26-08-2011

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Friday, August 26 – Thursday, September 1, 2011

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British tourist was killed and parts of Phuket were brought to a standstill after heavy rain lashed the island yesterday (August 25).

British Honorary Consul Martin Carpenter confirmed a 20-year-old British tourist was electrocuted in Patong at about 6am yesterday after live power lines came in contact with flood water near Ocean Plaza.

When contacted by The Phuket News yesterday morning, Mr Carpenter was on his way to interview the victim’s friend, before notifying next of kin in the UK. Officials said water was nearly one metre deep in some parts of Rath-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd and Phangmuang Sai Kor Rd, two of the lowest-lying areas in Patong.

Power cuts were reported in Kamala, Kathu, Chalong, and in parts of Phuket’s west coast.

About five power poles were knocked down by minor landslides along Patong Hill, causing some of the power outages.

Traffic was crawling along Chao Fa West Rd yesterday morning as knee-deep flooding caused havoc for motorists.

Patong Municipality and Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office staff were working hard to clear drainage systems and prevent a possible landslide on Ha Sip Pi Rd in Patong.

A Phuket International Airport spokesman said one Bangkok Airways flight PG 251 from Koh Samui to Phuket had turned back because of bad weather.

Around 10 domestic and international flights were also forced to circle while they waited for clearance to land.

All flights were expected to continue as scheduled for the rest of the day, the spokesperson said.

One Rawai resident told The Phuket News it took her three hours to drive from Rawai to drop her daughter at the British International School and home again, one hour longer than usual.

As she drove along Chao Fa West road, traffic lights were out in various places and policemen were directing traffic.

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Vehicles stuggle through rising floodwaters outside the Novotel Patong. Below: Flooding around Phuket.

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Police raids paying off

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No sign of Kadhafi as rebels overrun HQ

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All eyes on Daegu

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Hot topic P11 Phuket People P15 Business P16-17 Property P18-19 Travel P25 Fashion P26 EAT Phuket P28-29 Events P30-31 Jobs P33 Classifieds P34-38 Sport P39-44

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EDITOR

Kodchanat Thinsepon EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Alasdair Forbes 08 7884 9964 email: execeditor@ thephuketnews.com

REPORTER

Sukunya ‘Beau’ Phoonpong 08 1535 8080 email: reporter2@ thephuketnews.com

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Paritta ‘Mai’ Wangkiat 08 3240 5837 email: reporter3@ thephuketnews.com SPORTS EDITOR

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Somchai ‘Kim’ Kokittirat Nisakorn ‘Sine’ Kittiprapanant

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THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Princess helps out at medical centre HRH Princess Chulabhorn Valayalaksana came to Phuket on Tuesday afternoon to visit a free mobile medical clinic run by the Princess Mother’s Medical Volunteer Foundation (PMMV), which was stationed at Baan Sapam Mongkol Wittaya School, north of Phuket Town.

One hundred and seventeen Phuket people received free medical checkups at the mobile clinic, and the PMMV decided to send three of them for specialist treatment in Bangkok. One had a tumor of

the eye, another was diagnosed with leukemia, and the third had extra fingers.

The Princess was warmly welcomed by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, local officials, local PMMV volunteers, students and local people.

During her visit she handed out bags of supplies to adults and toys to children.

HRH Princess Chulabhorn Valayalaksana hands out toys to children during her visit to Phuket.

–Photo Provincial PR Office

Off their block

Beach vendors protest being kicked off land, only to discover they hadn’t been They might have done well to do a bit of homework first.

But in what appears to be a pretty major case of misunderstanding, more than 30 local masseurs and vendors from Nai Yang Beach blockaded the entrance of the five-star Indigo Pearl resort on Tuesday, complaining that the resort had kicked them off the beach.

It turns out they hadn’t.

In fact the resort had apparently gone to significant lengths to accommodate them.

“Give us back our workplace,” the protesters wrote on placards as they blocked off the main entrance to the resort, preventing vehicles from getting in or out.

“We have earned our living here for more than 30 years,” Suwanna Jamrenpak, a leader of Nai Yang beach masseurs said.

She claimed Indigo Pearls’ Beach Club, located along the beach front, had been made a forbidden area for them to enter in the days prior to the protest.

“The hotel can’t keep us

Suwanna Jamrenpak, a representative of the Nai Yang beach masseurs, discussed the protestors demands with others among the group. out from the public area,” Roong Songsang, a local boatman said.

However, it turns out the area is not public. It is privately owned, and the resort then exclusively rents the land along the beachfront to be used by their guests.

Nonetheless, that is not the main source of the misunderstanding at the root of the protestors’ fury. It turns out the local operators are not actually forbidden from the area.

Managing Director of the Indigo Pearl, Vichit Na Ranong, said hotel staff had never tried to prevent the local operators from earning a living, merely asking them not to disturb the hotel’s guests by directly approaching them and pressuring them into using the service.

“We’ve never tried to kick out local people,” Mr Vichit said. “But we’ve received numerous complaints from our guests whenever they were dragged by local masseurs to use their service. So we suggested them not to disturb tourists as it will create a bad image for Phuket tourism.

“And also, now is low season. We didn’t keep our guests away from the local masseurs as is being claimed.

We simply don’t have that many guests.”

According to Mr Vichit, Indigo Pearl has been trying the local people by halting the hotel’s own beach massage service last year, and instead sending tourists to the local

The local masseurs and vendors appeared with placards saying “Give back our workplace”. operators if they were seeking a massage on the shorefront.

“We reached an agreement with local masseurs last year,” Mr Vichit explained. “We will bring them hotel guests who request a massage, while the OrBorTor also built a new massage pavilion to locate them on the beach. The only thing we asked from them in return is not to disturb or pressure our guests.”

After a three hour discussion on Tuesday, Mr Vichit was able to calm the situation.

He agreed to provide the local masseurs shelters and massage

beds located next to the hotel’s beach club. In exchange, the masseurs and vendors would no longer forcibly drag and disturb the hotel guests.

In addition, he will place a massage booking desk inside the hotel, and provide them some free marketing.

“We feel like we have no choice. We just need everything to be in order,” Mr Vichit said.

“Only one blockade can exceedingly damage Phuket’s reputation. It’s like destroying your source of life earnings, like slaughtering yourself.”

Patong drainage system struggles to cope Continued from page 1 “It was just dreadful. Water was all across the road and traffic was so slow and backed up for miles. I was truly amazed there were no accidents.”

Another Rawai resident said the area was flooded with

about 30cm of water. It was the worst rain she had experienced in the last few years living in Phuket.

She lives on a slope and said water had built up behind houses and against shop fronts in lower parts of Rawai.

“We are so lucky our house

is raised about three quarters of a metre off the ground, otherwise water would be banked up against our house and seeping in.”

A Patong Municipality spokesperson said that despite having an annual budget of B10 million for Patong’s drain-

age, the town’s infrastructure couldn’t keep up with the growth.

“Patong floods every year,” Division of Patong Sanitary Engineering officer Banyat Hoapetch said.

According to Mr Banyat, Patong’s main klongs, which

had previously drained away storm water, were now blocked by buildings and concrete.

“Because of these floods we will now discuss improving Patong’s drainage system,” Mr Banyat said.

Rain is expected to continue until Sunday.

ISLAND NEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

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Inferno destroys Patong market A raging fire destroyed more than 200 stalls at the Ko Kaew market near Jungceylon, Patong, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Patong Disaster Prevention and Mitigation firefighter Sanpawat Wannasangkan said the fire broke out at 3.30 am.

The shopping area, which houses mostly clothes and fake goods, was closed at the time. No one was injured in the fire.

When The Phuket News arrived, the area was largely abandoned. One stallholder present was too upset to speak to the media.

Tourists gathered around the area, wondering what had happened, with some taking photos.

Mr Sanpawat said that firefighters spent two hours trying to control the blaze. “It is fortunate that no one was in the building overnight,” he added.

He said Patong police were investigating the fire to try and establish the cause, and were also trying to locate the landlord of the market.

The stall holders are uninsured as markets are not eligible for insurance.

–Sukunya Phoonpong

Ko Kaew market, Patong, was destroyed by fire on Wednesday morning.

Police raids paying off

A total of 5,800 ya ba pills, a rifle with 25 bullets and B3,510 cash were seized from Somboon Pinit, left, on Monday, while Chanchai Pirom had three ya ba pills seized from his possession the same day.

–Photo: Phuket provincial PR

Four people were arrested on Sunday and Monday and more than 6,000 ya ba (methamphetamine) pills seized as police rolled up a small network of dealers in Thalang District.

On Sunday, at about 8pm, Thalang police arrested an unnamed 18-year-old in possession of four ya ba pills. During questioning he confessed to buying the drugs from a man he named as Somboon Pinit.

Police raided Somboon’s house in Tambon Thepkrasattri at midday on Monday, arresting him and seizing 5,800 ya

ba pills, a rifle with 25 bullets and B3,510 cash.

Somboon confessed he had bought the ya ba from a man he named as Pongsathorn Khangkha.

In the afternoon police raided Pongsathorn’s house in Tambon Srisoonthorn. In this raid they seized 350 ya ba tablets, 0.7 grams of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and B6,500 cash.

Thalang District Chief Naruenart Supattaraprateep admitted the drug situation in Thalang area is “quite serious”.

LRT bidder slams ‘money grubbing’ The chairman of a South Korean engineering company, GHST-Seo Yeong, met Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha on Wednesday to express interest in building a light rail transit (LRT) system on the island, the second Korean company to visit the Governor in two weeks.

Surprisingly, instead of simply showing off his plans, Shin-Yong Kang first told Gov Tri point-blank that he was less than pleased with the Patong resort he and his staff had stayed in, and with the poor service and money-grubbing attitude of some islanders.

He urged the Governor to give priority to educating local hotel staff.

“Phuket is such a nice place,” Mr Kang said. “But you have to educate the hotel staff.

“Though this island is the

best of all, I feel embarrassed for Phuket,” he explained.

“Some local people are only looking for money. You need to educate people in a good way.”

Mr Kang suggested that Gov Tri bring together local people, especially in the hospitality field, for training sessions to boost their knowledge and improve their language skills.

Turning to the main purpose of his visit, Mr Kang asked Gov Tri for details of Phuket’s LRT vision.

He explained that his firm would be in joint venture with fellow South Korean construction company Keang Nam, and confirmed that Keang Nam has the engineering staff and the funding necessary for the project, details of which would be discussed when the company has completed its study.

IN BRIEF Airport employee hit by truck

Thirty-eight year-old Phuket Airport employee, Monthicha Muttarak, was killed instantly by a pickup truck while she was riding her motorbike home from work last Friday afternoon.

Police said the pickup cut across a lane while doing a U-turn in front of the Khunmaeju shop on Thepkrasattri Road, and hit Ms Monthicha who was coming from the opposite side.

Police said the driver was charged with reckless driving resulting in death.

Billboards to be pulled down

Advertising signs and billboards put up along Phuket’s main roads without permission will be pulled down by the beginning of September, Governor Tri Augkaradacha said on Wednesday.

“Many signs have been erected without permission,” Gov Tri said.

The Governor’s Office has already contacted most of the owners of the advertising signs and informed them of the situation.

Young woman dies

Shin-Yong Kang urged Gov Tri to educate local people.

Keang Nam has completed LRT systems in South Korea, the Middle East and South Africa, he said.

After the meeting, Gov Tri said he thought, of the 12 companies that had expressed interest in the project, four

seemed serious about building the LRT. Of the four, South Korea’s Dowha Engineering, whose president visited him two weeks ago, seemed to be the most serious, he commented.

As to Mr Kang’s comments

about the resort, the Governor said he understood the problem and was doing what he could to fix it.

The Phuket provincial government is expected to call for bids for the LRT project next month.

A young Thai woman was killed on Wednesday morning after her motorbike was hit from behind by a pickup as she rode to work in Thalang.

The victim was 24-yearold Wattana Jamchat. She was driving north along Thepkrasattri road when the black Toyota Vigo ran up behind her, throwing her from the bike. www.thephuketnews.com

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ISLAND NEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

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A long afternoon of working out crosswords.

GENERAL MANAGER

Jason Beavan Mob: 086 479 7471 gm@thephuketnews.com

Battle of words continues.

Students battle with words Around 500 students from 12 provinces in the south of Thailand gathered at Jungceylon shopping mall last weekend for the Fifth CyberDict Crossword Game

Southern Championship 2011.

The students were competing individually or in small teams constructing crosswords in English and

Thai. Other students were also playing mathematical games, using numbers and equations, instead of letters.

Running scores were flashing on stage and on

one side, tall trophies stood waiting for eventual student winners.

Chief of Phuket Provincial Office (Palad) and Deputy Governor Chaiwat

Tephee opened the competition on Saturday, that was organised by the Thailand Crossword Game A-Math Kumkom and Sudoku Association.

PR & MARKETING MANAGER

Jittiya (Tiya) Rakdej Mob: 088 766 1615 pr@thephuketnews.com

Phuket Town Deputy Mayor Thavorn Jirapattanasopon holds a Save the World bag.

SALES SUPPORT

Sorting out trash

Siriporn (Nok) Seangmas 086 479 7470 sales@thephuketnews.com

An international surf competition will be held in Phuket next month in the aim of boosting tourism through the traditional low season.

–Photo by Thitikorn Eawsakul.

Riding a tourism wave

SALES REPRESENTATIVE

Wililux (Mintra) Somkuer 088 765 5883 salesnorth@thephuketnews.com

More than 300 surfers are expected to attend next month’s international surfing competition, which is being held to promote international tourism to Phuket during the annual low season.

On August 18, Phuket Board Riders (PBR) Club president Chanin Aiyarak and General Manager of QS

Retail (Thailand) Ltd Surachet Moongthong met Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha to discuss the ‘Quiksilver Thailand Surf Competition 2011’, which will be held September 21-24 at Patong beach.

Gov Tri said the competition will be a good opportunity to promote tourism, especially with surfing being

a participant sport at the 2014 Asian Beach Games, which Phuket will host.

Surfers from 18 countries are expected to attend September’s event, with a predicted windfall of some B50 million from associated tourism.

The best surf conditions for Phuket are found between May and October.

Phuket Town residents will soon benefit from a new rubbish collection system as part of a wider project to reduce and separate waste on the island.

The first part of the project will see 155 houses and stores, plus 15 restaurants, separate their weekly rubbish into wet, general, and dangerous waste. A collector will then pick up wet and general waste at 8am and 8pm daily, while dangerous garbage will be collected monthly.

Phuket Municipality officials met with representatives of Phuket’s private sector

last Thursday (August 18) to launch the rubbish collection plan. The Municipality has already introduced similar systems along Thalang, Dibuk, Phang Nga, Ratsada and Krabi Roads to help protect the environment.

T he Rot a r y Clu b of Phuket South and Old Phuket Foundation are also assisting in the project.

Phu ket Tow n Deput y Mayor Thavor n Jirapattanasopon said the aim to significantly reduce and separate waste in Phuket Town would only be a success if everyone participated.

Phuket Detailed Weather Forecast

www.foreca.com

FRI AUGUST 26

SAT AUGUST 27

SUN AUGUST 28

MON AUGUST 29

TUE AUGUST 30

WED AUGUST 31

THU SEPTEMBER 1

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High: +30° Low: +27°

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High: +27° Low: +26°

High: +27° Low: +26°

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classified@thephuketnews.com

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Wind 22 kmh

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ISLAND NEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

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IN BRIEF Ride on Schedule Keen cyclists on a mission around Southeast Asia arrived in Phuket on Monday morning as part of the Mekong Challenge 2011: The Great Ride for the King’s 84th Birthday Anniversary.

The 50 cyclists are in Phuket for three days, before heading to Phang Nga province on Wednesday.

The team are biking through Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia. Riding a total distance of 7,500 km, they began on August 12 from Songkhla province, arriving in Bangkok on December 5. The event is to celebrate His Majesty the King’s 84th birthday.

Nam-oy Tantiviratkul ready to shoot. Above right: Somchai Yimpat, left, explains the ins and outs of digital photography for Boonsri Leelaanun, centre, and her son Tanet.

Snap Happy More than 20 people attended a free photography workshop at the Phuket Tourism Information Centre on Thalang Road in Phuket Town last weekend (August 20-21). In the mornings the students attended a tutorial, and then spent the afternoon taking

photos around Phuket Town.

This regular workshop is organised by Phuket Community Foundation (PCF) and Somchai Yimpat, a local photography teacher along with local photographers.

Somchai said he decided to start the classes so that local

people could learn how to use their cameras correctly to take better pictures.

Photography workshops are often held in Phang Nga and Phuket. The next class will be held tomorrow and Sunday (August 27-28). To attend please call Somchai on 08 1719 9795.

OrBorTor float new food idea

Local photographer Siroj Julakakomol.

Plans by the Srisunthorn OrBorTor to turn the Bang Maruan pond, in Phuket’s north, into a new floating market area will get started soon.

President Tamrong Tantiwiratkul announced at a meeting last Thursday there were plans to develop the pond into a floating market site, and turn it into a local food hub for Phuket.

We discovered our time Discover the flavors of Panache at Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas’ stunning new restaurant. Savor fine Asian and European cuisine. Tempting salads and traditional Thai dishes, noodles made-to-order and do-it-yourself pizzas baked fresh in the wood-fired oven. Delight in the herb encrusted catch of the day, complemented by al fresco poolside dining, deluxe service and Outrigger’s legendary hospitality.

US Navy personnel help out in Khao Lak.

Navy lends a hand Home & Life Foundation’s orphange in Khao Lak today received a welcome visit on Tuesday from US Navy and USMC personnel.

Located next to a stream, the orphanage grounds had been suffering badly from erosion during the rainy season. To help out, about 50 personnel spent the day shoring up the bank.

The project was led by Larry Amsden of the Navy League, and assisted by volunteers from the Navy League Phuket and the Grumpy Old Men's Society (GOMS).

Outrigger’s newest restaurant at Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas. www.outriggerthailand.com +66 (0) 76 336 900 Laguna Village, 142/3 Moo 6, T.Cherngtalay, A.Thalang, Phuket, 83110 Thailand

Email panache@outrigger.co.th today and receive a voucher for a complimentary bottle of wine at your next Panache meal for two.

All smiles after a hard day’s work.

The military personnel were from the USS Boxer and USS Green Bay, who were visiting Phuket.

Home & Life also operates a small bakery that sells goods to various Khao Lak hotels and restaurants.

www.outriggerthailand.com

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ISLAND NEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Volunteers needed for Phuket charity The Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation (PHBGTU), which teaches English, free, to orphans or children from broken families in Kalim and Kamala, is desperate for volunteers to help in its work.

Director of Operations Tina Hall said, “If you have as little as an hour a week to spare you can help us. You don’t need to be a teacher and you don’t need to be able to speak Thai.”

PHBGTU is looking for volunteers to help with its after-school programme, the Coconut Club, for 150 residential children who live onsite.

The club runs from 3:30 to 4:45pm Monday to Thursdays and also has Saturday afternoon swimming sessions.

“Many volunteers find this the most fun way to help out as it’s time for the children to have structured play whilst learning English,” Ms Hall explained. “Volunteering at Coconut Club does not have any minimum time commitment requirement, although many of our volunteers have

Senior tuk-tuk driver Ahli Noochet in his shop.

‘Anything goes’ with hotheaded young drivers

PHBGTU director Tina Hall pictured with some with students. been with us for months and some even years.”

The PHBGTU is also looking for classroom assistants and reading group volunteers, supporting teachers in classrooms or running reading groups of six or seven children. “This type of volunteer work requires a two-month commitment but takes up as as little as two hours a week,” Ms Hall said.

Also wanted are an office volunteer, to carry out tasks such as updating records, organizing and researching; and a “handyman” for odd jobs such as mending locks and hinges and put up shelving and cupboards around the schools.

Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Ms Hall (tina@phukethasbeengoodtous.org), Sue Ultmann

(sue@phukethasbeengoodtous. org) or Stephanie Bossert, the Coconut Club Coordinator (stephanie@phukethasbeengoodtous.org).

For more information visit the Foundation website at phukethasbeengoodtous. org or the Facebook page at facebook.com/phukethasbeengoodtous.

Children from SOS Children's Village enjoy a day out in Phuket.

Fun day out for orphans On August 20, a group of children from SOS Children's Village Phuket enjoyed a series of activities at the Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa, as part of Marriott International’s worldwide ‘Spirit to Serve Our Communities’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.

Children enjoyed lunch, a movie screening, and participated in environmentallyfriendly projects such as bag painting.

“As a Phuket resident, I have seen how difficult it can be for villagers to deal with

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PERSONALLY SPEAKING

improvement of family and education issues.

Children need the resources to help them become the best they can be in the near future, no matter where they live,” said, General Manager Jason Nuell.

Across Thailand, SOS Children's Villages’ house orphaned Thai children, providing them with a home and ‘family’. Across the nation, almost 600 children are under the care of five SOS Children’s Villages, namely Samutprakarn, Hatyai Songkla, Nongkhai, Chiang Rai and Phuket.

An orphan enjoys painting a bag as part of an environmentally-friendly project.

Ahli Noochet is a senior tuk-tuk driver and sometime fervent spokesman for fellow drivers in Patong.

The friendly man relates his experiences of some 20 years as a driver to The Phuket News, offering his take on some of the causes of recent problems.

When I started driving 20 years ago, there were no more than 50 drivers and all were from Patong. Now there are more than 1,000 drivers from everywhere, mostly from the southern provinces.

Many of these guys are young and some are hotheaded. We used to have ground rules that we worked with, but now all that has disappeared and anything goes.

The drivers work for four companies and a co-operative, with few, if any, owner-drivers operating. The drivers pay daily rents of between B500800 to the companies and other owners, pay for petrol and or LPG fuel themselves.

Any fares collected after paying these expenses make up their daily income, along with commissions of B100200 paid to the drivers for delivering passengers to tourist attractions. On a good day in the high-season, tuk-tuk drivers can earn B4,000-5,000 with much of it coming from commissions

paid by businesses.

Tuk-tuks are more selfish now though. They pick and choose where to go and refuse to take people where it is not worth their while to go.

Sometimes they even leave passengers stranded half way through an agreed tour through disagreement.

The service is not like in the old days.

But the tuk-tuk drivers also have to deal with their treatment by tourists of different nationalities and cultures. English tourists are polite, Italians and the Arabs are well-known for their bargaining and unwillingness to pay, and I have few good words to say about Russian tourists at all.

The best tourists are easy-going Australians. They would go everywhere, to see anything and not complain.

But tuk-tuks drivers will always have to deal with bad tourists and the various fights and disagreements that can arise. It is part of our job, and violence is not the way to respond.

Tuk-tuks get on well with police. But unlike before when drivers respected police and would say yes to all instructions, the young hot-bloods these days can do what they like. They can block the road and attack police stations.

Even police are afraid of them.

Pet fair for Phuket

The first-ever Phuket Pet Fair will be held in Phuket from September 2 to 4 at the Marina Boardwalk and Exhibition Hall at the Royal Phuket Marina.

BMS event organiser managing director Narong Promjitta said the event is a good way for pet lovers to come together to celebrate their pets and share information.

As well as a fancy dress competition, there will be music and plenty of fun activities. Pet toys, equipment and food will also be for sale. 12noon until 6pm both days.

Mr Narong said pets will For more information also receive free vacina- please telephone Narong tions. The event will run from Promjitta on 089 474 5253.

NATIONAL NEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

UN envoy urges action Thailand must do more to combat widespread human trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation, including addressing “deeply-rooted” corruption, a UN envoy said last Friday.

“The implementation of policy and legal framework on human trafficking and the law enforcement are weak and fragmented,” said the United Nations special rapporteur on people trafficking Joy Ngozi Ezeilo.

At a press conference following her 11-day mission to Thailand, Ms Ezeilo acknowledged that progress had been made, but she underlined the need for wide-ranging improvements, in initial recommendations ahead of a 2012 report.

She said prosecutions of traffickers remain low, contributing to a culture of “impunity”

for those who trade in people.

“Corruption, especially among low-cadre law enforcement officers at provincial and local levels, is deeply-rooted,” she said.

“The government should promote zero tolerance to corruption and complicity of public officials with traffickers, and prosecute and adequately punish offenders to dissuade such practices.”

Ms Ezeilo said the underlying causes of trafficking, especially demand for “cheap and exploitative” labour from neighbouring Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, “are not being effectively addressed”.

She noted “widespread” sexual exploitation – including child prostitution, pornography and sex tourism – as well as new forms of trafficking for domestic labour, begging, forced marriage and surrogacy.

United Nations special rapporteur on people trafficking Joy Ngozi Ezeilo.

Forced labour is also growing in agriculture and construction and is “notoriously common” in the fishing industry.

Ms Ezeilo called on Thailand to review its labour and

migration laws, recognising the demand for cheap, lowskilled labour and to provide “safe migration options” for those entering the country from abroad.

The US State Department has placed Thailand on its human trafficking watchlist for two years running, accusing it of not doing enough to combat trafficking.

–AFP

Prime Minister faces visa row New Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra outlined her Government’s policy agenda on Tuesday in a speech to Parliament, overshadowed by a row over her fugitive brother’s activities.

Ms Yingluck, the sister of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, pledged to boost the economy and strive for reconciliation after years of political unrest following her brother’s overthrow.

She also vowed to tackle the problems of drugs and human-trafficking in her address to lawmakers, but gave few specific details of her policy plans.

Her rapid rise to power marks a comeback for Mr Thaksin, who led the country between 2001 and 2006 before being deposed in a coup. The former tycoon now lives in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption.

Mr Thaksin, who also faces terrorism charges, is this week visiting Japan, where he addressed international media on Tuesday and was due to visit areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The trip, seen as an attempt by the fugitive to return to the world stage and regain international legitimacy, has been criticised by the Opposition, which says the Government illegally helped him

obtain a visa. Ms Yingluck was also accused in Parliament on Tuesday of failing to give sufficient details of campaign pledges such as an increased minimum wage.

“The Government has changed its policies from those in the election campaign,” said former Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Opposition Leader.

–AFP

7

Minister files slander charge Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul filed a slander complaint with police on Monday against top opposition figures, his party said, hitting back in a row over fugitive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Surapong and his Pheu Thai Party’s legal team submitted the charge against Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and three others in response to their own legal move against the minister.

The opposition last week filed a complaint with the police accusing Surapong of illegally helping fugitive former leader Thaksin to obtain a visa from Japanese authorities.

“The Democrat Par ty team accused him with no evidence,” Pheu Thai party spokesman Pormpong Nopparit said.

The Democrats are stepping up legal moves against the Government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Mr Thaksin’s younger sister, who took power a fortnight ago.

Ruling party lawyers will submit a complaint to the Election Commission seeking a ban on the Democrat Party over the charge.

–AFP

Thaksin: No plan to return Fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra said Tuesday on a visit to Japan that he had no immediate plans to go home and denied meddling in the two-week-old government run by his sister.

The one-time billionaire telecom tycoon, toppled in a 2006 coup, is visiting the Asian powerhouse just a fortnight after his sister Yingluck Shinawatra took power, in a trip his critics charge is an attempt to seek the international spotlight.

Mr Thaksin – who is living in exile in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption – said he was not interfering in his sister’s government, although he had helped her party with her election campaign message.

“If they need any advice, they just call me,” he said in one of several Tokyo press conferences and speeches.

“I can give them advice. But if they don’t need it, I would not be involved.

“I want to relax and enjoy

Thaksin Shinawatra. my life a little bit.”

While Yingluck’s government denied making a specific visa request for Mr Thaksin, Tokyo said Bangkok had asked it to allow in the former leader, making an exception to its normal entry rules concerning criminal convictions.

“Coming to Japan is my own right. My sister has nothing to do with it,” Mr Thaksin said, adding that “the Thai government cannot force the Japanese government to issue a visa to anyone.”

“For my plan of going back to Thailand, I have no

plan,” he said.

“Whenever reconciliation happens, then that might be.

But if reconciliation is not there, I don’t want to fuel any more conflict. I just want to be part of the solution, not part of the problems.”

The previous Democratled government accused the fugitive of bankrolling the 2010 Red Shirt rallies and inciting unrest, and a Thai court last year approved an arrest warrant for him on terrorism charges.

Ms Yingluck has raised the idea of an amnesty for convicted politicians.

Mr Thaksin reiterated his oft-stated position that he is innocent, saying that if he had committed any crimes, he would be “happy to be in the jail”, but that charges against him are “politicallymotivated”.

“I would like to urge every Thai that reconciliation is the key for the stability and prosperity of Thailand,” he said.

–AFP www.thephuketnews.com

8

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

IN BRIEF Hurricane Irene weakens but threat remains People stocked up on food, boarded windows and filled up their cars as Hurricane Irene threatened to become the most powerful storm to hit the East Coast of the US in more than a decade.

The storm was likely to strengthen into a Category 4 monster by the time it makes landfall in the US this weekend, most likely hitting North Carolina. Irene could crawl up the coast Sunday toward the Northeast region, where residents aren’t accustomed to such storms.

Officials dusted off evacuation plans and readied for the first hurricane to threaten the US in three years.

Aussie TV news fakes live helicopter crosses Australian TV’s Nine News has admitted to faking two live crosses during reports on the search for missing Sunshine Coast schoolboy Daniel Morcombe.

Presenters claimed the reporter was in a helicopter near the Sunshine Coast when the aircraft was in fact on the station’s Brisbane helipad on one occasion, and circling the station’s Mt Coot-tha studios on the other.

When news surfaced of the first breach, which occurred during Sunday night’s bulletin, the station blamed bad weather.

However, it later came to light that Channel 9 faked another live cross on Saturday night when the weather was fine. The station has now launched an internal inquiry into the incidents, exposed by the media and marketing website Mumbrella.

Norway survivors visit Utoya island

Survivors of the massacre of 69 people at a youth camp on a Norwegian island have revisited the scene of the killings to grieve their lost friends.

Up to 1000 survivors and relatives were expected on Utoya island, accompanied by police and medical staff, to face the painful memories of the shooting spree by a right-wing extremist.

Anders Behring Breivik has admitted killing 77 people on July 22 when he first detonated a truck bomb outside government offices in the capital, Oslo, and then went on a shooting spree on the island, some 40 kilometres away. www.thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

No sign of Kadhafi as rebels overrun HQ Tripoli celebrated into the early hours of Wednesday after rebels overran Moamer Kadhafi’s compound, despite finding no sign of the Libyan strongman or his sons.

The attack came after three days of fighting in the capital which the head of the rebel National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, said had left more than 400 killed and 2,000 wounded.

Without specifying if he was talking of both sides, he told France-24 television that some 600 pro-Kadhafi fighters had been captured but the battle would not be over until the Libyan leader himself was a prisoner.

Celebratory gunfire rocked the city when news spread that the insurgents had breached the walls of Bab al-Azizya compound in the centre of the capital and had sent Kadhafi’s forces fleeing.

But Kadhafi loyalists on Wednesday were still holding out and putting up stiff resistance in parts of the city, and were in control of the Rixos Hotel, headquarters of the foreign journalists accredited to the regime, preventing any of them from leaving.

Tens of thousands of Libyans celebrate the partial fall of Tripoli in the hands of the Libyan rebels on Sunday. Libyan rebels surged into the Libyan capital on Sunday in a final drive to oust Moamer Kadhafi, seizing swathes of the city including symbolic Green Square.

–Photo AFP Jalil also said three areas of the capital were still resisting, including Abu Slim, from where half-a-dozen mortar bombs fell on Bab al-Azizya late Tuesday.

Rebels also said Kadhafi loyalists in his birthplace of Sirte, the last major regime bastion remaining, had fired a

missile at rebel-held Misrata, hours after negotiations began to try to secure a surrender of the city.

In the rebels’ eastern base of Benghazi, where residents too poured onto the streets in celebration, military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said there had been no

trace of Kadhafi or his family in his compound.

“Bab al-Azizya is fully under our control now. Colonel Kadhafi and his sons were not there; there is nobody,” Bani said. “No one knows where they are.”

An AFP correspondent saw rebels breach the surrounding

cement walls of the vast complex and pour inside.

“They have taken Bab al-Azizya. Completely. It is finished. It is an incredible sight,” he said, adding that the bodies of a number of apparent Kadhafi fighters were lying inside, as were wounded people.

–AFP

11 dead in Australian house fire Police have confirmed three men escaped a house fire in the Australian city of Brisbane on Tuesday evening, but 11 people – including up to eight children aged 3 to 17 – were killed in the blaze, described as a “tragedy beyond all proportions”.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Police Minister Neil Roberts arrived at the scene on Wednesday morning, joining about 50 distraught family and friends who formed a circle to sing and pray for the victims.

She spoke to one man whose wife and five children were unaccounted for, a situation she described as “unimaginable”.

“This is a community in shock but it is a very strong and close-knit community and

they are rallying around each other,” she said.

“It [the house] is devastating to look at and it’s hard to imagine being in it.”

Ms Bligh said the youngest victim was only three years old and counsellors would be on hand at local schools.

“This will be a very difficult time for some of these classrooms and school communities,” Ms Bligh said.

Police confirmed three men escaped the flames.

Among the crowd gathered at the scene is Faiemu Tafeaga who confirmed his nephew was among those who made it out.

He was living in the house with his partner and two daughters, aged six and three, who were killed in the blaze.

It is understood up to eight

A house fire in Brisbane, Australia, on Wednesday left 11 people dead. children lived in the home, including two teenage boys who attended Mabel Park State High School where the flags flew at half mast on Wednesday morning.

Five adults reportedly also lived in the home.

One man who escaped had a shoulder injury but refused transport; another man suffered minor facial burns and was taken to hospital, the spokeswoman said.

Neighbours reported others were trapped in bedrooms in

the upper level of the home when the fire broke out.

Those living in the house are understood to be three generations of the same family.

The grandparents, who owned the house, are Tongan and their daughter’s partner Misi Matauaina hails from Samoa.

Emergency services were called to the two-storey house shortly after midnight to find it well alight.

Twenty-seven firefighters across five crews were attending the scene.

Acting chief superintendent Peter Ryan said the house had been reduced to a “charred hull”.

“The upper floor boards of the house have fallen through.

Inside the home is completely destroyed,” he said.

Germans in Afghanistan feared kidnapped Fears are growing that two German men who went missing after setting off to climb snow-capped mountains in war-torn Afghanistan could have been kidnapped, officials said on Tuesday.

“I must unfortunately

confirm that two German nationals have gone missing in Afghanistan,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters.

“There is an intensive search for them under way.

We are following up on indica-

tions that they may have been the victims of a kidnapping.”

He declined to comment on their identity “for understandable reasons.”

The pair vanished near the Salang Pass, a major route through the Hindu Kush moun-

tains connecting the capital, Kabul, to north Afghanistan.

One local official suggested they might have been abducted by nomads. Taliban insurgents are not thought to be active in the relatively peaceful area where they vanished, just north

of the capital Kabul.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militant Islamist group, which is leading a 10-year insurgency in Afghanistan, did not know anything about the disappearance.

–AFP

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Strauss-Kahn walks free A US judge on Tuesday dismissed all sex crime charges against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, drawing the curtain on a torrid saga that derailed the stellar career of one of the world’s most powerful men.

Judge Michael Obus took just minutes to approve the prosecutors’ request to abandon a case they said had been made untenable as a result of the constant lying of the hotel maid accusing Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault.

There was a last-minute delay while an appeals court considered an attempt by the maid’s lawyer to have a special prosecutor take over the flailing investigation.

The moment the court denied the appeal, StraussKahn was free.

However, if the former International Monetary Fund chief was thinking of an immediate return to France, where until the scandal he’d been seen as a likely winner of upcoming presidential elections, fate intervened in the form of a rare earthquake.

The bizarre twist prompted early closure of courthouse offices and meant StraussKahn would have to wait

until Wednesday to collect his passport, which was confiscated right after his arrest on May 14.

The 62-year-old looked relieved as he left the building, accompanied by his millionaire French wife Anne Sinclair, who has stood by his side ever since the sensational sex scandal erupted.

“This is the end of a terrible and unjust ordeal,” Strauss-Kahn told reporters outside of his upscale temporary residence in Lower Manhattan.

“I’m eager to return to my country,” he said, pledging to speak at “greater length” once back in France.

Strauss-Kahn said he was relieved for his wife, children and “everyone who has supported me at this time by sending me letters and emails.” He called the legal saga a “nightmare.”

Even if he ret ur ns to France, Strauss-Kahn’s reputation has been badly sullied by an affair that forced him to resign as head of the IMF and put his French presidential dreams on hold.

Demonstrators, many of them women, hurled slogans outside of the courtroom.

The District Attorney’s Office defended its decision to drop the high profile case, saying that despite strong initial evidence of a possible forced sexual encounter, there was no definitive proof and the maid herself could no longer be believed.

Prosecutor Joan IlluzziOrbon said she did not take the decision “lightly,” but added that the accuser, 32-year-old chambermaid Nafissatou Diallo, had “severely undermined her reliability as a witness in this case.”

Later, District Attorney Cyrus Vance himself issued a statement justifying his decision as “absolutely the right one, legally and ethically.”

“If we are not persuaded – beyond a reasonable doubt – that a crime has been committed, based on the evidence we have, we cannot ask a jury to convict,” he said.

He sent his written statement to journalists after the earthquake forced him to abort a press conference.

The case garnered world attention on May 14 when Strauss-Kahn was escorted away by New York police from his first class seat on an Air France plane moments before

9

IN BRIEF Japanese PM to announce resignation Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told his cabinet on Tuesday he will express his intention to resign today (August 26), Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said.

“We were told that if things proceed as planned, the prime minister will express his (resignation) intention on August 26. We were told to prepare to succeed to the next cabinet,” Noda said in a parliamentary committee meeting.

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is now free after his sex charges were dropped. its departure for Paris.

At first, prosecutors said they had strong evidence that Strauss-Kahn forced Diallo into oral sex in his luxury Manhattan hotel room and attempted to rape her.

But the case began to unravel weeks later when prosecutors announced that Diallo had been caught lying on her asylum application form, including about a gang rape she had suffered back home in Guinea.

She was also said to have discussed Strauss-Kahn’s wealth in a telephone conversation with a Guinean friend currently held in a US prison, and to have changed sworn testimony to the grand jury considering the case.

Strauss-Kahn could, in theory, return to frontline French politics, but few in France are expecting a prominent role any time soon.

– AFP

9/11 remains still being identified New York City forensic technicians are still identifying pieces of human remains found in the rubble of the World Trade Centre nearly a decade after the 9/11 attacks.

The office of New York City’s medical examiner announced Tuesday (today, NZ time) that it had successfully matched a set of remains to 40-year-old Ernest James of New York, who had been assumed dead in the collapse.

A spokeswoman says James was identified through DNA testing.

5.8 quake rattles US The most powerful earthquake to strike the East Coast of the United States in 67 years shook buildings and rattled nerves from South Carolina to Maine early Tuesday evening.

Frightened office workers spilled into the streets in New York, and parts of the White House, Capital and Pentagon were evacuated.

There were no immediate reports of deaths, but fire officials in Washington said there were at least some injuries.

The National Cathedral said its central tower and three of its four corner spires were damaged, but the White House said advisers had told President Barack Obama there were no

reports of major damage to the nation’s infrastructure, including airports and nuclear facilities.

The US Geological Survey said the quake registered magnitude 5.8 and was centred 70 kilometres northwest of Richmond, Virginia.

Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station, in the same county as the epicentre, were automatically taken off line by safety systems, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The earthquake came less than three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and in both

Washington and New York it immediately triggered fears of something more sinister than a natural disaster.

At the Pentagon, a low rumbling built until the building itself was shaking, and people ran into the corridors of the complex. The shaking continued there, to shouts of “Evacuate! Evacuate!”

The Park Service closed all monuments and memorials on the National Mall, and ceiling tiles fell at Reagan National Airport outside Washington.

All flights there were put on hold.

Shaking was felt as far south as Charleston, South Carolina.

Denmark plans seabed claim Denmark and its self-governing dependency of Greenland plan to present a seabed claim extending to the North Pole before the end of 2014 against competing claims from other Arctic states, Danish officials have said.

Ownership of the Arctic seabed has grown in importance as the shrinking of sea ice has opened new prospects for exploration and production of the region’s potentially vast oil and gas resources.

Under international law, no country now owns the North Pole or the Arctic Ocean area surrounding it.

Denmark’s claim will be presented to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), the Danish government said in a new Strategy for the Arctic.

The claim would extend north from Greenland and follow two Arctic continental shelf claims already submitted to the CLCS by the Faroe Islands,

another semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal states have sovereignty out to 370km from their shorelines, including rights to the minerals and natural resources there.

But they can claim sovereignty beyond 200 nautical miles if they can prove the existence of an extended continental shelf.

– AFP www.thephuketnews.com

10 OPINIONS & VOICES

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Letters to the editor

NORACHAI’S WORLD

The real hassle for yachties

While yachties will appreciate the new online check-in service, the truth is that it is neither long nor laborious to check in at Chalong. In fact, checking in here is as easy as it gets anywhere. Everything is done in one convenient location with polite and friendly staff.

For yachties, the real pain in the stern is the duration of the visa, forcing yachties to leave the country every thirty days, and in the process spending large amounts of money in a foreign country instead of sinking that money in the local economy.

The optional sixty day visa is in some respects more of a hassle, requiring yachties to go track down an embassy and wait for the visa, then, having been in Thailand for sixty days, having to show up at local immigration with more paperwork, including photos, and paying another B2000 (to the government?) for another thirty days. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

I don't know the reasons behind the current system, but it seems the on-line option is not solving the real problem for yachties.

The fact that they still have to show up to present their passports and registration is, as you say, repetitive also. Malaysia's three month visa system would be so much more convenient, and keep more money in Thailand.

Gene Nelson

Checking in at sea.

Have your say We welcome letters to the editor. Letters must be under 250 words.

You can email editor@ thephuketnews.com or fax your contribution to 076 612 553. Please include your name, address and contact telephone number.

Who owns the jeep?

I think Cambodia is the sole owner and copyrighter of both the graceful hand position and shadow plays. I don’t mean to be an extreme nationalist – I dare say it because of centuries-old inscriptions on walls on many temples at the Angkor Wat complex. I don’t mind the effort by Thai Culture Minister to register the Jeep as long as there’s no extreme nationalism, no tanks, artillery, and invasion of Cambodian sovereignty.

May God bless both Thailand & Cambodia.

Sano Ray, Phnom Penh

Q&A: Are any snakes in Phuket poisonous?

The island is home to numerous species of snake, at least three of which are considered deadly.

King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah)

Reticulated python

The world’s longest poisonous snake, which can grow up to 5.6 metres in length, is found in southeast Asia and India. It eats snakes and other reptiles and ranges in colour from green to black. While preferring to avoid humans, when necessary it can use its centimetre-long fangs to inject venom into unfortunate victims, who suffer severe pain and can die within 15 minutes of respiratory failure.

Toxic enough to kill an elephant, give this one a wide berth.

This is the world’s longest snake, growing up to 8.7 metres, though specimens seen in Phuket are usually only one to three metres in length. As a non-venomous constrictor it cannot kill with poison, but instead squeezes victims to death and swallows them whole. Light brown in colour, it likes water and has been seen swimming way out at sea to colonise new islands.

You should be fine, but don’t let your pet poodle stray too far from home.

www.thephuketnews.com

(Python reticulatus)

Indian cobra (Naja naja) This smaller cobra, about a metre long and of grey and light-brown colour, also has lethal venom. When defending itself, it characteristically hisses, stands up and spreads the skin around its neck to frighten away predators. This species is most commonly used in tourist snake shows.

Still lethal, so don’t tease or threaten it.

Banded mangrove snake (Boiga dendrophila) This mildly-poisonous snake has attractive bright-yellow bands around its long shiny black body. It’s arboreal and nocturnal and it is sometime kept as a pet because of its good looks.

While not lethal, it can still give you a very sore bite.

Asian or green pit viper

Oriental whipsnake

(Tremeresurus)

Also known as the Asian vine snake, this is the common, mildly-poisonous ngu kiew (green snake). Measuring less than a metre long, it can often be seen rapidly climbing trees or slithering across a lawn.

Because of its attractive long thin bright-green body, it is found on sale in pet markets.

Very pretty but still handle with care.

This attractive light-green poisonous snake, known as ngu kiew hang mai in Thai (green snake with a burnt tail), is less than a metre long, and is often confused with the more common oriental whipsnake.

Its venom is not fatal but causes pain and swelling.

(Ahaetulla prasina)

HOT TOPIC 11

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

More equality needed

By Paritta Wangkiat (Mai) REPORTER

I

t’s late afternoon and the weekend market is crowded with shoppers, wandering from stall to stall, maybe buying, maybe browsing – chatting with friends, bantering with stall holders.

But in among the simple pleasures of the market are representatives of a darker side of Phuket society: people with twisted bodies or missing limbs, making whatever living they can from begging.

Enjoyment sweeps from the eyes of the shoppers as they spot one of these disturbing people.

Some are shocked, others disgusted. Some are sympathetic and slip coins into the tins or hands the beggars hold out.

In another corner of the town not far from the market, an old man named Sawai Promjinda rests his chin on the stump of his left arm.

With his right hand, he holds proposals for changes to the laws relating to rights of the disabled.

“We need more rights.

We have to fight for them,” Sawai, who is president of the Phuket Council for People with Disabilities, says. He wants to see greater equality in society, with the physically handicapped more readily accepted as normal people.

“There still isn’t enough support for the disabled,” he says. “Many facilities simply don’t accommodate the disabled.”

The Thai gover nment currently has an annual budget of B800 million to help the disabled. That includes a monthly welfare cheque for each disabled person: the princely sum of B500.

The 2008 Act for the Support and Development of Disabled Livelihoods states that the disabled have a right to live and work in society. Large companies are obliged by law

Sompong Juiplub, 43, pictured above and below right, has developed skills using other parts of his body to replace those he lost when he was eight years old. to hire one disabled person for every 100 employees.

In reality, says Sawai, many people ignore the Act. Some companies won’t hire any disabled people because they allegedly don’t have the ability to do a given job.

“We have a law to support the disabled. But if people don’t comply with it, society will move further away from equality,” Sawai observes.

The law does not, however, help with simple but almost insurmountable problems such as getting around in a wheelchair. Public transport and buildings – including government buildings – usually take no account of their difficulties.

“Community leaders are very important to improving the lives of the disabled,” Mr

A student at the Phuket Special Education Centre.

Sawai says. “If they don’t care, then there will never be facilities for the disabled.”

But – perhaps surprisingly – Sawai believes that discrimination doesn’t come only as a result of society’s attitudes. It can, in fact, be reinforced by the disabled themselves.

For a start, although it may be hard to get a job, it is possible – but few disabled even try. Of the 3,000 registered disabled people living in Phuket, only about 200 have what could be called “proper jobs”.

Some simply spend their lives hiding from strangers’ eyes, rarely moving from home, thus effectively hiding the problem too. Others reinforce negative stereotypes by begging, wandering from market to market.

Many disabled find it’s the easiest way to make a living – and not a bad one at that. “I used to be a beggar,” says Sompong Juiplub, 43.

“I earned around B2,000 to B3,000 a day. Good money.”

He sits on a simple wheelchair made from two wheels connected by an iron pipe, which replaces his left leg, lost 35 years ago.

As he speaks he works on the back of a dismantled TV set. He holds a soldering iron in his right hand, the solder tube in his mouth – his left arm too, is missing.

At the age of eight, with both left limbs missing after

an accident, he was pulled out of school by his parents.

Illiterate, disabled and without skills, begging was really the only option for survival until he met Sawai, who encouraged him to start a new life with a proper job.

Now he has his own TV repair shop and employs three staff. Ironically, none of these are disabled – Sompong tried to hire disabled people but noone wanted to work for him.

“Being a beggar is a kind of cycle. You want to get away from it but you can’t, because it is the easiest way to earn money without any investment,” Sompong explains.

“From my own experience, I’d say the best way to help the disabled is by giving them chances to get an education, to learn skills.”

There are two government offices on the island that offer education and skills training for the disabled: the Phuket Special Education Centre (PSEC) and Panyanukul School.

But once again prejudice all too often gets in the way. “Many parents can’t see the need for an education for their disabled children,” says Vanida Suraban, a Director of the PSEC. Many don’t even register their disabled children with government offices that provide financial support, and will help find a child a place in a school and pay a portion

of medical costs.

“Registering their disabled children, or sending them to a centre for the disabled make parents feel inferior in society.

Some parents simply can’t accept that their children are disabled,” Vanida says.

Even when parents want to put their children into school, it can be difficult. Schools may simply refuse to take the children, citing a lack of specialised personnel and learning equipment that is more expensive.

Then, if one wants to live as a “normal person” in society, there’s the price to be paid simply because one is disabled.

The cost of a good plastic limb can be more than B10,000, while the cost for physical therapy starts from B80 per session in a government hospital, or B600 an hour in a private hospital.

Charitable donations are sometimes available for the disabled, but all too often they cannot afford the cost

of transport to go and get a donation, and they can’t pay for the nice clothes that are deemed necessary in polite Thai society to show due respect for the donors.

Sompong remarks that donations, if not delivered to the disabled at their homes, is less about charity and more about the donors getting face.

So, back to the weekend market, many continue to beg for money. But using their pitiable condition to get money is not a sustainable living, says Sawai.

“I wouldn’t recommend any disabled person to make a living from begging. They can do better than that if they have the support,” he says.

“Things are better than they were 10 years ago, when the disabled were mostly ignored [by the government]. But they still don’t get enough attention.

There is still a long way to go in fighting for their rights.” www.thephuketnews.com

12 ART & CULTURE

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Random View Phuket photographer Sukree Suaetrong sent in this marvellous beach photo as his Random View.

The receding waves, captured with a very slow shutter speed, come to resemble rolling smoke or drifting tropical snow.

As well as those strange f luffy waves, the orange balls that the waves leave rolling on the sand capture attention and ask questions.

They are in fact ripe betel nuts, the dark-red in-

terior of which is rolled up in edible leaves and chewed as a stimulant, popular with oldies whose teeth turn permanent dark-brown as a result.

As good art photography, the image invites the viewer to attach their own symbolism and personal association to these fruits that are not usually seen at the beach.

Is something valuable being left behind or offered by nature for us to pick up and treasure?

MAKING

ART

Jaruwat Boonwaedlom Painter Jaruwat Boonwaedlom took time to muse on this common everyday scene in Bangkok.

Assorted lives and experiences come together briefly on

this Bangkok bus for the duration of its lengthy journey through the metropolis’ heavily-congested traffic, before they once again go their separate ways.

Like well-known expatriate Australian painter Jeffrey Smart, the Thai artist freezes the everyday hustle and bustle of city life and lets seemingly ordinary scenes reveal

their underlying layer of surrealism.

Jaruwat was showing his work with painters Therdkiat Wangwatcharakul and Somboon Hormtientong in the recent Conveyance

show at the capital’s H Gallery off Sathorn Road. Although buses roar and pollute their way along the busy street nearby, the gallery is a peaceful haven of art in its quiet soi.

ARTEYE

Cement sculptures, made by this little factory on Pra Phuket Kaew Rd on the way to Patong Hill, are readily bought for homes, hotels and restaurants.

Elements of the imagination, in the shape of lions, tigers, fish and dragons, as well as Chinese temple guardians and tewada (angels), are given instant form in moulds and hardened quickly in the air.

Michelangelo did it the hard way carving figures out of marble. If only he had moulds and cement in his

www.thephuketnews.com

studio, he could have retired early and sat around on a beach.

We can make highway, resorts and high-rise condominium blocks out of cement, so we also need these cement beings to populate the urban landscape.

Why do we need cement angels to stand around to welcome people?

They are paying respect to us when surely it is more appropriate the other way round.

Even if they are nowadays made of cement.

ON CAMERA 13

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Director-General of Health Service Support Department, Dr Somchai Pinyopornpanich, enjoys having a massage.

Mass massage a success More than 1,000 people – including many tourists who wanted to join in the action – participated in a mass massage held at Kata beach last Friday.

The event saw 584 masseurs take part in the prelude to the world record attempt being staged later this year near Bangkok, when around 840 pairs of hands will get involved.

The “World Record for Thai Massage” is

Kata beach, a scenic spot for a Thai massage.

being organised by the Health Ministry, Export Department and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

The actual world record attempt will be held in Nonthaburi province on November 17. The current world record for the number of people being massaged at the same time is 263 people, which was set in Australia in March last year.

Nuttibon Laodee, Communications Manager of The Mangosteen Resort & Spa and her Indian massage (Ayurvedic) doctor Subhash Shanbhag. And the rest of other therapists.

Piyarat Kulvanich looking relaxed.

Katy Butt feels good after her massage.

Hawaiian dancers helped to keep the crowds entertained last Friday.

Asa Marsh feels great after getting a massage from The Spa Club therapist Paiwan Conchita Verkade gets a rub down.

Wetchakorn. www.thephuketnews.com

14 FEATURE PLUS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Gone fishing he fishing line suddenly becomes very taut and looks in real danger of breaking.

Junior fisherman Conan Quigley, from Ireland, struggles with all his might to reel in the line. His dad Michael encourages him and gets ready with a big net.

Conan is doing well, hanging on tight as his fishing rod curves into a tight, straining bow. His friend Euan Barrowcliffe, from Scotland, helps.

Will the line snap and the big fish slip back into the lake?

The big striped catfish, pla sawai in Thai, about 15 kilograms in weight, surfaces to the excitement of the boys, and is brought wriggling onto the grass.

The boys struggle to lift the big fish together to pose for a quick photo and then slip it back in the water again, so that it is not too stressed by being caught.

“We’ve got the record,” shouts Conan.

It’s the 20th of these hefty fish of many species that his family party has pulled in that day, just beating the day record of 19 chalked on the record board.

T

2502_LP_SFF_Ad 274X189m.indd www.thephuketnews.com

1

Above: Calm before the storm at the Phuket Fishing Park.

Owner Andres Pira with a Siamese carp he has just caught.

About four months ago owner of the Phuket Fishing Park, Andres Pira, who is half-Colombian and halfSwedish, bought this fishing park in Koh Kaew from the previous owner, who only kept local species that were fished by customersand then cooked for them in the restaurant.

He stocked the large lake, which may have once been a deep excavated tin mine, with about 700 exotic species such as arapaima, from the Ama-

zon River, piraya pacu and alligator gar also from South America, red-tailed catfish, Julian golden and Siamese carps plus the mighty pla beuk (giant Mekong catfish) that are now bred in fish farms from the monsters in the Mekong River that can grow to three metres long and weigh 350 kg.

The fish are fed bread and sardines daily and they now range in weight between four to 98 kg.

Would-be f ishers can

Above left: Michael Quigley from Ireland brings one in. Above right: Got one! Conan Quigley holds up a pla sawai while Euan Barrowcliffe looks on. choose to tackle either the herbivore fish, using bread bait, or the predator giants that snap up baits of little whole fish, paying for a half-day or the whole day to do so.

The predator fish put up more of a fight and need up to an hour to be reeled in.

The big piranhas often simply bite the line with their razorsharp teeth and swim away with disdain.

All large stock fish are required to be let go again but fishers can take smaller local fish home, or have it cooked.

If you don’t catch anything, the park guarantees give you another free day to catch some.

But as Conan and Euan can tell you, it’s more a question of whether or not your strength will last from pulling in 1020kg fish that don’t necessarily want to be landed.

T h e p a r k i s a t 48/3 Thepkrassattri Rd, near the Heroines’ Monument roundabout, on the left side of the road heading into Phuket Town from the airport. It is open from 8am to 5pm everyday except Monday.

-- Norachai Thavisin Visit phuket-fishing-park. com or phone 081 459 0152 .for more information.

23/8/2554 12:53:21

PHUKET PEOPLE 15

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Making a living from nature

A young sea gypsy today. No longer do Thai people and sea gypsies exchange gifts, but their friendship remains strong.

It’s a cool cloudy day, so the sun is not blazing as usual on the busy Pra Phuket Kaew Rd. A good breeze is lifting off the nearby lake, wafting the sweet scent of jasmine and the jumpee (Michelia) flowers into the air.

Sumlit and Lamai Bunna sit comfortably at their roadside table under an umbrella, (on the left side of the road as one heads for Patong Hill), making their flower garlands. They have been making these at this spot for the last 30 years.

Sumlit says his job was with the Kathu Municipality, minding the pump for the lake next door, just over the wire fence. As he worked there, his wife Lamai made garlands by the side of the road and sold them to passing motorists.

When he retired from council work, Sumlit simply joined his wife over the fence “so

Lamai, left, and Sumlit, sell flower garlands for a living. that he didn’t become bored”.

Now the couple sell 100200 garlands a day for B20 each, being busier in the morning than in the afternoon,

and making enough money to put their only son through vocational college.

Sumlit proudly says that his flowers come from an

organic garden where the whole garden is netted to keep out insects and no pesticide

Forming a A place to call home close bond Duncan Worthington Exposed hey first met in their childhood in the main market of the town.

It was the day before the autumn festival, Sart Thai, when many sea gypsies left the coast to collect donations from Thai communities on land.

Their eyes reflected the figure of each other, a fairskinned wealthy girl and Mali, a young sea gypsy whose old shirt had a big hole on the back.

Mali observed the girl’s pretty face. Mali’s dark figure was completely different from the girl’s, which was clean and fragile.

“What is her name?,” Mali’s mother asked the girl’s mother enthusiastically.

“Her name is Wanna,” she answered. “The youngest daughter of mine.”

“When was she born?”

“September 14, 1965,” she said and turned her eyes to Mali who was sitting on a mattress next to her mother.

“How about her?”

“Such a coincidence. My daughter was born on September 12 in the same year.

They both were born to be friends,” Mali’s mother said to Wanna’s mother. “Do you mind if I ask your daughter to be a friend of my girl?”

“No,” Wanna’s mother replied. “From now on, they are friends. Our family is connected with yours.”

After that, Mali and her mother began visiting Wanna’s family with presents on Sart Thai day every year, with

T

is used.

Business Development Manager, Grandpa’s Infinity Communications yarns

an ornament made from a shell of a hawksbill turtle, while Wanna’s family would give them clothes and food in exchange.

The two girls were left talking with each other, while the two parents chatted about their lives.

“You will leave your home for the university in Bangkok?,” Mali asked Wanna the year they both turned 18.

“Yes,” Wanna nodded.

“We may not see each other for some time.”

Mali always wondered how life was in the capital.

Though she’d never been there, she was sure that it must be different from her meager life depending on the ocean.

No one there would need to sleep outdoors in an open market on the night before Sart Thai day, just to wait for the next day to bring collect donations from charitable Thai people.

Finally, Wanna left. Years had passed with no sight of her.

Mali began to forget Wanna’s face and the strong connection through the exchange of gifts between the sea gypsies and Thais that had tied them together.

In the back of Mali’s mind, she heard Wanna’s voice, a whisper of her distant past.

Mali wasn’t sure if she still cared about her old friendship anymore.

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

During my MSc in the UK I found an ad in the careers library at the university for a six-month placement with an eco-tour company in Phuket.

The ad was a year old but I contacted the company anyway.

The British boss did his best to put me off coming but finally gave in and I joined the company in Krabi, launching a new eco-tour in October 1997.

Six months later I moved to the company’s head office in Phuket.

Why eco-tourism? My BSc and MSc were environmental related and it seemed a logical link. After three years with the company, I left to travel in Asia for a month and then returned to Phuket and joined an English language publishing company.

What is best thing about living here?

It’s easy to say “the lifestyle”, and initially, that was true.

Today, Thailand is home for me and that in itself is the best thing. Sure the culture, beaches, standard of living you can have here are great.

But to me now, that is what I call home and I can’t envisage any other kind of living.

What do you do to relax?

I am a workaholic. I find en-

than the six months planned.

Famous last words...

Duncan Worthington. joyment in the work I do, be it commercial or voluntary.

When I manage to find spare time, if in Phuket I enjoy golf.

What hobbies or sports are you interested in?

Golf and sailing. I rarely get a chance to sail, I usually end up on the organisational or media side of regattas and marine events here, but I do enjoy them all. I spent much of childhood in the UK playing the trumpet. Something I miss.

Favourite food or dish?

Living in Thailand there are simply so many. I do enjoy yam pla dook foo (a fried catfish salad, great with som tam (spicy papaya salad) and sticky rice, and gaeng som pla (spicy yellow fish curry).

What kind of music are you into?

I’ve never really been one to listen to lots of music, having spent much of my childhood actually playing it. If I had to choose, it would be traditional jazz with a strong trumpet focus. The late great Maynard Ferguson was an idol for me way back when.

What were you doing before you moved here?

I came straight from university. Having studied ‘green’ in the UK, at that time my options were either strap myself to a mast and work for Greenpeace, or join a local authority and push paper around a desk.

Neither interested me so the Thailand opportunity was one I grabbed with both hands, not expecting to be here longer

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

Go with the f low. I never planned my move here so can't really advise on that. I arrived, enjoyed it, and stayed. I would advise to do the same. If you have the chance to ‘test’ it first, then maybe a good idea to do that. If you are moving with a family, spend time doing your research. If you are moving here alone, just take the plunge. You won’t regret it!

The person you admire the most and why?

My better half, Chanut Nawnarong. I thought I was hard working and determined, but she can run circles around me.

Her dedication is phenomenal.

Truly an amazing woman.

Is there anything you don’t like about living here?

There are challenges and frustrations, sure. But then there are everywhere. When I get frustrated I think of the northeast of England. Enough said.

Favourite place on the island, and why?

For beaches it has to be Kata Noi. The best by a long shot.

And Bake Cherng Talay – I do miss European cafe culture and Bake is the closest you get to it in Phuket. www.thephuketnews.com

16 BUSINESS & TOURISM

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Obama consults sages

Kelly Lewis.

Indigo Pearl gets new GM The Indigo Pearl resort at Nai Yang Beach has appointed veteran British-American hotelier Kelly Lewis as its new general manager.

Mr Lewis joins the resort from the Makena Beach Golf Resort in Maui, Hawaii where he was GM. His 20-year career in the hospitality industry – he came up thorugh the F&B side of operations – has seen him in senior positions in resorts in Hawaii, Bermuda, Saipan, Jamaica and Penang.

His f irst appointment as GM was in 2004, at the Daufuskie Island Resort and Breathe Spa, off the coast of South Carolina.

He also managed hotels and resorts in Arizona and Florida, culminating in the Maui appointment He will be overseeing the multi-million dollar aesthetic transformation of the Indigo Pearl, in partnership with Bensley Design Studios, to turn the property into an all suite and villa resort. The pool and spa villas are set to open later this year.

US President Barack Obama on Monday reached out to respected business figures Warren Buffett and Ford chief Alan Mulally as he frames a major new plan on jobs and the deficit.

Obama made the calls from his rented vacation farm house on the well-heeled resort island of Martha’s Vineyard off Massachusetts, said deputy White House press secretary Josh Earnest.

The president often cites billionaire Berkshire Hathaway chief Buffett – often referred to as the “Oracle of Omaha” for his pronouncements – as an example of the well-off category of American who would not mind paying higher taxes to benefit the rest of the country.

Last week, Buffet himself wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times urging US lawmakers to raise taxes on

wealthy Americans.

“The president and Mr Buffett discussed the overall outlook on the economy and the reaction to the headwinds we’ve experienced over the past couple of months,” Earnest said.

“They talked a little bit about some possible measures that would spur investment and increase economic growth.

And they also talked about some measures that could address the long-term fiscal situation in this country.”

Obama and Mulally discussed the auto and manufacturing industries and expanding growth, stimulating exports and investment, Earnest said.

Also on Monday, Obama, who has been criticised by Re-

Steel company slammed over ‘obscene’ bonuses for bosses Bosses at Australia’s BlueScope steel have been attacked for pocketing “obscene” bonuses worth A$3.0 million (B93 million), after they laid off 1,000 workers and abandoned their export business.

Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon seized upon the figures – contained in the company’s annual report, published on Monday – which revealed that the company lost A$1.05 billion, and condemned

Service costs (or receive rewards in goods) when servicing models from 1976 to 2006.

www.thephuketnews.com

US President Barack Obama, left, and Ford CEO Alan Mulally discussed ‘the auto and manufacturing industries and expanding growth, stimulating exports and investment’.

publicans for taking a vacation while many Americans face severe economic struggles, was briefed on market and financial developments by Brian Deese, a top economic aide.

Obama has promised to unveil a new jobs and deficit plan after lawmakers return to work in early September, but Republicans have already signaled they are not keen on many aspects of his plans.

The president is seeking to kick-start the US recovery, which he says has been slowed by “headwinds” including the Arab Spring, Japan’s tsunami and erathquake tragedy and the European debt crisis.

A recent Gallup poll found that public approval for his economic management had dipped to 26 per cent, a worrying sign for the president, 15 months before the next election.

–AFP

BlueScope’s executives as “out of touch”.

“This company is laying off 1,000 workers and it has its hand out for taxpayer support to the tune of A$100 million, yet it still has the gall to pay its executives these obscene bonuses,” Mr Xenophon said.

“I would like BlueScope’s executives to explain to their sacked workers why the bosses need the money more than the sacked workers do.”

Mr Xenophon said it was a “dark day for corporate governance” when company chiefs could take bumper pay for their performance when their “corporate behaviour was pretty bad”.

He called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to cut by A$3 million any assistance sought by BlueScope under her A$100 million industry bailout, and demanded an explanation from the firm for its “outrageous” payouts.

BlueScope, Australia’s largest steelmaker by output, said on Monday it would abandon its export business and axe 1,000 jobs, as manufacturing faced the worst crisis in decades due to the high Australian dollar.

Ms Gillard offered BlueScope emergency access to a A$100 million contingency fund intended for a planned pollution tax, to be introduced next July, as well as A$30 million in assistance for the regions where it has sacked workers.

The Australian Workers

Bluescope closed one of its blast furnaces, resulting in the loss of 800 jobs.

Union said the executive bonus payments were a “slap in the face” to the 1,000 people who have lost their jobs.

“This is just unbelievable,” national secretary Paul Howes

said. “Manufacturing is facing the worst crisis since the Great Depression and BlueScope’s response is to line the pockets of their paper-pushing executives who already earn a mint.

“It’s a slap in the face to all of BlueScope’s hard-working employees who are now living through the trauma and uncertainty that comes with mass redundancies.” –AFP

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

BUSINESS & TOURISM 17

World Bank ups Thailand rating The World Bank (WB) has upgraded its rating of the Thai economy from “lower middle income” to “higher middle income”, citing the country’s “economic achievements in the past decade” and its “resiliency to the recent global financial crisis”.

World Bank Senior Economist Kirida Paopichit said the upgrade is a tribute to the Thai government’s success in managing the economy.

“The upgrade is in recognition of Thailand’s economic achievements in the past decade in which gross national income (GNI) per capita has almost doubled, while poverty has been significantly reduced,” she said.

The World Bank rates

Industrial confidence index dips DTAC Thailand’s industrial confidence index in July fell from 107.4 to 105.2 in June as a result of several factors, according to a survey by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

The survey was conducted using a random sample of 1,104 industrial operators in 40 groups of industries.

FTI Chairman Payungsak Chartsuthipol said factors affecting the lower industrial confidence index were entrepreneurs’ worries over higher production costs because of higher prices of materials, the government’s B300-a-day minimum wage policy, continuing high energy prices, rising interest rates, the strong baht and the fragile world economy.

However, the su r vey

showed the index level was still above 100. This, the FTI said, demonstrated that industrial entrepreneurs are still relatively confident due to continuously increasing demand.

Classified by business size, the chairman said the confidence index for smalland medium-scale industries increased slightly from June, while large-scale operations went in the opposite direction.

In July industrialists urged the new government to introduce the new minimum wage gradually, to provide solutions for the general shortage of skilled workers, to tackle higher production costs, and to work for national reconciliation and political stability after the violence in Bangkok last year.

–MCOT

Tax man happy at beating target With the new Pheu Thai government planning to spend lots of money on mega-projects and promised economic stimulus measures, the tax payer is going to take a battering in the coming couple of years.

Happily, the Ministry of Finance expects to exceed its income target for 2011 by more than B200 billion, and anticipates a “bright future” for the revenue collection in the 2012 fiscal year.

Speaking after meeting with Finance Ministry executives, Permanent Secretary for Finance Dr Areepong Bhoochaoom said the ministry has set

its revenue collection target for 2012 at B1.9 trillion but now thinks it may reach B2 trillion.

The better-than-expected revenue collection assessment takes into account the new government’s plans to change diesel tax collection and reduce corporate income tax, he said.

But, he added, the ministry will re-assess the policies of the new government before being able to say if implementation of the policies announced during Pheu Thai’s election campaign will lead to a predicted budget deficit of B350 billion next year despite the rise in tax income.

– NNT

denies breaking 3G deal Total Access Communication (DTAC) has assured its subscribers that its commercial 3G service will not be terminated, denying that the service is a violation of its agreement with the 3G concession owner, CAT Telecom.

CAT earlier sent a letter to DTAC demanding that it stop providing 3G services to its customers, claiming that DTAC had broken an agreement on 3G made earlier with CAT. DTAC Chief Executive Jon Eddy Abdullah said, after discussing the row with the new Minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Group Captain Anudit Nakornthap, that CAT had not specified in its letter how DTAC was supposed to have violated the deal.

He added that the 300,000 DTAC customers who had signed up for 3G service appeared satisfied.

The Minister said that both parties would be treated equally. He added that no impact on DTAC users was expected.

The battle over the rights to 3G has dragged on for years, severely limiting communications in Thailand. Neighbouring Malaysia already has 4G services and phone and Internet users expect speeds as high as 50 gigabits per second (Gbps).

In Thailand speeds are around one fifth of that.

economies each year by measuring GNI per capita.

Countries with higher middle income have a median income of US$4,000-12,000 (B118,00366,000). Thailand scrapes in at the bottom of this range with a per capita GNI of US$4,210 (B125,000).

“The country has been prudent in macroeconomic management with a strong fiscal stance and low public debt and inflation,” Ms Kirida explained.

“Thailand has a friendly business environment and has been successful in attracting foreign direct investment and achieving greater diversification in manufacturing production, both in terms of higher value-added production and

expansion into new emerging export markets.

“These achievements were ref lected in the resiliency of the Thai economy to the recent global financial crisis, which now places Thailand in a position of opportunity to pursue stronger ties to both ASEAN and the world,” said Kirida.

She added some words of caution: “For Thailand to sustain its growth and avoid the middle-income trap, it needs to pay attention to raising the productivity of not only the manufacturing, but also the agriculture and services sectors.

“Higher levels of education and skills as well as creativity, innovation, and competi-

tion, will be necessary. These would not only promote higher growth but also inclusive growth which will help reduce the persistently high income inequality in Thailand.”

The news of the upgrade was greeted with dismay by the Thai Chamber of Commerce, whose Deputy Secretary-General, Pornsilp Patcharintanakul, said the chamber is worried that Thailand may lose its privileges under the developed countries’ Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) as a result of the upgrade.

The European Union and the US grant GSP privileges to developing countries, mostly in the form of lower import tariffs. – Phuket News, TAN

Singaporeans sell chunk of Shin Corp

Singapore’s Cedar Holdings has sold 253.5 million shares, or about 17 per cent, of its Shin Corp shares, the Shin Corp-Thai telecom group said in a letter to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) this week.

Forty per cent of the shares were sold to Thai NVDR Co Ltd and the remainder were snapped up by Thai investors. The shares went for B36 apiece, for a total of B9.1 billion.

Cedar Holdings is 49 per cent owned by Singapore state firm Temasek Holdings. It now holds 1.5 billon shares or 46.44 per cent of Shin Corp.

Aspen Holdings, which is also owned by Temasek, holds a further 41.68 per

cent in Shin Corp. It wrote to Shin to say that it has no plan to sell its shares in the company at the moment and is still confident in the business and management of the company, the letter said.

Te m a s e k Hold i n g s bought Shin Cor p, the family business of now fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, in 2006.

Shin also owns Thaicom, founded in 1991 with a 30-year Build-TransferOperate concession from Thailand’s Ministr y of Transport and Communications to operate the country’s first communications satellite. The concession expires in 2021.

The selling of Thaicom

by the Shinawatra family in connection with the Shin Corp deal with the Singapore state-owned investment company created a furore in Thailand, with opponents arguing that the sale of such a large part of the country’s communications system to foreign interests could be damaging to Thailand’s security.

Thaksin was also lambasted for not paying any tax on the proceeds of the the sale of Shin.

Ultimately, the sale was one factor triggering street demonstrations by anti-Thaksin protesters that culminated in the military coup in September 2006 that ousted Thaksin from power.

–MCOT

www.thephuketnews.com

18 PROPERTY

The two buildings sit right next to the pool.

Tropical and modern

This tropical modern home available for sale or rent in Naiharn is perfect for those who prefer privacy.

Surrounded by tall shrubs and vegetation, the house is in one of Phuket’s most desirable areas. There are many bars, restaurants and shopping facilities around Naiharn, and a thriving expatriate scene.

This particular property is a prime example of a tropical modern home. The classy abode offers potential buyers three bedrooms, three en suite bathrooms, fully fitted western kitchen, dining room, lounge, laundry room, single carport with room for bikes, tropical gardens, terrace and a private swimming pool, set over 925 sqm.

The main garden area is at the rear of the property, dominated by the large swimming pool.

The layout of the property consists of two separate one story buildings abutting the pool. Within the larger block you’ll find the spacious openplan living and dining area, the mixture of wooden flooring and ceilings lending the property a tropical, yet contemporary feel.

This home is for sale with Chanote title deeds and freehold or leasehold purchasing terms for B21.5 million.

For further information contact Patrick Lusted at Siam Real Estate. Tel: 076288908. Email: patrick@ siamrealestate.com. Website: www.siamrealestate.com

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

IT’S A MIRACLE: AirAsia launches a trillion baht in phone check-in tourist revenues system The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has revealed that its ‘Miracle Thailand’ campaign will soon be unveiled for the year 2011-2012 with an aim to boost the number of tourists to the point where Thailand’s revenues from tourists reach a trillion baht a year.

Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa – who hung onto his portfolio after the political party he heads, Chart Thai Pattana, switched allegiance from the Democrats to Pheu Thai (he also became a Deputy PM in the process) – stated that

the ministry’s policies would include a tourism promotion campaign called “Miracle Thailand”.

The campaign, which will run from late this year until next year will aim to persuade both Thai nationals and foreigners to travel more within the country.

Also as part of the campaign, lavish celebrations will be organized on the occasions of HM the King’s 84th birthday on December 5 this year and HM the Queen’s 80th birthday on August 12 next year.

Mr Chumpol noted that Thai tourism had been recovering well from the global financial crisis and if additional stimulus measures were adopted, the country’s earnings from the sector could reach a trillion baht by 2016.

Other policies being considered by the Ministry include the establishment of a tourist information center at the Ministry’s headquarters, the issue of visas to foreigners free of charge, and a VAT holiday for actors and movie-makers filming in Thailand.

New SEC chief to be named in December The selection process for a new secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission is underway.

A new secretary-general is required to replace Theerachai Phuwanartnaranuban, who has left the post to serve as Finance Minister in the new government.

Pravej Ongartsittigul, senior assistant secretarygeneral, said that so far fewer than 10 candidates had put their names forward but added that the selection panel may nominate two other candidates before reviewing the list next month.

www.thephuketnews.com

It will then invite each applicant to present his or her “vision”. A decision is expected by December, Mr Pravej said.

He added that the SEC is awaiting clarification about the new government’s policies towards the capital market, as well as its proposal for a progressive tax rate to be imposed on stock market gains.

Mr Pravej suggested that the government encourage the public to regard the stock market as a target for their savings, and to offer more investment options, especially for retirement savings. –TAN

AirAsia has announced the launch of a system for passengers to check themselves in through the airline’s website, or with mobile apps on Blackberry, iPhone and Android devices.

The apps can be downloaded by searching for the keyword “AirAsia” in the Blackberry App World, iTune App Store and Android Marketplace.

The mobile check-in service is also available, the airline says, for users with GPRS or 3G function on their devices.

People checking in by computer via the website will be able to print a boarding card on their own printer. Those using phones will receive a bar code that can be used at an automated kiosk at the airport to print the boarding card.

The human factor has not been totally eliminated. Passengers will still have to check baggage at a conventional desk.

They will also have to have have documents (passport or ID card) checked.

Automated boarding cards should, however, shorten queues and speed up the overall check-in process, says the airline.

THAI orders six more aircraft Ocean front pool villa at the Dusit, the only Phuket property to make it into the top 15 of the Travel+Leisure survey.

Dusit 11th in resorts survey The Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket has been ranked 11th place in the Top Resorts in Asia category of Travel+Leisure magazine’s World’s Best Awards 2011.

This is the 16th year that the magazine has run the

awards, based on reader feedback. The Dusit was the only Phuket property to make it into the top 15, though the list includes three resorts in the North – the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in 2nd place, the Four Seasons in 7th (both in Chiang Mai) and the Anantara Golden Triangle (Chiang Rai) in 15th place.

“We are delighted to be recognised by Travel+Leisure readers worldwide,” said Peter Komposch, GM of the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket.

“This award not only reflects the reputation of Phuket but also brings pride to Dusit.

I would like to express my gratitude to all guests who voted for the resort.”

Thai Airways International has finalised a firm order for six Boeing 777-300 Extended Range (ER) airplanes.

The order completes an agreement to purchase Boeing 777-300ERs announced during the Paris Air Show in June. At list prices, the order is valued at $1.7 billion (B51 billion).

“These Boeing 777-300ERs will support our commitment to expanding market presence while delivering profitable growth,” said Pi­­yasvasti Amranand, president of THAI. “The 777-300ER sets the standard for reliability because Boeing continuously incorporates new technology into the airplane to improve operating cost and airplane performance.

With a wider and more spacious cabin, the 777-300ER is preferred by passengers in every class.”

THAI currently operates nearly every 777 model produced, including the 777-200, 777-200ER, 777-300 and 777300ER. In addition, THAI Cargo became the first carrier in Southeast Asia to use the 777 Freighter.

BUSINESS & PROPERTY 19

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Ministry puts up plan for flat fare for capital rail The Ministry of Transport wants the Cabinet to consider a proposal that fares for the BTS Sky t rain, the MRT underground rail system and the Airport Rail Link be set at a flat B20 per trip, in order to make use of the three systems cheaper.

MRT and BTS adult oneway fares currently range from B15 to B40. The express airport link costs B150, while fares on the slower City Line cost B15 to B45.

According to the Permanent Secretary for Transport, Supoj Saplom, the plan, if approved, would see the B20 fare being applied on the

MRT and the Airport Link within the next two or three months.

Applying it to the BTS would take longer because the Ministry would need to negotiate the matter with the system operator, Bangkok Mass Transit System, which does not come under the ministry’s supervision.

The Ministry argues that the B20 flat fare would see the number of people using the MRT and the BTS rising from 600,000 a day to 900,000. The number of Air port Link users, now around 30,000 a day, would double, it believes. – NNT

The ministry wants to see the Skytrain charging a flat B20 for every trip, no matter the distance.

–Photo by Bjørn Erik Pedersen.

New zoning rules slammed Developers, architects, local planners and environmentalists came together in an unusual alliance on Saturday (August 20), all voicing doubts about the value of the new Phuket land zone map and the regulations attached to it.

At a seminar entitled “Phuket Land Zoning In Depth” organised by the Phuket Real Estate Association (PREA), Thanan Tanphaibul, the PREA’s president, said in his opening speech, “I think local people didn’t have enough chance to participate in formulating this new land zoning. They couldn’t get an overall understanding of the new zoning regulations, or of the details, before the law came into effect on July 7.”

Much of the debate at the seminar focused on the issue of land already owned by private owners, but allocated to a type of zone different from before.

Another hot topic was the limits on the percentage of any sub-zone in which secondary types of usage are allowed.

Each zone is split into several sub-zones. In each of these sub-zones, a specific percentage of the land may be used for purposes other than the main ones. (For more detail, see The Phuket News, issue of August 5).

In theory, once that percentage has been taken up, no more permits for these other purposes will be issued.

“This may result in a sudden rush of land buying as developers hurry to get and register land so that they can apply for it to be used for secondary purposes,” Mr Thanan said.

Prasert Temmas: ‘This new land zoning focuses too much on tourism.’

Thanan Tanphaibul: ‘ This may result in a sudden rush of land buying.’

“Developers who already have land in a zone but don’t get a permit [because the percentage allocation has already been filled], will be unable to develop their land, which will then cause problems in the property market.”

The new land zoning will affect the direction of Phuket’s development as well, said Pakhin Aunggulsant, Managing Director of Able Architects.

“The new land zoning doesn’t take account of future infrastructure,” Mr Pakhin said.

“For example, there is no zone set aside for transportation expansion.”

He also noted that the Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning (DTCP) spent about seven years completing the new land zoning map and regulations,

planner with the Phuket office of the DTCP Phuket, said some environmentalists had criticised the new land zoning as likely to cause deterioration of the

which meant they were based on conditions in Phuket seven years ago.

Mr Pakhin said he was concerned that the new zoning was not appropriate for Phuket’s current and future context, as the economy of the island has been growing rapidly.

“Throughout the past 21 years, Phuket’s infrastructure development has never caught up with the growth of economy.

If we want to see a better Phuket, the new land zoning must be planned based on the future,” Mr Pakhin said.

He said that he was concerned that the zoning map was all about opening land for development, without any concern for the environment, water supplies and energy needs.

Prasert Temmas, an urban

island’s environment.

“Some residential areas overlap with natural drainage and green slopes,” Mr Prasert said. “This new land zoning

focuses too much on tourism, creating more living area to house the flow of people from outside the island.”

The zones are not set in stone; they may be amended on a case-by-case basis, said another DTCP official. For example, he said, the height of homes built in the Forest Conservation Zone should have been defined as single storey, but this had been forgotten when Bangkok drew up the rules.

However, he said that any changes might take a long time and would only be done if they were in “the common interest”.

In the wrap-up session of the seminar, participants heard that the DTCP Phuket office has received many criticisms of the new zoning map and regulations, and will pass these points to the main DTCP office in Bangkok for its consideration, though without any guarantees that any changes will be made.

– Paritta Wangkiat

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20 IN CLASS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Eyeing a medical career B

ritish International School, Phuket (BIS) recently collaborated with Bangkok Hospital Phuket to provide work experience to three students who have dreams of becoming doctors.

Picha kor n “Peach” Phanichwong, 17, Tanaporn “Ploy” Taveepattanagkul, 19, and Nutchaya “Eye” Ungcharoen, 17, spent five days at the hospital last month. How did they find their experience?

Which departments Peach checks out the latest medical technology. made the biggest Eye: Since childhood I another operation on a patient impression on you? have been intrigued by human with appendicitis, cutting off Peach: For me, the most interesting was the medical technology department. I really want to work in Biomedical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering and study at a university in the UK after I finish high school at BIS. I really want to help people by increasing their life expectancy because I think there is as much importance on the mechanical side of the hospital as there is on the physical side by constantly developing the technology.

Ploy: I was in the orthopedic and emergency departments. Before, I only had one clear aim to become a cardiologist but after this valuable experience following an orthopedist, I also wish to become an orthopedist.

science. Shadowing doctors in several departments confirmed that medicine is the career choice for me.

What did you learn?

Peach: I learnt so much. I was surprised by the events in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and this really opened my eyes as well as got me thinking how useful the technology in the hospital is and how I would like to work on similar things.

Ploy: I learnt how doctors diagnose patients, something that only comes from the doctor’s wealth of experience. I was able to observe up-close in the operating room when a patient’s spine was operated on using advanced technology.

I also found it fun to observe

her appendix using microscopic dissection.

Eye: Having an opportunity to observe the daily routines of doctors, I was able to learn about their professionalism, knowledge and interaction with patients. From this, I was fascinated by the trust and confidence that patients place in their doctors.

From left: Peach, Eye and Ploy, possible doctors of the future.

What was the most who have the chance to be Was working in the has further [encouraged] me close up to a doctor’s work hospital everything to strive to become a doctor. interesting part?

Eye: I gained a precious Peach: The EEG machine in the operating room, it’s you expected? which measures frequencies of brain signals and is connected with the EKG machine that monitors the patient’s heart.

I found this really cool.

Ploy: To be able to observe in the operating room. I think that there are few students

an unforgettable experience.

Eye: I was particularly impressed by the surgeon’s dexterity during spine and appendix surgery using a microscopic camera. I was captivated by the surgeon’s use of physical skills in cooperation with technology in the operating theatre. It was interesting to see how the development of equipment has been used in diagnosing and curing patients.

Peach: Working in Bangkok Hospital Phuket was better than I expected and more than I could ever have wished for. From a different point of view, I have been shocked on a few occasions. One example is when I went to the ICU and saw five critically-ill patients.

Ploy: It was my great opportunity to have an insight into the medical profession and I can sum up my experience as exciting and motivating. This

insight of the relationship between doctors and patients.

I discovered how the medical profession operates and the commitment you must have to be a doctor. I was impressed by the orthopedic surgeon as he was always at ease with people and able to adapt to different situations.

Work i ng at Ba ng kok Hospital Phuket taught me about the importance of human interaction, trust and responsibility.

Above left: Dragon, by Dang and Nop from Phuket Has Been Good To US Foundation.

Above right: Taj Mahal, by Mimi from the Headstart International School, Phuket.

Kids Art winners

The Phuket News is happy to announce more winners of our monthly Kids Art competition. This month there are five winners, instead of the usual four, as two students collaborated on one winning work of an angry dragon.

These budding artists join the four already chosen from last month, Above: Nic Skehan painted his work in class with visit- who are all in line for a major ing Australian artist Chris Hogan. Below: Phee by Pim prize to be announced at the end from the Phuket Has Been Good to Us Foundation. of the year.

Thank you to everyone for sending in your entries, and please keep them coming.

Particularly notable was a drawing by Pim, who chose to create street art on the pavement of an interesting-looking phee (ghost).

Please send images of your entries (at least one megabyte in size) to editor3@thephuketnews.com. www.thephuketnews.com

Class of the Week It’s eight o’clock in the morning and morning assembly time at the Wat Swangarom School in Naiharn. These bright-eyed nursery students have just stood at attention to sing the morning national anthem,

and now can sit down on the playground tarmac to listen to the principal introducing a new teacher.

It’s a long and fun school day ahead for these beginner students.

If you would like a class from your school to appear here, please email a photo file, of at least one megabyte in size for good printing, to editor3@thephuketnews.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Justin Bieber has his way with Texas town The only way is ‘Justin Bieber Way’ after 11-year-old ‘mayor’ Caroline Gonzalez renamed and dedicated her Texan street to the teen heartthrob.

Located in Forney, Texas, the ‘Justin Bieber Way’ sign went up on Tuesday and naturally caused quite a stir with fans of the American superstar.

As the winner of her local town’s ‘be a mayor for the day’ competition, Caroline made it her first priority to get drivers bopping along to smash hits like ‘Never say Never’ and ‘Baby’.

After all, who cares about things like a balanced budget or healthcare, as long as you have mediocre pop songs?

Luckily for those community members who aren’t a ‘belieber’ (yes, that is the actual name given to Justin

Bieber fans), the sign was only temporary and was taken down after the ceremony took place.

Council officials did say they had tried to invite the 17-year-old popstar to attend, however he failed to show.

When asked why she ordered the sign, Caroline offered a very straightforward answer: “Because I really like Justin Bieber, I like his music and I like him.

“I thought, why not have a street in my hometown named after my favourite singer?”

Let’s hope for the residents’ sake that Caroline is not considering a future career in politics.

Pictured right: ‘Mayor’ Caroline Gonzalez decided to use her day in office tackling all the big issues.

The layman’s guide to idiotic traffic laws A British guide warning drivers about bizarre foreign road laws has been published, including, as is to be expected, some rather unusual traffic restrictions.

The advice covers coun-

tries including Russia, where it is illegal to drive a dirty car, and Cyprus, where drinking water at the wheel is banned.

Wearing a dressing gown while driving in California is outlawed, but only if you’re a

woman, while checks to ensure no one is under the car must be made in Denmark.

Spain, meanwhile, outlaws people who wear glasses from driving without carrying a spare pair of spectacles, while

Greek traffic wardens take things further than most traffic wardens – they confiscate the number plates of illegally parked vehicles.

The guide has been published by car rental firm Avis.

‘Slave’ boy makes call for help An 11-year-old boy in Germany has taken aversion to house chores to a new level, calling the police emergency line to complain of “forced labour” after his mother told him to help clean the home.

Police say the boy from Aachen, who has not been identified, spoke to an officer via the 110 number. He told them: “I have to work all day long. I haven’t any free time.”

His mother told the officer

the boy had kept threatening to call them, having repeatedly complained of having to do housework during the school holidays.

A transcript of the conversation revealed the officer asking the boy to describe the kind of “forced labour” he was doing.

The boy replied that he had to clean the home and terrace.

Asked if he knew what forced labour was, the boy said he did, and the police officer

asked to speak to his mother, who at that stage was standing next to him.

She explained he had called after being asked to pick up paper from the floor, adding: “He plays all day long and when told to tidy up what he’s done, he calls it forced labour.”

Amused police said the boy, who sulkily refused to come back to the phone afterwards, appeared to be going through a rebellious phase.

This rather worrying sign was spotted at the Spoonful of Sugar Homemade Bakery on Wiset Road on the way to Naiharn beach. One suspects the servers here are not sugar and spice, and all things nice.

Model aims for weighty achievement Obese model Susanne Eman has a pretty big goal – she is bidding to become the world’s fattest woman.

Already tipping the scales at a weighty 330kg, Susanne is apparently not satisfied and wants to get to a record 730kg – and beyond – by gorging on 20,000 calories a day.

The 32-year-old, who is a hit among fans of ‘super size big beautiful women’, said: “The bigger I get, the better I feel. I feel more confident and sexy. Why shouldn’t I push the limits and see how fat I can get and stay healthy? I’d love to find out if it’s humanly possible to reach a tonne.”

The single mother of two,

from Arizona, aims to hit her target weight in 10 years.

She visits the supermarket once a month with sons Gabriel, 16, and Brendin, 12, and spends up to eight hours filling six trollies.

“It’s like a full day’s work,” she said. That is if a day’s work involves going grocery shopping.

She uses a motorised scooter to support her grossly overweight frame, but astonishingly believes she can stay healthy.

“If I was to get sick, I’ve arranged for my sister to take care of my kids,” she said.

“I haven’t gone near the danger zones yet though.” The operative word is yet.

Supersize me: Obese model Susanne Eman wants to go bigger. Much bigger.

WEIRD WORLD 21

THE BIG LIST Ludicrous legislation It is illegal for a taxi in the City of London to carry rabid dogs or corpses, just in case that actually needed to be outlawed.

It is illegal to die in the Britain Houses of Parliament. It is not clear what the punishment would be for actually committing this crime.

It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside down.

In France, it is forbidden to call a pig Napoleon. You can still call Treasonous. it Snowball though.

Under the UK’s Tax Avoidance Schemes Regulations 2006, it is illegal not to tell the taxman anything you don’t want him to know, though you don’t have to tell him anything you don’t mind him knowing.

In Alabama, it is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle.

Royal Navy ships that enter the Port of London must provide a barrel of rum to Impressive, but illegal. the Constable of the Tower of London. Sounds like a pretty good job.

In the UK, a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants – even, if she so requests, in a policeman’s helmet.

In Ohio, it is against state law to get a fish drunk.

In Lancashire, no person is permitted after being asked to stop by a constable on the seashore to incite a dog to bark.

In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapiForget the law. tation.

In England, all men over the age of 14 must carry out two hours of longbow practice a day.

In San Salvador, drunk drivers can be punished by death before a firing squad.

In Miami, Florida, it is illegal to skateboard in a police station.

In the UK, a man who feels compelled to urinate in public can do so only if he aims for his rear wheel and keeps his right Not in the station, officer. hand on his vehicle.

In Kentucky, it is illegal to carry a concealed weapon more than six-feet long. Because a 5’11’’ weapon is a perfectly appropriate measure of self defence.

In Chester, England, Welshmen are banned from entering the city before sunrise and from staying after sunset.

In the city of York, it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow.

In Boulder, Colorado, it is illegal to kill a bird within the city limits and also to “own” a pet – the town’s citizens, legally speaking, are merely “pet minders.”

In Vermont, women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth.

In London, it is illegal to flag down a taxi if you have the plague.

In Bahrain, a male doctor may legally examine a woman’s genitals but is forbidden from looking directly at them during the examination; he may only see their reflection in a mirror.

The head of any dead whale found on the British coast is legally the property of the king; the tail, on the other hand, belongs to the Property of His Majesty. queen. www.thephuketnews.com

22 DOWN TIME BOOK REVIEW

MUSIC REVIEW

Hercules and Love Affair The Buddha in the Attic Julie Otsuka Knopf, 144 pages

Julie Otsuka’s long awaited novel tells the story of a group of young women brought over from Japan to San Francisco as ‘picture brides’ almost a century ago.

In eight spellbinding sections, it traces their extraordinary lives, from their arduous journey by boat: to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; to their backbreaking work picking fruit and scrubbing the floors of white women; to their experiences in childbirth, and then as mothers raising children who will ultimately reject their heritage; to the deracinating arrival of war.

In language that has the force and the fury of poetry, Julie Otsuka’s novel is a compelling and unique look at the American dream.

Blue Songs Moshi Moshi (2011) For his latest album, the lineup of Andy Butler’s Hercules & Love Affair is filled out with stable members Kim Ann Foxman, Mark Pistel, Shaun J. Wright, and Aerea Negrot, while several others – including co-producer Patrick Pulsinger and vocalist Kele Okereke – also contribute.

The album is subdued compared to the group’s self-titled full-length from 2008. Even the busier, uptempo songs seem intended for home listening rather than club play; they’re relatively slender and tickle the ears rather than grab the whole body. This allows the group’s pop element, somewhat overlooked on their debut album, to come through.

The arrangements sometimes overwhelm the melodies and lyrics, though whereas the first album packed an emotional wallop, the enjoyment of this one is in the details.

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

FILM REVIEW Final Destination 5

Run Time: 92 minutes Rating: 18+ Now in its fifth installment, it’s pretty fair to say by now you’ll know exactly what to expect with a Final Destination film – namely gore, death, and not much else.

But while all of the films are without a doubt short of moviegoing mastery – with stiff performances, stilted dialogue, and a preference for style over substance – overall the franchise has succeeded in entertaining audiences for over a decade.

So has the franchise managed to avoid death yet again? Well not exactly.

Some new additions may provide some interest for long term fans, but the movie reverts to the same formulaic structure and wooden character development as previous installments, with the only real drawcard again

being the elaborate scenes of death and mutilation.

Having long ago left behind the dimension where logic, the physical laws of the universe, and all semblance of intelligence exist, Final Destination 5 is free to spend all its time and most of its budget on ever more outlandish death sequences. It kicks things off with a spectacular gambit, set on a suspension bridge high over a river, where a fresh group of eight bodies await their ritual dismemberment.

From there the familiar formula is shaken up with a couple of new ingredients, but the basic flavour remains the

same: intricate, Rube Goldberg-style accidents that are incredibly elaborate and designed to draw your eye away from the eventual cause of death, which is lingered upon with loving, morbid and occasionally disturbing delight.

There are some thrills to be had in this, but the problem is that between these scenes of death and mutilation, there is almost nothing to actually progress any sort of coherent narrative. It cannot be stressed enough just how bad the acting is, and the relationships and devices used to drive what little plot there is are forced and almost laughably bad.

There is a nice little twist in the ending that actually works to an extent, but it does little to make up for a predictable, poorly written story that, to put it bluntly, doesn’t make any sense (not that it’s really trying to).

On one of the few positive notes to be taken from the film, the special effects are surprisingly good, doing an

excellent job of beheading, incinerating, vivisecting, squishing and performing all other forms of morbid dismemberment – if you’re into that kind of thing.

It is also very effective at creating suspense. It makes no real secret when one of the characters is due to meet their bloody end, but it sets up the elaborate death sequences well, exploiting the everyday fears of paranoid audience members and building them up into a ‘so horrible I have to watch’ kind of scenario.

At the end of the day though this is a terrible film. It will please the morbid minded among us who enjoy watching people die, but anyone interested in any form of narrative or character development will be walking out within minutes of the opening credits.

Let’s hope this really is the final destination for this film franchise.

–Dane Halpin

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

AT SFX COLLISEUM PHUKET THIS WEEK

AT SFC JUNGCEYLON PHUKET

Captain America (E) [13+]: 12:30, 15:00, 21:10 Final Destination 5 (E/3D) [18+]: 12:15, 14:20, 16:25, 18:30, 20:35, King Naresuan 4 (T) [S]: 11:10, 12:30, 14:00, 15:20, 16:50, 18:10,

19:40, 21:00, 22:30 Larry Crowne (E) [15+]: 14:00, 17:30, 19:40, 21:45 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (E) [G]: 11:20, 13:35, 15:50, 18:05, 20:20 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (E/F) [G]: 12:15, 14:30, 16:50, 19:10, Wuxia (T) [18+]: 11:30, 16:10, 18:40

Captain America (E) [13+]: 12:40, 15:10, 18:40, 22:30 Final Destination 5 (E) [18+]: 12:00, 14:10, 16:15, 18:20, 20:25, 22:25 The Hangover 2(E) [18+]: 21:15 Harry Potter 7 Part 2 (E) [G]: 17:40 King Naresuan 4 (T/E.SUB) [S]: 11:30, 12:50, 15:40, 18:30, 21:20 Larry Crowne (E) [15+]: 14:20, 16:30, 20:20 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (E) [G]: 12:30, 14:50, 17:10, 19:30, 21:50

STRETCH YOUR BRAIN Across

(8) 17. Way to get a penalty, way to run. (5) 1. After market’s in, I 20. A note, either way. drink. (7) (5) 4. Re rib, by 21. Disturbed, bite a cad corruption. (7) to step down. (8) 8. Wet vegetable?

25. Cleverness at study, Sounds like it. (4) and its reward. (11) 9. Djiboutian of old, a 28. I breathe heavily long way away. (4) around color. (5) 10. Bruise little Edward 31. Navy guy's an with electronic mother. animal! (4) (5) 32. Male, or a female?

12. Wastrel may hand (4) over cash with care.

33. Resistance in queen (11) with Maria’s partner. (7) 14. They’re in the 34. Landmark of bowels of English paths. a thousand Merlin reshaped (7).

Solutions to last week’s puzzles

www.thephuketnews.com

gets money. (6) 11. I’m the lag reshaped the big stone. (8) 1. Maurice and the 13. Aloft, in strong girls – sticky stuff! (8) illumination. (8) 2. Staggers dances (5) 15. Sets off and falls 3. He doesn’t believe over. (5) in Cuban leader. (7) 16. Resort in Cyprus 4. Places in boats – or part. (3) where to place boats.

18. A single girl from (6) Rome. (3) 5. Kill coldly. (3) 6. Electronic exhaust – 19. Renegue on chap from Cardiff, maybe. it happens! (5) 7. Pines for and – yes – (8) Down

22. Sounds like Obama in soldier’s place. (7) 23. Islands that double a letterman’s letter. (3,3) 24. A thousand pavilion back in northerly state.

(6) 26. Container is able.

(3) 27. Maybe sell cycle. (5) 29. Anger reduced fire.

(3) 30. Pharaoh’s expression of annoyance. (3)

PET PAGE 23

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Pet of the Week

This month’s pet page photo winner

This gorgeous duo belong to Ali Goebel of Rawai. Uma, a 16-month-old Great Dane, is best friends with Larph, the rat, who is three months old – quite an unusual combination.

Email us a photo of you and your pet to: editor@thephuketnews.com *Each month one winner who submitted the best Pet of the Week photo will win a B500 voucher from the Chao-Fa Andaman Pet Hospital.

The Chao-Fa Andaman Pet Hospital is located at 8/28--29 M.9 chaofah (East) Rd., T Chalong, A. Muang Phuket 83130. Tel: 076 283 365 or fax: 076 384 524.

Mob: 083 501 8488 or email urenium333@hotmail.com.

Congratulations to Paola Galarza who is this month’s pet page photo competition winner. For winning Paola receives B500 worth of vouchers from the Chao-Fa Andaman Pet Hospital.

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www.thephuketnews.com

24 THE ENVIRONMENT

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

From trash to treasure T

he big open warehouse and factory that acts as a receptacle for much of Phuket’s recycled materials is always a bustling place.

Big trucks turn into the facility, next to the new Shell service station on the road to Kathu, about a kilometre from the Tesco Lotus-Kathu intersection.

A constant stream of saleng (motorbikes with sidecars) comes laden with recyclables that have been recovered from rubbish bins everywhere by eager collectors. For many of these collectors, selling recyclables provides their only income, meager as it is.

Staff at the Wongpanit Garbage Recycle Separation Plant wait at the scales to weigh the metal items that are brought in to be sold to this big commercial recycler on the island.

All around are mountains of materials, discarded by the community as useless, and these mountains grow daily.

The recycling depot is one of about 400 branches that the Wongpanit parent company in Bangkok operates around

www.thephuketnews.com

Manager Nithi Ruktaetrakul encourages Phuket residents to sort their recyclables from their waste, to help the environment. the country, and its business is growing fast.

Manager, Nithi Ruktaetrakul, says that daily household refuse, usually all dumped in the bin together, typically consists of four categories: compostable, hazardous waste, recyclables and general rubbish to be disposed of.

He says that if residents take a little time to sort their garbage, separating out the recyclables, 60 to 70 per cent of the total refuse can be happily recycled or reused by someone else.

He says Phuket and Thailand have the advantage of a large army of collectors always on the lookout to pick up recyclables to sell.

Municipal collectors, working on the back of rubbish trucks, do this sorting as they go along, to sell on recyclable items and supplement their very basic pay.

Phuket has no factories to recycle glass, plastic or paper, so these materials are sorted at the Phuket warehouse and then trucked to other provinces, such as Rayong and Chon Buri, which have the plants for recycling them.

Intact empty beer and soft drink bottles are gladly bought back to be refilled by drinks producers – it saves them having to buy new bottles – while others are melted down and used to make other glass items.

Aluminum cans, foam and plastic, too, can be melted down and reconstituted, though this requires a more complex process and higher energy consumption.

Organic materials are only

Above left: The Wongpanit Garbage Recycle Separation Plant. Above right: Ready to be recycled.

starting to be commercially processed into compost for gardens and agriculture in Phuket, in what seems to be a commercial niche waiting to be filled.

Most organic refuse now ends up as “wet” bulk waiting to be burned at the Phuket Town incinerator at Saphan Hin – 750 tonnes of it arriving every day in garbage trucks coming from all over the island. The existing municipal incinerator can only manage a third of that amount.

A second big incinerator currently being built at the whopping B100 million, will double that capacity to 500 tonnes, but that still means

250 tonnes a day will end up being dumped in the filthy landfill near the incinerating plant that is gradually extending into the sea.

Mr Nithi says recycling begins at home. His own mother saves her all fruit peelings and digs them into any available pot plant soil in her high-rise apartment, creating free compost.

He urges everyone to make compost, and separate out all our recyclables for the sake of our small and beautiful island, which has very limited space for our waste.

Just put the recyclables out separately with your other rubbish for collection for the “professional” recyclers to profit from.

–Norachai Thavisin

Where can you take your recyclables to dispose of or sell?

The main Wongpanit Garbage Recycle Separation Plant is at Pra Phuket Kaew Rd, Kathu. Turn into the small soi next to the new Shell station.

Tel: 076 203271.

Ko Piean Co’s depot is in Soi Paneang, Sam Kong, Phuket Town. Tel: 080 5373295.

Wongpanit’s Thalang depot is on Thepkrasattri Rd in Baan Lipon. Tel: 076 311224.

Patsakorn Co’s depot, on Srisoonthorn Rd, Phuket Town.

Tel: 089 8740758.

Kanya Co’s depot is on Pracha Ruamjai Rd (off 4023) in Phuket Town. Tel: 081 5385448.

GETTING AWAY 25

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

You can purchase even the most unusual things in Little India.

The walking street in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur.

‘The pancake man’ in Chinatown.

Silk on sale in Little India.

Ethnic adventures in Kuala Lumpur “M

adam, DVD? New dress?

Come inside?”

I’m in the heart of Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur, and it’s like Patong on steroids.

But the difference is here, the touts chase you down the street. “Madam, come here, DVD? Come back, come for a look,” a man says as he grabs my arm, making me flee.

I quickly manage to submerge myself into the bustling crowd and find a quiet alley down the side of the busy walking street. Here, locals are purchasing every type of food, ranging from fresh fruit, to dried whitebait (I think)

and beans and peanuts of all different sorts.

Out on the main street is mainly fake goods, including any type of watch, bag, t-shirt or brand of jeans you can think of – plus food galore. One man, known as ‘the pancake man’, is cooking up a storm of pancakes of all different shapes and types. The one I sampled was full of peanuts, and tasted delicious.

A nearby English speaker translated a conversation with the man saying prices for the ingredients were so high these days, he had to keep continually raising the price of the pancakes to make a profit.

He looked like he had been

Bundling up silk purchases for a customer.

making pancakes for years, as his hands flashed back and forth as he created the batter.

Fresh fruit, including ripe round cherries, are available on every corner, and there are also restaurants nestled in between the stores.

Silk is also a sought-after item in Chinatown, with many people heading to the area specifically to purchase such items, likewise with nearby Little India.

Clothes shopping opportunities are endless, and although mostly in Asian-style fashion, tamer outfits can be purchased for as little as B50 at times.

All are made in China, obviously, and the quality isn’t the greatest, but the variety is huge and the sizing extensive.

Good public transport in KL means Chinatown is very accessible and it is located near KL Sentral, the hub of the city’s public transport.

Taxi prices are about one third of the price of Phuket’s, and public transport is relatively efficient and cheap.

Nearby Little India, which is only a two minute walk from the Pasar Seni Rapid KL train station, is also recommended for travellers, if you aren’t

already weary from the madness of Chinatown.

Little India is more subdued though with not quite so much haggling, and a lot of it is contained inside Central Market mall. Little alleyways on the mall’s ground floor are quaint and full of souvenirs, jewellery, more silk, fabrics, traditional clothing, and even a resident palm reader. Salespeople are less obtrusive, and are happy to let you sift through the endless items for sale, even if you’re not making a purchase.

Guess which one’s a fake?

Hard at work in Chinatown.

While perhaps not as big as Chinatown and Little India suburbs in Bangkok and Singapore, the ones in KL

are still worth a visit if you have time to spare while in Malaysia’s capital.

–Claire Connell

www.thephuketnews.com

26 FASHION

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Street

1

2

Fashion

Must haves

Accessories from The Kashmir Emporium at 56, Laguna Road in Cherng Talay, Thalang District.

3

Massawee Thaweepworadej, Landscape architect.

Massawee’s dress was B150 and her shoes were B700 and were bought at Union Mall in Bangkok. She bought her bag (B600) from Myanmar.

1: 100 per cent Kashmir scarf, prices start from B1,500.

2: Stone necklace, 550.

3: Pearl bracelet, necklace B275, B450.

4: Scarf made from local materials, B350.

ISLAND WEDDINGS

Dante Ruaine and Rachel Cooke were married on Kata Beach on July 26.

–Photos by theromanceplanners.com www.thephuketnews.com

4

ON CAMERA 27

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Indonesian invitation David Brook, Darren Mulqueen, Siriluck Banturng and Morten Lund.

One of the dancers from Indonesia.

A

Fishing types - Cora and Andy Bright, Tom and Eileen Scarfe and Warren Crowe.

variety of people from around the island gathered for free food and drinks at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club last Friday, all paid for by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism.

The Ministry underwrote the event in the hope of attracting sailing crews to take part in a new event, the Sabang Rally and Regatta.

This will see Phuket crews – on sailing yachts or motor yachts – working their way down from Phuket to Langkawi, regrouping and then making the crossing to Sabang island, just off the western tip of Sumatra.

There the sailors will take part in racing over a couple of days before heading back by the same route to Phuket.

Vincent Jemadu of the Indonesian ministry explained, “You have international regattas here in Thailand, and in Malaysia and Singapore, but in Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, there are none. We want to remedy that.”

Sailors were briefed on the route and all the free extras they will receive in Sabang, including tours and local phone or Wi-Fi services, and questions were answered by regatta organisers.

On the lighter side, the party was also entertained by a troupe of Indonesian dancers flown in for the occasion, and by chanteuse Mira Indrasari.

The Sabang Rally and Regatta is due to start on September 13.

Above: Mark Cameron and Paul Poole. Right: Regatta organiser Aji Sularso and ACYC commodore Grenville Fordham.

Above: Singer Mira Indrasari entertains a couple of children from the audience. Right: Penpicha Reynolds (with Timmy the dog), Rattikorn Wannasin and Nungruthai Jalakul.

Vincent Jemadu of the Indonesian Tourism Ministry. www.thephuketnews.com

28 VILLAGE OF THE WEEK

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Lessons of the past in Thalang Wat Phra Nang Sang is on Thepkrassattri Rd at Baan Kien intersection.

V

isit Thalang, in northern Phuket, and take a step back in time to one of the most history-rich districts in Phuket.

“Thalang, the former capital of the island, is a great source of learning. It is a good opportunity to see what happened with our hometown in the past,” says Sommai Pinphutsin, a local teacher who has spent more than 30 years teaching Thalang history to students.

Mr Sommai suggests beginning a tour of Thalang at Wat Phra Nang Sang to learn about the rich and colourful history of the area.

Wat Phra Nang Sang is located on Thepkrassattri Rd at Baan Kien intersection.

The old temple marks

Village

of the week

the spot of the famous battle against Burmese invaders in 1785, where the people of Thalang managed to repel the invasion. The temple used to be called Wat Takien and was built by Mahsuri – the “white-blooded princess” at the centre of a tragic legend on the Malaysian island of Langkawi.

The next place worth a visit is the house of Thao Thepkrassattri and Thao Srisoonthorn, the two sisters featured on the Heroines Monument in Thalang who led the defence against the Burmese. Their house is located in Tambon

Plaster statues of the heroines which were built in 1985. www.thephuketnews.com

Thepkrassattri.

Also in the area is Wat Muang Komarapaj, an empty temple which is taken care of by monks from Wat Phra Nang Sang. This used to be the place where soldiers were trained for battle.

There are more statues of Thao Thepkrassattri and Thao Srisoonthorn located in Wat Muang and Phra Phutta Manee Sri Thalang, which Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn built in 1996.

The other major Thalang historical site is Phuket Historical Park, which sometimes goes by its former name, Royal Field.

A 96-rai area of land now covered with sugar palm trees, this was another site used dur-

Thao Thepkrassattri and Thao Srisoonthorn statues in Wat Muang. ing the unsuccessful Burmese occupation attempt all those years ago.

These days, a road had been built across the field, so many locals use it as a place of recreation, as well as a spot for young people to hone their driving skills.

–Sukunya Phoonpong

Locals exercise at Royal Field.

Above: Phra Phutta Manee Sri Thalang.

Sugar palm trees in Phuket Historical Park.

EAT PHUKET 29

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Spectacular sea views with cuisine to match J

oe’s Downstairs is one of the standout restaurants in Kalim, if not Phuket.

The waterfront views are spectacular, the service is brilliant and the food and drinks are some of the best on the island.

First up was the lychee martini cocktail, made with vodka, peach schnapps, lychee juice, and fresh lychees (B295) – one of the best drinks I’ve had on the island. Equally as good was the watermelon martini, made with vodka, watermelon and fresh lime juice (B295).

Joe’s has a selection of tapas, which we tried, as well as a full mains menu including Joe’s Famous Burger (B595), plus chicken, duck, and seafood dishes.

Our tapas selection included foie gras (duck liver) with toasted pistachios and tamarind/plum sauce (B495), white snapper and leek tempura rolls with citrus soy syrup (B325), and crispy calamari and parsley/garlic pesto and mustard aoili (B325). All were cooked to perfection and tasted delicious. Those who normally stick to routine menu options should not be

Crispy calamari and parsley/garlic pesto and mustard aoili. put off by the foie gras, which was very good.

Executive Assistant Manager and Director of Marketing Communications Sue Ultmann was the perfect host all evening and the wait staff were extremely efficient. Sue selected a range of tapas for us to try, and her choices were spot on.

Joe’s Downstairs was busy when we visited and its no wonder: word has obviously

spread about this gem.

Its relaxed location, nestled on the rocks, means it is probably one of the best places in Patong to watch the sunset, and the food is of such a high standard you’ll definitely be returning for more.

– Claire Connell Joe’s Downstairs, 223/3 Prabaramee Road, Patong Beach, Phuket. Telephone: 076 618 245.

The perfect spot to watch the sun go down.

Moo ping Street eats

White snapper and leek tempura rolls with citrus soy syrup.

Sunny new menu for Cudos

Grilled calamari, salmogrigio, avocado and fennel salad and homemade ricotta gnocchi with cherry tomatoes, mint and pinenuts. How does that sound for starters?

Belinda Tuckwell, Australian Executive Chef at Cudos Restaurant in Surin, has prepared a new menu with more sunny Mediterranean dishes.

More tapas and mezze dishes: chicken, jamon and almond croquettes or the Cudos 4 favorites plate of jamon, salami, fresh mozzarella and fried artichokes.

Main courses of grilled yellowfin tuna with ratatouille and basil oil, roasted duck with Umbrian lentils, roasted pumpkin and salsa

verde, or, more casually, woodfired pizzas with toppings of Spanish ham, caramelised onion and rocket.

Worth a drive to Surin?

Cudos Restaurant & Bar is open for dinner from 5pm till late, seven days a week next door to The Plaza in Surin Beach. More information at 076 386 598.

Known in Thai as moo ping, barbecued pork is quite possibly Thailand’s most popular and easy-to-find street food.

That’s no wonder when you consider how simple it is to make: marinated sliced pork skewered on little bamboo sticks and then grilled over charcoal for a truly irresistible flavour.

Every stall has their own unique way of preparing and cooking the dish, sometimes adding Indian or Thai spices, or using coconut milk – it’s also commonly served with sticky rice.

The price varies depending on where you are on the island, but the regular rate is around B5 to B10 per stick.

One of the best places to try this snack in Phuket is Jaran’s stall on Thepkrasatree Road.

Located in front of a 7/11 by the Heroines Monument, close to the local branch of Tesco Lotus, the stall is open daily from 2pm to 6pm, and is surprisingly popular with hungry Korean tourists.

A popular snack, barbecued pork.

Pork stall holder Jaran busy preparing moo ping for his customers. www.thephuketnews.com

30 EVENTS-MAIN

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

WHAT’S ON IN PHUKET

List your events on our website and here for free www.thephuketnews.com

THIS WEEKEND ...

AUGUST 26

rival. Prizes for hole-in-one, team prizes, longest drive, nearest the pin.

Irish Times Pub Charity Golf Day

In celebration of three Irish Major Golf Champions.

At Loch Palm Golf Club teeoff at 12.25pm in support of the Life Home Project.

From 7 pm. Indian buffet, live entertainment, prize presentation by MC David Brook at The Irish Times Pub Jungceylon.

Format: four -man Stableford (two scores to count). Entry forms available at Irish Times Pub, The Yorkshire Hotel (Soi Sansabai), and The Player’s Retreat (Kathu).

Entrance fee at B2,800 per player includes green fee, caddy fee, refreshment on arrival and goody bag on ar-

Sponsorship available contact Steve Fineberg on 081 077 6149 or stevefineberg570@ gmail.com.

THIS MONTH ...

AUGUST Until AUGUST 28 Por Tor Festival Ethnic Chinese in Phuket believe that Por Tor Kong is a god of all demons. The seventh lunar month in the Chinese calendar is believed to be the period when spirits are released.

During the festival, people bring food and nicely-decorated fruits to make offerings to Por Tor Kong to pass onto the wandering spirits. An essential offering for the festival is red turtle-shaped cakes, large or small. They believe that turtles symbolise longevity.

Until AUGUST 31 Phuket Seafood Fiesta 2011

The event runs until the end of this month. Over 60 food shops and restaurants in Phuket and Phang Nga will participate in this event by offering 10-20 percent discount for all types of dishes to welcome all tourists. www.thephuketnews.com

Contact Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Phuket office. 076 212 213. See www. phuketseafoodfiesta.com.

AUGUST 27 Africa Count Charity Party @ Håkans Bar, Karon How many lives can we save? Entertainment and shows by Phuket Best group.

Charity lottery and donations.

All profits goes to Africa

(Profits goes to medicins Sans Frontieres Africa program).

Life tickets: B500. Includes one drink and one special gift. Save one life per ticket.

Put your name on the ticket and the ticket on the wall to save one life. Time: 7 pm until late.

Håkan’s Bar, Karon Beach.

For more information please contact Oliver on 083 393 6226. www.hakansbar.com.

NEXT MONTH ...

SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 02-04 Phuket Pet Fair 2011

Until AUGUST 31 iFly Flying Trapeze

by KidzSole

AUGUST 27 Laguna Phuket’s Summer Festival Paint the town purple this Saturday night. This year’s Laguna Phuket Summer Family Festival ends with an Angsana “Purple Party” in Canal Village.

Purple is the theme colour of Angsana Laguna Phuket and the party celebrates the stylish new hotel opening on

SEPTEMBER 27OCTOBER 5 Phuket Vegetarian Festival The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is an annual event held during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar.

It is believed that the vegetarian festival and its accompanying sacred rituals bestow good fortune upon those who religiously observe this rite.

December 1. There’s an Angsana Laguna Phuket raffle with a five-night stay, dining and spa treatment prizes.

The Purple Party has a Flying Trapeze Show, Clown Performance, Fire Show, Quest Adventure fun and games, welcome drink and canapés, and Happy Hour Bar all night. And Festival Artist-in-Residence Christopher Hogan will sell paintings at bargain prices.

During this time, local residents of Chinese ancestry strictly observe a 10-day vegetarian or vegan diet for the purposes of spiritual cleansing and merit-making.

Sacred rituals are performed at various Chinese shrines and temples and aesthetic displays such as walking barefooted over hot coals and ascending ladders with bladed rungs are performed by entranced devotees known as “Ma Song”.

SEPTEMBER 10 Grom Search 2011

Learn to Fly on Asia’s only Mini Flying Trapeze open to the public at Laguna Summer Family Festival. There are many reasons to go on holiday. One is to enjoy new culture and to gain new experiences for the family. iFLY are offering that chance, to create memories to last a lifetime and to try something new and unique with the entire family.

Classes are open to all ages at all times. Great for families, birthday parties, and corporate events. Be in the iFLY fantasy fly show. 084 837 5726, iFLYPhuket@me.com.

Rayal Phuket Marina is pleased to invite you to “Phuket Pet Fair 2011”.

Please come and join our Pet Fair and find all you require for your pets.

You can find: pet food, pet shops, pet clubs & associations.

And enjoy the dog fancy dress contest, music and show, and many more activities. All at Royal Phuket Marina.

The search for the best male and female grom surfers. Saturday September 10, at Kata Beach.

International Grom Surf Contest.

Venue: Marina Boardwalk and Exhibition Hall. For more information please see bmsevent.com

Free surf Lesson, freebies and giveawanys, ocean safety demontration, beach clean up. RIP CURL Kata grand opening party. More info www.facebook. com/ripcurlthailand.

Call 076 620 516.

EVENTS-REGULAR 31

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

List your events on our website and here for free www.thephuketnews.com

Happy Hour?

Special promo?

Live Music?

Live Sport?

Brunch?

Dinner?

Spa Promo?

List here for

FREE! thephuketnews.com

FRIDAY TapasTree TapasTree (Near Peppers Bar Laguna) Buy one get one free cocktails. Resident DJ, ’70s to now. Great tapas. Call 088 443 4166.

Beach BBQ Enjoy a beach BBQ at Catch Beach Club, Surin (from B1,190++ per person). 7-10pm. Call 076 316 567.

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

Tapas & Wine Night Order tapas, as much as you like, plus one bottle of wine. B1,200 net per person. 6-11pm at White Box Kalim. Call 076 346 271.

50% Off All Drinks

success of “Indian Feast” at Les Anges, guests can now enjoy this unique event regularly. Enjoy authentic Indian cuisine from 7-10pm.

This authentic homemade Indian buffet will be prepared and served by in-house Indian Chef Padum Kahtri. Only B495++ per person. Please call Les Anges on 076 360 803

SATURDAY Colin Hill Colin Hill performs (duo) now every second Saturday at Legends Bar in Kamala, with local guitarist Florian. Call 081 079 1069.

TapasTree TapasTree (Near Peppers Bar Laguna). Resident DJ, ’70s to date. Great tapas. Contact 088 443 4166.

AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub, 82/15 Moo 4 Patak Road, one km from Chalong circle. Contact 081 895 4763.

Enjoy the original Sunday brunch in Phuket at Twinpalms. 12-3pm (from B1,190++ per person).

Call 076 316 577.

Champagne Brunch at Trisara

Ever y Sunday, the beachfront bar becomes a celebration of f ine wines, exquisite tapas, live cooking stations and Phuket’s best dessert, featuring the cool sounds of a jazz trio.

Come and indulge in Roederer Champagne or a wide variety of wines.

Kids club welcome all children with complimentary snacks. Advance reser vations rec om mended on 076 310 100 or guest@trisara.com.

Sunday Roast Buffet

Sunday Family Brunch

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

At Club Yamu by Twinpalms. Noon till 3pm. Enjoy delicious pasta, BBQ, Thai home cooking. Call 076 310 557.

20% off all Pizzas

MONDAY

SUNDAY Family Brunch on The Boardwalk Les A nges at Royal Phuket M ar ina. From 11am to 3pm. B795++ Adults, include one glass of house wine, 50 per cent discount. Children under 12 eat for free. Call 076 360 803.

BBQ Buffet Only B295 per person at Shakers. Rat-U-Thit R o a d , P a t o n g . Fr e e pickup Patong and Kalim. Reservatins 081 891 4381.

TUESDAY Beach BBQ Enjoy a beach BBQ at Catch Beach Club (from B1,190++ per person).

7pm-10pm. Contact 076 316 567.

AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM

All Major Sports Live

BBQ Ribs

Due to the overwhelming

Sunday Brunch

B295 at Shakers, Rat-UThit Road Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim areas. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

BBQ Buffet Night

At Shakers. Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road, Patong.

Free pick up Patong and Kalim areas. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

Indian Night At RPM

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

B350 per person at Shakers. Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim areas. Reservations please call 081 891 4381.

From 10pm to midnight with live music, Roaring Bhoys. Every Friday. Irish Times Irish pub, Jungceylon, Patong.

Only B250 per person at Shakers. Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim areas. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

Best Sunday Carvery in Phuket

Book & DVD Exchange at Duke’s Duke’s at Kata is happy to sponsor the ChickyNet monthly book and DVD exchange. We meet every second Monday of the month. Visit ChickyNet. com or w w w.dukesbig board.com for details.

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

All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub, 82/15 Moo 4, Patak Road, one km from Chalong circle. 081 895 4763.

Salsa Dance With Didier and Anna in their Dance Studio at The Green Man Pub. Dance continues in the pub after class. Happy hour 6-7 pm.

Call for more details on 084 437 0233.

award-winning Chef Daniel Isberg. Call 086 047 1474, chefdanielisberg. com, suringate.com.

Australia Bar & Grill, Kata Beach. For more info visit www.australiabargrill.com or call 089 226 2878.

Salsa Class At RPM

GAA Football & Hurling

Salsa c las s at Royal Phuket Marina from 7.309pm. For more info on www.phuket-dance.com.

BBQ Ribs Only B250 per person at Shakers. Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim.

Reservations call on 081 891 4381.

THURSDAY AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub 82/15 Moo 4 Patak Road, one km from Chalong circle. Contact 081 895 4763.

DAILY Brew Great Beer

20% off all Pizzas At Shakers. Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim area. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

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

Wicked Wednesdays at Delish Delish-ous selection of cakes with your favourite coffee or tea only B99 at Delish cafe, Viset Road, Rawai, 150 metres past Tesco Lotus.

Chef’s Dinner at Surin Gate Kitchen Star t at 7.30 pm, four courses for B750 with

3-Hour Happy Hour Three-hour Happy Hour Monday-Friday, 4pm-7pm.

Beer from B50. House spirits B90. Australia Bar & Grill, Kata Beach. 089 226 2878.

Duke’s Sports Bar at Kata Watc h your favour ite sports and enjoy a cold beer at the best little spor ts bar in Phuket.

Special “drink of the day” B110, all day - every day. www.dukesbigboard.com.

English Breakfast @ Ship Inn Kata Real English breakfast from 10am and all your favorite meals happy hours from 3-8pm. Next to old Kata Bazzar.

Rotary Club of Patong Beach Weekly meeting of the only English-speaking Rotary Club on Phuket at the Aloha Villa Hotel (Dinner out on first Tuesday of the month). rotarypatong.org.

Live games shown at Australia Bar & Grill, Kata Beach. For more info visit www.australiabargrill.com or call 089 226 2878.

Happy hour daily from 4pm to 7pm. Draft beer B110/pint, cocktail two for B220. Behind the ship at Jungceylon Call 076 3667 753.

Tri-Nations Match @ Duke’s Catch ALL the live rugby action - Five big screen TVs and free popcorn at Duke’s in Kata. Check dukesbigboard.com for details.

Currie Cup Rugby Live games shown at Australia Bar & Grill, Kata Beach. For more info visit www.australiabargrill.com or call 089 226 2878.

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

ITM Cup Rugby Live games shown at

Live Sports Tri Nations Rugby, Netball World Cup, FIFA Womens World Cup, Tour de France. At Australia Bar & Grill. Call 089 226 2878.

Peppers Quiz Night Peppers Sports Bar daily happy hour, great food, full English breakfast.

Open from 8.30am. All spor ts shown. Laguna area. Please call 088 443 4166.

Rawai Buffet Breakfast B149 at Tiffany Restaurant. Fried potato, dark bread, fresh coffee and more. Near The Vijitt resort, Rawai. Contact 085 786 6272.

Australia Bar & Grill at Kata Projector screen plus 50” TV’s. TrueVisions and Astro systems. All live sport include AFL, NRL, rugby, F1, football. Call 089 226 2878.

We're now available at all outlets in Phuket So you'll never have to go far for your weekly edition of The Phuket News.

This is in addition to 400+ locations including all 7-Eleven, Family Marts, Big One Supermarkets and all major shopping outlets.

For full list of outlets please visit w w w.t h e p h u ket n ews.co m/d i st ri b u t i o n l i st s . p h p www.thephuketnews.com

32 ENTERTAINMENT IN BRIEF Branson’s home up in smoke Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet and members of Richard Branson’s family escaped unharmed Monday when a lightning storm hit the Virgin tycoon’s Caribbean island home, which was destroyed in a blaze.

Winslet carried Branson’s 90-year-old mother Eve out of The Great House on Necker Island as the flames took hold in the early hours of the morning.

Branson’s 29-year-old daughter Holly was also forced to flee the flames.

The 60-year-old founder of the Virgin empire had been staying in another property nearby with his wife Joan and son Sam, when the lightning struck the main house.

Third child for celebrity couple

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s family is growing – representatives for the actors say the couple are expecting their third child.

A one-sentence statement released Monday says the actors are “thrilled” to have another baby on the way.

www.thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Top classical guitarists are heading to Phuket T

op Australian classical guitarists Hucky Eichelmann and Anthony Garcia will play one concert in Phuket next Friday (September 2).

The performance will be the last in a 10-stop tour of Thailand that will take them from Isarn to the North, then Bangkok and finally the South.

The tour, arranged by the Australian Embassy and AMI records of Bangkok, is aimed at celebrating HM the King’s 84th birthday.

Eichelmann, who is halfThai, half-German, and who has been based in Thailand for 30 years, was the first to record music composed by the King and played on guitar.

“When I arrived in Thailand some 30 years ago I found three people playing the classical guitar,’’ he explained.

“Since then the instrument has experienced a tremendous rise in popularity and it is now being taught at every major university throughout the country.

“One of the main reasons for this incredible development were the recordings of

Anthony Garcia and Hucky Eichelmann classical guitar. the music of His Majesty the King which made the instruments known overnight back in 1980.”

Garcia plays his own compositions as opposed to covers – one of a handful of artists in the world to do so.

Besides music composed

by His Majesty, the concert in Phuket will include a mix of solo and duo selections featuring classical, folkloristic and world music from a variety of countries.

It will be followed on September 3 by a workshop for guitar students at which the

two guitarists will give advice on guitar performance and composition techniques and practices. During the workshops students will have a chance to practise and demonstrate their performance skills.

The concert will be in the Phuket Rajabhat University

Theatre, while the workshop will be held at the Siam Kolkarn Music School in Montri Rd, Phuket Town. The Phuket concert is free but seats are limited, and will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

To book a seat contact Acharn Pramote at 08 1895 9623.

JOBS 33

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN EVENTS?

The Phuket News is looking to add to its ever growing team of professionals and seeks:

Sales Manager (Thai or Foreigner ) Responsibilities:

- Reaching sales target - Developing and following up new sales leads - Self discipline in developing and managing sale volumes

Due to the high demand for our publications, we now seek the following:

Sales Representatives (Thai National)

AREA SALES REPRESENTATIVE

- Reaching sales target - Developing and following up new sales leads - Must have good command of English & Thai

Responsibilities :

Responsibilities:

Tele Sale Executives (Thai National) - Able to work to deadlines - Experience in sales or telesales would be an advantage - Must have good command of English & Thai

Reporter (Thai National)

- A curiosity for news and breaking stories.

- A willingness to learn.

- Good English speaker and communicator - Must have above average English writing skills.

- A proficient photographer.

- Must be able to work unsupervised and be a self starter.

- Must be willing to work after hours to cover events. Some weekend work will be required.

- Applicants must have their own car and driver’s licence.

We offer:  Competitive salary, bonuses and travel expenses  Friendly

work environment security (10%) paid by the company  Excellent career progress opportunity

- Responsible for sales activities in Phuket, Krabi, Hua-Hin and Samui - Generating new leads in assigned areas - Responsible for sourcing and developing client relations

Qualifications : - Thai or Foreigner - Excellent communication and negotiation skills in English - Able to travel in all areas on a monthly basis - Must hold a valid driving licence

We offer: - Competitive salary, bonuses and travel expenses - Friendly working environment - Social security (10%) paid by the company - Excellent career progress opportunity

DO YOU LIKE MEETING PEOPLE? Due to continued expansions, Events Thailand is looking for a Sales/Events Coordinator The right applicant needs to have: • Good English skills(written & spoken) • Experience in a sales environment (or willingness to learn) • Experience in an events role an advantage but not essential We offer: • Good salary + bonuses • Great work environment • Excellent progress opportunities with Phuket's leading events company The position is open to Thais and Non-Thais

Please email your CV in English to jorge@eventsthailand.net

 Social

Travelling Salesman/Woman Sales representative available to travel around Thailand for our range of fast moving consumer product.

Must be Thai national, have a driving license and proven experience of sales to minimart, supermarket.

We already have more than 500 customer in Thailand.

Contact via email skgf@ skgf.asia.

Driver PEXGO Courier requires driver for pick up and deliveries in Phuket. Must be able to work at night. Must speak some English, basic use of computer.

Contact Meaw on 076 322 663 or email phuket@ pexgo.com.

Thai Staff Wanted Four Thai staff for sandwich/delivery shop. B8,500 per month. Contact robby. bbd@hotmail.com or call 083 738 7139.

Secretary Required Female, bachelor degree.

Speaking, writing and reading English well. Must have at least two or three years work experience.

Please your send CV: daragh@techworx-projects.com or call 084 449 3863.

Charity Manager The Phuket Community Foundation has a full-time opening for a manager.

The job: Working with the Board to implement

the board’s policies and decisions; Implementation of projects, including fundraising activities; Serving as spokesperson for the foundation, Developing and managing budgets, taking day-to-day responsibility for financial management.

The candidate: Thai, age up to 35, degree, computer literate, Thai/English literate. Email resume to apply. manager@phuketcharity. org.

Accountant Needed Phuket Fish Boat Company and its director seek an accounting graduate for general accounting work and database management.

Can be without experience but require a degree in accounting. Full-time position with salary starting at B15,000. Please send applications to martin@ phuketfishboat.com.

Help Wanted Food services are looking to fill several positions within the business: – One account and marketing manager (Thai or expat).

– Two kitchen helpers (female).

– One cleaner.

For more information or to apply, phone 076 390 977 or 082 816 0126, or email info@foodservicesth.com.

Senior Web Programmer Web&IT Agency is currently searching for a Senior Web

Please email full resume in English indicating expected salary with recent photo to adminmgr@thephuketnews.com or call 076 612 550-2 for more info.

Programmer/Developer. Interested? Please send your CV/Resume. recruitment@ bitsiren.com.

Accountant Wanted Accountant wanted for cooking school and food services business. Thai national. For more information call 082 816 0126 or info@ foodservicesth.com.

Health Consultant www.atsumihealing.com is seeking a Thai national to join our detox team. Excellent English required. shell@atsumihealing.com.

Homemaker/PA Needed Single, attractive female under 32 years. College graduate with good English, live in.

Own luxury apartment and transportation provided. Flexible hours and liberal time off.

Swimming pool, health club and tennis cour ts steps away. Send CV to bggvirgo@gmail.com.

Native English Teacher Female caucasian to teach class of 10-12, 3-5 year old children. Chalong, Mon-Fri 8am-4pm. Immediate start. phuketpreschool@yahoo. com or call 080 624 7060.

English Teacher Wanted Muang Thalang Secondary School is looking for a foreign English teacher. TEFL certificate and work permit are required. Send CV to al.lang.tutor@gmail.com.

Driver Wanted My car, part-time, good English. Contact Mr Brian.

089 054 4354.

Sales Staff for Cherng Talay Good English, positive attitude, good in sales, outgoing personality. Salary B12,000 plus commission.

Please contact Phuket Pool Tables 085 782 1200.

Native English Speaking Teacher Need native English speaking teacher with ability to speak, read and write Thai.

Call Robin on 081 803 7189. www.thephuketnews.com

34 CLASSIFIED ADS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com CONTENTS Animal Care...............34 Boats & Yachts..........34 Business Opportunities............34 Business Services....................34 Cars for Sale..............34 Cars Wanted...............34 Child Care Servies.....34 Computer Sales & Repair......................34 Clubs & Associations.............34 Computer- Sales-Repairs............34 Diving Services.........34 Education Services...34 Miscellaneous Items Wanted.......................34 Miscellaneous Items for Sale.............................34 Motorbikes for Rent...34 Motorbikes for Sale....34 Personal Services..34-35 Pets for Sale...............35 P o o l Ta b l e S a l e s & Repair......................35 Property & Concierge Services.....................36 Property for Rent......36 Property for Sale...36-37 Trade Directory..........38

ANIMAL CARE Chaofah Pet Hospital 8/28–29 Moo 9, Chaofah East Road. 076 283 365, 083 501 8488.

BOATS & YACHTS

two toilets and private shower room. Good storage space also. Priced to sell quickly. Monthly rent only B8,000. Contact owners Peter or Chompoo on 084 844 3504 or 087 898 0508.

Chalong Restaurant & Cafe

www.phuketdeli.com best selection of imported food and drinks with low prices! online shop&delivery импортные продукты русская кухня низкие цены онлайн магазин и доставка 08 2427 0154 (eng/thai) 08 2427 0155 (рус)

Tile It

Fully-equipped and furnished, in busy Chalong location. Moving sale, only B90,000. Call 082 420 6877.

Restaurant in Patong for sale Thai-European-Chinese Restaurant for sale on Rat U Thit 200 pee Rd. Opposite to Andatel and Postoffice. Good location. Sale B680,000. Call 082 277 3446.

Shop for Rent

Thalang. Wana Park on Srisoonthorn Rd. Phuket’s Quality Tile Boutique.

Tiles for interior, exterior, residential, commercial.

Contact 076 620 168 or 081 424 2828. Email info@tile-asia.com.

Green House Construction, renovation, electric, metal work, wood work, shop fitting. Contact 085 654 2244.

CARS FOR RENT A1 Car Rentals

Prime potential shop for rent in prime commercial location. Also has franchise opportunity for Bellini. For more information call 082 816 0126 or email info@foodservicesth.com.

BUSINESS SERVICES

Wonderful Chaparral Boat

Large bar on main road of Kamala. Owner returning to Australia. Chattels include pool table, stock, furniture. Bedroom and

2005, Automatic, ABS, airbag, leather, full options, black colour, 121,000KM. service by Chevrolet, Sell B355,000. O.B.O. Call 085 369 1933.

CARS WANTED Wanted D-Max, Vigo, Fortuner Cash waiting for a nice low mileage one to four year old D-Max, Vigo or Fortuner, must be four door, 4x4 prefaired. Not black colour. O86 757 1362.

CHILD CARE SERVICES Buds Nursery Kindergarten Phuket oldest bi-lingual international child care facility. High quality time proven schedule and curriculum. Experienced native English teachers to teach ages 1½ -6. Mon-Fri 8am-5pm. Bus service available. Call 076 282 232, 080 624 7060. www. buds-phuket.com.

Fully insure d st ar t B12,000 to B18,000 per month. Please call 089 831 4703. Email for more info: a1carrent@gmail. com.

International private school for ages 3-12, offering Montessori education.

For more informationtin see www.montessori-thailand.com.

CARS FOR SALE

ABC International Nursery Education for children 18 months to six years with experienced and native English teachers following the UK EYFS curriculum.

089 971 1813.

International Kindegarten

22FT, year 2009, wonderful chaparral boat 215 SSI Cuddy, 35 hours engine usage only, amazing prize for quick sale.

Contact 087 515 7064.

Kamala Bar for Sale

Chevrolet Optra 1.8LT

Rawai Progressive School

2006 Chevrolet Colorado X-Cab

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

l e r. O n l y 18 , 0 0 0 K M cost B1,625,000. SELL B1,325,000. Please call 087 276 0529.

Alarms & CCTV Protect your home or office with an alarm system and CCTV cameras.

Call 085 798 9469 or contact@alarms-phuketservices.com.

82,000km. Mint Cond.

Black Standard X-Cab Expat One Owner 3l Turbo Diesel Leather New Tires & Brakes Full Service by Chev B575,000 B575,000. Call 085 464 0059.

Car for Sale As New 2010 Nis san top mo del as new c ondition travel -

International Kindergarten. English teachers, UK and Singapore curriculum, small class sizes. Best choice. 082 323 1188.

COMPUTER SALES-REPAIRS English Computerman Sales, service and repair. Hardware/software.

WLAN a speciality. Free telephone advice. Call for

more details on 084 625 7744.

CLUBS & ASSOCIATIONS SKAL International Phuket Skål is a professional organisation of leaders from all branches of the travel and tourism industry. See www.skalphuket.org.

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

DIVING SERVICES Phuket Scuba Club PADI 5 Star Centre. Half day, daytrips, live-aboards a n d di ve r e du c at i o n.

Phuket’s only dive club!

Please contact 076 284 026.

All 4 Diving 5/4 Sawatdirak Road, Patong Beach. For more info call 076 344 611 or info@ all4diving.com.

Paradise Diving Asia All courses and diving trips. Boat charter and individual tours. See more information at www.diveparadise.com.

our famous pizza school.

Call 082 816 0126 or email info@foodservicesth.com.

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

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS WANTED Phuket Country Club Required immediately. Will pay B500,000 plus half transfer fee. Please contact 084 065 7590 (English), paradise11@mac. com.

Carpet for Luxury Condo Wanted Four Large approximately 9’x12’ High-end carpets.

Call Brian on 089 054 4354.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FOR SALE Sauna Brand New “TYLO” Inside 1.40mx1.40m, 2m height. Price B150,000.

Call 082 271 4487.

For Quick Sale

EDUCATION SERVICES Yoga Teacher Training Course Yoga teacher training international training course certificate, 250 hours. October 16-November 13. www.ayuryoga.ch, contact Khun Noi 080 533 2202.

Teaching English TTT Language

We o r g a ni s e En g li sh School Chalong courses and lessons for Ministry and of Education Prathom Matayom ED Visaat- Learn Thai students their home.

TEFL/TESOL Teacher Books provided. Call for Training. in Thaimore info Stay on 087 282 land!

FREE English test!

2699.

Many languages with Learning Tagalog Native Teachers.

Want to learn Basic Tawww.ttt-tefl.com, galog.

Who can help ? info@ttt-tefl.com Please contact patong.

Contact 076 280 869 peter@gmail.com.

087 467 8719

Cooking School

Fire up your creative flare with Food Services Cooking School. Italian, Western and Thai cuisine. Try

Comercial Gas Ovens One Small and One Larger. The Larger Has A S t a i n l e s s Fr a m e .

B20,000 O.N.O. Both Must Go. Contact Margo 082 523 7368 or Robin 089 175 3421 and 076 451 442-3.

Books Notes Music for Piano C h o p i n, Fr a nz Li s z t , Beethoven, JS Bach, Mozart, Richard Clayderman , Johnny Hallyday etc. Price for each B200, B300, B400. 089 212 1254.

WE'RE NOW AVAILABLE AT ALL OUTLETS IN PHUKET This is in addition to 400+ locations including all 7-Eleven, Big One Supermarkets, Se-ed book store and all major shopping outlets.

For full list of outlets please visit www.t h ep hu ket ne ws.co m/ distributionlists.php www.thephuketnews.com

Tel: 076 612 550-2

CLASSIFIED ADS 35

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com MOTORBIKES FOR RENT Touring Motorcycle Rentals

Yamaha Mio Fino White/orange, excellent condition, 10,800km, with book. B25,000 ono. In Kathu area for viewing.

Phone 0866902720 (Eng)

from Patong. Get ready for bike week 2012. 076 292 079 or 087 382 2494.

PERSONAL SERVICES

Harley XR-1200 For Sale

To u r i n g M o t o r c y c l e Rentals. Kawasaki Versys for rent see details at www.650adventuretours.

Honda Click for Rent Short and long term available, no scams, honest good value. Free delivery for over one week hires.

Call Cat 087 188 9047.

Motorbike for Rent Honda PCX, Honda Airblade for rent, cheap price and free delivery.

Call now, Omar 087 075 2166.

MOTORBIKES FOR SALE

Red Honda CBR 250R 7 months old in perfect condition Approx 11,000km still under warranty non abs version 95,000THB or nearest of fer. 0 8 6 2699097.

Honda CB 750 Chopper

BMW R1200 GS US

2006 with 46,600km.

Farang owned. Perfect condition and serviced

by BMW. Silver colour with leather side bags and cover. Selling price: B550,000. Call 089 814 1458, lucdayot@gmail. com.

PETS FOR SALE Why buy a pet?

Phuket Visa Offers consulting and services on company registration, work permit, visa, accounting, auditor, legal advice. Please call 081 892 9960.

Soi Dog Foundation have over 300 beautiful dogs and puppies available for adoption. Fully-vaccinated and sterilised. Contact 087 050 8688, john@ soidog.org.

Adoption S i x ye a r o l d C o c ke r Spaniel may need a good home. Please contact for details 085 784 1955.

Phuket Pool Tables www.phuketpooltables. com. Your number one billiard and snooker supplier in Phuket. Sales, rent and profit sharing. All accessories and services.

Please call for more details on 081 823 4627.

PROPERTY & CONCIERGE Selling Your Property?

Kata Hot Yoga

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

Havana Cigar Shop

Southern Big Bike Chopper Shop

Opposite HomePro Village Chalong. Khun Vasanh 081 956 2024. vinoltds@hotmail.com.

All your chopper needs, located on the hill before Safari heading south

A completely new visa run

Visa run B1,100

Studio Suites Special Rates!

POOL TABLE SALES & REPAIRS

For Sale 13 Pedigree Puppies

Chaofa West Suites in Chalong is now offering special rates for AugustOctober, from B8,500 monthly includes maid service, internet, cable TV, rooftop pool. Please drop by and have a look!

More details and pix on our website w w w. chalongapartment.com.

Call 086 282 6221.

House for Sale or Rent Large house in Chalong, three beds, four bathrooms, swimming pool. Well worth a look. Offers over B6 million or B30,000 a month.

076 374 562.

Kata One Bedroom House

Most popular Yoga for men and women in Phuket. Four classes every day. Kata yoga, it works! www.katahotyoga. com, Contact 076 605 950.

Bon Café Phuket Recently had major overhaul and re-spray black, kick and electric start. This bike is a real head turner. Nice and loud. Has green book so all legal. Get ready for Bike Week 2012. Only B95,000. Call 087 267 8602.

Live Music

By Colin Hill Popular expat pro musician (guitar/vocals) with work permit. Can perform solo, duo or band. www. play-guitar.net, please call on 089 777 3063.

2009 with only 8,000km.

Perfect condition, fast and fun. Priced to sell quickly at B595,000.

C a l l 0 81 73 4 8 3 0 9, ducphuket@gmail.com.

Honda CBR 250R for Sale

company. Only B1,100.

Leave 5am, get back 5 am. No crazy driver, no boats, no bull. Please call 083 390 4924.

Get maximum exposure on our top ranked website. Call 080 143 2929 or visit realestate.phuket.net.

First time in Thailand. www.rhodesian-ridgeback.name. Rhodesian r i dg e bac k pup p i e s.

Ver y play ful nature.

Most faithful friend for life from “Top Pedigree World Champion Parents” Please contact l enysikuv@ h ot mail. com or call 089 871 2744.

PROPERTY FOR RENT New House for Rent in Patong New house for rent in Patong. Two bed, two bath , fully-furnished. Quiet area Contact 081 878 2199.

House for Rent Detached house, three b e dro o ms, t wo bat h rooms, four air-con. Fullyfurnished. Only five minutes from Central Festival.

087 270 9093.

Two Bed Condo Patong Beach 3.2m One of Patong best locations. Two bed 100 Sq metre, freehold condo needs decoration, huge pool plus resort facilities.

Call 086 757 1362.

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

Located at Kata. 081 606 2827.

One Bedroom House Seaview Great little house, four minutes walk to Ao Yon beach.

Fully-furnished and now available daily/monthly.

Call for details on 083 390 4924.

Superb Apartments in Kata A variety of superb one or two-bedroom apartments, penthouses with pool for rent, also long-term. See www.totalonsitemanagement.com.

Patong Lovely Freehold Condo Huge price reduction from 3.4 million to 2.0 million, 50 Sq metre, Including furniture, perfect location, enormous swimming pool.

Please contact 086 757 1362.

WE'RE NOW AVAILABLE AT ALL OUTLETS IN PHUKET

This is in addition to 400+ locations including all 7-Eleven, Big One Supermarkets, Se-ed book store and all major shopping outlets.

For full list of outlets please visit www.thephuketnews.com/distributionlists.php

Tel: 076 612 550-2

www.thephuketnews.com

36 CLASSIFIED ADS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com PROPERTY FOR RENT CONT Happy Home Apartment (Rawai)

Apar tment for rent at Saiyuan 15, Rawai. Fully-furnished, swimming pool, WiFi. Start B6,800 per month. Call 081 956 1218.

Apartment for Rent in Patong

New 1 bedroom fully furnished apartment aircon.

WiFi, on hill & good view of Patong Town & beach.

Quiet location, gate lock at night. Tam 082 2714 487.

Orchid Kathu Heights

Stylish Service Apartments Studio. One bed t wo b e d, t wo bat hs.

Roof top swimming pool free WiFi en suite room from B6,000 per month.

Please see www.orchidkathuheights-phuket.com or 076 203 208.

Studio Apartment for Rent

On the beach, Chalong.

Studio apartment/office can convert to cafe, close to the light house. Call 081 892 0960.

Beach Frontage

One bedroom selfcontained holiday villa Rawai. Rental Day/Week Call 081 677 1641.

to Karon Beach. B25,000 per month, long term rent requires. 081 396 0880.

Sea View Apartments

Modern furnished one and two-bedroom apartments in Kata. Available for long and short term rent. From B20,000 per month. Contact 081 326 2542.

Townhouse three bedrooms, just a few minutes

Sea view and mountain view. Short term and long term, star ting B30,000.

Good location,walking distance from the beach. 081 878 2199.

Kata - Office for Rent

Super Pool Villa

Kata beach in front of hotel Alpina resort. Good condition, with air-con 1 unit, pantry, Well-decorated. B16,700 per month only. Contact for more details on 081 956 1077.

Nice clean safe, one bedrooms all with aircon. kitchen, cable TV, fast internet and jacuzzi. B500 a day. Call Ari at 086 595 8512.

Fully furnished with three bedrooms. Near Lotus Rawai, in quiet and secure area. Call 086 940

Cape house, Cape Yamu. A luxurious fourbedroom villa at a remarkable destination.

In a hillside estate with amazing ocean views.

Features include marble finishes throughout, pool and lush tropical gardens. Close to BIS/ PIA schools. B60,000/ month. 086 279 6283.

Four-Bedroom House in Saiyuan

Nice Apartments in Kata Beach

New renovated town house, three bedrooms and parking, without furniture B10,000 per month.

Or with furniture B12,000 per month, minimum one year. 081 788 8280.

Beautiful Office for Rent

Nice and quiet office space for rent, includes kitchen, server room and toilets.

Perfect for property, IT, legal business. 076 521 873.

House Rental Phuket Town

House for rent with furniture. In Phuket V illa Dowrung, B8,500-B9,500 per month. Visit purevillaphuket.com or call 086 470 2468.

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50% discount until 30 September 2011 ONLY 49 Baht per line.

Add picture, box or coloured background for only 100 Baht.

Please hand this form to our office or Fax to: 076 612 553

KATA – Sea View Apartment

Sea View Pool Villa In Kata 416 Sqm.

Modern pool villa hall, big living room, four bedroom and office. Beautiful garden. Price B21.5 million. Contact 086 952 2444. www.PhuketParadiseProperty.com.

Rawai Two Bedroom 180 Sqm. With Seaview Now 3.9 million

Three-Bedroom House in Chalong

Fu l l y - f u r n i s h e d , c a rpark, washing machine, WiFi, free cable TV. Rent B19,000 per month (min 6 months) 086 944 4885.

Affordable Office for Rent

At Royal Phuket Marina.

Space from 40-200sq.m.

A/C, car park, CCTV and 24 hr. security. Khun Koi 081 810 3328.

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Modern furnished two bedroom. Apartment in Kata. Western kitchen.

Balcony on 21sq metre with sea-view.

Two big common pools.

Price B9.9 million. Contact 086 95 22 444. www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

Sunset Plaza in Kata Two Bedroom with Seaview

Big living room and kitchen. Two bedroom and bathroom, two minutes walk to the beach. Common pool. Contact 086 95 22 444. See www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

Private Pool Villa In Centre of Nai Harn “Reserved”

Phuket Paradise Property

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Modern one bedroom apartment with pool. New kitchen. Bathroom with spa. Big living room and balcony. Fully furnished.

Price B3.5 million. Contact 086 95 22 444. See w w w. Phuket Paradis eProperty.com.

With five bathroom, 168 sq.wah with big garden in Saiyuan, Naiharn Beach. phuket8@hotmail.com.

Write your classified advertisement

www.thephuketnews.com

One Bedroom Apartment With Seaview in Rawai

Two bedrooms, one bathroom with a big garden in Saiyuan near Naiharn Beach. Good price for long term. 087 883 0105.

By Laguna, luxur y villa, jacuzzi, etc. Special rate lease. B15,000 per month. 089 594 40 67 (English).

For Rent: Villa in Phuket/Chalong

Spectacular Panoramas

Saiyuan House For Rent

Patong Tower Rent

Pool Villa for Rent

Comfortable Private and Quiet

0379 or email nunok-ka@ hotmail.com.

3 Steps to Re-sale 1.Valuation.

2.List your property.

3.Sale.

Modern furnished two bedroom apartment in Kata. Western kitchen, balcony with seaview.

Two big common pools.

Price B8.3 million. Contact 086 952 2444. www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com.

-Promotional booths with fully trained staff through out Phuket.

-Five International offices supplying customers direct.

-Nine sales staff all nationalities.

One Bedroom Apartment With Seaview in Rawai

Phuket Paradise Property A Step In The Right Re-sale Direction.

Modern one bedroom apartment with pool. New kitchen. Bathroom With Spa. Big living room and balcony. Fully-furnished.

Price B3.9 million. Contact 086 952 2444. Seew w w. Phuket Paradis eProperty.com.

Visit our website www.

PhuketParadiseProperty. com. Please contact 086 95 22 444.

Stunning two bedrooms villa with big pool. Big modern kitchen and living room. Two separate bedrooms w bathroom, two minutes walk from Tesco Lotus Express. B10.4 million. Contact 086 95 22 444. www.PhuketParadiseProperty.com.

Land for Sale Approx 1,300 M2 block with power ready to build in small quiet village 15 minutes to golf course / airport / shopping centres.

Price B1,900,000. Call 087 276 0529.

Two Bedroom Condo Patong 3.2 M In one of Patong’s best locations. Two bedroom, 100 sq. metres, freehold condo.

Needs decoration, has pool and resort facilities. Contact for more details on 086 757 1362.

CLASSIFIED ADS 37

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com PROPERTY FOR SALE CONT

Bungalow in Chalong

Land for sale Rawai

Four Rai, two Ngan, 64sq Wah (7,45 6sqm), near shell museum, 80m road frontage. B7.5 million per Rai. 089 731 0283, namjailand@csloxinfo.com.

Rawai-Sai Yuan Villa

For rent or sale. Three bedroom on 65sq wah, with Western kitchen and bathroom. For rent B17,000 per month. For sale price: B3.95 million.

Call 089 922 2800.

Soi Saliga, Rawai. Sale by owner. Call for details on 084 745 4132

House for Sale in L&H Phuket

Must see. Original price: B12.5 million. Now B9.9 million. Contact Harrij on 089 731 0283 or harrij@loxinfo.co.th.

850 SQM Land Plot for Sale

In Soi King Saliga, front 22mx42m long. walled and on just about 100m from Rawai Beach. Full chanote title. Contact 080 530 6880.

Bali Style Pool Villa for Sale

Two storey house, 134 sq.m, land 225 sq.m, three bedroom, two bath room, in Chaiyapruek, Land&House Park Phuket. 086 470 2468.

Kata-Phuket from 19m now 14.5m

Soi Suksan, Newly constructed private pool villa. Three bedroom/ three bathroom. Land 1/4 Rai, built area 180sq metre. Open plan living dining with western kitchen. Mountain views in a nice green area.

Fully furnished. Asking B8.5 million, but negotiable on this price. Call 089 973 1180.

Stunning three bedroom villa with big kitchen, living room, office, pool garden and parking. Freehold and free transfer.

Original price B19 million.

Now B14.5 million. Call 081 788 8280.

180 Degree Seaview Land Sale

Great 180 degree elevated seaview land for sale in Leelawadee Hill behind Toyota on Bypass Rd. 1080sqm for B18.9 Million.

081 823 4627.

Various sizes of land with sea view overlooking Patong Bay. znresidence@ gmail.com, Please see www.znresidence.com.

Detached house in Baandon, 55 sq wah Chanote, two bed with aircon.

2two bath (one en-suite), phone/ADSL, fully furnished, nic e garden.

Price B2.1 million. Call Tay 086 280 4734.

Land at Anuphas for Sale 40 sq.wah of land behind weekend market at Naka Temple, on Wirathongyok 3/1 Road. 089 668 3639.

Rawai-Naiharn Land for Sale Soi Saiyuan13. Sale at reduced price. 640 sq.m.

B4.2 million. Elevated, walled, views and Chanote.

085 782 7551.

Saiyuan-House for Sale Two bedrooms, two bathrooms in Soi Samakee 2, Saiyuan. Near Naiharn beach. 100 sq.wah, B5.5 million. Contact owner on 087 883 0105.

Private Pool Villas, from B4.9M

Eight rooms, internet cafe and an apartment. Rent B52,000 per month. Asking price B1.75 million. Call 085 794 6530.

The Sands Condominium Naiharn Beach. 150sq metre foreign freehold, two bedroom, swimming pool, GRG FLR, lake view, 150 metres to Naiharn Beach.

Price B9.8m. Call 089 875 4173.

Rawai Beachfront Pool Villa with High Rental Income for Sale

House for Sale or Rent 20 metres to beach, 260 sq metre. Three bedroom, three bathroom.

Land 1,000 sq metre.

B22 million. Call 081 259 6052.

Three bed t wo bath, full furnished, four aircon. European kitchen.

B15,000 per month near BIS, opposite Boat Lagoon. For sale B3 million.

For more details call John 086 940 4267.

Two Bedroom House With Financing

Phuket near Laguna, 5 minutes to Layan Beach, small pool, two air-con.

Bedrooms ensuite, furnished, Electrical gate, 400m2 Land, B5.9 million.

Call for info on086 267 0157.

Penthouse for Sale Intira Villas is a development of 15 boutique villas in the hear t of Rawai. Second phase open now! Only few villas available. www.in tiravillas.com, call 083 594 9279.

Two-bedroom, two bathr o o m p e n t h o u s e. 2 0 0 metres walk to Bangtao beach. B11.5 million, plus furniture. phuketbbgc31@ gmail.com.

Kathu: Serviced Land for Sale NS3K land plot of 500 square metres, including infrastructure and construction permit for a 220 m2 villa. Price at B2,900,000.

Call: 089 724 7211.

Land on east side of Phuket. Some have seaview. B500,000 and up.

All reasonable offers accepted! Can finance!

Chris 086 942 1930. chrisfisherii@gmail.com.

20 metres to beach. 900 sq metre. Sale B14 million. Call 081 259 6052.

Rawai-Sai Yuan For Sale

Lovely Freehold Condo

Golf View Land for Sale

Rawai Beachfront Land for Single or Double House for Sale

EVERYTHING GOES !!

Huge price reduction from B3.4 million to B2.0 million, 50 Sq metre. Incuding furniture, perfect location and enormous swimming pool.

086 757 1362.

Guesthouse for Sale

Prime Land for sale in Rawai

Villa with three bed, two bath, open living, fully furnished, sala, pool and jacuz zi. Fair way and mountain views. Urgent sale B10.8 million. Contact 089 731 0283.

Eco Resort on Coconut Island: Private Pier - Spa - Grass-roofed Village - Lap Pool - Resort lots start at B1 million. Cottage and lot start at B2.5 million. w w w.jindarin. com. Email eam1008@ me.com or call 081 396 6060.

Land up Patong Hill, Sea View

House Near Laguna 2.1 MB

11th Fairway LochPalm For Sale

Two bed with en-suite in Naiharn, 480sq metre, fully furnished, internet etc, freehold. Priced at B9.7 million. Contact anohoa@gmail.com.

JINDARIN BEACH CLUB & RESORT

Rawai-New Thai/ Bali Villa

Land for Sale 1,908 sqm

For sale or rent. Twostorey villa on 620sqm land. Living spac e: 220sqm. In quiet area.

Three-bed, office, open living area, Western-style kitchen, bathroom, cable TV, telephone, ADSL, balcony, car parking, beautiful garden, swimming pool and jacuzzi.

Land for Sale One rai with Chanote title.

Five minutes from Rawai Beach in secure area. Call owner on 086 940 0379.

17 rai in Kathu, connects to main road, 窶起 or Sor 3 Gor. B75 million. Contact 089 724 721, info@botanvillage.

Two-storey villa, threebed, three-bath and pool.

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Needs work. Call 089 731 0283. namjailand@ csloxinfo.com.

Land for sale Rawai

One-Three Rai with private access. Nice quiet country area. For sale by owner B6 million per Rai ono. Call 081 477 4792.

Land and House Park Phuket For sale. 82 sq metre, three bedroom, two bathroom, Chalong, B4.3m. Call for more details on 087 907 4004.

Four Rai, two Ngan, 64sq Wah (7,456sqm), near shell museum, 80m road frontage. Price at B7.5 million per Rai. Call 089 731 0283 or namjailand@csloxinfo. com.

Chaofah Shop House

300 metre from Chalong Circle. Three-storey, double unit B9.9 millio. Main road 7.5 metre front - 156 sq metre land. See www. stefan.asia. www.thephuketnews.com

38 CLASSIFIED ADS

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

To advertise in our classifieds visit www.thephuketnews.com

TRADE DIRECTORY AIR CONDITIONING Siam Cooling System Marine air-conditioning, Koh Kaew. Contact 081 891 9442, or scspkt@loxinfo.co.th.

Phuket Home Services Installing, servicing commercial and residential aircon systems since 2001.

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PHUKET SPORT 39

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

An away win at long last FOOTBALL

It may have taken more than six months to secure but FC Phuket finally had something to celebrate away from Surakul Stadium last Sunday as Boubacar Issoufou’s second minute strike against RBAC Mittraphap gave the Southern Sea Kirin all three points in an away fixture for the first time in 11 matches this season.

The Nigerien, signed during the mid-season break from Muang Thong United, finished clinically from 12 yards after being found unmarked in the box by Watcharapong Jan-ngam in the opening exchanges.

Neither side was able to repeat the trick in the remaining 88 minutes and coach Somphong Wattana’s side held firm for the win.

FC Phuket move up one place in TPL Division One to eighth with 29 points from 21 games, 20 points behind league leaders BBCU FC and 10 behind Chainat FC in the third and final promotion spot.

Sunday’s game pitted the two sides in the league with the worst home and away records against each other.

While FC Phuket fans have had to suffer the misery of witnessing their team fail to perform on the road, they must have spared a thought for the

Thai Division 1 Team BBCU Buriram FC Chainat Songkhla PTT Rayong Bangkok United Raj Pracha Phuket Saraburi Chanthaburi Air Force United Suphanburi Customs United Rangsit JW Bangkok Thai Honda Chiangmai RBAC Mittraphap

P

W

D

L

GF

GA

Points

21 21 21 20 21 21 21 21 20 21 20 21 21 21 21 20 21 21

15 14 12 10 9 10 10 7 7 6 6 4 6 4 6 5 3 2

4 6 3 8 8 4 4 8 8 7 6 11 3 9 1 1 5 6

2 1 6 2 4 7 7 6 5 8 8 6 12 8 14 14 13 13

33 44 37 36 29 35 26 32 23 23 24 21 26 19 26 25 17 12

14 12 24 17 15 29 25 24 17 26 31 22 37 27 41 53 36 38

49 48 39 38 35 34 34 29 29 25 24 23 21 21 19 16 14 12

RBAC faithful who haven’t seen their side win at home.

Somphong started centre backs Suphat Ontthong and Wirajrot Janteng alongside one another for the second successive game while Hossien Nissim came into the side as a defensive midfielder.

The home side began swiftly but were caught immediately on the counter attack from which FC Phuket scored the only goal of the game.

Seksit Srisai won the ball in midfield and found Kone Adama out wide on the left. The big Ivorian striker

crossed to the far post where Watcharapong was lurking; the striker controlling the ball with his right before finding Issoufou who made no mistake.

With just two minutes gone on the clock RBAC found themselves in a familiar position and were forced to attack.

The home side’s overseas players were significantly taller than their opponents’ so RBAC opted for a long ball game from whch they created a number of chances but couldn’t beat Jonathan Mitijas in the FC Phuket goal.

When FC Phuket did break

Tough break: FC Phuket left back leaves the field with his arm in a sling. It was later confirmed that he had broken his collarbone and he will be out of action for three months. they looked the more dangerous side and should have doubled their lead midway through the first half when Niran Panthong missed a great chance to score.

In the second half the home side began to enjoy some success down the FC Phuket right, thanks to pacy winger Leonel.

The most telling moment came after 57 minutes when Leonel beat left back Nithirot Sokuma before crossing for Eric Noah who headed the ball into the ground and over the crossbar.

FC Phuket again went close to a second goal on 65 minutes when substitute Jongrak Pakdee

picked out goal scorer Issoufou only for the RBAC goalkeeper to smother the ball at his feet.

The match turned nasty in the final moments of the game as players and officials of both teams were involved in a brawl after a late tackle on Seksit.

After the sides were separated RBAC continued to assault the FC Phuket players as both Hossien and Nithirot received robust challenges.

In possession, the Kirin knocked the ball out of play so their team-mates could receive treatment. When play resumed RBAC kept the ball rather than return possession, as is

the sporting thing to do, and attacked the FC Phuket goal.

The home side bundled the ball home but the referee ruled the goal out for offside.

In the dying seconds, Nithirot was caught in the shoulder by a high foot and was forced to leave the field. It was later confirmed he had broken his collarbone and will miss the next three months.

In the light of their first away win Somphong was pleased with the result: “It was a good game overall. RBAC were very good and very strong opponents,” he said –Kazira Hanshanasattru

Laguna Phuket triathlete heads for US Ironman World Champs double TRIATHLON

Phuket triathlete Jaray Jearanai has become the first Thai national to qualify for both the Ironman 70.3 and full Ironman World Championships later this year – less than 12 months after completing his first-ever Ironman 70.3 triathlon at Laguna Phuket.

Jaray will take on the world’s triathlon elite when he heads to Las Vegas for the 2011 Ironman 70.3 World Championships next month, and repeat the feat less than a month later at Kailua-Kona, Hawaii for the Ford Ironman World Championships.

A marketing executive at Laguna Holiday Club, Jaray was sponsored by Laguna Phuket to race in the Ironman 70.3 Philippines on August 14 which offered 30 qualifying slots for the Ford Ironman World Championship on October 7 to the top age group finishers, as well as qualifying slots for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Lake Las Vegas on September 11.

In only his third Ironman 70.3 Jaray produced a stunning performance to finish fifth in his age group and 29th overall in a time of 4:46:41, securing qualifying slots for both World Championships.

Each race has only 1,800 slots that

Triathlete Jaray Jearanai will race against the world’s best in the US. are eagerly coveted by tens of thousands of triathletes worldwide. Hopeful Vegas and Kailua-Kona participants vie for the entry slots in a global series of qualifying triathlons and also in lotteries organised by the World Triathlon Corporation.

Jaray’s feat set up a unique double challenge for the dedicated amateur as he will pit himself against the likes of defending Ironman 70.3 world champion

Michael Raelert and full Ironman world champion Chris McCormack, in two top World Championship endurance events less than 30 days apart. To add to the challenge, the Kailua-Kona race will be Jaray’s first-ever full distance Ironman.

“I trained hard for the Philippines Ironman 70.3 but I was really surprised to finish so well and get the Ironman World Championship slot,” said Jaray.

“It’s always been my ambition to compete in a full Ironman. I just didn’t expect my first one to be the World Championship competing against the best triathletes in the world. But I’m absolutely thrilled and honoured to be able to participate in such a massive event.”

The 31-year-old’s race in the Philippines was only his second overseas triathlon. He finished just 15 minutes behind triathlon legend Australian Belinda Granger, the current Laguna Phuket Triathlon women’s champion, who was first woman home in eighth place overall.

Jaray’s race preparations have included training with triathlon legend Jürgen Zäck, the record-breaking eight-time Ironman winner, at his Triathlon Academy at Thanyapura Sports & Leisure Club in Thalang.

30/9/2011

www.thephuketnews.com

40 PHUKET SPORT

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Action from the 2011 Phuket Sixes. The 2012 event will be the biggest yet.

Phuket Sixes bigger in 2012 To be held in April 2012, the ninth edition of the awardwinning Phuket International Cricket Sixes is set to be the biggest since the tournament began in 2004.

Next year will see the annual ‘Carnival of Cricket’ held over a full week for the first time as organisers have expanded the competition to include full beach cricket and women’s challenge tournaments. The Karon Beach Sevens and the Women’s Cricket Challenge will both be held over three days from April 14 to April 16.

The four-day 2012 Phuket Sixes, meanwhile, will commence on Thursday, April

CRICKET 19 with group stage matches, concluding on Sunday, April 22 when the winners of the Cup, Plate, Bowl and Spoon tournaments will be determined.

“There is already huge interest surrounding the 2012 Phuket Sixes, with the allocation of 26 teams all but taken up,” said Michael Maher of the Asian Cricket Sixes Tour (ACST), the group responsible for the Phuket Sixes and similar tournaments around the region, including other Thailand-based events in Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and Bangkok.

“There are 10 women’s

teams interested in participating plus brand new teams are set to join us because of the Karon Beach Sevens.”

In addition to the Phuket Sixes, Karon Beach Sevens and the Women’s Cricket Challenge, the traditional one-off beach cricket match will return on Tuesday, April 17 and the best 22 players will get together on the Friday night to play a Twenty20 match in order to raise funds for Junior Cricket Development on the island.

To further aid the progress of young Thai cricketers in Phuket, the ACST are hoping to stage a series of children’s matches as part of the weeklong event.

Action from race one of the ACYC Irish Times Series in the waters of Chalong Bay.

Swift Sidewinder SAILING

The brand new seven-race Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) Irish Times Series got underway last Sunday (August 22) with race one taking place in the waters of Chalong Bay. The nine boats that took to the water faced unseasonal light winds from the east and northeast plus sunny skies which made for some tricky conditions, so much so that the two boats in the Cruising class were forced to finish the race under power.

The Multihull class attracted the largest numbers as a fleet of five boats – Sidewinder, DaVinci, The Frog, Niña, and first-time ACYC participant Zhuka – all went head-to-head.

Alan Carwadine on board Sidewinder made the best of the light winds to take race one of the series with Niña, The Frog, Zhuka and DaVinci following behind in that order.

The remaining two classes – Racing and Cruising – contained two boats each.

Scott Duncanson on Som Tam Express got the better of Jack Christensen and Linda in

Sailors had to battle against unseasonable light winds from the east and northeast under sunny skies.

the Racing class, while neither Iruvai and Chetak were able to complete the course under sail.

Race two of seven is scheduled for Sunday, September 4. The full race schedule is

available at acyc-phuket.com.

If anyone is interested in participating in the Irish Times Series please contact Scott Duncanson for more information: T: 081-958 6879.

AFL attracts record numbers The eighth Adult Futsal League (AFL) presented by Thanachart Bank will now take place on Tuesday and Thursday nights in Phuket due to a record number of teams participating.

The previous season, held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC), attracted eight teams and AFL 7 was

Premier League: Portrait FC, Thanachart Bank, Honda, Chevrolet, Jitjongrut, Subsidy

Division One:

Island Boys, Ultraman, TSLC, Thalang Tigers, SGS www.thephuketnews.com

FOOTBALL

won by Potrait FC. AFL 8 has a total of 11 teams confirmed which has prompted organisers to split the participating teams into two divisions: the AFL Premier League and AFL Division One. Premier League matches will take place on Thursday nights at TSLC with matches kicking off at 6:30 pm, 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm.

Division One matches will be held on Tuesday nights at 7pm and 8pm.

For more information regarding the AFL please contact Martin Hill: football@ thanyapura.com

A total of 11 teams have registered for AFL 8. They will be split into two divisions – the Premier League and Division One – to compete for the AFL trophies.

INTERNATIONAL SPORT 41

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Poor home form proves costly FOOTBALL As was the case with the opening round of the 2011/12 Barclay’s Premier League, a number of sides struggled to win matches in front of their own fans during round two.

Of the ten games played over the weekend and on Monday just four teams managed to secure home wins – Wolves, Chelsea, Villa and Man Utd. The most surprising result of round two came at Goodison Park where QPR beat Everton by a goal to nil, just one week after losing 4-0 to Bolton.

Wolves and Manchester United continued their perfect starts, beating Fulham and Spurs respectively. Both have six points and sit behind Man City only on goal difference.

Elsewhere there were precious away wins for City, Newcastle and Liverpool.

The remaining two fixtures Norwich v Stoke and Swansea v Wigan finished as draws.

The Phuket News’ football ‘expert’ enjoyed a more successful week in round two with 10 points, but was still beaten by a number of players.

WEEK 3 Home Team W D W Away Team

i r i

n a n w 27/08/2011 Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Chelsea FC Swansea City Wigan Athletic Liverpool FC

Wolverhampton Wanderers Everton FC Norwich City Sunderland AFC Queens Park Rangers Bolton Wanderers

28/08/2011 Tottenham Hotspur Manchester United Newcastle United West Bromwich Albion

Manchester City Arsenal FC Fulham FC Stoke City

Please Fax this form to 076 612 553 or hand it in at the Phuket News office in before Friday 2.00 PM. Or visit our website www.thephuketnews.com to enter online.

Manchester United will be without captain and centre half Nemanja Vidic for the next five weeks. Will Sir Alex Ferguson’s men rue his absence against the Gunners?

–Photo by Austin Ouside.

After two weeks Alasdair is top of the league with 36 points, two ahead of Allard and Mamcham in second and three ahead of Keefers, Jariya and Rutherman on 33.

This Saturday Aston Villa face Wolves in the Midlands derby, Wigan play QPR, Blackburn are at home against Everton, Chelsea face newcomers Norwich, Swansea take on Sunderland and Liverpool are at home against Bolton.

Of the six matches, Villa, Chelsea and Liverpool will be favourites for all three

points;Wigan should beat QPR, while Blackburn and Swansea might slip up.

On Sunday Newcastle, fresh from their derby success at the weekend, should overcome Fulham, Spurs face a tough test against City after losing at Old Trafford and West Brom will be a decent bet for three points against Stoke.

Round three concludes when Sir Alex Ferguson and Wenger lock horns again as Utd take on Arsenal in what is a huge game for the struggling North London club.

Schumi insists he still has fire in his belly

Don’t forget to submit your tips for round three.

You can either enter online by 11.59pm tonight (August 26) at thephuketnews.com, fax them to the office on 076 612 553 or hand them to us personally here in Billion Plaza, opposite Tesco-Lotus before 2 pm.

If you didn’t play in the first two rounds but still wish to take part, just register at thephuketnews.com and make your picks. The prize for the top points scorer in August and September is a B3,000 voucher to be used at Peppers Bar and Restaurant, near Laguna.

The grand prize is a return flight to the UK.

Results from Round two Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa 3-1 Chelsea 2-1 Everton 0-1 Sunderland 0-1 Swansea 0-0 Bolton 2-3 Norwich 1-1 Wolves 2-0 Man Utd 3-0

Dan’s Premier League tips

Liverpool Blackburn West Brom QPR Newcastle Wigan Man City Stoke Fulham Spurs

Top performers: 1. Ballboy 2. Allard 2. MAMCHAM 4. jariya 4. keefers 4. rutherman 7. film 8. chasman 8. MRB 8. ssinlos3

36 34 34 33 33 33 32 31 31 31

• Aston Villa v Wolves: Home win • Wigan v QPR: Home win • Blackburn v Everton: Draw • Chelsea v Norwich: Home win • Swansea v Sunderland: Home win • Liverpool v Bolton: Home win • Newcastle v Fulham: Home win • Tottenham v Man City: Draw • West Brom v Stoke: Home win • Man Utd v Arsenal: Home win

Ballboy’s tips: • Aston Villa v Wolves: Home win • Wigan v QPR: Away win • Blackburn v Everton: Away win • Chelsea v Norwich: Home win • Swansea v Sunderland: Away win • Liverpool v Bolton: Home win • Newcastle v Fulham: Draw • Tottenham v Man City: Home win • West Brom v Stoke: Home win • Man Utd v Arsenal: Home win

FORMULA 1

Twenty years on from his sensational debut as a virtually unknown Formula One driver Michael Schumacher has this week insisted that he will race with Mercedes in 2012 despite widespread rumours that he is set to quit.

The seven-time drivers world champion, now 42, has struggled through a disappointing season so far, but broke off from the final days of his summer holidays to stress that he has no plans to walk away and no knowledge that he is about to be released.

The great German driver has one year remaining on his contract and has also been given the backing of team boss Norbert Haug.

“His race pace has been great, if not his qualifying, and we are all working very hard together for now and next year,” said Haug. “He is totally committed and so are we, and you can see it in his eyes and in his racing.”

As he prepares for race 279 since arriving at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP on August 25, 1991, Schumacher

Formula One’s greatest driver has been unable to recapture his very best form since his return in 2010. He will hope for better luck in Belgium this weekend at SpaFrancorchamps, the track at which he made his F1 debut.

–Photo by Mark McCardle. is still looking for his first podium finish following his return to the sport he retired from in 2006.

His last win, one of a record 91, was with Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix that year, but he claims his enthusiasm to secure another remains just as strong as he prepares to head back to Belgium for this year's race on Sunday (August 28).

“Despite some funny rumours and stupid untruthful stories, I keep repeating myself that you will have to see me in 2012, whether you like it or don't like it,” he told the Mercedes website.

“I will be there. And the good thing is that I have a lot of support from all around, in particular from the company, in particular from the team, that they all wish me to be there, so I wish to be there, and I look forward to it.”

Recent races have shown glimpses of Schumacher's once-feared competitive aggression, but he has been unable to harness that talent to a car that has the potential to deliver podium finishes.

“I'm still fit enough. I'm still mentally ready for it. And I like a challenge,” he said.

–AFP www.thephuketnews.com

42 INTERNATIONAL SPORT

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

THE 2011 RUGBY WORLD CUP Your guide to all the leading teams

Australia Coach: Robbie Deans Star Player: Quade Cooper World Ranking: 2 World Cup victories: 2 (1991 & 1999) 2007 Performance: quarter-finals.

Forwards (17): Ben McCalman, Radike Samo, Wycliff Palu, David Pocock, Rocky Elsom , Scott Higginbotham, James Horwill, Rob Simmons, Nathan Sharpe, Dan Vickerman, Ben Alexander, Sekope Kepu, James Slipper, Salesi Ma’afu, Stephen Moore, Saia Faingaa, Tatafu PolotaNau. Backs (13): Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor, Drew Mitchell, Digby Ioane, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Rob Horne, Pat McCabe, Anthony Faingaa, Berrick Barnes, Quade Cooper, Nick Phipps, Luke Burgess, Will Genia.

LOOK OUT FOR YOUR 2011 RUGBY WORLD CUP WALL CHART, FREE IN NEXT WEEK’S PHUKET NEWS!

New Zealand Coach: Graham Henry Star Player: Dan Carter World Ranking: 1 World Cup victories: 1 (1987) 2007 Performance: quarter-finals.

Forwards (16): Corey Flynn, Andrew Hore, Keven Mealamu, John Afoa, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Tony Woodcock, Anthony Boric, Brad Thorn, Samuel Whitelock, Ali Williams, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Adam Thomson, Victor Vito.

England Coach: Martin Johnson, Star Player: Ben Youngs World Ranking: 5, World Cup victories: 1 (2003) 2007 Performance: runners-up.

Forwards (17): Dan Cole, Alex Corbisiero, Tom Croft, Louis Deacon, Nick Easter, Dylan Hartley, James Haskell, Courtney Lawes, Lee Mears, Lewis Moody, Tom Palmer, Simon Shaw, Andrew Sheridan, Matt Stevens, Steve Thompson, David Wilson, Tom Wood.

Backs (14): Jimmy Cowan, Andy Ellis, Piri Weepu , Daniel Carter, Colin Slade, Richard Kahui, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams, Israel Dagg, Zac Guildford, Cory Jane , Mils Muliaina, Isaia Toeava.

Backs (13): Delon Armitage, Chris Ashton, Matt Banahan, Mark Cueto, Toby Flood, Ben Foden, Shontayne Hape, Joe Simpson, Mike Tindall, Manu Tuilagi, Richard Wigglesworth, Jonny Wilkinson, Ben Youngs.

South Africa

France

Coach: Peter de Villiers

Coach: Marc Lievremont, Star Player: Imanol Harinordoquy

Star Player: Morne Steyn

World Ranking: 4, World Cup victories: 0

World Ranking: 3

2007 Performance: 4th.

World Cup victories: 2 (1995 & 2007)

Forwards (17): Fabien Barcella, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Nicolas Mas, Luc Ducalcon, William Servat Dimitri Szarzewski, Guilhem Guirado, Pascal Papé, Julien Pierre, Romain Millo-Chluski, Lionel Nallet, Julien Bonnaire, Imanol Harinordoquy, Thierry Dusautoir, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Raphaël Lakafia, Louis Picamoles.

2007 Performance: champions.

Forwards (16): Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira, Gurthro Steenkamp, John Smit, Bismarck du Plessis, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Jannie du Plessis, CJ van der Linde, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Johann Muller, Dannie Rossouw, Willem Alberts, Schalk Burger, Heinrich Brussow, Francois Louw, Pierre Spies.

Backs (14): Francois Steyn, Patrick Lambie, JP Pietersen, Gio Aplon, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh, Bryan Habana, Odwa Ndungane, Morne Steyn, Butch James, Fourie du Preez, Francois Hougaard, Ruan Pienaar.

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The Webb-Ellis Cup

Backs (13): Morgan Parra, Dimitri Yachvili, David Skrela François Trinh-Duc, Fabrice Estebanez, Maxime Mermoz, David Marty, Aurélien Rougerie, Maxime Médard, Alexis Palisson, Vincent Clerc, Cédric Heymans, Damien Traille.

Wales

Ireland

Coach: Warren Gatland

Coach: Declan Kidney

Star Player: James Hook

Star Player: Brian O’Driscoll

World Ranking: 6

World Ranking: 7

World Cup victories: 0

World Cup victories: 0

2007 Performance: group stage.

2007 Performance: group stage.

Forwards (16): Gethin Jenkins, Lloyd Burns, Huw Bennett, Ryan Bevington, Adam Jones, Paul James Ken Owens, Craig Mitchell, Bradley Davies, Sam Warburton, Luke Charteris, Danny Lydiate, Toby Faletau, Ryan Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Andy Powell.

Forwards (16): Rory Best, Tony Buckley, Tom Court, Sean Cronin, Leo Cullen, Stephen Ferris, Jerry Flannery, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Denis Leamy, Sean O’Brien, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Michael Ross, Donnacha Ryan, David Wallace.

Backs (14): Michael Phillips, Lloyd Williams, Tavis Knoyle, Jamie Roberts, James Hook, Jonathan Davies, Stephen Jones, Rhys Priestland, Scott Williams, Leigh Halfpenny, Lee Byrne, Aled Brew, Shane Williams, George North.

Backs (14): Isaac Boss, Tommy Bowe, Gordon D’Arcy, Keith Earls, Robert Kearney, Fergus McFadden, Geordan Murphy, Conor Murray, Brian O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara, Eoin Reddan, Jonathan Sexton, Andrew Trimble, Paddy Wallace.

INTERNATIONAL SPORT 43

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Coming up this week

English Premier Team Man City Man Utd Wolves Aston Villa Liverpool Chelsea Newcastle Bolton QPR Norwich City Stoke City Wigan Sunderland Arsenal Fulham Swansea City Everton West Brom Blackburn Tottenham

P 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1

W 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

D 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0

L 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0

F 4 3 2 3 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0

A 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 4 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 2 2 0

Pts 6 6 6 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

NRL after round 24 Team Storm Sea Eagles Broncos Warriors Cowboys Tigers Dragons Knights Rabbitohs Bulldogs Panthers Roosters Sharks Raiders Titans Eels

P

W

22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22

19 17 16 13 13 13 12 11 11 10 8 8 7 6 6 5

D 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

L 3 5 6 9 9 9 9 11 11 12 14 14 15 16 16 16

F

A

509 511 471 464 498 450 425 416 497 381 399 364 386 383 341 341

250 309 352 361 442 398 307 387 500 445 467 480 499 568 558 513

Pts 42 38 36 30 30 30 29 26 26 24 20 20 18 16 16 15

Australian NRL Round 25

English Premier League Fixtures

(Times in Thailand)

(Times in Thailand)

Friday August 26 Eels v Roosters Sea Eagles v Storm Saturday August 27 Bulldogs v Knights Cowboys v Sharks Raiders v Panthers Sunday August 28 Dragons v Warriors Broncos v Rabbitohs Monday August 29 Tigers v Titans

16:35 16:35 14:30 16:30 16:30 11:00 12:00 16:00

AFL Round 23 (Aussie Rules) (Times in Thailand) Friday August 26 Fremantle v C’wood

Saturday August 27 Aston Villa v Wolves 18:05 Wigan v QPR 18:30 Blackburn v Everton 21:00 Chelsea v Norwich 21:00 Swansea v Sunderland 21:00 Liverpool v Bolton 23:30 Sunday August 28 Norwich v Stoke 19:30 Newcastle v Fulham 20:00 Spurs v Man City 22:00 Man Utd v Arsenal 22:00

Bundesliga Fixtures

(Times in Thailand)

Saturday August 27 Geelong v Sydney 11:10 H’thorn v W Bulldogs 11:10 Brisbane v WC Eagles 16:10 St Kilda v N Melbourne 16:10

Saturday August 20 H Berlin v Stuttgart Hamburg SV v Köln Nuremberg v Augsburg Freiburg v Wolfsburg K’lautern v B Munich Hoff’heim v W Bremen

Sunday August 28 Adelaide v Richmond 09:40 Melbourne v G Coast 11:10 Essendon v P Adelaide 13:40

Sunday August 21 B L’kusen v B Dortm’d 00:30 Hannover v Mainz 21:30 Schalke v M’gladbach 23:30

17:40

02:30 21:30 21:30 21:30 21:30 21:30

Bye: Carlton.

Formula 1 (Times in Thailand) Belgian Grand Prix Spa Francorchamps Friday August 26 Practice 1 15:00 - 16:30 Practice 2 19:00 - 20:30 Saturday August 27 Practice 3 16:00 - 17:00 Qualifying 19:00 Sunday August 28 Race 19:00

MotoGP (Times in Thailand) Red Bull Indianapolis GP Friday August 26 Practice 1 21:10 - 21:55 Saturday August 27 Practice 2 01:00 - 01:55 Practice 3 21:00 - 21:55 Sunday August 28 Qualifying 00:55 - 01:55 Warm-up 20:40 - 21:00 Monday August 29 Race 01:00

Sport on TV: Times in Thailand Friday, August 26 EVENT TIME

AFL: Freemantle v Collingwood 16:30 NRL: Eagles v Storm 16:30

AFL after round 22 Team

Collingwood Geelong Hawthorn W Coast Eagles Carlton St Kilda Sydney Essendons N Melbourne Fremantle W Bulldogs Richmond Melbourne Adelaide Brisbane Gold Coast Pt Adelaide

P

W

20 20 20 20 21 20 20 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

19 18 16 15 14 10 10 10 9 9 8 7 7 7 4 3 2

L 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0

D 1 2 4 5 6 9 9 10 11 11 12 12 12 13 16 17 18

PF

PA

2407 2313 2136 2001 2159 1670 1679 2097 1932 1678 1886 1857 1758 1593 1666 1355 1493

1345 1467 1470 1584 1614 1541 1582 2104 1856 1916 1981 2193 2121 1927 2032 2508 2439

Points 76 72 64 60 58 42 42 42 36 36 32 30 30 28 16 12 8

CHANNEL Australia Network Astro Supersport 2

Saturday, August 27 AFL: Geelong v Swans 11:00 AFL: Hawthorn v Bulldogs 14:00 AFL: St Kilda v N. Melbourne 17:00 AFL: Lions v WC Eagles 20:00 Athletics: World Champs 07:00 NRL: Bulldogs v Knights 14:25 Tri-Nations: Australia v NZ 17:00 F1: Belgian Qualifying 18:50 Football: Aston Villa v Wolves 18:05 Football: Chelsea v Norwich 21:00 Football: Blackburn v Everton 21:00 Football: Swansea v Sunderland 21:00 Football: Liverpool v Bolton 23:30

Australia Network Australia Network Australia Network Australia Network Astro Supersport Astro Supersport 2 Astro Supersport 2 STAR Sports TrueSport 1 TrueSport 1 TrueSport 5 Astro Supersport 3 TrueSport 3

Sunday, August 28 AFL: Adelaide v Richmond AFL: Essendon v Port Adelaide NRL: Broncos v Rabbitohs F1: Belgian Grand Prix Football: Newcastle v Fulham Football: Spurs v Man City Football: Man Utd v Arsenal Football: Hannover v Mainz

10:30 13:30 11:55 19:00 19:00 19:30 22:00 21:30

Australia Network Australia Network Astro Supersport 2 STAR Sports TrueSport 1 Astro Supersport 3 TrueSport 1 Astro Supersport

Topping the bill once again: Jamaica‘s Usain Bolt.

– Photo Richard Giles

All eyes on Daegu

The world’s top track and field stars have gathered in Daegu for the 2011 World Athletics Championships, which gets underway tomorrow (Saturday, August 27).

As the last major competition ahead of next year’s London Olympics, almost all of the world’s elite athletes have travelled to the South Korean city to compete at the nine-day biannual event, giving spectators a chance to view likely medal contenders in 2012.

Topping the bill once again is Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, the reigning world 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay world champion and record holder.

At the world championships in Berlin two years ago the charismatic sprinter tore up the record books once again by clocking 9.59 seconds and 19.19 seconds for the 100m and 200m respectively. Since Berlin, however, Bolt has struggled to find his best form and last year was beaten by American rival Tyson Gay over 100m.

Fortunately for the man

nicknamed the ‘Lightning Bolt’, Gay will not be in South Korea as he failed to qualify at this year’s American trials.

Bolt’s main competition will instead come in the shape of former world record holder and fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell, the fastest man in 2011, who will be out to prove that he can perform when it matters.

Other athletes to watch out for in South Korea this coming week include Kenya’s world record holder David Rudisha in the men’s 800m; South Africa’s defending women’s 800m champion Caster Semenya; compatriot Oscar Pistorius – known as ‘Blade Runner’ because of his prosthetic limbs – in the 400m; Liu Xiang, Dayron Robles and David Oliver in the 110m hurdles; British duo Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah in the heptathlon and men’s 5,000m and 10,000m respectively; Croatian Blanca Vlasic in the women’s high jump; and American Carmelita Jeter in the women’s 100m and 200m.

The action concludes on Sunday, September 4.

Formula 1 Driver Standings after Hungary 1. S. Vettel 234; 2. M. Webber 149; 3. L. Hamilton 146; F. Alonso 145; J. Button 134; F. Massa 70; N. Rosberg 48; N. Heidfeld 34; V. Petrov 32; M. Schumacher 32; K. Kobayashi 27; A. Sutil 18; S. Buemi 12; J. Alguesuari 10; S. Perez 8; P. di Resta 8; R. Barichello 4. All others 0.

Hash House Harriers Run 1329: Saturday, Aug 27 at 4pm.

Hares: J.C. and Murkury.

Directions: From Thalang traffic lights turn West (or left if heading North), go 500 meters, turn right (HHH) and follow the road for approximately 1.5 km. Turn left (HHH) go to usual laager site.

Buses leave Expat Hotel, Patong at 14:30 and Baan Rim Klong, Kamala at 15:00. www.thephuketnews.com

44 LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL SPORT

THE PHUKET NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

Cup despair for FC Phuket

Ugly scenes mar thrilling League Cup tie FOOTBALL

A goalkeeping error from Jonathan Matijas and a calamitous own goal helped Division Two South’s Phatthalung FC progress to the semi-finals of the Toyota League Cup on a night where ugly crowd scenes cast a huge shadow over what had been a thrilling cup tie.

Small sections of the home crowd, visibly unhappy with some of the refereeing decisions and the constant time-wasting and play-acting antics of the visiting team, took to throwing bottles and cans onto the field of play in protest.

The aggressive reaction by some of the home fans marred what had been, despite the result, a thrilling cup tie as both sides scored three goals apiece over the course of 120 minutes, on Wednesday (August 24) evening.

Watcharapong Jang-nam gave FC Phuket the lead right before half-time, levelling the tie at 1-1 before an astonishing 30-minute period of extra time saw five goals – three for Phatthalung and two for FC Phuket – as the visitors secured

FC Phuket’s striker Kone Adama on the attack. a 4-3 aggregate win much to the delight of their travelling support.

On the back of their first away league win at the weekend and bolstered by the return of some of their senior players, FC Phuket went into the match full of confidence that they could overturn the one-goal deficit

from the first leg.

Despite being away from home and plying their wares a division below it was Phatthalung who made the early running, testing FC Phuket goalkeeper Matijas a number of times from a variety of distances and angles.

The home side weathered the

early storm and began to take control of the game midway through the first half, and the Kirin were denied what appeared to be a clear cut penalty when Sarach Yooyen’s free kick was blocked by a Phatthalung defender’s arm.

All FC Phuket players, fans and officials appealed for the

both sides created openings but were unable to convert so the game headed into extra time.

During the regulation 90 minutes, Phatthalung had threatened but never really caused Matijas too many problems in the FC Phuket goal.

That changed within two minutes of extra time when a Phatthalung free kick went through the wall and was helped into the net by the goalkeeper.

The home side responded immediately when substitute Tamazee Hayeeyousoh fired home after Kone Adama muscled his way into the box but eight minutes later FC Phuket trailed on aggregate again.

Puttiman Keawchin was found unmarked in the box as –Photo by Pongpisit Raksaket the Kirin pushed forward for a third goal and although his first penalty only for it to be turned effort was stunningly saved by down by the referee.

Matijas, he kept his composure With just moments re- to bag the rebound. maining in the second half, As time ticked down in Watcharapong gave the home extra time the visitors’ time side the lead, running onto a wasting antics drew the wrath through ball in the box and of the home fans whose night beating the goalkeeper from a took a turn for the worst when tight angle. a calamitous own goal sealed In the second 45 minutes the tie for Phatthalung.

England complete Countries name Cup squads RUGBY India whitewash

Despite losing large portions of the fourth and final test match to rain, the England cricket team, officially the best test team in the world, completed a series whitewash on Monday after beating a demoralised India on day five at the Brit Oval.

What was expected to be a very tight series between two of the world’s top three cricketing nations finished as a cakewalk for Andrew Strauss’ side as England won the last test by an innings and eight runs to seal a 4-0 win.

The foundation for England’s success was built on a superlative innings by Ian Bell – England’s most improved batsman – who scored 235 in England’s total of 591-6 declared.

The Warwickshire star, who moved seamlessly into the number three position in the absence of the injured Jonathan Trott, was brilliantly supported

by Kevin Pietersen who made 175 in a partnership worth 350.

Because of the rain interruptions, India only came out to bat after tea on day three but collapsed to 103-5 at the close of play.

Thanks to Rahul Dravid, who made 146 – his third century of the series – India limped www.thephuketnews.com

CRICKET

to 300 for the first time this summer but were forced to follow on by Strauss who saw the opportunity to complete a first clean sweep of India since 1959.

The tourists made a decent start and at one stage were 262-3 with Sachin Tendulkar and Amit Mishra batting with purpose.

As India homed in on making England bat again Graeme Swann bowled Mishra for 84 before Tim Bresnan – not even in the team at the start of the series – trapped Tendulkar leg before wicket for 91, an agonising nine runs short of his 100th international hundred on his final appearance on English soil as a test batsman.

Swann and Stuart Broad – the latter named man of the series for his 25 wickets at 13.84 and 182 runs at 60.66 – cleaned up the remaining five wickets for just 21 runs as Swann finished with his best figures of the series – 6/106.

A delighted Strauss said: “It was an outstanding effort again, enforcing the followon asked a lot of the bowlers and they responded superbly.

“We’ve had a lot of victories over the last couple of years and we expect to win matches now.”

All 16 teams competing at this year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand have now announced their squads of 30 players.

The six-week tournament gets underway on September 9 with the final taking place in Auckland on October 23.

Teams face their final warm up matches this weekend before flying out to New Zealand ahead of the sport’s biggest event.

World Cup favourites and hosts New Zealand named a hugely experienced squad consisting of 16 forwards and 14 backs with a combined total of 1,133 caps.

Coach Graham Henry will be hoping that the experience his squad contains will help the All Blacks break their 24-year World Cup hoodoo.

The Kiwis will be led by flanker Richie McCaw who, along with Dan Carter, Keven Mealamu, Mils Muliaina and Ali Williams, will be playing in his third World Cup finals.

Seven other members of the squad will be playing in their second tournament.

In England coach Martin Johnson, bidding to become the first man to captain and coach a World Cup winning side, omitted Kiwi-born Riki Flutey from his squad because of injury concerns over a number of his players.

Scrum half Ben Youngs, prop Andrew Sheridan, flanker and captain Lewis Moody and winger Chris Ashton will all travel to New Zealand despite being hampered by injury.

Flutey – England’s star man in 2009 – lost his place in the squad because of an injury to Danny Care which forced Johnson to abandon his plans to take just two scrum halves and use Flutey or Ben Foden as back up.

The uncapped Joe Simpson benefited from Care’s injury.

Squad selection has already caused one casualty as Tongan rugby chief executive and board chairman Bob Tuckey resigned in a row over the selection of former captain Nili Latu in the World Cup squad and against a background of parliamentary interference.

The head coach wanted to include the controversial flanker in his squad but Tuckey voiced his dissatisfaction at the forward’s inclusion.

The Australian’s decision to quit came before the squad was announced and, ironically, Latu was not selected by Tongan head coach Isitolo Maka.

For squad lists of some of the World Cup’s leading contenders, see page 42.

England manager Martin Johnson and attack coach Brian Smith watch the England squad in training.

–Photo by Patrick Khachfe