Page 3 American citizen Phuket rekindles double-pricing ... · An officer at the National...

Now inside every SaturdayOctober 10 - 16, 2015 56 Pages / 20 BahtTHE NATION

PhuketGazettePHUKET’S LEADING NEWSPAPER... SINCE 1993PhuketGazette.net

Chinese paircan’t bribeway out ofpolice trouble

BUSINESS

PROPERTY

Explore what to do with apile of cash in the currenteconomic environment.

LIFE&STYLE

Robert Collins explainswhy Phuket is dodging theBangkok market slide.

Grab the Gazette’s guide toensure you catch the best ofthe Vegetarian Festival.

POLICE ensnared two ille-gal Chinese tour guides op-erating at Chalong Pier withadditional charges after thepair attempted to bribe theofficers 100,000 baht to se-cure their release.

Full story Page 3

American citizenborn and raised inPhuket rekindlesdoub le -p r i c ingdebate over park fee

‘HE’S LIVED HERE A LONG TIME, BUT HE’S NOT THAI’

Thai nationals pay a different park fee than foreigners at Bang Pae in Phuket.

By Chutharat Plerin

THE discussion on double pricing at parks wentviral this week after an American citizen born andraised in Phuket denounced officials at the well-known Emerald Pool attraction in Krabi for beingasked to cough up the extra cash for being a for-eigner.

“I am still upset about what happened. I do nothave Thai citizenship, but I was born and raisedhere. I am a Thai. I pay taxes like everyone else,”said 26-year-old Grittapohn Chattreesagoon, whostarted the social media firestorm on October 3.

“My friends and I from Phuket went to theEmerald Pool in Krabi. The staff asked for 200baht… I told them I pay 20 baht every time I comehere. I told them I am from Phuket like my otherfriends, but all they wanted was money. So weleft,” a Facebook message posted by MrGrittapohn read. As the Gazette went to print, themessage had garnered 39,350 likes and 3,998shares. It was also quoted by numerous Thai-lan-guage and English-language publications.

Vuttipong Chusangrat, the chief of Khao Pra-Bang Kram Wildlife Sanctuary, which is home tothe Emerald Pool, confirmed Mr Grittapohn’saccount of what happened and defended hisemployees’ action…

Continued on Page 5

2 PHUKET GAZETTE October 10 - 16, 2015

American mandies on yacht

Funds becomeavailable intime for festival

Beach businesssues OrBorTorpresident

Bus fire leavesone dead, adozen injured

A COLLECTIVE sigh was letout on October 2 by those incharge of the Vegetarian Festi-val, as well as local hospitalemployees, teachers and manymore who were waiting for thedeadlock over the Phuket Pro-vincial Administration Organi-zation (OrBorJor) 2016 budgetto be broken.

The central issue causingdelays was a proposal to reno-vate the Lucky Complexbuilding (the abandoned build-ing at the entrance of SaphanHin).

“We simply had to put offsome projects, such as theLucky Complex, to next year.There were more urgent mat-ters that had priority,” formerVice Governor SomkietSangkaosuttirak said.

– Kritsada Mueanhawong

AN EVICTED beach businessowner has filed a law suitagainst Cherng Talay LocalAdministration Organization(OrBorTor) President Ma-annSamran for dereliction of duty(Section 157).

Kanokpon ‘Tony’ Somrak,owner of Tony Restaurant,which was saved from demoli-tion after the Ministry ofInterior stepped in at the lastminute, brought legal actionagainst Mr Ma-ann last month.

An officer at the NationalAnti-Corruption Commissionconfirmed that the case wascurrently being worked on.However, he was unable to pro-vide any further details.

– Nattha Thepbamrung

Region 8 policecommander tosupport tourism

Indonesian haze promptsisland mask distribution

Government hospitals and offices were handing out free air pollution masks this week due tothe steadily thickening Indonesian haze that settled over Phuket. Though the haze has yet togarner an increase in hospital admittances for respiratory problems, it did cause more than adozen incoming flights to Phuket International Airport to be either rerouted or delayed. For themost current news on the Indonesian haze, visit PhuketGazette.net. Photo: Rawai Municipality

THREE escaped Cambodianfishermen were arrested onKata Beach for peddling fakename brand sunglasses to tour-ists on October 1.

The men claimed that theyused to work as fishing labor-ers. However, they escapedfrom their employer to sell fakesunglasses to tourists, con-firmed Muang District ChiefAdministrative Officer (Palad)Samran Yukunthorn.

All three men were chargedwith working illegally in Thai-land, leaving the limited zone

of fishing migrant laborerswithout permission [Immigra-tion Act, BE 2522] and sellingfake copyrighted goods.


Officers huntPhuket arsonistPOLICE are hunting an arson-ist who set a motorbike ablazein Thalang on October 4.

The bike owner, NateeManabut, and his wife woke up

to find their Honda Wave 100parked in front of their houseengulfed in flames.

Police found a five-liter oilcontainer left at the scene andare hopeful that they will beable to recover fingerprintsfrom it or unburnt parts of themotorbike.

– Winai Sarot

POLICE have yet to confirmthe cause of death of the Ameri-can owner of the 25 millionbaht Angel Langkawi yacht onOctober 6.

James Edward Cross, 66,died while emergency medicaltechnicians transferred himfrom his yacht to Phuket Inter-national Hospital.

Mr Cross’s housekeeperalerted rescue workers after MrCross complained of chest pain.

–Winai Sarot

LOCALS were able to save thelives of all but one persontrapped inside a flaming Phuket-Satun bus on October 7.

A total of 21 passengers wereon the parked bus while thedriver, Prathueng Sakkaew, useda borrowed welding torch toattempt to fix his seat, whichquickly caught fire.

Nearby locals broke the win-dows of the bus, allowing thetrapped passengers to escapethe smoke filled vehicle.

Daeng Thaharat, 76, was pro-nounced dead at the scene, while12 other passengers were takento Phang Nga Hospital.

–Kritsada Mueanhawong

Officers arrestsunglass sellers

Chinese touristdies snorkellingEMPLOYEES of a speedboattour company were unable tosave the life of a snorkelling cli-ent at Koh Kai on October 6.

Despite their efforts, the 32-year-old Chinese tourist,Daliang Wang, was declareddead by medical staff on arrivalat Rassada Pier.

Employees explained thatMr Daliang was snorkellingwhen he was spotted strug-gling in the water andappeared to be choking,confirmed Lt Col SomchaiNuboon of the Phuket CityPolice.

Police are still awaitingconfirmation from hospitalstaff for the cause of death.

–Winai Sarot

THE new Region 8 police com-mander arrived on the island onOctober 1 and has vowed totackle crime, as well as supportthe region’s tourism.

Lt Gen Tesa Siriwato de-clined to go into details, sayingthat he needed more time to ac-quaint himself with his newposition.

Before taking over asRegion 8’s police commander,Gen Tesa was a liaison officerfor the National SecurityCouncil.

– Chutharat Plerin

PHUKET GAZETTE 3October 10 - 16, 2015

Wenheng Wu (right) and Boran Chen were additionally charged for bribing police for their release.

Mammoth python caughtIT TOOK rescue workers morethan 20 minutes to remove afeasting five-meter-long pythonfrom a Phuket Town hen houseon October 1.

The homeowner foundthe snake after investigatingstrange noises emanating fromhis hen house.

– Kongleaphy Keam

The python was released at KhaoPhra Thaeo Wildlife Sanctuary.Photo: Kusoldharm Foundation

Illegal Chinese tour toutsbusted for bribing officersBy Kritsada Mueanhawong

POLICE ensnared two illegalChinese tour touts operating atChalong Pier with additionalcharges after the pair attemptedto bribe the officers 100,000baht to secure their release onOctober 6.

Locals informed police thatWenheng Wu, 24, and BoranChen, 25, were displaying Chi-nese language tour fliers topotential clients on the pier forseveral days prior to the arrest.

“When the joint arrestingteam arrived in the morning, wesaw the two with the fliers.When a tourist was interestedin the package, they were toldto just scan the QR code withWeChat and that other details,such as how to pay, could bediscussed later,” explainedTourist Police Division 5Deputy Superintendent BunditKhaosutham.

“The two were in possessionof many types of tour packagefliers. However, they did nothave work permits.”

At the Tourist Police Stationthe pair allegedly offered togive officers 100,000 baht to bereleased.

“We had the team go alongwith it and pretend to receivethe money. The transaction was

clearly captured by CCTV,”Col Bundit said.

Mr Wenheng and Ms Boranwere charged for working ille-gally in Thailand, illegallyoperating a tour business andbribing officers.

The two were taken to

Chalong Police Station for fur-ther processing.

Last week, Phuket Immigra-tion Police, together with theMinistry of Tourism and Sports(MOTS) Phuket Office offi-cials, also apprehended anillegal tour guide at Chalong

Pier.Byoung Wook Lim, 43 con-

fessed that he had beenworking as a tour guide for twoyears.

Mr Lim has since had hiswork permit revoked and nowfaces deportation.

ARMED night guards havebeen placed at the Phang NgaShelter for Children and Fami-lies after 14 Rohingya womenand children fled the facility byclimbing out a window using arope made out of their clotheson October 5.

“The increased security is toprevent human smugglers fromtargeting the women and at-tempting to help them escapethe facility,” said Anan Dontri,director of the Phang Nga of-fice of Social Development andHuman Security. “We are surethat someone out there is try-ing to get to these refugees.”

Takuapa District ChiefManit Pianthong confirmed tothe Gazette that civil defencevolunteers would be stationedat the facility.

All 14 Rohingya refugeeswho had escaped from the shel-ter were found – nine,including the two children,were spotted at a nearby junglelocation. The rest, thought tohave been given a ride by anunmarked van that had waitedfor them outside the shelter,were hiding in a palm oil plan-tation.

The 12 women were alltaken to Phang Nga Immigra-tion to prevent further escapes.The two children – aged 5 and7 – remain at the shelter.


Shelter beefsup securityafter escape


Defunct sea gypsy museum gets B20mn

Originally no budget was set aside to build the exhibits for the SeaGypsy Cultural Center. Photo: Gazette file

By Kongleaphy Keam

A BUDGET of 20 million bahthas been injected into the stum-bling, soon-to-be animatronicSea Gypsy Cultural Center,which saw costs of the facilityballoon from 2mn baht to5.4mn baht before it started todeteriorate into a derelict shellof a building that has become ashelter for the homeless.

Located in a small, nonde-script soi at Laem Tukkae, outof sight from the beach, whereKoh Sireh tourists board speed-boats for day trips to islands,the unoccupied multi-millionbaht center has descended intodisrepair: roof panels havefallen off, a mattress lies undera supporting structure and an-other floats in a pond nearby.

The center, originally slatedfor completion in 2012, neveropened because it was not fin-ished when it was transferredto the Rassada Municipality inMay of that year.

In 2013, Rassada Municipal-ity Chief AdministrativeOfficer (palad) DechakaneeLeelanont said a budget of twoor three million baht was nec-essary to finish thelandscaping. At that point, themunicipality said its job wasonly to watch the buildingwhile the Department of Pub-lic Works had agreed to budgetfor the extra millions.

“The Public Works ended upnot allocating any further fundstoward the building, so we havehad to take it on ‘as is’ and doour very best to develop an at-traction that will be a greatbenefit to both academics andtourists,” Mr Dechakanee toldthe Gazette.

Though the municipality didnot have the funds to finish thebuilding, they have allocated20mn baht over the next threeyears to develop the museumitself.

“We have nothing now butan empty building given to us

by the Phuket Cultural Office,”Mr Dechakanee said.

“Therefore, earlier this year,we hired Phuket Rajabhat Uni-versity to study the history ofthe sea gypsies; develop and

design exhibits; and also planout a management system.”

The study is expected to befinished by the end of the year.

“Once the study is finished,we expect it to take about three

years for us to open.”Although the university has

yet to complete its study, MrDechakanee confirmed that‘4D’ animatronics were alreadypart of the plan.

“However, if they decidethat is not the best way forward,we will make the necessaryadjustments.”

In May 2012, the center wasdescribed by Mr Dachakaneeas one attraction among manythat would contribute to thedevelopment of Koh Sireh.

“Koh Sireh has been ne-glected for so long, but MayorPhudit Raksaraj has a plan tobring this part of town back tolife. He wants to develop KohSireh into an important touristattraction,” he said at the time.

The proposal for the cen-ter – said to be the first of itskind in Asia – was first an-nounced in 2009 as part of aplan to preserve and exhibitthe life and culture of UrakLawoi sea gypsies.

Promthep Capeparagliders flyinto trouble

Paragliders are known to play inRawai. Photo: Gazette file

RAWAI municipality is lookinginto complaints aboutparagliders blocking publicland on Phuket’s iconicPromthep Cape.

“[A recent] complaint statedthat visitors were being told toget out of paragliders’ waywhile they were taking off,”said Rawai Mayor Aroon So-los.

The municipality is nowmoving to solve the problem bycalling members of theparagliding club to a meetingnext week.

Laem Promthep is one ofPhuket’s top tourist attractions,especially at dusk when peoplegather to view sunsets over thewestern horizon.

Mr Aroon explained thatthere is only one takeoff stripin the area and that paragliderswould either land on the beachor the nearby football field. Healso confirmed that the busi-ness of paragliding isprohibited in his jurisdiction.

“Paragliding is an activity,just as surfing or diving. I can

see why it attracts tourists be-cause some visitors enjoyseeing them and taking photosof the paragliders,” Mr Aroonsaid.

“We are open to paraglidersas long as they make sure safetycomes first. They must have aproper licence and make surethat they escort people withoutexperience.”

Mr Aroon also noted that thegeneral public have just asmuch right to be where theylike on public land.

– Chutharat Plerin


From page 1

…“The two Thais were eachasked to pay a 20-baht feewhile the other man was askedto pay 200 baht,” Mr Vuttipongsaid. “According to the rules,the fee for foreigners is 200baht.”

“The reason our staff stoodby the fee, even though the mansaid that he was Thai, was be-cause he couldnot show a ThaiID card.

“He was ableto show a driv-ing licence.However, it didnot contain a13-digit Thai IDnumber, whichall Thai citizenshave. Eventhough he hasbeen living inThailand for along time, he isstill a foreigner,not a Thai citi-zen. I assureyou that ourstaff were justfollowing the rules.”

The law being enforced isRoyal Forest Department regu-lation B.E. 2545, which appliesnationally.

Even though Mr Grittapohnpointed out in his original postthat he can speak and read Thai,as well as sing the Thai national

anthem and the Royal anthem,Mr Vuttipong is correct in as-serting that it doesn’t make hima Thai in the eyes of the na-tional park system or the RoyalForestry Department.

However, the Americancitizen’s strikingly western ap-pearance very likely preventedhim from sliding into the parkas a ‘Thai’.

Mr Vuttipong and SarayuthT a n t h i e n ,chief of HatN o p p h a r a tThara-Mu Ko PhiPhi NationalPark, both con-firmed that it wasstandard for offi-cials to noti m m e d i a t e l ycheck for Thai IDcards when al-lowing peopleinto their parks.

“Normal ly,officials just askhow manyThais and howmany foreignersare part of thegroup. They can

mostly sense who is Thai andwho isn’t by speaking in Thaito them,” Mr Sarayuth said.“If there is any further doubt,they will ask them to presenttheir ID card.”

It is the responsibility of of-ficials to maintain a positiverelationship with foreigners

Park price sparks social media storm

and ensure that they have agood experience when visitingattractions in Thailand, ex-plained Santi Pawai, director ofthe Ministry of Tourism andSports Phuket Office.

“The root of the problem isthe double pricing. However,officials must clearly explain totourists why prices differ and

how the fees help preserve theattraction,” Mr Santi said.

In addition to receiving an-nual budgets, parks and wildlifesanctuaries are given back 20per cent of the profits from ticketsales at the entrance.

However, the crux of the mat-ter for Mr Grittapohn, who is inthe process of becoming a Thai

citizen, is not the money.“I don’t mind paying 200

baht, as long as it is the sameprice for everyone,” he said.“Everybody has a differentopinion, but my opinion is thatdouble pricing is not right. Allof my friends also believe thatdouble-pricing is not right.They believe it is unfair.”

Mr Grittapohn posted hiscomplaint on Facebook inThai and English. Image:Facebook

Three foreigners strip down to play at the Khao Pra-Bang Kram Wildlife Sanctuary. Photo: Tina Basgen


THOSE new to the island – relativelyspeaking – might not have the vis-ceral churning in their guts when theyhear the name ‘TTVI center’. How-ever, island residents who were hereat least a decade ago know that TTVIstands for Thai Tsunami Victim Iden-tification.

The center was tasked with iden-tifying 3,777 of the bodies recoveredfrom the six tsunami-affected prov-inces. As of October 8, 2005, a totalof 2,363 of the bodies were identi-fied (619 Thais and 1,744 foreigners),which left no postmortem resolutionfor 1,414 people who had familiesand lived somewhere in the worldbefore that day. (This of coursedoesn’t even take into account thosewhose bodies were never recovered.)

The TTVI center took the frontpage of the issue because the center

was to be closed be-fore the 1-yearanniversary of the di-saster, and theunclaimed bodieswere to be turned overto the JusticeMinistry’s Central In-stitute of Forensic Science. Suchnews is yet another way of helpingthose of us who came after the tsu-nami to attempt to understand theimpact – emotional, mental, physical,logistical and bureaucratic – of thewaves.

The Gazette’s inside story that is-sue, however, looked at the tsunamifrom a less stark and logistical per-spective and more of an artisan one.It was that week that the Gazette ex-plored a 25-piece modern artinstallation entitled ‘Post-Tsunami

Solidarity throughEyes of Artists’,which had popped upon the once-again-pristine PatongBeach.

The Office ofContemporary Art

and Culture felt that the exhibitionwould be a healing force that wouldboosts locals’ self-esteem... Was itsuccessful or not? If you remember it– write to us and let us know.

It really was a tsunami packed is-sue as the Gazette covered AndrewHewett’s work in spearheading thecleanup of the waters around Phi Phifollowing the nearly complete destruc-tion of all man-made structures on theisland on Boxing Day.

The Phi Phi Dive Camp completedthe first stage of its project on August

14 with nearly 9,000 people helping toremove 250 tonnes of debris from thewater and beaches. In total, 2,500divers made about 7,500 dives as partof the cleanup.

Although the first Go Eco Phuketcleanup smashed records in 2012 forthe amount of rubbish they picked upon a single day – it would have onlybeen drop in the bucket when com-pared to the sustained efforts of thePhi Phi Dive Camp. Ten years later,Mr Hewett and The Adventure Clubcontinue to work with local officialson marine conservation projects in thearea.

To read the entire October 1-7, 2005 issue,check out the Phuket Gazette archivesonline – or, for those who have been arounda while, start cleaning out the attic.

– Isaac Stone Simonelli


BKK suspecttells lawyer heplanted bomb

Photographicevidence can’tdebunk thirstyspirit theoryTHE strawberry drinks setout by locals to score win-ning lottery ticket numbersfrom an unlucky section ofroad, which was once hometo a very lucky tree, are eitherbeing drunk by a ‘daytime’spirit or just a bum, depend-ing on who you speak to.

The drink offerings, nor-mally consisting of namdaeng or strawberry drink, areusually left by people seekingwinning lottery numbers,Dailynews.com reported.

“There used to be a 100-year-old tree there that localpeople worshiped,” saidPreecha Pipatpol, of theSawang Rojjana ThamsatanRescue Foundation. “Theytied colorful fabric around itto worship the tree spirit.Many times people won thelottery when they pickednumbers from the tree.

“But then the illegal lot-tery sellers were angry andset the tree on fire.”

After the tree was burneddown a road was built, but lo-cals believed the spot wasunlucky.

“A lot of accidents hap-pened on the road near wherethe tree used to be. So peoplebelieve that the spirits are stillaround,” said Mr Preecha.

After the story circulatedin social media sites, themystery was solved whenphotos of what appeared tobe a homeless man drinkingthe beverages were shared.

Although the photos showwhere the missing drinks havegone, some people believe thatthe man is merely a spirit whocomes out during the day.

THE prime suspect in theErawan Shrine bombing wentback on his previous denialsand admitted to his lawyer onSeptember 30 that he plantedthe deadly bomb, which killed20 people and injured morethan 100 on August 17.

“But he [Bilal Mohammed]says he was not paid for it. So,I personally believe he mighthave done it to repay a personalfavour,” said ChuchartKanphai, the suspect’s lawyer.

Man wantedfor BKK blasts‘still in Thailand’POLICE believe that the manwanted for several explosionsin Bangkok over the last fewyears is still in Thailand, butdeny reports that the suspect isbeing protected by an influen-tial figure in KanchanaburiProvince.

Yongyut Pobkaew, who isalso known as AodPayungwong, is not just impli-cated in the August bombing inBangkok, but also in two otherblasts that hit the capital in2014 and 2010.

US elevatesKingdom tobest child-laborcategoryTHE United States has recog-nized Thailand’s solid progressin fighting child labor.

In the ‘Findings on theWorst Forms of Child Labor2014’, a new report compiledby the US Department of La-bor, Thailand has been put inthe “significant advancement”category – the highest cat-egory.

Only 13 countries performedwell enough to get into this cat-egory.

The department’s Bureau ofInternational Labour Affairsevaluated 140 countries andterritories based on their effortsto reduce child labour and re-

ported on whether they hadmade significant, moderate,minimal or no advancement.

DSI goes afterfirm for allegedpyramid fundTHE Department of SpecialInvestigation (DSI) on October1 delivered a blow to a firmsuspected of running a pyra-mid-fund scheme and causingdamages of over 800 millionbaht.

A DSI team searched the of-fices of DCHL, which hasallegedly been running thescam while using the essentialoil business as a front. Morethan 600mn baht of the firm’sassets were seized.

More than 8,000 alleged vic-tims have already come forward.

Victims oftraffickingunable to getaccess to aid

Farmers to betold to skipdry-season cropSEVERE WATER shortagesseem inevitable as the level inboth the Chao Phraya and MaeKlong river basins were wellbelow average and farmerswere instructed not to plant thedry-season rice crop to ensureavailability of water for domes-tic consumption.

HUMAN-TRAFFICKING vic-tims still lack systematic accessto aid from state agencies, theThai Researchers in Commu-nity Happiness Association(TRICHA) said on September30, adding that despite havingmany related laws, lack of co-herence was preventing the ef-ficient tackling of this problem.

Noppadol Kannika,TRICHA’s strategic researchchief, urged the Social Devel-opment and Human SecurityMinistry’s Office of Anti-Traf-ficking in Persons Committeeto be established as a perma-nent agency so as to find actualinformation about the situationto formulate strategies and con-crete and effective action plans.

Groups ask forGovernmenthousing helpTWO GROUPS representingthe interests of the poor havedemanded the government sup-port their right to secure ad-equate habitat, solve land own-ership problems and restructurea problem-solving committee.

Four Regions Slum Network

leader Jamnong Nupan urgedthe government to respondpositively to the issues as thehousing problem would be-come more severe.

Mr Jamnong said 86 urbancommunities were now underthreat of being relocated becauseof government infrastructureprojects and developments.

The poor in rural areas alsofaced the negative consequenceof state policies, such as theForestry Master Plan, miningconcessions and power plantprojects.

Volume 22 Issue 41


Do you have an opinion to voice?Email [email protected]

Paragliders takecharge of upkeep

Re:Promthep Cape paragliderssail into trouble, October 2

It was and still is the

Trying to avoid skintax with family

Re: Wildlife sanctuary chiefdefends staff ’s double pricingdiscrimination against Phuketman, October 5

This has been going on foryears in Thailand.

My own son and daughter,who are 100 per cent Thai withThai IDs, often get treated liketourists because of their lightskin.

I’ve often had to let my wifeor children go into a placealone, or go shopping alone, toavoid the skin tax.

TonyGazette forum

Re: Jet-skis to rule roost forhigh season, September 29

It is glaringly obvious thatgovernors can’t do anythingabout ridding the island of jet-skis as the huge majority ofpeople want to see happen.

Who does have the power torid the island of jet-skis?

There should be a referen-dum at the next elections andthere should be instant eradica-tion of jet-skis should themajority vote against them.

Thai people deserve a demo-cratic solution to an ongoingblight against tourism.

SkipGazette forum

Not Land of Smilesat Immigration

Re: Opinion: Big smiles in theLand of ?, October 4

One of the things I noticehere is the lack of consistency,especially at Immigration.

They seem to make up thingsas they go along and no twovisits are the same. ‘Jai-yen-yen’ wears itself out sometimes.

It is definitely not the Landof Smiles in the Phuket Townoffice. Patong Immigration’snew staff are far more polite.

I dread my next visit toPhuket Town.

Mister ReeGazette forum

China’s untappedwedding market

Re: Phuket celebrates ‘GoldenWeek’ to promote Chinese tour-ism, October 2

There’s a huge market wait-ing to be tapped in China forwedding packages.

But unfortunately for Thai-land, couples are discouragedby not being allowed to marryon the beach, or even have theirown photographers.

Same as the ridiculous banon foreign tourist guides.Something needs to change ifThailand is to move on.

AgogohomeGazette forum

If governors don’t have power, then who?

Earn more cash,collect, recycle trash

Re: There’s money in trash,October 7

Great Article. Let’s hope thiswill also be posted in the Thaimedia, schools and elsewherein the community for the under-standing of people with loweducation so that they will un-derstand that polluting is badfor the environment.

But collecting trash insteadof drowning in it will pay andbring prosperity to Phuket.

Protecting nature is thesource of our future genera-tions’ well being.

Mother NatureGazette forum

THE unprecedented expanse of smog blanketing Phuket inrecent months has quite rightly trained the spotlight on In-donesia, where out-of-control forest fires continue to belchsmoke into the atmosphere at a dangerous rate.

Although illegal in Indonesia, slash-and-burn land clear-ing techniques that set off these annual conflagrations havelong been a source of friction between Indonesia and its neigh-bors, especially Singapore and Malaysia.

The past several weeks have given us here in Phuket yetanother bitter taste of what they have suffered for decades:respiratory problems, burning eyes and skies so opaque thatnot even the sun can be clearly seen.

It strikes the Gazette as darkly ironic that this immensepall befalls us in the run-up to the highly-touted advent ofthe Asean Economic Community (AEC), the terms of whichwill take effect at year’s end.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the well-funded but ineffectual regional bloc leading all the fanfare,has as its motto: ‘One Vision, One Identity, One Community’.

The sad reality is that the regional smog problem is probablythe single greatest tangible factor uniting all member states.Perhaps Asean should consider issuing surgical masks bearingits proud emblem as a sign of unity as the big day approaches.

The truth is that Asean functions as more of a rich boys’club than any real instrument of integrated, regional develop-ment. Its self-stated raison d’etre is that no member state shallinterfere in the internal affairs of its neighbors. In this regardthe bloc has been a success – much to the delight of humantraffickers, illegal fishermen, fuel smugglers, arms traders andthe many others who thrive in the margins of lawlessness thatthe AEC seems designed to prolong, not straighten out.

Popular Indonesian leader Joko Widodo was recently quotedas saying it would take “at least three years” before regula-tory changes could be put in place to end the current dynamic.This is not good enough. These fires have already sent up insmoke – for all of us to breathe – thousands of square kilome-ters of forest.

As Asean has been powerless to affect change on the issue,it is time for leaders in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia andother affected nations to act independently to protect theirown people. They should consider economic sanctions, suchas trade bans on pulp and paper products, in order to forcethe Indonesians to end these disastrous fires and protect whatremains of the virgin rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo.

Action against smog

paragliders who cut the grass,keep the place clean and tellothers to be careful because itis slippery and not safe to walk.

Other visitors drop their cans,papers, plastic and other itemsthere, and if they get asked toplease keep the place clean andto be careful because it is steeplysloping and possibly dangerous,they react abusively.

Stephan HinterbergerGazette forum

Bang Khu kudos

I just want to say that the re-route made at the Bang Khu

intersection to relieve traffichas really worked wonders.

Jackie SimpsonThalang


All it takes is the twitch of a finger. Photo: 2009 Nebraska Driver’s Manual

Do you have an opinion to voice?Email [email protected]

By Alexander Maycock

Words from the Wise

“I know of no time in human history whereignorance was better than knowledge.”

– Neil deGrasse Tyson

Assistant Professor ThonThamrongnawasawat,49, is a member of theNational Reform Council anda professor at KasetsartUniversity’s Faculty ofFisheries. He has adoctorate in Marine Sciencefrom James Cook University,Australia and is currently a

writer, ichthyologist and an environmental activist. Here he talks about finding a balance betweentourism and preserving the environment at nationalparks along the Andaman Sea.

THE reality is that money is thefirst thing that we need to re-solve this problem. Limitingtourist numbers would help cur-tail negative effects on the en-vironment, but at this stage itwould also reduce our income.So, how do we earn money inan appropriate manner?

It is true many problemshave arisen from tourists com-ing to national parks with badeffects on coral and other ma-rine life. However, as I see it,numbers are not the problem.

If the masses visiting theparks do not destroy marinelife, there would not be a prob-lem.

For example, there is no lawon how many people can visitPhi Phi, so now the total num-ber of tourists has increased tomore than onemillion a year.If we limit thetotal to, for ex-ample, 300,000people, wherewould the restgo?

If only 100people are al-lowed to enterper day andthey destroy the coral by drop-ping anchors on them, would itnot be better for 1,000 or10,000 people to come in andnot destroy anything? That isthe key idea.

Therefore working onchanging tourists’ attitudes andofficers' ability to enforce thelaw are the two key points andin order to tackle them we haveto get much needed funds.

National parks, particularlyPhi Phi, have very little to workwith. They do not have enough

Funding national parks

officials, boats, or equipment toenforce the law.

Just like any other career, ifofficials receive enough moneyto support themselves, thenthey will love and better focuson their job. However, if they

don't haveenough money,they will focuson ways to findthe money tosupport theirfamilies ratherthan their re-sponsibilities.

N a t i o n a lparks have lawsin place to pro-

tect the environment, but theydon’t have enough officials ortransportation to enforce thelaw.

For example, Phi Phi Na-tional Park’s entrance feeshould add up to more than 400million baht a year. If it receivesthis amount, Phi Phi wouldhave enough money to moreeffectively protect the environ-ment and stringently enforcethe law.

We brought the issue toCabinet and the Prime Minis-

ter to approve a change in howpark fees are collected.

We suggested that fees arepaid directly to the central DNPoffice in Bangkok, similar tothe system established by ThaiTicket Major.

By doing this, we can en-sure that all fees are beingcollected properly. Also, theDNP can better regulate thenumber of tourists visiting cer-tain fragile ecosystems innational parks.

Local national park officerswill still be sent out to checkthat tourists have bought tick-ets, but will not be permitted tosell tickets.

When we have money, wecan add more officials and pa-trol boats. So sea patrol wouldbe more effective. No touristboats would be able to dropanchor on coral reefs, dis-charge waste and get awaywith many other illegal, det-rimental activities, if officialsare there waiting to chargethem.

It’s only after these mea-sures are implemented thatwe could look for long-termsolutions.

‘ Just like any othercareer, if officialsreceive enough

money to supportthemselves, then they

will love and betterfocus on their job.’

A FEW weeks back, drivingfrom Heroines Monument toPhuket Town, I was nearly runoff the road half a dozen timesby drivers who – other than notpaying attention to their wingmirrors – failed to indicatewhile changing lanes.

By the time I made it home,I was pretty much a nervouswreck. And, since then, I havebeen compiling some personalstats on the incidence of indi-cation – or the lack thereof.

Around 45 per cent of Phuketdrivers (those in front of me, atleast) do not indicate whenchanging lanes. This is not justmotorbikes, but cars, SUVs,minivans, taxis, coaches andtrucks. Interestingly, minivans –despite their bad boy driver reps– were, with coaches and trucks,more likely to indicate beforechanging lanes or turning a cor-ner. At the other end of my scaleare taxis and SUVs.

Motorbikes were in a classof their own, either barely everindicating or indicating con-tinuously, which is equallydangerous and frustrating.

Obviously, counting blinkingindicators can make for somefairly boring driving, so while Iwas at it, I attempted to work outwhat was going through thedrivers’ minds that led them tochose not to indicate.

Airport limo: “I’m an airportlimo. I don’t need to indicate;everybody knows I’m going to

the airport.”Brand new SUV: “These

new cars are awesome, it doeseverything for me!” (Except in-dicate).

Motorbike: “Hey, I’m indi-cating!” (And have been for thelast 12km).

Pick-up truck: “Ooh, I needto turn left here… is left up?…or down?… or?… Oops, toolate. Already turned.”

New compact hybrid: “I amtelepathically linked to everydriver on the road.”

Concrete truck: “Banzai!”After one particularly har-

rowing drive, I ran into afriend of mine (not literally)who had just retaken his Thaidriving test. I asked if usingthe indicator had been coveredduring the test. He claimedthat the instructors had noteven mentioned it, but hadspent quite a bit of time advo-cating mob violence.

It only takes the twitch of afinger to tell every vehicle be-hind and ahead of you what youintend to do. Or are you reallyso inconsiderate you cannoteven be bothered to move onefinger to give your fellow driv-ers peace of mind?

Who is in charge of the overgrown shrubs?I OFTEN jog on the walking pathalong the road from Jor SooKong Naka Shrine to DowroongWittaya School.

However, there are currentlyso many overgrown flowersand bushes on the sidewalk thatit’s difficult to run. It’s verydangerous.

Who is in charge of main-taining the shrubbery and canthey be removed?

Preecha Tayib, officer at theEngineering Division ofWichit Municipality, replies:

That road is under the careof Wichit Municipality. We un-

derstand the dangerous condi-tions of the sidewalks on thisroad, as we have already re-ceived many complaints.

As a short-term solution, wewill trim the flowers and bushesregularly. However, as a long-term solution, we have requesteda budget to broaden and reorga-nize the walkway.

During this time, I wouldlike to apologize for the incon-venience and encourage you toplease be careful while walk-ing or jogging on the road.

For your inconsideration

“I hope everyone that is reading this ishaving a really good day. And if you arenot, just know that in every new minutethat passes you have an opportunity tochange that.”

– Gillian Anderson


In the current environment, if you were served up a pile of cash, what would you do? Photo: Pictures of Money

What to do with that pile of cash

New Zealand moves to tapinto Thai tourism market

Toyota predicts Thaicar sales to be low

Thais asked to dive into 100%Pure New Zealand. Photo:Lawrence Murray

CONSIDER the following in-vesting dilemma: You haverecently received a large sumof money (from a pension pay-out, inheritance, the sale ofproperty or a business) and youwant to put this money to workfor you. However, interest ratesand returns on what areconsidered to be the safest in-vestments (for example US andEuropean bank deposits andgovernment bonds) remain ex-tremely low while the stockmarket is well into a bull mar-ket with many investmentshaving already seen large gains.What should your investingstrategy with this lump sum be?

Obviously, you would beafraid of investing all of themoney into the stock marketjust before a 2008 style marketmeltdown or bear market.However, there are ways tomanage both your fears andyour money.

To begin with, you need toconsider how big this lump sumis compared to the amount ofmoney you have in the form ofcash or other investments. Agood rule of thumb is if thelump sum is less than 20 percent of the value of your totalcash and investment portfolio,you should likely invest theentire amount into your exist-ing asset allocation as it won’timpact it that much.

If the lump sum is more than

20 per cent of this value, youwill need to consider one of thefollowing investing strategies:

1) Pick a long-term asset al-location and put the entire lumpsum to work immediately. Thismakes the most sense from ahistorical and statistical pro-spective as over time, stockmarkets eventually recoverfrom bear runs and movehigher. However, you may notsleep well at night if you are anoverly conservative investor.Likewise, this strategy may bebetter suited if you are ayounger investor who plans tocontinue working for a numberof years, than if you are an in-vestor who is already retiredand living on a fixed income.

2) Dollar cost average(DCA) a small amount periodi-cally over a set period of time.The benefit of taking a DCAapproach is that it can be eas-ily automated. For example,you have received $250,000and you invest $10,000 a monthspread over the next 25 months.The DCA approach does tendto be more effective than alump sum approach in a vola-tile market where prices aremoving up and down. On theother hand, the slow and steadyDCA approach in a raging bullmarket will have you missingout on large stock market re-turns.

3) Value averaging (VA). Avariation on the DCA ap-proach, a VA strategy involvesinvesting more money whenthe stock market is down and

less when it’s up. Studies haveshown the VA approach to bemore effective than the DCAapproach over time. The bigproblem with this strategy isthat you will need to be verydisciplined and hands-on as it’sdifficult to automate and itwon’t work in a strong bullmarket where the market keepsheading higher.

4) Staggered lump sum in-vesting. This would be anothervariation on the DCA approach,but only with a much largersum. For example: Let’s sayyou have received $400,000.For the next four years, youdecide to invest 25% of theoriginal lump sum into thestock market at the end of ev-ery year with the next tranche

being in CDs or bonds thatcome due right before its timeto invest in the stock marketagain. Had you done this at theend of 2007, 2008, 2009 and2010, the first tranche wouldhave gotten hit hard by the fi-nancial meltdown, but the nexttwo tranches would have beeninvested at very good prices.

Investing a lump sum mayappear to be a daunting task, butit can be done with peace ofmind that will help you sleep atnight. The global markets arecurrently experiencing a correc-tion or transition to a bear(down-trending) market. This isnormal after the strong advancefrom the 2008 lows in the USmarket and six years of gains.Corrections and bear markets

eventually run their course andturn into bull (up-trending) mar-kets giving great buyingopportunities. Now is the time toprepare a watch-list of leadingstocks and sectors to buy oncethe new uptrend begins.

Don Freeman, BSME is presidentof Freeman Capital Management,a Registered Investment Advisorwith the US Securities ExchangeCommission (SEC), based inPhuket. He has over 15 years’experience working withexpatriates, specializing in portfoliomanagement, US tax preparation,financial planning and UK pensiontransfers. Call for a free portfolioreview. Don can be reached at089-970-5795 or email:[email protected].

NEW ZEALAND has launcheda new campaign in SoutheastAsia as it looks to better tap theregion.

The ‘Every Day A DifferentJourney’ campaign was intro-duced to travel agents in Thailandand New Zealand citizens livingand working here, explainedSteven Dixon, Tourism NewZealand’s regional manager forSouth and Southeast Asia.

The campaign is part of the16-year master campaign ‘100%Pure New Zealand’, which wascreated to attract internationalvisitors to the country.

Mr Dixon said that the newcampaign would be launched inKuala Lumpur, Penang,Singapore and Indonesia earlythis month.

“In Thailand, we have in-vited 76 travel agents to learnabout the new campaign whichis set to promote outer areas ofmajor [tourism] hubs in NewZealand,” he said.

In 2014, Mr Dixon said thatNew Zealand welcomed some3 million international tourists.Singapore, Thailand, Malaysiaand Indonesia are major

sources of arrivals from Asean.“Sixty-five per cent of Thai

tourists visiting New Zealandlove to visit places outside bigcities so we are promoting theseouter areas to them,” he said.

Thai tourists spend on aver-age 80,000 baht per person pertrip, with the number of incen-tive tourists from Thailandincreasing.

“Thailand is one of the strongmarkets for New Zealand asthey [Thai tourists] still travel inNew Zealand whatever the con-cerns in [their home] country,”Mr Dixon said.

The tourism body aims to in-crease the number of Thaivisitors to the country by 5 percent this year.

– The Nation

TOYOTA Motor Thailand ex-pects the auto industry's salesthis year to be low, between760,000 to 770,000 units, be-cause of the sluggish economy,said company presidentKyoichi Tanada.

The company also trimmedits own sales target for this year

to about 265,000 units from theprevious estimate of 280,000.

However, Mr Tanada ex-pects overall annual car salesto rebound to around a millionunits within three years.

The Japanese carmakerstarted R&D activities in Thai-land in 2003. – The Nation


Looking for a place to stay?See more classified ads at

www.phuketgazette.net

The Tri-Fest is still dominated by participants living in the Asia Pacific region, with the number of Chineseathletes from the region rapidly growing. The first race of the event will be underway on November 22.

Is your business really ‘different’?

Laguna Tri-Fest draws ChineseRISING Chinese numbers atthe Challenge Laguna PhuketTri-Fest bodes well for yearsahead, as the classic Phuketevent looks to generate morethan 90 million baht this year.

“In the past two years, we’veseen more than 50 per centgrowth [in the number] of ath-letes from China, both at theLaguna Phuket InternationalMarathon in June and now theTri-Fest. Last year, we had acombined total of 33 athletesfrom China for the LagunaPhuket Triathlon and ChallengeLaguna Phuket. This year, wealready have around 50 Chineseathletes registered for the Tri-Fest, and expect to see thatnumber grow to at least the pointthat it doubles the number ofathletes from China last year,”says Prapa Hemmin, LagunaPhuket director of sales-MICEand corporate events.

The noticeable growth of theChinese market coincides withDalian Wanda, owned by WangJianlin, a property and entertain-ment industry tycoon, signingfor 100 per cent of the WorldTriathlon Corporation (WTC).

Mr Wang said the WTC dealrepresented a further transitionaway from being “a traditionalproperty company”, reportedThe Financial Times. It is thethird major investment in thesports industry Mr Wang hasmade following Infront Sports& Media and football club

Atlético Madrid.Despite the increase in Chi-

nese interest in the Tri-Fest, othercountries in the Asia Pacific re-gion remains the main source ofparticipants, with the top ten

countries of origin includingHong Kong, Singapore, Malay-sia, Japan and Australia. FromEurope, the United Kingdomprovides the highest number ofparticipants, followed by Swit-

zerland, Germany and Spain.The iconic, multi-sports

week-long event ‘ChallengeLaguna Phuket Tri-Fest’ startson November 22 with the22nd Laguna Phuket

Triathlon and will culminateon November 29 with the 3rdChallenge Laguna Phuket.

The destination’s signature dis-tance of the Laguna PhuketTriathlon, comprising a 1.8kmswim, 55km bike, and 12km run,and the Challenge Laguna Phuketfeaturing a 1.9km swim, 90kmbike and 21km run, is attractingentries from leading internationalprofessional athletes as well asage groupers worldwide.

To date, more than 1,300athletes have signed up for thetwo main races. An estimated1,500 athletes are expected tojoin the race this year.

“The enduring appeal of theLaguna Phuket Triathlon andthe unique challenges of Chal-lenge Laguna Phuket continueto draw endurance sports en-thusiasts to Phuket each year,”says Ms Prapa.

“With thousands of athletes,each with three to five follow-ers, family members, friends,partners, media, sponsors and/or supporters travelling to-gether to Phuket from aroundthe world and spending four tofive nights during the week-long Tri-Fest, the event isprojected to generate over 90million baht in spending in thetourism segment on the island.”

For more information and raceregistration, please visitwww.challengelagunaphuket.com

– Phuket Gazette

ONE of the most common ob-jections people have aboutusing social media is that, whilethey understand it works forother people, they think theirbusiness is different and it willnot work for them.

So I have put together aquick test to see if social me-dia would benefit you:

Do you have a website?Do you need more custom-

ers?Do you want people to know

more information about yourbusiness?

Do you have a limited mar-keting budget?

If you answered ‘yes’ to evenone of the above, then the goodnews is that social media mar-keting will work for you.

Now, it is true that one solu-tion will not fit all, so whenchoosing a strategy you will

need to be creative and consis-tent with your business imageand target market, but that isnot hard. I have yet to find abusiness that has not been ableto come up with a great strat-egy that has either increasedawareness or customers, and inmost cases both.

Saving the best for last,anyone can do this, andthere’s a wealth of informa-tion available on the internetabout all of the available plat-forms, so it doesn’t matterwhat your industry or targetmarket is, there’s somethingfor everyone.

Simon Wetherell is a socialmedia expert, lawyer, best-selling author and internationalspeaker. He now residesin Phuket where he trainsbusinesses and individuals onhow to profit from the socialmedia industry. For moreinformation, go to http://PhuketOnlineMarketing.com orcall him on 095 085 3355.


Having fun with Nong Aunjai, who is dressed up as an AIS mascot, are (from L-R) LuksameeChumjan, AIS marketing manager for Upper South; Phakapol Yawaluck, Centra AshleeHotel GM; Mahannop Aphinanthanaphong, AIS vice president for regional operations inthe South; and Porntip Prombut, AIS marketing and sales manager for Upper South. Photo:Southern Life Style

AIS holds foam partyAdvance Info Service (AIS) held a 'Fun Beyond the Frontier' foam party to promoteits traveler sim card, priced at 299 baht, at Centra Ashlee hotel earlier this week.

Supporting Phuket’sVegetarian Festival

Sansiri Plc and Siam Commercial Bank announced their support for the famousPhuket Vegetarian Festival at Jui Tui Tao Bo Keng Shrine in Phuket Town earlierthis week.

Happy at getting the upcoming festival rolling are (from L-R) Apichart Chutrakul, SansiriPlc's CEO; Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada; and Pikun Srimahunt, SiamCommercial Bank's head of mortgage and SME products.

Congratulations chefsTiger Kingdom Phuket’s chefs recently received a silver and a bronze medal at theAndaman Hotelier 2015 cooking competition.

Giving the chefs and their team prizes for doing so well at this competition are KochakornChaiyabutr (2nd from left top row), Tiger Kingdom Phuket's managing director; andYutthapong Chaiyabutr (3rd from left top row), the park's deputy managing director.

Seen at this well-attended event are (from L-R) Patrik Johansson, owner of the BistroBangtao; Jorge De La Torre K, founder of SapoGame.asia; Eduardo Valdivieso,SapoGame.asia's project manager; and Karnjana Sa-ngasri.

SapoGame.asia unveiledSapoGame.asia, a hugely popular game in South America, held its pre-launchevent at the Bistro Bangtao recently.

October 10 - 16, 2015 PHUKET GAZETTE 13

O B Wetzell, Development Management Group's CEO, having a good time at the party.

Super Moon Super Bluesparty a smash hit

The Super Moon Super Blues party at The Bliss Beach Club, held recently on theunforgettable Super Moon Monday night, was a huge success. The gala event wasa 'Fun Raiser' for Rotary Club of Patong Beach (RCoPB) with proceeds going tothe club's charity fund, which supports a number of projects for children.

Getting into the party spirit are (from L-R) Eric Furrer, The Pavilions Phuket's food andbeverage manager; Giuseppe Viva, Bliss Beach Club's GM; and Mr Duk.

John Magee from the Phuket Gazette (left) chatting with J B Henry, of the Black & Bluesband.


October 23. ChulalongkornMemorial Day

Chulalongkorn Day com-memorates the reign of RamaV, who is best remembered forintroducing many progressivereforms, and for the abolitionof slavery in Thailand.

October 30. Phuket Tourism

‘By The Numbers’ atAMCHAM Event

The American Chamber ofCommerce (AMCHAM)Greater Phuket Chapter willpresent a tourism event led bySTR Global’s Area Directorfor Asia/Pacific JesperPalmqvist, in the SimilanBallroom at Outrigger La-

guna Phuket Resort.STR is the leading global

performance indicator for ho-tels and will showcase the

past, present and future out-look for the island.

Mark Simmons, OutriggerHotels and Resorts’ vicepresident of sales and market-ing in Asia Pacific, will joinJesper on stage and lead a dis-cussion providing insights onstrategy in a volatile market-place.

Shrine GuidePhoto: Dean Noble

PIERCINGS

If you are feelingadventurous andwant to see thepiercing process,attend a shrinean hour or so be-fore their proces-sion starts andwatch as the masong are ceremoniously skewered.

AS THE sun sets on Phuket on Octo-ber 13, all Chinese shrines taking partin the annual Vegetarian Festival willraise their go-teng poles so that the JadeEmperor, among the Nine EmperorGods, can descend from the heavens,heralding the beginning of this year’sevent.

It can all be overwhelming for firsttimers. So, here at the Gazette, we’vemade things simpler. Check out whatmade our ‘must-see’ list this year.

PROCESSIONS

The festival’s processions are an in-tense experience and not for the faint-hearted. Onlookers will see graphicfacial piercings and be surrounded bythousands of exploding firecrackers(the louder the better, to ward off evilspirits). Needless to say, it is an expe-

rience of a life-time. However,if there is oneprocession notto miss, it is thefinal parade onthe last day ofthe festival.Bring a facemask and earplugs!

October 18:Bang Neow

Shrine, Phuket Town (departure at7am)

October 19: Jui Tui Shrine, PhuketTown (departure at 8am)

October 20: Kathu Shrine, KathuTown (departure at 7am)

October 21: Gather at the heart ofPhuket Old Town as major shrines pro-ceed toward Saphan Hin to bid farewellto the Nine Emperor Gods. (Best to beon the streets by 10pm.)

FIRE WALKING ANDBLADED LADDERS

This part of the festival is less chaotic,but just as mesmerizing. Look on

as ma songwalk acrossburning coalsand climbladders withbladed steps.

October 18:Ban Tha RueShrine (8pm)

October 20:Bang Neow

Shrine (8pm)

Registration begins at4:30pm. The session runs from5pm to 6pm.

Admission is open to thepublic and is 100 baht for non-members.

To sign up for the event visitwww.amchamthailand.com orcontact Sarudha Netsawang [email protected]


Turmoil in Rakhine State Part IILET’S pick up the story of theRohingya were we left off lastmonth…

In the year 1826, the Britishinvaded and took control ofArakan after the first Anglo-Burmese War. By this time theArakan region, plagued by war,was critically depopulated.Farms had been left untendedfor many years. The Britishencouraged native Bengalifarmers as well as Rohingyaswho lived in Bengal to moveto the depopulated areas ofArakan.

Once again, a sudden influxof Muslim immigrants fromBritish India began to settle inArakan. This time however, itsparked a strong reaction fromthe mostly Buddhist Rakhinepeople of Arakan.

When the Second WorldWar broke out, Britain aban-

doned Arakan, along with therest of Burma after the Japa-nese began invadingSouth-East Asia. In the chaosthat followed, both Muslimsand Buddhists in Arakan beganattacking and massacring oneanother. As a result of the eth-nic violence, Muslims fled tothe north of the state where theywere the majority. RakhineBuddhists fled south. The ef-fect was a further segregationof the population of Rakhinestate.

Shortly after the SecondWorld War, the Britishgranted Burma its indepen-dence. Not long after, aRakhine Muslim rebellionerupted. The rebels initiallylooked to annex northernRakhine State to East Paki-stan (now Bangladesh) butthis was rejected by Pakistan.The Rakhine Muslims there-fore increased their call for anautonomous region, free fromwhat they saw as discrimina-

tion by Buddhist Burmeseofficials.

The Rakhine Muslims’ callfor an autonomous region was

silenced after the military coupof 1962 in Burma. The militarygovernment in Burma lookedupon ethnic minority groups

with suspicion. New policieseffectively denied citizenshipstatus to Rakhine Muslims.

Ethnic tensions continue toflare to this day. In 2001, ri-ots between RakhineBuddhists and Muslims brokeout in the state capital ofSittwe, with all started by anargument between a group ofyoung monks and a Muslimstallholder.

An event that should havejust remained a petty disagree-ment erupted into a night ofviolence in which up to 20people were killed and severalhomes and shops torched. To-day many Muslim Rohingyas ofRakhine State continue to fleepersecution in their homeland.Stateless, they are often not ac-cepted as citizens by eitherMyanmar or Bangladesh. Manyhave fled on overcrowded boatsin the hopes of finding refugein Malaysia, Thailand or evenAustralia, yet few governmentshave accepted them.

Rohingyas arrive on the shores of Thailand. Photo: Gazette file

Strokes from theDragon’s brush

A painting created by Chineseartist Wang Jianzuan.

CHINESE artist Kuku ChaiBukuk was deeply moved byher visits in August to theGrand Palace in Bangkok andthe temples of old Ayutthaya.Now she’s back to display thepainting that resulted, a render-ing of venerable pagodas titled‘The Kingdom of the Buddha’.

Ms Chai Bukuk (anyonewho’s passed through Terminal1 at Hong Kong InternationalAirport will have seen herwork) is among the nine gifted‘tourists’ participating in theexhibition ‘Thailand throughthe Dragon’s Brushes: ChineseArtists Paint Thai Scenes’.More than 80 works are in-cluded, collectively reflectingboth the legacy of Chinese artand the charms of Thai culture.

“I chose Ayutthaya as mysubject because it representsthe golden era of the Siameseempire and the greatestachievements of Buddhist ar-chitecture,” she says through atranslator, China Daily reporterCai Xiao. “Ayutthaya is verysimilar to Angkor in Cambo-dia.”

Ms Chai Bukuk has also de-picted bright statues of theBuddha and some gorgeouslandscapes, each work display-ing her mastery of traditional

ink and brushstroke techniques.Led by Cai Zhixin, recog-

nized as a National Artist in hishomeland, the nine artists spenta week touring Bangkok,Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai andLampang, gathering inspira-tion.

The artists recorded theirinitial impressions in sketcheddrawings and paintings doneon-site. Tan Yan of China Dailypointed out that this was thefirst time they’d worked inThailand, though some havehad exhibitions here.

– The Nation


Eating up intermittent fastingINTERMITTENT fasting is allthe rage at the moment withdiets such as the 5:2 Diet go-ing mainstream and becominga big hit. Could temporarilyabstaining from food behealthy, or is this practice po-tentially setting up a person fortrouble?

As a nutritionist it goesagainst one of the original ruleswe were taught to preach suchas: Eat small meals often anddon’t skip meals – especiallybreakfast.

Over the years, I have cometo recognize that there is no‘one size fits all’ dietary strat-egy and the key to long-termhealth success is that a personadapts food choices and timingaccording to what works forthem, always taking into ac-count their lifestyle.

Having followed my ownoriginal advice for many yearsto eat every 2-3 hours and notskip meals, about 10 years agoI experimented with this radi-cal idea to not eat so frequentlyand even extend my eveningfasting periods by performingintermittent fasting, whichproved to be a revelation. I re-alized I didn’t need to eat sooften in order to still function

What’s for dinner? Oh, right… nothing. Photo: Gisela Francisco

well physically and mentally,and it was easier to not gain fat.But the potential benefit of fast-ing for long-term health isanother big reason it is a per-manent part of my lifestyle.There is a lot of good researchon the benefits of intermittentfasting. Here is an excellentsummary cited in the journalCell Metabolism 2014

“Fasting has been practicedfor millennia, but only recentlystudies have shed light on itsrole in adaptive cellular re-sponses that reduce oxidativedamage and inflammation, op-timize energy metabolism andbolster cellular protection. Fast-ing has the potential to delayaging and help prevent andtreat diseases while minimizingthe side effects caused bychronic dietary interventions.”

NOT FOR YOU

There are some people not suit-able for either intermittent orfull fasting:

1. Children or adolescents2. Pregnant or breast feed-

ing women3. Most athletes while in

training or competing4. Young women with hor-

monal (including menstrualcycle) issues – fasting can po-tentially make things worse byadding further stress

5. People with more serious

health issues (physical andmental) including burnout syn-drome (adrenal fatigue), bloodsugar imbalances or a sluggishthyroid.

MAYBE FOR YOU

The people best suited to inter-mittent fasting are those whohave first got the basics of goodnutrition, movement and a sup-portive lifestyle. For some thatmay take several months. Ifweight loss is the goal, beforejumping into intermittent fast-ing I recommend starting bycutting sugar and starchy car-

bohydrates, coupled with eat-ing more fibrous carbs (veg-etables), good fats and cleanproteins. I am always wary ofsomeone trying to run beforelearning to walk; dabbling indietary changes like intermit-tent fasting for some is just an-other style of yo-yo dieting thatcan lead to further issues in-cluding hormonal imbalances.

OPTIONS

There are countless possibilitiesto perform intermittent fasting.Here are two popular choices:

1. 5:2 Diet method (pio-

neered by Brad Pilon whowrote ‘Eat stop Eat’). This stylegenerally means eating onemeal for the day, one or twodays per week with the otherdays eating normally.

2. Another popular methodis using a lengthened daily fast-ing time (made famous byMartin Berkham). Instead offasting from say 8pm (end ofdinner) to 7am, you try to holdout breaking the fast until saynoon and having an eating win-dow from noon to 8pm. Youmay still eat two to three mealsper day, but all to be consumedwithin the eight-hour window.

THINK ON IT

Intermittent fasting shows anenormous clinical potential forreducing cellular damage andimproving health markers, butwe always need to rememberthat attaining optimal healthshould first start with the basicsof clean diet, regular exerciseand a supportive lifestyle, be-cause performing intermittentfasting in a malnourished andhighly stressed state may causemore problems than it solves.

Craig Burton is a Certified SportsNutritionist (CISSN) with aBachelor of Science degree(Sports Science) and a NationalAcademy of Sports Medicine(PES) certification.

MEDICAL experts have longwarned against excessive con-sumption of oily foods, butwhat if there existed a cookingoil that not only added to thetaste of the dish, but was actu-ally good for you too?

The good news is that thereis such an oil and it’s now be-coming readily available allover Thailand. Produced by theChaipattana Foundation, Ca-mellia oleifera tea-seed oil –not to be confused with tea-treeoil – is of extraordinary highquality and has multiple ben-efits for health.

Used extensively in Chinaand East Asia, tea-seed oil waslittle known in Thailand untilHer Royal Highness PrincessMaha Chakri Sirindhorn gavean ordinary brown seed thatlooked a little like a chestnutto Chaipattana’s secretary gen-

Thailand now enjoys‘olive oil of the east’

eral Sumet Tantivejkul, andtold him it was a ‘magic seed’.That was 11 years ago, and theproject has been in develop-ment ever since.

Touted as the ‘olive oil of theeast’, tea-seed oil boasts no transfats, very low levels of saturatedfats and a high level of unsatur-ated fats. These unsaturated fatsinclude 81-87 per cent of oleicacids (omega-9 fatty acid), 13-28 per cent of linoleic acids(omega-6 fatty acid), and 1-3 percent of alpha-linoleic acids(omega-3 fatty acid). With thesecompositions, tea seed oil canhelp reduce the level of low-den-sity lipoprotein (bad cholesterol)and increase high-density lipo-protein (good cholesterol) andprevent vasoconstriction, paraly-sis, high-blood pressure, diabetesand cardiovascular disease.

– The Nation


Nepal in recoveryNEPAL is returning to near nor-mal after the massive earthquakein April, though for some resi-dents, progress is much too slow

Kumari Lama smilesproudly as she gestures towardher week-old son who is sleep-ing soundly, wrapped in a fluffyred blanket. The 26-year-old’ssmile, though, is tinged withsadness as she recalls the dayback in April when she and herhusband, Jit Bahadur Lama, 27,lost everything they owned inthe earthquake that struckKathmandu valley, killing thou-sands and sending buildingstumbling to the ground.

With support from within andoutside their community, MrsKumari and Mr Jit are slowly get-ting back on their feet, thoughthey are far from being wherethey were six months ago.

“It’s the best we can have,at least so far,” says Mr Jit,looking around his temporaryone-room house, which in-cludes an adjacent kitchen.

More than 8,700 people losttheir lives and over 22,000 wereinjured. The Ministry of HomeAffairs’ records also show that200,000-plus buildings collapsedcompletely and another 214,000were partially damaged.

Left in the dark for the firstfew days, Mr Jit and his wifewere then housed in a provisionalcamp where they lived with hun-

A home wrecked in the quake.Photo: The Nation

dreds of shattered families. WithMrs Kumari pregnant and thegovernment’s response still slug-gish, Mr Jit eagerly accepted theoffer of support from the Nepaliarm of the Thai non-profit or-ganization ‘Change Fusion’.

Kunda Dixit of Himalmediaconfirms that government ef-forts have been very slow,given the scale of the incident.

“The Reconstruction Au-thority has yet to becomefunctional because of the poli-tics in this country,” he laments.

“However, voluntary andother groups, both Nepali andforeign, have delivered timelyassistance. But a lot depends onthe community too. When acommunity is well organized,it has been able to use outsidehelp well and rebuild theirlives. Communities that are notare finding it more difficult.”

– Piyaporn Wongruang /The Nation

Cycling to the Rugby World CupMY PASSION for the game ofrugby union blossomed aboutthe same time as my passion forcycling, and both were formedin the crucible of early boyhoodexperience.

At age eleven I was sent toone of those all-male schoolsthat believes the formation ofcharacter and excellence inyoung men is greatly enhancedby a regimen of tough physicalexercise and strict discipline. Inparticular, I was subjected totwice a week cross-countryruns over open, and often icy,ploughed fields, cold showers,bad food and the delights of thegame of rugby.

This was a form of torturewhich often involved havingyour face ground into the coldmud of a wind-swept pitch bythe studded boots of older,larger boys. Rugby was a sport

Baz Daniel takes in the Thames on the way to the Rugby World Cup.

for which a broad streak ofmasochism seemed to be theminimum requirement for en-joyment, and of course at theage of eleven, it left an indel-ible impression on me… in allsenses of that word.

I also had to cycle about tenkilometers to my school eachday to receive the program ofeducation and torture in whichmy school seemed to special-ize. Somehow, cycling andrugby union became associated

in my mind and have stayedwith me throughout my life.

So it was when I found my-self back in England inOctober, I decided to attendsome of the games in the eighthRugby World Cup at the ven-erable home of the sport,Twickenham Stadium.

I had booked tickets veryearly and had managed to snareseats for one of the most impor-tant matches in the pool stagesof the tournament: old enemiesand bitter rivals England (theWorld Cup host) and Australia.

I was staying in Ealing,which is about ten kilometersfrom the ground, and was look-ing forward with greatexcitement to the kick-off. Buttherein lay the problem, be-cause 80,000 other mad-keenrugby fans were doing exactlythe same thing and planned todescend on Twickenham for the8pm evening match.

From previous experience, Iknew that getting to the ground

for big matches could be a to-tal nightmare and the matchesjust did not come any biggerthan this one. Buses, tubes,trains and even the streetswould be clogged with trafficand fans, many of them in fancydress ranging from ubiquitousgiant-sized hopping kangaroosto ‘bishops’ and ‘nuns’ swig-ging beer from cans.

What to do?Then my adolescent associa-

tion of cycling and the game ofrugby presented the solution. Idecided that I would cycle toTwickenham and the greatgame, along a route I knew well,following the Thames Path.

This wonderful route takesone through Richmond, with itsfamous bridge, and reaches ofthe Thames, which the poetJohn Keats described as amongEngland’s loveliest.

Embrace the beauty of the rest ofBaz’s journey online in the lifestylesection at PhuketGazette.net


Call for quick action on stimulusTHREE real-estate associa-tions have asked the govern-ment to decide quickly whetherto launch measures to boost theproperty market, as some buy-ers have delayed taking deliv-ery of their homes after the gov-ernment said last week that ithad such a plan.

“We hope the Cabinet willfinalize the measures at itsmeeting next week and thatthey will be effective immedi-ately,” Thai CondominiumAssociation president PrasertTaedullayasatit said.

He was speaking after apress conference to promotethe 33rd ‘House and CondoShow’, which will take placefrom October 8-11 at QueenSirikit National ConventionCenter in Bangkok.

Besides Mr Prasert’s group,the Thai Real Estate Associa-tion and Housing BusinessAssociation will press the Fi-nance Ministry to move aheadwith the measures.

Earlier, the three associa-tions proposed four measuresto the ministry to help the prop-erty market, especially thelower-income segment.

The first of these was easingthe qualifications for mortgageapproval, especially for lower-income people who own abusiness or work freelance.

The second measure wouldextend the mortgage-repay-ment maximum from 30 yearsto 50 years so as to reducemonthly installment amounts.

Third, they proposed dou-bling the maximum to 3 millionbaht on loans getting a specialinterest rate from the Govern-ment Housing Bank.

The final proposal was areduction of transfer and mort-gage fees to 0.01 per cent.

The current final quarterof the year should see 120 bil-lion baht’s worth ofresidential projects in GreaterBangkok transferred to cus-tomers.

– The Nation

Rawai beach has seen a lot of real estate development over the past few years. Photo: Colm Britton

Bangkok property buyers are waiting for a stimulus package. Photo:The 3Bs

LISTED property firm Supalainow estimates that its presaleswill total 21 billion baht thisyear, lower than the early esti-mate of 23 billion baht, as de-mand for condominiums waslower than expected in the firstnine months.

However, the company hasmaintained its revenue target of22 billion baht, up 17.64 percent from last year’s 18.7 bil-lion, thanks to 11.4 billion ofits total backlog of 38 billionbeing ready for booking to rev-enue during the second half ofthis year, deputy managing di-rector Tritecha Tangmatithamsays.

Supalai launched its firstcondominium project of the fi-nal quarter of the year, SupalaiLoft @ Khaerai Station, worth1.1 billion baht, earlier thisweek.

– The Nation

WHILE other real estate marketson the island seem to be strug-gling, the luxury villa sector re-mains steady, making room forthose looking for unique, stylishvillas jumping to buy.

Such is the case with a five-bedroom Mediterraneaninspired villa with stunningviews from its rooftop.

Located in Rawai Beach’sSaiyuan Med Village, thisthree-year-old split level, five-bedroom, three-bathroom homeis ideal for those who like to en-tertain and is perfect for enjoyinglazy brunches, al fresco dining,and relaxing with friends whilewatching the sunset.

The Mediterranean themecontinues in the interior withwhite floors and walls through-out – complemented by darkstained furnishings and vibrantaccent walls.

The western-style kitchen isspacious, accompanied by alarge white dining table withplenty of bench space for fam-ily and friends.

Air conditioning and ceilingfans are installed throughoutthe home, as well as mosquitoscreens for added protection.

Large arches surround theprivate pool with room for sunloungers on the outdoor terrace.

Finding Mediterranean in Rawai

A shared community clubhouse is available for your con-venience, as well as a picnicarea on a large, 700 squaremeter land plot.

Additionally, there is a freeform swimming pool, gym,children’s play area, BBQ area,changing rooms and manage-ment office, all within thecommune. All areas are fur-nished to a high standard.

Saiyuan Med Village is a se-

cure community with an on-sitesecurity guard 24 hours a day.A gate key (swipe card) isneeded to access the property,while CCTV ensures extra se-curity.

The villa is located only min-utes from Nai Harn Beach,which offers breathtaking, natu-ral scenery. Phuket InternationalAirport is an hour’s drive, whilemajor shopping centers, interna-tional hospitals and schools are

only 15 minutes away.Rawai itself offers many

restaurants, bars, bakeries, con-venience stores and shops toexplore.

The villa is priced at12,900,000 baht.

For more information, contactPatrick Lusted at Siam RealEstate, quoting reference code:HSIL7148. Telephone: 076-288908. www.siamrealestate.com

Supalai Plctrims target

A single family home built bySupalai Plc. Photo: Supalai Plc


Phuket shrugs off Bangkok slideBy Nina Suebsukcharoen

IN TERMS of property, Phuketseems to be worlds away fromBangkok, where the market hasexperienced a slowdown,mostly because the island ismore affected by events outsideof Thailand than inside theKingdom, Robert Collins, man-aging director of Savills (Thai-land), said earlier this week.

Because the Bangkok mar-ket has dipped, three real-estateassociations recently urged thegovernment to quickly decidewhether it wants to launch astimulus package to spur themarket forward.

“Phuket is not really affectedin the same way, it’s not a main-stream housing market. Theindigenous population ofPhuket is not growing exponen-tially and their housing needshave been catered for relativelywell,” explained Mr Collins.

“What you find is the servicesector of the Thai working popu-lation is probably the biggestdriver of domestic housing, butin Phuket it forms a very smallpercentage of the new condo-minium purchasing demand.”

This is very different thanPattaya, where the domesticservice sector forms quite a sig-nificant buying community,noted Mr Collin.

With external factors affect-ing Phuket more than internalissues, Mr Collins pointed out

that the recent global stockmarket rout could lead to aswitch in investment fromstocks to luxury property onthe island. Although somemarkets have started to re-cover, analysts have cautionedabout the sustainability of thisnascent recovery.

“It’s quite likely that we willsee more people exit from thestock market, the volatility ofmajor indices around theworld is quite likely to con-tinue and might spookinvestors. Some people willtake profit and move theirmoney out of those markets.

“It’s entirely feasible thatthey may put that into bargain-priced luxury properties that

we see at certain times in allmarkets.

“So there is a dynamic inplay and the developers havegot to keep their eyes open.”

Some property players arehoping that the massive surgeof Chinese tourists across thecountry will eventually trans-late into property purchases.

Mr Collins said that this isentirely possible, based on theobservation that today’s multi-millionaire buyers of luxuryproperties in Phuket were trav-ellers in the 1970s and 1980swho didn’t then have themoney to buy. But now thatthey do, they are returning tothe place for which they had afondness.

“We hope that they start buy-ing. I tell you, at this point intime, it’s a trickle rather than aflood in terms of the volume ofbuying,” Mr Collins said.

“If you look at the trend of[Chinese] buying into London,or Canada and New Zealand,it’s substantial, that would bethe only way to describe it.

“So if they start buying here,the market will see an immensetake-up and upside in terms ofvalue.”

The sustained Chinese tour-ism in Thailand and thecountry’s proximity to the‘Sleeping Dragon’ establishesit as a logical places for prop-erty investment by Chinese,especially given the number of

wealthy Chinese currently bol-stering property marketsaround the world.

“However, the type of tour-ists that Thailand is hosting andreceiving is quite different fromthe people who are buying inthose other countries.”

Though Phuket is not suffer-ing the same slowdown asBangkok, Mr Collins agreedwith the proposal of the real-es-tate associations for stimulusmeasures, particularly increas-ing leasehold from 30 to 50years, to be implemented to spurthe foreign market,

“I think that would helpenormously, certainly we arelagging behind some big com-petition in the region.”

Savills (Thailand) Managing Director Robert Collins says Phuket is more affected by external factors than internal ones. Photo: Jeff Gunn

L&H focuses on malls, hotels

Bangkok’s Terminal 21 mall attracts large crowds of shoppers everyday.Photo: Dushan Hanuska

LAND and Houses, a majorresidential developer, wants tosee shopping centers, as well ashotels, become its core busi-ness in the near future.

Its portfolio consists ofmainly Land and Houses Bank,Q-House, and Home ProductCenter, the operator ofHomePro building-materialsstores. They generate revenue of2 billion baht per year, up from100 million baht a decade ago.

A few years ago, L&Hbranched out into developingand managing shopping com-plexes.

Chairman AnantAsavabhokhin, who recentlypresided over a ceremony mark-ing the 10th anniversary of LHBank, said the group found thatthis new shopping-mall businesswas a gold mine, as these assetscan be transferred to leaseholdreal estate investment trusts(REITs).

For the Terminal 21 shopping

plaza, the company invested 3billion baht but gained 6 bil-lion baht from selling it to aREIT.

The company is interestedin shopping malls becausethere are still not many of themnationwide, Mr Anant said.L&H plans to open at least onemall a year at a cost of 6 bil-lion to 7 billion baht each.

The Terminal Korat shop-ping mall is under construction

and Pattaya and Phuket are un-der consideration for the nextlocations of Terminal shoppingmalls, Mr Anant said.

“Small merchants in theprovinces want more retailersto invest in shopping malls,since that will create opportu-nities for them,” he said.

The right location with theright segment is the key to suc-cess in the shopping-mallbusiness. – The Nation


P R O P E R T Y F O R S A L E

FREEHOLD SEA VIEWAPARTMENT

Kata, 2 bedrooms, quiet lo-cation. For sale or rent. Tel:086-281 9311. Email: [email protected]

2.25 RAINEAR AO MA-KHAM

Ideal for resort investment. Oneof the fast growing areas sur-rounded by five-star hotels &spas. Rectangular shape, at thefoot hill and goes up. Askingprice: 19 million baht. Tel: 089-509 7606 (English & Thai).Email: [email protected]

3 RAI IN PATONGFor sale. Near Simon Cabaret.Chanote title. Ideal for hotels andcondos. Tel: 089-724 1505.

BANGTAO BEACHPENTHOUSE

2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 124sqm with private roof garden,sala. Located in a lovely garden.Complex has pools, gym, sau-na, bar, 24hr security on site.150m to Bangtao Beach. 7.5million baht o.n.o. Email: [email protected]

BEEN CHEATEDBUYING CONDO?

Consult us to see what canbe done. We have experi-ence in this field. First con-sultation is free of charge.Asean Hotelworks Phuket.Email: [email protected]

BUSINESS MINDINGFOR EXPATS

Need to step away from your busi-ness for a while? It is time to hirea Business Relief Manager,email to The Business Minders.Tel: 062-059 3164. Email: [email protected], www.thebusinessminders.co.nz

G E N E R A L C L A S S I F I E D S

BUSINESS PRODUCTS & SERVICESBULLETINS

PHUKETMAP.COMFOR SALE

3 domain names for sale: phuketmap.com, phuketmaps.com, and phuket-map.com.600,000 baht. Chalong. Tel: 082-007 0700 (English & Thai).

GUESTHOUSE FOR SALESuccessful guesthouse, 3 deluxerooms and 5 beds in 1 dormitory.Coffee shop in the basement.Business still running and almostfull in high season. 900,000 baht.Kata beach, Phuket. Tel: 084-1955032 (English & Thai).

REAL ESTATE AGENCYFOR SALE

Turn-key business, great in-come, has bookings already.Email: [email protected]

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

WE MANUFACTUREEXTREME HAPPINESS!

Our pizza plus wood firedovens are a brilliant moneymaker for existing & newbusiness. Or enjoy fun timesby having one in your home!Call Brian on 085-796 3380.

BEST VIEW AND AREAIN PATONG

Condo for sale: Enviroment isvery quiet, lovely houses, no traf-fic, cul-de-sac and a lots ofgreenary, enjoy walking, 5 min-utes drive to central Patong,73sqm, 4 years built. So far noone has lived in this condo. Allnew interior. Very low manage-ment fee, just 8.5 million baht.Freehold. Tel: 081-107 4036.Email: [email protected]://phuket0007.wix.com/sale-property-phuket

TOWNHOUSESUPALAI CITY HILL

For sale (2.8 million baht) orrent (12,000 baht/month) inSupalai City Hill Estate,Phuket Town. 3 bedrooms,2 bathrooms, quiet, conve-nient location, furnished, fullkitchen, decor, garden, carpark, 2 aircons. Availablefrom Sep 2015. Tel: 089-8740061, 086-291 4115. Email:[email protected]

SEA VIEW LANDFOR SALE

Near Mission Hill. 6 rai.Chanote title. 37,000 bahtper square wah, hand-overfees included. Ideal for poolvilla, hotel and condo. Freeconsultation by expert. Pro-ject references: Dewa Re-sort & Spa Phuket, MamaResort Phi Phi Island, etc.Tel: 083-389 7799, 082-8946699. Email: [email protected]

2-BEDROOM HOUSECHALONG

Leafy, aircon, secure, recentlypainted, partly furnished, 152sqm / 64sqm house. 2.3 millionbaht. For more information,please call +61- 0433-366 121(English), 076-296189 (Thai).Email: [email protected]

RAWAI - SAIYUANVILLA

For sale / rent. On 620sqmland, 3 bedrooms, 2 bath-rooms, big garden, pool,quiet area. Must see. 10.5million baht. Contact Harrij.Tel: 089-731 0283. Email:[email protected]

LANDCLOSE TO THE SEA

Land 1.5 rai for hotel, closeto Bang Tao Beach, nearAmora Hotel. ContactChoochart. Tel: 061-261 3486.

OCEANFRONT VILLAFOR SALE

Brand new, fully furnished, 3-4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms,10m infinity swimming pool,beautiful view. Only 19.5 mil-lion baht. Guaranteed rental8% per year. For more infor-mation, please call 081-3430777.


J O B S / R E C R U I T M E N T

SALES STAFF WANTEDSales staff wanted, able tospeak and write English. Replyby email only. Good income.Patong. Tel: 081-893 7720.Email: [email protected]

YACHT SKIPPERFIRST MATE

For private 19m MY based inPhuket and cruising SouthChina Sea. Hands on personal-ity and experience as skipper -first mate is mandatory, a tech-nical background would be help-ful. Please submit your CV andphone number. Email: [email protected]

LIVE IN AMERICALooking for live-in caregiverin America. All travel ex-penses paid. Luxury privateliving space. Seeking for fe-male caregiver,18-40 yearsold, to assist with one seniorfemale and one female spe-cial needs child. Excellentsalary. Must speak someEnglish. For more informa-tion, please call +1-0763-4984722 or send email to [email protected]

SALES MANAGER

Real estate company look-ing for a sales manager, En-glish speaking, attractivepersonality, good wage +work permit. Tel: 089-5946888. Email: [email protected]

CAPTAIN WANTEDAddress: 73/10 Soi 10, Ao Cha-long, Phuket 83130. Must speakEnglish. Tel: 076-280420, 089-875 8691 (English). Email: [email protected]

PROPERTY SERVICEWe need 2 females for a propertyservice, should have a littleknowledge of photography. Sal-ary: 15,000 baht. Kamala. Tel:097-997 1011. Email: [email protected]

APARTMENT MANAGERThai national, speak English,hotel experience. Female pre-ferred. Starting at 20,000+ baht.Patong. Please call 085-6946463. Email: [email protected]

BOAT WORKERCleaning, sanding, painting.Please call 099-013 4172(English). Phuket Boat La-goon. Email: [email protected]

BAR & LOUNGEMANAGER - PATONG

Experienced Thai female, 30years old, English speaking, at-tractive personality. Excellentwage + profit share package.For more information, pleasecall 062-830 7754. Email: [email protected]

PROPERTY LISTINGSiam Real Estate is looking fora new, part-time member forproperty listings and taking pho-tos around Phuket. Must haveown transport. Good commision.For more information, pleasecall 076-288908. Email: [email protected]

SALES MANAGERDVC looking for experi-enced timeshare SM. Goodpackage + WP for right can-didate. Patong. Tel: 076-342794. Email: [email protected]

ATTRACTIVE FEMALE25,000 baht++ for an enthusias-tic, attractive Thai female to as-sist in running a restaurantin Phuket town. Must be fun& speak English fluently. Tel:087-884 8271.

MARINE ENGINEERAn experienced marine engineerrequired to work on 23m motoryacht. Tel: 085-378 0498. Email:[email protected]

SALES REP. AND TO.DVC looking for EnglishReps. and TO. Tel: 098-2708099, 076-342794. Email:[email protected]


CONSTRUCTION SERVICESBuilding ~ Renovation

Engineering ~ MaintenanceHuge Work Reference

T. 094-546 0422 (Eng & Thai)www.tularuxa.com

ACCOMMODATIONAVAILABLE

HOLIDAY HOMES&VILLA RENTALS

HOLIDAY IN NAIHARN2,3,4 bedrooms pool villas avail-able. Tel: 085-787 3046. Email:[email protected]

SUPERIOR 4-BEDROOMVILLA & POOL

At Land & House Park - Chalong.Short holiday or long-term resi-dence. Tel: 076-361367, 081-676 4849 (English & Thai), 081-772 2300 (English). Email: [email protected]

SERVICE APARTMENTPATONG

Fully furnished, swimming pool,quiet. Nanai - Patong. For moreinformation, please call 081-8944730 (English & Thai), 081-8925983 (Thai). Fax: 076-292149.Email: [email protected], www.nanaivilla.com

4 / 5-BEDROOMPOOL VILLA

For rent by owner. Beautiful,modern villa on 900sqm landwith private garden, furnished.Layan, Thalang. Tel: 084-3054333 (English & Thai). Email:[email protected],www.phuketvillarent.net

PROPERTY SERVICES

P R O P E R T Y F O R R E N T

G E N E R A L A V I A T I O N

TECNAM P-92- Price: 1.5 million baht- Registration: U-B08- Year of Manufacture: 2002- Equipment: Full standardequipment- Engine: Rotax 912-80hp350hrs. Tel: 081-840 8418.

YOUR HELICOPTERFlying and owning your ownhelicopter has just becomepossible. Free completeflight instruction course withyour purchase. For more in-formation, please send emailto [email protected]

THAI VILLA & POOLNAI HARN

2-bedroom villa in Soi Naya,37,500 baht/month. Long term.Tel: 083-396 4007. Email: [email protected], http://sites.google.com/site/mervyncrocker/home

PATONG LUXURY APT.Paradise Hotel Complex. 150mto beach, 1 large bedroom,kitchen, light, airy. Tel: 086-2767608.

CHEAP RENT HOUSEFully furnished 1-3 bedrooms,aircons, WiFi, starts from 6,000baht / month. For more informa-tion, please call 081-892 4311.http://panwagreen.weebly.com

HOUSE FOR RENT

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 4aircons. Fully furnished withsmall garden, quiet area.15,000 baht/month. Formore information, please call083-104 1206. Email: [email protected]

PATONG CONDOFOR RENT

Furnished 1 bedroom, livingroom, balcony, parking, gym,swimming pool, WiFi, 800mto beach. Available now!Email: [email protected]

CONDO FOR RENT

Short or long-term rental atKathu, fully furnished, swim-ming pool, fitness, quiet andsecure. Tel: 081-607 8567.Email: [email protected]

PRIVATE POOL VILLAFOR RENT

This is a spacious privatepool villa with 2 bedroomsand 2 bathrooms. Located atSoi Saiyuan, Rawai, Phuket.Only 10-minute drive tonearby famous tourist attrac-tions: Rawai Beach, NaiHarn Beach, PhromthepCave, Lotus Chalong andVilla Market. This Thai con-temporary house comeswith divisible space and acozy corner to relax in aftergetting out of the swimmingpool. For long-term rent:50,000 baht / month. Short-term rent: 60,000 baht /month (negotiable). Formore information, please call089-725 0779, 081-6930935. Email: [email protected]


B O A T S & M A R I N E

Classified ads are charged per line. Each line is 140 baht,

with a minimum of 4 lines (heading included) per ad.

All advertising must be paid for in advance.

Deadline for Property Gazette page: Friday 3 pm.

Deadline for all other ads: Saturday 12 noon.

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Classified Advertisements

Please use this form to write your classified advertisement.

Then hand it to any of our agents.

TOYOTA VIOS AUTOFOR SALE

2007, silver, 2 owners, taxed,first-class insurance, excellentcondition, 295,000 baht. Formore information, please call087-279 8286 (English).

2012 CHEVROLETCAPTIVA 42,000KM

Car is like new, all service doneand fully checked by BangkokChevrolet. Tel: 081-817 3776(English). Email: [email protected]

W H E E L S & M O T O R S

SUN DANCER 280FOR SALE

New inboard engine Mercury300hp x 2. Urgent for sale. Price:2.2 million baht. Tel: 081-9683118, 081-271 3228. Email: [email protected]

2004 TOYOTA AVANZAExcellent condition. Automatic,gold with black interior. Seats 7passengers. 250,000 baht. Ka-mala. Tel: 076-385909, 087-2775216 (English). Email: [email protected]

CARS FOR RENTShort or long-term rental withfirst-class insurance, deliv-ery services. For more infor-mation, please call 083-1041206. Email: [email protected]

CARS FOR RENT

4-seat cars: 950 baht perday, 7-seat cars: 1,400 bahtper day, SUV: 1,300 baht perday. Tel: 081-607 8567.Email: [email protected], www.phuket-carrent.net

DUCATIMULTISTRADA

Ducati Multistrada 1200 S.Model Year 2010. Perfectcondition, one owner. Tour-ing screen and comfort seat,Akrapovic slip on, Rizomaextras. View in Chalong areaof Phuket. Price: 645,000baht. Please call 081-9875677. Email: [email protected]

YAMAHA YZ250F 07

Excellent condition, newGYTR racing clutch. 75,000baht. Please call 087-8931753.

CAR RENTAL ALLMODELS

AUT or MT, first-class insur-ance, delivery service. Formore information, please call087-281 1211. Email: [email protected]


Embodying Chinese spiritsBy Nattha Thepbamrung

ONE of the most famous cer-emonies that is synonymouswith Phuket’s Vegetarian Fes-tival, or Jia Chai, is the soul-stirring parade of ‘ma song’,who are often seen stabbingobjects through their cheeks orslashing their tongues withknives, as they believe thissacrifice will take away badfortune, sickness and dangerfrom those who take part in thefestivities.

Thitipong Saisutthikul, 26, ahotel vice general manager hasbeen a ma song for seven years.

“I declined to be a ma songfor five years before I gave in,”said Thitipong.

“To become a ma song, youmust be chosen by ‘Phra’ [theangel’s spirit] and I was chosen.”

He recalled the first time thathe became possessed by hisPhra, Ong Sun Tai Sai, sixyears ago.

“I was hanging out in myhouse and suddenly my bodybecame paralyzed. I was frozenlike that for a few hours until Ibecame unconscious andstarted speaking Chinese. I was

told that after I spoke, I wrotedown the name of my Phra inChinese letters and ever sinceI have taken on the duty of be-ing a ma song.”

Mr Thitipong said that thetools he uses during festivalrituals are the classic ones usedin the legend of the Jia Chai.

“I normally use sharp steelor swords to stab my cheeks.It doesn’t cause pain, as I amunconscious at the time, but Ihave never used the fancytools that people have startedusing recently.”

He noted that, although theceremony is meant for the masong to suffer for other people,there is a legend and process toit and he does not agree withchanging tools to attract moreattention.

“There are some weaponsthat are mentioned in the leg-end, such as sharp steel andswords, but many people havenow started using wheels, trees,guns or even bicycles.”

“I don’t think it’s appropri-ate and it’s more for fashion andnot tradition. Many ma songsare campaigning and trying totell others to follow the legend.”

Mr Thitipong explained thatduring the festival, the ma songmust go to the shrine and waituntil their Phra possesses them.After they are unconscious, theshrine staff will sit them down,clean their cheeks with alcoholand use sharp steel to open ahole on each cheek and put inthe object that the ma song hadchosen beforehand.

After the processions, thema song will return to theshrine where a medical teamand shrine staff will remove thetools from his cheeks while thema song is still possessed inorder to avoid pain.

After the wounds arecleaned and closed, a ceremonyis performed to lure the spiritout of the ma song so that theywill become conscious again.

“I never feel bad about hav-ing scars on my face or feelingpain after the ceremony. I real-ize that I have been chosen andI am honored to sacrifice my-self to help people during theJia Chai Festival.”

And, though he said that JiaChai has changed a lot fromwhen he was young, he is gladto see that people are still

interested andkeep to the strictguidelines andtraditions, suchas wearingwhite and noteating any ani-mal products.

“It’s good tosee people com-ing from otherprovinces andother countries tojoin the festivaland ceremonies.Though theymay not under-stand itcompletely, byi n v o l v i n gthemselves inthe festivalthey will re-ceive healthand merit.”

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