Dive industry facestough new rules

Palad Nivit Aroonrat headed the committee

that came up with the proposed new rules.

June 24 - 30, 2006Volume 13 Issue 25 News Desk - Tel: 076-236555 Daily news at www.phuketgazette.net 25 Baht

Now

with

68PAGESEVERY WEEK

QUEER NEWS 6; AROUND THE ISLAND7; AROUND THE REGION 8; AROUNDTHE NATION 9; MOTORING 10; CHEAP

EATS 13; HAPPENINGS 16; TIME MA-CHINE, DIARY 17; SPA MAGIC 20;ALL AT SEA 21; TAKE A BREAK 23& 24; OUTSIDE IN, BOOKS 25; EDI-TORIAL, LETTERS 26; ISSUES & AN-SWERS 27; YOUTH ’N ASIA, HORO-SCOPES, DOVEN, LAW 28 & 29;COMPUTERS 30; SPORTS 34 & 35;CLASSIFIEDS 40-51.

PLUS

NEWS: Blaze damages shops;Old papers reveal fascinatinghistory. Pages 2 & 3INSIDE STORY: Patong’s park-ing problems. Pages 4 & 5PEOPLE: The life of a samlordriver. Pages 14 & 15LIFESTYLE: Have you seen mykhakis? Fashion fatigue.

Pages 18 & 19FIRST PERSON: The crack-down on foreign sharehold-ers. Page 27BUSINESS & MONEY: MoneyTalks; Ferrari coming to Phu-ket. Pages 32 & 33PROPERTY: Home of theWeek: Loch Palm; Decor:bed heads; Gardening: Berton the desert rose; Construc-tion: Laguna. Pages 36-39

IN THIS ISSUE

PHUKET: Phuket’s Chief Administrative Of-ficer (Palad) Nivit Aroonrat has submitted aproposal to Governor Udomsak Uswarang-kura that all dive businesses on the island mustregister with the provincial government inorder to ensure that they pay taxes in full

The proposal is seen by its supportersas a pilot scheme that, if successful, wouldbe expanded to all other coastal provinces inThailand.

If the Governor gives his nod to the idea,dive shops will have 30 days to register. There-after, they will have to provide specific de-tails of their operations – including how manyforeigners they employ and whether the for-eign employees have work permits, along withminute details of how they make their money,and how much they make.

The proposal is based on recommenda-tions by a committee, headed by Palad Nivit,which was set up amid allegations that manydive businesses run by foreigners on the is-land are evading tax.

PERMIT

Palad Nivit told the Gazette, “[If the Gover-nor approves the proposal] every dive com-pany will have to register at the Phuket Ma-rine Office within 30 days [of the order beingissued by the Governor].”

At the end of the 30-day registrationperiod, the operation will move into Stage 2,also of 30 days. During this period, operatorswho have registered must provide all the docu-mentation demanded of them and apply for apermit to operate a dive business in Phuket.

“Dive operators will have to declare allinformation about their businesses, such asthe number of boats they have, how manydive trips they make a day, how paymentsfor dive trips are received, the number of em-ployees in the company, how many foreignemployees they have and whether those for-eign employees have work permits or not, andso on,” he added.

Phuket Marine Office Chief SurinTheerakulpisut said, “We are waiting for the

Governor to sign the order before we will an-nounce to dive operators that they have 60days to complete the process.

“Dive operators will have to show usevery bit of information about their busi-nesses, including how they operate. For ex-ample, if companies have websites, they willhave to inform us.

“They will also have to declare how theyreceive payments, and show us all their ac-counts. This way we will know how muchrevenue they receive, so that we can workout how much tax they should pay.”

K. Surin added that the Phuket dive in-dustry is believed to generate about 3 billionbaht in revenue a year. “The province hasnever received all the taxes that it should getfrom them, and these new rules will help usto collect taxes in full.

“The plan will first be introduced inPhuket,” he added. “We will monitor feed-back and will spread the idea to other prov-inces soon.”

Several crucial points are unclear at thisstage: precisely what information will be re-

quired; what penalties will be imposed onthose who do not comply; whether dive op-erators will be allowed to continue workingduring the 60-day process; and how long itwill take for permits to be issued.

One dive operator, speaking on condi-tion of anonymity, said, “I’m not sure whythey are doing this. They already get all thisinformation from us. We have to be regis-tered with the Tourism Authority of Thai-land, and we have to have a properly estab-lished Thai company, so they have all ourfinancial information, and we pay all ourtaxes.”

PERPLEXED

He was perplexed by the dive-industry rev-enue figure cited by K. Surin. “To make 3billion baht a year means [the industry inPhuket] would have to handle about 2,000divers a day,” he said.

Pakorn Katekan, Secretary of DivingAssociation of Thailand told the Gazette, “Ithink it’s good that the province is moving tocontrol this business.

“The government, however, should alsodo more research into the diving industry.

“The provincial authorities should pro-vide more facilities for these operators suchas establishing a safety center for whenthere is an accident or helping them by of-fering travel promotions. They should not justask for taxes.

“Diving is a special business that needsspecialists. Not everyone can run divecourses; customers must have confidencein their instructors.

“If Phuket squeezes dive operators somuch that they have difficulty running theirbusinesses, then they may leave the island.

“I think the province should take intoconsideration the opinions of dive operatorsand diving associations. Also, the rules shouldbe in force all over Thailand, not only inPhuket. Regulations should be issued by thecentral government, not by just one province.”

At the time of going to press, GovUdomsak had yet to announce whether hewould back the proposal.

By Janyaporn Morel

N E W S2 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

PHUKET: The Phuket ProvincialElectricity Authority has an-nounced scheduled blackouts forJune. The power outages areneeded to continue ongoing in-spection, maintenance and repairwork on the islands high-voltagepower lines. The blackouts willoccur from 9 am to 4 pm at thefollowing locales:

June 29, Rawai: Wiset Rdfrom Muang Phuket School toSaiyuan Rd intersection, includ-ing Soi Suksan 1 & 2, Soi MasayitBangkontee, Soi Ruamjai andBaan Bangkontee.

June 29, Rawai/Nai Harn:

Saiyuan Rd, From Wiset Rd in-tersection to Nai Harn Beach,and also affecting Baan Saiyuan,Soi Samakkee 1-3, Soi Saiyuan1, Soi Ruam Nanachart, SoiKhok Yang, Soi Khok Makhamand Soi Naya.

June 30, Chalong/Kata:South side of Patak Rd fromChalong Circle to the Signal Sta-tion on Kata Hill and includingMoo Baan Patak Villa.

Note: This information issubject to change without notice.For more information or to checkthe latest status, call Tel: 076-211663.

SCHEDULED BLACKOUTS

PHUKET CITY: Vice Governor Vorapot Rattasima has urged ev-eryone, whether in government service or the private sector, to weara yellow polo shirt with the symbol of HM King Bhumibol’s DiamondJubilee every Monday for the rest of the year.

He was speaking at the regular gubernatorial meeting with thepress. Also there was Sompoch Sungkapong, Chief of the PhuketInternal Trade Office (ITO), who announced measures to correctthe shortage of official yellow shirts.

“More than 4,700 yellow polo shirts will be on sale [from July20] at the Big C Supercenter, in Siam Makro and at all 7- Elevenbranches in Phuket.

“Prices will be 250 baht for a 100% cotton shirt and 200 bahtfor cotton-mix fabric.

“Anyone who fails to get a shirt from one of those places canorder as many as they wish from the ITO from now until June 30, atthe same prices. Sizes range from S to XXL for both types.

“The ITO will send all the order forms to Bangkok and the firstbatch of shirts will be available for collection from the ITO by themiddle of July,” he said.

He added that anyone coming across vendors selling shirts at“unreasonable prices” can call the ITO hotline at Tel: 1569. Offend-ers face a fine of 2,000 baht.

Public urged to honorHM by donningyellow shirt every week

In 1606 Guru Arjan Devwas tortured on the orders ofEmperor Jahangir, who sawSikhism as potentially divisive.He was boiled alive and thenforced to sit on a red-hot iron

Sikh community remembers martyred Guruplate, in an effort to make himrecant his belief. When the Gurustuck to his beliefs, he was throwninto the River Ravi, where hedied.

Each year, to commemoratehis death – and the fiery torturethat preceded it – Sikhs world-wide go out into the streets andhand out cold, refreshing drinks.

In Phuket the communitychose the fresh market in PhuketCity as their venue, giving away200 bottles of cold drinks over atwo-hour period.

Anan Singh, who took thephotograph, said, “At first peoplewere reluctant to take the drinksfrom us, thinking that we wereselling them.

“But after we told them thatthis was a festival of the Sikhs toremember the great Guru ArjanDev, they would smile gratefullyand pick up a drink each.”

PHUKET CITY: The island’ssmall Sikh community marked aparticularly special festival intheir religion on June 18: the 400th

anniversary of the martyrdom ofthe fifth Guru, Arjan Dev.

PATONG: Four shophouses onthe corner of Thaweewong Rdand Soi Phermpong Phattana 2,just south of the Banthai Resort,were damaged by fire on June 13.There were no casualties.

Patong Fire Chief PaitoonPholrop told the Gazette that theblaze broke out about 2 am.

“It took firefighters twohours to put out the fire. Luckily,no one was injured,” he said.

He added that the firespread quickly through the adjoin-

Shops damagedin Patong blaze

ing shophouses, which held smallstalls and tailors’ shops.

Pol Lt Pratheung Pholmanatold said, “We are waiting for theresults of forensics tests to de-termine the cause of the fire.

“We don’t yet know howmuch damage was caused in fi-nancial terms; we’re still waitingto talk with some of the shop-house owners,” he said.

“There were people in thebuildings when the fire broke out,but they all managed to escape.”

PHUKET: An American teacherworking part-time in Phuket wasarrested on June 17 for stealinga mobile phone from a shop inPhuket City.

The 39-year-old man, GaryThomas Carpen, was arrestedafter staff at Ann Phone Shop onPhuket Rd called police to reportthat a Western man had stolen a

American teacher held for theftNokia N-Gage phone from theshop.

He was arrested at thescene and found to be in posses-sion of the phone described, aswell as two others, another Nokiaand a Motorola.

Carpen has been chargedwith theft and receiving stolenproperty.

June 24 - 30, 2006 N E W S P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 3

PHUKET: The effort to classifyfour huge stacks of old documentsfound by workers fixing the roofof Phuket Provincial Hall nearlysix years ago should be completeby the end of September, the of-ficial in charge of the project says.

Suntree Sungayuth, ChiefArchivist at the National Ar-chives in Trang, told the Gazettethat some of the 70,000 pages ofofficial documents date back acentury or so.

The effort to read throughand classify all the documents,now in its sixth year, has beenslow because of the fragile stateof the papers and the fact thatonly two people are responsiblefor all the work, she explained.

The papers have beenbroadly divided into two maingroups according to date, andthen subdivided into almost 300topics. These should be listed bytitle and page number on the FineArts Department website withintwo month’s time and on PhuketRajabhat University’s AnurakThai webpages.

This first group of docu-ments dates from 1900 to 1933,when Siam – as Thailand wascalled until 1949 – was still di-vided into administrative divisionsknown as monton, of which therewere 10. Monton Phuket was theadministrative center for a num-ber of tin-mining areas in thesouth during that period.

“The documents tell usabout the management and de-velopment of Phuket during thatera. Among them are a daily ac-count of the work by MontonPhuket’s fourth Governor, PrayaRassada Nu Pradith. Many ofthe documents are official re-ports, local public announce-ments and tin mining concessioncontracts,” she revealed.

Some of the documents dis-covered are in English, including

one contract with a foreign com-pany in which the companyagreed to complete a road build-ing project in return for a miningconcession, she said.

The second set of papers,from 1933 to 1952, deals withPhuket after it was established asa province.

K. Suntree said that docu-ments of interest from this periodinclude papers from the time thecountry was run by Field Mar-shal Plaek Phibunsongkhram.

SOCIAL REFORM

Observers who believe that theThaksin administration was thefirst to employ country-widecampaigns to effect socialchange might be surprised atsome of the official edicts issuedback then.

“At that time, Field MarshalPlaek Phibunsongkhram had sev-eral policies intended to ‘reformculture to make it more civilized’,”K. Suntree explained.

Old papers revealfascinating history

“These included public di-rectives on how people should livetheir lives, such as instructingthem to clean their houses andkeep them tidy and to stop eatingbetel nut and wearing jonekar-bane [traditional Thai trousers].They were told to start wearinghats when outside the home.

“Men in Bangkok were alsoinstructed to give their wives akiss before leaving home,” shesaid.

K. Suntree said that, for themoment, those interested in see-ing the documents can do so onlyby visiting the National ArchivesOffice in Trang, opposite the rail-way station on Nong Yuan Rd.

“We keep the documents ina climate-controlled room and wecannot allow people to make pho-tocopies, as the paper is too oldand fragile,” she said, adding thatonce all the documents havebeen classified, each will be cop-ied and made available to the pub-lic for research purposes throughthe aforementioned websites.

PHUKET: HM King Carl XVIGustaf and HM Queen Silvia ofSweden visited Satree PhuketSchool on June 19. Later in thesame day they were taken to theTsunami Gallery at Bangkok Hos-pital Phuket.

Their majesties stayed inPhuket for six days on an unoffi-cial visit after attending HM KingBhumibol Adulyadej’s DiamondJubilee celebrations in Bangkok.

While at the school theygave grants to five students af-fected by the tsunami. They werealso taken around the school’stsunami exhibition.

Anchalee Vanich-Thepa-butr, President of Phuket Provin-cial Administration Organization,presented a gift of a shell paint-ing and a pearl necklace to theKing and Queen to mark their30th wedding anniversary.

Following the presentationthe Director of Satree PhuketSchool, Kiatisak Pinlavas, tookthe King and Queen around theschool’s plant museum and after-wards they planted a teak tree inthe grounds.

“The visit of King Carl XVIGustaf and Queen Silvia of Swe-den has made the school and ev-eryone in Phuket very proud,” K.Kiatisak added.

In the afternoon the royalcouple were taken to the TsunamiGallery on the second floor ofBangkok Hospital Phuket. Theywere also treated to a perfor-mance of Rong Ngeng, a tradi-tional Sea Gypsy dance, by stu-dents from the Child Care De-velopment Center in Kamala.

Another royal visitor, HRHCrown Prince Jigme KhesarNamgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan,left the island on June 18 follow-ing a three-day stay.

The Prince, a watersportsenthusiast, spent his first day inPhuket sailing from the RoyalPhuket Marina and then spenttwo days diving at Koh Maithon.

Ten deaf students fromPhuket Special School turned outto wave off the Prince at PhuketInternational Airport. The stu-dents had their photo taken withPrince Jigme and also taught himhow to sign “I love you”.

Swedish royals visitschool and hospital

King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia pose for a picture with manage-ment and staff of the Bangkok Hospital Phuket.

By Sangkhae Leelanapaporn

I N S I D E S T O R Y4 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

PARKINGLOTS?IN PATONG,NOT A LOT

Solving Patong’s trafficproblems is still on hold,Deputy Mayor ChairatSukkaban said, while two

big public works projects are un-derway – the Tourism Authorityof Thailand’s (TAT’s) seafrontredevelopment project and themunicipality’s Phang Muang SaiKor project to build a new north-south artery between Nanai Rdand Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd.

“We are still waiting for thereturn to us of the areas wehanded over to the TAT for theirproject to improve the sceneryalong the beach.

“They will return the land tous on June 27, after which timewe can go ahead with our plan tosolve the parking problem,” hesaid, adding that a private con-sultant, NS Consultant Company,is now conducting a study of theroad system to see where “troublespots” are, both in terms of traf-fic and parking.

One idea to solve the short-age of parking space came fromProvincial Vice Governor Wora-pot Ratthasima: to build a largemulti-story parking garage be-neath the football field along thebeach road, similar to structuresin other countries.

But K. Chairat said that wasa provincial initiative and theMunicipality is not doing any plan-ning on it now. When asked if hethought it was risky to build a sub-terranean parking garage soclose to the beach, he said it wasnot, because the town now has atsunami warning system.

“Now it is low season, sowe are not so worried about theparking problem because therearen’t as many cars and motor-bikes as in the high-season.

“However, I’m sure thatwhen the high season arrives wewill be able to provide adequateparking for all tourists’ cars. Nowwe are hurrying to finish thePhang Muang Sai Kor roadproject.

“When that’s finished itshould take a lot of the pressureoff Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd, both in

terms of traffic volume and park-ing, because it will serve as abypass for traffic wanting to flowthough Patong. We already havethe budget for this project andwork is underway,” he said.

K. Chairat downplayed theseverity of the traffic problem,however, saying the Municipalityhas never received complaintsabout parking problems in thetown.

As for the night-time clo-sure of Bangla Rd, which has cutoff access to some parking, suchas the lot at the end of Soi SeaDragon, he said there has hardlybeen any effect.

“Both local people and tour-ists are happy that they can parkon that road from 6 am to 6 pm,”he said, adding that the road isnot reopened until 6 am becausethe Municipality cleans it every

day between 4 and 5 in the morn-ing.

When asked if the town hadany plan to ease the traffic prob-lem by establishing some sort ofpark-and-ride system, he said hethought it was an interesting ideaand one worth discussing at afuture Municipal meeting.

He added that the Munici-pality currently collects five bahtan hour for both cars and motor-

bikes that park in the designatedparking areas along the beachside of Thaweewong Rd.

Before the tsunami, car andmotorbike rental services operat-ing in the area had to pay a feeas well, but this has been waiveduntil the TAT project is finished,when the fee will be reintro-duced.

Most car rental companiesand motorcycle drivers don’tseem to mind paying a fee for theright to have their own designatedspots, especially when they arein key locations.

Sangpet Chansri, who issecond-in-command of the mo-torbike taxi stand in front of thepost office on Thaweewong Rd,told the Gazette,

“I have been working herefor six years. I had to pay [theMunicipality] for parking before,but now we have the SahakornPatong [motorbike taxi co-opera-tive], which pays on our behalf[out of our membership fees].”

The stand had been in placefor 10 years, he said, during whichtime there had been no problemswith parking the drivers’ eightmotorbikes in the area.

If the Municipality decidesto charge a fee after the areareverts back after June 27, themotorbike taxi drivers would haveno problem paying it, he added.

Somporn Tongteng, 30, whoruns a car rental business on thebeach road, said he didn’t knowwhy the town had stopped charg-ing him to operate there.

“In the past we had to pay,but now we don’t. I don’t knowwhy. They divided up the area

After the tsunami, there was much talk in official circles about using theredevelopment of Patong to rectify long-standing problems facing the town, including

its lack of public parking.Some 18 months after the disaster, most people would agree that, apart from Bangla

Rd being turned into a pedestrian zone, the pre-tsunami status quo on the roadshas returned.

The Gazette’s Natcha Yuttaworawit and Stephen Fein took a look to see whatplans, if any, are in the offing to deal with the shortage of public parking space in

Patong.

Soi Dog Foundation Tel: 01-7884222

Take mehome

with you!

The pedestrianization of Bangla Rd isthe only major change made to Patong’straffic since the tsunami.

I N S I D E S T O R YJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 5

and we were given a zone aboutfive meters wide to park our ve-hicles. Now we don’t have anyproblems about parking becausewe have our own area that canfit two or three cars, so I don’thave to worry,” said the indepen-dent businessman.

One long-term resident ofPatong who wished to be referredto only as Large William, told theGazette that he did not find park-ing that much of a problem be-cause he knew of a convenientplace near Soi Bangla to park thatis free if you park there before 6pm, and just 20 baht afterwards.“I really don’t what to tell youwhere it is, though!” he said witha laugh.

Another long-time foreignresident agreed, telling the Ga-zette under the condition of ano-nymity, “I never have much of aproblem finding somewhere topark when I go over there. It’sno worse than in many other cit-ies I have lived in or visited.Sometimes you have a walk a

way to get from where youparked to where you are going –but walking’s good for you.”

But most foreigners seem toagree that finding a safe parkingspot can be a real headache, es-pecially at night in the high sea-son.

“There is no parking in

Patong, as we all know,” saidHoliday Inn General ManagerWolfgang Meusberger. “Thewhole area is usually blocked byrental cars and taxis.

“I think the only solution willbe if the Municipality or govern-ment buys a big piece of land forpublic parking, or gives the rentalbusinesses somewhere else topark their vehicles. That’s thereality… As long as this is nothappening the situation will not im-prove.”

When asked if the lack ofparking on roadways had an ef-fect on the Holdiay Inn, he said,“Yes, some people sneak in. A lotof people use our restaurants. Weare not policing it in a way that ifyou park your car here we runup to you…We are lucky thatsome 99% of our hotel custom-ers do not need parking, because

they don’t arrive in a car. So it’snot really a critical situation forthe hotel.”

The town should establishsome sort of public parking areaand develop a park-and-ride sys-tem, he said.

“That’s what they do inmany cities in Europe. The mu-nicipality runs a public car park.You leave your car there and paya fee. In some cities, they evenhave a small electric cart to bringyou in.

“If Patong were in Europeor the the US, Thaweewong Rdwould probably be a pedestrianzone. You would have a park-and-ride system with a huge carpark, from which you would bewhisked off to Thaweewong Rdby an electric car. This is how itworks in major European touristdestinations – and it could be donehere as well.”

In contrast, he doesn’t be-lieve an underground parking ga-rage located along the beachwould be the safest or most cost-effective solution.

“It’s not only tsunamis; youhave floods too. Usually, parkinggarages are only built in areaswhere no land is available. Itmight help the situation, but I thinkthe cost of a parking garage isprobably very, very high. I thinkit would make more sense to havea piece of land dedicated as a carpark.

“The reality of the situationis that no one wants to give upland for this purpose. I don’t knowhow much the Municipality actu-ally owns, but if they have to buythe land it will cost 10 to 15 mil-

lion baht a rai. That’s seriousmoney.”

He emphasized that theneeds of the local people had tobe taken into account as well.“You can’t tell the local motor-bike and car rental people to taketheir cars off the road if they haveno place else to park them. Youwould take away their livelihood.That’s the reality.

“If they were given someplace else to park the cars, theycould still be at the beach and dis-play what they rent and then callin the cars from the car park bymobile phone as needed,” hesaid.

Just such a plan was muchtalked about after the tsunami, butnever effectively implemented.

Mr Meusberger noted thatlocal politics also plays an impor-tant role in how public space isallocated.

“As we all know, the peopleat the beach are voters. So as alocal politician, you will do whatbrings you votes… That’s de-mocracy. I talk with these ven-dors in front of the hotel everyday. I think if they are given anopportunity to park somewhereelse, they probably would listen.

“But you can’t take awaypeople’s livelihoods. You have togive them an opportunity to makemoney, and then you can orga-nize it. I think most of them don’tmind getting organized – if anopportunity is given to them.

“But the solution cannot be‘Get off the road, and we don’tcare where you park your car!’That’s never going to work.”

‘I have been workinghere for six years. I

had to pay [theMunicipality] for

parking before, butnow we have theSahakorn Patong

[motorbike taxi co-operative], which payson our behalf [out of

our membership fees].’

Sangpet Chansri,– motorbike-taxi driver

‘Now we don’t haveany problems aboutparking because we

have our own area thatcan fit two or three

cars, so I don’thave to worry .’

– Somporn Tongteng, carrental businessman

N E W S6 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

Queer News

Bloody stupid idea

KATHU: Welcome to Baan Kathu. Justtwo meters from the sign at the en-trance to the village is this delightfullywelcoming dump consisting of sanitaryware, the innards of an ancient fridgeand various other sad artefacts dis-carded by what is commonly known ascivilization.

Seen a good place to dump your un-wanted trash? A place to enhance theview with some plastic bags or othergarbage. Email a couple of pictures todump@phukegazette. net and we’ll leteveryone know.

TRASHING

Phuket

Adose of tough naturaljustice was handed outrecently by the deni-zens of a local swamp

to a young ne’er-do-well fromRanong who was caught riding astolen motorcycle.

The 16-year-old youth wastaking his girlfriend for a ridearound Chalong Circle when of-ficers directing traffic decidedthere was something a little sus-picious in his bearing and sig-nalled him to pull over.

But instead of slowing down“Sak”, (the name can mean avariety of things, including“mightiness”, “vigor”, “prestige”and “skill”) revved up the bikeand sped away along Chao FaWest Rd.

He didn’t get far, however.

Just outside the Lamphun sec-ondhand goods shop the some-what less than skilful Sak lostcontrol of the machine, sendinghimself and his girlfriend tumblingto the ground.

In a stunning show of chiv-alry he then ran away as fast ashe could, leaving his girlfriend cutand bruised and in possession ofa stolen motorvehicle.

Meanwhile, the traffic po-lice had radioed in descriptions ofSak and the bike, and officersfrom Chalong Police Stationwere hot on his trail.

Sak ran all the way to theChalong Tambon AdministrationOrganization building and, justwhen it was looking like the pur-suing officers had him cornered,jumped over a wall and dashedinto a nearby woods.

The police surrounded thewood and began to comb throughthem trying to flush out the sus-pect. They searched for morethan two hours but found no signof the mighty Sak.

Sak, meanwhile, had man-aged to crawl into a swamp,where he hid for three hours.

After a while police gave up thesearch and went back to the sta-tion. Sak, beginning to feel a littlehungry after all the exertion, thenmade his way out of the swamp.

Only then did he notice thathe was covered in blood. Hemight have managed to evade thepolice but he had fallen right intothe clutches of the swamp’s plen-tiful population of leeches. Thebloodthirsty creatures had at-tached themselves all over Sak’sbody and drunk their fill.

Now shirtless and drippingblood from leech bites all over his

upper body, he wandered intonearby Land and Houses Village7 and asked one of the residentsfor a drink of water. He explainedhis sorry-looking state by sayinghe had been set upon by a rivalgang of youths and had run intothe village to escape.

Sak’s tale of woe was notyet over, though. Unfortunatelyfor him not all the police had givenup the search. Just as he wasbeing handed his glass of wateran officer pounced and put himunder arrest.

The vigorous Sak promptlyconfessed that he had stolen thebike, as well as two others on pre-vious occasions. The officer tookhim to Chalong Police Station,where he was charged with theft.

Source: Siang Tai

A R O U N D T H E I S L A N DJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 7

Drivers making theirway along Chao FaWest Rd for the firsttime are likely to do a

double-take when they look intothe open field opposite the Kajorn-kietsuksa School, where thereappears to be a small herd of el-ephants moving through thegrass.

On closer inspection thepachyderms aren’t real, ofcourse, and Phuket is not underthreat of invasion by Hannibal theCarthaginian.

But that leads to the obvi-ous questions: Who made them?Why are they there? And isn’tthere already enough chaos andmayhem along Phuket’s roadswithout introducing such life-likemammoth sculptures?

The man responsible is 38-year-old Khunsawang Nusin ofNakhon Sri Thammarat, a gradu-ate of Poh Chang College of Arts& Crafts in Bangkok, one ofThailand’s oldest and most pres-tigious art schools.

With his degree in sculptureand design and 20 years of expe-rience, K. Khunsawang has beeninvolved in many projects famil-iar to Phuket residents, includingthe water fountain at KaronCircle and a number of sculptureshe made for Phuket FantaSea inthe late 1990s. He has also beencommissioned to produce waxfigures for display by differentbranches of Thailand’s NationalMuseum.

Before moving to his cur-

rent location, a small hut in TaWichit, K. Khunsawang had aworkshop opposite Phuket Coun-try Club in Kathu. He was get-ting ready to move in to a newlocation at the Phuket Night Ba-zaar when the tsunami hit, put-ting that grand scheme on hold.

Despite the change in plans,K. Khunsawang remains optimis-tic.“I think I will be here for longtime because Phuket has so manypeople who love Thai sculpture,both Thais and foreigners.”

Explaining how he firststarted creating animal sculp-tures, he said, “There were fieldsaround my home where I grewup in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, soI have always been interested innature.

“When I was a teenager, Istarted to make casts and moldsof many different animals, espe-cially buffaloes. I knew what Iwanted to do early on in life, sothat’s why I first started studyingat the Nakhon Sri ThammaratSchool of Art,” he said.

Explaining why he wouldchoose to recreate the largest ofthe Earth’s terrestrial creatures,he said, “The elephant has acharm all its own and despite itslarge size it is not fierce. It alsohas friendly eyes.”

A MAMMOTH TASK

“Life-like elephants are noteasy to make. I needed to drawon all my knowledge and experi-ence to create these ones, thefirst of which were originally in-tended for the Night Bazaar. Any-

way, if anyone admires my work,they welcome to stop by andhave a close look. I can guaran-tee they won’t get hurt,” he saidwith a laugh.

For anyone interested in

owning an elephant without hav-ing to come up with the 80 kilosof vegetable matter an adult el-ephant must consume every day,perhaps one of K. Khunsa-wang’s replicas is just the ticket.

They can be fashioned ei-ther from cement or fiber. Ce-ment is the cheaper option, witha 20,000-baht baby elephant tak-ing about one week to make andan adult, which can cost as muchas 100,000 baht, taking a month.

In fiber, prices start at80,000 baht for a baby and canreach as much as 200,000 bahtfor an adult. The adults also takelonger to make. Little Dumbomight take one month to repro-duce, his mother up to threemonths before the buyer can ex-pect delivery.

Speaking of delivery, justhow does one get a huge concreteelephant over Patong Hill? K.Khunsawang said it’s not as dif-ficult as one might think and thatmost people can move it on theirown if they have their own truck.

If not, the amiable K.Khunsawang can arrange deliv-ery for a reasonable extra charge.

For more information call K.Khunsawang at Tel: 09-730-8415.

Khunsawang Nusin: ‘The elephant has a charm all its own.’

8 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006A R O U N D T H E R E G I O N

The 25-million-baht pub-lic pier at Samui’s BigBuddha beach wascompleted last year, but

since it opened only small fishingcraft have been able to use thepier because the water is tooshallow for larger vessels to mooralongside. As a result, the pier hasbeen standing idle for severalmonths.

Now, however, Seatran, oneof the largest boat operators toand from Samui, has taken overmanagement of the pier. Thecompany has already brought ina dredger and started making thebay in front of Samui’s most fa-mous landmark deeper.

A company spokesmansays Seatran hopes to have thepier operational for larger vessels“within two months”.

Initially, the pier is likely tobe used for ferry services to KohPha-ngan, Koh Tao and Chum-phon. Seatran will also rent spaceto other boat operators.

Despite Seatran’s desire toopen the pier quickly, LopburiYothasiri, the Director of Samui’sMaritime Transport Division, saidthat the company will first haveto conduct a proper environmen-tal impact assessment and applyfor the necessary licenses.

Most local business ownerswelcome the takeover becauseit will mean that boats will gatherat one end of the bay rather thanmooring all along the beach,which adds to pollution and re-duces the natural beauty of thebay.

Volunteer security: On June 4Samui District Chief DechaKansanan opened a workshopfor local security volunteers at atraining ground on a hill just out-side Nathon. The aim of theworkshop was to train a volun-teer security force that will beequipped and ready to help boththe authorities and the generalpublic in emergency situations.

A military expert wasbrought over from the RoyalThai Army Training Center inSurat Thani to instruct the 185volunteers attending the trainingsession. The skills taught includedself-defense and weapons train-ing, with some time even allo-cated to live-firing exercises in-volving M16 rifles at the SamuiShooting Range.

Before the workshop, train-ees took a psychology test tomake sure they were appropri-ate for handling firearms.

Further workshops arescheduled, and the local authori-ties hope to be able to draw soonon a pool of skilled local volun-teers to keep the island safe.

Tailor murdered: Pol Col Api-chart Bunsrirot, Deputy Superin-tendent of Samui Police, recentlyannounced that three men hadbeen arrested following the dis-covery of a body in a plastic bagdumped near Chaweng Lake.

Col Apichart explained thatpolice received a call from a Bur-mese woman married to one ofthe co-owners of the Tony Ar-mani chain of tailor shops, a manhe named only as “K. Sun”. Thewoman had not seen her husbandfor 24 hours, and was worried thathe may have been attacked byhis business partners over a dis-pute over control of the tailor-shop chain.

Later that day, refuse work-ers reported finding a large bagcontaining K. Sun’s body. He hadsuffered severe blows to the chestand head.

Col Apichart and fellow po-lice officers found two of the

victim’s three business partnersat the main shop, one of thembeing the dead man’s brother,whom Col Apichart named onlyas “Vijay.”

Both men denied killing K.Sun, but one of them was foundin possession of the victim’s mo-bile phone, and officers foundtraces of blood on a towel as wellas plastic bags similar to the onecontaining the victim’s body.

After further inquiries, po-lice apprehended the third part-ner, named as “Big Gum”, whomCol Apichart said confessed topolice during questioning that theymen had been responsible for themurder.

Col Apichart reported thatthe men attacked K. Sun with asteel bar while he was watchingtelevision, then stuffed his bodyinto a plastic bag and drove it byto the lakeside on a motorbike.

All three men were takento Samui Prison, where they nowawait trial.

Centennial celebrations: Fes-tivities at Surat Thani’s Wat SuanMohk marking the birth of thewat’s founder, Buddhadasa Bhik-ku, 100 years ago, began on May27.

Special events to be heldthroughout the year to honorBuddhadasa Bhikku includespeeches, teh release of reprintsof his books and Dhamma tapes,a search for unpublished manu-scripts, meditation camps for chil-dren and adults, the setting up ofthe Buddhadasa Institute, and atleast one concert by musicianswho have been inspired by histeachings.

Buddhadasa Bhikku took aradical look into the sources ofTheravada Buddhism and dedi-cated his life to following theDhamma, correcting what he sawas the numerous mistaken beliefsand practices that had crept intothe philosophy over the centuries.

Buddhadasa Bhikku, whodied in 1993, was named as Oneof the World’s Great Personali-ties by the United Nations Edu-cational, Scientific, and CulturalOrganization (UNESCO), andthe temple continues to attractlarge numbers of foreign and Thaidisciples in search of a deeperspiritual understanding.

Seatran to take overSamui’s B25m pier

F R O M T H EGULF OF

THAILANDBy Barry Singleton

Samui’s new pier was completed last year but has lain idle most of the time since then.

A R O U N D T H E N A T I O NJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 9

Explosions continue torock the Deep South, asa morning of 44 well-coordinated blasts at se-

curity positions and governmentinstallations on June 15 left twodead and 25 injured. The follow-ing day, eight more targets werehit, mostly railway stations. Sevenmore people were wounded.

Before leaving for a confer-ence in Kazakhstan, caretakerPrime Minister Thaksin Shin-awatra expressed concern andsaid he had left his deputy, care-taker Justice Minister ChidchaiVanasatidya, in charge of deal-ing with the insurgency’s latestflare-up.

Chidchai called a meeting ofagencies to review the situationand stepped up security measureswith a proposal to install closed-circuit televisions at hot spots,sources at the meeting said.

In Narathiwat’s RangaeDistrict, police arrested Indone-sian Zablee Ahmaeruding, 37,from Sumatra, as a suspect in thebombings. Police said they alsoseized about half a kilogram ofammonium nitrate and two kilosof nails believed to be materialsfor making bombs.

Zablee said he had nothingto do with the series of explo-sions. He settled in the districttwo years ago after marrying alocal girl and was working in arubber plantation, he said.

Underdog meat: Police in manynortheastern provinces are moni-toring a widespread marketinggimmick whereby self-grill res-taurants offer customers extrafood free when favorite footballteams get beaten by underdogs.

Lt Col Aphilak Thamma-nitkij, acting police chief inMuang Amnat Charoen District,said all eateries had been told theycould continue to run such a cam-paign as long as they did notcharge more if the favored teamsdefeat the underdogs. That wouldmake the campaign a game ofchance, which is illegal.

More than 20 restaurantsare offering one free set of foodfor correct predictions. A man-ager said the campaign was be-ing run just for fun and was notaimed at encouraging gambling.

Some places charge halfprice if their customers’ teamwins, without the underdog con-dition.

Muang Khon Kaen policesaid they had arrested 10 book-ies and were watching many grill-plate restaurants in an effort toprevent gambling.

Cot death tragedy: A three-month-old infant suffocated afterher 14-year-old mother put her tosleep face down in the belief thatthis would help her sleep comfort-ably and make her head grow intoa round shape, police said.

Police found the dead infantand her mother Ae in bed at 5am at a townhouse on the KhlongLuang housing estate.

The infant’s grandmother

Seven hurt in eruption of bombings

Noi, 41, called police after shewoke up and she saw the babylying still, facedown on a pillow,while Ae was sleeping on theother side of the bed.

Noi said she believed Aewas unaware of the danger ofsuffocating her child by puttingher to sleep in such a position.

She said Ae became preg-nant after she was raped by aconscript who broke into theirhome nearly a year ago. The manwas later jailed for raping a girlaged under 14, she said.

Since investigators foundthe family loved the infant, herdeath was likely an accident, po-lice said.

Lotto luck: Having been in thered for the previous three draws,the Government Lottery Office(GLO) finally raked in nearly 1billion baht from ticket sales of2.1 billion baht when none of thetouted lucky numbers came up.

Permanent Secretary forFinance Suparat Kawatkul, whopresided over the 64.39-millionbaht jackpot draw, said ticketsales had been the highest in threeyears.

It is believed the recordsales were due to speculation onthe numbers 558 and 41 hinted atby a Buddhist monk and on 960,922, 69 and 60, all linked to theDiamond Jubilee of His Majestythe King, according to a GLOsource.

The GLO would have hadto pay out 74 billion baht if theprojected numbers had beendrawn, the source noted.

In fact the first prize num-ber was 110935, the two-digitwinning number was 17, and thethree-digit numbers were 381,410, 595 and 250.

The lack of pay-outs meansthe next draw, on July 1, will havea jackpot of nearly 100 millionbaht. K. Suparat said the GLO

would actually be able to pay itas it had Bt15 billion in funds.

Landmark win for disabled: Ina landmark verdict, BangkokSouth Civil Court ordered themanagement of a condominiumproject to return a parking spacefor disabled people to a foreignoccupant with prosthetic legs.

The court also ordered com-pany officials to comply with theruling within 30 days, or faceprison terms and/or fine for dis-obeying a court order. As a re-sult, Werner Treder, 64, fromGermany, will be given back theparking space that he first usedwhen he bought a unit at the con-dominium many years ago.

After buying a unit in thecondo, Treder had a parkingspace near an elevator in the five-story car park.

However, the managementlater removed a disability sign andrevoked his reserved space, say-ing that Treder could drive andpark his car in any space beforewalking to the lift on his pros-thetic legs without assistance.

The verdict’s conditions re-garding the penalties resultedfrom a legal improvisation madeby the court. A 2002 regulationfor disabled people itself imposesno criminal or civil penalties onowners of buildings that do notprovide facilities for occupants orusers of relevant services withdisabilities.

Family Thais: Social Develop-ment and Human Security Min-istry Inspector Ubol Limsakul toldparticipants at a “Family Empow-erment” seminar that capitalismand the transformation from anagricultural to an industrial soci-ety had created changes to theThai family structure, includingmaking it more like families of thewest, limited to parents and chil-dren, rather than extended.

Currently, about 55% offamilies are categorized as“nuclear”, while just 32% areextended families, K. Ubol said,citing a study entitled, Thai Chil-dren Nurtured in the Four Yearsof the New Government.

The study also found that asthe marriage registration rate haddeclined, the number of unmar-ried couples had increased, K.Ubol said.

The high divorce rate hadnow affected three million fami-lies in Thailand, especially inBangkok and nearby provinces.About 1.3 million families werefound to be single-parent families,she added.

A new type of family –same-sex couples – had emergedand was growing, as Thai soci-ety had become more open andgave opportunities for gay peopleto live openly as couples. Therewere no statistics on this newfamily type as yet, she said.

Capital commuting: Park-and-ride blocks will soon be built at15 locations in outer Bangkok toencourage motorists to use pub-lic transport more, said EnergyPolicy & Planning Office DeputyDirector Weeraphol Jirapraditkul.

The locations are deemedappropriate as connecting pointsbetween suburban areas androad networks in the inner city infour directions around the capi-tal: Rangsit in the north, SamutPrakan in the south, Thon Buri inthe west and Bang Yai area inthe northwest, he said.

Park-and-ride car parks atMor Chit terminal and Bang Suearea had proved effective in solv-ing traffic problems and are popu-lar with the public, he added.

ROYAL RELEASE: A woman bursts into tears after being releasedfrom the central prison in Khon Kaen Province. The woman wasamong 183 inmates released to mark the 60th anniversary of HisMajesty the King's Accession to the Throne. Most were womenjailed for petty crimes.

Around the Nation news round-up is sourced from the pages ofThe Nation and Kom Chad Lueknewspapers.

10 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006M O T O R I N G

BEHINDWHEELBy Jeff Heselwood

T H ET H E

The region’s premier autoshow, arguably the mostprestigious annual showof any kind, takes place

each year at the Bangkok Inter-national Trade & Exhibition Cen-ter (BITEC).

Thai motor manufacturersand major importers exhibit theirwares at the Bangkok Interna-tional Motor Show, and this yearsome more exotic motors wereon show, including the new Jag-uar XK, priced at 13.3 millionbaht, and a Mercedes-Benz SLsports cabriolet at 14.4 millionbaht.

Some, though, were lessexotic. At the more down-to-earth end of the scale, and likelyto become a popular choice inThailand, was the latest offeringfrom Chevrolet, the 1.4-liter Aveosedan.

INEXPENSIVE

The South Korean-built Aveomakes no pretence at offeringluxury or sophisticated motoring;some might say that it is patentlyout of date. But what it does of-fer is relatively inexpensive driv-ing in – again relatively – reason-able comfort.

It is also safe, with side aswell as front airbags for driverand front seat passenger.

The 1.4-liter engine may bemodest, but is more than ad-equate within the confines ofPhuket. Producing a competent94 bhp (69 kW), with maximumtorque of 130 Nm, the Aveo is alively performer without attempt-ing to set any records.

Its makers claim a respect-able 13.7 kilometers-per-liter gasconsumption, but expect to fill upmore frequently over Phuket’sundulating terrain.

Automatic transmission isstandard, and the top speedclaimed is 170 kmh.

Its makers assert that it isAmerica’s best-selling small carand it certainly possesses the rightcredentials: roomy, good ridequality and an understated ap-pearance that makes it an idealfamily sedan. The styling is thework of Giorgetto Giugiaro’sItaldesign studios in Turin. Theveteran Italian designer has someworthy models to his credit,though older readers may recallwith a shudder one of his lesssuccessful designs, the dreadfulHyundai Pony of the mid-’70s.

On the plus side, the manwas also responsible for the long-running VW Golf, the futuristicLotus Esprit of the ’70s and anumber of Alfa Romeo models.

Regrettably, the Aveo bowsto price constraints and is equip-

ped with rear drum brakes alliedto ventilated front discs.

The Chevrolet websiteproudly proclaims, “A four-chan-nel, four-sensor ABS system withelectronic brake force distributionis available”. Translation: it’s notstandard, as it should be on allcars in this day and age.

More relevant perhaps, thecar has Chevrolet’s advancedEuro-ride suspension, as fitted tothe Optra/Nubira/Lacetti (seeGazette January 7) consisting ofthe Macpherson struts and gasshock absorbers up front; a tor-sion beam and helical springs atthe rear.

An added advantage to thisset-up is that it does not intrudeon occupant or luggage space.

In addition, the wheelbase

is one of the longest in its class,which contributes to a well bal-anced ride and the soaking up ofany unexpected undulations.

The passenger compart-ment is essentially a “safety cell”.Made from high-strength steel, itforms a protective cage aroundthe occupants, with the frontstructure dissipating impact en-ergy through multiple paths.

The B-pillar is a significantpart of this design; instead of col-lapsing and penetrating the pas-senger compartment in a crash,it moves like a pendulum – a de-sign feature normally found onlyin larger, more luxurious vehicles.

Although inevitably com-pact, the Aveo’s interior is sur-

prisingly well equipped, with aEuropean-style console in a mixof chrome and black, and contain-ing the digital clock and a qualityaudio system with tape, CD andMP3 functions.

Overall, a self-effacing mo-tor car but one that is sure to findnew friends in Thailand.

And if nothing else, it is analternative to all the bland offer-ings from the Land of the RisingSun.

Expect to see the Aveo inPhuket from next month, pricedat 520,000 to 640,000 baht.

Jeff Heselwood may be con-tacted by email at jhc@netvigator.com

The ‘best-sellingsmall car’ in theUnited Statesis set for Phuket

June 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 11

12 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

June 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 13C H E A P E A T S

For 65 years Rahn MeePae Teaw, or UncleTeaw’s Noodle Shop, onSatun Rd near Plukpanya

Municipal school, has been serv-ing up Chinese favorites to peoplein Phuket.

Somsak Suwichathikarn,the owner, inherited the shop fromhis father, the original Pae Teaw.In 2001 he opened a secondbranch, Bahn Mee Pae Teaw orUncle Teaw’s Noodle House, onHongyok-Uthit Rd, Samkong.

October 2005 saw himopen a third branch, Rahn MeePae Teaw VIP (Uncle Teaw’sVIP Noodle Shop), at Villa Dow-roong, Chao Fa East Rd, oppo-site Dowroong School. All thebranches have many reasonablypriced dishes.

No Phuket native can beunaware of mee kwang tung andmee hokkien, Cantonese andHokkien noodles. These localstaples, along with many otherdishes on the island, owe theirpresence to the large Chinesecommunity, especially Cantonese(kwang tung) and Hokkien, andare served in all of Pae Teaw’srestaurants.

Mee hokkien are long roundyellow noodles as big as Japanesesoba noodles. Mee kwang tungis a little smaller and is made fromflour mixed with egg.

Another of the recom-mended dishes is mee kiew senfoi thong. It consists of Canton-ese noodles, which are made onsite; dumplings; fried shrimp;roasted marinaded pork (moodaeng); and fish balls, along withsoup made to Pae Teaw’s ownspecial recipe. “You do not needadd any extra seasoning becausethe soup is already flavored sowell,” K. Somsak said.

The Gazette caught up withK. Somsak at his VIP restaurant,“I have run this business since myfather died. It has now been opensome 65 years. When my fatherfirst came here from Canton, heworked as a laborer and a sales-

By Jenjira Ruengjarus

Mee hokkien.

man. After that he was able todo what he was best at – makingnoodles,” he said.

“At the original shop I havemy own place to makes noodles,both to use in the shops and alsoto sell for 150 baht a kilogram. Imake most of the seasonings my-self and also have my own spe-cial recipes for the dishes weserve.

“I chose this location be-cause it has a good view and it is

easy to get to,” K. Somsak said.Another popular dish on of-

fer at the VIP restaurant is o-tao,or hoi tord Phuket, as it is alsoknown. It is made from smalloysters and square-chopped yamfried with flour, egg and driedshrimps. It is served with freshbean sprouts or Chinese chives.

O-tao at Mee Pae TeawVIP is different from the o-taoon offer at other restaurants. Itis fried until it is dry and served

with a special dipping sauce thatcombines sour, spicy and sweetflavors.

“If you are not full after themain course, then you can ordersatay for afters,” K. Somsak sug-gested. The satay there are big-ger than in other shops and arecheap – just three baht a stick.

A filling dish of mee kwangtung or mee hokkien is 35 bahtand o-tao is 30 baht. Other dishessuch as kouy teaw kui (Phuket

style-fried noodles), pad thai andraht nah start from 30 baht.

Rahn Mee Pae Teaw VIP is opendaily from 9:30 am to 7 pm. Itsituated at 55/700 Villa Dow-roong Chao Fa East Rd, in frontof Dowroong school. It is busyeveryday, but especially so onpublic holidays. You can call toreserve a table or order in ad-vance by calling Tel: 076-219045.

O-tao.Mee kwang tung.

Chinesefavorites

No Phuket native can beunaware of mee kwang tungand mee hokkien, Cantonese

and Hokkien noodlesSomsak Suwichathikarn, son of the original Pae Teaw.

14 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006P H U K E T P E O P L E

HappilyEver After

Pipop Somwetee and Pensri Kathinthip were married in the PhuketBallroom of the Royal Phuket City Hotel on May 13.

Kylee Allen and Andrew Fowler from Australia were married atthe Katathani Phuket Beach Resort on April 5.

Recent weddings in Phuket

Among the developmentand multi-million-bahtproperties springing upin Phuket it is some-

times easy to overlook the island’sless prosperous inhabitants.

Sungvien Sukjamlong is 76years old and has lived in Phuketfor more than 50 years. He hasridden a samlor, the three-wheeled Thai cycle-rickshaw,since he was a boy and still makeshis living pedaling up and downthe streets of Phuket looking forpassengers or carrying goods.

It has not been an easy life,and it still is not. “I was born in1930 at Sirirat Hospital, Bangkok,but I don’t know the day ormonth. I studied up to gradePrathom 4 [about 10 years old]in Wachirasongkram School. Ihad to leave school because myfamily was poor and I needed towork to support them.

“My teacher tried to per-suade me to stay in school, sheeven said that she would buymeals for me.

TABLES

“She liked me because I knew themultiplication tables off by heart– I used to lead the class in recit-ing them; I made them into a songbecause I loved singing,” he says,grinning at the memory.

“But nevertheless, I had toleave. My family needed money.”

While still only a boy, K.Sungvien was forced to startmaking his way alone through thebackstreets of Bangkok. “WhenI left school I started riding asamlor. I made a living by takingtourists and locals around the city.I also used to pedal prostitutes tosecret rendezvous with their cli-ents.

“I did that until I was 16years old. At that point I had togive up my work as the govern-ment started banning samlor inBangkok because they said theywere outdated. I had no way toearn a living.

“I made a decision to moveto Trat province and become asinger. I sang with the Prana-khorn Calypso troupe until I was20 years old. When the work

By Nattamon Ratcharak

dried up I became a cleaning boyat a restaurant in front of the the-ater,” he explains.

It was his singing voice thatbrought K. Sungvien to Phuket allthose years ago.

“After a while I heard thatthere was a call for country sing-ers in Phuket.

“So, penniless, I headeddown here. When I had saved up

enough money I bought my ownsamlor. It cost 2,800 baht.

“I also carried on singing. Ican sing in many languages, in-cluding Chinese, English, Hindiand Vietnamese. Some studentsat Phuket Wittayalai Schoolhelped me by translating Englishsongs into Thai.

“I even went to sing inPenang in Malaysia for a while.

A lifeon theopenroad

Sungvien (left)in his musical days, with well-known singer ChayMuangsing.

June 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 15P H U K E T P E O P L E

I was very pleased about that.”“I married my wife, Mar-

adee, when I was 30 years old.We have three sons. One of mysons died this year. His name wasSompong. He was only 23 yearsold. Another of my sons, Sunti, isin jail now. He got in trouble withdrugs and still has another threeyears to serve.

“My youngest son is Sup-hap. He is only 20 years old buthe is a worker and I can alwaysrely on him,” K. Sungvien says,battling to hold back tears.

K. Sungvien’s daily lifewould be a struggle for many menhalf his age. Everyday he has topedal his samlor round the island,come rain or shine.

“Now I have work carry-ing vegetables from the marketto hotels and restaurants. I do thatfrom 6 to 10 am daily. I earnaround 120 baht a day. I cannotallow myself to become ill – if Idon’t work we will have nothing.

“I give my wife 50 baht aday. I also have bills to deal withevery month. My rent is 1,200baht and there is water and elec-tricity to pay for on top of that. Icannot save any money. Every-thing I earn is spent on my fam-ily.

“After working in the morn-ing, I make a little extra moneycollecting empty bottles and usedpaper to sell at Koh Sireh wherethere is a company that pays fourbaht a kilogram,” he said.

K. Sungvien has no choicebut to keep doing his rounds. Buthe takes obvious pride in his pro-fession.

“I don’t know what I woulddo if I had to stop riding mysamlor. My singing days are overand I have no experience of do-ing any other jobs. Anyway, whowould want to hire an old manlike me?

“I will pedal my samlor un-til I draw my last breath or peoplestop hiring me. I would like thesamlor to live on in Phuket for-ever. I hope other people will takeup this profession after I’mgone.”

K. Sungvien spoke a little ofhow he had been helped by oth-ers when times were particularlyhard.

“I have been a good man allof my life, even though I havealways been poor. People some-times give me some food, but Ihad never stolen from others evenwhen I’ve had nothing to eat andbeen desperately hungry.

“Now I like drinking coldsoy milk. I can’t keep any athome because I don’t have afridge but sometimes neighborsbring me a bottle,

“I usually go to bed at 11 pmafter watching mystery and ac-tion movies on TV.

“Someone gave me the tele-vision – I could never havebought one myself,” he says witha laugh.

It is not only watching tele-vision that K. Sungvien is inter-ested in. He also wants to be onTV.

“One of my ambitions is totravel to Bangkok and be on atelevision program such as Chan-nel 9’s Khon Khon Khon. I havelived a long life and would like toshare my experiences with otherpeople.”

Those experiences includethe despair he feels over his

middle son, and K. Sungvienurges young people not to followthe same path into drugs.

“The one thing that upsetsme in my life is that one of mysons was a drug addict and is nowin jail.

“I would like to say to teen-agers, ‘Don’t use drugs, and stayaway from drink.

“‘They will take your lifeaway. They are terrible things.’”

‘I don’tknow whatI would doif I had tostop ridingmy samlor.My singingdays areover and Ihave noexperienceof doingany otherjobs.Anyway,who wouldwant tohire an oldman likeme?’

H A P P E N I N G S16 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

This week

THE WHEEL DEAL: Worrapan Panman (left), Upper Southern Thailand Sales Service Directorof Chevrolet (Thailand), hands the key to a new Optra car to Suwalai Pinpradab, Directorof the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Region 4 office. The car will be given away toa shopper who uses a Visa credit card at Central Festival Phuket between June 16 andAugust 15 as part of the TAT’s Thailand Grand Invitation 2006 tourism promotion.

CELLULAR DEVELOPMENT: AIS Southern Region Vice-President SuttisakKundhikanjana (2nd from left) hands a pledge for 320,000 baht to RungsukdiPeenprateep, Managing Director of the Books for Children Foundation, at theRoyal Phuket City Hotel. The money will go toward buying books for distributionto childhood development centers throughout Southern Thailand.

IN THE SPIRIT: Prasertsak Theerajit (front, center, in white shirt), Human ResourcesManager of the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa, poses for a photo with staffafter they donated 29,635 baht to Dr Veerawat Yorsang (center, yellow shirt),Acting Director of Vachira Phuket Hospital, to help pay for treatment of low-incomepatients as part of the Marriott’s “Spirit to Serve Our Communities” program.

FINE TASTE: Corinna Rayment-Oliver (right), of Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards in Australia,and guests enjoy some fresh night air on the terrace at The Boathouse in Kata after awine-tasting dinner on June 4.

PREMIER PRACTICE: Dr Paijit Warachit (left), Director-General of the Ministry of PublicHealth’s Department of Medical Sciences, presents a Good Manufacturing Practicescertificate to Cape Panwa Hotel Head Chef Phudon Prachum for work practices used inthe hotel’s kitchens.

BIC MOVE: Thanate Kienpotiramard (center rear, wearing glasses), Director ofSales & Operations of Bhuket Incentive & Convention Planners (BIC) , and fellowBIC staff celebrate the May 27 opening of their new office on Wirat Hongsyok Rdin Wichit.

W H A T ’ S O NJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 17

PHUKET DIARYof coming events

Until June 30: A chance to try

out Windows Vista.

Gazette columnist and Mi-crosoft Windows guru WoodyLeonhard explains: “Microsoftappears on track to ship new ver-sions of Windows, Office andInternet Explorer in January.

“You can try official ‘beta’test copies of each now. Givethem a run and see if you canbreak anything – we’re report-ing bugs daily.

“Drop by the SandwichShoppe in Patong, near AndamanBeach Suites, across from CATand the Patong Language School,between 8 am and 6 pm.”

For more information emailto woody@khunwoody.com orcall Tel: 076-344516.

July 9: Phuket Yacht Club ‘Get

Sailing Day’

The Phuket Yacht Club(PYC) at Ao Yon is holding a sec-ond “Get Sailing Day” on July 9.

All ages from eight years toseniors are invited to join, eitherlearning to handle sailboats orgoing on a leisurely two-hour

cruise on a 43-foot yacht.“Experienced club mem-

bers will show you how to sail.There will be a barbecue, and softdrinks and beer will be available,”Robert Warnes of the PYC ex-plains.

“We have Lasers, Bytesand a 59er for adults to learn onas well as Optimists and Con-cepts for children. Sail in Asia isallowing us to use their 13-meterClass 1 racing yacht so peoplecan try yachting.”

Activities will run from 11am to 4 pm. It will cost 100 bahtper person to join in for a day, or900 baht per person to sail on thelarge yacht.

For more information callMr Warnes at Tel: 01-5399560 orvisit the website at www.phuketyachtclub.info

July 10: Asarnha Bucha Day

(public holiday).

Asarnha Bucha marks theanniversary (determined using thelunar calendar) of the Lord Bud-dha delivering his first sermon tofive disciples at the Deer Park inVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh, India,more than 2,500 years ago.

July 11: Khao Phansa Day

(public holiday).

This is the beginning of the

“Rains Retreat” – known in Thaias Phansa, hence the Thai namefor the holiday, Khao Phansa Day– during which many Thais jointhe Buddhist monkhood for thethree-month period.

July 28 to August 28: Free

judo course.

Phuket City Municipality isoffering a free judo course taughtby Prawat Chanasen, who rep-resented Thailand at the 2004Olympic Games in Athens.

The course, to be held atSaphan Hin, is open to everyoneover 10 years of age.

For details contact thePhuket City Municipality YouthCenter at Saphan Hin (Tel: 076-216866 or 076-250163.

August 12: HM The Queen’s

birthday.

HM The Queen’s Birthday,a public holiday, is also markedas Mother’s Day in Thailand.

September 24: The beginning

of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the ninth monthof the Islamic Hijri calendar, anda time when observant Muslimsfast (sawm) between dawn(fajr), and sunset (maghrib).September 24 is an Islamic holi-day.

A second Get Sailing Day will be held at the Phuket Yacht Club in Ao Yon on July 9.

The next special commemorative stamp tobe released by the Thai Post Office willcome out on August 4, to mark NationalCommunications Day 2006.

The design is intended to show the evolutionof the communication process. It features a hand

signing a letter and, oddly, a clock clearly made inGermany and the Internet Explorer logo.

A total of 800,000 of the 47 x 27-millimeter 3-baht stamps will be printed. First day covers willbe priced at 10 baht. It will be available from allpost offices.

FOR THE PHILATELIST

machineTHE TIME

News from the past

PHUKET: Phuket Police arrest-ed an underground lottery or-ganiser in Muang District lastmonth.

The arrest took place afterpatrolmen in thearea saw what theythought looked likea “suspicious” man.In the end, though,it was their ownsuspicions whichproved correct.

They decided to search theguy, identified as Sawsuah Son-gelgawk (not really his realname) and found two lists fromunderground lotteries on his per-son.

The man was then, accord-

Bribe Boomerangsing to the report in Sieng Tai,charged with illegal gambling.

While the police were writ-ing up their report on this incred-ible drama, Mr Sawsuah tried to

bribe them by ‘do-nating’ 500 baht!The money waspolitely rejected,but Sawsuah re-ceived an “addi-tional” charge “in-stead of” the origi-

nal one, (while a blind witness, abarefoot boy with shoes on, stoodsitting in the grass). Sawsuahwas then taken to the Police Sta-tion for further questioning andsubsequently charged with at-tempting to bribe police officers.

From the Phuket Gazette, issue of June, 1996

Kathu maps outzones fornightlife venuesPHUKET: Kathu District hasbecome the first district in Phuketto map out entertainment zonesto meet the requirements of pro-posed new legislation that wouldeventually see entertainment busi-nesses such as bars, discos andkaraoke venues restricted to cer-tain areas.

Vice-Governor AmnuaySanguannam said yesterday thatthe Kathu plan sees five enter-tainment zones – three in Patongand one each in Kathu and Ka-mala.

In Patong, the three zoneswill be as follows:

• An area stretching 50meters to the north and 50 metersto the south of the intersectionbetween Taweewong Rd andSawasdirak Road.

• Soi Bangla, both sides, in-cluding side alleys to 100 metersfrom the center line of the road.

• Rat-U-Thit Rd from 130meters to the south of the SoiSainamyen intersection to 100meters south of Soi Bangla.

In Kathu the entertainmentzone would be restricted to Phra-baramee Rd, from the crossroadsin front of the District Offices tothe start of Patong Hill, andstretching 30 meters out, on ei-ther side, from the center of theroad.

In Kamala the entertainmentarea would be along the beachroad, 30 meters to the north andsouth of the center of the road.

Editor’s note: Local au-thorities were so zealous aboutmapping out entertainmentzones that it appeared as thoughmost of the island would be cov-ered by them. The Governor atthe time, Pongpayome Vasaputi,rejected all the suggestions, in-cluding the ones above.

From the Phuket Gazette, issue of June 15-30, 2001

18 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006L I F E S T Y L E

CAMOUF A great way to

June 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 19L I F E S T Y L E

LAGE

FASHIONBY

Jenjira‘You Can’t See Me’

Ruengjarus

It’s a fashion jungle outthere. But not to worry– you can stand out inbattle-hardened camou-

flage gear that will let every-one know you’re the TopGun.

Camouflage is definitelyin right now, as confirmed bySan Francisco fashion guruNoubikko, who writes in hiswebsite (www.noubikko.com), “Camouflage is beingused in a sexy way right now.In many ways, it was popularin the leopard prints lastyear, re-colored and donewith lace.

“There is a feeling ofromanticism that has animpact on how the trend isplayed out.” So now youknow.

Noubikko also hasgreat advice on how tocamouflage any parts of yourbody you’re not satisfiedwith.

For any of the fashionsshown here, pull on yourjungle boots and head ondown to the Black Armystore on Maeluan Rd.Phucong Tortid, who owns it,has a wide range of gar-ments and accessoriesincluding – if you really want

to be serious about things –air gun replicas of someserious weaponry.

He and his father evenhave jeeps and other mili-tary vehicles for sale or rent.

Black Army is at 26/1Maeluan Rd, Talad Neua,Muang, Phuket.Tel: 076-234118,09-7247047 or 06-6897237Fax: 076-235193 orE-mail: hs8ofh@gmail.com

stand out

20 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006S P A M A G I C

When you are luxuri-ating at your favor-ite spa, do you everwonder where the

products they use come from?If your rejuvenation retreat

is a spa at a top hotel in Phuket,there is a good chance the oilsand other essentials were hand-made in Thailand by LemongrassHouse, which opened a retailbranch in Phuket three years ago.

The shop, on a quite soi nearSurin Beach, is filled with heady,complex aromas. These comefrom a wide variety of products– everything from personal hy-giene products such as soaps,shampoos and sprays to typicalspa products such as massage oilsor essentials oils.

Lemongrass House – BaanTakrai in Thai – opened its firstbranch at the sprawling Chatu-chak Market in Bangkok in 1996.American Bobby Duchowny,who founded the firm with hisThai wife Palita, said his businesswas the natural outgrowth of hispassion for the herb lemongrass(takrai), which many first en-counter in the popular Thai souptom yum goong.

“When I first came to Thai-land several years ago I traveledto a farm in Nakhon Sri Tham-marat to learn how to grow tur-meric. There I met Palita. To-gether we visited Phetchabun,where we met organic farmerswho were unable to sell their cropsbecause no one was willing to paya little more for vegetables grownwithout chemicals.

“It was there that I was sur-prised to learn how many wayslemongrass was used. It can be

used as a medicine, to treat stom-ach ailments, for example. Farm-ers used it as a natural mosquitorepellent, mixing it with citronella.

“And I really came to loveit. I love all foods cooked withlemongrass. I came up with a planto extract the oils because we usesuch a large volume for essentialoil production.”

Bobby was formerly a pro-fessional filmmaker for PacificMotion Pictures in Hollywood,and learned then just how pow-erful an effect scents can haveon the psyche. This power hasnot been lost on advertising ex-ecutives either, he said.

“For the old Hollywood filmproductions, they used to makethe scent of popcorn and put it in

the streets in front of the movietheaters to attract moviegoers.”

“It wasn’t really ‘aroma-therapy’ they were doing. But tome it was, in a way, because it’sreally what we call ‘sensory re-call’. They were using it as a sub-conscious lure to attract custom-ers. So I began studying it. Iworked in the screenplay depart-ment with the writers and theymade us study aromatherapy forsensory recall.”

Bobby has also used hisskills to produce bacon and choc-olate aromas for a top Thai ho-tel. Originally, when the hotelwanted the bacon smell to attractguests, they cooked bacon andwalked around with a frying pan.The result? Grease everywhere.

That’s when he helped cre-ate a bacon-scented spray forthem. Eau de porc? Cholesterolin a can? No matter how eccen-tric, the concept worked.

“When we used the spray,it was so easy. This made memore interested in the use ofsmells when it comes to emo-tions,” he added.

When Bobby first startedLemongrass House in Bangkok10 years ago, all the productswere based on lemongrass.

“We did everything withlemongrass. We had lemongrassshampoo, massage oil, mosquitospray, lemongrass scent, lemon-grass soap, lemongrass candles.

But as soon as the spa industrystarted to develop, businessesstarted asking us for more andmore products.”

Some of his more exoticcreations include body productsincorporating Godiva Chocolate,Shea Butter, Dead Sea Mud andeven a body wrap using flakes of24-karat gold.

Bobby’s first break camewhen a UNICEF staffer put in alarge order for mosquito repellentsprays for staff at remote out-posts on Thailand’s borders withBurma, Cambodia and Laos.

Then the Amanpuri askedhim to try to make new, differentblends so that each hotel couldhave its own, unique products.

Over the years, the Lemon-grass House product line hasmushroomed to include more than150 different kinds of essentialsoils and numerous other spa prod-ucts to meet the needs of manytop-notch hotels in the region, in-cluding, in Phuket, Katathani,Club Med, Starwood hotels, TheChedi, Trisara and Le Meridien.

Bobby said that in Thailandthere are only three companiesmaking high-grade essential oils.

“We’re probably the middleone. We also do a lot of retail.Our first big retail break camewhen Emporium found us, so wenow also have a shop on the fifthfloor in the Emporium in Bang-kok,” he said. “We have differ-

ent outlets in different countries.We sell in Takashimaya, Japan’sbiggest department store chain.”

Bobby attributes the firm’ssuccess to the freshness andhandmade quality of its products.They are also reasonably priced,ranging from 80 baht for a 5-mil-liliter bottle of essential oils to 750baht for a liter of body cream.

“Many spas in Phuket cometo us explaining what they wantin their ‘dream product’ and weare able to mix it freely for them,”he explained.

Lemongrass also has spaproducts for kids, mothers andpregnant women. “We have awhole range of mild products suchas kids’ shampoo, creams to pre-vent stretch marks for pregnantwomen and calming oil to preventmorning sickness.”

The Surin Beach shop wasfeatured in the May 22 issue ofTime magazine, in a section en-titled “Best of Asia”. Bobby ex-plained, “There was an editor ofTime who was staying at theAmanpuri. She came to my storewith her husband and asked meto make a sandalwood soap. Ididn’t know she was from Time.

“Then, about two monthsago, one of their writers was atthe Amansara in Cambodia, oneof our customers. She loved allthe products she used there, soshe asked where they came from.It was just coincidence that thetwo came together. Both the edi-tor and the writer were using myproducts. So they called me andasked me a lot of questions. Wewere really surprised, becausewe never won anything like thisbefore,” he said proudly.

For more information visit Lem-ongrass House at 106/14 Moo3 Tambon Cherng Talay or Tel:076-325022 or visit the web-site: www.lemongrasshouse.com

MAGICSpaBy Janyaporn Morel& Kruesit Upatising

Lemongrass House

Bobby’s body shopFormer professional filmmaker Bobby Duchowny knows just how powerful an effect various scents can have on the human psyche.

June 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 21A L L A T S E A

By Andy Johnstone

The days when a fewrounds of cheese andtomato sandwiches –made with cheap-and-

nasty Sunblest bread – a coupleof pork pies and lashings of gin-ger ale would do for any kind ofpicnic, particularly aboard a boat,are long gone.

That said, one can hardly beexpected to rustle up a gourmetbuffet while also entertainingguests on the waters aroundPhuket; that is a task best left tosomeone else. Besides, on mostleisure vessels there’s usually notthe space to do so.

The answer, of course, is tocharter a boat with meals in-cluded – or, if one owns a boat,to call in a team of caterers.

Tawan Cruises, the luxurycharter company that operatesthe boats Chom Tawan and TarnTawan out of Boat Lagoon, of-fers its guests a range of setmenus that begin, naturallyenough, with breakfast.

Prue Murphy, the GeneralManager of Tawan Cruises, says,“The most important meal of theday includes freshly-made crois-sants and pain au chocolat past-ries – and often a bottle of Cham-pagne for people celebrating orthose who just want to ‘push theboat out’.

“The food comes from SiamDeli, which is just outside the La-guna complex. The three basicmenus are Thai, Western – withan emphasis on Mediterranean-style dishes – and a mixture ofthe two,” she says. Clients canalso put in specific requests.

Some of these requests canbe very special. Prue recalls,“One of the last boats I workedon before coming to Phuket threeyears ago had a very VIP – Ican’t say who, of course – whodid have very specific requests.

“He had developed a tastefor white asparagus and we hadto have it flown in on an almostdaily basis. It wasn’t on his menufor breakfast but lunch and din-ner every day featured aspara-gus.”

Prue explains that one of theVIP’s eccentricities was to ap-ply the Hollandaise sauce to theasparagus with a pastry brush.

“He had to have a newpastry brush each day and we ranout of new brushes on board theboat.

“One bright spark on thecrew came up with the idea of

giving him small, brand-newpaintbrushes, of which we hadplenty on board.

“There was a little trepida-tion as he sat down to the firstmeal with a paintbrush instead ofa pastry brush, but he didn’t no-tice the difference and happilyslapped on the sauce,” she says,adding that although the VIP hadbooked the the boat for six weeks,he stayed on board for just sevendays. “He had paid in advanceand didn’t ask for a refund. I’msure it was nothing to do with thebrushes…”

The Thai menu as suppliedby Siam Deli features a host offavorites, such as chicken satay,laab gai, gaeng kiew waan, yamtalay and, of course, somtam, aswell as fresh fruit and sticky ricewith mango for dessert.

The Mediterranean-stylemenu includes vegetable samo-sas, bruschetta pomodoro, ba-guettes with honey-roast ham,chicken wraps, homemade beef-burgers served in fresh-bakedrolls, Caeser salads, fresh-bakedcookies and brownies.

The mixed menu boasts,among others, steamed whitesnapper with lemongrass andgalangal, stir-fried chicken withcashew nuts, although almostanything can be added to themenus.

“One of the things peopleadore is when one of our boats

moors at a fishing village andtakes on board additional suppliesof fresh seafood for a beach bar-becue, especially at sunset. It’sone of those things you just can’tdo anywhere else but here.”

Watermark Bar & Restau-rant at Boat Lagoon also does anifty range in on-board catering.Indeed, the restaurant’s GM,Stuart Bird, says food afloat ac-counts for 5% to 10% of thecompany’s business.

“It began about four yearsago – before Watermark opened– with ad-hoc requests to theBakery, which I opened first, forfood for boat trips.

“At that time it was mostlypeople who didn’t live here year-round who gave us orders.They’d email or call up and say,‘We’re coming in from HongKong’ or wherever ‘in a fewdays’ time for a couple of dayson the boat; can you put some-thing nice together for us?’”

Now, says Stuart, the clien-tèle has changed in some ways.“We have quite a few MICE[meetings, incentives, confer-ences and exhibitions] groupsusing our services.”

In the low season, he says,Watermark caters for 15 to 20charter groups, of varying sizes,each month. In the high seasonthis rises to around 35 a month.

One example is the privilege

club for Singapore owners ofBMW 7-series cars. “Buy aBeemer there,” Stuart explains,“and you can have free trips outof Phuket on a luxury Rivierasports boat every three months.”

Even the already privilegedBMW owners have been eclip-sed, reports Stuart.

“An 84-foot boat was char-tered for President Vladimir Putinof Russia when he stayed inPhuket in 2003,” Stuart recalls.

“We were given around 10days’ notice of the charter, but forsecurity reasons were not toldprecisely when it would takeplace.

“In the end, we had aboutfour days to plan and prepareeverything. I can’t say exactlywhat was on the menu but Presi-dent Putin likes his Champagne.I hope that’s not a state secret;do they still have gulags there?”

Watermark supplies on-board catering to other premiercharter companies including EliteSail & Dive, and Sail in Asia.

“Our menus are pretty com-prehensive. They feature every-thing from smoked salmoncheesecake with lobster-oil bagelcrisps and char-roasted aspara-gus spears wrapped in Parmaham with lime butter, to oven-driedtomato tart tatin with Asian pestoand grilled king prawns, chilledand served with a red-bell-pep-per butter,” says Stuart.

“We also have Thai favor-ites and we can supply ‘cookpacks’ – steaks, king prawns andthe like – so that charter opera-tors can pitch up on a desertedbeach and fire up the barbecue.”

Watermark tends to caterfor parties of around 10 to 30guests – depending, of course, onthe size of the vessel – but hascatered for as many as 150.

And not a Sunblest loaf insight.

Tawan Cruises: Tel: 076-239-710, Email: prue@tawancruises.com or visit www.tawancruises.com

Siam Deli: Tel: 076-270-148, Email: siamdeli@yahoo.com

Watermark: Tel: 076-239-730, Email: watermark@ocean-catering.com or visit www.watermarkphuket.com

Above, onboard buffetassembled by Watermark.

Right, typically deliciousnibbles prepared by SiamDeli for Tawan Cruises.

IT’S SEA FOOD

BMW 7-series owners from Singapore arrive at a deserted beachfor a slap-up meal, laid on by Watermark.

22 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

T A K E A B R E A KJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 23

The Cryptic Crossword

Compiled by Tortuus. © 2006

PPPPPUZZLESUZZLESUZZLESUZZLESUZZLES

Solution, tips andcomputer program

at www.sudoku.com

Sudoku is very simple: each row, each column and each “box” ofnine squares within the puzzle must contain all the numbers from1 to 9 with, naturally, no repetitions. Beware: there is only onesolution to this puzzle, which is on the next page.

Scribble SpaceScribble SpaceScribble SpaceScribble SpaceScribble Space

BrainBuster!

Answer on next page

Some kids are playinghide and seek in a parkwhere there are seven

trees. One of the kids is“It”, and the others areall hiding behind trees.

Of course, you can’t seethem, because they’rehiding. See if you canfigure out the fewestpossible kids hiding,using the following

information:

• A girl is hiding to theleft of a boy.

• A boy is hiding to theleft of a boy.

• Two boys are hiding tothe right of a girl.

EZ TRIVIA QUIZ

ACROSS

1. Reef material about rightfor holding horses. (6)

4. Punish for being pure – isin. (8)

8. Beginner takes directionto no fight, we hear. (8)

9. Abduct child, then sleep.(6)

13. 50 songs for hideaways.(5)

14. Times belong to us. (4)15. Key in “O”? Mistake!17. Assembly of herditary

units, broadly speaking.(9)

20. Muscles support with acouple of directions. (5)

22. I’ll be heard in thesupermarket. (5)

23. Charms WWW back,but also irritates. (9)

25. Part of foot to moveslowly. (4)

27. Half a rig. (4)28. Spice from South

America? (5)30. Relative sound of relief

after born. (6)32. Sell, and French give

thanks for feud. (8)33. Uncivilized couple of

music pieces in charge.(8)

34. Almost crash into hospitalfor foundlings. (6)

1. Why was RobertPershing Wadlowfamous?

2. “Stratocumulus” is atype of what?

3. Who is the coach ofGermany’s 2006World Cup team?

4. What is the diameterof a standard compactdisc?

5. What is the commonname for Pantheraleo?

Can you find the seven

differences between the two

cartoons below? And can you

find them faster than the rest

of the family?

Solution on next page.

Spot the DifferenceSpot the Difference

Answers on next page

DOWN

1. Against national symbolshare? Fire! (13)

2. Turns about East andSouth. (9)

3. Like, he’s making re-mains of 1 dn. (5)

5. Part of leg from GreatLeader. (4)

6. Where to get massage inSpace. (3)

7. Southern fish walkslowly. (6)

10. Initially No and Yes? No!(3)

11. Foretelling of strangeoctopi. (13)

12. Three pips: try to putnote in. (4)

16. Assist a wager. (4)18. Regretted seeming

boorish. (4)19. Fib about where golf ball

is. (3)21. I teach it’s wrong to have

no faith. (9)23. Gave birth to money, so

to speak. (4)24. Banshee following

Marley? (6)26. Limit headgear. (3)28. 101 with the German

drink. (5)29. Exist, thanks to trial

version. (4)31. Are back in time. (3)

6. How many bonesdoes the typical adulthuman have?

7. What is the date ofthe 2006 World Cupfinal?

8. In what geologicalera do we live?

9. In a military sense,what does SAM standfor?

10. Piglet, Tigger andEeyore are friends ofwhich fictional bear?

T A K E A B R E A K24 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

Get your brainin gear with

The Monster QuizKids! Ask Mum and Dad to help you find the answers to these questions.They’re not easy but, if you do some research, you should be able to find

the answers to all of them.

Quick Crossword

Cryptic Crossword

PuzzleSolutions

Sudoku

Quick Crossword

EZ TriviaAnswers

Brain Buster Solution

Monster Quiz

Answers

1. Who discovered theCrab Nebula, and inwhich year?

2. What is the diameter ofthe Crab Nebula andhow fast is it expanding?

3. Who will be the 61stPresident of the UnitedNations General Assem-bly when it opens onSeptember 12?

4. Victor Eremite, Johannesed Mentionable andJudge William werepseudonyms used bywhich philosopher andtheologian?

5. Who designed theAnalytical Engine?

6. Who created the pro-grams for it?

7. The Name of the Roseand Foucault’s Pendu-

ACROSS

1. French capital4. One of the poles.7. Young lion or bear.8. Every politician wants it.9. Metal clothing.10. Machine that works by

itself.12. Huckleberry Finn author.13. Pigeon call.14. Garbage.15. Helicopter part17. Wanderer.19. Arm joint.21. Conclude.

DOWN

1. Book material.2. Uncooked.3. What to do with an itch.4. Basketball organization.5. Left-over.6. Water bird.11. Longtail operator.12. Underwater weapon.14. Fork prongs.16. Boisterous.18. Morning dampness.20. Flower-to-be.

Solution below, right

1. John Bevis in 1731; 2. Sixlight years; 1,500 kilometersper second; 3. Sheikha HayaRashed Al-Khalifa of Bahr-ain; 4. Søren Kierkegaard; 5.Charles Babbage; 6. AdaLovelace; 7. Umberto Eco;8. The analysis of the natureand relationships of signs inlanguage; 9. Ingmar Berg-man; 10. The Muses; 11.Green Day; 12. The ThreeStooges; 13. Glass; 14. Bots-wana; 15. The Land of FourRegions; 16. Brandon Routh;17. Friedrich Nietzsche; 18.Richard Wagner; 19. MrCreosote; 20. Venezuela.

Solution to this week’sCartoon Puzzle

The fewest kids hiding is 3. A girl is on the left; to herright is a boy; to his right is another boy.

22. Muscle-bone connecter.23. Strangely.

1. At 2.72 meters in height,he was the tallest human onrecord; 2. Cloud; 3. JürgenKlinsmann; 4. 120 mm; 5.Lion; 6. 206; 7. July 9; 8.Cenozoic; 9. Surface-to-airmissile; 10. Winnie thePooh.

lum are novels by whichphilosopher andsemiotician?

8. What is semiotics?

9. Wild Strawberries, TheSeventh Seal and TheVirgin Spring are films bywhich director?

10. In Greek mythology,Mnemosyne was themother of which group ofnine goddesses?

11. Billie Joe Armstrong, TreCool and Mike Dirnt formwhich band?

12. Larry, Curly and Moeformed which comedytroupe?

13. Artist Ivo Lill worksmostly in which medium?

14. Seswaai is a dish peculiarto which African nation?

15. What, in Quecha, doesTahuantinsuyu mean?

16. Which actor playsSuperman in SupermanReturns?

17. Who wrote – in Human,All Too Human – “Wecount the courtesiesshown to us by unpopu-lar people as offenses.”

18. What’s Opera, Doc?,“starring” Bugs Bunny,was a nine-minuteparody of which com-poser’s works?

19. Name the character whoexplodes from overeatingin Monty Python’s TheMeaning of Life.

20. Which country cel-ebrates June 24 as Battleof Carabobo Day?

Answers below, left

F E A T U R E SJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 25

Thesiger of ArabiaOff theSHELFBy James Eckardt

Booting the pimpsCobbling together a conspiracy: “I maybe placing my life in danger with this shock-ing expose, but the truth must come out.Thai pimps obviously control the shoe in-dustry here. By preventing comfortablefootwear from being sold in this country,they ensure constant demand for foot mas-sages. These masseuses require countlesslegitimate (traditional) massage parlourswhich help conceal the brothels.” (1)

More massage mischief: “I couldn’t re-ally understand which position she wantedme to assume, and she let out a conde-scending snigger each time I did it com-pletely wrong.

“As it proceeded, I kept visualisingher crushing rocks with her bare hands,so it was only a natural reaction that mybody kept on rigidly coiling back into thefetal position.

“When she was finally able to pryme apart, there was more crackling in thatlast fifteen minutes than on fireworks night.The only cosolation was that I found someinnocent pleasure in my hands and feetroutinely brushing against the masseur’sbreasts and arse.

“However, my gf who received amassage at the same time sensed the eroti-cism of the whole shindig, and promptlyforbade me from having another Thaimassage ever again. Maybe I’d enjoy itmore if I went back without her…” (2)

Cunning linguist: “Another interesting

thing about walking through the marketsis meeting Chaz. Chaz is a generic name Ihave given to the local guys who try toguess where you are from and then speakto you in the appropriate accent.

“It is the strangest thing to have thisguy shout, in a stong cockney accent, “Allright mate?”, then seconds later switch toAussie (by far the most common) and thenjust as easily to German and Italian…

“Trouble is, if you stop and talk toChaz there is a good chance you will buysomething of questionable quality that youdid not even want.”(3)

Postcard from hell: “Hello everyone andwelcome from Phuket, possibly the worstplace on this planet, other than any wartorn region of course! This place is theminghole of Thailand, a paradise fordrunken Europeans who like a sea-sideresort to get pissed in, with a Thai girl ontheir arm and a bottle of Singha in the other.So I won’t elaborate other than to say wewon’t be staying in this dunp much longer(we only got here 2 hours ago!!).” (4)

Stoating around Bangoko: “Wasn’t themost comfortabel of nights but leats we

had aroof over our heads! Pretty impressedwith Bangoko Airlines, lots fo free juiceand cakes in the departure lounge. Flightto huket only 80mins, like flying down toLondon. Phuket airport is 50mins form thetown, got the bus there. Stoated aroundthe town in the boiling heat. Was absoutley

drenched by the time we found a guesthouse.” (5)

Sex and drugs and Häagan-Dazs:

“They had really good food and good com-pany, so cool. Then he took us to aresturaunt and we had good ice cream. Itwas so cute all the different ice creamthings they had, like an ice cream clubsandwich with “fries”. Then he took us tosee all the drugs and whores we’d talkedso much about. Very interesting to watch.All in all a really fun night out with ournew friend. Went and packed up, tomor-row we move on.” (6)

1. http://realtravel.com/phuket-journals-j1331245.html

2. http://journals.worldnomads.com/meoga_and_space_cat/post/869.aspx

3. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Phuket/Patong-Beach/blog-63575.html

4. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Phuket/Patong-Beach/blog-47930.html

5. http://realtravel.com/phuket-journals-j1083332.html

6. http://realtravel.com/phuket-journals-j701092.html

Unfortunately, because of the bugthat is doing the rounds in Phuket,Lis has spent a large part of the weekgetting better acquainted with hertoilet. But nevertheless, she’smanaged to source these skewedsnippets of island life – in all theirunedited glory – for your enjoyment,or to wipe your backside with shouldyou be so unfortunate as to catch thesame bug.

OUTSIDEIN

By Lis Kinswoman

Alexander Maitland haswritten the definitivebiography of one ofthe great travel writers

of the 20th century: WilfredThesiger: The Life of the GreatExplorer (HarperCollins, London,2006, 528pp).

Wilfred Thesiger was anodd duck, but a great one. He wascapable of enormous feats ofendurance. Deprived of food,water and sleep, he traversedhuge unexplored expanses of theSahara and Arabian deserts uponcamels with just a few youngArab companions.

In a life spent with devoutMuslims, he had no belief in God.He didn’t smoke. He didn’t drink,except for the odd sweet liqueur.He had a platonic devotion to theteenage servants he adopted, butno interest in women.

He was six-foot-two, im-mensely strong, a natural leaderof men, an avid boxer, tireless biggame hunter and ruthless killer ofItalians and Germans in Africaduring World War II.

He traveled everywhere, allover Europe and the Middle East,trekked over the Hindu Kushmountains of Pakistan and sailedaround the islands of Indonesia.He died at the age of 93, authorof 11 books. His hero was Law-rence of Arabia.

His childhood was idyllic,spent on horseback and hunting

safaris. His father was the Brit-ish Consul in Addis Abada and agreat friend of Ras Tafari, thefuture emperor.

Thesiger was six when hewitnessed Ras Tafari’s victoryparade after the battle of Sagalein 1916.

Seventy years later, hewould write: “I believe that dayimplanted in me a lifelong crav-ing for barbaric splendour, forsavagery and colour and the throbof drums, and it gave me a last-ing veneration for long-establishedcustom and ritual, from whichwould derive later a deep-seatedresentment of Western innova-tions in other lands, and a distastefor the drab uniformity of themodern world.”

Aged nine, he was thrustinto the very epicenter of drabuniformity: an English prepara-tory school. Eton was better, andthen Oxford, where he excelledat boxing. Right after graduation,

he took off to an unexploredpocket of Ethiopia to trace thesource of the Awash River.

Posted next as a district of-ficer in the Darfur region of Su-dan, he dressed as a Bedouin andwould ride 10-13 hours a daythrough godforsaken hinterlandsup into the Libyan desert with justa couple of Arab and guides.

Next he served in the Nubi-an, south of Sudan, indulging him-self in an orgy of lion hunting.Then he was off hunting men inWorld War II.

After re-conquering his be-loved Ethiopia for Haile Selassie,he turned Desert Rat in Libya,riding a machine-gun mountedjeep behind enemy lines to am-bush the retreating Germans.

After the war, he took off

on his greatest adventure, mak-ing two crossings of the EmptyQuarter of southern Arabia, afurnace where sand dunes tower700 meters. In the first crossing,he and his four companions livedon just two pints of water a day.

The Empty Quarter was thesubject of his first book, ArabianSands, published in 1959 whenThesiger was 49 years old.

“A cloud gathers, the rainfalls, men live; the cloud disperseswithout rain, and men and ani-mals die,” he wrote.

“In the deserts of Arabia,there is no rhythm to the seasons… Men live there because it isthe world into which they wereborn; the life they live is the lifetheir forefathers led beforethem; they accept hardships and

privations; they know no otherway.”

His next book, The MarshArabs, was about his seven-yearsojourn with the isolated swamp-land tribes of southern Iraq. Hislast years were spent with youth-ful Samburu and Turkana tribalcompanions in a remote area ofnorthern Kenya.

On one of his visits back toLondon, an elderly dowager at acocktail party remarked to him,“What fun you must be having! Idon’t expect you go to many par-ties in the back of the beyondwhere you live?”

“In fact, it’s just the oppo-site,” Thesiger replied. “We hada marvellous party last month. Allthe guests arrived naked, and weate one of them afterwards.”

E D I T O R I A L & L E T T E R S26 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

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Letters

Letters conveying views and suggestions are published here. Those seeking comment from governmentofficials and/or business owners are published in Issues & Answers online.

Editor: Parichat UtintuManaging Editor: Alasdair Forbes

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Editorial Team: Stephen Fein, Andy Johnstone, Nattamon Ratcharak, NatchaYuttaworawit, Janyaporn Morel, Jenjira Ruengjarus, Dominic Earnshaw.

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– The Editor

Salt in the wounds

A little alarm is nobad thingI am rarely compelled to write incomment of the usual whingeingfarang goms [grumpy old men]that have nothing better to dothan complain about five bahtsongthaew extortions, but whonaturally and quite happily handover a thousand or two in barfines.

Why complain about blaringlights and cacophony of ambu-lance sirens on Thepkasattri Rdand not the blaring lights and ca-cophony all over Patong – andwherever else whingeing gomsmeet to annoy and depress?

Having survived a numberof emergencies requiring SOScare over the years, I am alwaysgrateful for the unstinting and of-ten thankless task that paramed-ics and fire officers provide tocasualty cases.

When you witness the in-herent politeness and patiencethat Thai police, lowly-paid wait-resses and many other employ-ees employ when putting up withdrunken farangs, one wonderswho has got more right to com-plain.

To the W Browns (Letters,Gazette issue of June 10) of thisworld, I would say simply: shutup or ship out!

Despite the selfishness ofThai drivers who hog middlelanes, at least in Phuket they dorespect the urgency of ambu-lances and give way.

Those that know what a dif-ference a few minutes can makewhen it comes down to living ordying are more than happy toendure a few loud claxons nowand again.

Try living in Bangkok, whereexpats who get struck by hit-and-

runs are better advised to use theservices of a taxi whose driverknows the “green route” backstreets than to rely on an ambu-lance getting through!

You may care to ponder thisshould you be unfortunate enoughto require 999 treatment, only tofind that your route to life isblocked by selfish drivers whowon’t give way.

Eddie ScissorhandsKoh Kaew

I’m always looking for a goodlaugh and your “Letters” columnrarely lets me down.

Call me silly, but I alwaysget a kick out of people who moveinto a new environment or coun-try and immediately begin to lobbyto have changes implemented tosuit their own narrow purposes,or gripe about the fact that thingsare not necessarily done the sameway as at home.

One week I get to readsomeone’s gripe about construc-tion noise, the next week some-one’s whines about potholes.

The best recently was theperson who wrote to complainabout the lack of tap water at herhouse and having to buy dirtywater from local vendors.

Why buy dirty water whenthere’s clean water all over theisland? Well, if she is willing topay for dirty water, I’d sell it toher too. In fact, I’ve got bucket-loads for sale. I’ll even deliver!

Years ago in my hometown, a new development wasbuilt on the approach to the onlyairport in the region.

The houses sold quicklyenough, but soon the papers werefull of gripes from the buyersabout excessive noise. That’sright, 100 families bought prop-

Starr letter writer

erty next to an airport and thenbegan complaining about air traf-fic.

I’m relieved that this men-tality apparently has no borders.Free entertainment is alwayswelcome in my home.

Please keep up the goodwork.

Dave StarrPhuket

I just felt that I had to send you amessage to let you know howmuch I appreciate the Dining Outcolumns by Andy Johnstone.

I am a travel consultant inSouth Africa and we send doz-ens of South Africans to Phuketevery year.

Many of the establishmentsfeatured in the column have ap-peared in our itineraries as sug-gested venues for lunch and din-ner for our clients and I must say,you have been spot on with yourrecommendations.

Thank you for your reporton Anna’s (Dining Out, Gazetteissue of June 10); we have hadseveral requests for suggestionswhere a good family meal can behad in Phuket City.

Unbeknown to many ofthese establishments, your rec-ommendations have gone via meto dozens of other agents and touroperators. The restaurateursshould get together and give meand Mr Johnstone a really slap-up gourmet tour when I am nextin Phuket!

Thank you very much foryour contribution to some won-derful holidays being had by myclients in Phuket.

Yvonne HorakSouth Africa

Easily digestiblereviews help business

Movie crews are good business for Phuket and the surrounding prov-inces. A movie production can bring in dozens of people, who stayfor weeks on end filling hotel rooms, spending lots of money on ex-pense accounts and employing hundreds of local people.

The movies they produce can also give tourism a boost. A goodexample was The Beach, with a cast headed by Leonardo Di Caprio.That movie – despite a plot stereotyping Thais as shifty taxi driversand gangsters – projected an image of Thailand that attracted thou-sands of tourists.

But Aftermath, the TV mini-series currently being filmed byBritain’s Kudos for airing on the BBC and HBO, is a different mat-ter. There are two major points of concern.

The first is the insensitivity of the movie crew. Along the mainroad in Khao Lak, they recreated scenes from immediately after thetsunami, with “corpses” lying everywhere; they even had them hangingfrom power poles. All very realistic, and nowhere was there a signtelling people passing through that this was a movie set and not someunreported disaster.

Even had there been signs, the scene was so disturbing – andso public – that hotels reported staff were scared by the realism ofthe set and reluctant to go home along the road because of the hor-rible memories it evoked. The psychiatric center reported a rise inthe number of people seeking help.

There is also a form of patronization bordering on racism in theway that Western extras have been paid far more than their Thaicounterparts.

In Britain, the production has come under heavy fire from themedia, causing the BBC to rush into damage-control mode, utteringplatitudes such as, “We are fully conscious of the sensitivities of sur-vivors and the imperative to handle the issue with compassion andinsight.” That full consciousness appears not to be shared by Kudos.

The second point of concern is that Aftermath covers only thetsunami and a few days after. When it is aired later this year, it willdo nothing to counter the images of “Thailand smashed” that fol-lowed the disaster and which were resurrected on the first anniver-sary. It will only reinforce them.

The mini-series has the backing of Thai officialdom, thoughone wonders just how well officials were briefed or how hard theytried to see beyond the immediate benefits.

Officially sanctioned it is, however, so it’s unlikely to go away.But that does not mean that individuals and local businesses are obligedto offer any help whatsoever to the film crew.

P E R S P E C T I V E SJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 27

PERSONFIRST

The recent edict from the Ministry of the Interiorinstructing land officials to put property compa-nies with foreign shareholders “under the micro-

scope” sent shivers of horror through the property indus-try and through the ranks of foreign homeowners.

In Phuket, the Provincial Land Office has rushed toassure the property industry that there is really no causefor concern.

But Marcus Collins, Senior Partner in the law firmMcEvily & Collins, believes this is not quite true. Here heexplains why.

Laws putting ceilings onforeign shareholdings incompanies engaging incertain activities are part

and parcel of the modern ThaiLegal system. The Land Code of1954 is one of those laws.

It is human nature to try tobypass restrictions or prohibitions,especially when there is moneyat stake. Employing Thai nomi-nees has been a popular way ofdoing this in Thailand.

The use of nominees hasbeen the subject of widely publi-cized press reports, most notablyin the recent Temasek-Shin Corptakeover.

So, you may ask, what ac-tually is a “nominee”? Barron’sDictionary of Legal Terms de-fines a nominee as “…one whohas been asked to act for anotherin a particular context, such as atrustee or an agent.”

In other words, somebodydoing something for somebodyelse without having a direct eco-nomic or other beneficial interestin the subject, except maybe forreceiving a fee or other gratuityas payment for the services ren-dered.

Nominees tend to comefrom a group of people who re-semble the characters of aShakespearean drama: garden-ers, servants, guards, bar maid-ens, drivers and, lo and behold,lawyers and ac-countants.

The practiceof using nomineeshas once again ar-rived on the publicstage with the May15 issue of a circu-lar sent by Ministryof the Interior to allprovincial governorsand land depart-ments. It createdquite a stir in thebusiness community,especially amongforeign and Thai de-velopers targeting foreign cus-tomers with freehold housingprojects.

Needless to say, foreignbuyers contemplating buyingproperty in Thailand also becamequite concerned, especially aftera sensational news report in whicha naturalized, Bangkok-based,legal consultant claimed that May25, the effective date of the cir-cular, signaled the end of the prop-erty boom.

As far as I am concerned,other than it being my birthday,nothing exciting happened onMay 25.

However, it would be fool-ish to assume that nothing haschanged and that it is business asusual. This circular has definitelyhad an impact and may have

Crackdown or breakdownover company nominees?

some painful, long-lasting effectson foreign developers and theability of foreign buyers to acquirefreehold property in Thailand.

The Land Code clearlystates that a Thai company maynot acquire land if foreigners holdmore than 49% of the issuedshare capital, or if foreign share-holders outnumber Thai share-holders.

If it is found that a Thaicompany violates these provi-sions the Director-General of theLand Department is authorized toorder the company dispose of its

land. This must bedone within a pe-riod ranging be-tween 180 daysand one year.

The LandCode does not pro-vide that the share-holding and share-holder ratios arecalculated by tak-ing into accountboth the direct andindirect share-holdings by for-eigners and Thaicompanies in

which foreigners hold shares, orthe voting rights attached toshares.

The Land Code also doesnot concern itself with votingrights or the nationality of thedirectors of these companies.This is clearly confirmed by an-other circular which preceded theMay 15 circular and was issuedby the Director-General of theLand Department to all provin-cial governors on April 26.

It was an instruction to theheads of all Land Departmentsto check the shareholders’ listsof all companies that are regis-tered land owners and have for-eign shareholders and/or direc-tors.

The checks are to be car-ried out every year in June by

checking the records of the LandDepartment office against thoseof the Company Registrar.

The April 26 Circular con-tains a large number of specificexamples which show that a com-pany which maintains the 49:51share ratio and has more Thaithan foreign shareholders is incompliance with the Land Codeeven if the Thai shareholders insuch a company include Thaicompanies – as long as these Thaicompanies, in turn, comply withthe above requirements. In otherwords, the April 26 circularcaused little concern becausecases where these ratios arechanged after the registration ofthe land are few and far between.

The May 15 circular goes alot further, however. It specifi-cally targets foreigners who useThai nominees when registeringa company with the aim of buy-ing and selling immovable prop-erty as a business venture.

Good news, you might think,because it appears that individualforeign buyers are off the hook.

Regrettably, the net effectof this circular is that all compa-nies with foreign shareholdersand/or directors, no matter howmany, are being put under the mi-croscope.

The May 15 circular givesLand Department officers widediscretionary powers to investi-gate these companies if it is rea-sonable to believe that Thais actas nominees.

Land offices throughout thecountry therefore use approach-es that vary considerably and,sadly, because of the discretion-ary power given to them, someless scrupulous officers appear tobe benefiting somewhat from theconfusion.

I can only speculate whathas prompted the Ministry of In-terior to take action at this time.The practice of using nomineeshareholders is nothing new and

has been going on for as long asthe Land Code has been in force.

Admittedly, in many casesthis has been done rather blatantlyand many members of our pro-fession should accept blame fornot advising clients properly.

On the other hand, the gov-ernment cannot claim innocenceeither, because it has been obvi-ous for a long time what has beenhappening.

Is it indeed a case of “toomuch and too obvious” that hasprompted the government to firethis warning shot? Conspiracytheoreticians may lead us to be-lieve that the “third hand” of pow-erful Thai investors who areknown to be buying property inPhuket and elsewhere in thesouth are behind this circular.

A smart move, if true, be-cause it would deal quite effec-tively with competition fromwealthy foreign buyers.

Others have suggested thatthis measure is aimed at combat-ing money laundering. I franklydo not see how this would work;it is the Thai nominees and notthe foreign investors whose finan-cial backgrounds are to be inves-tigated.

In any case, the Bank ofThailand and the Ministry of Fi-nance are in a much better posi-tion to deal with money launder-ing as they have the ability toquestion the source of moneybrought into Thailand by foreigninvestors.

In Phuket, the May 15 cir-cular has effectively put a brakeon transactions involving compa-nies with foreign shareholders ordirectors and may actually causeforeign investors to go “under-ground” by temporarily creatingcompanies with no foreign par-ticipation whatsoever.

The Phuket Provincial LandOffice benefits from an activeproperty market.

Recently-published figures

show that revenues generatedfrom transfer and other fees arevery substantial and have in-creased every year for the pastfive years.

Land officers would prob-ably rather maintain business asusual but must find a way to jus-tify allowing a company to regis-ter land. Having only Thai share-holders and directors is a pain-less solution, but obviously thiswould constitute an even moreserious violation of the law.

In Samui the approach hasbeen a bit more pragmatic. There,officers require affidavits fromThai shareholders showing theirincome and a declaration that thecompany is intended only to beused to buy land for private use.

Many practitioners believethat as long as the Thai share-holders truly invest in the sharesand have an economic justifica-tion for doing so, these sharehold-ers should not be viewed as nomi-nees. This, however, has neverbeen confirmed by the Ministryof the Interior.

Phuket, Samui, Chiang Mai,Hua Hin and Pattaya have ben-efited enormously from foreigninvestment in property during thepast five years or so.

Although I would not go asfar as to suggest that the Thaigovernment do away with theLand Code restrictions altogether,recent events have shown that itis high time to take a closer lookat the entire body of laws andregulations dealing with land andhouse transactions, including taxlaws.

The nominee issue is not theonly issue we have to deal with.The length and extension ofleases, the ability of foreigners toapply for building permits, andvarious tax laws affecting prop-erty transactions also need look-ing at.

It is probably too much toask for the current governmentto take action. They have morepressing matters to deal with.

However, for the sake of thecontinuing economic success ofPhuket and other similar destina-tions and also to promote Thai-land as a place to retire or have asecond home, it will be necessaryfor laws and regulations to beclear and unambiguous and leaveas little room as possible for in-terpretation. Nobody likes uncer-tainty.

Marcus Collins holds master’sdegrees in law from both Eras-mus University in the Nether-lands and Cornell University’sLaw School in the US, and is amember of the bar in both theNetherlands and New York. Hehas worked in Thailand for 16years.

The May 15 circularhas effectively put a

brake ontransactions

involving companieswith foreign

shareholders ordirectors and may

actually causeforeign investors togo ‘underground’.

F E A T U R E S28 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

FEVER In The Stars by Isla Star

Friday June 9 marked avery special occasion inThailand – the 60th anni-versary of HM King

Bhumibol Adulyadej’s accessionto the throne, a monumental oc-casion in Thai history.

HM The King is without adoubt one of the world’s mostbeloved monarchs. He is also thelongest serving, so for the Thaipeople celebrating his anniversarywas reason enough to call FridayJune 9 a very special day indeed.

But Friday was a specialday for another reason too…

It was also the day thatfootball fans all over the worldhave been waiting for with batedbreath for the past four years.Yes, Friday, as well as being a dayof royal celebration in Thailand,was also the day that the FIFAWorld Cup 2006 began.

Woohoo! I could almosthear all you soccer-loving fanat-ics out there yelling as you leaptin the air and clapped each otheron the backs.

“So what?” moan that small,sorry percentage of people –myself included – that reallycouldn’t care less. We simply donot understand your love of the“beautiful game” and have yet todiscover how a simple black-and-white ball and a gaudy jerseycould possibly inspire so much joyand passion and excitement in ahuman heart.

Yes, you may not believethis, but there are still some iso-lated pockets of humanity who donot know what the offside ruleis, nor do we know why penal-ties are given, nor do we under-stand what on earth is the differ-ence between a red and a yellowcard besides, obviously, the color.

But we are a very, very,very small percentage of theworld’s population. Most of youout there are football fans to vary-ing degrees. There are the mildlytitillated, who enjoy watching theodd match now and then. Thereis also the eager and enthusiasticset, who play as often as they canand watch as many matches aspossible in between the slog ofdaily routine and work and tak-ing care of children et cetera, etcetera.

Then, of course, there arethe other 75% of you, the group Ilike to call the “worryingly obses-sive”, who form their own littleleagues and play on-line footballgames and know who scoredwhat goal in what match in whatcup on some obscure day in 1963.

Youth ’n

By AmyVan de Casteele

ASIA

You – you might be pleased tohear – form at least half, if notthree quarters, of the world’spopulation.

In fact, football is such ahuge phenomenon that it perhapsmakes my own ignorance of it alittle shameful, though I will neveradmit that to anyone. It has beencalled “the only global game” andcan be found practically every-where in the world, on every littleisland, in every stretch of desert,in every city slum or quiet, neatly-manicured suburban garden.

In some sweltering patchof dusty Africa right at this mo-ment, you can bet there is amotley collection of young boysin frayed clothes and with rough-soled, bare feet kicking aroundan old, equally frayed androughened ball. On a beautifultropical island somewhere in theCaribbean, I am positive thereare some tall bronzed youthspracticing their dribbling. On amuddy gray pitch on the outskirtsof London you are sure to seeat least ten red-faced Cockney-accented young men clappingeach other on the back as oneof them scores a header rightover the goalkeeper’s futilelywaving hands.

Yes, football – and this eventin particular – is so important glo-bally that some countries, such asTogo and the island of Trinidad,have declared the day their na-tional team qualified as a publicholiday.

The people of countries suchas Ghana, Spain and Angola con-sider it a matter of national dutyto support their team by watch-ing the matches religiously, nomatter what time of day or night,and decking out the streets of

CANCER (June 22-July 23): If you are celebratinga birthday during the coming few days, you willexperience a year very unlike the one just passed.Finally, you will have the power to negotiate betterdeals and put personal relationships on a more evenkeel. A mysterious stranger is about to make theirpresence felt; if this relates to romance, a blend ofcultures can lead to true happiness. The number 4can bring luck on Thursday.

LEO (July 24-August 22): You will be counting yourblessings this weekend. A less fortunate friend asksfor your help and, if your heart’s in the right place,you won’t think twice about lending a hand. Ca-reer matters appear to have reached a stalemate,but there’s something to be said for simply coastingalong at an even speed. Progress will be made moreeasily next month. The color mint green helps youto feel cool as a cucumber.

VIRGO (August 23-September 23): Your earthynature will allow you to focus on the practical sideof maintaining a relationship that appears to berather complicated. If this is a connection that youvalue, then true love will find a way. This is not theright time to listen to friends who are probably jeal-ous of your good fortune. Where money is con-cerned, Sagittarius shouldn’t be trusted with toomuch responsibility. Libra is more reliable.

LIBRA (September 24-October 23): Examine thefacts of a current dilemma before reacting. Youare certain to unearth new evidence that will leadto a painless solution. Aquarians would like to com-plicate the matter to suit their personal agenda,but you should be able to prevent this happening.Business will be subject to adverse astral influ-ences until the middle of next month. Luckily, ro-mance should more than compensate for thesetemporary troubles.

SCORPIO (October 24-November 22): This week-end, you must guard against getting involved in atempest in a teacup. Someone’s tendency to over-dramatize events could easily rub off on you. Lis-ten to the soothing advice offered by Taurus. Busi-ness meetings are best scheduled for Wednesdayand Thursday, when the stars will support your ef-forts to expand. The color peach can heighten yourappeal if looking for love.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23-December 21): Ifyou’ve seriously invested a lot of effort into tryingto convince others that your scheme is rock solidbut they’re still treading water, it’s high time to seekdifferent potential investors. If you aren’t afraid ofbiting the bullet, you will have no trouble doing so.Your confidence is set to peak from now until theend of next month, so make the most of this. Adream you have midweek can provide enlighten-ment.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 20): You willbe inclined to ignore the obvious this week, evenwhen cold, hard facts are staring you in the face.If you don’t allow false pride to get in the way, atime of exciting new beginnings is about to start.Leo provides lighthearted, amusing company justwhen you need it most this Sunday. However, thisrelationship should definitely remain platonic. Avoiddealing with bureaucracy on Tuesday.

AQUARIUS (January 21-February 19): Unneces-sary worry is your only enemy during the final daysof June. If you can begin next month with a cleanslate and a positive attitude, then you will have ex-cellent chances of success. If romance appears tobe getting over-complicated, simply take a breakfor a couple of days. By doing so, you will give theperson concerned important food for thought. Thenumber 3 looks lucky on Wednesday.

PISCES (February 20-March 20): Your creativitylevel is running high during the last week of June.If you can’t find a suitable outlet for all this energy,you should search further afield, perhaps by takinga short trip away. Money matters are well-starredfor now, so you can spoil yourself without sufferingany pangs of guilt. A decision regarding family af-fairs must be reached by next Friday. Wear thecolor silver to help the right words to flow.

ARIES (March 21-April 20): No matter how dis-appointed you may feel by another’s unacceptablebehavior, there’s every reason to give them a chanceto explain. You will be taken aback by what youhear. Business opportunities are thin on the groundat the moment, but next month will bring concreteproof that your instincts are correct. Libra wouldlike to get to know you more intimately, but is wait-ing for an encouraging sign.

TAURUS (April 21-May 21): Catching up with workis high on the agenda for you this week. Be selec-tive when accepting social invitations to avoid get-ting involved in a situation that will only waste yourprecious time. Next week, expect to walk a nerve-racking tightrope concerning an ongoing bureau-cratic issue; the outcome will be in your favor. Scor-pio passes on the good news you’ve been waitingto hear midweek. Wear emerald green to open yourmind to new possibilities.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21): An ongoing debateoccupies much of your energy this week. You areadvised not to be in too much of a rush to settlethis matter. Playing the waiting game will bringthe results you desire, no matter how frustratinglife is in the meantime. Your partner shows theirappreciation of your understanding this weekend.If you are involved in a new relationship, you willthink of a unique way to show the depth of yourinterest.

F E A T U R E SJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 29

PITCH

On a beautifultropical islandsomewhere in

the Caribbean, Iam positive

there are sometall bronzed

youthspracticing their

dribbling.

LARGER

LIFEBy Graham Doven

THANTHAN

Goal? Duh! Askthe video refereetheir villages, towns and cities in

the colors of their team.Televisions have been set up

in strategic places in offices theworld over so people can watchfrom the comfort of their desksand screens have been rigged upin public places so that peoplewho do not have televisions athome can gather together towatch the matches and cheer ontheir country’s team.

The matchesof the World Cupare significantevents and each isguaranteed to haveat least several mil-lion, if not a billion,people watching atany one time.

During themonth-long tourna-ment, televisionscreens the worldover will become thefocal points of manyhouses, offices, barsor restaurants, drawing people to-gether in groups of laughing, chat-tering, roaring friends.

It is a proven fact that foot-ball fosters a sense of commu-nity, of patriotism, of overall to-getherness. It can also bring to-gether even the bitterest enemiesas they unite in the name of acommon cause – to support theircountry as it goes head-to-headwith the best teams the world hasto offer. The final match of thisyear’s World Cup is expected toattract at least three and a halfbillion viewers.

So where does that leavethat pathetic minority I have men-tioned – the ten or twelve lost and

lonely people in this football-crazed world who simply cannotcomprehend this intoxicating fe-ver gripping the planet?

Personally, I shall be gettingin a lot more schoolwork andreading these next few days asmy father obsessively guards thetelevision remote control andshoots threatening glances at meevery time I so much as mention

my favorite episodeof Will & Grace thatjust so happens to in-trude on the closingminutes of thematch.

I shall also besitting back with asmug smile on myface in lessons as Iwatch my bleary-eyed, footie-lovingmale teachers dotheir very best to pre-tend they have notbeen up until 4 amscreaming at the

screen for David Beckham to,well, “bend it like Beckham”.

You never know though,you might just catch me, in asingle moment of blinding weak-ness, being sucked in by thebrightly colored shirts and the –yes I have to admit – sometimesirresistible sight of a certain hand-some young Portuguese playerwhose name, I believe, is Ronal-do.

I am a teenage girl, after all,and I know for a fact that outthere in this football-obsessedworld there are many other girlsmy age drooling over their televi-sion screens for exactly the samereason! Are you with me, ladies?

One of the great myster-ies of sport is that “thebeautiful game” – asthe exponents of the

round-ball code of football call it– is so far behind in using tech-nology to ensure that the rightdecisions are made.

It’s beyond me why every-body still argues about whetherthe referee made the right deci-sion in allowing a goal, or not, asthe case may be, when a simplecall for a video replay viewed bya “video referee” could put theanswer beyond doubt.

I have not heard one logicalargument against the inevitableinstitution of this sensible methodof solving disputes that otherwisecan go on for years.

One argument against thisvoiced the other night during acertain Australasian encounter inthe current World Cup was thatit would slow the game down.

On the contrary, it would doexactly the opposite and stop allthe squabbling with the referee.

The main point is that theuse of technology would onlycome in to play when a goal hadbeen scored or was thought tohave been scored, or when playhad been halted for a foul.

This is the same technologythat stewards at the horse racesuse when two horses pass thepost so close together that thenaked eye cannot decide who isthe winner.

The most conservative ofsports, the honorable game ofcricket, was the first to introducethis in international matches – inthe form of the “third umpire”, anoff-field umpire who makes thefinal decision, having viewed areplay, in questions referred tohim by the two on-field umpires– as a means to decide whetheror not a batsmen was run out ornot.

I understand that when Iuse this example there will be alarge number of foreigners whohaven’t the faintest idea what I’mtalking about, especially the onesthat have a “World Series” sport-ing event that is held only in theircountry.

The video referee has beenextremely successful in the gameof rugby, but is used only whenthe ref on the field is unable todetermine whether or not a tryhas been scored.

For those foreigners re-ferred to before, a try is theequivalent of a “touchdown”. Thedifference is that in rugby the balldoes have to touched down, notsimply carried aloft as the playercrosses the line.

The different camera anglesrecorded allow the officials to seethe try from several differentpoints of view, thereby ensuringthe scorer and his team get a fairdecision.

Not only that, both the spec-tators at the ground watching thelarge screens and the viewers athome thoroughly enjoy watchingthe different replays. The refereeis able to award points with theagreement of the supporters ofboth teams.

This would create the sameresult in football, or soccer as itis called in some countries. It

would also allow an attackingplayer to continue on and put theball in the net if he and the sup-porters believe that the assistantreferee (linesman) has wronglystuck up his flag for an offside.

Unless it is clear to every-one that the attacking player isoffside by a long way, then thegame will continue, the defend-ers will still have to defend andthe attacker can go on and at-tempt to score.

If he does, the referee callsfor the video referee to make thedecision based on what he seeson the replay. This normally takesjust seconds, but creates anotherlevel of excitement.

The scene where the assis-tant referee raises his flag and theattacker carries on would greatlyincrease the excitement. Themain point is that it can only beused in the event of a goal hav-ing being scored where there rea-sonable doubt as to its validity.

You cannot start using it forfouls, or deciding whether a pen-alty should be awarded. Thatwould slow the game down, es-pecially with all the prima donnasplaying today.

Whether or not the stuffyold powers who control the sportat professional levels will eversee it this way is another ques-tion. Most of them were playersthemselves at some stage, so theyprobably don’t see why today’splayers should have the benefitof technology.

Regardless, the 2006 WorldCup still has a fair way to go and– with all its doubtful and some-times bad decisions – there arestill many reasons to enjoy it.

Gor bought land withfunds she receivedfrom her foreign hus-band. She then at-

tempted to transfer the land to hermother as a gift.

She went to transfer the landat the Land Department andgave a false statement that shewas single. Therefore she can-not now prove that the moneyused for buying the land, whichwas bought during the marriagewith the alien, was her sin suantua (personal funds she had be-fore marriage).

In this case, the Land De-partment decided that, in accor-dance with Section 1474 of theCivil and Commercial Code thatthe land was sin somros (mutualassets during marriage); the landis considered to be co-owned bythe foreign spouse. Therefore, theforeigner acquired the land in vio-lation of Section 86 of the LandCode and has committed an of-fense according to Section 111 ofthe Land Code.

K. Gor committed offensesunder both the Land Act and thePenal Code. According to Sec-

tion 96 of the Land Code, she pos-sesses the land in place of thealien and has thus committed anoffense against Section 113.

She has also violated sec-tions 137 and 267 of the PenalCode by giving a false statementto an official.

As a result, the land has tobe disposed of within an amountof time fixed by the Director-General of the Land Departmentfollowing section 94 and 96 of theLand Code and legal proceedingsare to be taken against K. Gorand her husband for the offensesmentioned above.

In the case of a co-habitingcouple the land should always beregistered as the personal prop-erty of the Thai national. Formarried couples, the land shouldbe registered as sin suan tua ofthe Thai national. Lying is simplyasking for trouble.

THE LAW

LAYINGDOWN

With Friedrich‘Sam’ Fauma

The lie of the land

C O M P U T E R S30 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

IT ISSUESBy John Seebach

‘Did you hear that noise?’Here’s a good one: a

technical servicescompany recently de-veloped a new sound-

emitting system that sends out ahigh-pitched “mosquito” noise inshopping centers.

The idea is to drive teenag-ers and gangs away from shop-ping malls. The alarm, which hasbeen praised by police, is highlyeffective because its ultra-high-pitch sound can supposedly beheard only by young people andnot by most people over 20.

After a while, it becomes soirritating to teens that they sim-ply leave the mall and go hangout somewhere else. Although thesound supposedly cannot beheard by adults, I can pick it upjust fine and I am well into my40s (though some may not con-sider me adult).

So far this technology hasbeen very effective and there are

over 50 large shopping malls us-ing it throughout England.

Here’s the kicker: A groupof techno-savvy teens have got-ten a hold of this sound and some-how converted it into a “ringtone”. In case you have been liv-ing on another planet for the lastdecade, a ring tone is a small bitof software that you downloadinto your mobile phone. Whensomeone calls you, the ring toneplays instead of the standard ring-ing sound.

They named it Teen Buzz,and it spread from phone to phonevia text messages and Bluetoothtechnology.

While the teenagers oryounger kids are sitting in theclassroom, they are of course notallowed to use their mobiles; if akid’s phone rings, he can be introuble. But with the hijacked“mosquito” ring tone – yup – thekids can hear their phones ring-ing without the teachers hearinga thing.

One secondary schoolteacher was quoted as saying,“All the kids were laughing aboutsomething, but I didn’t knowwhat. They know phones mustbe turned off during school. Theycould all hearsomebody’s phoneringing, but I couldn’thear a thing. One of theother children told meall about it later. Icouldn’t be too cross,because it shows re-sourcefulness.”

The Mosquitotechnology is said toplay on a medical phe-nomenon called pres-bycusis, or age-relatedhearing loss. It isthought to begin at 20 and firstaffects the highest frequencies:18 to 20kHz.

Of course, the teenagerscould set their phones to silentmode and turn on the vibrator. Butthat would not be as much fun,would it?

Bye Bye Billie, sort of: I grewup around the same time as thisguy and actually graduated highschool two years after him. Theonly difference? I went on towork as a diesel mechanic andhe founded Microsoft. Oops!

Bill Gates, Founder, Chair-man, and Chief Software Archi-tect, plans to resign from his day-to-day job next year, though hewill remain Chairman ofMicrosoft for the foreseeable fu-ture.

To some people in the

techno world, this is the biggestnews since the start of theInternet. To others, it is just an-other CEO stepping down story.I sit on the fence on this one be-cause although he effectively in-vented personal computing, it isreally the monster engine he pro-duced, Microsoft, that is makingall the waves.

Frankly, the monster won’tmiss a beat with this change.

He recently held a pressconference during which he said,“I believe that with great wealthcomes great responsibility. Re-sponsibility to give back to soci-ety… responsibility to see thoseresources put to work to helpthose most in need.”

He seems pretty committedto this. As of last year, Gates andhis wife had endowed the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation withmore than US$28.8 billion –that’s just over a trillion baht – tosupport initiatives in the areas ofglobal health and learning.

“This was a hard decisionfor me, I am lucky to have twopassions,” he said.

Over the years, Gates hasbeen spending more and moretime on work with his foundation.Last year he, his wife Melindaand rock star Bono were namedpersons of the year by TIMEmagazine. The award touched off

debate about how longGates might remain atMicrosoft. Gates didn’tseem terribly im-pressed. “The worldhas focused a dispro-portionate amount ofattention on me,” hesaid.

There is no needto feel sorry for himthough; he is theworld’s richest person,with a net worth wellin excess of the annual

gross national product of mostdeveloping countries.

Although he and his com-pany are one of the most loved-to-be-hated companies around,you really can’t fault a guy whohonestly cares so much abouttechnology and the global infor-mation issues facing society to-day. So I salute you, Billie, andcan you send me just a tiny bit ofyour US$658 billion – 23 trillionbaht – net worth?

John Seebach has 25 years’consulting experience in infor-mation systems and businessprocess technology. His com-pany, Island Technology, of-fers IT solutions and broad-band services throughoutSoutheast Asia. For more infor-mation, send an email to:john@islandtechnology.com

Bill Gates: well, wouldn’t you smile in his situation?Photo: EPA/ Franck Robichon

You really can’tfault a guy whohonestly caresso much about

technologyand the global

informationissues facingsociety today.

June 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 31

B U S I N E S S & M O N E Y32 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

ON THE MOVEStefan Bittner, 41, from Ger-many, is the new Sales and Mar-keting Manager of Dive SupplyCo Ltd. His background is in busi-ness administration, but he is alsoa diving instructor who has spent14 years in Asia. For the past twoyears he has worked as Interna-tional Sales Director for GrundigBusiness Systems of Germany, re-sponsible for the branches, busi-ness partners and sales teamsworldwide. Before that he work-ed for Samsung Electronics asSales and Marketing Manager,and before that as Sales Managerwith Canon Business Machines.

Thrin Promcharoen, 31,from Nakhon Sri Tham-marat, has been appointedSenior Programmer withPhuket Programmers CoLtd. He has a sciencedegree with a major incomputers from Ram-khamhaeng University inBangkok and more thanthree years’ experience insoftware development.Before moving to Phukethe worked as a program-mer with Netcom ThaiCorp in Bangkok for ayear.

The Phuket Ga-zette has appointedNatcha Yuttawo-rawit, 21, fromTrang, to the post ofnewspaper report-er. She holds a de-gree in humanitiesand social science,with a major in En-glish, from Raja-bhat Phuket Uni-versity. Before join-ing the Gazette shewas a trainee withthe Tourist Police inPhuket.

TALKSMONEY

By Richard Watson

The expat community isincreasingly becomingaware that in the finan-cial world there is this

horrible, relatively new word“compliance”. Compliance regu-lations can be horrific and are, atbest, tedious. The strange thingis that less than 10 years ago theydid not exist.

The year 2000 saw the firstreal moves by governments toforce financial institutions intofinding out about the source oftheir clients’ wealth, as well asmany other details about them.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks inthe US gave governments, led byAmerica, the opportunity to re-move the last vestiges of personalfreedom in the financial worldthat the global public enjoyed.

Governments stressed thiswas necessary to fight terrorism,drug smuggling and money laun-dering by organized crime. Theylied and they know that they lied.

Just how compliantdo you have to be?

The intention of complianceregulations was not to catch the“bad guys”. It was to catch theirown citizens involved in tax eva-sion and if everyone had to suf-fer because of the actions of afew, tough luck.

America led the charge intocompliance regulations but foundit was the easiest “sale” they hadever made. Every high-tax juris-diction in the world, and that in-cludes the European Union,Canada, Australia and Japan,signed up to the new regulations.

Pressure was then appliedto every other country in theworld, including Thailand, to signagreements and pass laws en-forcing the new regulations.Here, though, they exist in asomewhat watered-down format.

The net result was that theworld was split into four differ-ent bands. The first band are therighteous – the US, Canada, theEU, Japan, Singapore, Australiaand so on. The second group israted as moderate risk; Malaysiais one of these. The third band,labeled high risk, includes Thai-land. Thailand was, until Septem-ber 2005, labeled as moderate riskbut was demoted.

Finally, there are those coun-tries that find themselves in type4. As far as the righteous are con-cerned, they are simply off the

map. Financial institutions aroundthe world are banned from ac-cepting deposits or investmentsfrom their citizens, whether theycan prove that they they accruedtheir wealth by legal means ornot. They are the lepers of the21st century.

This subject is not some ir-relevant obscurity for expats; itcan be of vital importance. Tryto open a foreign bank account,invest in a mutual fund or takeout an insurance policy in anyother country when you live here.

There are two possible out-comes. First, the financial insti-tution may refuse to deal with youor, second, they will bombard youwith requests for the following: acertified copy of your passport,proof of residential address (acertified electricity or phone bill,not mobile phone, in your namewill usually suffice) and proof ofyour source of wealth.

This may sound simple, butthe reality is that most expatscannot satisfy this requirement, atleast not easily. It does not mat-ter if you have had your moneyin a “first world” bank of inter-national repute for 20 years.

Source of wealth require-ments still insist on you provinghow you acquired the money inthe first place. For example, aproperty sale requires a signed

solicitor’s letter giving full details.An inheritance requires a signedletter from the executors of theestate. The reality is that mostpeople simply do not keep suffi-cient documentation to satisfythese new regulations.

According to The Nationnewspaper, 5.1% of the totalexpenditure by Swiss banks is oncompliance matters. Two recentexamples I have faced may givereaders some indication of howdifficult the situation has become.

One of my clients, who isBritish, submitted a rent receiptfrom a Phuket apartment as proofof residential address in additionto every other requirement. Thecompliance department in the fi-nancial institution, which is lo-cated on a well-known tax haven,conducted a property search.

They agreed that the apart-ment block was in the correctpart of Phuket and that the cor-rect street was indicated – but notthe street number.

I managed to solve thisproblem by pointing out that theapartment block incorporated sev-eral street numbers when it wasbuilt. The explanation was even-tually accepted.

A second situation involveda French resident who had movedto Phuket and sold several prop-erties before coming here. He hadlost the original papers but wasable to receive by fax duplicatesfrom the French notary. However,under French legal procedure,notaries do not actually sign thesedocuments.

The Hong Kong office of afinancial institution translated thedocuments into English and ac-tually had a 30-minute tele-phone “war” with its own headoffice compliance department.

The outcome: not onlywould the compliance departmentnot accept these documents with-out signatures; they also insistedon verification that the French

notary actually was registered assuch by the French government.It did not matter that France andthe tax haven involved are bothEU member states. Bureaucracyhas gone completely mad.

This is very much the tip ofthe iceberg of these new regula-tions. But with proper planning itis possible to find a very simplemethod of having the choice ofall global investments and accessto virtually all financial instruc-tions in the world. This allows theindividual to switch legally fromany institution to any other with-out multiple applications.

Proper planning allows to-tal diversification of asset choiceand asset managers, throughoutone’s life, with the additional bo-nus of institutional discounts. And,I repeat, it is legal. It gives totalaccess to your capital, allows in-come payments and withdrawalsand assures that you only haveto deal with anti-money-launder-ing requirements once.

Proper planning can alsosidestep one of the greatest mis-takes many expats make; leav-ing multi-jurisdictional estates ondeath. These estates leave a le-gal nightmare behind for theirfamilies and beneficiaries.

As a responsible indepen-dent financial adviser I have totell the whole truth. I do have cli-ents who are drug dealers –pharmacists and doctors. I evenhave a client who probably terri-fies people and uses sharp instru-ments on them. She’s a surgeon.

However, I have not yetcommitted the worst offense; Ido not have any lawyers or poli-ticians as clients.

Richard Watson runs GlobalPortfolios Co Ltd, a Phuket-based personal financial plan-ning service. He can be reachedat Tel and Fax: 076-381997,Mobile: 01-0814611. Email:imm@loxinfo.co.th.

B U S I N E S S & M O N E YJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 33

Ron Brandon of Phuket MeatImporters.

In a sign of continuing con-fidence in Phuket’s econ-omy, Thailand’s first Fer-rari and Maserati dealership

and service center outside ofBangkok is expected to open onthe island in mid-July.

Pongnarin Methivachara-nondh, 32, President of FermaMotor Sport Co Ltd (FMSC), toldthe Gazette that he chose Phuketfor his third showroom for theluxury marques because, as heput it, of the island’s “good po-tential for both Thais and foreign-ers to buy these brands here.”

FMSC is the sole authorizedimporter of Ferrari and Maseratiin Thailand. The company’s origi-nal showroom is on Vibhawadi-Rangsit Rd in Bangkok while theother, which opened this year, isat the Siam Paragon mall.

He plans to open anothershowroom in Ubon Ratchathanior Udon Thani next year.

K. Pongnarin’s decision totake over the Ferrari and Mas-erati dealership in Thailand harksback to 1997 after he graduatedwith a master’s degree from theGeorge Washington University inthe US. His mother decided tobuy him a sports car – with aprice tag of between 7 and 10million baht – as a graduation gift.

“My choices were either aMercedes-Benz SL or a second-hand Ferrari,” he said. “Finally, Ichose a Ferrari because I felt thatthe Italian marque would be just

United Overseas Bank has closed its branch in the Robinson storeand opened one in Central Festival instead (pictured). Like theRobinson branch, the one at Central Festival will be open from 11am to 7 pm for cash transactions and until 8 pm for other services.

The bank book updating machine and the cash deposit machinehave both been moved to Central, though one ATM has been left inRobinson. The new branch will not offer Western Union services asthere is already a Western Union Office in the mall. For moreinformation contact UOB at Tel: 076210492 or 076-210526.

as good five years after I boughtit as on the day I took ownershipof it.”

K. Pongnarin explainedthat he had the car serviced withthe-then dealer, which put him inthe right place at the right time tobuy another of the “little red ma-chines from Modena”.

“It was around the time ofthe Asian financial crisis, andpeople were selling luxury makesquite cheap – relatively speaking.In the end I bought not only an-other Ferrari, but also the dealer-ship. That was in 2000,” he said.

“Two years ago I displayedour marques at a boat show inPhuket. One foreigner was im-mediately taken by them andbought both a Ferrari and aMaserati from my showroom.”

K. Pongnarin said that, as afrequent visitor to Phuket, he sawthe potential for a showroom ca-tering to well-heeled customerskeen to buy a luxury sports car.

“Just look at the number ofluxury boats and luxury homesbeing sold in Phuket. Of course,it isn’t enough just to be able tobuy the cars here; there must alsobe service facilities,” he said.

“After all, if you buy aFerrari in Phuket, you don’t wantto have to have it serviced inBangkok.”

The Maseratis to be soldfrom the FMSC dealership rangein price from 10.5 to 11 millionbaht while a Ferrari will cost be-tween 22.5 and 28.5 million baht.

“We sell an average of three

Maseratis and two Ferraris amonth in Bangkok,” he said, add-ing that 70% of buyers are Thais.

“Before, however, onlyaround 5% of our customerswere foreigners, which demon-strates that the market [amongforeigners] is increasing, particu-larly for Maseratis. I forecast thatFMSC will sell an average of twoMaseratis a month in Phuket [tobegin with].

“The brand is new here, andit takes time to build awareness.

“Of course, these sales willnot be just to people who live inPhuket, but to people elsewherein the region – Surat Thani, forexample.

“I think around six cars ayear will be sold to local main-landers – in fact the marketingwill cover the entire southern re-gion of Thailand – in the first yearof operation,” he said.

Although FMSC has stocksof Maseratis – such as the Quat-troporte, a sporty four-door se-dan – K. Pongnarin warned thatcustomers may have to wait threemonths for delivery of a car withtheir specific choices of color andinterior trim. For a Ferrari thewaiting time is almost a year.

Describing who he sees asthe typical Maserati driver, K.Pongnarin said, “We expect to sellMaseratis as company cars for

Little redcars headfor Phuket

high-ranking managers, whileboth marques will find buyersamong Thai and foreign businesspeople in Phuket.

“A Ferrari is one of the ulti-mate ‘rewards’ you can buy foryourself,” he added.

What about the cost of fuel?“If you worry about the amountof fuel they use, then you prob-ably can’t afford one,” he smiled.

The Phuket branch of FermaMotor Sport Co Ltd will be at41/1 Chana Charoen Rd.,Tambon Taladyai, Phuket City.The company’s website – www.ferma.co.th – is still under con-struction.

If you worryabout theamount offuel thesecars use,then youprobably can’tafford onePongnarin MethivacharanondhBy Sangkhae Leelanapaporn

S P O R T S34 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

CHERNG TALAY (Gazette,Nation): Taiwan’s Ko Shih Chiehwon the inaugural Phuket Inter-national Marathon on June 18,while two Thai SEA Games goldmedalists, Boonchu Chandechaand Boonthueng Srisang, were thebest of the local runners, winninggold in the half marathon and 10kevents, respectively.

Boonchoo, from Chumphon,won the gold medal in the mara-thon in the 2005 SEA Games inManila.

Boonthueng, of Buri Ram,also won gold in the SEA Games,coming in first in both the 5k and10k events, and a a silver and abronze in long-distance trackevents at the 2003 SEA Gamesin Vietnam.

‘DIFFICULT’

Ko clocked three hours, 36 sec-onds for his victory. “The weath-er and the conditions were verydifficult for me because therewere many hills,” said the 27year-old, who finished 22nd in theItaly Hill Marathon three yearsago.

Second place went to an-other Taiwanese, Chi Ming Chan,while Hong Kong’s Lok Wai Tsewas third.

Some 2,000 runners fromThailand and many other coun-tries in Asia took part in either themarathon or shorter events, in-cluding large contingents fromJapan, Taiwan and South Korea.

There were also runnersfrom as far afield as Australia,Europe and North America, in-cluding the woman’s full mara-thon winner Heather Gregg of theUS, who completed the course injust under four hours.

Marketed under the slogan,“Run Paradise”, the competitionwas really a series of events, allstarting and finishing at LagunaPhuket.

In addition to the 42.2-kilo-meter marathon course that wentto Sirinat National Park and back,there was a 21.1-km half-mara-thon, a 10-km fun run and 1km“Kids Run”.

Trophies were awarded tothe top three finishers in each agegroup and all finishers took homea commemorative medal.

About 60% of all the for-eign runners were Japanese, ledby “race ambassador” and form-er Olympic marathon runnerAkemi Masuda, who now is awell-known sports commentator.

Taiwanese taketop places ininaugural PhuketInt’l Marathon

Raising eyebrows and inter-est among the male spectators lin-ing the race route was 26-year-old Korean singing star, Lee HeeJin, who competed in the 10k funrun.

She is one of five membersof the popular K-pop band BabyVOX, in addition to being a TVactress.

The exact race distanceswere measured and certified bythe Association of InternationalMarathons and Road Races(AIMS).

The races were organizedby Go Adventure Asia Co, Ltdand Phuket Province, with sup-port from the Tourism Authorityof Thailand, Thai Airways andLaguna Phuket.

By Janyaporn Morel

Results

Men’s Marathon (42.2 k)1. Ko Shih Chieh (Taiwan) 3:00:36; 2. Chi Ming Chan (Taiwan)3:12:09; 3. Lok Wai Tse (Hong Kong) 3:14:20.

Men’s Half Marathon (21.1k)1. Boonchu Chandecha (Thailand) 1:18:04; 2. Niwat Oythip (Thai-land) 1:21:52; 3. Sitthipong Chenglai (Thailand) 1:22:00.

Men’s Fun Run (10k)1. Boonthueng Srisung (Thailand) 0:33:58; Jai Putchuay (Thai-land) 0:36:18; Aekarat Punthip (Thailand) 0:36:19.

Woman’s Marathon (42.2k)1. Heather Gregg (USA) 3:58:24; 2. Nampetch Porntharakcharoen(Thailand) 4:09:56; 3.Yi Mei Tsai (Taiwan) 4:11:14.

Women’s Half Marathon (21.1k)1.Gillian Castka (UK) 1:34:40; 2. Georgia Bamber (Australia)1:41:59; 3. Lynne Isobel Speirs (UK) 1:47:22.

Women’s Fun Run (10k)1. Anong Piriyaprut (Thailand) 0:47:28; 2. Karuna Nakhara (Thai-land) 0:47:29; 3. Wannaporn Siriboon (Thailand) 0:48:48.

PATONG: After two weeks of play, defending champs Didi’s andDog’s Bollocks are the only two teams to have claimed all six avail-able points, tying for the top spot.

In a match on Nanai Rd, Jungle Juice proprietor Sandy nearlypassed out from shock after three of his darts landed in the triple-twenty on the same go. But he didn’t let the curse of the 180 stophim, holding on to win the first singles.

Piccadilly went on to win the match 8-1 however, with two keycloses by Miss On: double 10 in the singles and double 2 in the doubles.Comely barkeep Nuch salvaged the beer leg for Jungle Juice byhitting the double 20 on her first dart.

Correction: Jungle Juice is not in the former Boss Bar, as waspreviously reported – but it is stumbling distance away, located about50 meters up Nanai Rd, on the same side of the road.

June 13 results: TaiLife 2 Queen Mary* 7; Footrot Flats 3 Valhalla*6; Shakers 6 OffShore* 3; Didi’s* 6 Amigos 3; Jungle Juice* 1Piccadilly 8; Coyote Bar 2 Dog’s Bollocks* 7.(*=winner of beer leg)

Standings: 1= Dog’s Bollocks, Didi’s (6 points); 3 Queen Mary (5);4= Valhalla, Offshore (4); 6= Jungle Juice, Amigos (3); 8= Shakers,Piccadilly (2); 10 Coyote Bar (1); 11.= TaiLife, Footrot Flats (0).

June 27 fixtures: TaiLife v Dog’s Bollocks; Footrot Flats v Amigos;Shakers v Valhalla; Jungle Juice v Offshore; Didi’s v Queen Mary;Coyote Bar v Piccadilly. (Home teams listed first)

Stunned Sandy gets 180PATONG DARTS LEAGUE

KATHU: Phuket Country Club(PCC) is to launch the “MazdaZoom Zoom Challenge Trophy”,a series of competitions to be heldon the last Sunday of each month,beginning on June 25. Tee-off forthe stroke-play format will be atat 8:30 am and the series will cul-minate in the final, to be playedon February 25, 2007.

Soon soon for MazdaZoom Zoom golf

The series will feature fiveflights – A, B, C and D – for PCCmembers and a special flight, E,for guests. The fee for all flightsis 500 baht per player, which in-cludes a buffet dinner and drinksplus tee-prize on the day.

For more information, con-tact K. Uthaiwan at Tel: 076-321039.

The Phuket Yacht Club at Ao Yon held the first of two “Get SailingDays” on June 11. The next will be held July 9. For details callRobert Warnes at Tel: 01-539 9560

S P O R T SJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 35

Above, the winner of theinaugural PhuketInternational Marathon wasTaiwan’s Ko Shih Chieh,while Boonchu Chandechascored victory in the half-marathon for Thailand.

Not everyone took therace so seriously, however.One woman (top left) tookher Chi-huahua dogs withher, while (left) Koreansinger Lee Hee Jin, 2nd

from left, took it easy inthe 10km fun run, drawingplenty of attention frommale spectators andrunners alike.

P H U K E T P R O P E R T Y36 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

Construction by Sangkhae Leelanapaporn

CHERNG TALAY: Laguna Phu-ket earlier this month brokeground for Phase I of its LagunaVillage Villas project, which willcomprise the first 18 of the 36-unit residential development.

Although piling began at thebeginning of June, the contractorfor the rest of the project has yetto be chosen.

Michael Ayling, ManagingDirector of Laguna Phuket, ex-plained, “A secluded, self-con-tained community located to thenortheast of the main LagunaPhuket resort complex, LagunaVillage will feature three distinctproperty products: the new La-guna Village Villas, LagunaTownhomes and the popular La-guna Residences.”

The villas on offer are two-story, two-bedroom propertiesoverlooking a shared, free-formswimming pool and barbecuearea surrounded by tropical land-scaping, he added.

“On the ground floor, diningand living areas open onto a salaterrace and include a well-equipped kitchen. Both masterbedrooms on the upper floor haveen-suite bathrooms.

End units offer 256 squaremeters of living space, whilemiddle units have 229sqm.”Prices for the villas start at 11.9million baht.

“We have only just launchedour new design and already we’rereceiving very positive feedback,”Mr Ayling said.

“These are ideal holidayhomes and are an affordable en-trance into the Laguna Phuketlifestyle. The Laguna Village Vil-las are ideal for investors seek-ing a low-maintenance holidayhome that can earn a return on

New villaslaunchedat Laguna

their investment through Lagu-na’s managed rental program,”he added.

Villa owners receive mem-bership to Laguna Phuket GolfClub plus privileged access to thefacilities of all five LagunaPhuket hotels. Laguna Village willalso be served by the resort’sfree shuttle buses.

As ownership of each ofthe units is by condominium free-hold title, 49% of the entire de-velopment can be owned freeholdby foreigners with the remaining51% held leasehold by foreign-ers. Thai nationals and Thai com-panies can own freehold.

As each Laguna propertyhas its own individual title deed,Bangkok Bank’s Singaporebranch is offering to lend moneyfor the purchase of both lease-hold and freehold Laguna prop-erties.

One-, three- and five-yeardeferred payment terms, whichrequire that 50% of the purchaseprice be paid during construction,are available, with the remainderpayable after the unit is complete.

Bangkok Banks terms andconditions apply.

Of the 18 Phase I units,three have already been sold.

Phase II of Laguna VillageVillas – and the Laguna Town-homes project – are both sched-uled to be launched later this year.

For more information contactTamsin Edenbrow, Director ofSales – Property Sales at La-guna Phuket, at Email: tamsine@lagunaphuket.com. For moreinformation about BangkokBank’s terms and conditionsfor loans to buy Laguna VillageVillas, Email: hl.sg@bbl.co.th

A master bedroom.

P H U K E T P R O P E R T YJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 37

Decor by Natcha Yuttaworawit

TIME TO HEADFOR BED

The one room in the housethat is guaranteed toshow off your personal-ity is the bedroom.

Whether there are clothesdraped over every piece of fur-niture or it is as immaculate asthe Queen of England’s recep-tion room, one glance inside thisprivate chamber tells visitorsmore about you than a good lookaround the rest of the house.

The first thing most peoplewill look at is the bed, so why notmake that particular feature moreattractive by installing a custom-made headboard?

At Sakthong House, lo-cated next to the Phuket TouristPolice office on the bypass road,experienced carpenters fromChiang Mai and Chiang Rai –provinces renowned for theirwoodwork – make headboardsto order.

Shopowner Cheun Tha-thong, a carpenter for 10 years,is so proud of his craftsmen’smasterful carpentry that he hasthem working in plain view at thefront of the shop.

K. Cheun explained that histeam of carpenters has beencarving and building headboards– for individuals and for hotels –at the shop for more than sixyears now.

Prices range from 1,000baht for simple headboards to30,000 baht for elaborate designsetched in teak.

Sakthong House has an ex-tensive range of designs on dis-play, though the carpenters onhand at the shop are more thanhappy to produce custom designscreated by customers them-selves.

Sakthong House is openfrom 8 am to 5:30 pm, Mondayto Saturday; closed Sundays.Delivery is available, dependingon the order. For more informa-tion call K. Cheun at Tel: 076-254700.

P H U K E T P R O P E R T Y38 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

Gardening with Bloomin’ Bert

A bid for reformSo this is what Sting was singing about. At least, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

Iwas in the pub last night. Nosurprise there, but we gotonto the rather uninspiringsubject of the Bloomin’ Bert

column in the Phuket Gazette.The consensus was that everyarticle was formatted in exactlythe same way – it would start withan inane rant about something thathad irked him and had nothing todo with gardening whatsoever.

The next part of the routinewould be an absurd connectionfrom the first couple of para-graphs to something allegedlygreen and growing; a link so inanethat it sounds more likely to havecome from a Radio 2 presenter.

I’ll have to stop there amoment and explain what a Ra-dio 2 presenter actually is. For theuninitiated, Radio 2 is a BBC net-work that spawns presenters(most of them are too old to bereferred to as DJs) who feel theuncontrollable urge to link all as-pects of their shows togetherthrough the cheesiest lines thatthey can come up with.

They probably get togetherat morning meetings in the loftyhalls of the BBC to see who canthink of the best lines. These arethe kind of classics they come upwith:

“Critics have suggested thatthe latest government decision iscomplete madness. And speak-ing of madness, here’s Madness,with One Step Beyond”, or “Lastnight’s fireworks in London werespectacular. And speaking ofthings that fire up into the sky,here’s Rocket Man, by EltonJohn.” Truly excruciating stuff.

This week, I decided thatI’d go against the grain a little anddo things in a slightly differentorder – I’d try to save the inane

non-gardening ramblings untillater. Oops. I rather get the feel-ing I’ve already failed miserablyin that regard.

On we go then. Speaking ofthings on the radio (sorry), I’m abit of a Sting fan. Not the painfulbits on nettles, but the singer fromThe Police. One of his more re-cent successes was a song abouta plant, I believe. So there is aconnection between Sting andgardening after all then.

His gardening song wasDesert Rose. I’m sure that cyn-

ics will argue that he was think-ing of some gorgeous, buxomArabian maiden at the time he satdown and penned the song, butfor now I’m sticking with the gar-dening theory. And why not?

The desert rose, or adeniumas it’s properly known, is calledthe chuan-chom in Thai. It’s amember of the same family as thefrangipani, and even looks like adwarf version of its cousin. Itlooks so similar, in fact, that it’ssometimes referred to as theJapanese frangipani.

Sting obviously knew whathe was talking about, as thedesert rose came from east Af-rica and Arabia. Whether it’s adusky maiden or a plant, at leastwe both agree on the geographyof it.

The adenium is a succulentmember of the oleander family.Succulent simply means that ithas thick fleshy leaves and stemsthat can store water. This onestores water mainly in its palegray trunk-like stalk.

Like oleanders, adeniumscontain poisonous sap. This darkside to its personality is more thancompensated for by the bell-shaped blossoms it produces al-

most continually. Most have awhite center with pink edges andlines in the throat. Its shiny greenleaves are often covered withpale down underside. Most vari-eties grow up to about a meterhigh with a spread of about 40 to50 centimeters. The flowers cangrow up to 12cm across.

Even though it’s not particu-larly tall, when it gets a bit olderthe desert rose produces an un-usually thick stem, not unlike themiddle-aged beer belly I’m cur-rently developing. It should startblooming when it’s quite young,at around 15cm tall.

Don’t be alarmed if theleaves suddenly drop off. That’swhat it does when it decides tobecome dormant. In other partsof the world, it does so in winterwhen temperatures fall. Here inPhuket, however, the climate isn’tknown for dramatic decreases intemperature, so the poor oldadenium gets a bit confused. I canonly assume that it drops itsleaves when it gets bored, or evena little depressed over the beerbelly it knows it will eventuallydevelop.

It should be watered in asimilar way to a cactus, allowing

the plant to dry between water-ings.

Often the base of the stemwill get a bit soft when it feelsthat it’s ready for a bit more wa-ter. Increase the amount of wa-ter when the plants are in floweror actively growing. Over-waterit and it will inevitably get a bitdepressed and drop its leaves.

In general, given the speedwith which most potted plantsgrow here, it’s a good idea tokeep moving them around. Notjust because we get bored see-ing the same plant in the samecorner all the time, but also toencourage even growth. Plantswill always grow towards maxi-mum light, so rearranging helpsto stop everything shooting off toone side.

The adenium, however, isn’tparticularly forgiving in this re-gard, so you should really keepthe plant in the same spot, facingthe same way consistently. If thepot is rotated, intense sun canseverely burn the formerly shadysides of the stems.

This plant also needs plentyof root-space, so they should berepotted frequently until they getas big as you want them. With-out this space, the growth rate willslow down, no matter how wellthey’re looked after otherwise.Put this in an expensive, thin-walled ceramic pot and you’ll re-gret it, as it will quickly burstthrough.

If anyone knows Sting, oranything about his songwriting,perhaps they could contact us andsolve the dusky maiden/garden-ing debate once and for all. Onreflection, I’ll probably go for thesun-bronzed beauty option – atleast it stops me thinking aboutmy beer belly.

So, my fellow beer drinkers,as you can see, I tried. I reallydid my best, but it didn’t work.But I have a suggestion – startreading from the seventh para-graph down then, when you reachthe end, go back to the beginning.The desired result will then havebeen achieved. But then again, ifyou’ve got this far…

Want to know moreabout a plant

in your garden?

Email Bloomin’ Bert at:bloominbert@hotmail.com

P H U K E T P R O P E R T YJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 39

Home of the Week Loch Palm Golf Club

This property, with its marvelousview over the fairways and wa-ter courses of the Loch Palm GolfClub, is located on a hillside and

hidden behind an attractive wall with elec-tronic entry gate.

The approach is through tropical gar-dens and waterfalls. The modern interioris beautifully decorated with marble floors,timber ceilings, cornices and paneled wallsand decorative stone. The three-level homehas 450 square meters of living space, withthe entrance on the middle level.

Also on this level are the living anddining areas with high ceilings and sweep-ing views, as well as a well-equippedkitchen, maid’s room, three bedrooms andtwo bathrooms.

Downstairs on the lower level aretwo more bedrooms, both with en-suitebathrooms featuring marble floors andwalls.

The top level is set into the high roofand features a large bedroom with en-suite

bathroom. A wide timber deck runs alongthe rear of the property and shares the

golf-course views – an ideal spot for abarbecue and a cold brew or two.

For relaxing outdoors, there is a cov-ered area overlooking the garden and asala and lily pond.

The home has five air conditioners,ceiling fans and a carport, as well as UBCTV, telephone, mains and well water withhot-water system, a septic tank and three-phase power supply.

A swimming pool is currently underconstruction and will add the finishingtouch to this impressive, up-market prop-erty.

The land title is Nor Sor 3 Gor, andthe property is on the market for 20 mil-lion baht.

For more information contact RichardLusted at Siam Real Estate at Tel: 076-288908, www.siamrealestate.com, info@siamrealestate.com

Perfect for brew and BBQ

C L A S S I F I E D S50 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

Wheels & Motors

Saloon Cars

4 x 4s

Pickups

MITSUBISHI 4WD

2.5 turbo. Sept 2003.65,000km. Alloys plus ex-tras. Price 400,000 bahtono. Tel: 01-0879983.

96 MITSUBISHISTRADA

2.8L, excellent condition.260,000 baht. Tel: 06-9530669.DEAWOO ESPERO

1995 !!!Beautiful. Automatic. Fulloptions. 139,000 baht.Tel: 06-9429444. Email:bkkphuket@gmail.com

For more info please call us at

Tel: 076-224632, 216243

www.suremotor.com

Phuket’s Most Trusted &

Reputable Supplier of the Finest

Quality Used SALOONS,

SEDANS, JEEPS & PICKUPS

New cars or trade-ins –we have what you’re

looking for

HONDA CRV 2003

53,000km black, servicedregularly, very good condi-tion. Non-smoking owner.650,000 baht. Please con-tact for more information.Tel: 06-6826099. Email:nolgen@ divesupply.com

MAZDA 323

5-door 1994 Mazda 323.Green/blue. New air condi-tioning and tires. Electricwindows, mirrors and pop-up headlights. Central lock-ing, 3 fitted rear seatbelts,and sports steering wheel.Excellent mechanical con-dition, excellent straightbody, and reliable and pow-erful engine. Servicedregularly and well main-tained. Full first class insur-ance paid til March 2007.245,000 baht (negotiable).Please contact Tel: 66-76-238991,062699118 or06-2699071. Fax: 66-07623899. Email:paoloarman@yahoo.com.au

REXTON 3.2 INJ

Mercedes. 2 years old, fulloptions, 60,000km, still un-der warranty, top condition.New 3.5m selling 1.9 milllionbaht. Tel: 09-6525664.

Motorbikes

HARLEY DAVIDSON

1. Fat Boy EVO 1991 redcolor 95% with book. Price:465,000 baht.2. DYNA wide grid 1340 CCyear 1994 with book. Price:480,000 baht.Please contact K. Sumon onthe above details or see atBike West Coast, bypassroad . Tel: 01-6919346.

MAZDA TRIBUTE V6Original owner, book ser-vice, no accidents, 2003model, 52,000 kms, likenew condition. Full options,including sunroof, leatherseats, CD changer, ABS,airbags, full-time 4WD, andcustom mag wheels. A stealat only 835,000 baht. Tel:076-282997, 01-8943880.Fax: 076-282998. Email:tucker@loxinfo.co.th

HONDA CIVIC 2.0 -ITEC

Sport. New 1/01/2006. Asnew, black, cream leather,full options insurance, ANOwarranties. 970,000 baht.Tel: 07-8843582.

6-CYLINDER

Toyota Crown, 1994, auto-matic, 180hp, 8 seats,electric windows, powersteering, metallic silverpaint. Top condition. Only230,000 baht. Photo on re-quest. Please contact formore information. Tel: 076-333242, 09-6517818.Fax: 076-333243. Email:horstkaron@yahoo.com

MAZDA PICKUPOld Mazda pickup truck. 4doors. Small 1.4L engineneeds only 7 liters of dieselfuel per 100km. Truck is15-18 years old and still runsvery well. Needs new tires.Right window not workingwell. Manual gears. 99,999baht. Please contact me bymail or phone, 8am to 8pm.Tel: 07-2148384. Email:24moskito@gmail.com

TOYOTA HILUX240,000 baht. Good-look-ing, reliable 1992 HiluxMighty-X 4-door pickup.2500cc diesel. Carefullymaintained with new en-gine, block, battery. Veryclean sky-blue body. Tel:09-8134369. Email:travelphuket@mac.com

ISUZU D-MAX 3L

Turbo SLX Jan 2004, 2WD, 4door, manual, gold color, fullservice history, expat owned,Canvas Creations tonneaucover, load bay liner. No acci-dents. Excellent condition.25,000km. Selling at 550,000baht. Please callTel: 076-238231for details.

1999 ISUZU SPARK

Dark green, 250,000 baht.The pickup is now in SuratThani. Please contact formore information. Tel: 09-6 5 0 6 2 2 1 . E m a i l :ek_phuket@hotmail.com

SUPER CAR WITHGAS FOR SALE

Mercedes 500SE W126.Tel: 09-6620804. Email:renoothailand@gmx.net

83 TOYOTACOROLLA

Stick, good transportation.Lots of rust. 30,000 baht.Tel: 01-3709661.

MAZDA 3SPORT

Must sell – I‘m moving. 7months old, never in an acci-dent, as new, under war-ranty, metallic silver paint,880,000 baht. Please con-tact for more info. Tel: 076-388465, 06-7421780.Email: graham@thai-connexion.com

TOYOTA COROLLASALOON

1.5 DXi, 1998, manual, me-tallic silver paint, radio-tapeplayer, aircon, tax and full in-surance until Jan 07. Verygood condition. 220,000baht. Tel: 076-288808 or01-0909640. Emai l :rudi542001@yahoo.de

NISSAN TURBO4X4 PICKUP

Nissan Frontier 2500ccturbo diesel. 110,000km.July 2001. Good conditionand maintenance. 320,000baht ono. Tel: 076-282170,01-4761271. Email: leduc@csloxinfo.com

4WD TOYOTA TIGERYear 2000 Extra Cab 3.0 Die-sel SR5. One of the meanestcars on Phuket! Please con-tact for more information.Tel: 04-6535863. Email:irishinvestor@hotmail.com

SUZUKI JEEP30,000km. Had 65,000baht put into to it which in-cludes a new engine. Willsell for 140,000 baht. Tel:07-8903254 (K. Plern), 09-0625772 (K. Jez). Email:dreamnicedream@yahoo.com

1991 SUZUKIJEEP 4X4

White, radio, aircon, newexhaust. Engine in good run-ning order and body good con-sidering age. Reason for sale:we are upgrading to a car.Please contact Rod or Shan-non Meyer for more informa-tion. Tel: 09-1252794.Email: roddymeyer@yahoo.com

FORD RANGER 4X4

Hurricane model, Sept 2004.Only 17,000 km. 4-door,manual, dark-blue. 580,000baht. Tel: 01-8919461.

CARIBIAN JEEPAn 8-year-old Caribian jeepfor sale. Green. Good condi-tion. Asking 145,000 baht.Tel: 01-2715291. Email:bertrandroggo@hotmail.com

GREEN SUZUKI JEEPOnly one owner - a bargain at80,000 baht. Please contactme for more information. Tel:07-8903254.

WILLYS FOR SALE

Willys 1942 Ma2 jeep.100% original, 4-speed4WD submersible. Tel: 06-2766626.

MERCEDES 230COUPE !!

1989,automatic,ful loptions,very good condition,275,000 baht. Please con-tact for more information.Tel: 06-9429444. Email:bkkphuket@gmail.com

DAEWOO

Limousine. 145,000 baht.1995, automatic, full options,perfect condition. Pleasecontact for more information.Tel: 06-9429444. Email:lovephuket2000@yahoo. com

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Please use this form to write your classified advertisement.

Then hand it to any of our agents.

Classified ads are charged per line. Each line is 85 baht,with a minimum of 4 lines (heading included) per ad.

All advertising must be paid for in advance.

Deadline for Wheels & Motors page: Saturday 12 noon.

Wheelsheelsheelsheelsheels & MotorsotorsotorsotorsotorsAdvertisements

C L A S S I F I E D SJune 24 - 30, 2006 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 51

Wheels & Motors

Wanted

Need wheels? Check out

www.phuketgazette.net/classifieds

Rentals

A1 CAR RENTAL

Cars, trucks, jeeps – fullyinsured for rental. Bestprices for long-term rental:12,000 -20,000 baht permonth. Please contact formore information. Tel: 09-8314703, 076-200900.Email: a1carrent@myway.com

P.M.P. CAR RENT

and Taxi service. Manytypes of cars for rent. Shortor long term. Very specialprice for new cars. PleaseTel: 07-2646808 or 04-7464787.

NOUVO MX 125

Yamaha MX Nouvo, blue,very good condition. 5,300kms. Price new: 53,000baht; will sell for 40,000baht. Please contact formore information. Tel: 07-6294330, 07-8960235.

SUZUKI 400cc

BANDIT

Unregistered & no plates butwith all relevant paperworkneeded to register. Newchain and sprocket. 40,000baht or best offer. Call forphoto. Tel: 66-092231517.Email: myallh@gmail.com

YAMAHA NOUVO

4 years old, red, runs good,looks good, tires and brakesgood. 25,000 baht. Pleasecontact for more informa-tion. Tel: 057-869068. E-mail: scuba1959@msn.com

VESPA FOR SALE

Classic Vespa in good-to-great condition, driven daily.Tel: 047-625534. Email:reidkerr_4@yahoo.com

HONDA NSR 150

10 years old and in good con-dition. Looks nice, engine runswell. Have all documents &green book. 14,000 baht.Tel: 09-8292050. Email:tobias@byman.net

YAMAHA MIO

2 years old, blue, disc brake.Washed and waxed weekly.Never rented. Expat owned.Will sell to highest offer above25,000 baht. Tel: 04-844-5422. Email: joyphuket@yahoo.com

HONDA JAZZ

FOR RENT

Black, aircon, central locking,CD player. Great car for tour-ing Phuket. Very good rates.Please contact for more in-formation. Tel: 07-6281634,01-4154043. Email: neil_skeldon@hotmail.com

BP RENTALS

Honda Dreams for 2,500baht per month. Good con-dition. Please contact formore infoTel: 09-4727304.

MOTORBIKE

Honda motorbike for rent.2,400 baht per month.Please contact for more in-formation. Tel: 076-214-794, 06-6837162. Email:somthawin_pw@hotmail.com

MARTY CARS

New trucks, top-spec For-tuners and Vigos. Lowprices. Full insurance, short-or long-term rental. Deliv-ered. Please contact formore information. Tel: 01-4518247, 06-2781291.

HONDA JAZZ

& HONDA CIVIC

Both cars top of the range.Rent now at 18,000 baht amonth; also Nissan NV at14,000 baht a month. Pleasecontact for more information.Tel: 09-9708281. Email:kevpkt@hotmail.co.uk

BP RENTALS

Suzuki Caribians for10,000 baht per month.Discount for long-term rent-al or limited mileage. Full in-surance. Please contact formore information. Tel: 09-4727304.

WANTED: JEEP

Good mechanical condition.Reasonable to good boot.Not Suzuki. Cash buyer.Call after 11am. Tel: 06-2722483.

HONDA PHANTOM

or bigger bike wanted. Alsohave Honda Wave 125 forsale. 20,000 baht. Call Tomat Tel: 07-1789273.

TOYOTA

FORTUNER

or Vigo wanted. Please callwith full details. Tel: 06-2746511.

WANTED:

4-DOOR TRUCK

Toyota Vigo, Isuzu or similarin good condition. Pleasecontact me if you have, orknow of, one for sale. Email:mlcberg@netvigator.com

BMW MOTORBIKE

for sale 22,000km R1100Rmodel,9 years old, good con-dition. 250,000 baht, haveall papers. Please contactfor more information. Tel:01-2525665.

HONDA CBR 400

Gray, in good condition, nota rental bike. Farang-owned,green book. Price: 60,000baht. Contact me for moredetails. Email: mazen_ kinj@hotmail.com

HARLEY-DAVIDSON

Dyna glide 1450cc. Very goodcondition, black, new paint,super-trap exhaust, chromecontrols. Must see; it’s abeauty. For sale at 630,000baht (negotiable). Tel: 01-606-3045. Email: johnogtip@hotmail.com

HONDA CB750S

sport. Krauser bags, 2 en-gines, many spare parts. Runsok. 45,000 baht. Please callfor more information. Tel: 01-0868500.

HONDA S110

for sale. Old timer, 40 yearsold. Please contact for moreinformation. Tel: 09-6620804.

CAR FOR RENT

Many types of car for rent.Short-term or long-term rentalsat special rates. Tel: 01-607-8567. Email: suksavat@hotmail.com

Others

WANT TO BUY CAR

Suzuki Jeep, older Volvo, etc,OK. Not over 100,000 baht.Please call for more informa-tion. Tel: 06-2666350.

WANTED: FORTUNER

I want to rent a Fortuner for Au-gust – at a good price. Email:np05101961@yahoo.fr

TRAILER

for motorbike. Used for takingdogs to the beach. Only 2,500baht. Tel: 076-330247, 09-645-0160. Email: bt5@tesco. net

YAMAHA DRAGSTAR

I am looking for a good chopper.Please contact me if you haveor know of one for sale. Tel:074-240132, 01-9591891.Fax: 66-2661076.

MOTOR CYCLE

Ax1 Honda 250 motor,power pipe, strong engine.Price 39,000 baht. Tel: 06-2697138.

MAZDA M3

for rent. Mazda M3 for long-term rent (minimum 3months). 2,000cc, 5-doorhatchback, just over 1 yearold. 25,000 baht a month.Tel: 01-9704765, 01-970-4765.

HONDA WAVE 125

wanted. Require disc brakesand electric starter, about 2-3 years old, preferably red,blue or black. No more than25,000km. Contact Matt. Tel:01-2712684. Fax: 076-214-676.

HARLEY 2002

CUSTOM

This bike started out as a2002 Heritage Classic. Be-low is a list of what I haveadded to make the bike whatit is today: 1550 upgrade kitwith Branch heads (AndrewsCam), duel Mukni carburet-tors, top-of-the-range ignitionmodule (this bike goes fast),Performance Machine (PM)Phatail (240 kit), PM wheels,PM 6 piston front brake withPM rotor, PM 4 piston (driveside) rear brake with PM Ro-tor, PM Contour forwardcontrols, PM Contour swit-ches and handle bar accesso-ries, PM Mirrors, corbin Seat(ostrich leather), Harley OilCooler, temp gauge and oilpressure gauge, Paul YaffeX Pipes and completelychromed. Bike can be seenat Nicky’s Handlebar in Pa-tong. Price: 1.8 million bahtono. Please contact for moreinformation. Tel: 076-240-042, 01-9792264. or emailto: stroker106@csloxinfo.com for more information.

52 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E June 24 - 30, 2006

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