27-01-2012

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27 - THURSDAY, FEBUARY 2, 2012

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Gill Dalley: ‘Extremely honoured to receive this.’

MAJOR AWARD FOR SOI DOG Gill and John Dalley of the Soi Dog Foundation have received this year’s Jeanne Marchig Animal Welfare Award 2011, along with US$20,000 (B630,000).

The award, from grantmaking charity the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust, recognises “outstanding services to animal welfare”.

Announcing the 2011 win ners of the award that bears her name, the Founder and Chairman of the Trustees, Jeanne Mar­ chig explained, “The trustees were unanimous that the award should be made jointly to Gill and John Dalley of the Soi Dog Foundation in acknowledgment of their tireless work in protecting animals from abuse.

Receiving the award, Gill Dalley said: “John and I feel extremely honoured to receive this award. The money from the award will be used in its entirety towards continuing Soi Dog’s mission.”

STATE OF THE UNION OBAMA & OSAMA P9

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The Common Huntsman Spider is suspect No 1.

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Man dies after mysterious bite D octors are puzzled by the death of a fruit vendor on Monday (January 23), from what his wife believes was a spider bite.

Wanchai Wongsilakorn, 30, died at Thalang Hospital after being taken there on Sunday night by his wife, Piyanan Boonsri, also 30, after complaining of swelling and pain in his right arm.

He told the doctor that he had been bitten by something while taking a bath. The doctor found no signs that he was in any danger, gave Mr Wanchai pain medication and sent him home.

The following day, at 5 am, his family took him back to the hospital suffering from severe pain.

He died suddenly at around noon.

On Tuesday the Chief of the Phuket Public Health Office (PHO),

Dr Sak Tanchaikul, held a press conference to rebut accusations from a relative of Mr Wanchai that lack of attention from medical staff had contributed to his death.

The relative, Kittisak Lomsungnern, 30, said that Mr Wanchai had been put into a bed but had then waited for more than six hours before a doctor came to examine him.

Mr Wanchai’s wife said she believed he might have died from a bite inflicted by a spider she had seen in the couple’s bathroom.

But Dr Sak said that doctors have not yet been able to pin down the exact cause of death. They suspect, however, that it may have been anaphylactic shock – a massive allergic reaction to some kind of sting or bite.

Dr Sak also defended his doctors against the charge that they had been Continued on page 2

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ISLAND NEWS

NEWS FISHERMAN’S BRIGHT HOPES: A competitor shows off his brightly coloured catch in the 19th Bang Tao Night Fishing Competition, in Bang Tao Bay last weekend.

Forty-four long tail boats – each manned by four fishermen – were in the water from 9.30am on Saturday until midday on Saturday, each attempting to bring in the biggest catch over night.Seventeen trophies in total were handed out to the competition winners, followed by auctions for the fish caught. There was also a muay talay competition, beach football and a tug-of-war.

-Photo by Oleksiy Latunin

THE PHUKET NEWS

Date with history

PM Yingluck Shinawatra dines with Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda > 7

Did common spider’s bite kill fruit vendor?

From page 1 inattentive. “Our process for giving treatment is not slow,” he said.

“We would like the relatives to understand that we have a priority system, which allocates top priority to critically ill patients and gives a lower priority to those who are deemed to be in stable condition.

“When Mr Wanchai was brought in he showed no signs of being critically ill.”

Dr Sak added that there were no records of anyone in

No court date yet for Plawan eight The eight men arrested for their parts in the vicious assault on Sri Panwa Resort general manager Vorasit “Plawan” Issara at the Rachada Pub in Phuket Town on January 4 are still awaiting trial in Phuket Prison.

The trials have not yet been scheduled because police have yet to provide the court with their case.

Under Thai court procedure, the police have 84 days from the arrest of the accused to complete their case and

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Thailand dying from a spider bite. “If we find that Mr Wanchai died from spider venom he will be the first case.”

The Deputy Chief of the PHO, Dr Wiwat Sitamanote led a team of officials to visit Mr Wanchai’s house on Wednesday (January 25) to search for clue as to the cause of Mr Wanchai’s death.

A Common Huntsman Spider – also known as the Banana Spider – was found in Mr Wanchai’s house. A neighbour confirmed that the spider had been seen before in his own house.

Common Huntsmen have

venomous fangs, but Dr Wiwat said he did not think this spider was the culprit. People, if bitten by the spider, would feel pain, but the venom was not lethal.

In addition, he explained, the wound and Mr Wanchai’s symptoms were not those of a person poisoned by a spider.

Spider venom would bring on high blood pressure and nerve spasms.

Mr Wanchai, however, had only pain in his right arm at the bite site.

His blood exhibited the normal level of coagulation, while a person poisoned by an animal wouls usually have low

level of coagulation.

Mr Wanchai’s neighbour reported that the deceased had drunk alcohol with friends before going to the hospital.

Dr Wiwat said that alcohol might be a contributory factor in his death.

Mr Wanchai’s body is now at the Royal Thai Police Institute of Forensic Medicine Police in Bangkok, which will carry out tests in an attempt to determine what did kill him.

The tests will take about a month to complete. In the meantime, for many concerned, the spider remains Suspect No 1.

present it to the court.

Meanwhile, Mr Vorasit is coming to terms with the attack. Last Friday (January 20) he posted on Facebook: “There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness. No anger, only peace!”

A fireman hoses down the smouldering bus, after it had earlier burst into flames.

–Photo by Karon Municipality Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation

Tourists escape bus fire Four foreigners had a lucky escape when the bus they were travelling in caught fire in Karon yesterday (January 24).

The bus, operated by Best Way Trip Co Ltd, was on its way from Patong to pick up tourists from hotels in Karon for a sightseeing trip around

Phuket when it caught fire around 8.30am. Near the Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket at the north end of Karon Beach the engine, at the back of the bus, burst into flames.

Firemen from Karon Municipality Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitiga-

tion spent around 30 minutes extinguishing the fire. Pisoot Sangworakan Chief of Karon Municipality Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation told The Phuket News, “No one was hurt. The driver believes the fire was caused by an electrical short-circuit.”

Watch out for phony monks Chatpawit Jinapong, Director of the Phuket Buddhist Affairs Office, has warned Phuket residents and tourists not to be deceived by phony monks seeking alms.

About 10 people posing as monks have been arrested so far during the current tourist season, a period that attracts

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many con artists of all kinds to Phuket. Some of the fake monks arrested held foreign passports, many of them Cambodian. Mr Chatpawit noted that whereas genuine monks seek alms only in the early morning, the phonies do so all day long.

While some target tour-

ists, others aim at the local population. Mr Chatpawit also revealed a couple more tell-tales: the phony monks solicit cash donations rather than the more traditional offerings such as food, candles, soap or toothpaste, and often appear distracted as they look around for the next “target”.

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ISLAND NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Phuket police have set up three teams, each searching for one of the people allegedly involved in murdering local journalist Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwittayaporn, 44, on January 12.

Police issued arrest warrants for the three late last week, naming them as: • Sanya “Noo” Klinchum, 36, allegedly the gunman; • Somkuan “Boy” Pandee, 48, who allegedly arranged the hit; and • Assadakorn Seedokbuab, 48, who they allege ordered and paid for the murder.

Assadakorn is well known in Phuket as the Director of KPP Cable TV. He is also a Vice-Chairman of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce.

Announcing the issue of the warrants, the Commander

Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit, who is rapidly becoming the top expert on land problems in the Phuket region, today declared the ownership of a large slab of land on Koh Yao Yai, in Phang Nga Bay, as “suspect”.

Mr Prompong visited the land after villagers appealed to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), of which he is a vice-president, to look into the ownership of 500 rai of land in Baan Yamee, on the island’s west coast, which is edged by classic white beach.

The land – or parts of it – is claimed by three groups: local villagers, three individuals, and the Forestry Department.

The three individuals who claim ownership of the land have NorSor3 papers dating back to 1977, and they have applied for upgrade to Chanote freehold papers.

The NorSor3 papers were based on occupation claims going back to 10 years earlier, one year before the forest reserve was declared.

Mr Prompong, having studied the tangled mass of claims, and after visiting the land today, said that there were four points of contention that require further investigation: The individuals claimed they had established fruit farms there in 1957. However,

Police name alleged buyer of Ae Inside hit

of Phuket Police, Maj Gen Chonasit Wattanavrangkul, declined to explain how investigators had come to the conclusion that Assadakorn was behind the killing. To do so, he said, “would libel a third party”.

However, Gen Chonasit did say police believe Mr The three wanted men, from left, alleged shooter Sanya ‘Noo’ Klinchum, supposed paymaster Wisut was mur- Somkuan ‘Boy’ Pandee and Assadakorn Seedokbuab, who allegedly paid for the hit on Ae Inside. dered because of Police have yet to hear from Somkuan. The latter, Noppadon ted them on CCTV camera something he wrote. said, had paid him B50,000 for The Commander of Phuket footage taken at the Tha Chat any of them.

On January 16, the driver his part in the murder. NopPolice, Maj Gen Chonasit Wat- Chai checkpoint, nor in airport tanavrangkul, said police had passenger records, which leads of the bike carrying the gun- padon is now in Phuket prison. visited the suspects’ houses and them to believe the suspects are man, Noppadon “Pae” Praisri, At Mr Wisut’s funeral on had interviewed their relatives. either hiding on the island, or 41, was arrested. Evidence he January 19, senior figures in Police have not yet spot- have fled by boat. gave to police led to Sanya and the United Front of Democracy

Prompong declares Koh Yao land as ‘suspicious’ aerial photographs gathered by the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) – which became involved in the dispute five years ago – appear to show that in 1967 the entire area was virgin forest.

Some of the officials involved in the issuing of the NorSor3 papers in 1977 were also involved in the issuing of the disputed title deed for the land next to Freedom Beach on Phuket, which Mr Prompong declared as suspect last week.

Part of the area claimed by the individuals slopes so steeply that it may not legally be owned by individuals.

In 1971 the villagers received government papers acknowledging that they legally occupied land at the southern end of the disputed area. In 1977, however, the individuals received NorSor3 papers for the land the villagers occupied.

The villagers came under pressure to “sell” their rights to the land, and in 2006 razor wire was erected to keep them out, patrolled – the villagers claim – by 73 security guards.

Mr Prompong said he would summarise his findings and pass them to the board of the NACC with a recommendation it should investigate further.

The individuals were not named.

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Against Dictatorship (UDD), also known as the Red Shirts, called for the investigation into the murder to be “transparent” and thorough.

Mr Wisut was the leader of the Phuket Red Shirts.

Speaking at his cremation at Wat Kajornlangsan in Phuket Town, Acting President of the UDD, Thida Thavornsate, called the murder “an uncivilised form of expression”.

“If people have different ideas, they have to know how to get together [for discussion],” said Ms Thida. “Killing is a barbarous way.”

Senior UDD figure and Pheu Thai Party MP Korkaew Pikultong said that the ruling party knew that an “influential person” was behind the murder of Mr Wisut.

Currency exchange robber caught The man who robbed a Karon currency exchange booth in November was arrested on Sunday (January 22), along with his co-conspirator, a staff member of the bank that was robbed.

Kriangsak Jittapakul, 25, admitted to Chalong police that he had used his knife to threaten two bank employees working at the Siam Commercial Bank exchange booth on November 26. He made off with travellers’ cheques and cash in various currencies valued in total at B2 million.

After his arrest, he told police that Amnart Ponpamoon, 27, one of two the staff he had tied up, was actually work-

Co-conspirators in robbery: Kriangsak (left) and Amnart. ing with him. Kriangsak’s arrest came after he cashed four American Express travellers’ cheques stolen from the exchange booth at Tesco Lotus branch.

Police said they had long suspected Kriangsak was the robber but lacked the evidence to apply for a search warrant.

Armed with the latest evidence, however, they raided his

home on Chaofa East Rd. There they found various currencies worth more than B23,000 in a bag, along with two travellers’ cheques from the haul stolen from the exchange booth.

Police also seized a .38mm pistol and five bullets in his bedroom, and found a gram of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) in his pocket.

Kriangsak implicated Amnart as a co-conspirator, and said the rest of the stolen money was with him.

Ar rested a few hours later, Amnart eventually admitted being in on the plot, but said the missing money was with Kriangsak.

Ministry to tackle Phuket black taxis The Ministry of Interior (MoI) is setting up a special team to resolve the problem of unlicensed, or “black”, taxis in Phuket, Governor Tri Augkaradacha said this week.

The Governor said he had learned that several complaints relating to the black taxi issue and the involvement of influential people had been sent to the MoI and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, resulting in the MoI decision to set up a special team.

The team will be ready to begin their job next month, Gov Tri said.

The Governor said he would like to see things taken further by the MoI. “The problems caused by taxi groups setting up their own exclusive territories needs to be fixed,” said Gov Tri.

“It causes confrontations among drivers, sometime in the form of threats, sometimes resulting in violence.”

An example of this, which hit the headlines in September last year, was the attack on an “interloper” by a highly territorial group of taxi drivers at the Cape Sienna hotel in Kamala.

“High fares are another issue of concern, especially in Patong, Kata, Karon and the Sakoo area,” he added.

Part of the reason for this is the informal territories set up by so-called taxi “mafias”.

While a driver from elsewhere may deliver to another group’s territory, he may not pick up fares, so travels back empty. As a result he will charge a round-trip fare for a one-way trip.

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THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

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

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On the new pier, OrBorJor president Paiboon Upatising (centre, white shirt) chats with a delighted Chris Gordon (second from right), Managing Director of The Village, Coconut Island resort, which is located on Koh Maphrao.

Koh Maphrao pier officially opened The new pier at Koh Maphrao was officially opened last week (January 20), with Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (OrBorJor) president Paiboon Upatising presiding over the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Koh Kaew Tambon Administrative Organisation (OrBorTor) president Khuakiet Chitkhua said that the new concrete

pier was built to replace the dangerous old wooden one.

“Nowadays, there are 300 to 500 locals and tourists using the pier every day, but the old wooden pier was very old and unsafe, so we built the new concrete pier to replace it.”

The pier cost B10 million, took nine months to build and was completed at the end of October last year.

Slum-dwellers plead for a fair land deal More than 50 residents of Soi Kingkaew, located in the Kuku area to the northeast of Phuket Town, gathered at Phuket Provincial Hall on January 19 to urge authorities to solve land ownership problems.

The gathering came after the Land Office had sent officials to survey 300 rai of land as part of the process for issuing a chanote title deed to an unnamed individual.

The surveyed land, the villagers said, overlaps more than half of the land where they live, sparking resentment.

The Soi Kingkaew community is mostly slums, occupied by people who were never able to afford to live elsewhere. In recent years smarter homes have been built, even some supposedly owned by foreigners.

A representative of the community, Thongchai Kaewtong, 41, told authorities that the villagers had occupied the land more than 30 years ago.

But because the area was originally mangrove forest and supposedly barred to hu-

Residents of Soi Kingkaew pack a meeting room at Provincial Hall to put their case. man occupation, the authorities have always forbidden the slum dwellers to develop facilities in the area.

“We understand that we encroached on mangrove forest.

That’s why we cannot develop our community’s facilities,” said Mr Thongchai.

He argued, “It’s a conflict that the authorities will allow an individual to have occupation rights on the same piece of land [but not us].”

The Chief of Phuket Land Office (PLO) Sitthichai Promchart, who was summoned to the Phuket Provincial Hall to

confer with the villagers, said that the individual concerned had shown a SorKor 1 paper to officials, as part of his bid to be issued a full chanote land title.

He said that the PLO would investigate whether the SorKor 1 was issued legitimately.

Freedom Beach guard found hanged Narong Pheeromrak, 54, a security guard at a controversial piece of land next to Freedom Beach, was found hanged at his house on Sunday evening (January 22).

His wife Wanida Namkun, 45, told Kathu police that Narong had been a watchman at the land for five years.

Kathu police branded the death a

suicide and theorised that reasons might include a health problem, financial problems or job stress.

However, local daily newspaper Siang Tai reported on Monday that Mrs Wanida suspected her husband’s death might be related to the Freedom Beach controversy.

Two weeks before his death, Siang

Tai reported, officials had brought some papers for him to sign.

The papers were to do with clarification of the boundaries of the land, which was dragged into the spotlight when Pheu Thai Party spokesperson Prompong Nopparit inspected the site recently and declared the land deed “suspect”.

FLY ME: THE PHUKET NEWS

ISLAND NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

After more than two years of refurbishment and sea trials, Phuket’s first hydrofoil service was shown off on Sunday (Januar y 22) with a complementary trip to the Similan Islands for around 120 tour agents, hotel people and media.

The Flying Dolphin 1, the first of three hydrofoils to be operated by Dolphin Seaways, took around 90 minutes to travel from Patong Bay to the Similans, with passengers seated in air-conditioned luxury, fed and watered, and entertained by a close-up magician from Palazzo in Kathu.

At the Similans the passengers disembarked and were then offered trips by speedboat to other islands for snorkelling or scuba diving.

The hydrofoil cruises at a speed of around 35 knots (65 kmh), and – thanks to the hull being lifted clear of the water by the foils below – with none of the gruelling crashing through waves associated with

New plan to fix Khor Ane bend In response to demands by the people of Baan Khor Ane, Phuket authorities have come up with a B7-million short-term plan to improve the bend in the road.

Villagers blocked the island’s main highway on November 20 after two villagers on a motorbike were killed in a collision. It was not the first time people from Khor Ane had been killed on the bend, nor was it the first time villagers had blocked the road.

The B7 million will pay for two new light poles, concrete barri ers and improvements to the road surface.

A meeting between relevant authorities on January 19 at Provincial Hall decided that the checkpoint should be shelved indefinitely.

A Deputy Commander of Phuket Police, Pol Col Peerayut Karajaedee, suggested that a speed radar be installed, to force drivers to be aware of their speed in the hope that they will slow down for the bend.

But this suggestion, too, seems unlikely to be realised because of a lack of funds.

For a long-term solution, authorities are to negotiate with owners of land to the west of the road to expropriate enough land for the entire road to be moved further away from the village entrance.

Similans hydrofoil service makes debut

The Flying Dolphin 1 in ‘flight’. Regular passengers will have to wait a couple of months before the regular service starts. a conventional 2.5-hour boat trip to the Similans.

Hydrofoils are lifted out of the water by what are effectively underwater wings. As a result, travelling in one feels more like air travel than boat travel. The Flying Dolphin 1

5

can “fly” in waves as high as two metres without discomfort to passengers.

The hydrofoil is also said to be more environmentally friendly than most powered vessels. Because the water resistance is much lower when

it is “flying”, it uses less fuel.

Adviser Denys van Rooyen said the operator, Dolphin Seaways, is looking to decrease its carbon footprint further by deploying solarpowered electric boats for the ship-to-shore transfers,

rather than the speedboats currently being used.

The Kometa hydrofoil was originally built in Russia, but was bought from Greece, where such machines are routinely used for island-hopping.

Sakwuth Udomsrisak,

Missing girl’s mum in fresh appeal for help

Pin’s mother displays a photograph of her missing daughter.

T he mot he r of m issi ng schoolgirl Samudchaya “Pin” Yanpunya visited Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha on January 19 to call for authorities to step up their efforts to find her daughter.

Samruay Santhaweesuk, 43, said that she had received no word from her daughter since she disappeared on December 6.

Ms Samruay believes Pin must have been abducted; before she disappeared, she said, Pin had always let family members know what she was planning to do and where she was going.

Pin was last seen at an internet café in Phuket City, where a CCTV camera caught her leaving. Since then she has not been seen.

Although her family have had no word from her, her Facebook page, “Pinnee Smile”, shows that she has accepted new “friends” since her disappearance.

After listening to Ms Samruay’s pleas, Gov Tri assigned a Deputy Commander of Phuket Police, Pol Col Peerayut Karajaedee, to look into the case.

Apart from the police and the governor, Ms Samruay has also visited the Damrongtham

Centre, the Paweena Foundation and the Mirror Foundation to enlist their help.

Anyone knowing of Pin’s whereabouts should call Phuket City Police at 076 212 115 or Ms Samruay at 087 284 8380.

principal of Dolphin Seaways and tour company Phuket Adventures, said the second-hand hydrofoil cost B45 million, including B9 million for transporting it from Greece, and a load more for the new 1,050-horsepower diesel engines and overall refurbishment.

The company is not yet ready to launch the service, said Mr van Rooyen. “We want to wait until we have our second hydrofoil ready,” he said. “We don’t want to be in a position where we have to cancel bookings because something goes wrong.”

The second hydrofoil should be ready for service, he said, “in two to three months”.

As to price, he said this had still to be decided. It will depend on a number of factors, he explained, including the services offered in the final package.

The hydrofoil company can be contacted through the web site at dolphinseaways.com

Kamala holds annual fest Kamala Tabon Administrative Organisation (OrBorTor) held the Kamala Festival 2012 last weekend (January 21-23).

As part of the celebrations, there were various fishing competitions off Kamala Beach, and music and stage shows.

Kamala OrBorTor President Karun Sriden said “The aim of this event is to to welcome the start of high season tourism and support the local economy.”

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Rubber duckies race once again The Phu ket Com mu nit y Foundation (PCF) has announced that it will hold its third charity Rubber Duck Race on February 5 at Laguna Phuket’s Latitude marquee, starting at midday.

As in previous years, the day is also planned to include dragon boat races – organised by the Rawai-Naiharn Dragon Boat Club – a cardboard box race for children, and many other activities for the whole family, including BIS Buddy’s activities for young kids, a bouncy castle and a trampoline.

The organisers say there will be plenty of other activities and competitions for children of all ages, along with various food and drink outlets.

A new event this year will be the Battle of the Young Bands, organised by Legend Music. This is a competition for groups of young musicians from the ages of 10 to 18. The winners will get a custom-made music video, a band photo session and will also get to perform live at the Hard Rock Café in Patong.

The highlight of the day, as always, will be the Great

ML Usni Pramoj.

Rubber ducks embark on the greatest race of their lives.

Phuket Rubber Duck Race, in which as many as 2,000 bright yellow rubber ducks will be released to race along the Dusit Canal.

Each duck will be numbered, and the first few ducks to cross the finish line will win big prizes for those who hold tickets with the corresponding numbers.

Proceeds will go to the PCF, which will use them in its grant-making activities, or to finance its two public programmes: establishing toy libraries for children whose parents cannot afford to buy toys; and its motorbike back lights replacement project,

aimed at making motorbike riders safer at night.

Dragon boat teams should register with the Rawai-Naiharn Dragon Boat Club (email: events@rawainaiharndragonboatclub.com). Individuals who want to race but cannot put together a team (between 12 and 20 people) can come along on the day with the chance of being included in a scratch team.

Entries for the Battle of the Young Bands should be sent to studio@legendmusic.net.

■■ For further information, visit the PCF website at: www.phuketcharity.org

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

–Photo by Angel Eyes Image.

Usni Pramoj to give free concert ML Usni Pramoj, Privy Councillor, concert violinist and composer, is to perform a free classical concert for students and their families at the Prince of Songkhla University, Phuket Campus, on Tuesday (January 31).

The concert will begin at 7 pm in the Luang Anuphas Phuketkarn Auditorium.

Students from any school or college on the island may attend, with members of their families.

Seating is limited, so bookings should be made through Ms Klinchan by email to

klinchan.t@gmail.com or by calling her (Thai or English language) at 085 789 9404.

Group bookings by schools will also be accepted.

The event is being sponsored by Designed by Woulfe Studio, Blair Speers/HotelTravel dot Com and Prince of Songk hla Universit y, Phuket Campus.

ML Usni will also perform a concert at Mom Tri’s Villa Royale on Monday (January 30). Tickets for this concert are B500 each. Call 076 333 569 to book. www.foreca.com

Phuket Seven Day Weather Forecast FRI JANUARY 27

SAT JANUARY 28

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MON JANUARY 30

TUE JANUARY 31

WED FEBRUARY 1

THU FEBRUARY 2

High: +31° Low: +25°

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High: +31° Low: +25°

High: +31° Low: +25°

Wind 22 kmh

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During 24-27 Jan, cloudy and widely scattered thundershowers and 1-3 oC drops. Minimum temperature 21-23 °C, maximum 33-35 °C. During 28-30 Jan, Isolated showers. Minimum temperature 22-25 °C, maximum 34-36 °C.

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SOUTHERN (EAST COAST):

During 24-27 Jan, Widely scattered to scattered thundershowers. Minimum temperature 22-24 °C, maximum 31-33 °C. Easterly winds 15-30 km./hr. Wave height about 1 metre. During 28-30 Jan, scattered thundershowers and heavy rain.

SOUTHERN (WEST COAST):

During 24-27 Jan, Widely scattered to scattered thundershowers. Minimum temperature 22-24 °C, maximum temperature 32-33 °C. Variable winds 15-30 km/hr. Wave height about 1 meter During 28-30 Jan, scattered thundershowers.

THE PHUKET NEWS

NATIONAL NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

7

Lèse majesté accused man pleads guilty

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: This photo taken by Government House on January 19 shows Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra talking with General Prem Tinsulanonda, President of the Privy Council, during a gala dinner on the occasion of the Royal Thai Army Day at the Thai Army Club in Bangkok. Many Red Shirt supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck blamed General Prem for supporting the last military coup that ousted the fugitive former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the older brother of Ms Yingluck.

–Photo by AFP

CNY fireworks kill 3 Three people were killed and around 40 injured when fireworks at a Chinese New Year celebration caused a huge explosion and set fire to nearby homes in Suphan Buri provincial town, police said on Tuesday (January 24).

Flaming shrapnel from the fireworks rained down on a residential area behind a Chinese temple where the official event was taking place.

“We think the explosion was an accident. The fire is under control but we will keep monitoring it,” said local police com mander Reera Butrpho.

He said those killed and some of those wou nded had been among spectators watching the finale of the fireworks display when the explosion happened.

The resulting blaze, which tore through a row of wooden houses near the event,

also caused several injuries, police said.

Images broadcast on television showed homes and vehicles engulfed in flames and people being rushed to hospital on stretchers.

TNN channel reported that the three killed were part of the firework team and one injured person was in a critical condition.

One witness, Krianee Kitpat, said she was standing in front of her home when the accident happened.

“I saw the fireworks coming directly towards my house and ran inside,” she said, explaining that she was injured by shards of glass as the impact of the projectile shattered a fish tank.

Suran Sahaidee, a monk f rom a nearby Budd hist temple, said the blast happened in the third display of the evening.

“The fireworks exploded at a low level and then fell into a tent where they were storing the fireworks and it caused a huge blast and a fire,” he told TNN. The news report said 20 homes were completely destroyed in the blaze and a further 30 were damaged.

Suphan Buri Governor Somsak Phureesrisak said he had ordered tents to be set up near the residential area, believed to comprise of around 100 houses, but did not give details of the number of people evacuated.

“People do not want to stay too far away from their homes because they are concerned about their property,” he said.

The New Year celebration was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa and his brother, former Prime Minister, Banharn Silpa-archa. Neither were

believed to have been hurt.

Thailand has a large ethnic Chinese population and the start of the Year of the Dragon has been widely celebrated across the country. –AFP

Charged with lèse majesté, Surachai Danwattananusorn pleaded guilty on Tuesday (January 24) in three lawsuits involving speeches alleged to have offended the monarchy, adopting a strategy to seek a royal pardon instead of defending the charges.

A verdict on his case is expected to be handed down by the Criminal Court on February 28.

The charges involved speeches at Doi Sa Ket in Chiang Mai, at a Red Shirt rally in Udon Thani, and at the Imperial Department Store in Lat Phrao, all in 2010.

But Mr Surachai, 71, is contesting a lèse majesté charge filed against him in 2009, involving a speech at Sanam Luang in Bangkok.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday (January 24) called on the people to help protect the monarchy and avoid abusing the institution for political advantage.

When asked whether her Government supported the

move to seek amendment to Article 112 of the Penal Code on lèse majesté, Ms Yingluck replied: “We are not doing this now.

We should focus on solving economic problems.”

Ms Yingluck said she had asked government figures to avoid certain sensitive issues and to focus instead on rehabilitation work to restoring confidence in Thailand after the recent severe floods.

She added that the Government would focus on campaigning for good understanding among different elements in society.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung on Tuesday insisted that the ruling Pheu Thai Party would not back the proposed changes.

“The party will definitely not amend this article.

“I will oppose whoever proposes its amendment.

“This is Thailand and we are happy because of the Royal kindness.

“Don’t you have anything else to do?” he asked.

Red Shirt in Cabinet A Red Shirt leader on terrorism charges became the first from the protest movement to become a minister in the current Government under a Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday January 18.

In the reshuff le, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promoted senior Red Shirt Nattawut Saikuar to the post of Deputy Agriculture Minister.

Mr Nattawut was released on bail along with others leaders of the movement in February last year, having spent nine months in detention on

terrorism charges in relation to their role in mass rallies in Bangkok in 2010.

He was elected in July’s election last year, which propelled the Red Shirt-allied Pheu Thai Party to victory under the leadership of Ms Yingluck, the sister of fugitive ex-Premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup. Several Red Shirt leaders were elected as lawmakers with the party, but were thought to miss out on Cabinet appointments because they could have angered Mr Thaksin’s foes in military,

Government and palace circles.

More than 90 people, mostly civilians, were killed and nearly 1,900 were wounded in 2010 during the two months of rallies against the previous Government, which drew about 100,000 Red Shirts, many of whom support Mr Thaksin.

Other notable changes in the new Cabinet line-up were new Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong, who retains the post of Deputy Prime Minister, and new Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat, previously Transport Minister. –AFP

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8

REGIONAL NEWS

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Chinese professor calls Hong Kong people ‘dogs’ A controversial Chinese professor has sparked an outcry by calling Hong Kong people “bastards”, “dogs” and “cheats” after a spat between mainlanders and locals in the southern city went viral online.

Kong Qingdong – famous for his public use of profanities – made the comments after the video showed a mainland girl being rebuked by locals angry that she was flouting rules against eating aboard Hong Kong subway trains.

The incident has been described as an example of the culture clash between mainland China and Hong Kong, with many pointing to what they see as a prevalent sense of superiority among residents in the former British colony.

“Everybody should have a duty to speak Mandarin,” Kong, a professor of Chinese studies at the prestigious Peking University who says he is a descendent of the philosopher Confucius, said in an interview posted on online video website v1.cn last week.

“What type of people are those who deliberately don’t speak Mandarin? Bastards!” he said, referring to the Hong Kong people involved in the row, who spoke in their native Cantonese language.

“To the best of my knowledge, many people in Hong Kong don’t consider themselves to be Chinese. Those types of people are used to being the dogs of British imperialists – they are dogs, not humans,”

C ontr over s ial C hine s e professor Kong Qingdong. the professor said.

Kong also says the British dealt with “Hong Kong dogs by spanking them” before they handed the territory back to China in 1997, and accuses many Hong Kong people of swindling and cheating.

He has also denied North Korea had ever faced famine and said he would not be sad if journalists were lined up and shot. Furious netizens in Hong Kong have vented their anger, with many attacking mainland China in sometimes vicious comments.

Around 150 people protested at Kong’s comments on Sunday evening outside Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, police in the territory said, many of them bringing their dogs.

Hong Kong trade union lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan said the outcry was evidence of growing tensions between people in the territory and on the mainland.

“This is a ticking time

bomb,” he said.

“Hong Kong people are unhappy with the central government, we are disgruntled about the lack of democracy.

On a more day-to-day level, you see that Hong Kong people often have clashes with mainlanders.”

While mainlanders have long complained about the perceived arrogance of wealthy Hong Kongers, Lee pointed to two recent episodes that have fostered a sense of resentment among locals in the city.

Last week, Italian clothing chain Dolce & Gabbana apologised to the people of Hong Kong for allegedly discriminating against them in favour of newly wealthy mainland shoppers.

And now the auspicious Year of the Dragon has started, mothers-to-be in Hong Kong complain they have been shut out of maternity wards because so many pregnant mainland women have come to the city to give birth.

Kong himself has reportedly backtracked from the controversy, claiming in a subsequent interview that “I know there are many nice people in Hong Kong, but many Hong Kong people are still dogs”.

The professor is no stranger to controversy. He was reportedly involved in a shadowy “Confucius Peace Prize” that awarded its annual award to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last year.

–AFP

Sumatran elephant faces Singapore anti-drugs extinction in 30 years: WWF chief under investigation Sumatran elephants in the wild face extinction in less than 30 years unless there is an “immediate moratorium” on destruction of the animals’ habitat, environmental group WWF warned Tuesday.

There are now between 2,400 and 2,800 of the elephants left in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which means the population has halved since 1985, said the WWF. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has also changed its classification of the Sumatran elephant from “endangered” to “critically endangered” on its list of threatened species, said the WWF. The elephant joins a growing list of critically endangered species on Sumatra, including the orangutan and rhino.

“An immediate morato-

The Sumatran elephant faces extinction in the wild. rium on habitat conversion is needed to secure a future for Sumatran elephants,” the WWF warned in a statement.

“Scientists say that if current trends continue, Sumatran elephants could be extinct in the wild in less than 30 years.”

It attributed the decline largely to habitat being deforested and converted for agricultural plantations.

The IUCN said it changed its classification because the creature, the smallest Asian elephant, has lost nearly 70 per cent of its habitat and half of its population in one generation.

Elephant numbers in Sumatra’s Riau province alone have declined by 80 per cent in less than 25 years.

–AFP

Singapore has placed the head of its Central Narcotics Bureau under investigation for “serious personal misconduct”, the government said Tuesday.

The bureau is the lead agency in the fight against illegal narcotics in Singapore, where drug trafficking is punishable by death.

The probe into Ng Boon Gay began last December, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement.

Another official, the head of the civil defence force Peter Lim, is also under investigation, it said.

The ministry did not give details of the allegations, but said Ng and Lim were being investigated by the Corrupt Practices and Investigation Bureau for “serious personal

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean. misconduct.” Both officials have since been replaced.

“All public officers, regardless of their position or seniority, are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity and conduct,” Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister

Teo Chee Hean said in a statement.

“If officers are found to have abused the trust placed in them, we will not hesitate to take firm and decisive action against them.”

Large-scale graft cases are rare in Singapore, a thriving global financial centre and business hub which enjoys a reputation for being the least corrupt country in Asia.

It pays its civil servants some of the highest government salaries in the world as a deterrent to corruption.

Last year, two senior civil servants were sentenced to 22 years and 15 years in jail, respectively, for their role in one of the worst corruption cases in the country’s history.

–AFP

Bird flu claims second victim in China A man in southwest China who contracted the bird flu virus died on Sunday, health authorities said, the second human death from the virulent disease in the country in just under a month.

The news comes after neighbouring Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia also reported deaths from avian influenza, and after chickens tested positive for the H5N1 virus in Hong Kong, prompting a mass cull of birds.

The latest Chinese victim fell ill on January 6 and was admitted to hospital in Guiyang – capital of Guizhou

thephuketnews.com

province – where his condition rapidly deteriorated, the provincial health department said in a statement.

Tests on the patient before he died confirmed he had contracted the H5N1 virus, it added.

He is the second man to die from bird flu in China in less than a month.

The latest death brings to 28 the number of people in China who have died from the disease – which is fatal in humans in about 60 per cent of cases – since 2003. Authorities from Hong Kong and the

mainland have been working closely together since three chickens in the Chinese territory tested positive for the H5N1 virus in mid December.

Vietnam also last Thursday reported its first human death from the virus in nearly two years, and the disease also claimed the life of a toddler in Cambodia.

Indonesia also reported its second human death from bird flu this year when a fiveyear-old girl who recently lost her relative to the deadly virus also passed away.

– AFP

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Up to 60 feared dead as landslide hits PNG village As many as 60 people are feared dead after a massive landslide wiped out an entire village in a scene of “utter devastation” in Papua New Guinea, reports and aid workers said Wednesday.

The disaster struck near a huge ExxonMobil liquefied natural gas project in the country’s rugged southern highlands on Tuesday as people slept, leaving a trail of destruction.

PNG media said 40 bodies had been recovered and another 20 people were still missing.

The director of PNG’s National Disaster Centre, Martin Mosi, said it appeared lives had been lost but he could not verify how many.

Staff from his office were en route via helicopter and he said once they were on the ground, he would have a clearer picture.

“It was a big landslide and it covered a big area where there used to be small hamlets, so we are expecting a number of deaths.”

The Pacific nation’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill

was also rushing to the scene.

“He has just left and will have a look at the landslide area and see what assistance is needed,” an official said.

Nanduka Yandi, an aid worker for US-based NGO Population Services International, was at the scene of the landslide soon after it happened on Tuesday and said many people were killed, with few escaping the carnage.

“It covered 42 houses and only three or four people managed to escape,” he said.

“It is quite remote and yesterday there was hardly anyone here to dig out the bodies or help people. People lost their entire families.”

Yandi said it had been raining in the area at the time, although some locals quoted by the media claimed the landslide was caused by blasting at a nearby quarry.

ExxonMobil’s Aus$16 billion ( B528 billion) LNG project is due to begin production in 2014 and will see PNG’s natural gas sold across Asia for the next 30 years.

– AFP

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

9

Obama hails the death of Osama in state address US President Barack Obama on Tuesday hailed the end of the war in Iraq and the death of Osama bin Laden, as he trumpeted his credentials as commander-in-chief in his key State of the Union address.

“For the first time, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country,” the president said, in a speech to US lawmakers which effectively launches his campaign for re-election in November.

Praising “this generation of heroes” which has “made the United States safer and more respected around the world,” Obama won his first standing ovation of the night from some of the gathered lawmakers.

“Most of Al-Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated.

The Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home,” he said.

Barack Obama, pictured here making a speech in Las Vegas, gave his State of the Union address this week.

–Photo by Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Addressing rows of military men in uniform from his top joint chiefs of staff, Obama praised the achievements as “a testament to the courage, selflessness, and teamwork of America’s Armed Forces.”

“At a time when too many of our institutions have let

us down, they exceed all expectations. They’re not consumed with personal ambition.

They don’t obsess over their differences. They focus on the mission at hand. They work together.”

Obama also said on Tuesday the US union was “getting

stronger,” defending his policies by saying “we’ve come too far to turn back now.”

“As long as I’m president, I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum,” Obama said.

The US leader said he intended “to fight obstruction with action,” and “oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.”

“We will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt, and phony financial profits,” Obama said.

He entered the White House in 2009 amid the worst economic downturn in decades, and pledged in his speech Tuesday to rebuild the US economy with an emphasis “on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values”.

–AFP

Libya says will strike back if Kadhafi men behind unrest Libya said it will strike back if diehards of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi were behind deadly clashes in his former bastion of Bani Walid, where confusion reigned Tuesday as to who was behind the unrest.

Five people were killed and several wounded on Monday when fighting erupted in the town, which local officials said began with an attack by supporters of Kadhafi against a base of former rebels.

Those claims were strongly denied by Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali late Monday, while an AFP correspondent who visited the town the same day said it was unclear who controlled it.

On Tuesday, Abdelali said the reasons for the violence still remained unclear, but added that Libyan forces were ready to strike back if the unrest was indeed triggered

by Kadhafi’s men in Bani Walid, a town 170 kilometres southeast of Tripoli.

“We do not want to rush,” Abdelali told a news conference in Tripoli.

But if the trouble in Bani Walid was due to “remnants of the former regime for

political reasons,” then the authorities “are capable of striking anyone who dares to har m the secu r it y of Libya”, he said.

Abdelali said he was still waiting for more information to “assess what really happened and find solutions to the crisis,” adding that some reports spoke of a tribal conflict in the town while others blamed Kadhafi loyalists.

“The two ministries (of defence and interior) are capable of taking all necessary steps to maintain security. We are ready,” he added.

Abdelali’s remarks came after the interim government met earlier Tuesday to discuss the deadly clashes even as other sources said calm had returned to the town on Tuesday.

On Monday, Abdelali had said the clashes erupted due to “internal problems” in Bani Walid.

He told Libyan television that the fighting was linked to “the issue of compensation for those affected by last year’s war.”

Colonel Salem al-Ouaer, a tribal leader from Bani Walid

told AFP Tuesday that calm was returning to the town.

Bani Walid was one of the last pro-Kadhafi bastions to fall in the bloody uprising against Kadhafi.

Its capture was followed days later by the fall of his hometown Sirte in a battle which also led to Kadhafi’s killing and marked the “liberation” of Libya.

Monday’s firefight follows an outburst of opposition to the NTC in the eastern city of Benghazi last week that prompted council chairman Jalil to warn of possible “civil war” in post-conflict Libya.

Libyan mufti Sadeq alGhariani, meanwhile, urged the government to rapidly integrate the former rebels into security forces.

He also called on the former rebels to “urgently” get integrated into the forces of interior and defence ministries.

The government has plans to rehabilitate about 200,000 former rebels into various fields, including integrating around 50,000 into security services of these ministries.

–AFP

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10 LETTERS/VIEWPOINT

THE PHUKET NEWS

OPINION

Finding a fortune

Meet the mor doo, the soothsayers of modern Phuket > 11

Editor’s Viewpoint

NORACHAI’S WORLD

A LITTLE BIT OF SPIDEY SENSE

The death of Phuket man Wanchai Wongsilakorn on Monday from an alleged spider bite should give everyone cause for concern.

Mr Wanchai first went to Thalang Hospital on Sunday night, after complaining of swelling and pain in his right arm. He told the doctor that he had been bitten by something while taking a bath.

The doctor found no signs that he was in any danger, gave Mr Wanchai pain medication and sent him home.

The next day at 5am he arrived back at the hospital in severe pain, and died around noon.The case highlights the very important point that although we can very easily be lulled into a false sense of Western security by being surrounded by shopping malls, large highways, and fast cars, we need to remember that we live in a tropical country full of all sorts of dangerous insects and animals.

While there are no known deadly spiders in Thailand – and it is worth noting that

Happy Chinese New Year.

Letters to the Editor The horror of war [Re. The island’s wartime past] I wanted to comment on your recent history article, “The island’s wartime past”. The picture showed a building in Phuket Town that you describe as “a shelter for foreign woman who were captured”.

Come on. Invading Japanese solders did very little “sheltering”. They gang-raped, tortured, and murdered, just for fun, and as a form of psychological warfare.

Thailand was wise to avoid most of the horror Japan inflicted on much of Asia. The past is the past, but let’s be honest.

I’m glad Phuket was largely untouched by the war.

John Woodward

Deadly speculation [Re. ‘Spider bite’ death raises questions] There are no deadly spiders in Thailand, period.

An allergic reaction usually happens fairly quickly (within minutes), though not always.

An epinephrine injection solves the problem and surely any certified doctor would do this in the case of a true allergic reaction.

Perhaps this was not a spider that caused the problem. Perhaps it was another venom.

Instead of speculating and non-expert opinions, why don’t they do an autopsy and find out which type of venom caused the problem and see if he actually died of anaphylactic shock.

Dave

A dog’s best friend [Re. Major award for

Phuket’s Soi Dog] Great job, keep up your wonderful work. There is no need to constantly try to redirect the blame for animal cruelty in the form of eating dogs to Vietnam. The problem is right here!

Just say, “stop illegal trafficking” as Thais in the north eat dogs and so do others.

Dave

Blame the drivers

[Re. New plan to fix Khor Ane bend] I have used this road many times, day and night, wet and dry, there is nothing wrong with the road... the problem is with the people who use it, most people still think they are riding water buffalo.

Laurie Howells

Lacking vision [Re. Plans for more CCTV coverage of Phuket]

Looks like political grandstanding to me... 1,000 cameras, mmm, seems many of the existing ones don’t work.

Why install another 1,000?

They certainly would not have stopped the shootings, only have to plan a different location.

Who will monitor 1,000 cameras?

I don’t think these guys even think before opening their mouths.

Laurie Howells

Sad news [Re. Skim gangs targeting over-60s – police] My brother was a victim and lost a lot of money. Be careful everyone.

Paul

Price right [Re. Australian regulators file lawsuit against AirAsia] Yes, I hope that the Australians

it has not been confirmed it was a spider bite that killed Mr Wanchai – there are many other animals and insects Thailand residents and visitors need to watch out for. Apart from the obvious, such as tigers, snakes, and scorpions, even tiny mosquitoes can post a threat as bearers of dengue fever or malaria.

Some good should come from the death of Mr Wanchai, and that is it should make everyone living in Phuket more aware of the danger that can be living in your home or garden.

Be aware and cautious at all times, especially concerning children and pets, and if you think you’ve been bitten by something, don’t muck around.

If you feel unwell or your gut feeling tells you it could be something more serious, don’t settle for being sent home with pain relief, like poor Mr Wanchai.

Make sure someone listens to your concerns, and does something about them.

It might just save your life.

This week in history succeed in their proposal!

Thailand should follow!

The prices are confusing, especially with Air Asia who have a lot of hidden costs!

It is not only Air Asia, but that airline is number one in try to hide a lot of costs or trick you into some packages and insurance!

A Hoeld

Fair game

Call me a hermit, but I went to the Chalong temple for the first time earlier this week, to see the fair that was on, and I was amazed.

What a beautiful temple and what a great night out.

So much to see and do, and don’t even get me started on the delicious food my wife and I sampled. If anyone has spare time over the weekend I’d recommend making the trip.

It’s just a shame that the traffic is so bad getting there!

John Boy

Letters may be edited for clarity or length. Email editor@thephuketnews.com or fax 076 612 553. Please include your full name, phone number, and email address.

thephuketnews.com

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

■■ January 27, 1993 – American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Tarō becomes the first foreigner to be promoted to the sport’s highest rank of yokozuna.

■■ January 28, 1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalise therapeutic abortion.

■■ January 29, 1886 – Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.

■■ January 30, 1933 – Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.

■■ January 31, 1606 – Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting to blow up Parliament and James I of England.

■■ February 1, 2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

■■ February 2, 1899 – The Australian Premiers’ Conference held in Melbourne relocates to Australia’s capital city, Canberra.

FAITH IN FATE THE PHUKET NEWS

HOT TOPIC 11

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

In many countries belief in fortune tellers has dwindled. Not so in Thailand.

F

ortune telling has been a part of Thai culture for millennia, and it seems that the increasing sophistication of the world and society at large is doing nothing to reduce demand for the services of fortune tellers, or mor doo.

Indeed, with the arrival of mass media, the mor doo is no longer the local village soothsayer. These days there are celebrity mor doo with their own TV spots; and it would be a rash politician, business person or showbiz star who made a major decision without first consulting his or her favourite soothsayer.

The stress induced by the increasing complexity of society, too, seems to creating more demand for mor doo, not less, as people try to find what lies in the future, or reasons for their current bad luck, fears, sadness or misery.

Jae-nu Reehun, a tourist from Malaysia, is a believer in the skills of Thailand’s mor doo, one of whom gave her a warning that she believes saved her life.

“My friend took me to see a mor doo in Thailand, and the mor doo warned me to beware of water – rivers, lakes or the sea. A week later, I went with many friends to Krabi for a holiday. Some of them invited me to go kayaking with them but I declined.

“One of the kayaks overturned and my friend almost drowned, even though she can swim.

“It may sound incredible but I believe that if I had gone kayaking as my friend asked, I would have drowned for sure. The mor doo’s prediction warned me,” Ms Reehun said.

THE MANY FACES OF MOR DOO There are many kinds of mor doo. Some claim to be able to see into a client’s past lives, and to divine from this the reasons for their current suffering. The Buddhist concept of karma, they believe, is very real. The bad things one does in a past life will rebound on one in current or future lives.

Some channel powerful spirits or minor gods to help in understanding and fixing a person’s karma.

Others use astrology, numerology, or the reading of palms or cards to divine a person’s current state or their future.

Tanakorn Sinkasem, presi-

Jakthip Suksantikamol. dent of the Astrological Association of Thailand (AAT) is a professional mor doo using a variety of techniques including astrology and numerology.

He explains, “I’ve been interested in astrology since I was young but I became serious about after I was ordained a monk in 1977.

“I bought a book on astrology and spent all my free time reading it. When I understood the concepts I cast my own horoscope, using my day, date, month and year of birth according to the seven-digit system and astrological orbits.

“I could see that my horoscope predicted I would be a monk when I was 26 years old. And here I was, 26 years old, and a monk. The book was very clear and I came to believe in astrology very deeply.

“I then began learning seriously about astrology at the AAT. After graduating from there, I studied with several other astrology professors and began doing predictions for my friends. From there things spread so that other people come to me for predictions.

“At first I did not have many customers but there were amateur mor doo who asked me to teach them, so I decided to quit my job in

a bank and become a mor doo,” he says.

People’s fate is like a map of life, he explains. “Fate will determine their destiny. If they do good, their life will be good as well. People want to know the future so they can protect themselves from bad things in their life.”

He says the three main things people want to know about are finances, career and love.

“I do not ask my customers for money but I do suggest they make merit or make a donation. Mor doo should be moral. What we do is a way to help people – not to add to their troubles [by demanding money].” he says.

PREDICTING THE FUTURE Jakthip Suksantikamol is a landlord, making his money from rent. His free time is spent as a mor doo. “A mor doo is like a psychiatrist,” he says, “someone who treats people’s mental problems in a variety of ways that remove bad luck, such as releasing birds or fish, making a donation to a charity or going to the wat for a blessing with holy water.”

Jakthip is a hora – he uses astrology. He says astrologers

Jularat Khotchahung. can predict how the stars affect people in various periods of their lives, and to alert them to auspicious days and bad days. Some hora, he says, also use knowledge of the Chinese feng shui system of geomancy.

“A mor doo can also predict the fate, misfortunes and luck of people who are suffering.”

He has studied astrology for 33 years because he believes prediction can help people to live with greater awareness and care.

“A prediction is like a warning flag in your life. A long time ago, there was a Chinese mor doo who told my mother – I was not home that day – that my life would improve in the future. He predicted many things that would change in my life, both good and bad.

“I did not believe all the things he predicted, but I did live my life with more care to try to avoid some of the bad things he predicted.”

He stresses, “A mor doo cannot solve problems but can make suggestions about things people should or should not do.

“For example, a friend came to ask my advice on plans he had for building a petrol station. I warned him

that he should avoid water, oil or any liquid, because these could cause him to lose a lot of money. So he decided not to build the petrol station.

“Later on, however, he opened a hotel in Khao Lak next to the beach. When the tsunami hit his hotel it was badly damaged.

“I do not ask people to pay me a lot of money. If they want to donate, it is only B12.

Sometimes, when I make a prediction for someone who has really bad luck, I will give them some money.”

CHANGING YOUR FATE Jularat Khotchahung works a s a concierge at Villa Layan. But in her free time she, too, is a mor doo. She uses tarot cards to look into people’s futures.

“I used to do predictions for friends only, but this has led to friends of friends coming to see me. Because I work in a respectable job, some of the people who come to see me are business people who do not trust other mor doo or are afraid that other people will come to know that they have been consulting a mor doo.

“Most of my guests are close to me, so I can make detailed, clear predictions of

good and bad in their lives.

I do not make a distinction between the good and the bad; what I tell them is their fate.

“After a session, I urge my guest to donate money to a temple, foundation or hospital. That’s my fee,” she says happily.

She explains that the Tarot pack consists of 78 cards. She asks her guest to shuffle the pack and then pick 10 of these.

“They have to choose the cards themselves because all the cards they select will represent their fate. I am just the interpreter of the cards. I don’t choose them.”

Jularat does not believe that fate is set in stone. “I believe one’s fate can be changed when one’s attitude is changed.

If you always think about bad things, all the cards you choose will tend to be negative. But if you are optimistic the cards will give a positive reading. If anyone receives a bad prediction, I take them to donate money or make merit [at a temple].

“Moreover, I believe that the cards can warn us to be more careful. I read the cards for myself two days before the tsunami hit Phuket in 2004. I picked the Death card, which predicts really bad things.

“So I made merit and donated a lot of money in the hope that it would make me feel better. But I still felt bad so I decided to stay at home instead of going to my job in Patong.”

That was the day the tsunami hit. “It certainly reinforced my faith in Tarot card prediction.”

FACT OR FICTION? Not all Thais, by any means, believe mor doo have the power to predict the future.

Phuketian Rachane Nittee, for example, says, “Before we married my girlfriend took me several times to see mor doo.

“One mor doo said that we would be separated in six months. But now we had been married for two years and our family life is very good.

“I think if you believe mor doo predictions you can just give yourself misery,” Rachane says.

Jularat is unfazed by such reactions. “I don’t really care whether people believe my predictions or not. I tell them the truth about their fate. They are the ones who select the cards.”

–Sukunya Phoonpong

thephuketnews.com

12 BUSINESS/TOURISM

THE PHUKET NEWS

BUSINESS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Here we go again

Property developer Sansiri looks for success No 2 in Phuket > 14

Grim future for Thai rice exports

Blair hinted at the need for greater social justice in Thailand.

Blair praises Thai business potential Speaking at the Board of Investment’s CEO Forum at the BOI Fair recently, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thailand had better investment potential than other countries in Asia.

Speaking on “Challenges and opportunities in a globalised world”, Mr Blair was one of many international and Thai leaders invited to speak at the forum hosted by the BOI, the Ministry of Industry, and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau in Bangkok.

Mr Blair said that Thailand, despite suffering through severe flood crisis and other difficulties, still has great potential for business and growth in the fast-changing global environment.

He said countries need to work together if they are to play a greater role in the world. Thailand should maintain its strong ties with other ASEAN members if it wants to play a major part in the bloc’s development.

He also dropped hint, however, that the country needs to address problems with social justice, citing examples such

as minimum wages, the welfare system and “the relationship between public and private sectors”.

But Thailand should be proud of its past, present and future, he added, suggesting that despite problems the country should “unite and aim for greater opportunities”.

Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, spoke on “Global Sustainable Foreign Direct Investment and Opportunities for Thailand” while ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan examined Thailand’s potential role in the ASEAN Economic Community, which comes into being in three years’ time.

Other speakers at the forum included Deputy Prime Minister and new Minister of Finance Kittiratt Na-Ranong, who outlined the country’s economic stimulation plans, and the Chairman of the Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development, Veerapong Ramangkul, who spoke about flood prevention plans.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TR EA) announced on Monday that the country’s rice exports will fall drastically this year, due to a number of factors.

Last year the country exported 10.5 million tonnes but this year’s figure could be as low as 6.5 million tonnes, a slump of 38 per cent.

Korbsook Iamsuree, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said that rice exports face many obstacles this year.

The first of these, she said, is overall world demand, with the US Department of Agriculture predicting a fall of almost 3 million tonnes, from 34.78 million last year to 31.88 million in 2012.

Second, India will resume rice exports after a three-year suspension. It has already allowed exports of two million tonnes of rice and additional rice export permits are likely to hit Thai exports, in particular white rice and parboiled rice, which could drop by another 1.5 million tonnes, she said.

Several other countries have also increased rice exports this year. They include Cambodia, Myanmar, Brazil, Uruguay and Pakistan, she said.

In addition, Thai rice prices are higher than their competitors due to the Gover nment’s rice mor tgage scheme. Thai rice is currently the world’s most expensive, said the TREA. For example, Thailand’s

Rice grows bright green in a Nan Province farm. But will the farmer be able to sell it? five per cent white rice and five per cent parboiled rice are both expor ted at the same price of US$533 a tonne, while the Indian equivalents are sold at US$435 and US$450 respectively.

Thai jasmine rice is under

attack, too. Vietnamese jasmine rice sells at $350-450 per tonne, while Thai jasmine rice tops US$1,000 a tonne. Vietnam has grabbed a sizeable share of Thailand’s rice export market, particularly in Asia, according to Ms Korbsook.

Leaders gather for forum

Top TTF speaker: Chanin Donavanik, CEO of Dusit Hotels and Resorts.

Thailand’s hotel leaders and international experts will discuss the state of the hospitality sector at the Thailand Tourism Forum 2012 (TTF) on February 2 at the Inter-Continental Hotel Bangkok.

Key participants include Chanin Donavanik, CEO of Dusit Hotels and Resorts, Dilip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor International, and Peter Henley, CEO and President of Onyx Hospitality Group.

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Thai rice prices and production this year will also be at the mercy of regional conditions, natural disasters currency exchange fluctuations and the government’s policies, she warned.

–MCOT

• Experienced team of Thai & Foreign lawyers specializing in all areas of law & Business

will be key players from Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, Horwath HTL, PATA, STR Global, Quo and C9 Hotelworks.

Speaking on 2012 expectations, Mike Batchelor, Managing Director for Investment Sales of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, said, “We expect this year to see a high level of both international and domestic inflow into the country’s hotel grade assets.

“Based upon our participation in the sales of the Laguna Beach Resort, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, Baan Taling Ngam and Sofitel Silom, we expect continued favorable momentum to spur a number of key transactions.”

Phuket’s own Bill Barnett of C9 Hotelworks will open the event and will also have the last word in his closing address.

TTF 2012 is being organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AMCHAM). Participation is free and registration is available on the website AMCHAM website at amchamthailand.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS

BUSINESS/TOURISM 13

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Wouter Hazenbroek.

Sea Pearl Villas GM appointed The Sea Pearl Villas Resort, a stand-alone property in Phuket, has named Wouter Hazenbroek as its new general manager.

Mr Hazenbroek has over 20 years’ experience in management and sales. Before joining the resort, he was general manager of the Amari Boulevard Bangkok.

He has also worked for InterContinental Hotels Group, Golden Tulip International and Bilerberg Hotels & Restaurant.

Sea Pearl Villas Resort, Phuket is on Prabaramee Rd, on Patong Hill. It has 188 rooms and suites.

–TTR Weekly

Boathouse hires ass’t sales boss The Boathouse Phuket has appointed Belgian Axel Jehangir as Assistant Director of Sales.

Mr Jehangir has lived and worked in South America, Europe and Southeast Asia but started his career at the Silver Spoon Butler Organization in England and then served as a personal butler to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, at the Royal Box at Ascot and at the inauguration of the Carbon Black Racing at Leeds Castle in Kent.

His work in hotels began with the Evason Phuket Resort and Six Senses Spa, before he moved on to the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket.

He also worked at the Laguna Holiday Club Phuket and the Marriott Vacation Club.

A step up for Kittirat

Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Kittirat na Ranong became more powerful last week when PM Yingluck Sinawatra reshuffled her cabinet, promoting him from Commerce Minister to Finance Minister.

To make room for Kittirat as top government technocrat, Yingluck booted out Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, who became Finance Minister just five months ago after serving as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and before that as a central bank deputy governor.

The Government’s progrowth economic policies, already driven largely by Kittirat and backed by exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, elder brother of Prime Minister Yingluck, are not expected be affected by the ministerial change.

Kittirat, 53, a former broker and President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) – and also a former manager of the Thai national soccer team – had no political experience when he was appointed to the Cabinet last August.

The holder of an MBA in finance and international business from Chulalongkorn University’s Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration, he had led the Stock

Kittirat na Ranong with US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle in Honolulu last year during APEC talks.

–Photo AFP Exchange of Thailand for five years and was also chairman of Cathay Asset Management and the First Asia Securities brokerage firms. Kittirat is credited with having played a big role in restoring investor confidence after the devastating floods last year.

But he has also stirred controversy in the past, criticising the central bank’s monetary policy, and advocating cuts in

say is aggravating the huge fall in rice exports caused by the floods.

Despite criticism from economists, the new minister has promised to implement other populist policies, such as the B300 minimum daily wage, that were crucial to the Pheu Thai Party’s landslide election victory last July.

Other Cabinet changes saw former university dean Pongs-

vas Svasti replacing Industry Minister Wannarat Channukul and Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan being replaced

by Arak Chonlatanon, a former CEO of satellite company Thaicom, which was founded

by Mr Thaksin.

Deputy Finance Minister Boonsong Teriyaphirom stepped up to take Kittirat’s cast-off job as Commerce Minister.

Terror warnings ‘did not hit numbers’ The Director of Suvarnabhumi Airport has revealed that there was no fall in the number of tourists travelling to Thailand, despite recent warnings of possible terrorist attacks on tourism hotspots.

However, the Chairman of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), Sittiwat Cheevarattanaporn, said that the warnings had forced travel agents to relocate their clients, particularly Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese visitors, to locations away from Khao

San Rd, Bang Lamphu and Soi Sukhumvit 22, all mentioned in travel advisories issued by those countries.

ATTA said that, coming on the back of the floods, the terrorism warnings had resulted in a fall in the number of tour groups coming to Thailand for the Chinese New Year.

It said that fewer than 70,000 tourists from China were expected to arrive in Thailand during the holiday period, compared with more than 100,000 in recent years.

Accor to add 9 hotels Accor Hotels Group has announced that it will have nine more hotels in Thailand under management by the end of this year, including a new hotel at Nai Harn Beach, being built by the owners of the Hilton Phuket Arcadia, and another in Patong.

The group was responding to recent reports that it was losing properties as owners reconsidered management benefits, or branding options.

Thailand’s hotel industry has faced a downturn in busi-

interest rates at a time when the Bank of Thailand was worried about inflation and looking at pushing up rates.

The central bank did cut rates in November, but that was in reaction to severe floods that had hit industry hard.

Kittirat also directs the Government’s controversial rice intervention policy which guarantees high prices for farmers, and which critics

ness since 2008, mainly because of a glut of new rooms, global recession and political discord in the country.

In response to questions from TTR Weekly, the group said it would add 2,066 rooms to its Thailand’s inventory with nine properties due to open this year.

The new additions are: • Ibis Hua Hin (200 rooms), soft opened last Monday; • Novotel Phuket Vintage Park Resort (305 rooms) to open in Q1

• Sofitel So Bangkok ( 230 rooms) to open in Q1 • Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit ( 345 rooms) to open in Q2; • Pullman Phuket Arcadia (281 rooms) to open in Q3; • Mercure Bangkok Siam (189 rooms) to open in Q1; • Mercu re Ba ng kok Makkasan (174 rooms) to open in Q2; • All Seasons Samui Chaweng Thana (153 rooms) to open in Q1; • Ibis Bangkok Siam (189 rooms) to open in Q1. –TTR

ATTA pleaded with the Government to speak with other countries about the warnings, with a view to reviving tourism.

But Suvarnabhumi Airport Director Somchai Sawasdipol was emphatic that the overall number of tourists coming through the airport had not dropped.

Mr Somchai insisted that the number of f lights and tourists arriving in Thailand has not fallen.

He said an average of 1,000

inbound flights continue to land at Suvarnabhumi Airport every day, and approximately 150,000-160,000 tourist arrivals a day are being recorded.

He added that the National Intelligence Agency of the Royal Thai Police is monitoring the situation closely after terror alerts were issued by various countries.

Lebanese citizen and suspected Hezbollah member Hussein Atris was arrested on January 12. Police found 4.4 tonnes of urea-based fertiliser

and 290 litres of ammonium nitrate – both potential bombmaking chemicals – on the second floor of a building rented by him in Samut Sakhon.

On January 13 the US State Department issued a warning to travellers, stating “This message alerts US citizens in Thailand that foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future.”

That warning has now been dropped.

–NNT

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14 BUSINESS/PROPERTY

THE PHUKET NEWS

Sansiri launches second project

–Phuket News Graphic

Confidence index rises The Industry Council reveals that the December 2011 Industries Sentiment Index (TISI) rose and they are expecting that the index will continue to climb during the next three months, given the increase in purchase orders.

Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), Payungsak Chartsutthipol, revealed that the TISI for December 2011 rose to 93.7 – up from 87.5 in November – due to the easing of the flood crisis in central Thailand.

He added that flood recovery is allowing many factories to resume operations, particularly in the automobile industry.

The FTI chief also predicted that the index will rise to around 106.3 due to an increase in purchase orders and improved turnover.

However, Mr Payungsak added that business operators are still concerned about the impact of the global economic slowdown, high oil prices, exchange rates and uncertainty

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

over Thai politics.

He went on to say that most business people agree with the suggestion that the government should speed up its economic stimulus actions after the floods, delay increasing the minimum wage and postpone energy price rises for the industrial sector.

They are also proposing that the Government keep the water management process fair, so as not to neglect either the agriculture or the industrial sectors.

Giant Thai developer Sansiri is to launch its second dCondo development on Phuket, dCondo Kathu –Patong with a three-day sales event starting today (January 27).

The developer expects a good response from the Phuket market following the success of the first dCondo development on October 18, when all 556 units sold out in just three hours.

Next month, Sansiri also plans to launch two new housing developments, called Habitia and Habitown, as part of its full-on expansion into the low-end of the Phuket market.

Suriya Wannabuit, Sansiri’s Executive Vice President for Project Management and Marketing, said the company is “confident and committed” to expanding its Phuket portfolio.

The second dCondo development, valued at B800 million, will have 653 units for sale. “The success of dCondo Kathu has proved that clients in Phuket trust in developments

by Sansiri,” he said.

DCondo Kathu-Patong is located on the main road (next to the Tessaaban Kathu-Patong, in Kathu district), “Our target audience is working people who are looking for a residence that is conveniently-located and has

Suriya Wannabuit: ‘Sansiri is confident and committed.’ easy access to travel, entertainment and shopping areas, as well as easy connections to Phuket Town and Patong,” Mr Suriya explained.

Habitia, consisting of semidetached houses, Habitown, which will comprise two-storey

townhouses, will be launched in February this year. The three developments together are valued by Sansiri at B2 billion.

Future plans for Phuket include “another development in the upscale market segment”, but the company gave no details.

Units in dCondo KathuPatong will be in three eightstorey buildings, each unit being between 28 and 29 square metres in internal area. Each will have a “relaxing area”, a bathroom and separate kitchen.

Common facilities will include a green area, a fitness room and a swimming pool, as well as a security system equipped with 24-hour CCTV and key card access.

Prices start at B999,000.

The development sees some changes from earlier on, with more windows in corner units to increase air flow and add more light. Buyers who reserve units on January 27-29 will be able to pay the down payment in installments of just B999 a month.

Customers with Siam Commercial Bank credit cards will also enjoy zero per cent interest on installment payments for 10 months.

Those interested can visit the showroom, call 1685 or visit www.sansiri.com.

TAT announces 2012 training programme The Tourism Training Network division of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced a new seminar curriculum for 2012 that will focus on sustainability and improving online marketing for industry players.

Training network division director Panjit Santhatkollakar said the 17 seminars in six categories will focus on knowledge-based tourism; in addition to brainstorming sessions that seek to tap feedback from in-

thephuketnews.com

dustry leaders for next year’s marketing plan.

“We have six major seminar topics including three new themes to support our objective of achieving sustainability,” said Ms Panjit.

Seminar topics are: • Online tourism marketing, in Bangkok on February 15 and 16 and in Udon Thani on February 22 and 23; • Seminar on enhancing international quality tourist

markets scheduled two times in Bangkok in May; • Workshop on ecotourism management scheduled in four different locations in February; Nan province; Pai district in Mae Hong Son province; Koh Samui and Chiang Khan district in Loei province.

• Training on sustainable tourism scheduled four times at the same venues as above during May andd June; • Workshops on knowledgebased tourism scheduled in Ayutthaya, Khon Kaen and Chantaburi on three days to be decided; and • Joint seminars on domestic and international tourism sectors scheduled two times in Bangkok (March) and in Krabi (May).

“Our seminar topics this year focus on online marketing, but we have added ecotourism, knowledge-based and sustainable tourism,” said Ms Panjit.

For further information on training, contact the TAT Tourism Training Network division at +66 (0) 2 250 5500 ext. 4476-8 –TTR Weekly

16 ART

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

CULTURE

BIG LIST: Predicting the future > 22

Beating boredom “This picture shows the Cherng Talay Elders band providing the rhythm for a traditional costume contest held at the Phuket Museum, next to the Heroines Monument. They were serious about

their drumming, but clearly also enjoyed it tremendously.

“For elderly people this is a great way to have fun, make new friends and have something to look forward to each week.” –James Fergus

WE’RE LOOKING FOR YOUR PHOTO editor@thephuketnews.com twitter.com/thephuketnews www.facebook.com/ThePhuketNewspaper www.thephuketnews.com/random-view.php

www.photohutgroup.com

The art of recycling

Ceramics of Phuket:

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

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

focus

thephuketnews.com

PHUKET GALLERIES Designed by Woulfe Studio

GALLERY Seven local artists enjoyed themselves recently at the Nakhonnai Art Museic galler y in Soi Mangosteen, Rawai, collecting pieces of litter washed in from the sea and making art from it for an exhibition at the picturesque gallery from December 17 to January 12.

As the works were for sale, rubbish took on new value as art.

The artists – Somrak Maneemai, Kamon Chookham, Kittipong Ngowsiri, Romadon Kosanee, Prayoot Yeesakul, Sravut Supachaiku and Montri Thipsak – all naturally took different individual approaches.

Kittpong already works a lot with found objects, mainly bits of timber. At the Art Village on Soi Saiyuan 1, near Naiharn Beach, he has built a colourful house to live in, plus a studio from fading painted timber recycled from many fishing boats abandoned on the beaches.

Other artists painted on driftwood or used old bottles and tins collected as subjects for pleasing still-life paintings.

The concept behind the exhibition is rather brilliant, to affirm the message it is valuable both to the environment to recycle and

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Dream Gallery

Boat Lagoon, 23/122 Thepkasattri Rd, Koh Kaew, 076 273 487, gallery@asiansourcingallery.com, thedreamgallery.asia.

I Mon Art Gallery:

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

King Art Studio:

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

Lat Design and Art Garden:

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

Little Monk Gallery:

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

99 Art Studio:

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

Phuket Modern Art:

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

Red Gallery:

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

Sarasil Art Galllery: Artists set up for their exhibition of art made from recycled litter that they had collected from beaches.

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

Open daily 8pm-9pm.

The Love Art Studio:

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

The One Gallery:

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

Veerachan Usahanun:

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

Vichen Gallery Bzenter

Behind Da Vinci Restaurant, Saiyuan Rd, Rawai, 087 8903722.

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

to collectors who can make money from recycling, as well as keeping our world clean at the same time.

The pleasant surprise for

many viewers may have been the unexpected aesthetic qualities that discarded objects still hold, either just by themselves or in combination

with other “rubbish”.

The Phuket News was happy to be one of the sponsors of the exhibition.

–Norachai Thavisin

Watcharin Art Studio:

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

Wua Gallery and Studio:

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

THE PHUKET NEWS

PEOPLE 17

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

First the water, then the flames

I

know I’m not the only one spellbound by the talent of Phuket’s firedancers, twisting and twirling burning hot poles and rings with insouciant, fearless ease, and make us all wonder how they do it.

It was this same amazement that first lured Zazithorn ‘Zazi’ Ruengchinda into giving it a try, and she has now been involved in firedancing for around 10 years.

Zazi is well-known around Phuket for performing at events, including the annual Twinpalms White Party.

The 29-year-old was on her way home from work in Bangkok around 10 years ago when, near her bus stop, she saw a group of people juggling and firedancing in the park.

She made friends with the performers and soon became the secretary of the group, working for them for four years before the mystic lure of the firedancing sucked her in and she began working as a performer.

Zazi uses aluminium sticks dipped in kerosene for most of

her fire performances.

She lights the kerosene and the sticks become flaming spears. Hula hoops, the poi (a flaming circle of wick material attached to a chain which she swings) and, especially Roman candles, add to the impressiveness of her performance.

Each per for mance is around 15 to 20 minutes long. “I love it. I love the fact I’ve found something that fits my personality. I feel so creative and free.”

She’s fortunate she has had no major incidents while

performing – the worst was a second-degree burn when she dripped burning fuel on her pants. Generally, though, she finds it easy to avoid being burnt provided that she’s in “the zone” – where she’s focused and delivering the right energy.

She’s spends hours practising, keeps fit through yoga, and constantly reminds herself that she’s lucky to be alive.

Lucky because she was washed away on Phi Phi island during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami tragedy.

She was helping run a beach bar and was working as a firedancer on the island at the time.

The wave smashed through her house and dragged her 30 metres or so across the island.

She managed to grab hold of a tree and clamber to safety.

The episode changed her outlook, with Zazi now far more enthusiastic about life than she was before.

“It was traumatic, but now I’m far more brave about doing things, because I’m meant to be alive.” –Claire Connell

HEALTH

A butterfly emerges from its cocoon: Stick to the above posture until you are comfortable enough to progress to step seven, pictured below.

Put a spring in your step A new month, a new yoga asana.

This month we are looking at a posture that will keep your hips limber and functional.

The butterfly pose (baddha konasana) helps remove tiredness from long hours of walking or standing, and will actually help you to stand and walk comfortably for longer periods.

Another great thing about this posture is its ability to help you easily sit on the floor with your legs crossed, which admittedly happens quite a bit in Asia.

You know the feeling you get when your butt and legs have fallen asleep, and getting up of the floor results in you looking like you’re having a fit? Well, the butterfly will help this affliction.

The groin, inner thighs and knees are stretched, resulting in a freer, longer stride. You actually do have more ‘spring in your step’!

It is a great hip opener that will increase the function of your hips and decrease stiffness in the lower back.

This posture stimulates the circulation particularly in the knees and thighs, which can tend to be quite stagnant.

The butterfly is also a great way to soothe sciatica pain, menstrual discomfort, symptoms of menopause and prevents hernia.

So how do we practise this miracle maker?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Sit on the floor with your back up against a wall.

Bend the k nees and bring the soles of the feet together.

Bring the heels as close to the groin as possible and hold onto the feet with each hand.

Widen the knees as best you can.

Grip the feet firmly and stretch the spine erect.

Relax the thigh and groin muscles and allow the knees to soften and sink downwards. Hold this pose for a minimum of 30 seconds.

When you feel more confident with the posture, place the hands on the knees. Keep the soles of the feet close to the groin.

Remember to keep the spine straight.

Apply downward pressure with the hands to the k nees each time you breathe out.

It also improves sexual function, a positive for the other kind of butterfly.

I always find that when you are starting out with this asana it is best to sit with your back straight up against a wall.

This way you are able to sit erect through the spine without too much hassle.

The more you practice, the closer your knees will be to the floor, and there is no negative to holding this posture for long periods.

Happy stretching, I look forward to sharing a new asana with you next month in our pursuit of a healthier body, happier life.

Metta Kim

Kim White is the owner of Sala Suddhavasa, an internal arts centre in Rawai offering private and group sessions in taiji, yoga and meditation: 08 6276 9174, info@suddhavasa. com; suddhavasa.com The opinions and advice contained in this column are those of the author only. The Phuket News is not responsible for the outcome or results of following any advice in any given situation.

thephuketnews.com

18 EDUCATION

THE PHUKET NEWS

FLYING HIGH Nai (Jareun Pheusuwan), 12, student at the Kamala School and member of the Coconut Club of the Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation, has won the annual The Phuket News’ Kids Art prize for 2011.

Nai can expect to soon be soaring into the sky on a paraglider, accompanied by staff of the Andaman Horizon who are providing the exciting prize.

The work of three other young ar tists from various schools around Phuket are also show n here for special mention.

The winning work shows that the young artist enjoyed bei ng f ree just to pai nt and draw.

He didn’t need to try to keep to the likeness of things so was then able to explore lines and blobs of colours and the way they fit best together for the eye.

The resulting image can be seen as an impression of his surroundings in Kamala, where some of the classrooms look straight out onto the beach and the sea waves beyond.

The Phuket News thanks the many students who have sent in their work for us all to enjoy monthly on the

The winning painting by Nai, 12, from the Kamala School.

Josh Biddell from HeadStart International School.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Sine from QSI.

Winning artist Nai. Educat ion page for t he last six months.

The Kids Art competition is now being replaced by a new colouring competition (see page 20) in which students can colour in the illustration and send them in to be selected.

The weekly winner receives a B500 book voucher from Asiabooks.

Good luck to everyone, and get colouring.

Contact Adaman Horizon on 0878772320, info@ andamanhorizon .com, andamanhorizon.com.

Pim from the Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation and his street ghost.

Heinecke Scholarship awarded The presentation of the Roy E. Heinecke Scholarship, available to students in schools in the Mai Khao beach area of Bann Mai Khao, Tha Chat Chai, Baan Kor Enn, and Hong Yong Bumrung, will be made today (January 27) at Anantara Phuket Villas. It is the second year that the resort is

thephuketnews.com

awarding this scholarship, as part of its corporate social responsibility projects.

The educational fund was established in 1994 in memory of Roy E. Heinecke, father of William E. Heinecke, CEO of the Minor Group. The scholarship is privately supported by the Heinecke family to fund

the education of underprivileged children.

The late Mr Heinecke spent many years in the US diplomatic service in the AsiaPacific region. Being exposed to different cultures and the way of living in these countries inspired his wish for all deserving youngsters to have the advantage of good education.

THE PHUKET NEWS

ENVIRONMENT 19

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Seeking a greener island I

f you could tap the energy that obviously resonates from Sean Panton, one of the founders of SEEK, Phuket’s own active environmental group, his electricity supply could make a small rural village self-sufficient in power.

A suspected broken ankle and a small operation on his nose have not slowed him down either.

Working with JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa some 10 years ago at the start of their project to release young endangered sea turtles back into the sea each year, Mr Panton realised that there was no agency co-ordinating the protection of the environment in Phuket.

With the backing of Klaus Hebben of Thanyapura, Mr Panton joined Nick Anthony, both British, to form SEEK three years ago. “So that my son can still surf in the future as I can now,” Mr Panton said.

Short for Society, Environment, Economy and Knowledge, SEEK describes itself as an “organisation set up to work with local community, local government, the private sector and residents of Phuket to communicate and lobby to keep Phuket a leading sustainable destination for the future.”

Participants at the SEEK workshop at Thanyapura with Nick Anthony, first from right.

Briton Sean Panton, one of the co-founders of SEEK.

“The response has been unbelievable. Everyone wants to do something but don’t quite know how to do it,” Mr Panton said.

The group aims to promote sustainability on the island, coordinate and communicate on issues such as waste and water management, social and economic development and educational initiatives.

The group’s president, Dr Robert Mather, Asian head of the International Union for

group says.

The group is following the Compass model developed by the Atkinson Group: north for nature, west for wellbeing, east for economy and south for society, and, if all the directions can be in harmony, then sustainability would be achieved.

Last week’s workshop was designed to come up with 48 sustainability indicators, used all over the world by the Atkinson Group, that SEEK

the Conservaton of Nature, and long-time environmental guardian of Phuket, Dr Chamniern Vorratanchaiphan, of the Thailand Environment Institute, hosted a SEEK seminar last Friday and Saturday January 20-21 at the Thanyapura Mind Centre.

The group has now built a supporting coalition of 25 key community individuals from Governor Tri Augkaradacha outwards.

SEEK Phuket says it aims

Adopt a cat

to work as a platform and service to create working links for all local forces to work together to benefit the environment.

Mr Anthony, a personal friend of Mr Panton for 12 years, does a lot of the groundwork for the group with his many contacts in the environmental movement in Phuket.

What does Phuket need most of all now?

A high-level sustainability plan is the answer, the green

would now use to measure progress of environmental sustainability in Phuket.

There will be a two-day SEEK expo in August which will again measure progress in this promising environmental campaign.

This monitor ing will happen every year.

Already interest is being shown in this initiative elsewhere in Thailand such as in Chiang Mai, said Mr Panton.

–Norachai Thavisin

Pet of the Week

SAMMY NEEDS A REAL HOME...

Little four month old Sammy has grown up in Soi Sog’s Cat Hospital.

He’s never known any other life. He spent his first two months confined as he was suffering from cat flu, but has recently moved to the Cat Suite, where he’s now able to play with his friends Mel and Rollar.

All three kittens (Sammy, Mel and Roller) need new homes. Please help us find them all new families! Sammy and his friends are adoptable locally or abroad. Email cindy@soidog.org for more info. or phone the Soi Dog shelter on 081 788 4222. You can also visit soidog.org or follow us on Facebook.

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

Sangsom belongs to Rachael who lives in Patong. His favourite food is Whiskers cat food. Sangsom chases Rachael down Nanai Road when she drives to work, and runs like a bunny rabbit.

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

thephuketnews.com

20 KIDS PAGE

THE PHUKET NEWS

COLOURING CONTEST

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

E

ach week, colour the picture, have a photo taken with the finished work, and email it to editor@ thephuketnews.com. The best will be published next Friday, and wins a B500 voucher from AsiaBooks. Congratulations go to 4 year-old Arwyn Walby, who is this week’s winner!

mail@ sophieillustration.co.uk

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

TIME OUT 21

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

BOOK

MUSIC

FILM Underworld: Awakening

Fraternity

Bombay Bicycle Club

by Diane Brady Spiegel & Grau, 256 pages

A Different Kind of Fix Island Records

In April 1968, the death of Martin Luther King Jr., shocked Amer ica. Later that month, the Reverend John Brooks, a professor of theology at the College of the Holy Cross, drove up and down the East Coast searching for African American high school students to recruit to the school.

Among the 20 students he recruited were Clarence Thomas, a future Supreme Court justice; Edward P. Jones, who would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature; and Theodore Wells, who would become one of America’s most successful defence attorneys.

Fraternity follows five of the men through their college years as Brooks mentored, defended, coached, and befriended them through an often challenging four years of college, pushing them to reach for goals that would sustain them as adults.

For their third studio album, BBC combined the talents of long-time producer Jim Abbiss and Ben H. Allen, who has produced tracks by Animal Collective and M.I.A. The result is an album that’s got enough polish to not really feel like rock and enough layers of arrangement to feel far from folk, but not enough digital reconditioning to feel completely manufactured.

It’s rife with repetition and imbued with a deliberate fullness of sound. But it’s hard to nail down exactly who BBC is hoping to be as they move away from their indie rock roots.

A Different Kind of Fix certainly isn’t bad – in fact it’s probably the band’s best album to date. But its main offending quality is that it’s utterly inoffensive; it’s likable and pleasant, but in a way that immediately gets put in the “friend-zone” and never has any chance of being more.

88 minutes Rating: 15+ Director: Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Sandrine Holt, Theo James, Michael Ealy The summer blockbuster season is now officially over, meaning it’s now time to pick up the dregs coming out of the Hollywood studios.

And so all hail Underworld: Awakening, the fourth installment in the franchise – and a miserable one at that.

This was admittedly my first entry into the film franchise, and having not seen any of the last three entries (which came out in 2003, 2006, and 2009), it was difficult to make any sense of what this film was even about, aside from senseless violence, mediocre special effects, and an oppressively dark tone.

True to its title, Awakening

finds vampire warrior Selene (latex-clad Kate Beckinsale) waking up 12 years after humanity’s discovery and “purging” of the vampire and Lycan (werewolf ) hordes living in their midst.

However, before she can even get her bearings, she is swept up in a rescue mission involving a young girl named Eve (India Eisley).

And that’s about it.

Awakening looks and feels like an extended TV episode, rather than a big-budget feature film. The film is nothing more than a string of action sequences and cheap set-pieces, often shot at wide angles that

reveal the elementary fight choreography, not helped by the amateurish direction of Swedish duo Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, whose primary experience is in directing television shows, as it so happens.

Cheap CGI effects make the blood spatter, superhuman feats and supernatural creatures look caricaturish, and they clash awkwardly with the dark, serious tone of the rest of the film.

Apparently a variety of writers worked on the script – including the original Underworld director Len Wiseman and Thor writer J. Michael Straczynski – but it’s hard

to see where that combined effort was spent. There is almost no development of character or narrative, no thematic arcs, and a lot of the plot contrivances are so pronounced that it’s hard to take the movie seriously, even as a vampire flick.

There was a lot of room for Kate Beckinsale’s character to experience some real development throughout the course of the film. Unfortunately, Selene reacts to her new circumstances with such unflinching stoicism that it’s hard to become invested in anything that’s happening.

If you’ve enjoyed the previous films for what they are, or just enjoy watching Kate Beckinsale run around in latex, then you’re probably the sort of person who will still get kicks out of this film.

For anyone else, don’t waste the time or money on this broken down piece of sorry cinema making.

–Dane Halpin

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

SFX COLISEUM PHUKET (CENTRAL FESTIVAL) ATM Er Rak Error (T/E.SUB) [G]: 11:15, 12:30, 13:45, 15:00, 16:15, 17:30, 18:45,

20:00, 22:30 Contraband (E) [18+]: 13:50, 17:00, 21:00 Contraband (E/F) [18+]: 15:00, 19:50 Mueng Gu Puen Gun Jon Wan Taai (T) [15+]: 12:30, 16:20, 19:20 New Year’s Eve (E/F) [G]: 12:30, 17:20, 22:10 Rak Woei Hoei (T/E.SUB) [15+]: 11:40, 14:50, 18:45, 21:40 Underworld: Awakening (E/3D) [15+]: 12:10, 14:10, 16:10, 18:10, 20:10, 22:10

SFC JUNGCEYLON PHUKET (PATONG) 5 Days of War (E) [18+]: ATM Er Rak Error (T/E.SUB) [G]: The Darkest Hour (E) [G]: New Year’s Eve(E) [G ]: Rak Woei Hoei (T/E.SUB) [15+]: Real Steel (E) [G]: Underworld: Awakening (E) [15+]:

15:00, 18:20 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00, 22:25 13:50, 17:20, 20:40, 22:35 12:35, 15:50, 21:50 11:35, 13:25, 15:30, 17:40, 20:00 19:15 12:15, 14:15, 16:15, 18:15, 20:15, 22:15

BRAIN TEASERS Across 1. Yearning for the past - it’s analog change. (9) 6. Western Australia with one Thai gesture.

(3) 9. Hillock takes point with a show-off. (7) 10. Skin not in lair. (7) 11. Weight has, I note, student of hybrid cat.

(6) 12. Cook not in - low power. (8) 14. Dim person I employed - and locked up. (10)

Solutions to last week’s puzzles

15. Regarding no place for split. (4) 17. Choose implement.

(4) 19. Equipment for viewing big shows.

(10) 22. Getting away is key to a sonar sound.

(8) 23. Measurement system for art museum gets Rick, mostly. (6) 26. Charge! I’m a fruit!

(7) 27. Mr Jones’s state.

(7) 28. Peg half a giggle.

(3) 29. Robin had rosy unspecified amount to front. (9) dead men’s wives. (6) 7. East to Bolivian Down silver city to reverse 2. Prevent space filler. element variation. (7) 8. Pleas for pet: it (7) takes charged particles!

3. Article atomic?

(9) Essential for doctors.

9. Little Christopher’s (8) 4. Golden culpability, equipment. (3) 13. Cringe about it’s said. (4) Judy’s husband, the 5. Loathing cowboy. (10) regurgitated Anchor 14. I’m exact? No. (9) beer. (10) 6. Openings lose 16. Nearly purple, Val

goes back to finish queen. (8) 18. In fighting arena, prepare weapon hole.

(7) 20. Port in Med, an’ a lark rectified. (7) 21. Drug work I consumed. (6) 24. In California, I established agency.

(1,1,1) 25. Pointlessly levied penalty on discovery.

(4)

thephuketnews.com

22 WEIRD WORLD

’Till death do us part

It was the perfect day – all the joy of a wedding combined with the fun of a funeral.

Chadil Deffy, also known as Deff Yingyuen, placed a ring on the finger of Sarinya ‘Anne’ Kamsook, his girlfriend of 10 years, during the nuptials in Thailand’s Surin province.

The weird part: his girlfriend was dead.

The couple had planned to get married in the future, but Yingyuen wanted to focus on his studies before tying the knot, the Thai-Asean News (TAN) Network reported.

Unfortunately, Kamsook unexpectedly died in an

Chadil Deffy, pictured on Facebook with his (dead) bride. accident before the couple could set a date.

The couple reportedly met at Thailand’s Eastern Asia

University nearly a decade ago, and wreaths were placed around campus in memory of Kamsook following her death.

Photos and footage of the ceremony were posted on Facebook and YouTube.

And while some thought the service a bit strange, others expressed their sympathy for the groom.

“I didn’t know her, but in your photos, she looks young and full of life. I can’t image the impact her death has caused in the lives of her loved ones. It was a very moving gesture of love, very moving.

It makes you rethink a lot of things in life, things you take for granted,” Facebook user Alejandra Yanez wrote on Yingyuen’s page.

Strip club launches ‘Alibi’ aftershave

You’re home extremely late, your clothes are dishevelled and you reek of alcohol. How do you convince your better half you really weren’t out on Soi Bangla all night?

The answer may have arrived, in the form of a new range of aftershaves designed to throw suspicious wives and girlfriends off the scent, so to speak.

The ‘Alibi’ range can mask the smell of a heavy night with aromas linked Just a quick trip down to the mechanic, to more wholesome activities. thanks to ‘My Car Broke Down’ fragrance.

For example, ‘My Car Broke Down’ –Photo by Rick Hall is said to recreate the scent of fuel, burnt

rubber, grease and steel, while ‘I Was Working Late’ packs the odour of coffee, wool suits, cigarettes and ink.

The three fragrances, which cost around B1200 a bottle, were launched

by South African lap dancing club Mavericks, which said it never expected the idea to take off. But it has been inundated with orders from countries in the Far East and Europe – and the rest of the world can’t be too far away.

“Men seem desperate to get their hands on this stuff,” said the Cape Town club’s boss Shane Harrison.

Virgin ‘fathered 14 kids’ Trent Arsenault has been a busy man – at just 36 years old, he’s fathered 14 kids.

But before making any assumptions about Arsenault’s libido, we should add that he’s never been intimate with a woman.

Yes, this self-proclaimed “donorsexual” is a 36-year-old virgin, despite his impressive success at reproducing.

“I’ve committed 100 per cent of my sexual energy for producing sperm for childless couples to have babies. So I don’t have other activity outside of that,” he said, adding that he will probably be a 40-year-old virgin with 15 kids.

Arsenault doesn’t charge for his baby batter, but his unconventional methods have spurred the Food and Drug Administra-

Irish Pubs • Restaurant • Guest Houses

Trent Arsenault: 'Donorsexual' tion to issue a cease-and-desist order. They say Arsenault did not take the legally required precautions to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

That’s on top of his other acts which have aroused controversy, such as the 100-plus videos he has posted online showing him masturbating with unusual aids such as a water polo ball and frozen blueberries.

Sega ‘Toylets’ controlled by urinating The Wii let us play by moving controllers; the Kinect with our arms; now Sega’s got a game system controlled by your pee.

T he ga me s i nclude ‘Manneken Pis’, which tells you how much you’ve peed; ‘Graffiti Eraser’, in which you use the pressure of your pee to clean graffiti; and ‘the North Wind and Her’, in which your pee is the wind trying to lift up a woman’s skirt.

The consoles, which each cost B61,000, allow ‘gamers’ to download their results onto 'memory sticks'.

Spearing into the future

Draft Beer Great Food Cool Rooms Good Music Live Sport

thephuketnews.com

Many fortune tellers rely on tea leaves, or other somewhat dubious methods to predict the future, but British woman Jemima Packington is on to a sure thing: asparagus.

Jemima, who claims to be the world’s only “Asparamancer”, tosses spears of the vegetable into the air and interprets how they land.

Jemima, 56, from Bath, claims to have made dozens of accurate forecasts, including the credit crunch and predicting a second royal baby for Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn.

For this year’s royal pre-

dictions, she explained: “The spears fell in the shape of a crown. Two smaller spears were pointing towards the crown indicating two visitors – therefore two babies or pregnancies.

Other 2012 predictions include several celebrities being outed as gay and an animal Oscar-winner.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

THE BIG LIST Looking Ahead If you want to know what the future has in store, you could always head to your local market and grab some asparagus (see below left). However, “asparamancing” is only one of many wacky ways of divining your fortune: Say cheese: We’ve all heard that eating cheese before bedtime can give you nightmares.

But apparently a humble piece of cheddar can also help you find your dream partner. In Europe during the Middle Ages, young country girls used what was called ‘tyromancy’ to predict who’d be their future husband. They’d write the names of prospective suitors on a piece of cheese, and the name where mould grew first was the ideal love match.

Mouldy cheese – where romance blossoms.

Feline forecast: Ailuromancy – also known as ‘felidomancy’ – is literally the cat’s whiskers when it comes to determining the future.

Simply observe the way your feline friend moves or jumps and you have an insight into what’s about to occur – especially when it comes to the weather, apparently. Every twitch, yawn, sneeze or stretch foretells some forthcoming event. If it’s hissing and arching its back, for example, it’s probably about to swipe you in the face.

The future? My a**e! Rumpology is not just an excuse to stare at people’s behinds. Sure, that’s probably part of it, but who are we to judge? Where palmistry experts see all through your hand, rumpologists go for the bottom line, meaning you never need to be behind the times again.

Navel gazing: The shape of a belly button reveals all about a person’s personality and life expectancy, according to Berlin psychologist Dr Gerhard Reibman. If you have an “outy” – protruding – omphalomancy tells us you’re optimistic and enthusiastic. If it’s round, you’re shy and retiring. If you’re the guy pictured above, well, then you’re just an idiot.

Bookish behaviour: Choose an important book, let it open on a random page and read the first passage you see.

That’s your fortune according to bibliomancy. We tried it with a phone directory and apparently have a life to look forward to as a male escort after journalism.

Don’t wine: Seems like a real waste of a decent drink, but spill wine on to a piece of cloth or paper and the subsequent stains can be read by the right people (usually sober people). The Romans believed oinomancy, as it is known, was best carried out by a priestess of Bacchus, the god of wine. If you can’t find a priestess of the god of wine though, then a local drunk will probably suffice.

Shoedunnit: Many of us might be able to tell where people have been by the state of their shoes. But only a rare few can tell where they’re going from a quick glance at someone’s footwear. ‘Scarpomancy’ relies on predictions based on the wear patterns, tongue deformation and lace fraying of shoes. From the wear on your shoes, I predict you will buy a new pair soon.

Wee will rock you: Urine samples are used by medical professionals to indicate the state of a person’s health. But, according to ‘uromancy’, the bubbles in wee can reveal future events. If the bubbles are big and far apart, expect good things. If they are small and close together, something appalling may be around the corner – something like proteinuria, vesicocolic fistula or urinary tract infection, for example, all of which list urine bubbles as a symptom.

Faecal fortune: Scatomancy involves human excrement being scrutinised to tell the future. In ancient times, ‘scatomancers’ were often influential members of their community. Today, handling people’s poo and prophesising the future will probably land you in a psychiatric facility.

THE PHUKET NEWS

SHOPPING 23

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

LIFE&STYLE

Hunting waterfalls

Jamie Monk treks the island in search of H2O > 26

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

editor@thephuketnews.com

Party princess Kate Maksimova

Tourist

Her printed dress (B175) is from Russia.

She bought her stone coloured handbag (B250) in Russia.

Daytime dream Thidadon Tantapaiboon Public relations

Her blue patterned dress (B3,500) is from the Morning Shop in Siam, Bangkok.

She picked up her ALDO wedge shoes (B4,000) in the US.

Her black sandals (B250) were bought at home in Russia.

ACCESSORIES

1

MERCI BEAUCOUP

HI.SO. Decor’s stylish CEO Marc Gliede.

Life at the sharp end

2

3 1. Earrings 2. Bag 3. Sequin hat

B750 B2,500 B950

Accessories from Merci Beaucoup at 32 Yaowarat Rd, Phuket Town. Open from 10am to 7pm. 076 258 090.

I f you’ve pa sse d a long Yaowarat Road recently, it’s quite probable that your attention will have been caught by a new shining space of aesthetics: sparkling lamps + cool furniture = HI.SO. Deco.

“You don’t neccessarily to be expensive to be ‘hiso’,” says HI.SO CEO Marc Gliede, about the popular Thai abbreviation for high society types. “Being hi-so could be something nice and not selfish.”

To that end, HI.SO. Deco sells lamps, lighting accessories, and furniture. Many of

SH P FOCUS the designs were personally done by Mr Gliede, in cooperation with designers from Canada, France, Indonesia and Italy. Asked about his design philosophy, he says it’s “contemporary style with an inspirational twist.”

Over the years, he helped friends organise and decorate special events. After eight years of living and working in Phuket, he could see that many Phuketians were

struggling to find different design that were right for their homes.

“Where can you go if you want nice furniture? Index? Home Pro? You get the same things,” says Mr Gliede.

“It’s not always that easy to find something different and unique on the island.”

Inspired, Mr Gliede established a showroom in Thalang two years ago. After receiving much positive feedback, and a small following, he opened the boutique shop HI.SO. in Phuket Town late last year.

The products made by

HI.SO. are varied in their shape, form and materials.

According to Mr Gliede, “Using native sustainable materials like recycled teak and plantation mahogany, bamboo, fiber, resin, MDF, feather, mirror, rattan and water hyacinth or coffee wood in our designs we combine expert craftsmanship with sleek lines and contemporary Asian [looks].”

169 Ya owa ra t Roa d , Phuket Town, 081-090-3100; hi-so-phuket.com. Open Wed-Mon, 10am-8pm.

thephuketnews.com

24 DINING

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Visiting Chinese treats Two Chinese management trainees helped Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Mai Khao Beach’s executive chef Dennis Barton create the perfect Chinese New Year meal for guests at the resort on Monday (January 23).

Naomi and Cat, both 21 years-old, are in their third week of a three-month work experience stint at the resort. They are studying at the Yingxin Hospitality Management College of CUTT, in Chengdu, central China.

Chef Barton has experience with Chinese dishes, having worked in various Chinese restaurants and with Chinese chefs before, but the two stu-

dents have been able to help perfect the dishes and share with Chef Barton tips, tricks and secrets of their own.

While on their work experience, the girls have also been helping to translate menus for the resort’s Chinese guests, plus providing a traditional Chinese breakfast for them, including hot soya bean milk (dujiang) and rice porridge (zhou).

For Naomi, the trip is her first out of China and her first time seeing a beach, as well as tasting fruits such as guava.

“I am learning so much, like how to give perfect service. I am learning the Thai language, experiencing a different culture, and learning

all about different types of dishes and their ingredients.”

On Monday night the girls dressed in qi pao, their traditional Chinese New Year red dresses with gold tassels, much to the delight of hotel guests.

Chef Bar ton said the girls had been a great help in creating dishes that had significant meaning for Chinese New Year, such as chicken which signify family unity, and chive dumplings which mean eternity, plus long noodles which translate to good luck for a long life.

Dishes on Monday evening included Hong Kong barbecue pig, king prawns in Xo sauce, Chinese roasted duck roll with

hoi sin sauce, thousand-year egg with pickled ginger, plus mooncakes, white bean cheese tart and steamed rice cake.

Chef Barton has been an executive chef for around 20 years and has a wealth of experience working in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Pattaya and the Maldives. He was trained in French/German cuisine but today has extensive experience in many other cuisines, and says his cooking style is a “modern approach to classic food”.

He says his aim for the Chinese New Year feast was to create dishes that had meaning, and include both traditional foods and favourites that guests would recognise.

Fish maw soup – part of the feast on Chinese New Year. Visiting Chinese management trainees Naomi, left, and Cat.

Holiday Inn Mai Khao’s Executive Chef Dennis Barton.

Put some sparkle into 2012 With the backwater hopefully drained from a sodden 2011 it’s time to look on the bright side and plan for a more calm and navigable 2012. High on the list of resolutions assuring a positive attitude throughout the year should be the allowance of at least one bottle of respectable wine every week.

What better way to start than with a bottle of Champagne which with a little shopping can be perking up your taste buds for a relatively modest B2500.

Champagne is one of most versatile of all wines to pair with food and offers the bonus

thephuketnews.com

FINE WINE of adding a bit of exclusivity to your life more than just once a year. Its subtle acidity soothes the fiery spiciness of many Thai dishes and caters effortlessly to curries.

No need to mention its versatility with grilled, baked or fried dishes or its heavenly marriage to foie gras. Breakfast, lunch, aperitifs and dinner all welcome a chilled glass of lively, fermented-in-the-bottle real Champagne.

There are about 330 mil-

New year’s resolution? Enjoy a few glasses of champagne. lion bottles produced annually in styles and prices to match nearly every occasion and budget. Give your palate a real treat with the likes of Laurent Perrier, Moet-Chandon, Pommery or Veuve Clicquot, all

readily available in most good retail shops. You can also find the real McCoy under a few second labels but with all the quality of their better known brethren. Two to look for from the much lauded family

Champagne house of Duval Leroy are marketed under the names Lavenue and E. Michel presently available exclusively from the distributor BB&B. Resolve that you will treat yourself to at least one bottle of Champagne every month, if for no other reason than that you deserve it.

During interim weeks you can back off a bit and do some comparison tasting with sparklers from other regions, nearly all of which are less expensive and in selected instances close in quality.

Spanish cavas like Freixenet and Codorniu, or several from

Australia such as Jacob’s Creek or Domaine Chandon are made in the traditional method and available in most larger supermarket wine sections.

There is also a wide range of Italian Proseccos on the market, most priced around B1000. Look for brands from Villa Sandi and Masi.

Be sure you buy a Champagne stopper which locks over the top of an open but for some unknown reason not yet finished bottle of bubbly.

–R. James Mullen ■■ For info. on The Andaman Wine Club, call 076 620 101 or see andaman-wine-club.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

DINING 25

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

From Libya with love Considering recent events, not many people can say that living in Libya was one of the best things that could have ever happened to them, but that’s exactly what happened to Swedish chef Bernt Ferb.

Bernt is the head chef and co-owner of the Karon Hillside Hotel, and has lived in Phuket for seven years. But when he was 13 his parents moved to Tripoli, the Libyan capital. His father worked in construction and was managing the development of a tourist village in the area. Here Bernt spent three happy years attending an international school, where there were more than 50 different nationalities.

Back in the early 1980s, Libya was by and large a safe and prosperous place, and no-

Toast skagen is on the menu at the Karon Hillside Hotel. where near as volatile as now.

Bernt says: “There were never any problems, no-one was going around killing people.

“After I moved back from Libya, I wanted to travel abroad. I definitely would have stayed in Sweden [for the rest of my life] if I hadn’t been to Libya. I’m much more happy living overseas.”

He spent two years in a Swedish ‘restaurant school’ and went on to run three s uc c e s sf u l r e st au r a nt s , including one which was given a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin guide, before moving to Thailand.

He first worked as a chef and manager of the Villa Mangosteen in Khao Lak, and

also spent time running the ‘Ferb’ guesthouse in Patong, before taking over the kitchen at the Karon Hillside Hotel about a year ago. He speaks fluent Thai, which helps him considerably in a kitchen with all local staff.

The menu at the hotel is international, including many Swedish specials such as meatballs, and a potato and onion dish. “Sometimes I find it hard to get the ingredients I want, other times a dish isn’t so popular so I’ll replace it. Experimenting keeps us awake and continuing to learn new things.”

Some thanks for that open outlook in life must go to the Brother Leader of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. karonhillsidehotel.com

Chef Bernt Ferb and his tuna steak with potato mash.

Buffet by the beach The Imperial Adamas Beach Resort in Nai Yang has introduced a daily international buffet dinner, priced at B950 net with free f low house wine, Thai whisky, draft beer and soft drinks.

The buffet is a mix of European, Thai, Mediterranean and Italian food, and aims to be as healthy as possible.

The kitchen team is led

by Executive Chef Francois Pierre Lambiotte, who spent more than 20 years working for five star luxury hotel chain Sofitel. He began at Imperial two years ago after spending 10 years working in Bangkok and Hua Hin, plus three years in Phnom Penh. He has also spent seven years working in

Saudi Arabia and Syria, plus Rwanda, French Polynesia, Canada and the United States.

The Imperial Adamas Beach Resort, Nai Yang, 076316-000; imperialadamas. com. Buffet daily 6.30pm9.30pm. One child (aged 4-12) eats free per paying adult.

Additional children B450.

Above: E xecutive chef Francois Pierre Lambiotte from the Imperial Adamas Beach Resort. Left: One of the many seafood dishes.

Below: Thai seafood salad.

thephuketnews.com

26 EXPLORE

THE PHUKET NEWS

Phuket waterfalls

Going in search of a little H2O I

love waterfalls. I once detoured across half of South America to get from La Paz in Bolivia to the absolutely incredible Iguazu falls, which are on the border between Brazil and Argentina.

Meanwhile, the Niagara falls on the American/Canadian border are maybe the most visited in the world.

I’ve been there too, and it’s quite nice, that little boat ride on the ‘Maid of the Mist’.

I tell you what though, you can’t do a boat ride at Iguazu.

Certainly not when I was there in wet season. An unbelievable torrent of chocolate brown water was shooting from the jungle. One of the most amazing places I have ever been and well worth the ride on the ‘Train of Death’ to get there. Closer to home, the waterfalls in Phuket seem to be mentioned in just about every guidebook, website and blog.

If you like nature and want to get away from the majority of tourists who prefer to stay at the beach, then the island’s waterfalls – all of them jungly and quiet – are worth a visit.

That said, unless you live in Saudi Arabia or some other desert country and have never seen a waterfall or jungle, I wouldn’t suggest you devote a day to a ‘Phuket Waterfall Tour’.

While we don’t have anything like Iguazu, you can still enjoy a pleasant little jungle walk and take a swim in the fresh water running off the hills, some of which rise up to over 1,700 feet above sea level.

JAMIE’S PHUKET

Bang Pae waterfall Ton Sai waterfall

Chinpracha House

This elegant colonial-style mansion was completed in 1907 by wealthy Chinese immigrant Tan Ma Siang. Chinpracha House is one of the most integral ancient remains on the island.

Old photographs, Italian floor tiles, imported furniture from China and old utensils are wellmaintained in the house’s interior.

98 Krabi Rd, Phuket Town, 076 211 281. Open daily 8am4pm. B100.

Kathu Mining Museum

Muang Tor Sung Rd (behind Loch Palm Golf Club), Kathu, 088 766 0962. Open daily 9am4pm. B50 for Thais, B100 for foreigners, children half-price.

Philatelic Museum

The museum is in the old preserved Post Office, housing old equipment such as telegraph tickers, telephones, parcel-weighing machines and collections of Thai stamps issued since 1951.

There are also a small library and a souvenir room.

Ton Sai waterfall In the northeast of Phuket island is a large green area, which is designated national park. It’s called Khao Phra Thaew, and on each side of the 1,000 foot jungle covered hill in the middle are two waterfalls: Ton Sai on the west and Bang Pae on the east.

In between is pretty wild country – I have read that you can hike between the two, but a friend of mine (who is a really fit runner and hiker) has done it and tells me it’s very tough going.

He was even once attacked by a wild gibbon up there. Ton Sai is easy to find: turn right at the traffic lights at Thalang town (right if you are heading north). Follow the small road. I believe entry is free after 3pm (though subject to change), otherwise it’s B200. There is a nature trail and several small falls up the jungle path.

And on the way there you are in the heart of rural Phuket, so close to the main tourist beaches but in a different place entirely.

Kathu waterfall

thephuketnews.com

PHUKET MUSEUMS

Built according to colonial architecture, imitating a mansion of a tin miner, the museum shows the origins of Phuket’s culture and history especially from the mining era.

Several indoor exhibition rooms display different themes such as Phuket architecture, mining , T h ai - C hin e s e way of life, Chinese immigrants’ life, the Baba’s marriage and the solar system.

The outdoor exhibition displays equipment including a dredge and hydraulic mining gear.

Bang Pae waterfall As mentioned, on the other side of

Phuket Post Office, Montri Rd, Phuket Town, 076 224 883.

Open Mon-Fri 8.30am-4.30pm.

Sat 9am-12pm. Free entrance.

Kathu waterfall

Seashell Museum

the hill from Ton Sai is Bang Pae waterfall, and also the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project.

The Bang Pae area is probably one of our favourite places in Phuket.

There are many small back roads, some great rural scenery, vast rubber plantations, pineapple fields, and a few restaurants that we like to visit, such as Bang Pae Seafood and Peang Prai, which is at the entrance to Bang Pae – again, there is an entry fee here of B200 per person.

Note that the entry fee does not go to the Gibbon project, which you can visit for free, although a small donation is always appreciated.

If you’re planning to visit, be aware that Bang Pae is very popular with locals at the weekend.

There are several small restaurants just inside the entrance.

Tamnang waterfall Only a few kilometres from where we live is the highest point in Phuket, over 540 metres above sea level.

Near this hill you have Kathu waterfall, only a short drive from Patong beach.

You park at the end of the hill road, cross a bridge and start walking up some steps ... and up... and up.

There are several wonderful cascades as you climb, in which locals are always playing and swimming.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Earlier this year, we were driving back to Phuket from Khao Sok National Park and decided to look for Sri Phang Nga national park.

A friend had posted some photos on Facebook, it looked good and seemed to be not far off our route (but far enough to call said friend and ask him, “Where is it?”!).

Sri Phang Nga is not actually in Phuket, it’s in Phang Nga province.

You have to drive from Phuket via Khao Lak to Takua Pa and then on northward towards Kuraburi.

Over 2,000 species of sea shells that were collected by the Patamakanthin family are now displayed in the museum.

The collection includes fossils dating back 380 million years, rare golden pearls, giant clams and left-handed Noble Volute shells.

2/2 Moo 2, Viset Rd, Rawai, 076 613 666; www.phuketsea shell.com. Open daily 8.30am5.30pm. B100 for Thais, B200 for foreigners, children half-price.

Thai Hua School Museum

The museum is in what used to be the main Chinese-language school, built in 1934. Classrooms inside were renovated as exhibition rooms, displaying Phuket Thai-Chinese culture and tradition of the past and present.

28 Krabi Rd, Phuket Town, 076 211 224; www.thaihua museum.com. Open daily 9am5pm. B50 for Thai, B200 for foreigners, add extra fee for photograph.

Thalang National Museum

About 30 kilometres from Takua Pa is the turn-off and then you have about another 10 kilometres on a narrow road, becoming a dirt road... no wonder it’s not well known.

And here we found a really superb waterfall called Tamnang, with a cool fresh swimming pool beneath it filled with fish which swim all around you.

Read more of Jamie’s posts at his website: jamie-monk.blogspot.com.

Jamie works at liveaboard dive specialists Sunrise Divers in Karon. More info: 084 626 4646, info@sunrisedivers.com; sunrise-divers.com.

The museum focuses on the history and archaeology of Phuket and nearby provinces. Archaeological finds such as ancient statues, pre-historic beads and tools are on view here.

On 4027 Road (east of the Heroines monument), Thalang, 076 379 895. Open daily except public holiday 9am-4pm. B20 for Thai, B100 for foreigners.

Thavorn Hotel Lobby Museum

Located in the walkway from the lobby to the dining room of the Thavorn Hotel, this small museum corner shows old photographs, posters, ornaments, utensils and mining tools from the Phuket’s mining era and World War II, collected by the owner of the hotel.

74 Rassada Road, Phuket Town, 076 211 333. Open daily 8am5pm. B30.

THE PHUKET NEWS

TRAVEL 27

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

NEW TECH TO STOP CHECK-IN TRAVEL STRESS

Waiting in airport queues could become a thing of the past, according to a report which found technology could eventually eradicate the need for travellers to check-in.

A ‘From chaos to collaboration: how transformative technologies will herald a new era in travel’ report compiled

by Amadeus found that technology is key to increasing the customer’s travel experience and expects chips, biometrics, long range fingerprinting and near field communication to be deployed as well to get people through the airport faster.

As well as cutting queues, technology will also allow travellers to integrate all payments made during and after a trip into a digital memory of expenditure while intelligent luggage tags will help relieve the stress of missing luggage.

Mobile-health is another key game changer for the industry, with the report finding that the application will allow travellers to monitor their health as if they were still at home.

“The growth of a technology-enabled travel ecosystem

is increasing the scale of the global travel market place, with dynamic Asian markets at the forefront,” Amadeus Asia Pacific president David Brett said.

“These report findings will help the travel industry across Asia Pacific realise its ambition to meet the growing demands of a new generation of Asian travellers.”

Meanwhile the industry heading into a decade of cooperation according to the study, which found the industry is moving into a new era of Collaborative Travel.

Amadeus Global Operations executive vice president Eberhard Haag said the changes in the industry over the coming decade would create an opportunity to “redefine how the industry delivers and packages services” to meet travellers needs.

He said the key to achieving these goals would be “more intelligent information exchange, a willingness to challenge the status quo and greater two-way partnership between travellers and travel players”.

–e-Travel Blackboard

TRAVEL NEWS

Xieng Khouang adds attractions

Thai AirAsia drops Delhi Thai AirAsia announced it will terminate its Delhi flights at the end of summer schedule leaving only a daily service to Kolkata (Calcutta).

The airline claims high operational cost and rising fuel price forced it to end the service. However, it reiterates that India is still a lucrative market.

Its sister carrier, AirAsia X will also drop its Delhi and Mumbai March 23 and February 1 respectively, also citing high costs.

Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said: “India remains one of the most important destinations for us.

However, high operational costs on the Bangkok-Delhi route, combined with rising fuel prices were challenges… We will ensure that all affected passengers will be taken care of.”

From February 14, Thai AirAsia’s daily Delhi service will be reduced to four flights a week and the service will halt March 24.

The carrier launched Bangkok-Delhi service December 14, 2010.

Laos’ Xieng Khouang province will promote Keng Mountain in Phonsavanh village, in Paek district as a new tourist attraction to help draw more visitors to the Plain of Jars.

The site is located 14 kilometres from the provincial capital and has 43 stone jars.

According to a report in the Vientiane Times, the site needs better road access and electricity but despite the drawbacks it was officially opened to tourists, 18 January.

When the site has been fully developed, it will have a surfaced access road, electricity, an information centre, parking, toilets, restaurant and a hotel.

Visitors can view the ancient jars, and visit a supply tunnel that was made during the Indochina War to transfer supplies and soldiers through the steep hillsides to avoid enemy bombing raids.

On Xieng Khouang Plateau there are more than 90 jar sites. Each site ranges from 1 up to 400 stone jars. The jars vary in height and diameter between 1 and 3 metres and were hewn out of rock for purposes that still remain a mystery.

The local department also plans to improve the access road to what is

known as Elephant Cave (Tham Xang).

Another attraction is So Mountain, the home of the ethnic Phuan people, who built ladders here to launch homemade missiles during the Boun Bangfai (Rocket Festival) over 700 years ago.

The remarkable Plain of Jars has been nominated for World Heritage Site status due to its archaeological, historical and natural value.

LH pitches in with cheap fares

Lufthansa launches new online promotional fares at around B40,000 to 28 European destinations, valid until June.

Dubbed Fly-to-Europe-at-GreatValue, the sale lasts until June 30 (also last outbound travel date). The return journey must completed by December 31.

Estimated all-in fares to some destinations are: B37,775 to Frankfurt; B40,295, Stockholm; B40,200 Venice; B40,885, Paris; B39,965, Madrid; B40,685, Brussels; B40,820, Amsterdam; B40,395, Copenhagen; B40,175, Dublin; B40,050, Helsinki; B40,175, Oslo; B42,150, Munich; B43,500, London and B40,955, Zurich.

The fares are not the cheapest even when compared to nonstop services to the same destination with the exception of Frankfurt and a few others in Europe.

–TTR Weekly

thephuketnews.com

28 ISLAND SCENE

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

SHE’S A STAR: At the grand opening of Simon Star Show on Thursday (January 19) in Phuket Town are, from far left, Managing Director Pornwich Rouyrin, Samrit Rouyrin, Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, owner, Virat Rouyrin and Managing Director Pornthep Rouyrin; and above, Managing Director Pornthep Rouyrin and business partner Pattaranit Kulwera-aree.

PHUKET PRIDE: Pictured at the CC Bloom’s fundraiser for the upcoming Phuket Pride week are left, above, Daniel, Jason and Trevor; and left, GM Ken Miller, Max and John from the Phuket Loves You committee. Above, just some of the talented cabaret show performers from Soi Paradise. The evening raised B20,000 for the event.

GIVING THANKS: Elyes Ben Brahim, General Manager of Imperial Adamas Beach Resort Phuket, pictured with his management team and Pol Col Sakchai Limcharoen of Tha Chat Chai Police Station, when the resort donated office equipment to the police to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.

thephuketnews.com

BOOKING A ROOM: Denis Thouvard, General Manager of Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket, far left, recently welcomed Anna-Leena Harkonen, second left, a famous writer and actress from Finland to the resort. Also pictured are Fongfa Edjongdee, Sales Manager and Christophe Gestin, Director of Food & Beverage at Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket.

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

ISLAND SCENE 29 STANDING TALL: Pictured at the opening of The Eastland restaurant and function venue at The Pavilions, are from bottom left, Bjorn Siduff and General Manager Jean–Christophe Nader. Guests were treated to a fantastic Chinese New Year performance.

LADIES IN RED: SALA Phuket celebrated Chinese New Year at the resort on Monday evening, with traditional Chinese food and performances, including dancing, below.

ENTER THE DRAGON: On Monday (January 23), several hundred guests celebrated the arrival of the Chinese Year of the Dragon at the The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa Phuket’s spectacular outdoor Asian evening market. A roaring success, it featured local Phuket seafood, traditional Thai delicacies, Chinese noodles, Peking roast duck, Mongolian BBQ and Baba Nyonya cuisine. Those assembled enjoyed live dance performances, fiery lion and dragon dances, and an explosive fireworks show over Siray Bay.

thephuketnews.com

30 ENTERTAINMENT

IN BRIEF K-Fed in heart attack scare Kevin Federline, dancer and former husband to pop princess Britney Spears, was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack after collapsing on the set of the Australian weight-loss reality programme Excess Baggage.

The 33-year-old was attending a training session in Sydney when he complained of chest pains on Monday.

Doctors at Mount Druitt Hospital gave Federline an ECG test and found it had not been a heart attack, but decided to keep him for further testing.

Heidi & Seal confirm split Supermodel and Project Runway TV host Heidi Klum and British singer Seal have confirmed they are are separating after seven years of marriage.

The German-born Klum and Seal have four children, biological children, Henry, 6, Johan, 5, and Lou, 2, and Heidi’s 7-year-old daughter Leni from her previous marriage, who Seal adopted in 2009.

Jazz legend Etta James dead at 73 Legendary US blues and soul singer Etta James, best known for her 1960 hit “At Last,” died on Friday from complications of leukaemia aged 73, her manager said.

James, who flitted effortlessly from jazz, pop and love ballads to feisty R&B but plunged into drug addiction before resurrecting her career to win six Grammys, died at a hospital in Riverside, California.

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

The show goes on The ‘Genesis – The Magic Spectacular’ show, housed in the new Danze Fantasy theatre on Bangla Rd in Patong, is now home to two talented entertainers: Swedish illusionist Joe Labero and Italian/ American juggler Romano Frediani.

Frediani also has his own show titled Balls, where he juggles everything in sight – from hoops to square boxes, to glow in the dark objects.

Labero has been a professional performer for around 20 years, having received his first magic box set at the age of 12. His skills finely honed, we watch as he turns an ordinary B20 note into a B1,000 right in front of my eyes.

It’s this mix of sheer astonishment and anticipation that Genesis audiences are currently lapping up, particularly when it comes to his famous trick involving slicing a lady in half.

In his show, Labero manages to ‘chop’ his assistant into nine pieces, though his most dangerous illusion is the ‘Table Of Death’, where he attempts to escape before 60 steel spikes impale him on stage.

Asked if he’ll ever reveal his secrets, in the manner of the ‘Masked Magician’ in TV show, Breaking the Magician’s Code, Labero says, “It doesn’t matter how it’s done, just sit back and be mystified.”

Meanwhile international juggler

Give them a hand: Left, Swedish illusionist Joe Labero and Romano Frediani, above, are in Phuket to perform in ‘Genesis – The Magic Spectacular’. and performer Romano Frediani doesn’t have any secrets – instead saying hard work and lots of practice, plus talent, are the tricks to being able to juggle professionally.

He should know – remarkably, Frediani is an 8th generation circus performer, whose ancestors first began performing in circuses in

Italy in 1749. He learned the art of juggling from his father, who was once the world’s fastest. As you’d expect, Frediani first began juggling at the tender age of three.

But it’s not just the skills that are important, to draw the crowds there also has to be a show.“Once you’ve got the juggling down,

you’ve got to be a performer, and make it exciting.” –Claire Connell For more information or bookings call 076-342-858 or visit danzefantasy.com. Genesis tickets are B1,500 (adult), B1,300 (child) and B3,300 (VIP); ‘Balls’ tickets are B900 (adult) and B700 (child).

NEW LOGO

NEW LOGO

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by Mr Vora Continued on Page 2

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32 EVENTS

THE PHUKET NEWS

WHAT’S ON IN PHUKET JANUARY 29 Thanyapura Family Fair

JANUARY 25-31 Business Consultation Type Event in Phuket Please call Khun Lola 080 601 0599 or Khun Ron 082 334 8262 for more information and seat reservation.

Venue: Thanyapura Sports & Leisure Club Introducing: • Kids’ Fashion Show by A&A Model Management • Kids’ Zumba dance demonstration • A delicious organic cookie decorating workshop • Live band, Alquimia • Water games and activities • Jewellery making, face painting, and much more!

Brunch at DiVine Restaurant: Adult B750 per person*. Child (4-12 years): B375 person per person*. *Prices are subject to 10% service charge and 7% applicable government tax.

For reservations, please contact DiVine Restaurant, Tel: +66 (0)76 336 000 Email: divine@thanyapura.com www.thanyapura. com.

JANUARY 30

FEBUARY 2-4 Wahoo Thailand 2012 Sport Fishing Tournament This is Thailand’s largest-ever international sport fishing tournament. Prize money totalling over B3,000,000 (US$100,000).

Boats and teams are filling fast. For further information, please contact Warren Crowe on 081 270 4291 or email: info@rawaibeachfishingclub.com.

Classical Music Concert

H.E. Adm. ML Usni Pramoj will perform at Mom Tri’s Villa Royale. ML Usni Pramoj, a Privy Councillor is also an accomplished conductor, composer and violinist.

-Accompanying ML Usni will be Tasana Nagavajara- violin. Siripong Tiptan - violin and Kittikhun Sodprasert - violoncello.

-Antonin Dvorak: String Quartet Op.96 in F major “American” M.L.Usni Pramoj: String Quartet No.2 Time 6pm reception, from 7 pm concert.

Tickets B500 per person. Contact 076 333 569, pr@villaroyalephuket.com, www.villaroyalephuket.com.

FEBRUARY 5 The Great Rubber Duck Race Hosted by Laguna Phuket and organised by the Phuket Community Foundation (PCF), the event will be held at Latitude, Laguna Phuket from 12pm-5pm, with many attractions for the whole family.

There will be food stalls inside the tent by some of the best suppliers on the island, many games for children offered and run by the international schools of Phuket, cardboard box races, and dragon boat racing for teams of 12+.

The main attraction of the day is the Great Rubber Duck race, where 2,000 ducks are released into the canal and race to the Lagoon Entrance. The first ducks

thephuketnews.com

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

List your events here for as low as B99 per line, or online at www.thephuketnews.com/events.php to cross the line will be collected. Many excellent prizes have been donated to the event. Contact claire@ironkidsphuket. com.

will be donated to Phuket Has Been Good To Us, enabling them to continue to teach English to over 850 Thai students in government schools.

FEBRUARY 14

FEBRUARY 18-19

Basketball Skills Camp at BIS

Record Breaking Mass Wedding at Promthep Cape The island is aiming to break the national record for the biggest mass wedding on Valentine’s Day next year. ��������������� The Thai traditional style mass wedding for 108 couples will occur at Laem Promthep, the best sunset in Thailand. Other activities include offering alms to 99 Buddhist monks and planting trees as part of a schedule running from February 12-15, 2012.

Contact Suanluang Inter Wedding 076 221 976, email: info@interwedding phuket.com. See interweddingphuket. com.

Former NBA star Ike Nwankwo and his Top Flight Basketball Academy will be at the British International School to run a basketball camp on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th February. This camp is the first of its kind in Phuket and an amazing opportunity to learn from the best coaching team in Thailand.

Price: B3500 includes lunches, refreshments and a T-shirt. The camp is open to ages 9-18 years old. Limited spaces so enroll now! Contact Tim Pearson on 082 776 4464, www.bisphuket.ac.th .Email: tpearson@bisphuket.ac.th.

FEBRUARY 24-25

FEBRUARY 16

A Sunset Soiree International Opera Star, Julie-Anne Hunter, accompanied by BIS’s very own Merja Makivirta on the piano and supported by talented students from BIS will set the Phuket night aglow with an ensemble of popular operatic arias and classical pieces.

Julie-Anne has sung many operatic roles in Europe including Susanna in Marriage of Figaro, Musetta in La Boheme and Zerbinnetta in Ariadne auf Naxos.

Donation: B1,500 for the performance, 3 glasses of wine or beer and canapés.

Dress: Cocktail.

Email contact: surangt@bisphuket.ac.th or tina@phukethasbeengoodtous.org. Call 080 143 9554. All proceeds from the event

Phuket Int Blues Rock Festival Get ready for the 7th annual Phuket International Blues Rock Festival-South East Asia’s biggest-in Laguna Phuket. This Festival will be the biggest ever with 12 acts. This global fiesta will feature musicians from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Malaysia & Sweden, tremendous music and plenty of food and drink. Headline act is the American blues artist/actor who has sold more records and appeared in more movies than than any other blues performer this century: Chris Thomas King!

Contact Andy on 086 682 2639, www. phuketbluesfestival.com, email: phuketmusic@yahoo.com.

THE PHUKET NEWS

EVENTS 33

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

WHAT’S ON IN PHUKET FRIDAY Pool Competition Pool Competition at 9pm. Expat Sports Bar, Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. www. expatsportsbar.com.

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Exclusive Dining at Paresa Recipe by Ryan is an innovative culinary dining venture, indulge in intricate dishes created by Paresa’s Executive Chef Ryan Arboleda, featuring a six-course set menu prepared in a live cooking environment.

Time: 6pm to 10pm. Call 076 302 000.

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Half-Chicken Spit Roast

Interactive Pub Quiz Night

O nly B2 25 per per son at Shaker s.

Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

Starts from 8pm every Wednesday night.

The largest selection of draught beer in Phuket. Irish Times, Jungceylon, Patong.

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AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM

BBQ Ribs All You Can Eat

All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub, one km from Chalong circle. Contact 081 895 4763.

Only B295 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. Reservations call on 081 891 4381.

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Chef’s Dinner

All Major Sports Live

Chef’s Dinner Wednesday at Surin Gate Kitchen, four-course chef’s menu, B750 per person. Great food with unique flavours by awarded Chef Daniel Isberg and Chef Coki.

Reservations by email suringatekitchen@ gmail.com or call 076 324 4577.

On the big screen. F1, MotoGP, Tennis, Golf, AFL, NRL. Irish Times Irish Pub, Jungceylon, Patong.

Special Friday @ Indian Feast Royal Phuket Marina is pleased to introduce you to our new Special Promotion “Come 4 Pay for 3”. This gives you 25% discount on our buffet and 10% on the listed menu. Every Friday night from 7-10 pm.

This authentic home-made Indian buffet will be prepared and served by our very own in-house Indian Chef Padum Kahtri.

Only B495++ per person.

Reservations are recommended, so please call “Les Anges” on 076 360 803 or call Mr. Murat (Events & Group Manager) on 081 797 3364.

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BBQ Ribs All You Can Eat Only B29 5 per person at Shakers.

Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong. For reservations call on 081 891 4381.

List your events here for as low as B99 per line, or online at www.thephuketnews.com/events.php

SUNDAY

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Best Sunday Carvery in Phuket Roast beef, BBQ ham, chicken, pork and Yorkshire pudding. All you can eat B399.

Irish Times, Jungceylon, Patong.

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Half-Chicken Spit Roast

Laguna Phuket “Flea Market”

Only B225 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. Reservations please call 081 891 4381.

Laguna Phuket’s Canal Shopping Village is transformed into a traditional Thai flea market each Thursday from 3-8pm, creating a fascinating experience for hotel guests and local residents alike. Visitors can browse more than 50 stalls selling a variety of local arts and crafts, clothes, souvenirs, snacks and refreshments.

Vendors are registered under OTOP, the provincial government scheme that encourages local villagers to earn livelihoods through traditional arts and crafts – so visitors can enjoy a traditional Thai experience while providing income to help local communities preserve their skills and livelihoods. The market also features Thai music and entertainment by local children.

For more info please call 076 362 300

MONDAY

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Curry Fridays at Navrang Mahal

Roaring Bhoys

Start November 2011-January 2012. Every Friday, all-you-can-eat authentic Indian curry buffet, B449 net per person. Draught beer B50. 7pm-11.30pm. Call 076 286 464.

Live Music every Monday night. The largest selection of draught beer in Phuket. Irish Times, Jungceylon, Patong.

SATURDAY BBQ at Expat Hotel

THURSDAY

Sunday Roast Pork or Beef Dinner Every Sunday 2pm onwards Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong B290 per person.

Stilton with Port or Wine Every Sunday 2pm onwards B290. See www.expathotel.com.

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BBQ Buffet All You Can Eat Only B325 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. Reservations 081 891 4381.

Time 7.30pm, Expat Sports Bar, Expat Hotel, Soi Taipan, Patong. www.expatsports bar.com.

TUESDAY

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Pool Competition

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Exclusive Dining at Paresa

At 9pm Expat Guesthouse Sports Bar, Patong. See map at www.expatguesthouse. com.

BBQ Buffet All You Can Eat Only B325 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Rd, Patong. Reservations 081 891 4381.

Half-Chicken Spit Roast

AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM

Only B225 per person at Shakers. Rat-UThit Road, Patong. Reservations call 081 891 4381.

All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub, one km from Chalong circle. Contact 081 895 4763.

Recipe by Ryan is an innovative culinary dining venture. Indulge in intricate dishes created by Paresa’s Executive Chef Ryan Arboleda, featuring a six-course set menu prepared in a live cooking environment.

Time: 6pm to 10pm. Call 076 302 000, email: dining@paresaresorts.com.

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Saturday Brunch

AA Phuket Meetings @ TGM

The B-Lay Tong Saturday brunch will be held every Saturday. From 11.30am to 3pm.

B1,200 net per person. Two people receive one bottle of house wine between them.

For reservations please contact +66(0) 76 344 999 and +66(0) 76 680 666 or e-mail rsvn@b-laytong.com.

All meetings are one hour long and held in English at The Green Man Pub, one km from Chalong circle. 081 895 4763.

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.

WEDNESDAY Quiz Night @ Peppers

At Shakers. Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road, Patong. Free pick up Patong and Kalim areas.

Reservations call 081 891 4381.

Quiz Night every Wednesday at Peppers Sports Bar near Laguna. Great food, great music, great beer.

Contact 081 728 1010. Facebook Peppers Sports Bar.

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20% Off All Pizzas

Special Indian Feast Promotion @ Les Anges Royal Phuket Marina is pleased to introduce you to our new Special Promotion “Come 4 Pay for 3”. This gives you 25% discount on our buffet and 10% on the listed menu. Every Friday night from 7-10 pm. This Authentic Home-Made Indian Buffet will be prepared and served by our very own in-house Indian Chef Padum Kahtri.

Reservations are recommended, so please call “Les Anges” on 076-360803 or call Mr. Murat (Events & Group Manager on 081 797 3364.

Only B495++ per person.

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.

DAILY Brew Great Beer

Phuket’s one and only small batch handcraft beer. Open every day for lunch and dinner 11am until midnight. Live music from 7.30pm onwards. Behind the ship, the port zone at Jung­ceylon. Call 076 3667 753.

Facebook.com/fullmoon brewwork.

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Chef’s Dinner Chef Dinner Wednesday at Surin Gate Kitchen, four-course chef’s menu, B750 per person. Great food with unique flavours by awarded

Grizzly’s Sports Bar & Restaurant

Chef Daniel Isberg and Chef Coki.

Watch all the sport that is on TV this weekend with us. Located between Loch Palm Golf Course and Kathu Waterfall. Call 087 471 8747.

Reservations by email suringatekitchen @gmail.com or call 076 324 4577.

thephuketnews.com

34 JOBS

THE PHUKET NEWS

CLASSIFIEDS JOBS IN PHUKET

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Four bed villa for rent Baan Suan Loch Palm Estate > 36

To advertise here visit: thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php Sales Executive

Princess Yachts Thailand is looking for an experience Webmaster to join our dynamic team Class Act Media publishes The Phuket News – Phuket’s leading English language newspaper – and broadcasts Phuket's most vibrant and coolest English language radio station – Live 89.5 FM.

Job Description The Webmaster implements web pages, maintains content and oversees day-to-day management of the company website, and assures quality and filling integrity of web pages.

Duties and Responsibilities • Responsible for the design of company web pages, including graphics, animation and functionality • To develop web page infrastructure and application related to pages with more advanced graphics and features • To monitor web server and site technical performance • Implementing search engine optimization strategies • Promoting company websites online to increase prominence within our web community where possible • Management of Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns to achieve optimum ROI (Return of Invest ment) for individual active search terms for each of the major search engines • Work closely with Marketing Manager to set and ensure marketing campaigns achieve budgeted commercial target • Circulate efficient and accurate reporting, detailing results of each web marketing campaign and possible improvement • Advise Manager on the improvement, result, competition and new direction in technoogy to assist with ,marketing of the brand • Maximize online affiliate opportunities and revenue generation for the company (with possibility of widening affiliate advertising schemes) • Ensure regular communication and email contact with affiliates and act as main point of contact • Source and manage new revenue generating online marketing opportunities Skills/attributes required 1. Proven website management experience 2. You will have strong web design skills which will include the ability to edit HTML, XHTML and JavaScript skills 3. A thorough knowledge of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques 4. Experience of running and evaluating online marketing campaigns, which will include the management of Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign 5. A flexible attitude with proven experience of working in a small team 6. Thai nationality with excellent communication skill and attention to detail

Interested applicants send CV to alice@boatlagoonyachting.co.th

Urgently Seeking Staff Waitress/Food Runner and Cleaner/Housekeeper and Chef/Cook/Cook Helper - Full time/Part-Time Female, age 18 to 35 years old.

- Thai nationality only.

- Presentable and have excellent communication skills in English (waitress only).

- Previous experience and reliable transpor t is important but not essential.

Please apply in person to: Rossovivo – Pasta Pizza Grill, Fisherman Way Business Garden Centre, 5/38 Viset Road, Rawai. 076 38 4 68 6, info@rossovivo.asia.

Patong Bay Vacation Club are Looking for: Do you enjoy working in positive, progressive,and professional work environment? Do you enjoy working with people in a team?

Urgent required: -OPC/Night Booking OPC eight positions. High rate of commisison.

-Receptionist (Foreigner only), one position. Salary and commmision.

thephuketnews.com

-Maid (Thai only) one position. Salary and commmision. Please send your CV ( with recent photo): eve@ patongbay vacationclub. com or call 076 344 161 ext.4302.

We are currently seeking

SALES MANAGER (THAI OR FOREIGNER)

RESPONSIBILITIES: - Reaching sales target - Developing and following up new sales leads - Self discipline in developing and managing sales volumes - Preparing regular sales activities reports to the General Manager - Excellent communication and negotiation skills - Self driven and motivated with a positive attitude - Work well under pressure and achievement oriented Competitive salary, bonuses and travel expenses, Friendly work environment, social security (10%) paid by the company, excellent career progress opportunity INTERESTED APPLICANTS ARE INVITED TO APPLY BY SENDING A FULL RESUMÉ IN ENGLISH WITH A RECENT PHOTO & EXPECTED SALARY TO:

Class Act Media Co., Ltd. 99/7, Moo 1, T. Kathu, Phuket 83120 Tel: 076 612 550-2 Fax: 076 612 553 E-mail: gm@thephuketnews.com

Professional Sales People Need: New of fice opening in Patong. We need the best sales people positions av a i l a b l e n o w. O n l y hardworking,energetic, friendly, outgoing, sales focused people with great English need apply.

1.Sales Consultant (Full time only).

2.Promotion Ladies (Part-time or full time).

3.Independent Sales Contractors ( Work at your own pace).

Great pay is available for the right people starting at 15,000 a month plus huge commissions.

Call 080 882 0781 or email info@passivecash solutions.com.

www.thephuketnews.com

Massage Shop Staff: R e q u i r e ex p e r i e n c e d staf f for busy, friendly massage shop, Patong Beach,hairdresser, beauty salon experienced, manicure /pedicure, facial, etc.

10am to 11pm. Day off per week. Contact Khun Porn (Thai) 083 176 6475, Email: tammice@live.com. au.

Apple Mac Support: Apple Mac technical support needed to help with computer issues in Surin area.

Please email admin@ esxoasia.com.

Email information about yourself to ltnesneg@aol. com.

Cleaner Part Time: Location Patong behind football ground beach road. Call 089 972 3861.

Massage Shop Staff: New massage shop on Karon needs staff for massage, facial treatment and manicure.

Salary plus commission.

12 a.m to 12 p.m. 6 days a week. 089 128 4783 Pui (Thai).

Employment - Scuba Diving: Urgently seeking two instructors to run a small dive shop in Phuket.

SSI Instr uctor is a big plus, good English a must.

Please send CV to office@ sea-bees.com or call 076 381 765.

to office@sea-bees.com or call 076 381 765.

- Male/Female, 25 - 35 years.

-Bachelor’s degree or higher in marketing or related field. Thai nationality with an excellent command of written and spoken in English. (Being able to speak French is an advantage).

-At least two years sales experience in Phuket’s real estate field.

-Detail oriented, highly organised, multitasking capacity.

-Proficiency in MS Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, Power Point etc.)

-Requires an energetic strategically-focused and creative sales achiever who enjoys the latitude of working independently and effectively using their time management skills.

-Highly motivated and well presented.

-Having own car and valid driving licence.

Please send CV and expected salar y to kate@century21a n d a m a n .c o m . C e n tury 21 Andaman Ltd. Mobile: 080 696 2064.

JOB WANTED Companion/Social Secretary: Single female 20-32. Good English, slim and attractive only. Live in separate high-end condo accommodation. Able to travel internationally. Position requires day-to-day activities of semi-retired English/Canadian businessman. Can be part time. Salary 15 - 40K per month. Photo application to bggvirgo@ gmail.com and call 089 054 4354

Butler House Manager: Pr ofe s s i o n a l Head Butler, 44, previous with over 20 years extensive experience with Buckingham Palace and an internationally renowned Holly wood Producer is now available. Interested parties kindly email enquiries to p.v.b.b@live.com.

Hotel Type Manager / Marketing: Experienced Hotel / Accommo-

Elite Fitness: Personal dation Manager, with SEO Maid: Live in Thai maid To take care of house in Chalong and give daily massage to Farang. Pay B14,000 per month with motorbike to use. Age 35 to 50 and speak English.

Trainer – Classes instructor

Web design, Real Estate

Body Pump, Yoga Etc.) Thai or foreigner, Male/ Female. Contact Tiya 089 600 0041. Email: tiya@ elitegyms.net.

skills, searching for work.

Contact: Mark Hopkins, Pho ne: 0 8 8 824 9 5 47, E m a i l : m r. m . h o p k i n s @ gmail.com.

Expanding Our Team: (Aerobics, Body Combat, and full marketing / agent Looking for Finnish or Swedish speaking Instructor to join our existing team in secluded but busy location. Please send your CV

THE PHUKET NEWS

CLASSIFIEDS 35

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

BUY & SELL IN PHUKET BOATS & YACHTS

BUSINESSES FOR SALE Kamala Bar for SALE!:

Digifox Marine: Marine

inboard engines, hydraulic and mechanical equipment service, repairs and spare parts. MAN, Arneson, ZF, Rolls Royce and others. Professional team of engineers, high quality, personal approach guaranteed. Contact 076 336 221, 083 171 4141. Email info@ digifoxmarine.com.

Dinghy Size 2.45 metre:

Inflatable tubes. Rigid hull and cover. Used only in fresh water.

B65,000. (new B100,000) 081 728 0140 or email milou2612@ gmail.com.

Very profitable bar on main road. Owner returning to Australia in high season. Has one bedroom with ensuite, three FS TVs, pool table, stock, furniture. etc. Price negotiable. Call Chompoo on 084 844 3504.

To advertise here visit: thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

construction and management.

Contact 076 381 895.

Tile It: Thalang. Wana Park

on Srisoonthorn Rd. Phuket’s quality tile boutique. Tiles for interior, exterior, residential, commercial. Contact 076 620 168 or 081 424 2828. Email info@tile-asia.com.

Alarms & CCTV SerB u s i n e s s f o r S a l e: vices: Protect your home or Phuket slingshot, Thailand’s only, and bumper cars. Call 082 419 0742.

office with an alarm system and CCTV cameras. Call 085 798 9469 or email contact@ alarms-phuket-services.com.

ABC International Nursery: Education for chil-

dren 18 months to six years old with experienced native English teachers following the UK EYFS curriculum. Contact 089 971 1813.

Kiddies Home Nursery: Award for top Nursery

for Phuket Province 2011.

Ages 3 months to 4 years.

Open 7 days a week and from 6.30 am to 7pm. Rock Garden Village. Call 076 528 862, mobile 082 539 8252, email: kiddieshomenursery@gmail. com.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Green House: ConstrucInvestors or Partners tion, renovation, electric, metal Wanted: 5 Rai hillside land, work, wood work, shop fitting.

Maikhao Beach. Perfect for Resort, 15-20 villas. First villa under construction. www. phuketapartments.de, Contact Julius 087 267 1192.

BUSINESS SERVICES

Please contact 085 654 2244.

CARS FOR RENT Car for Rent: Car in good condition, short and longterm rental with first class insurance and delivery service. 086 690 6007, email: k.niwatt@hotmail. com.

CLUBS Funstart: Family sports and leisure club. Swimming/ Golf/Play Centre/ Gaming arcade. Call 076 203 185, 087 882 5544. See funstart phuket.com.

SK A L I nt e r na t i onal Phuket: Skål is a professional organisation of leaders from all branches of the travel and tourism industry. www. skalphuket.org.

A1 Car Rentals: Fully-

insured. Starts at B12,000 to B18,000 per month. Please call 089 831 4703. Email for more info: a1carrent@gmail.com.

Private Luxury Yacht Charters: Luxury day

and overnight yacht charters with crew and chef on board. Rates from B49,000 per day. Contact 089 971 0278, Visit our website at www.yacht-char ter-thai land.com.

CARS FOR SALE

Singapore Club Phuket: Calling all Singaporeans in Phuket to join “Singapore Club Phuket”. Contact Robin on 081 803 7189, 076 303 500.

COMPUTERS

rak Road, Patong Beach. 076 344 611.

English Computer man: Sales (new and used), service and repairs, WLAN a speciality. Free telephone advice. Call 0846 257 744 or email computermanphuket@gmail.com.

DIVING Phuket Scuba Club: PADI 5 Star Centre. Half-day, day-trips, live-aboards and diver education. Contact 076 284 026. Phuket’s only dive club.

Under Water Video Package For Sale:

Sony CX150 HD Vid.Camera with Equinox HD6 housing. B35,000 or best offer Call 084 630 2165.

All 4 Diving: 5/4 Sawatdi-

Nissan NV Manual 2000 Carry Boy: New

Phuket Consult Services: Insurance, personal

tyres, full service Tax and full insurance June 2012.

Excellent condition. Silver B150,000. Call 089 908 4421.

assistance, legal assistance, police and emergency assistance, property management sales and rentals, company registration, visa and work permit and accounting. Call 081 691 9679.

WRITE YOUR CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENT Heading ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ......

Pegasus 8.2M - Late 2006: SUZUKI 140 HP -

4 strokd - 300 hours. Fully equipped. Location: Boat Lagoon. Price: B700,000.

Contact 086 268 7901, martin@pertinax.asia.

Pr o t e c t yo u r h o m e w i t h C C T V: C C T V &

Alarm service. Protect your home with high-quality CCTV camera,and GSM alarm. Free survey and quote. Please call 086 105 8144 or click www. huketechnology.com.

Toursys: Tour operator software. Presented by Blue D Zine Co., Ltd. See bluedzine. com.

Farang Food Paradise: 35ft Bay Liner Motor Yacht: Year 2009, twin

260HP Mercruisers, Aircon. Navigation, TV/DVD/ surround, fridge/freezer, coffee machine, vacuum, flush, full bimini enclosure, many other options. Immaculate condition, a steal at B3.99m. eddyelan@ yahoo.com, call 089 971 0278.

Your specialist of imported food and drinks in Phuket. Visit our shop at the Billion Plaza, opposite Tesco Lotus. Contact 076 612 733, 076 248 900. www.phuketfood.com.

Indo Construction: 40

years experience of more than 20 years at your service in Thailand. Main contractor: study project, architecture design and

Jeep CJ7 2.0 L Automatic 1989: Stain-

less, disc-brake, powersteering. B450,000.

C a l l 0 8 6 2 6 8 8 7 0 1.

Body ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B99 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B198

1943 Model Jeep (Ford) for Sale: Well-maintained, runs well B190,000 or nearest offer. Call 081 728 0140 or email: milou2612@gmail.com.

...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B297 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B396 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B495 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B594

Car for Sale: Teana top model 2010. Travelled 22,000 km. Sell B1,240,000. Please call 087 276 0529.

CHILDCARE Buds Nursery: Phuket’s

oldest bi-lingual international child care facility. High-quality, time-proven schedule and curriculum. Experienced native English teachers to teach ages 1½ -6. Monday to Friday, 8am5pm. Bus service available.

Contact 076 282 232.

...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B693 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B792 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B891 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... B990

Box B200

Colour Background B200

Colour Headline B200

Colour Picture B395

Deadline: Monday 12pm (noon) for that Friday’s issue

Hand in this form at agent shops, office or fax: 076 612 553

thephuketnews.com

36 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

BUY & SELL/HOMES IN PHUKET EDUCATION Learn Thai at Home: Female Thai teacher with 8-9 years experience gives Thai and English lessons for company/hotel staff and Thai cooking at your home.

Full course with conversation practise and home study material. Both at beginner and more advanced levels. Call 081 797 1497 or Email teacher joy_phuket@hotmail.com.

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.

your creative flare with Food Services Cooking School. Italian, Western and Thai cuisine.

Try our famous pizza school.

Call 082 816 0126, email: info@foodservicesth.com.

To advertise here visit: thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

(1)40,000BTU, (2)20,000BTU. Shop glass front. All going cheap, call 087 276 0529.

MOTORBIKES FOR SALE

Dos & Don’ts of Thai Culture: Learn Thai and Thai culture that is necessary for enjoying life in Thailand.

Group classes three days per week, learning about the real dos and don’ts of Thailand.

The Genius Language School, call 089 203 9270 (Aooddy).

Visit www.thegeniuslanguag eschool.net.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FOR SALE

ten. Native English teachers, UK and Singapore curriculum, small class sizes. The best choice. Call 082 323 1188.

Native German Teacher:

Yamaha Serow for Sale: 220cc, year 1996.

Sale B45,000. Please contact Khun Nicolas (farang) 083 176 4265. Khun Ball 081 084 9532 (Thai).

Native German TEFL teacher is teaching German and English to single students at home or small groups in Chalong. (German/English) 080 778 1220, (Thai) 081 810 9115.

Cooking School: Fire up

Moving Sale: Sign frame and alluminium C slats s i z e, 10 m x 3 m . A i r- c o n .

CBR 150 9 years old, modified w/ 250 fork, rear. Big 250 rubber, one of a kind motobike.

B30,000. Call 080 530 9555.

Your number one billiard and snooker supplier in Phuket.

Sales, rent and profit-sharing.

All accessories and services.

Call 081 823 4627.

MOTORBIKE SERVICES

PROPERTY CONCIERGE

your motorcycle tyres for a smoother ride with DYNA BEADS! Available at West Coast Service Center Phuket.

Your big bike specialist on the bypass road. Contact 085 785 4440.

PERSONAL SERVICES DH Yoga Studio Bangtao: Next to Tesco Lotus

sung PS51D450, 2 weeks old, can see working. Free delivery in Patong. Beautiful picture. Price B20,000 ono.Call 0824231247, graeme_lowe@ hotmail.com.

Health Food : Online health food in Thailand. Good karma, all natural healthy, natural and organic products.

Contact 082 276 1675. www. goodkarmathailand.com.

CBR 150 modified 30K:

Dynamic Tyre Balancing: Dynamically balance

51 Inch Plasma TV: SamInternational Kindegarten: International Kindergar-

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Cherngtalay. Daily 8.30 am and 19.00 pm. Class - B200, 1 month - B3,000, 3 months B7,000. phuketdh@gmail.com.

H o n d a Ph a n t o m 200cc 2007: Good

Mali Massage :Mali Massage,100 9-10 Soi Post Office Patong Beach Phuket Kathu 8 315 0. The most beautiful, serene and tranquil facilities in Patong Beach.

This is an all inclusive original Thai massage shop.

Original Thai massage, Deep Thai, Swedish, foot massage and many more. Facial, aroma therapy full service manicure, pedicure including acrylics. Hair-braiding, waxing. Fish spa too. w w w.malimas sage.c om.

Open Daily 10 am - midnight.

Call 081 087 2460.

Selling or Renting Your Property?: We have buyers for foreign freehold, sea view properties and land. Call 080 143 2929 or visit realestate.phuket. net.

PROPERTY FOR RENT

Atmanjai: World’s best natural health programmes to improve health, reduce stress, weight loss, detox, rejuvenation, vitality and overcome disease. See more info at www. atmanjai.com.

condition with green book and insurance. B57,000.

Call 080 700 5560.

Phuket Visa: Offers con-

English-Thai Law Office: Visa, work permit, company formation, property transfer etc. Please telephone for advice. Contact 084 063 9223.

Havana Cigar Shop: Opposite HomePro Village Chalong. Contact 081 956 2024. Email: vinoltds@hotmail. com.

American Health Clinic: Chiropractic spinal adjustment with an experienced chiropractor can take away the pain almost as quickly as it began.

Call 076 612 707.

sulting and services on company registration, work permit, visa, accounting, auditor, legal advice. Contact 081 892 9960.

& installation. Professional service and support. Premium service: home cinema, home automation, marine AV and IT, lighting control and multiroom audio-video. Call 084 443 9863.

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: A producer of premium coffee blends and powdered mixes as well as selling, maintaining, servicing and repairing all major brands. 076 355 600-1.

PET ADOPTION Foundation have over 300 beautiful dogs and puppies available for adoption. Fully-vaccinated and sterilised.

Contact 087 050 8688, email: john@soidog.org.

PET HOSPITAL Chaofah Pet Hospital:

Live Music By Colin Hill: Popular expat pro musician (guitar/vocals) with work permit. Can perform solo, duo or band. www.play-guitar.net, 089 777 3063.

thephuketnews.com

with swimming pool, security 24/7. 46sq metre, furnished.

Daily/monthly. 089 728 4005 or email: thamad17@yahoo.com.

Kata Hot Yoga: The most

Why buy a pet?: Soi Dog Techworx: Custom design

Apartment for Rent in Patong: New condo

Four Beds/Four Baths Villa for Rent: Securely located in Baan Suan Loch Palm Estate, 10 minutes to golf courses, International schools and Central, 15 mins to Patong. B65,000 per month. Includes common area pool and gardening service, 6 months minimum. Available from 22 April 2012. +61 41 268 3850 or email jenjira555@yahoo. com.au.

8/28–29 Moo 9, Chaofah East Road. Contact 076 283 365.

POOL TABLES Phuket Pool Tables: www.phuketpooltables.com.

Luxury Pool Villa: Has everything, low rates. Day/ week/month. Three bedroom.

Near Laguna. 089 594 4067.

THE PHUKET NEWS

CLASSIFIEDS 37

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

HOMES IN PHUKET PROPERTY FOR RENT CONT.

apartments, fully-furnished with swimming pool & office.

Contract 081 893 2165.

To advertise here visit: thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php per rai, chanot title. Call 085 789 1773.

Land for sale in Rawai: Beach Frontage: One

One rai with Chanote contact direct to owner 089 472 9870 d_chaibut@yahoo.com.

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Top Rawai Beach Condo For Sale: Serenitity

bedroom self-contained holiday villa Rawai. Rental Day/Week Call 081 677 1641.

Rawai Beach Front House: Rawai beach front

house for sale/long term rent. Three beds, three baths with three air-con.

Cable TV, ADSL on area 1600 sq metre. Call 089 649 9939.

Rent Kata One-Three Bed Apartments: Superb apartments and pool penthouses 115-375 sq metre, less than five minutes walk to two beaches (Kata and Kata Noi) Call 081 078 1246.

Apar tment for Rent in Rawai: Business nine

Nice One Rai Chalong NOW Reduced to 6.5m ono: In Chalong 200 metre off main road in great location.

Full Chanote title. Call 089 651 3479.

24 Rai Flat Land Cheap:

24 rai flat land close to Phuket zoo. Owner direct B3.8 million

650 m², own water, solar, living area 280 m², furnished, carport, 80 m² pool, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, 5 flat tv, ADSL, Cable TV. 19.5 million Thai Baht. +66 (0) 88 381 0012, email: office@palm-beachentertainment.com.

Resort & Residences. Two Bed / two bath, 134 sq metre.

Only B11.9 million. See www. stefan.asia for details.

Land for Sale: 11 rai,

one kilometre from Naiyang beach. B6.5 millions per rai.

Please call : Siriporn +66 (0) 896 499 939.

Kata Beach Centre Phuket: Apar tments for rent and lease in luxury building with pool. Per day, week, month, year and 30 years.

Contact Scott Bolls, email: sbolls@hotmail.com, call +66 81 828 0972.

tact Scott Bolls, email: sbolls@ hotmail.com, call +66 81 828 0972.

Modern Pool Villa:

House Wi t h Pool Rawai/Nai Harn: Plot

Jindarin Beach Club & Resort: B1.5 million

for one plot, B3.2 million for Cottage + Plot. Call 080 467 7770 (Thai), 083 520 0020 (Engish). www.jindarin.com, Email: eam1008@me.com.

Luxur y Villa, Phuket Loch Palm for Sale: Plot:

of approx 825 sq metre with enclosed space of approx 220 sq metre. Three bedrooms and three bathrooms with open plan western kitchen. Fully air-con, WiFi and cable TV. Solar hot water. Large approx 70 sq metre free-form pool in large established tropical garden. Sala and covered two-car parking with electric gate. Well-established quiet neighborhood. Chanote title.

For sale by owner at B10.7 million. Call 087 267 1282 or email david_rosa mond@yahoo.com for details and photos.

Stunning three-bedroom pool villa, five minutes from Laguna 600 sq metre plot in peaceful location. Finished to a very high specification “MUST SEE” Selling price B12.9 million. Please contact 084 994 9303 or email phuketpoolvilla.info@ gmail.com.

THE SUNRISE OCEAN VILLAS

Perfect Land for Villa: Approx three rai, with chanote title, 2 km south of Thai Muang town centre. Just 24 km north of Sarasin Bridge. Good road access and electricity. Very quiet, green area. Urgent sale for just B5 million total, nonnegotiable. Contact Peter on 089 652 1951 or email phuket. pn@gmail.com.

After a great success of the first phase, the Sunrise Ocean Villas is now starting to build the 8 other villas of "Phase2". The price of 17.9 million baht makes the project one of the most compettitive on the island for being only 60m from the beach.

Each villa has an living area of over 300 sqm, has 3 spacious bedrooms, all sea views, 5 bathrooms, a 10x4m infinity pool, maid's quarter and a covered 2 car-parking. The houses are specially designed to guarantee a complete privacy, with an open panoramic view of the sea.

Nice Three Bed House for Sale: Three-bedroom

house in Moobaan Tarn Thong Villa opposite Moobaan Chao fa California. B3.1 million. Contact Lee on 081 803 7189.

Patong Guesthouse: 8

rooms, internet cafe and apartment. B1.3 million. Call for details on 0857946530.

SEAVIEW LAND FOR SALE: Near Chalong pier, 150 metres from the sea.

Three rai and one ngan plot.

Chanote title. Price: B20 million per rai. No agent. Call 087 278 7206

Sea View Villa: Luxury seaview Patong-Karon villa, four bedrooms, private pool.

Sell for B22 million, and also available rental daily and monthy basis. Please check more info at www.awphuket.com.

Thai Style House for Sale: Teak wood floors,

stairs, walls, 2 bedroom.

Land 330 sq metre, peaceful location, five minutes to Patong, Chanote title. B5.0 million. 086 268 8701, email: f430spiderf1@hotmail.com.

Kata Phuket Luxur y Studio/Apartment: 60

sq metre. Lease hold 30+60 year option. Free furnishing and transfer. B3.0 million. Con-

Come visit the villas and you will be wonderfully surprised by the quality of the project as well as the quality of life you can find here.

For appointment or more details, contact the project director Khun Monta at 081 343 0777 (Thai, English & German) Email: thesunrise villas@yahoo.com.

www.thesunrisevillas.com

Seaview Land AoMakha m for Sale: 3 3 rai

Land for Sale: Land Mis-

land upon hill with seaview.

Very easy access from road.

B5 million per rai. Contact 081 895 4318. Email: wapeebow@gmail.com.

sion Hills half rai plot, quiet select location, chanote, water, electric price B1.6m. Six rai hilltop, sea/mountain views, chanote, water, electric, office B4.2m per rai. 087 978 5804.

New Apartment for Sale Patong: Condo: swimming

Urgent Three Bed House for Sale: Phuket

pool, security 24/7. Furnished, 46sqm, freehold: B2.9 million.

089 728 4005, thamad17@ yahoo.com.

grand ville pasak soi 8, two storey house, 3 bed, 3 bath, 3 aircon, cable, internet and fully furnished. Call 081 894 2505.

thephuketnews.com

38 CLASSIFIEDS

THE PHUKET NEWS

TRADES IN PHUKET

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

To advertise here visit: thephuketnews.com/classifieds.php

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

REMOVALS

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT

STORAGE Reserve Your Storage Space

Call 076 29 29 09

or visit mystorageasia.com

 Sizes to Suit all Budgets  Personal & Business Storage  Motorcycle Storage  Left Luggage Service  We Sell Boxes  Storage Insurance Inclusive Wana Park, Srisoonthron Road, Thalang, Phuket 83110 Tel 076 620168 info@tile-asia.com

HOME IMPROVEMENT

Secure, Clean & Cost Effective Self Storage Jungceylon Shopping Center, Patong, Phuket

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AVAILABLE AT ALL THE FOLLOWING OUTLETS

This is in addition to 600 locations including all 7-Eleven, Big One Supermarkets, Se-ed book stores and all major shopping outlets.

For full list of outlets please visit www.thephuketnews.com/distributionlists.php

Te l : 0 7 6 6 1 2 5 5 0 - 2

thephuketnews.com

THE PHUKET NEWS

ISLAND SPORT 39

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

ISLAND CC DEFUSE TNT CRICKET

The ninth match of the Island Furniture League season saw a battle between former champions Island Cricket Club (ICC) and newcomers Thanyapura News Tigers (TNT) at the ACG last Sunday (January 22).

With TNT sitting in fourth place on seven points, and ICC close behind in fifth place on six points, both teams were looking to secure their second win of the season to move up the league table.

On a wet, slow outfield, runs were always going to be hard to come by early on, and TNT were sent in to bat, posting a respectable score thanks to yet another brutal batting display from Ryan

Dunn (83), who took his average to above 100 runs for the season.

Martin Hill (1) and Dunn opened the batting, before Hill fell in the fifth over with the score on 24.

TNT then lost Dan Smith (2) in the 10th over before the drinks break.

However, a 106 run partnership between Dunn and Sid Prathu (59) built a solid foundation for the innings before Prathu eventually fell with the score on 167 in the 28th over.

The ICC boys had plenty of chances to break the partnership, dropping Prathu four times during his innings, but Yatin Halarnkar took a screamer of a catch to remove Dunn, who looked well on his

The Island Furniture League TEAM

PLAYED WON LOST POINTS

1 Patong

3

2

1

15

2 Laguna

2

2

0

12

3 The Village

2

2

0

12

4 Island

3

2

1

11

5 TNT

3

1

2

9

6 Lizards

2

0

2

3

7 Leopards

3

0

3

1

Official opening of the ACG

This weekend sees the official opening of the Alan Cooke Ground, with officials from the Cricket Association of Thailand (CAT) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in attendance.

Saturday will see youth exhibition matches followed by a T20 match between two Phuket teams. Sunday will see a CAT XI take on an Asian Invitational XI. All are invited to attend. way to making yet another ton.

The only other contribution of note was from Roshan Jayasuria (14), while none

of the other TNT batsmen reached double figures.

The innings finally ended when TNT were bowled out

Portrait kick off AFL FUTSAL

The new season of the Adult Futsal League (AFL) got underway under floodlights last Thursday (January 19) as reigning Premier Division Champions Portrait FC took on last season’s runners-up Thanachart Bank at Thanyapura.

In a close fought match, Portrait got their season off to a winning start by claiming a 4-3 victory.

At the same time on Field 2, the First Division got underway with AFL regulars Island Boys up against Season 8 Fair Play Award winners, Ultraman.

In another close match,

The ninth season of the AFL kicked off last week.

Ultraman took the lead before Island Boys hit back with two unanswered goals.

It looked as if Island Boys were going to hold on for the three points, but with five

minutes left, Ultraman scored an equaliser and the match finished a 2-2 draw.

Up next saw Season 8 Division 1 Champions Thalang Tigers play Honda in their first

game since being promoted to the Premier League. Thalang were obviously still riding high on last season’s success, as they were too strong for Honda and claimed a 6-1 victory.

The final match saw TSLC up against Chevrolet.

The opening half was a tight affair with both teams trying find a way through their opposition’s defence, but it TSLC who took their chances and a 2-0 lead at half time.

In the second half, Chevrolet fought hard to get back into the game, but TSLC were too strong, and scored another two quick goals to claim the three points.

for 196 in the 37th over. Pick of the bowlers were Faisal Mir (3-47), Yatin Halankar (2-30) and Imtiyaz Mushtaq (2-32).

The ICC innings got off to a shaky start, losing Vicky Kumar (4) to a run-out by Dan Smith in the third over with the score on 15.

However, despite the early setback, ICC managed to put together several solid partnerships throughout the middle order.

Imtiyaz Mushtaq (34) top-scored, with other notable knocks from Ali Khan (33), Surender Kumar (19), Anand Chand (16) and Darshan Vaigankar (14).

TNT looked in with a chance when they took three late wickets in the innings with ICC less than 20 runs

from victory. However, they couldn’t take the final wicket required for the win, and ICC secured victory in the 31st over with one wicket in hand.

It was a familiar story for TNT, with loose bowling costing them the game – they let by 52 extras, including 39 wides.

Pick of the bowlers for TNT were Ryan Dunn (2-24) and Martin Hill (2-18).

Man of the match was Imtiyaz Mushtaq, while Ryan Dunn and Ali Khan were second and third pick respectively.

ICC now move up to fourth place in the league table after their victory over TNT. Patong still remain on top, but the Village and Laguna have matches in hand.

Thanyapura serves up some love on Valentine’s Day If you can serve with the accuracy of cupid’s arrows, enjoy mixing it up a bit and don’t mind losing a game to love, then Thanyapura’s Valentines Sweet Mixed Doubles tournament offers a date with a difference in the lead up to Valentine’s Day. From 1pm on Saturday, February 11, Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club’s Tennis Academy will host a mixed doubles competition.

The tournament runs until 4.30pm, and will feature mixed doubles (one

male and one female) of any kind: married and unmarried couples, or teams of friends. The Tennis Academy expects at least eight teams (16 players) to sign up, but more are welcome.

The cost of entr y is B1,000 for members and B1,200 for non-members.

Bookings are required, and interested players should book before February 8.

For more information, contact 076-336-000 ext 3355, nathaphat@thanyapura. com; thanyapura.com

Action-packed round two of Fair Play League

The Fair Play League (FPL) entered its second round last Saturday (January 21) as the action made its way to the Youth Football Home in Thalang.

In the under-11 Division, spectators were treated to three hard fought games. In the first match, France had seemed certain to take the three points after going two goals clear against Germany White, but the Germans clawed their way back to claim a share of the spoils in a 4-4 draw.

The second match saw Brazil win 4-0 against a dogged Argentina, with some inspired goalkeeping and opportunistic striking

helping the Brazilians earn the big win.

The last match in the U11s saw the ‘All Girls’ team of Thailand come up just short despite a good effort, losing 4-3 to a confident Germany Green team.

The under-14’s matches were a little more one sided, with Germany Green continuing their fine form with a 7-3 win over Brazil, and France downing Argentina 6-3. Thailand also achieved their first win of the campaign with a 7-3 drubbing of Germany White.

The next round of the Fair Play League will be played on Sunday, February 5, at BIS.

31/1/2012

–Photo by Martin Hill

thephuketnews.com

40 ISLAND SPORT

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

DEAL OR NO DEAL? Stadium dispute stalls FC Phuket agreement The ordeal over the future of FC Phuket is still a long way from over, it seems, after an apparent falling-out between the new management and the Phuket Provincial Adminstration Organisation (OrBorJor) over permission to use Surakul Stadium.

A letter dated January 19, from Cournot & Nash Co Ltd – also known as Muang Thong United management group – was recently obtained by The Phuket News, addressed to the President of FC Phuket.

The letter says that Cournot & Nash opened negotiations with the OrBorJor for permission to use Surakul Stadium, as it is the only stadium in Phuket that is certified by the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) for use at competition level.

“But unfortunately Cournot & Nash [and the OrBorJor] failed to reach a mutual agreement on this matter,” the letter reads.

“OrBorJor Phuket insists that as a business identity, FC

thephuketnews.com

FOOTBALL Phuket and its management Cournot & Nash must pay stadium rent and must give the OrBorJor 10 per cent of ticket sales on each game.

“Cournot & Nash brought these terms and conditions to its board meeting, and the members of the board unanimously agreed to reject those terms. Cournot & Nash shall subsequently return the management rights and Division 1 play rights to FC Phuket.

“Cournot & Nash will re- Paiboon Upatising: ‘Not trying to sabotage FC Phuket.’ main FC Phuket’s ally and will be ready to help FC Phuket, send their administrative team came up with these terms that but will not be involved in the to Phuket in preparation for we couldn’t agree to, we had next season, but the stadium no choice but to terminate our team’s management.”

The letter was signed by issue brought them to a halt. management prospect.”

There is no indication of “Cournot & Nash and Ronnarit Suewaja, Managing Director of Cournot & Nash, Muang Thong United are how much rent was being and general manager of Muang taking a big risk coming to sought for use of the stadium.

Fans took the news poorly, Phuket. They were ready to Thong United.

A telephone interview with pitch in at least B3 million per taking to Facebook to express FC Phuket consultant Paitoon month – a total of B36 million their anger.

They aimed most of their ‘Ko Men’ Chutimakornkul, this season – and this was bewho was also present at the fore any kind of sponsorship. criticism at the OrBorJor, with board meeting, revealed that This is out of their own pocket. many singling out OrBorJor Cournot & Nash were ready to “But when the OrBorJor President Paiboon Upatising

as the man responsible for the deal falling through.

“When the [Office of the Auditor General of Thailand] investigated the illegal funding [from the OrBorJor], Paiboon was first to bail. He quit and ran, left FC Phuket management, staff and footballers to fend for themselves. But when Prime Minister Yingluck [Shinawatra] promised to clear the funding issue, he [Paiboon] was first to turn around and run back again,” one post read.

On Wednesday afternoon The Phuket News was granted an interview with Mr Paiboon.

He said he had never received a formal request for permission to use Surakul Stadium.

“FC Phuket never told me anything as to who will manage the football team. I have never received a letter or any call from this company [Cournot & Nash] or Muang Thong United. I received only a phone call from Ko Men. And who is he? He does not represent Muang Thong Unit-

ed. He’s the President of the Sports Journalists Association of Thailand, not a company representative.

“If any company wants to use the stadium to conduct their business, they must come to talk with me formally. There must be terms and conditions and regulations, things that must be discussed in detail.”

Mr Paiboon said the OrBorJor is more than ready to meet formally with anyone from FC Phuket.

“The OrBorJor is not trying to sabotage FC Phuket as some people claim. I want nothing more than to have a football team that will be the pride of Phuket.

“But for me and for the OrBorJor, when it comes to the public interest, transparency is the key virtue. No one can just call me off the record and expect me to give permission to use the government’s property this way. If they want to talk, I would be more than ready to talk to them in front of all FC Phuket fans.” –Kazira Hans

THE PHUKET NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Clarke, Ponting: double trouble for hapless India Skipper Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting hit doublecenturies as Australia built an imposing first innings total in the fourth Test against India on Wednesday.

Clarke scored 210 and Ponting 221 as Australia passed 600 to keep the beleaguered Indians in the field for more 10 hours in sweltering conditions at Adelaide Oval.

Their 386-run stand easily bettered their own fourth wicket partnership record of 288 set in the second Sydney Test of the series.

It also eclipsed the highest overall partnership at Adelaide Oval of 341 made by South Africans Eddie Barlow and Graeme Pollock in 1964.

But it fell just two runs short of the highest Australian fourth wicket partnership set

by Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford against England in Leeds in 1934.

Australia went on to declare at 7-604, with Brad Haddin unbeaten on 42, and Ryan Harris on 35.

CRICKET Clarke, who scored an unbeaten 329 in the Sydney Test, was out on the third ball after lunch bowled by Umesh Yadav ending his 380-minute and 275-ball vigil with 26 fours and one six.

So far in this series Clarke has amassed 589 runs at an average of 147, with Ponting following up his 134 in Sydney to have 484 runs at 97.

His and Ponting’s efforts were aided by an Indian side lacking any intensity in the field, and seemingly without leadership.

There was more joy for India in the middle session, though, capturing four Australian wickets to give them at least some hope of wrapping up the host’s innings. Before that it looked as though they were simply waiting for the declaration.

Ponting, dropped by V.V.S. Laxman on 215, was finally out 21 runs short of his highest score at Adelaide when he was

caught in the deep by Sachin Tendulkar off Zaheer Khan.

The former Test skipper was at the crease for 516 minutes and faced 404 balls with 21 fours.

Mike Hussey was looking good until he was run out by a slick piece of close-in fielding

by Gautam Gambhir for 25, and Peter Siddle became wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha’s first catch in Test cricket off Ravi Ashwin for two.

In response, India slumped to 2-31 in the seventh over after Rahul Dravid (1) was clean bowled yet again off Hilfenhaus, and Sehwag was caught and bowled by Siddle for 18.

They finished at 2-61 at stumps on Day 2. The Indians are facing a 4-0 series wipeout in the final Test after heavy losses in the opening three Tests.

In the other ongoing Test, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat against England, starting steadily to be 4-178 at press time Wednesday.

INTERNATIONAL SPORT

41

Michael Clarke celebrates his double century with Ricky Ponting. The score takes his series average to 147.25, while Ponting is averaging 96.80.

–Photo AFP

Woods opens season with Gulf challenge GOLF The 2012 golf season kicks into top gear at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship this week, with a fit-again Tiger Woods going up against the European quartet who dominate the world rankings.

The 36-year-old American is hoping in the next 12 months to return to the forefront after a nightmare year of injuries and personal problems stemming from the sex scandal that wrecked his marriage.

In that time, he plummeted out of the world top 50 and witnessed a European power grab led by world number one Luke Donald, US Open champion Rory McIlroy, and former top rankers Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer.

They are all present this week in Abu Dhabi and the stage is set for a mouthwatering appetiser that should set the stage for an intriguing year of golf.

Woods arrived in the Gulf to start his season with renewed confidence stemming from his improved performances at the end of last year

Tiger Woods hopes to return to the world top 10 with a strong performance at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. which culminated in a win at his own World Challenge tournament in California.

That was his first win for two years and this week he is aiming to take top honours in a full-field tournament which would could vault him back into the world top 10 and provide the perfect start to his campaign for a 15th major title at the Masters in early April.

Fitness, he said, was the key to his mood of renewed confidence and optimism.

“It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been physically fit,” he said.

“So I’m looking forward to getting out there and then playing and give it a full

season, which I haven’t done in a while.

“I’ve never played here before... and this is an incredible field that they have assembled here. So looking forward to getting out there and playing.”

To further whet the appetite of golf fans, tournament organisers have grouped the big mames together for the first two rounds with Woods going out in the company of McIlroy and Donald and Westwood partnering Kaymer and Sergio Garcia.

Ulsterman McIlroy, who many tip to be the next player to top the world rankings, said that he relished the earlyseason challenge.

–AFP

thephuketnews.com

42 INTERNATIONAL SPORT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

THE PHUKET NEWS

THIS YEAR’S GRAND PRIZE IS SPONSORED BY:

THE PHUKET NEWS TIPPING COMPETITION: 21

SUPER MARIO SINKS SPURS AS UNITED DOWN ARSENAL FOOTBALL

Mario Balotelli struck a dramatic injury-time penalty as Manchester City overcame a brave Spurs fightback to win 3-2 and maintain their lead at the top of the Premier League on Sunday.

The substitute blasted in his spot-kick deep into injury time after the Italian striker had been bundled over by Ledley King for a clear-cut penalty.

But the City forward’s winner was tinged with controversy after television replays suggested he was lucky not to be sent off in an earlier tangle with Scott Parker where he appeared to kick out at the Spurs midfielder’s head.

The victory helped preserve City’s three-point lead at the top of the table after second-placed Manchester United kept up the pressure with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Arsenal.

United striker Danny Welbeck struck the winner nine minutes from time after Arsenal captain Robin van Persie

Mario Balotelli is fouled by Ledley King. had cancelled out Antonio Valencia’s first-half opener for the champions.

Meanwhile, Robbie Keane came back to haunt his former club Wolves with his first goals for Aston Villa, with the 10-man Molineux side slipping into the bottom three after going down 3-2 at home on Saturday.

In Saturday’s late game, Kenny Dalglish saw Liverpool’s slump continue in a miserable 3-1 defeat at Bolton, which leaves the visitors six points adrift of the top four.

QPR climbed out of the drop zone as they celebrated

–Photo AFP

Mark Hughes’ first home Premier League game at the helm with a 3-1 victory over rockbottom Wigan.

In other results, Newcastle were thumped by Fulham at Craven Cottage 5-2, Fernando Torres was off target again for Chelsea they drew 0-0 with Norwich, Sunderland ended Swansea’s solid run with a 2-0 win, West Brom left it late to beat Stoke 2-1, and Blackburn earned a point at Everton 1-1.

Because this month has been shortened due to FA Cup fixtures, the monthly prize in The Phuket News Tipping

Competition will carry over to include both January and February tallies. Leading the charge at the moment is the curiously named ‘A1CR’ (62 points), though ‘toptipster’ (61) and ‘UMSTPN’ (60) are hot on the trail. The winner will receive a B3,000 voucher from Australia Bar and Grill in Kata, where you can watch all the international sport on 50” plasma screen TVs or on the big screen.

In the overall competition, ‘gafferworld’ has extended his lead at the top with 348 points, but with a long way still to go in the season, the return flight to the UK, courtesy of Albatross Lufthansa City Center, is still up for grabs.

The Premier League takes a break this weekend to make way for all the action of the fourth round proper of the FA Cup. Highlights of the round are Arsenal against Aston Villa, Liverpool versus Manchester United, and QPR against Chelsea. The Premier League kicks off again on January 31.

Phone +66 76 270958 abpoffice@yahoo.co.uk www.lcc-albatross.com THIS MONTH'S COMPETITION IS SUPPORTED BY:

ROUND 21 RESULTS: Arsenal Man City Bolton Everton Fulham QPR Stoke Sunderland Wolves Norwich

1-2 3-2 3-1 1-1 5-2 3-1 1-2 2-0 2-3 0-0

DANE’S TIPS ROUND 22

Man Utd Tottenham Liverpool Blackburn Newcastle Wigan West Brom Swansea Aston Villa Chelsea

TOP 10 PERFORMERS (JANUARY): 1. A1CR 2. toptipster 3. UMSTPN 4. Farang2005 5. Eak 6. keefers 7. stegee 8. Jauntingjason 9. fazza 10. Chaochao

62 61 60 58 57 56 55 54 53 52

Swansea v Chelsea Tottenham v Wigan Wolves v Liverpool Everton v Man City Man Utd v Stoke Aston Villa v QPR Blackburn v Newcastle Bolton v Arsenal Fulham v West Brom Sunderland v Norwich

away win home win away win away win home win draw draw away win draw draw

TOP 10 (OVERALL): 1. gafferworld 2. apollo131 3. chasman 4. alanphuket 5. MRB 6. dcoutts 7. Farang2005 8. Mal Kenyon 9. scottkip 10. Paul614724

348 319 316 312 311 303 293 291 291 290

Spurs boss Redknapp ‘received offshore bungs’ FOOTBALL Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp evaded tax on “substantial payments” made to him offshore by his former employer, the prosecution said as his trial opened on Monday.

Redknapp was paid the “bungs or offshore bonuses” by former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric while he was manager of the club, Southwark Crown Court in London heard.

The 64-year-old, whose success with Tottenham has made him a frontr unner to become England’s next manager, is accused of receiving two untaxed payments totalling US$295,000 (B9.4 million) from Mandaric into a Monaco account.

Redknapp and Mandaric, who is standing trial with him, both deny two counts of cheating the public revenue.

Prosecution lawyer John Black told the jury that “both parties must have known” they were avoiding taxes.

“These payments were a bung or offshore bonus that the parties had absolutely no intention of paying taxes for,” Black said.

thephuketnews.com

–Photo by James Boyes The lawyer described Redknapp as a “hard-headed businessman” as the jury of eight men and four women were shown a string of documents and his signature.

Bonuses paid to Redknapp during his time at the club would total up to £500,000 (B25 million) depending on profits the club made on transfers of players, Black added.

“Harry Redknapp was, it goes without saying, no ordinary employee,” Black said.

He had the “greatest capacity to influence the success or failure of his football club”, he added.

The barrister said: “Talented and popular he might have been, the Crown say he was nevertheless a hard-headed

businessman, with a financial acumen and pecuniary sense of his influence to his employers.”

Redknapp pored over notes as Black outlined how the manager received player transfer bonuses under a clause in his contract.

The lawyer focused on the purchase of striker Peter Crouch for £1.25 million (B61 million) before he was sold for £4.5 million (B221 million) which prompted the first payment into the Monaco account.

Redknapp never declared the account as he was investigated three years later by British tax authorities investigating transfer dealings at his previous club West Ham, the court heard.

Tottenham are currently third in the Premier League, making Redknapp one of the few homegrown coaches to enjoy success in England in recent seasons.

When he took over the north London club in 2008, they were languishing near the bottom of the table.

Redknapp managed Portsmouth for two spells, from 2002-04 and then 2005-08, the year he guided them to FA Cup victory.

–AFP

INTERNATIONAL SPORT 43

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

THE PHUKET NEWS

Premier League Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Man City Man Utd Tottenham Chelsea Arsenal Newcastle Liverpool Stoke City Norwich Sunderland Aston Villa Fulham Swansea Everton West Brom QPR Bolton Blackburn Wolves Wigan

Ligue 1

P

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22

17 16 14 12 11 10 9 8 7 7 6 6 6 7 7 5 6 4 4 3

3 3 4 5 3 6 8 6 8 6 9 8 8 5 4 5 1 6 6 6

2 3 4 5 8 6 5 8 7 9 7 8 8 10 11 12 15 12 12 13

60 54 41 40 39 32 25 23 32 29 26 28 23 22 22 22 28 33 25 19

18 21 24 25 33 30 21 33 36 24 29 31 27 26 31 37 47 45 40 45

54 51 46 41 36 36 35 30 29 27 27 26 26 26 25 20 19 18 18 15

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

West Ham Southampton Cardiff Middlesbrough Hull Birmingham Blackpool Reading Leeds Brighton Derby County Burnley Leicester Crystal Palace Barnsley Peterborough Portsmouth Watford Bristol Millwall Ipswich Town Nottm Forest Doncaster Coventry

27 27 27 27 27 26 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 26 27

16 15 13 12 14 12 11 12 12 12 12 12 10 10 10 9 8 7

5 5 10 9 3 7 9 6 6 5 5 4 8 7 6 6 7 9

6 7 4 6 10 7 7 9 9 10 10 11 9 10 11 12 11 11

43 50 44 31 28 42 43 34 43 30 31 39 36 26 38 45 29 28

24 30 29 28 25 26 34 27 38 29 33 33 30 27 1 42 44 29 39

53 50 49 45 45 43 42 42 42 41 41 40 38 37 36 33 31 30 30 29 28 24 23 22

27 27 27 27 27 27

8 7 8 7 6 5

6 8 4 3 5 7

13 12 15 17 16 15

25 27 38 22 23 23

37 35 54 44 45 36

Bundesliga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

PSG

Team

20

13

4

3

34

18

43

2

Montpellier

20

12

4

4

40

23

40

3

Lille

20

9

9

2

33

20

36

4

Lyon

20

11

2

7

31

22

35

5

Rennes

20

10

5

5

31

23

35

6

Marseille

20

9

7

4

29

18

34 33

7

Saint-Étienne

20

9

6

5

24

21

8

Toulouse

20

8

7

5

21

20

31

9

Bordeaux

20

6

8

6

22

23

26 25

10

Lorient

20

6

7

7

20

23

11

Brest

20

4

12

4

20

19

24

12

Evian

20

5

7

8

28

32

22

13

Dijon

20

6

4

10

23

36

22

14

Valenciennes

20

5

5

10

19

23

20

15

Caen

20

5

5

10

24

31

20

16

Auxerre

20

4

7

9

27

32

19

17

Nancy

20

4

7

9

19

28

19

18

Nice

20

4

6

10

21

24

18

19

Sochaux

20

4

6

10

21

35

18

20

Ajaccio

20

4

6

10

22

37

18

Serie A

The Championship 1

P

1

Team 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

Juventus Milan Udinese Intern’ale Lazio Roma Napoli Palermo Chievo Genoa Cagliari Parma Fiorentina Catania Atalanta Bologna Siena Cesena Lecce Novara

P

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

19 19 19 19 19 18 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 18 19 19 19 19 19 19

11 12 11 11 9 9 7 7 6 7 5 6 5 5 6 5 4 4 3 2

8 4 5 2 6 3 8 3 6 3 8 5 8 7 8 5 7 3 4 6

0 3 3 6 4 6 4 9 7 9 6 8 6 6 5 9 8 12 12 11

31 40 28 30 27 28 34 24 16 25 16 24 18 21 23 17 20 13 20 18

12 17 14 20 19 20 21 27 22 34 18 32 16 27 25 25 20 30 36 38

41 40 38 35 33 30 29 24 24 24 23 23 23 22 20 20 19 15 13 12

Coming up FA Cup

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

B Munich Dortmund Schalke Borussia M Bremen B Leverkusen Hannover Hoffenheim Wolfsburg Stuttgart Köln Nuremberg Hertha BSC Hamburger FSV Mainz K’slautern Freiburg Augsburg

18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

12 11 12 11 9 8 5 6 7 6 6 6 4 4 4 3 4 3

1 4 1 3 3 5 9 5 2 4 3 3 8 7 6 8 4 6

5 3 5 4 6 5 4 7 9 8 9 9 6 7 8 7 10 9

44 40 41 28 30 25 20 19 24 23 27 19 24 22 24 13 22 15

13 13 22 12 31 24 24 19 34 23 36 28 28 32 32 21 39 29

37 37 37 36 30 29 24 23 23

22 21 21 20 19 18 17 16 15

(Times in Thailand) Saturday January 28 Watford v Tottenham Everton v Fulham QPR v Chelsea Liverpool v Man Utd West Brom v Norwich Blackpool v Sheffield Derby v Stoke

Bolton v Swansea 02:45 03:00 19:00 19:45 22:00 22:00 22:00

22:00

Sheffield v Birm’ham 22:00 Leicester v Swindon

22:00

Brighton v Newcastle

23:15

Sunday January 29 Sun’land v Mid’brough 20:30 Arsenal v Aston Villa

23:00

Hash House Harriers Run 1351: Saturday January 28 at 3:30pm Hares: Virgin My Arse, Dicksappointing, Barbara Woodhouse Directions: From Central Intersection, go south on Chao Fa West and turn right into Jao Fa Soi 69. Go past Wat Luang Pu Supa and follow HHH signs to the Amazing Bhuket Safari Elephant Camp.

Laager is 200 metres up this road.

Les Bleus enter the Six Nations tournament as favourites after their narrow World Cup Final loss to NZ last year.

France feeling the pressure for 6 Nations France will have extra pressure on them in the upcoming Six Nations tournament as they start favourites owing to their going close to winning the World Cup, new backs coach Patrice Lagisquet said on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old – known as the Bayonne Express during his playing career which brought him 46 caps – added that they must show themselves to be worthy of that tag when they begin their campaign at home to Italy next Saturday.

“The French team is the side who went so close to winning the World Cup,” said Lagisquet, who along with scrum coach Yannick Bru and head coach Philippe Saint Andre came in after the 8-7 defeat by the All Blacks in last October’s World Cup final.

“Everyone is imbued with the spirit of that final, the performance that they produced with the All Blacks at bay in the final quarter-of-an-hour.

“It is clear that this team is the favourite.

“It is imperative we show ourselves worthy of that mantle. Although one can say that it will add extra pressure,” added Lagisquet, who coached Biarritz to three national titles (2002/05/06) and the 2006 European Cup final.

But while the French preparations are going well, Welsh hopes for the Six Nations tournament were dealt more serious injury blows

RUGBY at the weekend during European Cup action.

With Warren Gatland’s men preparing to fine-tune their preparations for the competition, both f ly-half Rhys Priestland and flanker Dan Lydiate failed to finish their club matches.

Priestland suffered a knee injury during the Scarlets’ 16-13 win at Castres, while Newport Gwent Dragons star Lydiate lasted just 16 minutes of his team’s Amlin Challenge Cup victory over Italian side Cavalieri Prato after being forced off with an ankle problem.

Gatland has already lost World Cup forwards Luke Charteris, Alun-Wyn Jones and Lloyd Burns from his Six Nations campaign which opens against Ireland in Dublin on February 5.

Asked about Priestland’s injury, Scarlets head coach Nigel Davies said: “We will have to wait and see. Hopefully, it is not too serious.”

It is a similar story for England after flanker Tom Wood – regarded as a candidate for the captaincy – was ruled out of the opening two games through injury.

The Northampton loose forward has suffered an injury to his big toe that has forced him to wear a protective boot, meaning ge will miss England’s opening games away to Scotland and Italy. –AFP

‘Saturday Morning Glory’

Saturdays 9AM - 12PM. thephuketnews.com

44 INTERNATIONAL SPORT

THE PHUKET NEWS

SPORT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012

Future of FC Phuket is back in limbo > 40

ONE WIN AWAY FROM VICTORY

Second seed Nadal was forced to dig deep to beat Tomas Berdych on Tuesday, battling back from a set down in the match to subdue his Czech opponent.

The men’s competition at the Australian Open is shaping up to be an epic showdown between the biggest names in the sport, with the top four seeded players heading through to the semi-finals.

Rafael Nadal set up a mouth-watering semi with long-time rival Roger Federer, who celebrated his 1,000th match in style by demolishing Juan Martin del Potro.

Second seed Nadal was forced to dig deep to beat Tomas Berdych on Tuesday, battling back from a set down in the evening match on Rod Laver Arena to subdue his Czech opponent 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, 6-3 in 4hr 16min.

In sharp contrast, Swiss maestro Federer, chasing his fifth title in Melbourne, barely broke sweat as he dismantled his Argentine opponent 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in a rematch of the 2009 US Open final won by del Potro. It meant Federer and Nadal were due to clash in Melbourne again yesterday (January 26) – after this newspaper was sent to print.

It also meant Federer could avenge one of his most painful defeats. The last time he and Nadal met in Melbourne, Fe-

thephuketnews.com

TENNIS derer was left a weeping wreck when Nadal remorselessly ground him down in 2009’s nail-biting five-set final to claim his first hardcourt grand slam.

It was just months after Nadal had won their epic 2008 Wimbledon title match, with Federer left hanging on 13 grand slam wins – one behind Pete Sampras’s record.

Three years later, and with 16 major trophies in the bag, Federer admitted he was itching for another crack at Nadal, who aimed an unaccustomed barb at his long-time sparring partner on the eve of the tournament.

“Obviously I’d like to play Rafa because of our great epic match earlier in the finals here a few years ago. I’d like to get a chance to play him again here,’’ Federer said.

Before Thursday’s match, Federer trailed Nadal 17-9 in head-to-head clashes and 7-2 in grand slams, and had not beaten him in a major since the Wimbledon final of 2007.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray made his way through to the other semi-final after proving too strong for rising Japanese star Kei Nishikori on

Men’s singles Novak Djokovic SRB (1) David Ferrer ESP (5)

6|7|6 4|6|1

Andy Murray GBR (4) Kei Nishikori JPN (24)

6|6|6 3|3|1

N. Djokovic A. Murray FINAL

Juan Martin Del Potro ARG (11) Roger Federer SUI (3) Tomas Berdych CZE (7) Rafael Nadal ESP (2)

4|3|2 6|6|6

7|6|4|3 6|7|6|6

R. Federer R. Nadal

Women’s singles Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) Kim Clijsters BEL (11)

3|6 6|7

Victoria Azarenka BLR (3) Agnieszka Radwanska POL (8)

6|6|6 7|0|2

K. Clijsters V. Azarenka FINAL

Ekaterina Makarova RUS Maria Sharapova RUS (4)

2|3 6|6

Sara Errani ITA Petra Kvitova CZE (2)

4|4 6|6

Wednesday with a comfortable straight-sets win.

The 2010 and 2011 Australian Open runner-up won 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to set up a lastfour clash with world number one Novak Djokovic after he breezed past fifth seed David Ferrer late Wednesday.

M. Sharapova P. Kvitova

In an entertaining match lasting 2hr 12min, Nishikori wowed the crowd with a between-the-legs trick shot but could not produce the tennis to seriously trouble the British number one and fourth seed.

“I thought it was a good match. There were a lot of

good points. Most of the fun points he was winning so I was trying to keep them as short as possible,” said Murray, through to his fifth consecutive grand slam semi-final.

But the 24-year-old said he had room for improvement after a poor serving display

–Photo AFP

in which he was on target with only 44 per cent of his first serves.

“I need to serve better. I didn’t serve particularly well but the returning was good so that was a positive,” he added.

In the women’s singles semi-finals, which were scheduled to take place yesterday, Kim Clijsters was up against third seed Victoria Azarenka, while Russian fourth seed Maria Sharapova was taking on second seed Petra Kvitova.

Defending champion Clijsters moved into the semis after ousting top seed Caroline Wozniacki and ending her controversial reign as world number one with a straightsets win in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Clijsters held off a determined fightback from the 21-year-old Dane to win 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) in 1hr 45min and set up the semi-final against Azarenka, who beat Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska.

By failing to progress, Wozniacki is guaranteed to lose her number one ranking to Azarenka, Petra Kvitova or Maria Sharapova when the new standings are released next Monday.

–AFPW