge global endorsement totals as well as $5.9 million in prize money over the past year.

Li was 81st overall at US$18.4 million, with seven new endorsement deals after becoming the first Asian-born player to win a Grand Slam singles crown.

Cricket star Mahendra Singh Dhoni ranked No. 31 and India batsman Sachin Tendulkar was No. 78.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, the reigning 100- and 200-meter Olympic champion and world record-holder who figures to be a top attraction at the London Olympics, was 63rd with US$20.3 million.

Ex-Armstrong coach denies doping claim CYCLING

Agence France-Presse

Lance Armstrong: ‘Involved in a doping conspiracy’.

JOHAN BRUYNEEL, THE former team manager of seventime Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, has denied allegations that he helped the American cyclist in a doping conspiracy.

The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Wednesday announced that it has brought charges against Armstrong for doping, charges that if proven could see Armstrong stripped of the seven Tour de France titles with Bruyneel as manager.

The charges also say Arm-

strong was aided by others in a doping conspiracy that ran for years, an allegation that Belgian-born Bruyneel denied in a posting on his website.

“I am dismayed that once again doping allegations have been raised against me, this time by USADA,” Bruyneel said.

“I shall of course cooperate fully with the investigation, although I have no doubt the end result will be the same as all the other investigations over the years.

“I have never participated in any doping activity and I am innocent of all charges.”

Bruyneel, now manager

of the RadioShack-NissanTrek team, also cited a US Justice Department probe of Armstrong that was halted in February after two years of inquiries with no charges being brought against Armstrong or Bruyneel.

“Following a Department of Justice Grand Jury investigation, no charges were filed against me,” he said.

“It cannot be right that I or anyone else can be pursued from court to court simply because our accusers do not like the decisions made along the way and so attempt to find a court which will get them the result they want.”

45

IN BRIEF Banned Aamer wants to return Pakistan’s disgraced paceman Mohammed Aamer is looking forward to returning to cricket “as and when possible”, the psychologist helping to rehabilitate his career said Monday.

In the first of several counselling sessions Maqbool Babri, who was hired by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to counsel Aamer, said his client appeared “positive and relaxed” despite his five-year ban from the game for cheating.

The 20-year-old was found guilty of spot-fixing during a Test at Lord’s in 2010, spent three months in a British jail and was banned from the game by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Arshavin hit by controversy Russian football captain and fan favourite Andrei Arshavin was ensnared in scandal on Tuesday after being caught on tape saying it was the fans’ “problem” that his squad were knocked out of Euro 2012.

Controversy around Russia’s most talismanic player broke almost immediately after the national squad failed to make the quarterfinals of Euro 2012 by losing a Saturday match against Greece they only needed to draw to progress.

Aussie veteran Sharpe backtracks on retirement Veteran Wallaby lock Nathan Sharpe has postponed retirement and will play in the inaugural Rugby Championship.

Australia coach Robbie Deans said Sharpe, 34, was willing to delay his exit from the game with skipper James Horwill expected to be out for the season because of a ruptured hamstring and Dan Vickerman also unavailable.

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France need ‘something special’ against Spain EURO 2012 Agence France-Presse

A

furious French coach Laurent Blanc said that his players would have to produce something out of the ordinary if they are to beat defending champions Spain in tomorrow’s (June 23) Euro 2012 quarter-final.

The 46-year-old – who took over from Raymond Domenech after the 2010 World Cup finals debacle – has at least guided the French to a place in the knockout stages of a major finals for the first time in six years; but only just.

Any mood of celebration was tempered by the manner in which France had got there as they were outclassed in a 2-0 defeat by Sweden on Wednesday morning (Thai time), who were already out of contention for a place in the last eight.

It brought to an end their 23-match unbeaten run and also was Sweden’s first over their opponents in nearly 43 years, dating back 11 matches to October 1969.

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EURO 2012 FINAL GROUP STANDINGS Group A

P

W

D

L

Group B

P

W

D

L

1 Czech Republic

3

2

0

1

4

5

6

1 Germany

3

3

0

0

5

2

9

2 Greece

3

1

1

1

3

3

4

2 Portugal

3

2

1

5

4

6

4

3 Russia

3

1

1

1

5

3

4

3 Denmark

3

1

0

2

4

5

3

4 Poland

3

0

2

1

2

3

2

4 Netherlands

3

0

0

3

2

5

0

Results Poland Russia Greece

1–1 4 – 1 1 – 2

Greece Czech Rep Czech Rep

Poland Greece Czech Rep.

GF GA Pts

1–1 1–0 1–0

Russia Russia Poland

Results

Netherlands 0 – 1 Germany 1–0 Denmark 2–3

Denmark Portugal Portugal

GF GA Pts

Netherlands 1 – 2 Germany Portugal 2 – 1 Netherlands Denmark 1–2 Germany

Group C

P

W

D

L

Group D

P

W

D

L

1 Spain

3

2

1

0

6

1

7

1 England

3

2

1

0

5

3

7

2 Italy

3

1

2

0

4

2

5

2 France

3

1

1

1

3

3

4

3 Croatia

3

1

1

1

4

3

4

3 Ukraine

3

1

0

2

2

4

3

4 Ireland

3

0

0

3

1

9

0

4 Sweden

3

1

0

2

5

5

3

Results Spain Ireland Italy

1–1 1–3 1–1

Italy Croatia Croatia

Spain Croatia Italy

With England beating cohosts Ukraine 1-0 in the other game, it saw the English top the group and set up a meeting with Italy on Sunday (June 24).

Blanc, who had made two changes to the side that beat Ukraine 2-0 in the previous game, said there had been only one side who turned up fired up for the game and hinted strongly that changes would be made for the Spain game.

“Sweden played this match with its heart. Physically, they were better prepared and they had a player in the team who made the difference, which

GF GA Pts

4–0 0–1 2–0

Ireland Spain Ireland

Results France Ukraine Ukraine

1–1 2–1 0–2

makes a hell of a difference.

“We are really disappointed by this result but we were in trouble throughout the match.

When you lose a match, it is because you have not got the right team out there.

“Therefore, if I were to start it all over, we would not start with the same team.”

Where those changes will come was hard to ascertain as he held to account almost every sector of the team.

“I don’t think the attack was the area where we really suffered the most,” he said.

“We really struggled in

England Sweden France

Sweden Sweden England

GF GA Pts

2–3 2–0 1–0

England France Ukraine

defence and midfield where the Swedes were really strong.”

Blanc, a member of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winning sides though he missed the World Cup final because he was suspended, said he had to maintain an upbeat tone ahead of the clash with Spain.

“One always has to be optimistic. Of course we are disappointed but the main thing is that we qualified.

“Even if the Swedes produced a superb performance, it is they who are going home.

Therefore we must remain optimistic.

“We haven’t made our task any easier because Spain is a massive team and we will have one day’s rest less than they do (they played on Monday).

“We have to pull off something very special to beat Spain and after such a match as this one tonight it is hard to imagine that happening. But we are going to battle to do so.”

Blanc, whose contract runs out at the end of the tournament and has yet to be renewed, said the fact that they wouldn’t start favourites would be of some help.

“That gives us some room for optimism but one has to be realistic, we are going to play one of the best teams at this tournament and in the world.

“We had a target, to win and to finish top of the group.

We weren’t capable of doing so, so we have to deal with it.

It is imperative we produce an extraordinary performance if we are to continue in the tournament.”

Blanc also conceded that as striker Olivier Giroud had revealed that the atmosphere in the dressing room afterwards had not been a happy one.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

Andrei Shevchenko.

Shevchenko bows out after last hurrah EURO 2012 Agence France-Presse

ANDREI SHEVCHENKO bade an emotional farewell to international football on Tuesday (June 19), stepping out of the limelight after Ukraine’s elimination from Euro 2012 following their 0-1 loss to England.

A knee injury sustained in the 2-0 defeat by France kept Shevchenko out of the starting line-up, but he made his entrance in the 70th minute, replacing Marko Devic.

At the final whistle he embraced John Terry, his former Chelsea team-mate, before heading down the tunnel with the adulation of the fans ringing in his ears.

“It was my last official game for Ukraine,” he confirmed afterwards.

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WORLD SPORT 47

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012

SPORT

Playing the money game Find out who made this year’s list of toppaid athletes > 45

Dane Halpin editor2@thephuketnews.com

Beale back for third Test RUGBY

Agence France-Presse

K

urtley Beale will make his Wallaby comeback in tomorrow night’s final Test against Wales, despite facing a police charge for assault.

The 23-year-old missed the first two Test wins against the Six Nations champions with a shoulder injury and during that time got into trouble over an alleged altercation with security guards at a Brisbane pub.

Despite this, he was selected after the Australian Rugby Union said it had put on hold its own disciplinary process until the police matter was resolved.

Beale, who has not played for Australia since the bronze medal playoff against Wales eight months ago at the World Cup, will slot in at fullback, pushing

Wales have questioned Wallaby captain David Pocock’s breakdown tactics.

Adam Ashley-Cooper to the wing.

Ashley-Cooper takes Cooper Vuna’s place on the wing while NSW Waratahs giant Sitaleki Timani has been recalled to the starting second-row, with Rob Simmons moving to the bench.

Live Sports TV Schedule

CHANNEL GUIDE

1XX - True Visions; 8XX – Astro; 8 – Setanta

*Times may be subject to change

CHANNEL START END

SPORT

EVENT

TEAMS / INFO

Friday, June 22 825

01:45

03:45

Soccer

EURO 2012 – QF1

521

20:00

23:00

Aussie Rules

AFL

813, 104

20:00

23:00

Tennis

ATP Aegon

816, 107

16:30

18:30

Rugby League

NRL

29

16:45

00:30

Cricket

ODI 3

32 825

11:30 01:45

19:00 03:45

Cricket Soccer

Test Match, Day 1 EURO 2012 – QF2

Czech Republic v.

Portugal Sydney Swans v.

Geelong Semi-Finals, Eastbourne

Photo: AFP

Shaun Edwards meanwhile has questioned the legitimacy of the Wallabies breakdown tactics in the leadup to tomorrow’s final Test.

While the Welsh defence was magnificent last weekend in Melbourne during their 2325 loss, Edwards highlighted

Despite retaining the James Bevan Trophy for a third time in succession following last weekend’s 25-23 win in Melbourne, Deans insisted the changes were not cosmetic, but designed to strengthen his team.

Wales’ assistant coach

AFL Team

P W D

L

1

West Coast

11

9

0

2

1166 863

135

36

2

Adelaide

11

9

0

2

1129 902

125

36

3

Collingwood

11

9

0

2

1102 882

125

36

4

Sydney

11

8

0

3

1113 807

138

32

5

Hawthorn

12

8

0

4

F

A

% Pts

A C R AC K ED T H U M B bone has ruled England skipper Chris Robshaw out of the third and final Test against South Africa, to be played in Port Elizabeth tomorrow (June 23).

Hooker Dylan Hartley will take over the captaincy as the Red Roses try to avoid a whitewash having lost the first Test 22-17 in Durban and the second 36-27 in Johannesburg last Saturday.

Flanker Robshaw suffered hard knocks during the first and second Tests against the Springboks at Kings Park and Ellis Park and an image sent to England for specialist opinion revealed the fracture.

Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “Chris is devastated as you would imagine. He has led us superbly in the last seven internationals and has been one of our stand-out performers.”

Team

P

W

D

L

B

F

A

Pts

1

Storm

14

12

0

2

1

384

175

26

2

Bulldogs

14

9

0

5

1

313

213

20

3

Broncos

14

9

0

5

1

332

248

20

13

8

0

5

2

292

271

20

1331 976

136

32

4

Rabbitohs

6

Essendon

11

8

0

3

1131 855

132

32

5

Sharks

14

9

0

5

1

262

247

20

7

Geelong

11

7

0

4

1054 947

111

28

6

Cowboys

14

8

0

6

1

324

250

18

England v. West Indies

8

St Kilda

12

6

0

6

1270 1044

122

24

9

Carlton

12

6

0

6

1114 985

113

24

7

Tigers

14

8

0

6

1

297

271

18

10

Richmond

12

6

0

6

1141 1050

109

24

8

Sea Eagles

14

8

0

6

1

250

237

18

11

Fremantle

11

6

0

5

839

888

94

24

9

Warriors

14

6

0

8

1

321

324

14

12

North Melbourne

11

5

0

6

1149 1144

100

20

10

Titans

14

6

0

8

1

245

263

14

13

Western Bulldogs

11

5

0

6

843

949

89

20

11

Dragons

14

6

0

8

1

210

252

14

14

Port Adelaide

12

4

0

8

954 1097

87

16

12

Raiders

13

5

0

8

2

249

318

14

15

Brisbane

11

4

0

7

889 1053

84

16

13

Roosters

14

6

0

8

1

258

340

14

14

Knights

13

4

0

9

2

208

279

12

15

Panthers

14

4

0

10

1

230

333

10

16

Parramatta

13

2

0

11

2

214

368

8

Sri Lanka v. Pakistan Germany v. Greece

18:50

20:30

Motor Racing

Formula 1

816, 107

11:55

14:00

Rugby Union

International

New Zealand v. Ireland

14:25

16:25

Rugby Union

International

Australia v. Wales

16

Melbourne

11

1

0

10

699 1250

56

4

21:50

23:45

Rugby Union

International

South Africa v. England

17

GWS Giants

11

1

0

10

637 1273

50

4

16:30

18:30

Rugby League

NRL

Panthers v. Eels

18

Gold Coast

12

0

0

12

781 1377

57

0

18:30

20:30

Rugby League

NRL

Cowboys v. Raiders

11:00

14:00

Aussie Rules

AFL

Western Bulldogs v.

Brisbane

16:30

19:30

Aussie Rules

AFL

Fremantle v. Essendon

11:00

14:00

Aussie Rules

AFL

Collingwood v. West Coast Eagles

825

01:45

03:45

Soccer

32

11:30

19:00

Cricket

812, 108

19:30

21:00

Tennis

ATP Aegon

Final, Eastbourne

18:00

18:45

Motor Racing

Formula 1

Raceday, Valencia

18:45

21:30

Motor Racing

Formula 1

European Grand Prix

AFL

North Melbourne v.

Adelaide

NRL

Roosters v. Sea Eagles

EURO 2012 – QF3 Test Match, Day 2

Agence France-Presse

NRL

813, 109

521

RUGBY

the breakdown – the period after a tackle where the teams compete for possession of the ball – as an area Wales needed to rectify.

“I think the contact area, we’ll continue to work on that,” Edwards told reporters.

“It’s something we’ve always prided ourselves on and obviously (Australian captain and openside flanker David) Pocock is a threat and I still feel a little bit that legs are being held together when we are trying to present the ball.

“Obviously, we’ll speak to the referee about that at certain times.”

Edwards said he expected everyone in the squad to be fit and available for Saturday’s final Test and stressed Wales still had plenty to play for despite losing the series to a lastminute penalty.

Wales are bidding for their first Test win in Australia for 43 years.

Broncos v. Rabbitohs

Saturday, June 23

816, 107

Fracture rules Robshaw out

Qualifying, Valencia

Spain v. France Sri Lanka v. Pakistan

RESULTS West Coast Adelaide

10.19.79 – 10.9.69 17.13.115 – 16.15.111

Carlton

Hawthorn

19.21.135 – 11.4.70

St Kilda

Bulldogs

13.17.95 – 8.9.57

GWS Giants

12.2.74 – 11.20.86

Richmond

Gold Coast

12.8.80 – 11.21.87 Nth Melbourne

Brisbane Port Adelaide

Byes: Sydney, Collingwood, Essendon, Melbourne, Geelong, Fremantle

RESULTS Sea Eagles Titans Tigers Sharks

22 – 26 36 – 18 28 – 42 20 – 19

Storm Panthers Roosters Warriors

Rabbitohs 24 – 6 Dragons 20 – 28 Cowboys 12 – 0 Byes: Knights, Raiders

Eels Bulldogs Broncos

9 4 Q B B

Sunday, June 34 813, 109

521

14:00

17:00

Aussie Rules

816, 107

12:00

14:00

Rugby League

825

01:45

03:45

Soccer

32

11:30

19:00

Cricket

29

20:30

23:30

Cricket

EURO 2012 - QF4 Test Match, Day 3 T20

England v. Italy Sri Lanka v. Pakistan

Ticket in advance 400 THB DOOR PRICE: 700 Baht

June 30th,2012

England v. West Indies

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FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012