QUEER NEWS 6; GUEST CHEF 13;HAPPENINGS 16; MOTORING 18;LIFESTYLE 19; MAKING TRACKS,ANDAMAN RANT 20; AMBROSIA

21; TAKE A BREAK 23 & 24;BOOKS, DIARY 25; EDITORIAL,LETTERS 26; HUMOR 28; HORO-SCOPES 29; COMPUTERS 30;BUSINESS AND MONEY 32 & 33;CLASSIFIEDS 40-51.

The Gazette is publishedin association with

IN THIS ISSUE

September 22 - 28, 2007Volume 14 Issue 38 News Desk - Tel: 076-236555 Daily news at www.phuketgazette.net 25 Baht

PLUS

Phuket mournsair-crash victimsNEWS: Patong sighs as tsu-

nami scare passes; FlightOG269’s impact on tourism.

Pages 2 & 3

SPECIAL: Survivors re-count the crash of FlightOG269. Pages 4 & 5

AROUND THE NATION: Loggingblamed for floods. Page 7

AROUND THE REGION: Heavyrains cause landslide.

Page 8

AROUND THE SOUTH: Politi-cians gunned down; Bomb-training blast. Page 9

AROUND THE ISLAND: Phuketbeauties strut for super-model stardom. Page 10

PEOPLE: Unique surgery givesboy new ear.

Pages 14 & 15

FIRST PERSON: World-classconductor inspires Thais toimagine and achieve.

Page 27

SPORTS: BB Gun battles;Cricket comes to Phuket;Badass Burmese; Darts.

Pages 34 & 35

PROPERTY: Gardening: Fra-grant flowers; Home of theWeek: New Thai style; Con-struction: New condotel;Property Watch: Landscap-ing. Pages 36-39

PHUKET: Less than twoweeks after an emergency re-sponse drill at Phuket Interna-tional Airport (PIA), the islandwas devastated by the events ofSunday, September 16 that sawOne-Two-Go flight OG269crash land, claiming the lives of89 people.

Memories of the 2004 tsu-nami were revived as rescueworkers jumped into action andwere on the scene within 10 min-utes after the McDonnell Dou-glas MD-82 skidded off the run-way and crashed.

About 3:45 pm, 56-year-oldIndonesian pilot Areef Mulyadiattempted to land the aircraft,which was carrying some 123passengers, five cabin crew, him-self and his Thai co-pilot.

At a press conference atthe airport on September 17,Phuket Airport Director Sq LdrPornchai Eua-aree said that thecrash was the result of a “mis-approach”, after which the pilotattempted to take off again withinsufficient speed and landed“hard” before sliding off the run-way, crashing into an embank-ment and breaking in two.

The pilot, co-pilot and threecrew members were killed, aswere many passengers in theforward section of the fuselage,where a fire broke out.

Some of the 41 survivorswere thrown from the fuselageas the plane crashed into theembankment, while others had todrag themselves and each otherto safety while the mangled planebecame engulfed in flames.

Several passengers risked

The wreckage of One-Two-Go Flight OG269 on the morning after it crashed at Phuket InternationalAirport, killing 89 passengers and crew. Some 41 passengers miraculously survived the crash andfire that followed. Photo by Sangkhae Leelanapaporn.

their own lives in heroic effortsto save fellow passengers. Alsohailed as heroes were the manyrescue workers who were on thescene in minutes to rush survi-vors to hospital.

Bodies recovered at thescene were taken to a makeshiftmorgue at Phuket Airport Hall,to the south of the main airportterminal.

Udom Thantprasongchai,managing director of Orient Thai,which operates One-To-Go, ar-rived in Phuket late that Sunday

night. As well as expressing hiscondolences and regret for thetragedy, K. Udom pledged trans-port and accommodation for fam-ily members of survivors, as wellas an initial 100,000-baht pay-ment for each victim.

PIA remained closed until4 pm the following day. PrimeMinister Surayud Chulanont ar-rived about 4:40 pm and visitedpatients at Bangkok Phuket andVachira Phuket Hospitals.

One source at the Aeronau-tical Radio of Thailand

(AeroThai) said the pilot tried toland amid heavy rain, low visibil-ity and a 30-knot crosswind.

Two “black box” flight re-corders were recovered fromthe site and have been sent to theUS for analysis to determine thecause of the crash and results areexpected soon.

Chaisak Angsuwan, direc-tor-general of the Air TransportDepartment, said “the objectiveis to seek the real reason [for thecrash] and to prevent it happen-ing again”.

By Gazette staff

N E W S2 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Patong breathes easy afterAmdaman tsunami scare

Patong eerily quiet following the earthquake off Sumatra, triggeringfears of another tsunami. Photo by Yongyot Preuksarak

PATONG: Following the highstate of tsunami alert on Septem-ber 12 after a major earthquakeoff the coast of Sumatra, Phuket’stourism industry returned to busi-ness as usual the following day,despite the excitement.

Indonesian government au-thorities issued a tsunami warn-ing after an earthquake measur-ing 7.9 on the Richter scale joltedparts of Java and Sumatra islandsat 6:10 pm on September 12.

After a national televisionbroadcast broke the news to theThai public about 7:30 pm, sea-side bars and shops in Patongquickly closed as throngs ofpeople headed calmly for higherground. Traffic jams were re-ported along Phra Barami Rd,which traverses Patong Hill.

Closer to the beach, KathuTraffic Police switched trafficflow along the road from two-way to one-way, heading awayfrom the beach. Access to thebeach road was temporarily re-stricted to allow people trying toleave the area – despite the lackof any official warning advisingthem to do so.

On Sainamyen Rd, peoplewalking to safety zones congre-

By Stephen Fein& Sompratch Saowakhon

gated outside 7-Elevens and Fam-ily Mart stores, which were do-ing a brisk trade in alcohol salesas cars and motorbikes slowlymoved away from the beach.

Following news of the ini-tial quake, Prime Minister Sura-yud Chulanont ordered the Na-tional Disaster Warning Center(NDWC) to monitor the situationclosely. From Phuket ProvincialHall, Phuket Vice-GovernorWorapoj Ratthasima urged allofficials and residents to staytuned and brace for a tsunami asa precaution.

NDWC Director Dr SmithDharmasaroja said that he be-lieved the earthquakes posed nodanger to the six Andaman prov-inces, so there was no need toactivate the warning-tower sirensor warning messages.

However, the fact that thewarning towers had not soundedany sort of warning was causefor concern for some.

As the hours passed, peoplestarted returning to the mainnightlife areas of the resort town.Many businesses remainedclosed for the night, however, and

the beachfront road was still quietat 10:30 pm.

Aroon Kerdsom, who headsthe provincial branch of the De-partment of Disaster Preventionand Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket),said his staff were ordered to re-port to the island’s 19 tsunamiwarning towers with emergencyvehicles and equipment, though hestressed that the move wasstrictly precautionary.

The DDPM-Phuket did notevacuate people from small out-lying islands as had happened inparts of Krabi and Phang Nga andhis staff were told to inform thepublic not to panic, he said.

However, many people inlow-lying coastal areas found thetelevised reports enough to war-rant evacuation.

About 9 pm, some 80people evacuated the LaemTukkae area for the safety ofPhuket Provincial Hall, whilesome coastal residents of Rawaimoved up to higher ground.

Many residents of Kamala,which was devastated by the2004 tsunami, did not wait for awarning before fleeing in panicto the safety of the nearby hills.

K. Aroon asked the publicto put faith in the information re-leased by the DDPM and not toevacuate areas unless advised.

CHERNG TALAY: Some 50 pro-testers gathered in front of theRed Room restaurant on Septem-ber 13 to protest the constructionof Phuket’s first Tesco-LotusExpress store.

The protesters claim that thework defied a stoppage order is-sued by the now-disbandedCherng Talay Tambon Adminis-tration Organization (OrBorTor).

The protest was held onSrisoonthorn Rd, just around thecorner from the project site on SoiBangtao 2. Throughout the pro-test, workers continued busily

Cherng Talay locals protest Tesco-Lotus branchworking on the building, nowabout 50% complete.

Bearing banners with mes-sages reading “Tesco is foreign-owned”, “No Tesco” and“Cherng Talay people don’t wantTesco”, the protesters circulatedcopies of documents supportingtheir position, including a copy ofa work stoppage order issued onJuly 27, signed by Samart Sagae,then-president of Cherng TalayOrBorTor.

The Cherng Talay OrBor-Tor four-year term ended August29. The administration has been

upgraded to tessabaan tambon(municipality) status. Its newcouncil will take office followingelections on October 7.

Another document pre-sented by the protesters was acopy of a complaint to CherngTalay Police filed by current Act-ing OrBorTor President SuwatPrakorbpol.

Filed on September 10, thecomplaint notes the OrBorTor’sintention to sue Tesco-Lotus forits failure to comply with the workstoppage order, which took effectAugust 1.

A statement issued by theprotesters claimed that the Tesco-Lotus Express convenience storewill cause many of the 1,000 orso small local retailers to closetheir stores, and that taxi and tuk-

KATHU: The Phuket ProvincialElectricity Authority (PPEA) hasannounced a scheduled blackoutfor Kathu on September 27 inorder to continue work on high-voltage power lines.

Power will be switched offfrom 9 am until 5 pm in the fol-lowing areas: Pra Phuket KaewRd, from the Tesco-Lotus inter-section to Wat Kathu, includingThe Valley, The Heritage, MooBaan Chalaykiri, Baan Kathu, SoiDara, Soi Baan Kathu School,Kathu Thani Village, Hope Land2 housing development, and SoiKathu 3, 4, 5 and 6.

This information is subjectto change without notice. Formore information or to check thelatest status call 076-211663.

Scheduled blackout

CHALONG: A body found bylocal fishermen on September 10was of a Thai woman who ap-parently committed suicide byjumping off Chalong Pier, policesay.

Lt Col Chana Suthimas ofChalong Police Station told theGazette that a group of fisher-men alerted police after theyfound the body floating near fish-ing boats at the pier at dawn.

The woman was later iden-tified as Sooksai Krairek, 45.

Col Chana was unable toconfirm or deny reports in the lo-cal media that a fisherman hadearlier witnessed a woman jumpinto the sea from Chalong Pier.

A relative of K. Sooksai,who was a resident of Chalong,identified the body, he said.

The same relative was sat-isfied with a police evaluation thatno foul play was involved in K.Sooksai’s death, although herdeath has yet to be ruled conclu-sively as a suicide, he added.

Col Chana declined to com-ment on why K. Sooksai wouldhave jumped from the pier orwhether any witnesses to theevent had been questioned.

Woman founddead at

Chalong Pier

tuk drivers will no longer beneeded as often because consum-ers will be able to walk to buygoods.

The statement also ques-tioned whether the project hadgained support through publichearings.

Any legitimate public hear-ing process must include thosewho stand to be most negativelyaffected by a project, but in thiscase none of those parties wereeven aware that a public hearinghad taken place, the statementread.

Martin Clutterbuck ofTesco-Lotus Corporate Affairsoffice confirmed to the Gazetteonly that the project in questionis a Tesco-Lotus retail branch. Hedeclined to comment further.

September 22 - 28, 2007 N E W S P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 3

Tourism to recoverby ‘high season’ –Tourism Minister

An Israeli couple on their honeymoon to Phuket died before evenstepping foot on the ground. Here, the father of the bride and motherof the groom sift though their belonging in tears.

PHUKET (The Nation, Gazette):The One-Two-Go crash landingon September 16 will affect Phu-ket’s tourism industry for only oneor two months, Tourism andSports Minister Suwit Yodmaneesaid on September 17, when hevisited the island with Prime Min-ister Surayud Chulanont andTourism Authority of Thailand(TAT) Governor Phornsiri Mano-harn.

Tourism should recover byend of the year, which is the peakseason, he said.

“The incident will surely hitthe tourism industry, but for ashort time. I hope it will reboundbefore the coming high season,”K. Suwit said.

Last year Phuket welcomedover five million tourists, gener-ating one-third of Thailand’s tour-ism income.

K. Suwit urged authoritiesto conclude investigations into themishap as soon as possible in or-der to restore confidence in airtravel to Phuket and nearby des-tinations.

Apichart Sankary, presidentof the Association of Thai TravelAgents (ATTA), also believes theimpact will be only short-term.“Tourists all over the world un-derstand that it was an accident.So there should be no doubt overthe issue. But if this is a humanerror, the damage could begreater,” said Apichart.

He urged the airline andstate agencies to make full dis-closure about the crash, whichkilled 89 people, mostly foreigntourists.

The tourism ministry hasordered all TAT offices overseasto provide correct information andassistance to victims’ families andtravel agents.

Charoen Wangananond,president of the Association ofDomestic Travel, said the overallnumber of air travelers could fall

By Janyaporn Morel

because many people would putoff their trips, especially toPhuket. However, he also be-lieved that tourists will soon re-sume traveling to the island.

Imtiaz Muqbil, executive di-rector of Bangkok-based TravelImpact Newswire, told onlinetravel magazine eTurbonews thathe did not think the accidentwould dent air travel to Phuket.

“Air disasters can happen toanyone, any time. This incidentwill not deter tourists from flyingto the island… This is purely badluck, with the airplane running intosevere weather and getting hitwith a down draft,” he said, add-ing that One-Two-Go had an ex-cellent safety record before thecrash.

Mr Muqbil believes thatwhatever the findings of the in-vestigation into the crash, one airdisaster will not affect tourism toPhuket, which has already recov-ered from the tsunami that killedthousands of people in Decem-ber 2004.

Thailand’s extensive airlinks, both domestic and regional,have ensured a plentiful, if not al-ways adequate, supply of seats,he stressed.

“The country has graduallydismantled the reciprocity-basedaviation policy to give more lee-way to international carriers while

also seeking more internationalaccess for national airline ThaiAirways International.

“Charters were also givenliberal permission to fly in duringthe high-density winter seasons,especially on routes not flown bythe scheduled airlines,” he said.

Suwalai Pinpradab, directorof the TAT’s Southern Region 4office in Phuket City, predictsonly a small and short-term ef-fect on tourism in Phuket, Krabiand Phang Nga.

“We checked with our For-eign Affairs Department and sofar there have been no cancella-tions reported from hotels,” shesaid.

Tour groups of Korean hon-eymooners, whose flights weredelayed by the 24-hour closure ofthe airport after the crash, did notcancel their trips, she noted.

Most tourists understandthat airplane crashes are rareaccidents that can occur any-where and anytime, she said.

Tourists were impressed bythe quick response by the gov-ernment, including the visit byPrime Minister Sarayud Chu-lanond to survivors in hospital,she said.

“We have previous experi-ence with this type of thing fromthe tsunami,” she added.

“Estimating from the num-ber of flights scheduled to landhere this coming high season, weexpect the number of touristscoming to Phuket this year willreach or exceed last year’s lev-els,” she said.

ATTA President K. Api-chart said just days before thecrash that Thailand was alreadyfacing a tough time attractingmore tourists due to a combina-tion of “negative factors”.

Tourism and Sports MinisterSuwit Yodmanee.PHUKET AIRPORT: As the

bodies of victims of the One-Two-Go flight OG269 disaster onSeptember 16 lay in a makeshiftmorgue at Phuket InternationalAirport (PIA), services at the air-port returned to normal within 24hours of the disaster, whichclaimed 89 lives.

Phuket Airport Director SqLdr Pornchai Eua-aree on Sep-tember 18 said that there was noproblem with the runway and thatthe accident was not caused bythe runway itself, although he wasunsure when the reasons for thedisaster would be known.

About 120 flights had to bere-routed to Krabi Airport insteadof PIA in the 24 hours after theair crash, with Phuket-bound pas-sengers forced to travel the re-maining distance by bus or van.PIA reopened for service at 4 pmon September 17.

K. Pornchai said that noflights had to be canceled, andthat Phuket was ready to wel-come Asian tourists to the island

for the Vegetarian Festival.On September 18, it was

announced that Phuket ProvincialInternal Trade Office ChiefSomphot Sangkhapong wasamong the dead,. The same daythe bodies of all Thai victims wereidentified by relatives.

The same day, HM KingBhumibol Adulyadej and HMQueen Sirikit donated 500,000baht to Bangkok Phuket Hospi-tal, 200,000 baht to Phuket Inter-national Hospital, and 100,000baht each to Vachira Phuket Hos-pital and Thalang Hospital.

The money was delivered onbehalf of HM The King andQueen Sirikit by Phuket Gover-nor Niran Kalayanamit.

Adding to their support, thePhuket Tourist Association(PTA) and Phuket Hotel Asso-ciation (PHA) provided 70 hotelrooms at 20 hotels free for rela-tives of the victims.

Udom Thantprasongchai,managing director of Orient Thai,which operates One-Two-Go,pledged 100,000 baht in compen-sation for each Thai victim.

By Gazette staff

Airport resumesnormal service

PHUKET CITY: Phuket CityPolice are investigating the deathof an inmate who died on the wayto hospital on the afternoon ofSeptember 11 after sufferingblows to the head and body witha heavy object.

Phuket Provincial PrisonDirector Paisal Suwanraksa hasconfirmed that the victim was38-year-old Sakulthep Konkaew,a Chiang Rai native who last yearbegan serving a two-and-a-halfyear sentence after being con-

Probe launched into prison deathvicted on theft and fraudcharges.

About 3:30 pm, K. Sakulthepwas rushed by prison officials toVachira Phuket Hospital, but dieden route. His corpse showed signsof having suffered a heavy blowat the base of his right ear, andbruises to his arms and torso.

K. Paisal, who was inBangkok at the time, said a fullinvestigation would be conducted.

A report of the death wasfiled with the governor’s office.

I N S I D E S T O R Y4 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Aircrash survivors

Long-term Phuket resident Robert Borland talks to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, Minister of Tourismand Sports Dr Suwit Yodmanee (left), and top management of Bangkok Phuket Hospital, includingDirector Dr Kongkiat Kespechara (2nd from left) and Managing Director Dr Krittavith Lertutsahaku.

Robert Borland, 48, haslived in Phuket for thepast 10 years. “I travelaround by plane quite a

lot from Phuket to Bangkok,Singapore and other places in theregion,” he told the Gazette.

He described the initialstages of the flight as completelyuneventful. “We hit a bit of tur-bulence during our journey. Thestaff asked us to buckle up ourseat-belts, which I did. This con-tinued for almost the whole jour-ney. We were flying throughquite a lot of cloud.

“As we approached PhuketAirport there were occasionalglimpses of the islands in PhangNga Bay. Then I saw the man-grove swamps near Phuket Air-port that you usually see just be-fore you land, so I thought that Iwas going to be home very soon.

“At this point, we were stillflying through quite a lot of cloud.As I looked outside the window,I noticed that we were going veryfast.

“We seemed to accelerateand go up. I thought to myself thatthe pilot knew what he was do-ing; he probably decided that the

Just days after One-To-Go flight OG269 crashed andburned at Phuket International Airport, as this editionof the Gazette was going to press, some of the 41

survivors were beginning to recount stories of the crash,their escape from the aircraft and the subsequent res-cue.

At Bangkok Phuket Hospital on September 17,Anand Singh interviewed Australian survivor RobertBorland, 48, who suffered 30% burns on his lower body,a broken bone in his back and a broken left arm.

Additional information comes from the staff of the Ga-zette and Nation.

conditions were not ideal to land,so he was going to go aroundagain. It would only be 15 or 20minutes more before I got home.

“Next thing I knew, therewas a loud bang! Something hitthe aircraft and put it off com-pletely. It went dark all of a sud-den and people were screamingand shouting a lot.”

Mr Borland was amongthose who maintained conscious-ness during the crash and had achance to escape before the fireand smoke became too strong,although he sustained serious in-juries.

“I looked at my arm andsaw that it was not where it wassupposed to be – I thought it mighthave even been someone else’sarm. But seeing my watch on thewrist confirmed that it was indeedmy arm. I felt I didn’t have anystrength left in my back, so I hadto crawl along the aisle to try toescape amidst the ensuingchaos.”

In the panicked rush to es-cape the burning fuselage, MrBorland was at a disadvantage.

“Other people were tryingto escape, and many of them

were stepping over and on top ofme. I was also on fire. My trou-sers were burning at that mo-ment.”

Mr Borland credits a manin a yellow shirt with saving hislife.

“I couldn’t get out of theaircraft, but I think there was aThai man and he had a yellowshirt on; he dragged me throughthe emergency exit and onto thewing. Because the wing was slip-pery, I slid off it and fell to theground below. I was seated in theaircraft’s midsection, near thewing and the emergency exit,which was quite lucky for me,”he said.

Mr Borland was among thelast survivors to make it safelyoff the aircraft.

“I looked behind me and Isaw a couple more people get offthe aircraft the way I did. Therewas a Caucasian girl with long

hair, and a man. I tried to getaway from the aircraft becauseI feared the engines would ex-plode. There was fire all over soyou never knew what would hap-pen. I looked across the drainageditch and there were two firetrucks that pulled over and start-ing spraying foam on the aircraft.

“The fire trucks were thereafter only a couple of minutes.One of the rescue workers sawme and shouted for me to comeacross to him. I shouted back inEnglish, “My back! My back!”indicating that I had injured myback and could not move. He re-alized that and walked across theditch to come and help me.

“He grabbed my hand andreassured me that everythingwas okay. He tried to move me,but I couldn’t help him because Icould not move at all. He had tocall two other rescue workers forhelp and they dragged me acrossthe ditch, which was the only waythey could do it, onto the concreteon the other side.”

Mr Borland was rushed toThalang Hospital, the nearestmedical facility to the airport.

“They asked me somequestions, like who I was andwhere I came from. They cutaway some of my clothes to takea look at my injuries, and shortlyafter that they put me into an-other ambulance and brought meto this hospital [Bangkok PhuketHospital].

“I have to say that the firebrigade were wonderful. I havespoken to the Australian embassyand they told me that my parentswill arrive tomorrow [September18] from Australia. I am veryimpressed with my government.They have taken care of mythings very well.

“I have received a call fromthe ambassador and the consularofficers were here today. I havehad many visits from Thai friendsand foreigners alike.

“They are all quite worried.I don’t think anyone can befaulted or blamed for this acci-dent,” said Mr Borland.

Another survivor seatednear an emergency door wasThai national Chatree Suksawas,26, who was taking his Canadiangirlfriend, Mildred Anne Furlong,

I N S I D E S T O R YSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 5

to visit his family in Phang Nga.He was the first passenger

to kick the emergency door open,moments after the crash.

Also speaking from a bedat Bangkok Phuket Hospital, K.Chatree said there was no warn-ing from the pilot. It appeared thatthe pilot wanted the passengersto believe that the situation wasunder control, he said.

However, K. Chatree

sensed something was wrong asthe plane came in to land duringa heavy storm. He felt the planehit the ground hard, causing it tobounce violently before sliding tothe left and crashing into the em-bankment that tore off the leftwing.

“I saw flames from thefront of the plane and me andmy girlfriend took off our seat-belts. We ran to the mid-plane

recall tales of terror

emergency door, which I kickedopen, and we jumped out. Look-ing back, we saw the plane wason fire. Although we narrowlyescaped, we could not imaginehow much grief and loss therewould be afterwards,” K. Cha-tree said.

K. Chatree and Miss Fur-long, both 23, suffered slight inju-ries. K. Chatree said that afterthey were admitted to Bangkok

Phuket Hospital, One-Two-Goairline officials informed them theairline would cover their medicalbills.

“It will take us a while be-fore we board a plane again,” headded.

When his parents arrived inPhuket to meet him, K. Chatreesaid he was grateful to be able toperform the Thai tradition of bow-ing down and touching their feet

as a sign of respect.“I felt like I almost died; I

didn’t know if I would ever beable to greet them like this again,”he said.

Miss Furlong said the jour-ney from Bangkok went well un-til the landing, when it felt like theplane was diving and the pilot wastrying to pull up.

Surviving was unbelievablebecause everything happened sofast, she said.

Other survivors said theplane landed hard and lost con-trol.

“You could tell we were introuble because it landed thencame up [off the tarmac] a sec-ond time,” said 50-year-old JohnGerard O’Donnell from Ireland,who was also speaking from abed at Bangkok Phuket Hospi-tal.

“I came out on the wing ofthe plane... the exit door wascrushed and I had to squeezethrough. I saw my friend outside.He had just got out before me.Next thing, the plane really caughtfire and I got badly burned on myface, legs and arms,” he said.

Marcel Squinobal, a 33-year-old restaurant-owner fromVorarl-berg Bregenz in Austria,said that as the plane landed, itbounced and swerved dramati-cally to both sides. He said therewere no warnings or instructionsfrom the cockpit or crew on howto evacuate.

“I don’t understand why wedidn’t re-route to Krabi. We couldhave taken a bus to Phuket,” saidMr Squinobal.

The restaurateur and sea-soned traveler said it was his firstand last time in Thailand, and oncehe flies home, he will never setfoot on a plane again.

“I love flying, but now, nomore,” he said.

Medical Staff treat patients at Bangkok Phuket Hospital, where the majority of survivors were rushed by rescue workers.

N E W S6 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Queer New s

YALA: Being a teacher in theDeep South during these troubledtimes takes a certain amount ofbravery and acceptance of per-sonal danger. It was perhapsthese qualities that helped oneteacher from Yala Province keephis head while all those about himwere losing theirs when facedwith a very real threat.

The threat, however, wasnot a rifle-toting youth, but anangry 10-foot python that ap-peared in a Bangkok restaurantduring a rainstorm.

At 9:30 pm on September11, Preechai Lochai, a teacherat a school in Yala’s BannangSata District, was enjoying amorning bowl of khao tom (ricesoup) on Samsen Rd in centralBangkok. K. Preechai, togetherwith two fellow teachers fromother provinces, sat calmlywatching the pouring rain andrising floodwaters on the citystreets.

Suddenly, all hell broke loosein the kitchen. The cook, whowas just about to fry some phakbung fai daeng (spicy aquaticmorning glory) screamed.Throwing down his spatula, he ranfrom the kitchen screaming to theowner that a huge snake had justpopped its head out of a hole.

In a panic, the owner andwait staff dropped what they weredoing and ran after the cook untilthey were a safe distance away.K. Preechai’s friends looked onin shock as they saw the causeof the commotion.

It was a thick-set pythonapproximately three meters long

Fearless teacher Preechai Lochai holds up the serpent that interruptedhis morning meal.

The pesky python

– and it was slithering straighttowards their table.

The snake made a coursefor K. Preechai. Before theteacher could take evasive action,the serpent wrapped itself aroundhis leg with all the constrictingpower that pythons are famousfor.

Rather than descending intohysterics as the staff had done,presumably due to his dealingswith some tricky customers in hisday job, K. Preechai bellowed out,“Southerners aren’t afraid ofsnakes,” before launching intobattle with the legless reptile.

K. Preechai used all his en-ergy trying to unravel the beastfrom his leg, but found it ratherhard to balance with a 10-footreptile around one of his limbs.The man and the snake ended uprolling round the restaurant in a

closely-fought dual that sentchairs and tables flying in all di-rections.

Neither man nor beast wasable to get the upper hand untila passer by, Narongthat Pathara-thitikul, waded in to the aid ofK. Preechai and grabbed thesnake’s head. With the fight nowtwo on one, the snake soon be-gin to tire and lose stomach forthe battle.

The combined force of K.Preechai and K. Narongthat wasenough to untangle the snakefrom K. Preechai’s leg and stuffit into a fertilizer sack that a help-ful spectator had provided.

The police and animal ser-vices were then called in to takethe snake away and release it backinto the wild where it wouldn’t beable to cause any more mischief.

Source: KomChadLuek

PATONG: The annual carnival toofficially welcome the arrival ofthe high season is set to be big-ger and better than ever this year,with the forthcoming three-day,high-season extravaganza fromNovember 1 to 3 set to mark the20th anniversary of the event.

Organizers of the PhuketCarnival at Patong are confidentthat this year’s spectacle, spon-sored by Koolest Co LtdBangkok, the Phuket Bulletin

and the Phuket Gazette, willmark the start of Phuket’s busi-est tourist season to date.

The aim of this year’s car-nival is to welcome tourists backto Phuket in response to thegovernment’s initiative to revivetourism in the Andaman regionfollowing the 2004 tsunami.

The theme for this year’sevent is “Season Beach Fest”,with three days of entertainmentand activities promoting the vari-

Phuket Carnival set to impressous highlights of Patong.

All activities will be held onSoi Bangla and Patong Beach in10 different zones, with a guidemap of the daily activities, com-plimentary coupons, activity-en-try cards and souvenirs to be givento all participants.

The three major types ofactivity set to take place are: fieldactivities, to be held from 1 pm to10 pm and include workshops,games and exhibitions of every-thing from photography to seafood.

This year the parade, to beheld from 6 pm until 7 pm on thefirst day of the carnival, will beled by children in costume, withaccompaniment from marinemascots and souped-up motor-cars.

Stage performances, sched-uled from 7 pm until 10 pm daily,include dance shows, music per-formances from the likes of hiphop star Joey Boy, cabaret showsand cocktail-drinking competi-tions.

For more information callKannika “Som” Saiphan at 081-2697731 or Nawatida “Bow”Boachoti at 089-1079809.

TRASHING

PhuketStudents

of Brit-ish In-

t e r n a t i o n a lSchool (BIS)earn theirgreen stars atNai Harn Beach. Armed with plastic gloves and bags, theyoung environmentalists teamed up with parents and teach-ers on Saturday September 15 to collect discarded rubbishand give the beach a fresh, new look.

The beach clean-up was Phuket’s contribution to thisyear’s Clean Up the World weekend; a global environmen-tal awareness campaign that organizers hope will inspirecommunities to conserve their local environments.

Many other cleanups were held around the island aspart of the international day.

For more information visit www.cleanuptheworld.org

A R O U N D T H E N A T I O NSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 7

Loggers blamed for flash floods

Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police Special Operations Division Commander Maj Gen Jakkrathip Chaijindaheld a press conference to announce the arrest of a four-member gang dealing ya bah (methamphet-amine). The four were arrested on September 13 after a successful investigation led police to a homein Bangkok’s Bangkapi district, where two sniffer dogs uncovered 16,000 ya bah pills.

Also seized were four firearms with ammunition, 11 bankbooks and 700,000 baht in cash.Police estimated the value of the drugs at 4.8 million baht.

Ad- Siam Pickpack (Phuket)

2X3

K. Anna

Illegal logging has beenblamed for the September10 flash floods in Phetcha-bun’s Lom Kao district that

caused several deaths and exten-sive damage to local villages.

Thao Kaewyom, Chief ofTambon Na Sum, said the flooddisaster was the worst to hit thearea in 60 years. He believed itwas due to illegal logging onnearby mountains.

Seven villages of TambonNa Sum were affected, he said.

An inspection found 657houses were partially damagedand two bridges destroyed by thepre-dawn floods.

Two people in Tambon NaSum were killed, 30 were injuredand a pregnant woman is listedas missing.

K. Thao said that TambonNa Sum and surrounding areasin Lom Kao district had a net-work of illegal loggers on themountains linked to a certain stateofficial, but he could not stop themor speak too much about thembecause it might cause trouble tohis family.

Flooding also devastatedareas in nearby Lom Sak District,where a family of three waskilled when their house waswashed away.

Parts of Loei and Phit-sanuloke provinces also sufferedsevere flooding.

Master plan. Information andcommunications technology(ICT) development in Thailand inthe next five years will move to-wards making the country a new“connected nation”, with peopleat all levels having a chance touse ICT for “self-sufficiency”.

That is the mission set outin the country’s second ICT mas-ter plan for 2007 to 2011, draftedby the ICT Ministry.

The second plan, now in theapproval process, aims to useICT to benefit society and theeconomy, while reducing the“digital divide” in the country.

The plan also aims to in-crease the value of ICT use inThailand from only 3.6% of grossdomestic product in 2005 to 8%by the end of 2011.

Panjai Tantatsanawong,head of the consultant team whodrafted the plan, said it woulddrive the expansion of telecom-munications infrastructure toreach people in remote areas atan affordable price to give every-one a chance to be connected tothe Internet and receive equalICT services.

Suvarnabhumi slump. The As-sociation of Thai Travel Agents(ATTA) has warned of a sharpdrop in the number of foreigntourist arrivals at Bangkok’sSuvarnabhumi Airport.

According to ATTA, thenumber of foreign tourists whoarrived at Suvarnabhumi betweenJanuary and August, after book-ing through travel agencies, to-taled 1.57 million, down by350,000 (15.3%) from 1.92 mil-

Proud Pooches

lion during the corresponding pe-riod last year.

The figures do not includethe large number of tourists whobook directly with airlines or en-ter the country at other interna-tional airports in the country.

ATTA said that the globaleconomic slowdown, Thailand’spolitical turmoil, rumors thatBangkok was targeted for morebombings and the sharp fluctua-tions in major currencies had beenthe main negative factors affect-ing the tourist industry.

Discovered endangered. Newspecies of gecko and streamskink have been found in a wild-life sanctuary in Chiang Mai’sChiang Dao mountains, prompt-ing wildlife authorities to listthem for national protection.

The National Park, Wildlifeand Plant Conservation Depart-ment’s Wildlife Conservation Of-fice listed the newly discoveredspecies as the Chiang Daostream skink and the Chiang Daowild gecko.

Four or five Chiang Dao

stream skinks – with scalyheads, brown bodies five centi-meters long and tails six centi-meters long – were found in atrap set in a mountainous pineforest during a wildlife study ofthe area.

The new gecko – nine cen-timeters long with a brown-and-yellow, scaly body – was foundin a bird trap.

After details of the newspecies were officially published,they would be classified as pro-tected, it was announced.

Media ban. The Domestic-Vio-lence Victim Protection Act willbar media from reporting on do-mestic violence cases after theyreach the hands of police inves-tigators.

Suwit Khantharoj, whoheads the Social Developmentand Human Security Ministry’sOffice of Women’s Affairs andFamily Development, said theban on news reports was in-tended to keep families from fall-ing apart.

News coverage sometimes

stood between family memberswho could have otherwise rec-onciled.

The act will take effectNovember 13, he said.

“We do not mean to infringeon press freedom. It is just thatmedia should think about humanrights too,” said K. Suwit.

Cyber cops. Following heavycriticism from the cyber commu-nity for the way the police haveexercised their power under the2007 Computer Crime Act, theDepartment of Special Investiga-tion (DSI) wants to investigate allonline cases of lèse majesté andcomputer hacking.

Col Yannaphol Yangyuen,head of the DSI’s Data Centerand Inspection Division, said hewould seek Cabinet approval forministerial regulation to allow allcases where suspects haveposted offensive comments aboutthe monarchy on the Internet tobe automatically transferred tothe DSI.

“This is to make the newComputer Crime Act more effi-cient and enable us to arrest morepeople who violate the law,” hesaid.

If the regulation is passed,cases of hackers who break intogovernment computer systems inorder to steal, change or destroyinformation would also be trans-ferred to the DSI, he said.

Currently, the national com-mittee on special investigationsdecides which cases should betransferred to the DSI.

The Computer Crime Act,which came into effect July 18,was immediately controversialfollowing the arrest of two peoplelast month for offensive com-ments they posted on Internetchat rooms.

Long-necks relocated. In re-sponse to local authorities’ initia-tive to gather all long-neck hilltribepeople in the province into onearea, eight families of long-neckKaren tribespeople living in MaeHong Son province willinglymoved to the Ban Huai PooKaeng community on September12.

Arriving on a six-wheeledtruck, about 20 territorial-de-fense volunteers showed up attheir old community of Ban HuaiSua Thao to help with their relo-cation.

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

A R O U N D T H E R E G I O N8 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

MAIN PHOTO: A large chunk of the road, sidewalk and steel barrier plunged 40 meters down the slope. The landslide brought traffic to astandstill. INSET: The road was reopend, but with warning signs marking only one lane open past the affected area.

Heavy rain causes landslide

ANDAMANCOASTINGB y F r a n k y G u n

Franky Gun is an expat writer,artist, designer, scuba diver andbusinessman who left Germanyin 1991 to live in Thailand. Hemoved to Khao Lak in 2001 andhas since called Khao Lak home.Franky can be contacted viaemail at: avalon@loxinfo.co.th

Khao Lak is a busyplace these days witha sweet scent in theair; that of a fresh and

promising high season comingsoon. At the moment, it’s not aplace to be found if you don’twant to hear the sound of ham-mers and power tools, since ev-eryone is trying to get ready forthe action.

A number of new shopshave mushroomed in the pastfew months, so many it is almostimpossible to keep track. In ad-dition, Khao Lak has never seenas many low-season tourists asduring this rainy season.

Since the past few monthshave been a healthy mix of sunnyand rainy stretches, it is possiblethat many tourists have enjoyedtheir off-season time here andwill return next year.

While tailor shops were thebusiness “idea” of choice in pre-tsunami times, nowadays it isoptical shops going for broke. Thebiggest player here, K.T. Optics,has opened two shops near theNang Thong Supermarket; bothlocated only a few hundredmeters from each other.

There are at least threeother optical shops close by, re-sulting in five shops offering thesame product in an area approxi-mately the size of a football field.Great planning, I must say! LikeDoctor Evil once said in thatAustin Powers movie, “Whowants billions if you can have…millions?”

Slipping away. “Great planning”also resulted in a major landslidealong the serpentine part ofPetchkasem Rd, near the BaanKrathing restaurant.

After heavy rainfall on thenight of September 12, a part ofthe recently-built walkway forpedestrians, with its shiny, stain-less-steel railing that fits so per-fectly into the natural surround-ings, suddenly slid down the 40-meter deep abyss along with apart of the road and ended up justa few meters away from a build-

ing near the beach.No casualties were re-

ported in what is either a miracleor the result of nobody diggingthrough the debris to find out ifan unfortunate pedestrian was inthe wrong place at the wrongtime.

Half of the road wasblocked for a few hours. Sincethe slide appeared just behind acurve, there was no chance fordrivers to realize that there wastraffic congestion just a fewmeters ahead.

Flashing lights warning on-coming traffic of the dangerswere installed the next day aftera few collisions suggested thatthis would be a good idea.

Photographic evidenceshowed that the area where theslide occurred was filled up withsand. The rainwater streamingdown from the hills of Khao Lakcarved out the sand filling underthe road and around the concretecolumns until the whole structuresimply collapsed.

The remaining question

here is not whether the next at-tempt to fix this problem will beplanned and executed profes-sionally; the question is whetherofficials will even realize that wehave a big problem here that couldcut off Khao Lakfrom Phuket virtu-ally overnight in thefuture.

Businessmenin Khao Lak fearthat even weirderplanning and badtiming could spoilthe coming high sea-son for residentsand visitors alike.

Huge blackrubber tubes havebeen placed allalong PetchkasemRd. These tubes will be part ofan advanced fresh-water supplynetwork, connecting Tai Muangand Takuapa.

Since these tubes will beburied alongside Petchkasem Rd,and with the project having al-most reached the Tub Lamu in-tersection (only five kilometerssouth of Khao Lak) there is agood chance that constructionwill reach the center of Khao Lakby November or December, rightin the middle of high season.

We have witnessed similarincidents in the past, like the wid-ening of Petchkasem Rd to fourlanes in 2003 and 2004, wherebad timing turned Khao Lak into

a major construction site withseveral shops being inaccessibleduring high season.

While the enhancement ofinfrastructure in the Khao Lakregion is a necessity and a posi-

tive thing, ev-eryone herewonders whythis always hasto be done inthe time be-tween Novem-ber and April?

On abrighter note,Khao Lak isgetting a hugebook storecalled BookTree. It will belocated in the

new shopping plaza opposite theBank of Ayudhya on PetchkasemRd, covering two stories and sev-eral rows of the northern shop-house complex.

The book store will be openin time for the coming high sea-son and is yet another step for-ward in enhancing Khao Lak’sinfrastructure.

A R O U N D T H E S O U T HSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 9

Local politicians gunneddown in separate attacks

Police and soldiers prepare to patrol Route 410 between Pattani and Yala following the shootingattack of a bus carrying District Defense volunteers in Pattani’s Yarang district on September 10.

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

Amember of the KhuanChun Tambon Admin-istration Organization(OrBorTor) was shot

dead on his doorstep in NakhonSri Thammarat’s Ron Phibun dis-trict in the early hours of Sep-tember 11.

Having just returned froma funeral, 36-year-old Phon-kamon Suksa-at was opening hisfront door about 2:20 am whenassailants opened fire on himwith a shotgun and an M-16 as-sault rifle.

Arriving at the scene, po-lice found K. Phonkamon’s bodylying on the doorstep. An autopsyrevealed that he had been shotonce in the thigh with a shotgunand multiple times in the back,neck and head with an M-16.Police collected eight spent M-16 cartridges from a dark cornernear the home, where police be-lieve the gunmen hid while await-ing K. Phonkamon’s return.

Inside the house, officerswere met by K. Phonkamon’swife Wiyada Thanirat, 25, whowas still in shock. K. Wiyada toldofficers that she heard her hus-band pull up outside on his mo-torbike and call for her to openthe front door. Then she heard abarrage of shots ring out. Whenthe gunfire was over, she openedthe door to find her husband ly-ing dead, she told police.

Maj Wonjit Wongsri, an In-vestigating Officer at Ron PhibunDistrict Police Station, said thatK. Phonkamon had been seendriving away from a neighbor’sfuneral with a woman riding pil-lion on his motorcycle. Policehave yet to establish the identityof the passenger, he added.

“We are not yet ready todraw any conclusions as to themotive for the killing, but we arefocusing on three lines of inves-tigation: adultery, as we havefound some information givingweight to this theory; local poli-tics and business interests,” MajWongjit said.

“We have to look into [K.Phonkamon’s] involvement inthe contracting business and alsoas to whether there were anydisputes with other OrBorTormembers,” he added.

Lt Col Chedchai Mosika,Deputy Superintendent of RonPhibun District Police Station,said the attack was the first inthe area involving the use of anassault rifle. Police have foundno records of any person in thearea legally possessing such aweapon and presume that it wasbrought in from another area, hesaid.

Officers are focusing onadultery as the most likely mo-tive for the killing, Col Chedchaiadded.

Two days earlier, on Sep-tember 9, another local politicianwas shot and left in a coma inneighboring Phra Phrom district.Damrong “Phu Yai Jui” Opsaen-thong, 47, Chief of Village 3 inTambon Thai Samphao, was shottwice while he was working inhis office. Police believe the at-tack was politically-motivated.

Laos busted. Border Patrol Po-lice in Surat Thani arrested two

Lao men in possession of almost1,000 ya bah (methamphet-amine) pills on September 11.

Lt Chawalit Kangkharat,head of a special task force fromSurat Thani-based Border PatrolPolice Unit 417, led a 10-manteam to arrest Rat Duangbupha,28, and Am Sribunreuang, 30,after arranging to buy drugs fromthem.

They met the two sus-pected dealers in Surat Thani’sTha Chang district, by the sideof the Surat-Tha Chang road.After revealing themselves aspolice, they searched the sus-pects and seized 930 ya bah pills,a mobile phone and the motor-cycle the men had arrived on.

Police said that the twomen had been smuggling drugsfor a long time. They bought yabah pills in Laos for 70 to 80 bahteach and sold them in Thailandfor 150 to 200 baht.

The two men, both Laocitizens, were charged with en-tering Thailand illegally and pos-session of drugs with the intentto distribute. They were thenhanded over to Tha Chang Dis-trict Police for processing.

Accidental blast. Two policetrainers and three new recruitswere injured when a bomb ex-ploded during a training demon-stration at an Army Rangerscamp in Nakhon Sri Tham-marat’s Sichon district on Sep-tember 13.

About 4:45 pm, Pol L/CAekachai Jantharamas was con-ducting a training session in theuse of explosives when a bombbeing used in the exercise ex-

ploded. Cpl Aekachai lost hisright arm in the blast.

Three new recruits, SinuanChusriwet, Thawatchai Hong-saengsi and a man identified onlyas “Chalermchai”, receivedshrapnel wounds.

Sgt Maj Somphong NaNakhon was also injured, suffer-ing shrapnel wounds to the back.

All five men were taken toMaharaj Hospital for treatment.

The injured recruits were allbeing trained to be sent to therestive southern provinces. Aninvestigation into the cause of theexplosion will be launched.

Killings continue. One soldierwas killed and four others seri-ously injured when a group of in-

surgents ambushed them with abomb attack and a hail of gun-fire on September 17.

The ambush took place ona bridge in Village 7, TambonLuboh Yiro, Pattani’s Mayo Dis-trict. The five soldiers were pa-trolling the road in a pickup truckabout 8:30 am when insurgentsstruck, detonating a bomb thoughtto have weighed about 15 kilo-grams, blowing the soldiers offthe back of their truck.

Police said the insurgentsthen opened fire on the soldiers,but the driver, Sgt Maj 1st ClassSermsak Kanchanaphet, 47,fired back, causing them to re-treat.

Sgt Maj Sermsak, who suf-fered multiple cuts by bomb

shrapnel, died behind the wheel.Earlier in the week, on Sep-

tember 11, suspected insurgentsshot dead a retired police officerin Pattani and a 21-year-old manwas found shot dead in a similarattack in Yala.

The victims were identifiedas Pol Sen Sgt Major WicharnNamikul, 52, and Useng Yusoh,21, a resident of Tambon Sateng-nok, Yala.

K. Wicharn was shot deadwhen he was hit at close rangewith three shots by a gunmanwho approached from behind ona motorbike, police said.

K. Useng’s brother, Mah-yuding Yusoh, 36, suffered gun-shot wounds in the attack andwas rushed to a nearby hospital.

In Narathiwat, combinedsecurity forces the same dayconfiscated three M-16 rifles,one AK47, one shotgun, a largeamount of ammunition and 200liters of fuel in Rusoh district.

The shakedown came a daybefore Muslims in the restive re-gion prepared to observe the holymonth of Ramadan.

In a concession to localconcerns about the holiday, thearmy said that from September12 to October 21 it would lift acurfew imposed since March ontwo of the most violent districtsin Yala province.

More than 100 suspectedinsurgents have been arrestedsince September 9 and taken todetention camps at army bases,where they are questioned andoften go through “re-education”programs.

Unless charged, suspectsmust be released after 30 days.However, they can be detainedmultiple times in subsequent se-curity sweeps.

A R O U N D T H E I S L A N D10 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

By Semacote Suganya On the way toSupermodel status

Aspiring young femalesstrutted their stuff onthe catwalk at Jung-ceylon earlier this

month for regional judging of theThai Supermodel 2007 contest,which will see 40 contestantsfrom around the nation compet-ing for cash and prizes plus thechance to win exclusive model-ing contracts in association withChannel 7 TV.

Professional model Kan-chanaponr Prodprai was amongthe judges who selected threeyoung Phuket ladies to join the 10regional finalists narrowed downfrom 1,191 applicants, who hadto be between15 and 24 years old,unmarried, at least 168 centime-ters tall and possess a great per-sonality to qualify.

Of the applicants who ap-plied for the contest, just 41 wereselected to demonstrate theirprowess on the catwalk in theregional judging at Jungceylon.

The Phuket finalists were tojoin the other 30 regional winnersfrom contests in Udon Thani,Chiang Mai and Bangkok at Cen-tral World in Bangkok on Septem-ber 18, when 20 models were tobe selected for the final round tobe held on November 15, also atCentral World.

Among the top prizes onoffer from the sponsors are300,000 baht in prize money, aToyota Vios, a year’s supply ofSealect Tuna and Pantene hairproducts, a HP Compaq Note-book and a professional portfoliophoto shoot.

Thai Supermodel 2007sponsors will also present the top10 in the final with cash awardsof 20,000 baht each and the 20runners-up will receive 8,000 bahteach. Twenty models will also beselected for Editors’ Choiceawards to receive cash prizesand supplies of sponsors’ prod-ucts.

For the ambitious, the ThaiSupermodel contest is the chanceof fame and fortune, while othercontestants are just having fundressing up in nice clothes andshowing off while they’re on theirschool holidays.

Of the 10 chosen to go toBangkok, the Phuket beautywearing number 1 as she gracedthe catwalk was 16-year-oldKanchana “Maew” Artcharoenfrom Thalang School, whoseheight was a winning trait withthe judges.

“My friends at school arealways joking about my height. Iam not much good at anythingelse, so I thought I’d give model-ing a try,” Maew said.

Fellow finalist Chan “Noy-na” Jitsopol introduced herself,“As my school is closed for theholidays, I wanted to have some-thing to do. My parents supportedme strongly to enter this contestand I really like the catwalk.”

For Phuket Rajabhat Uni-versity students, 21-year-oldKwansiri “Ping Pong”Boonromand 23-year-old Boonyada“June” Saechan, modeling issomething they’ve always

wanted to do and jumped at thechance of being part of a nationalcontest that could be the start ofa career in a the global industry.

“It has been my dream tobe a model since I was kid andThai Supermodel has given methe chance to give it a go,” saidPingpong. June agreed.

The Gazette wishes themthe best of luck and hopes theydemonstrate to the judges anotherside of Phuket’s natural beauty.

To view the contestants’ portfo-lios and vote online forThailand’s most alluring glamorgirl, visit www.tsm.ch7.com

Above: 16-year-old Kanchana “Maew” Artcharoen (left)from Thalang takes on the big girls in the pose-off.

Above, right: Rosesukol “Gift” Pejsuwan, 16, struts herstuff on the catwalk.

Right: Chan “Noyna” Jitsopol (in black dress) looksintensely at the judges while waiting for the decision.

September 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 11

12 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Ad- Kang Eang@PierHalf pageK. Able

G O O D L I V I N GSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 13

Indian innovationChef Muhammad ShahaLatif, 33, from India,started his career whenhe was 15 in New

Delhi, where he went on to be-come executive chef of the pres-tigious Taj Mahal Hotel, cateringto celebrities and well-knownpoliticians.

“When I was training as ayouth at the Hyatt Regency Delhi,everyone was understandablybusy with their own work, so Ihad to watch and learn by takingmy own notes on how they pre-pared each dish. I learned mostof my cooking skills by watchingother chefs cook and helping themwhenever I was needed,” he re-calls.

While working at HyattRegency Delhi, he representedthe hotel at a culinary competi-tion during the Mango Festival inNew Delhi. His diligence and at-tention to detail during his train-ing resulted in him receiving thesilver medal at the competition.He worked as a trainee for threeyears before moving onto to offi-cially begin his career.

His next positions were asassistant chef at establishmentssuch as Le Meridien New Delhiand Shangri-La Hotel, NewDelhi. While at the Shangri-LaHotel, he was chosen to repre-sent the hotel during a roadshowthroughout China where he pre-pared various Indian dishes atexhibitions to promote Indian foodand tourism.

After assisting chefs andperfecting his craft, he finallyachieved the position of execu-tive chef at the famed Taj MahalHotel where hecooked forvarious Indiancelebrities, mu-sicians andpoliticians in-cluding IsraeliPrime MinisterAriel Sharon and Pakistani PrimeMinister Shaukat Aziz. He wasalso responsible for catering towedding parties of up to 2,000people during his time at the ho-tel.

As the popularity of Indianfood began to rise outside of In-dia, including here in Phuket,Chef Latif decided to come toThailand in December 2006 towork as executive chef atBangles Restaurant at HiltonPhuket Arcadia Resort & Spa inKaron.

The restaurant, which seatsup to 45 guests under cover andup to 80 guests when tables areset up on the terrace, allows ChefLatif to explore the cuisine he hasbeen perfecting for quite sometime.

However, Chef Latif ex-plains that, when first coming towork at Bangles, it was difficultfor him to find the necessary in-gredients to be used in Indiancuisine.

“In the beginning, we had tomake do with substitutes for spe-cific ingredients I like to use. Forexample, we could not findKashmiri chili powder at the mar-kets here in Phuket, so we had tomake do with paprika powder in-stead.

“Kashmiri chili powder

chefGuest

By Anand Singh

gives the food a rich and distinc-tive red color that cannot beachieved with other chili pow-ders,” he says.

“Once we opened and ev-erything started to fall into place,we were able to slowly start tofind suppliers for different ingre-dients. Now everything hassettled down and we have access

to everythingessential forIndian cuisine.

“ M a n yingredients weuse are nowreadily avail-able from In-

dian shops in Phuket. However,some ingredients, such as carda-mom, have to be ordered fromsuppliers in Bangkok that importthem from India,” he adds.

India is renown for its vary-ing customs and traditions in dif-ferent regions. Chef Latif ex-plains that it is no different whenit comes to the cuisine. Some res-taurants specialize in North Indiandishes while others feature onlySouth Indian dishes.

Chef Latif started withlearning how to cook North In-dian cuisine but later diversifiedhis training and skills to includeculinary specials from South In-dia as well. Consequentially,dishes from both regions are onthe menu at Bangles.

His own innovations are alsoincluded on the menu. One suchdish is Lashuni Murg Tikka,which blends many herbs andspices together to give a distinc-tive taste that has been well re-ceived by diners enjoying theirfirst tastes of Indian cuisine.

Lashuni Murg Tikka is anadaptation of the popular dishskewed kebab. However, ChefLatif says that dish is normallyquite dry, so for his creation heuses both yogurt and a variety ofIndian spices to give the dish aricher, more savory taste.

Lashuni Murg TikkaServes 1

Ingredients1st marination175g Boneless chicken leg20g Fresh ginger paste30g Fresh garlic paste10g Turmeric powder15g Chili powder15g Lemon juiceSalt to taste

2nd marination50g Besan (gram flour)20g Chopped garlic10g Chopped coriander10g Chili powder25g Whipping cream50g Vegetable oil

MethodCut the chicken and rinse themeat in water. Mix the gingerpaste, garlic paste, salt, turmericpowder and lemon juice in abowl. Add the chicken to the mixand set aside in a refrigerator, atabout 7º Celsius.

After one hour, take themixture out of the refrigerator anddrain all excess liquid. Add thebesan (gram flour), then thechopped garlic and coriander.Coat the chicken with vegetableoil using your hands. Last, add thewhipping cream and thoroughlymix all the ingredients with thechicken.

Place the pieces of chickenon a skewer and grill in a tandoor(Indian clay oven) preheated to200ºC to 225ºC. Grill the chickenfor five minutes, remove fromheat and, while cooling, lightlysprinkle the chicken with waterthen let it stand for three minutes.Place the chicken back in thetandoor and repeat the cyclethree more times.

Once the chicken has agolden brown color, it is ready tobe removed from the skewer andserved. The dish can be served

with mint sauce and onion, withrice or naan as an accompani-ment.

Dum Ki ChapServes 1

Ingredients150g Lamb chops40g Low fat yogurt40g Cashew nut paste1g Saffron20g Red chili powder15g Gram masala12g Green cardamom35g Butter40g Tomato paste

Chef Muhammad Shaha Latif (above)established his career in New Delhi, Indiabefore moving to Phuket, where he nowshowcases his innovative culinary delightssuch as Lashuni Murg Tikka (right) andDum Ki Chap (far right).

25g Fried onion10g Ginger paste15g Garlic paste40ml Whipping creamSalt to taste

MethodRinse the lamb chops and placethem in a cooking pot. Add all theother ingredients into the pot andthoroughly mix them with thelamb chops. Let it sit at room tem-perature.

After 15 minutes, seal thetop of the pot and tightly wrap itwith aluminum foil. Put thewrapped pot into an oven that hasbeen preheated to 160ºC to 180ºCand bake for 50 to 55 minutes.

After the lamb chops havebeen cooked to a tenderness ofyour liking, remove them from theoven. Place the lamb chops in askillet and lightly add water tocreate a curry sauce and reheatover medium heat on the stovefor about two minutes.

Check both the seasoningand consistency of the sauce andthen serve with either roti ornaan.

P H U K E T P E O P L E14 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Hearing amessage ofkindnessPadungsak “Neung”

Suttipol has worked asgeneral-service staff atMom Tri’s Boathouse

for 10 years. Over the years heand his son Dodo became friendswith regular guest Juraj Petrasfrom Slovakia. “I knew MrPetras from his visits to Phuketevery year between Decemberand January,” K. Neung ex-plained.

After several visits, MrPetras finally plucked up thecourage to ask K. Neung whyDodo always wore a bandageover the left side of his head. Theanswer moved Mr Petras, inspir-ing him into action. K. Neung hadexplained that Dodo was bornwith congenital malformation:Dodo was born without a left ear,leaving him almost completelydeaf on his left side.

“Mr Petras is not actually adoctor, but he is a friend of a doc-tor. I have known him for manyyears because he likes to pop infor meals at the restaurant whereI work,” K. Neung explained.

“I told Mr Petras Dodo’sstory and he said that he had afriend who is a plastic surgeon andthat he would consult with him totry and help,” he added.

K. Neung heard nothingfrom Mr Petras for about twomonths, thinking all that time thatMr Petras had made an emptypromise. Actually, Mr Petras wasso moved by Dodo’s plight thathe decided to help him by holdinga number of awareness rallies inBratislava to build support forDodo.

Mr Petra attained supportfrom Dr Vlastibor Minarovjech,head physician at Bratislava Hos-pital, and the pair gained sponsor-ship from local companies topresent Dodo with an unforget-table 13th-birthday present – a leftear.

Last February, Dr Mina-rovjech and his wife visitedPhuket to meet K. Neung andassess the extent of Dodo’s mal-formation. “The first thing he saidwas to leave the problem to himand his wife. His wife told me notto worry and that they will helpDodo and give the boy a chanceto have something he had neverhad before,” said K. Neung.

Then in May, Dodo and hisfather received a special mes-

Padungsak “Neung” Suttipol was born in Lampangprovince in Northern Thailand and has been livingwith his family in Phuket for 10 years. A decade-

long employee of Mom Tri’s Boathouse, working in gen-eral services, K. Padungsak has two sons: Noom, 7, andPratchaya, or “Dodo”, 13.

Dodo is top of his class at Baan Kata School and histeachers say he is a shining example to other students.His academic achievements are noteworthy for more thana father’s pride – Dodo was born with one ear and is al-most completely deaf on his left side.

Semacote Suganya reports.

sage from Slovakia pledging apair of airplane tickets to Brati-slava (courtesy of Mr Petras),three weeks hotel accommoda-tion and reconstructive surgery onDodo’s left ear. The surgery wasto be the first of a two-step pro-cedure over the course of oneyear. “I felt like that was the mostwonderful gift my son could everget,” said K. Neung.

When he was younger,Dodo was teased at school by hisclassmates. After cooperationfrom teaching staff, the name-calling stopped and Dodo waseventually accepted as a normalboy, although he still wore a ban-dage most of the time.

K. Neung explained the try-ing times his family went throughwhen years ago they gave uphope of treatment for Dodo. “Icollected money and got him tothe first operation at King Mong-

kul Hospital in Bangkok aboutseven years ago.

“After the operation, itseemed like nothing had changed.My son could still hear on onlyone side. I worked very hard tosave that money; nearly 200,000baht,” said K. Neung.

He explained that the treat-ment at Bratislava Hospital wascompletely different to that at aThai hospital. “At King Mongkul,Dodo stayed in the hospital for amonth and took pills four times aday. In Slovakia, we were in therefor only one night.

“The operation began at 10am and lasted about five hoursand we left in the afternoon. Nowhe still cannot hear 100% on hisleft side, but it is better than be-fore,” he said.

“In March next year, DrMinarovjech will visit again andcheck on Dodo’s progress. Mr

Thirteen-year-old Dodo wakes up from a five-hour operation to givehim something he has never had before: a left ear.

Maitree Narukatpichai, Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort &Spa Owner Representative (right) hosted a soft openingof the new boutique resort, Villa Zolitude, located in thefoothills of the Naerd Range, on September 6.

Exclusive guests and travel agents attended theevent, including Assistant Directors of the TourismAuthority of Thailand (TAT) Southern Region 4 Office,Runjuan Tongrut (center) and Anoma Wongyai (left).

Nestled on a lush hillside, the resort offers guestsluxurious Moroccan style accommodation and com-mands expansive views of Chalong bay.

Finding Zolitude

P H U K E T P E O P L ESeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 15

HappilyEver AfterRecently married in Phuket

Woody Leonhard and Duangkhae “Add”Tongthueng married in a private ceremonyon August 28, followed by a reception at LeMeridien Phuket Beach Resort, south ofPatong.

Petras has supported us for all thecosts of treatment and travel ex-penses while Dr Minarovjechactually performed the treat-ment,” he added.

“Although it was a compli-cated operation due to existingscar tissue, it went as well as wecould have been hoped for,” LisaSol, PR manager at Mom Tri’sBoathouse, said. “We all knewbefore the operation that it was avery difficult task because theycould not use standard methodsto reconstruct the ear.

“Through the methods em-ployed though, they have beenable to construct a new ear. It’salready beginning to show itsnatural contours and in one to twomonths it will get its naturalshape. I think Dodo will be happywith it, which is the most impor-tant thing.”

K. Neung told the Gazettethat Dodo has been feeling a lotmore confident since the opera-tion. His friends have started tonotice the difference, too. “Atfirst I was scared of the opera-tion, but then I found out that Iwould not feel any pain. I wasput under a general anesthetic andwhen I woke up there was nopain at all, even though the anes-thetic had worn off,” he said.

“Dodo is not shy anymoreand not always trying to hide hisear. In the future, I think that hewill gain even more confidenceand that this will change him as aperson.

“I’ve noticed a lot ofchanges in Dodo recently, likebefore he always used to go

around with a bandage on his ear,like when he went out to play;now he uses no bandage,” saidK. Neung.

“He kept asking me whenhe could let his ear touch wateragain. Dodo was told that hecould not get his ear wet for twoweeks after the operation. We’vebeen back here since August 16and Dodo is happy that he canget his ear wet with no problems,”said K. Padungsak.

A number of local peopleand organizations helped out withfunding Dodo’s treatment.

The local Rotary Club ofTungka donated funds, QBE In-surance sponsored by donatingthe required health and travel in-surance, the Slovakian Embassyensured that Dodo and his fa-ther received visas quickly andfree of charge, and Mom Tri’sBoathouse helped out with someof the staff and regular custom-ers donating cash for the trip.

Plastic surgeons in Phukethave pledged their support by of-fering their assistance should it beneeded in the future.

Dodo now has a bone-plas-tic structure in his left ear, whichdoctors have told K. Neung willenlarge as Dodo grows.

Although not all children areas lucky as Dodo to receive suchsupport from people in Phuket –or even anywhere else in theworld – K. Neung said, “The im-portant thing is to never give up.And never underestimate whatyou can do for your kids with loveand care, no matter what they arelike.”

INSET: Juraj Petras (left) was so touched by the story of Dodo(center, main photo) that he drummed up enough support to raisefunds for Dodo to fly to Bratislava with his father K. Neung (right)for reconstructive surgery.

Kwankamol Korchareonkit and NarinBurirat were married at the Pra Pitak

Grand Ballroom of The Metropole Hotel onAugust 17.

H A P P E N I N G S16 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

T his week

GREAT GRAVITAS: Banyan Tree resort introduced New Zealand’s Gravitas Wineswith a dinner hosted by Black Forest Distribution importer Hans-Peter Blumer (left) andGravitas winemaker Chris Young (center).

MOBILE MEDICAL: JD Pools Managing Director Thanusak Puengdetch (3rd from left) donatesa mobile spa to Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President AnchaleeVanich Tephabutra (3rd from right) at the recent JD Pools Festival. The Mobile Spa will beused for medical purposes at the new OrBorJor hospital.

ECO POP: Tattoo Colour kicked off the Eco-9 Project, which aims to raise awarenessabout global warming by planting 9 million trees’ project, with a concert at Tesco-Lotus Phuket on September 8. Tesco executives present included corporate affairsrepresentative Martin Clutterbuck; store Managing DirectorSasiporn Sardsawatsophit,and Senior Corporate Affairs Manager Saofang Ekluckrujee.

MAKING MOVIES: Movie directors Pantham Thongsang (left) and KaranKhumanuwong (center) receive souvenirs from Director of Bangkok HospitalPhuket Dr Kongkiat Kespechara while presenting the movie Mid Road Gangat Bangkok Hospital Phuket on September 11 and requesting permissionto film scenes on location at the hospital for the movie Valentine.

PRAISE FOR POLES: Phuket Vice-Governor Smith Palawatvichai (yellow shirt) and Phuket TouristAssociation President Maitree Narukatpichai (5th from left) hosted a dinner at Thai Thai Restaurant,Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa to thank Polish media for promoting Phuket tourism. Presentwere Tourism Authority of Thailand Southern Region 4 Office Assistant Director Ranjuan Thongrutt(3rd from left), Thai Hotel Association (Southern Chapter) President Methee Tanmanatrakul (4th

from right) and Hilton Phuket Arcadia General Manager John Kidd (right).

INDIAN ROAD: Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Southern Region4 Office Suwalai Pinpradub (left) and Director of Asean, South Asia and SouthPacific Market Division TAT Pasakorn Supannapan (right) pose with Indian travelagents while promoting Phuket tourism in India. The tourism roadshow stoppedoff in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore from September 1 to 9.

September 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 17F E A T U R E

Thailand has zebra cross-ings painted on theroads. Most towns andcountries in the world

where the road is sealed havezebra crossings painted on theroads.

Africa also has zebra cross-ings that aren’t painted on theroad. These, I suppose, arewhere zebrascross roads, as op-posed to the onespainted on theroad, wherepeople are sup-posed to be able tocross safely. Thecrossings painted on the road areknown as “zebra crossings” be-cause of the resemblance be-tween the white stripes paintedon the road and the stripes on azebra.

The difference between thezebra crossings in my country of

THEDEADLYDELUSION

origin and most countries is thatthe zebra crossing is supposed tobe a place where the pedestrianhas a right of way for a safecrossing, but in Thailand, it is avery dangerous place to cross.

In Silom Road in Bangkokwhere I am writing this today,people gather together on thefootpath, somewhat like the

countless herds ofwildebeest, zebraand gazellemassed along theswollen MaraRiver - a final bar-rier from the short,sweet grasses of

the Masai Mara after the longmigration from the short-grassplains of the southern Serengeti.

At times, the waters boilwith drowning wildebeest andslashing crocodiles as the wilde-beest try to reach safety. Even asthe pedestrians, through sheer

numbers, push across the zebracrossing in Silom Road, indignantdrivers are flashing lights andblowing horns as they show theirresentment at this victory overtheir god-given right to drive theirmighty automobiles whereverand whenever they want.

The zebra crossing in Thai-land does not give the user anysecurity whatsoever. In mostcountries, to hit a pedestriancrossing on a zebra crossingwould bring severe punishment.To kill a person on a zebra cross-ing would, in many cases, bring a

prison sentence.Here it is meaningless un-

less there are traffic lights – inmost cases drivers in Thailandtend to observe traffic lights, butnot zebra crossings.

There are times when Istopped at a zebra crossing to al-low some people to pass over, onlyrealizing that I had possibly in-creased the danger for the pedes-trians as there may be anothercar in the outside lane who notonly has no intention of stopping,but is hidden from sight by my car.Or a motorcyclist with the brain

of Winnie the Pooh may haveseen no reason why I should bestopping, overtakes and splat!

Not only do the crossings onthe roads have no purpose, theyare a delusion and should be re-moved. The crossings on the roadare a dangerous menace. A NewZealand man left his hotel onSukhumvit Road in Bangkok theother night and headed for theIrish Pub on the other side towatch his national rugby team inthe World Cup. He never madeit. A truck killed him stone deadon the zebra crossing.

LARGER

LIFEBy Graham Doven

THANTHAN

ENDANGERED SPECIES? Zebra crossings may be safe havens for crossing the road elsewhere in theworld, but in Thailand pedestrians may pay for this presumption with their lives.

18 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007M O T O R I N G

Aston Martin’s newDBS, recently un-veiled at the PebbleBeach Concours

d’Elegance in California, cameface-to-face with the Le Mans-winning DBR9, at an exclusivetest day at the Nürburgring in lateAugust.

The DBS was in Germanyfor a final sign-off drive at theNürburgring’s Nordschleife cir-cuit at the same time as the AstonMartin Racing DBR9 and othercustomer race teams were tak-ing part in a test session on theGrand Prix circuit, creating anideal opportunity for the two carsto meet.

The DBS was officiallylaunched at the Frankfurt MotorShow, held from September 13 to20.

Aston Martin dates back asfar as 1914 when Lionel Martinand Robert Bamford joined forcesto form the company. The namewas taken from Martin’s successat the Aston hillclimb in centralEngland.

The first competition AstonMartin appeared in was in 1921and then in 1951 Aston MartinDB2s filled the first three placesin their class at Le Mans 24-Hours.

This year Aston Martin wasbought from Ford, which had firstbought a substantial part of thecompany in 1987, by a consor-tium headed by Prodrive’s DavidRichards.

As well as running theSubaru world rally team, withdrivers Petter Solberg and ChrisAtkinson, and the Aston Martinracing program in the FIA GT

series, Prodrive is aiming to be-come the 12th Formula One teamwhen it enters Grand Prix racingin 2008.

Ongoing discussions sug-gest that Prodrive will becomeeffectively a McLaren-Mer-cedes “B” team, with both carsand engines sourced fromMcLaren.

No details of sponsorshipare available at the time of writ-ing although Richards says thatnegotiations are going well so far.Rumors currently suggest thatMcLaren tester Pedro de la Rosawill be one of the drivers, witheither Britain’s Gary Paffet orFrench-Canadian Bruno

Spengler, both of whom currentlycompete in the German touringcar series (DTM) with Mer-cedes-Benz.

The Aston Martin DBSadopts a series of race-derivedmaterials and components, takinginspiration from the successfulDBR9.

The DBS is powered by anAston Martin six-liter V12, anenhanced version of which is usedin both the DBR9 and DBRS9race cars.

Using the same-designpowerplant continues the stronglink between Aston Martin’s roadand race cars, just as the six-cyl-inder engine used in the DBR1inspired a generation of enginesin the DB4, DB5 and DB6 in the1950s and 60s.

Like the DB9, the DBS alsouses Aston Martin’s all-alloy VH(Vertical Horizontal) architecture,

a lightweight, bonded-aluminumstructure that provides outstand-ing strength and rigidity.

Aston Martin engineershave also employed advancedmaterials and processes to fur-ther reduce weight and increasethe performance and dynamics ofthe DBS.

The DBS also has a reviseddynamic stability control (DSC)system, deisgned to maintainmaximum traction in difficult driv-ing conditions. The system incor-porates a “track” mode whichraises the threshold at which thesystem intervenes to allow theexperienced driver to explore thecar’s limits.

The car’s braking systemfeatures another innovation: forthe first time carbon ceramicmatrix (CCM) brakes have beenused on a road-going Aston Mar-tin. The end result is shorter stop-

ping distances with excellent re-sistance to fade.

Another advantage ofCCM brakes is that they arearound 12.5 kilograms lighter thana conventional system, reducingthe weight of the car overall and,in particular, the unsprung weightand rotational masses.

The DBS will be built atAston Martin’s global headquar-ters at Gaydon in the UK, joiningthe current Aston Martin lineup,which now comprises the DB9,the agile V8 Vantage Coupe andthe critically acclaimed VantageRoadster, which was launchedearlier this year.

Deliveries of the DBS,priced at UK£160,000 (anout10.3 million baht), are expectedto commence in early 2008.

Jeff Heselwood can be con-tacted at jhc@netvigator.com

BEHINDWHEELBy Jeff Heselwood

T H E BRUTEelegance

L I F E S T Y L ESeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 19

AV

3x5

Atroupe of dazzling beach babes and hunksraised the temperatures and pulses ofshoppers at Central Festival Phuket Septtember 1 to 5 as part of a swimwear

fashion show featuring the hippest bathing suits,bikinis and beach gear for women from interna-tional brand Triumph.

The colorful swimsuits were part of a showorganized by JD Pools to promote the company’slatest innovations in swimming-pool technologies,including mobile spa baths, composite pools(swimming pools that can be relocated after in-stallation), hydrotherapy systems and sauna-roomsystems.

The scantily-clad boys and girls in the fash-ion show drew hordes of curious spectators, as themodels paraded around the pools. A few of thegirls took a plunge and played in the water, draw-

By Janyaporn Morel

ing attention to not only the pool products, but alsothe models themselves.

Followers of female beach fashion weretreated to the latest offerings from Triumph, theSwiss-based, German-founded company behindthe Sloggi brand of underwear. Hot off the cat-walks were fun, rainbow prints and funky pat-terns out to prove that swimwear need not bedrab.

Triumph also has a mix ’n’ match line ofbriefs and bikini tops, so that girls can personalizetheir beach outfits with striped, solid or printeddesigns. Stripes and print designs, such as floralpatterns, are in vogue at the moment in bold colorssuch as orange and lime green.

The real question on every male shopper’slips, however, was, “When will the girls be back?”

– Janyaporn Morel

Deeply Dippy

F E A T U R E S20 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

ANDAMAN

RANTBY SOAPBOX SID

Last tango in paradise

Ad- Shades

2x5

K. Ann

Birds do it, bees do it.Mick Jagger, EricClapton and their likejust keep on doing it,

even though they are well pasttheir “excuse me while I just gofor a long snooze on the sofa”date.

We’re talking about rock ’n’roll dads. The phenomenonwhereby immensely overpaidwielders of plectrums and drum-sticks have become a realm untotheir own as far as endless andbroad scale dispersion of theirgenes is concerned.

Once upon a time this wasthe preserve of the noble and highborn. It was their birthright andprivilege to lob about their DNAwith gay and indeed straight aban-don, on all sides of the duvet andfor as long as their gout-wracked

physiologies would hold out.This mantle has been taken

up by the rock aristocracy. Ofcourse, aging rockers do havetheir irresistible magnetic person-alities, not to mention exceedinglytight trousers, to assist them intheir relentless pursuit of bubblybedmates.

The merely aging and pe-nurious men who are riding on thePhuket omnibus have no suchspontaneous charisma uponwhich to draw, let alone Hima-layan bank balances or globalproperty portfolios.

Yet a cursory wander

around the beaches and bars ofPhuket reveals a new demo-graphic trend in the making. Ev-erywhere are new dads aged 50and up, teetering about on theirZimmer frames in mad paternalfrolic with their recently spawnedoffspring.

Okay, “Mad paternal frolic”might be a bit of an over state-ment. A gentle glow of warmpaternalistic pride is more likelyas new dad orders another roundof cold beers with his cohortsaround the bar, while new mumchases after junior as he headsenthusiastically towards the tur-bulent surf.

Many of these new mumsare 30 or so summers shy of theold man’s vintage and of a duskyand lithesome persuasion.

What is going on here onemay well ask? Why do otherwisesanely aging chaps do this sort ofthing when they move to thesetropical climes?

Clearly opportunity has a lotto do with it. If one were to makean amorous approach to a lithe-some lass half one’s age in mostWestern countries these days, theupshot would be a hearty smackin the mouth, possibly followed bya stressful visit from the localconstabulary.

Here in Thailand, we enjoya gloriously un-ageist culture.Some would even go so far assaying it’s a “reverse ageist” cul-ture, in which chaps becomemore appealing as relationshipfodder as their girths and grayhair expand.

Cynics of course like to addsnide commentsabout expandingwallets to thisequation, but let’sleave them totheir negativityand focus on thebroad swathe offantasy forwhich the Landof Smiles is dulyfamous.

The ex-tended family cul-ture that thrivesin Thailand is an-other factor.Older daddies are frequently ableto slope off to the nearest beerbar or hammock, while junior isdrooled over by legions of ador-ing grannies, aunties and maids.

This puts the average newdad residing in Thailand into aleague occupied by the likes ofEric Clapton. Co-incidentallyenough I happen to live next doorto Eric when I am back in Sur-rey. Eric recently become a dadagain to baby Sophie, at therockin’ age of 60. I can authori-tatively tell you the number oftimes I see him out in the earlymorning mist with one of his newkiddies slung over his vomit-soaked shoulder, is precisely…nil.

Eric’s enjoying the luxury ofhot and cold running servants thatthe successful rocker’s lifestyle

provides. Likewise in Thailand,aging dads have the extendedfamily to guarantee sufficienttime at the beach bar and a goodnight’s sleep.

Let’s not underestimate theeconomics of breeding in theseparts compared with the over-priced terrors of doing so in the

West. ABangkok insur-ance company iscurrently runningan ad that esti-mates an outlayof almostUS$300,000 forthe privateschooling of justone little darlingfrom kindergar-ten through touniversity.

The samefigure in bahtwould cover it

nicely around the Andaman, withenough left over for really seri-ous Champagne parties to wetjunior’s head before school andto toast his graduation after com-pleting university.

Finally, there’s the sheer joy-ful exuberance that life on a tropi-cal island can instill in all but themost jaded of aging loins. Theoutdoor life with clean air, beau-tiful beaches and gently swayingpalms and playmates are justsome of the magnetic attractionsthat draw aging males to this partof the world.

Having settled into such arevitalizing idyll, perhaps it’s notthat surprising that the optimisticoutlook it generates gets themthinking about joining the greatprocreative dance for one lasttango in paradise.

Pet-poisoning woes reach boiling point

MAKING TRACKSBy Top Dog

The subject of poisoning animalshas reared its head again in a bigway these past few months, mostrecently with the deaths of three

dogs on Nai Harn Beach. The dogs, poi-soned by baited chicken meat, were foundin the early morning by local residentswalking along the beach.

The Nai Harn killings follow a spateof poisonings in Kamala a month earlier.It seems that HM King BhumibolAdulyadej’s request to cease the practicehas fallen on deaf ears in Phuket.

In Kamala, many foreigners had theirpet dogs targeted a few years ago and itwas widely reported in the Gazette andelsewhere.

In the most recent spate of poison-ings, not only were beach and temple dogstargeted, but also several owners had dogspoisoned in their own gardens.

One owner in Kamala lost two dogsthat ate poison on the beach when she wasexercising them. Other incidents havebeen reported in Cherng Talay, Layan,Patong, Nai Harn, Nai Yang and Pah Klok,and these are only the ones I know about.A former editor of the Gazette has had anumber of dogs poisoned for no apparentreason.

The poisoning of both stray and pet

dogs and cats is a common occurrence onthe island. It is an insidious practice andnot, as many believe, confined to Muslimareas. There are many documented casesof poisoning, even at Buddhist temples.

Of course, the indiscriminate spread-ing of poison at places such as beachesmeans that not only dogs are likely to eatit, but also other pets, wildlife and eveninquisitive young children. The result isusually a slow painful death.

In a previous article, I wrote that forpet owners it is important to understandthat most pets are poisoned for a reason.The dog or cat is likely causing problemsfor someone whether it be killing chickensor just being plain noisy.

However, that no longer appears tobe the case. In recent incidents in Kamala,and one on a private development nearCherng Talay, it appears to be nothing morethan malice.

It is important that owners be re-sponsible. There is an old saying that thereare no bad dogs, just bad owners. Manyowners are oblivious to the annoyance thattheir animals cause neighbors.

All dogs should be confined to theirowner’s property and only taken out forsupervised exercise.

Incessant barking or howling can be

a nightmare for a neighbor and can easilybe prevented. Shamu Shamu on Chao FaEast Rd stocks effective, automatic-bark-prevention collars.

These emit either a high pitchedsound or static shock when the dog startsto bark. The levels increase if the dog con-tinues. These collars are humane and ef-fective.

Have your animals sterilized,whether male or female. As well as pre-venting the obvious, it will also reducewandering, fighting, and, in the case ofcats, wailing. It is an old wives tale thatcastrating a male dog will change its tem-perament.

If you live in an area where poison-ing frequently occurs, get in the habit ofregularly patrolling your garden perimeter.

A common method of poisoning is tothrow a baited piece of food over a gar-den wall or fence. When exercising your

dog, be suspicious if your dog finds a tastymorsel to eat. People in Thailand gener-ally do not throw away pieces of meat.

If you suspect poisoning, prompt ac-tion is critical. Make your pet vomit byforcing a strong salt solution or even Thaifish sauce down its throat. Then take itimmediately to a vet.

Signs of poisoning can vary depend-ing on the type of poison used.

If your pet is staggering or shakingand frothing at the mouth, suspect poison-ing.

Other symptoms can include diar-rhea, severe vomiting, asthmatic breath-ing, convulsion and coma.

Sometimes the animal will display nosigns for two or three days, but patches ofred, purple or dark blue on the body orgums may begin to develop later. Theseare signs of internal bleeding.

Ask your vet for his mobile numberin case of emergency. There is no veteri-nary emergency service in Thailand. Themodern treatment is to anesthetize the ani-mal for three or four days. This stops thedog from fitting, which is the usual causeof death.

Hopefully most owners will neverhave any problem, but forewarned is fore-armed.

Give a doga lovinghome.

CallSoi Dog

Foundation081-7884222

F E A T U R E SSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 21

Dealing with theguests from hell

AMBROSIA’S

SECRETSamb

rosi

a@p

hu

ketg

azet

te.n

et

Yes, I know, it’s not evenOctober, but believeme when we’re talking Christmas it is far

better to be well prepared. Thisis the first year for many that Ihaven’t ended up issuing the in-vitation “Do come over and stayfor Christmas if you’re on the is-land” – and for good reason.

In the past, often generouslyfueled by several glasses ofsomething alcoholic, I wouldsweep through the pre-Christmasparty period, graciously takingbookings for every weekend be-tween mid-November and mid-February. Now I am thankful thatthe house I find myself in justabout fits me and the kids, letalone house guests.

About 20 years ago, a movefrom London to Cyprus – yes, thatisland again, not Phuket – openedup a hitherto unknown and excit-ing aspect of my life, that of acountry house by the sea withspare bedrooms.

I moved at Christmas, thatmost traditional time for visiting,which inevitably also brought thearrival of my first house guests.Mulled wine flowed and mincepies were munched as I slippedcomfortably into a new role ashouse party hostess with themostest.

How could I have known atthe time that this couple I had in-vited, and whom I hadn’t seen forages, had developed a penchantfor loud and somewhat enthusi-astic lovemaking?

They kept the entire house-hold – including mum and dadwho were also staying over –awake all night with their criesof passion. Their exertions evenprompted the appearance of myson at 3 am, sleepily convincedthat all the thumping and scream-ing was caused by Santa havinga dodgy landing.

By the time this pair finallyemerged around lunchtime thenext day I hadfed their twosmall childrenand evenchanged a ripediaper. I wasfeeling dis-tinctly devoidof goodwill.

As Iwaved ratherenthusias t i -cally at theirdeparting ve-hicle, squintingthrough a fogof exhaustion,I reflectedgrimly thatguests don’t get much more hell-ish than that. But, believe me, theydo.

The fantasy of a weekendof laughter, log fires and deli-cious food and wine consumedin a glow of convivial companyhas a terrible tendency to disap-pear.

Instead, the grim reality ismountains of washing up andadults who see a change of sleep-ing venue and some booze as anexcuse to behave like mentallydefective baboons and vomit allover the antique quilt left to youby your grandmother.

Too many visitors haven’tread the rules of Good Guest Eti-quette. Accordingly, when theirlukewarm offers of help are ac-cepted, they stand around flop-ping a tea-towel and say feebly,“I’m not much good at this sortof thing.” Then, of course, you

feel obliged tosay “Oh don’tworry, I’ll doit.”

Perhapsif they knewthat you werementally addingthem to yourNIA list (NeverInvite Again)they might tryharder.

I supposethe point is thathaving gone tothe trouble ofmaking upspare beds,cleaning your

house until even your motherwould approve, and buying farmore supplies of Christmas farethan usual, expectations of thevisit ahead are high in the ex-treme. In short, you’ve made theeffort – now it’s their turn.

And arriving with the words“Thank heavens – now I can re-ally relax”, flopping into thesquashiest armchair and remain-ing comatose for the weekend, asone set of acquaintances did onseveral occasions, just doesn’t cutit.

A useful tactic for those incolder climes who wish to ensure

that Guests From Hell neverdarken their doorstep again is toswitch off the heating the daybefore the GFH arrive and hideall the hot-water bottles. Howyou explain this is up to you – andyou will, of course, suffer alongwith them – but take it from me,it never fails. Freezing guestsnever return.

If you prefer a more directapproach, I find that “I’m sorry,I’d rather you didn’t come andvisit again” works well – althoughyou obviously have to realize atthis point that the friendship willbe abruptly terminated.

Being a hostess for manyyears has certainly honed my ownvisiting skills: I now wouldn’tdream of arriving chez friendswithout copious supplies of spe-cial treat-type foods – exoticcheeses, fine Italian salamis, de-licious cakes, and vats of wine.And chocolates should only everbe Belgian.

Occasionally, though, aguest breaks the mold and shinesbrightly like a lone star twinklingin the night sky. Then the answerto the ‘Why do we do it?’ ques-tion becomes obvious.

Last Christmas’s GoodGuest of the Year Award went tothe friend who arrived from Lon-don bearing the contents of botha small delicatessen (Carluccio’sto be exact) and an off-license,and then cheerfully shoulderedmore than her fair share of house-hold chores, breaking off only tomix lethal cocktails.

On departure day, she notonly stripped her bed but also re-

made it with fresh sheets.Charmed with this total masteryof what makes a GG, I now ex-pect no less from each and ev-ery visitor – and I also follow suitwhen I’m visiting friends.

In the meantime, with a fullthree months before Christmas,this year I’m considering build-ing an extension on the house,turning one of the rooms into anoffice and the other into an artstudio. So if you were thinking of

coming to stay this year, I’msorry, but we may not have room.

Maybe we could come andvisit you instead?

Ambrosia Sakkadas, a UK-bornGreek Cypriot and graduate ofCentral St Martins College ofArt & Design in London, is anartist, designer and newspapercolumnist. Her first novel,Greek Girls Don’t Cry, is avail-able from amazon.com

22 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

T A K E A B R E A KSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 23

PPPPPUZZLESUZZLESUZZLESUZZLESUZZLES

Solution, tips andcomputer program at

www.sudoku.com

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

Hidden in the grid below are more than 25 words relatingto Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival. The words may read

vertically, horizontally or diagonally. They may also readright-to-left or down-to-up. Score: 10 or more, good; 15

or more, very good; 20, excellent.

Hidden Words

F Y N E S Y B B O I O M K B A

W I G A T W A D U F E I L K T

F Y R W I N O T P R Z A A Y R

X E E E G R I R I X D Y Z R O

D S S N C U A T D E V O T E E

M O E T J R M T E Q K E M Z L

U O O Q I A A C E R E M O N Y

W W G L K V M C O G U I B B B

E D Z I B O A U K Y E T J R M

S R N C C P J L I E D V L V B

E G N O S H A M N D R D P U N

N O I S S E C O R P E S O U C

I K Y L E K I W W S U M L D T

H N Z Q L T B B E L P M E T I

C I Q S I E L G K R N W R C R

P F E D A D E F G D I S A L I

R E A N W J S N U X H G I E P

Y R A C Q W S P M I N K S A S

T Q X B X M I B Z O A W I N D

T V P K S S N Y K U H N N S H

M X H H H T G M G A P E G E C

Y T T R R M A P A S A O Y B I

M Y I U C S H I I V S G C O S

I N A C E J C V N B U F F E T

E H F W N I Z H P A F Z R S Q

Solution on next page

The BIG Crossword

© 2007 Lovatts Publications Pty Ltd

Across1. Association6. Honorably10. Classify14. Titled widow18. Vietnamese capital19. Bird of prey20. Had21. Totaled, ...to (5,2)22. Skulked23. Slant24. Amalgamates25. Spending binge26. Without money

(slang)27. Pines & palms28. Rested on knees30. Festival, ...Gras32. Familiar with (4,2)35. Inexhaustible39. Sinew42. Rescind46. Fools48. Despoil49. More coy50. Cricket arbiter51. Speech impediment53. Panache55. Paradise57. Mariner58. Facsimile message60. Astrologer’s chart61. Frosts (biscuits)63. Quarrel64. Nairobi is there65. Wearies66. Destroyed (hopes)70. Charters73. Outer garment74. Explosion75. Undisguised76. Trample77. As well78. Leg joint

79. Turn over a new...80. Wildly excited81. Scientist, ...Curie83. Hair dye85. Prejudiced person86. Plump88. Sampled91. Apprehend93. Takes (baby) off

breast-milk95. Dark yellow pigment97. Trifling98. US president,

Ronald...99. Expire100. Forward101. Trial103. Norwegian capital107. Long deep wound109. Assail110. Calling device111. Group loyalty,

...de corps112. Swiss cereal114. Bite116. Parcel118. Back-up (5-2)121. Hunting hound123. Reasoned thought127. Striped cat129. Naughts131. Toots133. Interior decoration136. Include (5,2)137. Buffalo138. Manhandled139. Large showy

flowers140. Performed (trade)141. Crow relative142. Snake, puff...143. Biblical disease144. Affirmatives145. Response

146. Nauseous on boat

Down2. Ancient3. Glacier color (3,4)4. Consequently5. Yelped6. Snout7. Greased8. Part of camera9. Chattered10. Brief look11. Tenant’s fee12. Stupid fellows13. Large pitcher14. Lower (oneself)15. Dedicatory verses16. Kabul native17. Made mistakes28. Martial art29. Russian emperors30. Covergirl or

mannequin31. Matters of concern33. Passed (of time)34. Leaf beverage

sachets (3,4)36. Prying37. Non-cleric person38. Ride waves40. Voids41. Conducts43. More wan44. Put new tags on45. Knock down (3,4)47. Old weight unit52. Grovels54. Sends (goods) by

plane56. Flirtation58. Plumed59. Percussion

instrument62. Crumbed veal

steaks67. Islam God68. Nuclear weapon69. Of milk products70. Reclined71. Map book72. Greatly please82. Worn by friction84. Child minders86. Prolonged (illness)87. Ignorant89. Trudge90. Missing92. Emerged94. Compression

weapon (3,3)96. Detox therapy97. Young-suckling

animal102. Submissively104. Pink/violet105. Rotisserie106. Egypt, formerly

United ...Republic108. Aslant113. Revolving fish lure115. Fab Four group117. Acutely119. Rinks120. Smartly dressed122. Residences124. Condensed oxygen125. Pop song’s flip (1-4)126. Perfect128. French peak,

Mont...129. Metal-toothed

fasteners130. Follow orders131. Caliber132. Mentally sound134. Whirlpool135. Infrequent

Solution on next page

T A K E A B R E A K24 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Puzzle

Solutions

ACROSS

1. Cozy3. Month of showers6. Cat’s content7. Evolution man8. Former9. Periods of sunlight11. Have nothing to with13. Artistic styles14. Casserole16. Stephen King novel17. Races18. Reverse19. Scaredy cat20. Intense pain

Get your brainin gear with

The Monster Quiz

Quick Crossword

Solution to this week’s Big Crossword

Solution to this

week’s Sudoku

puzzle

Solution to

this week’sQuick

Crossword

Monster Quiz

Answers1. Housefly; 2. 9,000; 3. 260; 4. TyrannosaurusRex; 5. Clay; 6. US$914 million; 7. Wayne Knight;8. Titanic; 9. PCP (angel dust), 80 people weretaken ill, many were hospitalized for sufferinghallucinations; 10. Camel; 11. Arizona; 12. OldJoe; 13. Edward R. Murrow; 14. Four; 15. 159;16. band; 17. Martin Stepanek, from the CzechRepublic; 18. Eight minutes and six seconds; 19.David Blaine; 20. Inhaling pure oxygen.

Puzzle

Solutions

1. Musca domestica is thescientific name for whichanimal?

2. How many eggs can afemale of this species layin it’s 15- to 25-daylifetime?

3. On average, how manyeggs does a hen lay ayear?

4. The chicken is theclosest living relative towhich prehistoricanimal?

5. In the hit movie JurassicPark, this prehistoriccreature was recreatedfrom fiberglass and3,000 pounds of what?

6. Which Jurassic Parkactor played Newmanin the sitcom Seinfeld?

7. How many millions ofUS dollars did JurassicPark gross?Solution below

DOWN

1. Lover’s archer2. Shoots3. Lawrence of…4. Human-powered vessel5. Cloth10. New Yorkers12. Deadly13. Strong winds14. Hurt by a bee15. Made from sheep hair

Hidden WordsSOLUTION

8. Bringing in US$1.84billion, which is thehighest-grossing film?

9. On the final night offilming this movie,pranksters mixed whatinto the chowder servedto the cast and crew?

10. The luxury liner of thesame name boasted agymnasium with amechanical what?

11. In which US state is itillegal to shoot thisanimal?

12. What was the name ofthe circus animal thatwas used to advertisecigarettes branded withthe name of this animal’sspecies?

13. Which famous newsanchor smoked non-filtered versions of thisbrand of cigarettes? Answers below

14. How many packs didhe smoke a day?

15. Jim Mouth holds therecord for smokinghow many cigarettesat the same time?

16. He also started thefirst underwaterwhat?

17. Who holds the recordfor holding one’sbreath under waterwithout any form ofassistance, and whichcountry is he from?

18. How long did he holdhis breath?

19. Which magician failedto break this record in2006?

20. How have free diversmanaged to hold theirbreath for up to 15minutes?

F + N + S + + B + I + M + + ++ I + A + W A + U + E + + + +F + R + I N O T + R + + + + ++ E + E G R I R I + + + + + +D + S N C U A T D E V O T E E+ O E T J R M T E + + + + + ++ O O + I A A C E R E M O N YW + + L K V M C + G U + + + +E + + I B + A U K + E T + + +S + N + + + + L I E + V L + +E G N O S H A M N D R + P U +N O I S S E C O R P E S O + CI K + + + + I + + + + M L + TH N + + + T B + E L P M E T IC I + + I + L + + + N + R C R+ F + D + + E + + + I + A L I+ E A + + + S + + + H G I E P+ R A + + + S + + + N + S A ST + + B + + I + + O A + I N ++ + + + S S N + K + H + N S ++ + H + H T G M + + P + G E ++ + T R + M A P A S A + + + ++ + I + + S + I + + S + + + ++ N A + + + + + N B U F F E TE + F + + + + + + + + + + + +

F E A T U R E SSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 25

Off theSHELFBy James Eckardt

Dog-eared novel lacks finesse

EVENTS CALENDAR www.phuketgazette.net/calendar

Acouple months back, in a reviewof Martin Amis’s latest novelHouse of Meetings, I mentionedthat his previous novel Yellow

Dog (Vintage, London, 2004, 340pp) hadreceived scathing reviews. But when afriend passed along a copy, I started itgladly. A New York Times reviewer oncecommented that Martin Amis is the bestAmerican novelist Britain has ever pro-duced. The savage exuberance of hisprose is unmatched in buttoned-up Brit-ain.

The first half of Yellow Dog wassheer joy. Nobody cranks out as manylaughs and surprises as Amis when he ison a roll. I was beginning to think this wasamong his best, up there with Money andSuccess.

Xan Meo is a London Renaissanceman: renowned TV actor, rhythm guitarplayer in a blues band, author of an ac-claimed book of short stories. On thefourth anniversary of a murderously acri-monious divorce, he goes to the HollywoodPub to celebrate.

He has long given up drinking andsmoking, but will allow himself two drinksand four cigarettes in recognition of hisgood fortune: a happy remarriage with hisAmerican-professor wife Russia (every-one’s got a silly name, don’t ask why) andtwo adorable daughters.

Xan Meo has come a long way for a

Until October 11. RugbyWorld Cup live.

IRB France kicks off, pow-ered by Guinness. Watch all theaction at Angus O’Tool’s IrishPub, Karon Beach. Let thegames commence! Big men playhard on two big screens becausesize does matter! Live broadcastfrom France with English com-mentary. Late games will also beshown.

Open from 10am untildrunk. Eat, drink and sleep rugbyat O’Tool’s!

For further information con-tact John. Tel: 076-398262. Email:info@otools-phuket.com

September 22. Wine DinnerBBQ @ Wine ConnectionChalong.

BBQ dinner for just 390baht, or BBQ dinner with onebottle of wine for 1,000 baht perperson. Live band, fireworks,lucky draws – everything for agreat Saturday night.

For details contact Pascal.Tel: 087-8896074. Email: fb.phuket@wineconnection.co.th

September 22. The 8th PhuketInternational Beer Fest.

A celebration of probablythe best beers and most ardentbeer drinkers in the world at theWatermark bar and restaurant.

This is your chance to showto the world, or at least Phuket,your favorite beer. Yes! YOUsupply the beer – in the hope thatit wins the prestigious accoladeof “Winner of The 8th Phuket In-ternational Beer Fest”. Each com-petitor must supply 12 bottles orcans of their nominated interna-

rough upbringing as the son of Mick Meo,a notorious “villain”, as professional crimi-nals are called in London.

On the riverside terrace of the pubhe is accosted by another villain who ac-cuses him of naming in print someonecalled “Joseph Andrews”. Xan Meosquares up for a fight, but then:

“Xan heard no footsteps; what heheard was the swish, the shingly soft-shoe,of the hefted cosh. Then the sharp two-finger prod on his shoulder. It wasn’t meantto happen like this. They expected him toturn, and he didn’t turn – he half-turned,then veered and ducked. So the blow in-tended merely to break his cheekbone orhis jawbone was instead received by thecranium, that spacey bulge (in this instancestill quite marriageably forested) where somany noble and delicate powers are sotrustingly encased.”

When he gets out of the hospital, heis a changed man. He can’t act or writeor play the guitar and is in-cessantly randy. Russiafinds this hard to take. “Atfirst she had faked orgasms.Then she started fakingmigraines. And now themigraines were real.”

Among the othermain characters are ClintSmoker, a heroically venalhack reporter for TheMorning Lark, a tits-and-ass tabloid devoted to un-employed men, or“wankers”.

In between bribing adisgraced Premier Leaguefootballer to sleep with amodel and then beat up hiswife for a headline story, Clint Smoker isbusy pimping nude photographs of 15-year-old Princess Victoria, daughter ofKing Henry IX. His problem is the oppo-site of Xan Meo’s:

“At home Clint had flexers and ex-tenders, fancy philtres in tubs and tubes,pulleys, lozenges, unguents, humidors, allover the house, in trunks and suitcases andcardboard boxes and ten-gallon bags. NoAfrican scarifier had subjected himself tomore thorough and various mortification;down there, Clint had undergone every

possible metamorphosis – except growth.”King Henry IX is another main char-

acter; the ineffectual son ofKing Richard IV. Hebumbles about trying tosave his daughter from theburgeoning scandal.

Then there is JosephAndrews, prince of Londonvillains who, after manystints in English jails for vi-cious beatings and murders,is running a porn empire inCalifornia after successfulstints smuggling heroin inSpain and Ireland. He is dic-tating his memoirs in per-fect slang-strewn villain-speak.

And finally there isthe virginal looking Cora

Susan, Xan Meo’s niece, who had beenrepeatedly raped as a child by her father,gone on to star in 200 porno movies and isnow a highly successful producer and di-rector of the same.

Joseph Andrews instigates her toseduce and ruin Xan Meo.

Unfortunately, the second half of thenovel turns into a complete mess.

While you still root for the salvationof the good characters, you can’t wait forit to be over – a terrible travesty of a oncegreat talent.

tional beer. All entries are re-quired to register in advance.

Entry fee: 12 beers plus 800baht.

Tip: bring back the best beerfrom overseas while you’re trav-eling this summer! For more in-formation call Stuart Bird at 081-7376184.

September 22. Tax Seminarfor Value Added Tax (VAT).

Network Advisory TeamLtd (NAT) will hold a full-dayseminar focused on VAT issueson Saturday, September 22. Youwill have a chance to learn andask questions directly from thedirector of the Bureau of TaxAuditing Standards of the Rev-enue Department Head Office inBangkok.

The seminar will be held atthe Royal Phuket City Hotel from9 am until 4:30 pm. Tickets arepriced at 2,675 baht per person.Anybody who has attended a pre-vious NAT tax seminar will re-ceive a 10% discount. The semi-nar will be in Thai language only.

For more information con-tact NAT, Phuket Branch, at 076-212 989, or K. Sriruan at 089-6523229.

September 23. Italian SundayBrunch at Mangosteen.

Italian delights on a relaxedSunday with the sumptuousBrunch at Mangosteen Resort,from 11:30 am until 3 pm. Freeuse of swimming pool and fitnessfacilities. Kids and parents canenjoy the food, pool and the greatsea views.

Book your favorite table inadvance to receive a 20% dis-

count (399 baht per person only).Contact Christophe Lopez.

Tel: 076-289399. Email: info@m a n g o s t e e n - p h u k e t . c o mWebsite: www.mangosteen-phuket.com

September 30. Phuket YachtClub Sailing Open Day andBBQ.

Family fun day, BBQ andbeach activities. Try sailing on acatamaran, small yacht or dinghy.Come and see the junior fleet ortry dragon boat racing sponsoredby Sail in Asia.

The Phuket Yacht Club of-fers sailing-training sessions forjuniors throughout the year. Nextsailing course starts October 7.

Booking recommended.For details contact Katy

Gooch. Tel: 085-2159185. Email:ktfirmin@yahoo.co.uk

October 11-19. Phuket Veg-etarian Festival.

This festival is an annualevent held during the ninth lunarmonth of the Chinese calendar,which normally falls in late Sep-tember or early October.

Sacred rituals are per-formed at all Chinese temples inPhuket. The processions fromeach temple show spectacles ofstrict vegetarians, known as devo-tees, ostensibly possessed bygods, piercing their tongues,cheeks and other parts of theanatomy with sharp implements.

October 21-27. Phuket FilmFestival.

Phuket will see this festivalrealized with the Gala Opening onOctober 21. On that day, the fes-

tival will present the newly re-stored Thai film The King of theWhite Elephant (1941), the onlyremaining full-length, English-lan-guage feature film made entirelyin Thailand. Check the Gazettefor more-detailed information.

For further information visitwww.phuketfilmfestival.com

October 23. ChulalongkornDay – Public Holiday.

Chulalongkorn Day com-memorates the reign of Rama Vwho is best remembered for abol-ishing slavery in Thailand.

November 14-17. ChalongBay Fishing Tournament2007.

Registration night is No-

vember 14 and the registrationfee is 7,000 baht per team, includ-ing free beer. Fishing days will beNovember 15-17 with prizesgiven on November 17 from 8pm. Contact Uwe Schittek. Tel:081-7195766. Email: uweschittek@yahoo.com

November 24. PIWC GalaBall.

Phuket International Wo-men’s Club will hold the mostprestigious event this year – theannual Gala Ball – on November24 at the Indigo Pearl, Nai Yang.

For details contact Carol(Tel: 087-4178860. Email: carol@aplusplussoftware.com) or Sue(Tel: 087-277694. Email:arnulphy@loxinfo.co.th).

E D I T O R I A L & L E T T E R S26 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

- Since 1994 -

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The Gazette is pleased to receive mail from read-ers. Please write to us at 367/2 Yaowarat Rd,Amphur Muang, Phuket 83000, fax to 076-213971or send an email to editor@phuketgazette.net

with your views for publication in our next issue.We reserve the right to edit all letters. Pseud-onyms are acceptable only if your full name andaddress are supplied.

Letters

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

Editor: Parichat UtintuManaging Editor: Chris Husted

News Editor: Stephen FeinChief Reporter: Sangkhae Leelanapaporn

Editorial Team: Natcha Yuttaworawit, Janyaporn Morel,Sompratch Saowakhon, Semacote Suganya,

Nick Davies, Ryan Nerone, Matt Crook.

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Hey! Leave thosesmall retailers alone!

An island in mourning

– The Editor

Do you have an opinion you want to share?Email editor@phuketgazette.net

Although I am a fan of TescoLotus and other big shopping cen-ters, the protesters at CherngTalay have my full sympathies.These big stores, with their open-ing of smaller branches, destroythe livelihoods of the local people.

Often, old people open asmall supermarket to supportthem during their retirement days.They have no pension or incomefrom the government, as peoplein the same age group in Euro-pean countries do. These people

Having recently moved to Phuketafter spending many years in con-gested Bangkok, it is nice to beable to get around the island in arelatively short time.

However, I am again start-ing to experience the familiarfrustrations of traffic that, despitethe growing number of vehicles,could flow a lot easier with a littleforethought.

A simple solution, for ex-ample, would be to synchronizethe traffic lights on the ring roadso that once a line of vehiclesgets going, say from the CentralFestival intersection, they wouldpass through green lights until theChao Fa West Rd intersectionwith Kwang Rd.

I am aware that by drivinga car I am also part of the prob-lem. I will be doing my bit byriding a bicycle to work once thedry weather comes and evenmore cars are on the road duringthe high season.

Nick of timePhuket

Get a move on

I live about about seven kilome-ters southeast of Phuket Airport.On Sunday, September 16 ataround 3:30 pm I was runningaround frantically, shutting all thewindows in my home becauserain was streaming in horizontallyfrom every direction. The cloudscovering the entire southwestportion of the sky were theblackest I’d ever seen.

When I heard a jet liner goby, I thought to myself; even inThailand, where there is abso-lutely no regard for human safety,where parents clutch infants withone arm while steering a motor-cycle with the other – even here,the airport should be shut downduring a weather-front such asthe one moving in. Surely thatplane is being re-routed.

I was wrong. I hope thatthose people who have lost lovedones from this tragedy do notsettle with compensation from theairline, One-Two-Go. Phuket air-port should have been closed forat least two hours during thatweather-front and the authoritiesneed to be held accountable.

Cash causes crash

Reading interviews like the onereleased by Prasit Rugsayos inthe Gazette (September 15 issue)reinforce my convictions thatpoliticians in general are just liv-ing in some place far away fromthe real people’s problems.

It’s hard to believe thatsomebody with a grasp of realitywould say, “The real solution, Ithink, lies in better public trans-portation. If people in Patong walkor ride bicycles, there will be lessproblems.”

In this small sentence I finddisrespect to the intelligence ofother people that is so typical ofpoliticians everywhere in theworld, but especially here in Thai-land.

I really wonder if K. Prasithas ever taken a stroll in this town.

He said that the solution liesin public transportation! Amazing.

Is he aware that Patongand Phuket in general have beentotally under the control of tuk-tuk drivers and private bus com-panies for decades?

Reality bikes

depend on the small income theyget from their shops.

When I came to Phuket fiveyears ago, there were just a few7-Eleven shops. Now you canfind one almost every 500 meters.Small, local shops have to closebecause they cannot competewith them.

These big shops should staywhere they are, near big townsor busy areas, where they do anexcellent job providing goodswhich are not easy to find any-where else. They should not startcompeting with the livelihoods andincomes of people who have noother source of income.

Phuket people sympathizerPhuket

Does K. Prasit know thatthere isn’t a bus service betweenPatong and Karon because thosewho tried to start this service havefaced innumerable problems?Does he know that many roadsdon’t have sidewalks, that all theroads are too narrow and the carsand trucks are too fast and reck-less to ride safely on a bicycle?

I would love to ride a bi-cycle and walk, just give me thechance to come back homesafely by making a suitablebikepath.

would you please takecharge of the situation and try tosolve the problems?

Professor Arabe de PaloPatong

Phuket has once again been dealt a tragic blow with the crash ofOne-Two-Go flight OG269 on the afternoon of Sunday, September16. The date will no doubt remain etched into the consciousness ofall of us here in Phuket – alongside that of December 26, 2004 – fora long time.

Although of entirely different causes, the two major tragediessomehow seem related in the way they transformed otherwise unre-markable Sunday afternoons into periods of shock and initial disbe-lief, followed by grief and mourning.

The Gazette offers its heartfelt condolences to the families ofall crash victims, many of whom will now be arriving on the island forthe first time to claim the remains of their loved ones.

We also salute the dedication, hard work and courage of themany rescue workers and medical personnel who helped save thelives of the survivors. Thanks to their extraordinary efforts, it ap-pears that all of those who managed to escape the aircraft before itwas engulfed in flames will survive.

It is also perhaps too painful to even imagine the horror of themany passengers who survived the initial crash only to be burnedalive or suffocated before they were able to escape the wreckage.The tragedy stands as a reminder to us all of the need to cherish lifeto the fullest and appreciate each and every breath – never knowinghow much time we each have left.

Although the crash of flight OG269 may have washed our col-lective memory of what was happening in the days preceding, it isworth remembering that it came just four days after a series of pow-erful earthquakes rocked the fault zone that runs along the west coastof Sumatra.

The earthquake and aftershocks claimed the lives of some 20people and caused many coastal residents and visitors to the island toflee in panic and fear of another tsunami.

Earlier this month, the tour boat Dream Catcher capsized offthe the coast of the Phi Phi Islands, killing one foreign tourist. It wasonly the latest in a string of maritime accidents involving tourists inour region this monsoon season.

All of these events combined will raise serious doubts about thesafety of visiting Phuket, be it by air, sea or the most dangerous wayof all – on our roads.

Hopefully, the domestic aviation industry will be better than itsmaritime counterparts in taking something away from this latest di-saster that might prevent it from being needlessly repeated – in Phuketor elsewhere.

P E R S P E C T I V E SSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 27

Conducting a dreamPERSON

FIRST

Can I stay here becauseI have a Thai family?

How can my family beissued a residence permit?

Ibelieve that Thai people cando whatever they want todo, but they first have tochange their way of think-

ing and start believing that any-thing is possible.

One thing that Thai youthsneed more of is self-confidence.Thai society does not teach chil-dren that they can do whateverthey want to do. In my experi-ence, I have have met many for-eign management personnel liv-ing in Thailand who have told methat Thai people need to havemore self-confidence. This is anarea that needs improving.

Children should not careabout their surroundings, aboutmoney, the economy, or whethertheir country is developed or not.The obstacles that stop Thaipeople from achieving are men-tal, not physical.

I was born in Haad Yai, notin Bangkok. I came from a poorfamily. When I was three yearsold, my family moved toBangkok. My inspiration in lifecame when I was 13 years oldand I started playing classicalguitar. I was so in love with mu-sic that I began wondering how Icould make money from musicand if it could be my occupation.

In 1998, I had the chanceto see a famous orchestra thatcame to play in Bangkok with anIndian conductor named ZubinMehta. I was impressed by himbecause he was still young andso different from other conduc-tors. He came from a country notdissimilar to Thailand in manyways, yet he could control about50 musicians on stage.

I started thinking to myselfthat even though I am Thai, why

Bundit Ungrangsee is a professional sym-phony conductor, among the world’s most

famous. He has won international accolades,including awards at the Besancon Competitionin France. In 2002, he won the Maazel-Vilar In-ternational Conducting Competition at CarnegieHall in New York City over 362 other conduc-tors.

K. Bundit was recently in Phuket to give aspeech entitled “Imagination is more powerfulthan knowledge” at Prince of Songkla Univer-sity, Phuket campus on September 12.

The purpose of this motivational speechwas to offer Phuket youngsters advice on how to be successful. At 36, K. Bundit hasconducted more than 400 concerts over an illustrious 18-year career. His currentdreams include helping other Thais achieve success.

can’t I be somebody great too? Iset off on my journey to be likethat conductor, and I begandreaming about being on stageand controlling my own famousorchestra.

I started to find out moreinformation about what a con-ductor does and what sort ofqualifications he needs and I setmyself the goal to become a con-ductor. And now here I am, and Ihave fulfilled my dream.

I would like to see Thaipeople and Thai children notthinking about winning at theAsian Games, but rather, think-

ing about winning at the OlympicGames. We have to change thestate of mind of Thai people andmake them forget the word “im-possible”. That way, everybodycan excel and reach new levelsat what they do.

There are four things youshould do if you want to succeed.First ask yourself “what do Iwant?” What are you dreaming ofdoing or being? You need to have agreat dream, one that makes youfeel excited all the time.

Do something that youlove. This will mean that you wantto do it every day. If you don’t

love the job that you do, you willlack inspiration and feel that youare doing it for no good reason.

Constantly improve your-self. After I had the chance towork alongside other professionalconductors, one thing that Ilearned from them is that we allhave to work to constantly im-prove. The secret is to improveall the time; to make the quest forimprovement such an ingrainedhabit that it ceases to be some-thing you think about.

Be persistent. The differ-ence between somebody who failsand somebody who succeeds is

that the successful person nevergives up. He is what we wouldcall “the last man standing”.

If you are doing somethingthat you don’t enjoy but must do,consciously change your attitude.Start loving it and develop it intosomething you can be proud of. Ilike the idea that in some foreigncountries they teach their childrenthat they can do anything and beanything, which is different to theThai culture of teaching childrenthat they can only succeed withthe help of good fortune.

The thing that I want to doafter this is to try and push my-self to be more well-knownacross the world, so that I canpromote the fact that Thai peoplecan be world class at whateverthey endeavor to do.

I want more Thai people tobe successful in their jobs and Iwant to build up support for Thaichildren to help them reach theirdreams. I will try to give morespeeches like the one in Phuketand I have another pocket book,World Class, to be released soonas a follow up to my first book,Conduct Your Dream.

I love to read the biographiesof other people, especially peoplewho have come from nothing tobe famous; I like to read abouthow they came to be in the spot-light and how they rose to fame.

We have to make peoplebelieve that nothing is impossible– and that it is not all about luck.

Compiled by Gazette Chief Re-porter Sangkhae Leelanapa-porn, with special thanks toPrince of Songkla University,Phuket Campus, for arrangingthis interview.

I currently have a multiple-entrynon-immigrant “O” visa that Iobtained on the basis of beingmarried to a Thai. I am 55 yearsold, but did not apply for a retire-ment visa because I still havebusiness interests in Australia andmust return there every 90 days.

When I am due for an ex-tension of my “O” visa, can Iapply for a 12-month extensionbecause I have a Thai family? Ifso, will I still have to do 90-dayrenewals with this type of visa?

Also, I have a nine-year-olddaughter whom I have adoptedin Thailand. What are the re-quirements if my daughter invitesme to stay in Thailand?

S. YoungKaron

Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen ofthe Phuket Provincial Immi-gration Office replies:

As you are married to aThai woman you can apply for a

non-immigrant “O” marriage visawith multiple entries – as you havedone. With this type of visa, youcan apply for a one-year permitto stay, which will be granted ifyour qualifications comply withthose listed in article 7.17 of theorder 606/2006, which specifiesproof-of-income requirements.

You can also apply for aone-year permit to stay as youhave adopted a Thai daughter.The requirements are defined bythe same article of this order.

However, although youdon’t need to show a minimum

income, you must show that yourincome is enough to allow you toresponsibly provide care for her.

You must also present allrelated documents that prove youare truly looking after her. Thesewould include her birth certificate,documents that prove you havecustody of her, receipts of ex-penses that relate to her such aseducation fees, clothing and so on.

Once you are granted aone-year permit to stay, you willnot need to leave the country torenew your visa every 90 days.

I am a Thai citizen with a Thaipassport. I have been living andworking aboard for the past 37years and plan on moving backto Thailand in October.

My wife and two childrenare Dutch. My wife is not goingto work in Thailand and my chil-dren are going to attend an inter-national school in Bangkok. Whatdocuments are required for ourfamily to obtain a residence per-mit?

Komgrit VeeranandaNetherlands

Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen ofthe Phuket Provincial Immi-gration Office replies:

You can obtain a non-immi-grant “O” visa from the Thaiembassy in the Netherlands foryour wife and your children.

If you have the necessarydocuments from the school yourchildren will be attending, thenyou can request a non-immigrant“ED” for them, but it is not nec-essary since they will be also al-

lowed to enter Thailand and studywith the non-immigrant “O” visa.

Once you enter Thailand,you can apply for a one-year per-mit-to-stay at any immigration of-fice to allow them to stay longerand avoid having to do visa runsevery three months.

To obtain a residence per-mit, your wife and children musthave one-year permits to staycontinually for at least threeyears.

Please see the full list ofrequirements and the documentsthat you will need on article 7.17of Thai Royal Police order 606/2549 at www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/2notice/rtp606.pdf

The requirements and infor-mation for the residence permitapplication can be found atwww.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/doc/declaration4extend.doc(English). A Thai version of thesame document can be found atwww.immigration.go.th/nov2004/doc/declaration4extend.doc

To submit an Issue, write to The Phuket Gazette, 367/2Yaowarat Rd, Muang, Phuket 83000. Fax 076-213971, or

submit your issue through our websiteat www.phuketgazette.net

ANSWERSIssues&

F E A T U R E S28 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Outsource the poor:a new economic model

AV

2x4

Don’t misapprehend asMachiavellian or readtoo much into whatfollows. It’s just a mod-

est proposal – but one, I think, asmight provide gainful employmentfor millions.

Historians and othertroubled minds know this is anera, the like of which has neverbeen chronicled. Our most press-ing problems are obesity and mal-nutrition. A fewhedge fundchairmen earnbillions eachyear, whileworkers are dis-placed by out-sourcing andfarmers facestarvation. AMalthusian cri-sis looms.

P e o p l eworry aboutstray dogs butdogs are not theproblem, it’s sur-plus people – technologically use-less people. People with no fu-ture for tourism.

They’re a drag on society.Still, murdering them outright is,I’m sure you’ll agree, misguided.As a tactic it won’t survive op-position from tree-huggers anddo-gooders. You know the peopleI’m talking about – people whodon’t know Zinfandel from Zan-zibar, and suppose Spotted Dickis something other than currantpudding.

What’s needed is a practi-cal solution, ensuring the great-est good for the greatest number.That’s why I propose putting thepoorest 20% in jail.

“Why?” you ask. “Why notjust nuke ’em, or bury ’em in thecoal mines to keep sinkholes fromforming?”

I’ll tell you why in a word –jobs. Putting people in jail creates

work and is profitable. In theUnited Snakes...er, States –which keeps about 1% of its adultcitizens in jail and houses theworld’s largest prison population(2.4 million of 9.2 million total) –putting people in jail outperformsthe economy as a whole. Morethan half of all US males spendtime in jail. The current presidenthimself was arrested twice.

Penning up society’s under-achievers makessense in waysperhaps notclear to ordinarythinkers. Con-sider this: a sur-vey of IQ versuseconomic per-formance con-cluded that, as arough approxi-mation, “in-crease of tenpoints in meanIQ results in dou-bling of percapita Gross

Domestic Product (GDP).” Oth-ers point out that genetic modifi-cations already possible – butexpensive – will result in evolu-tion of rich bright ubermenschside-by-side with idiots too poorto buy IQ-enhancing drugs. Dowe really want genetically un-modified poor people holdingdown our GDP?

Satan forbid!Let’s face it, poor people

are worthless. Already, in the USthe richest 20% own 80% of thewealth. The bottom 20% stumblearound barefoot, stinking up parkbenches and blighting the land-scape; and it can only growworse – the trend worldwide istowards increasing economicstratification.

In Phuket, anyone can seepoor people spoil the atmosphere.They have no taste in clothing orcars; and it’s not just the natives.

I’ve even seen foreign riff-raffdriving knackered vehiclesaround, shod in last year’s flip-flops, pretending they’ve enoughcash on hand for coffee atStarbucks.

It’s embarrassing. What willthe natives think? My friend Rosssays “sell ’em for body parts,” butI say “Arrest ’em!” Here’s why:

Like any business, the crimi-nal justice system needs custom-ers to expand. What would copsdo without “spiraling crimerates”? Suffer reduced budgets,manpower quotas, and opportu-nities for becoming police gener-als, that’s what. If crime disap-peared, most civil servants wouldvanish.

So would lawyers, privatesecurity services, flashyRobocop-type armored cars andall those middle-aged mothers andold men working as unarmed se-curity guards. Jail and prison staffwould be unemployed; tortureexperts would go begging, aswould companies vending closedcircuit monitoring systems, pep-per spray and stun guns. The mindboggles.

But luckily crime won’t dis-appear – because it can’t. Norshould it. Crime, remember, is avital stimulant for producers.

“To falter on production…exposes some individuals to lossof employment and... nothingcounts so heavily against a gov-ernment…,” opined Keynesianeconomist JK Galbraith.

He hit the nail squarely onthe head. With the Chinese ham-mering away at Thailand’s usualmarkets, chinks are apparent inour government’s brittle asser-tions of confidence. Growth is

faltering. Something must bedone.

I think crime is the obviousanswer: “more criminals” spells“more work”. But priming our en-gines of criminal growth, like go-ing to war, cannot be left to thehazards of nature. A criminalclass must be cultivated, likeroses. Thus, not being blessednaturally with a large criminalclass, we can create one by in-carcerating the poor.

True, the legislature andministries already pass innumer-able laws against what wereonce legal activities, thereby cre-ating new avenues of exploita-tion. But their work is desultory.The process needs better orga-nization, as in the US.

There, according to Bureauof Justice statistics, prison popu-lations average 3.4% annualgrowth. Today’s women, as in somany areas, are out-performingthe men, their prison numbers ris-ing 4.8% from mid-year 2005,while those of men rose just 2.7%.Fully 3.1% of black males and1.2% of Latino males are behindbars.

Profiling obviously speedswork. In Phuket, we can targetforeign lager louts, teenagers,Isarn beggars and ill-clad womencarrying babies. That’ll get theball rolling, keeping our jails fullduring low season.

But it’s not enough. Thai-land’s present rate of incarcera-tion, though nearly double that ofsleepy Malaysia and well abovethe world median, hardly touches0.25% of the population, just164,000 persons. It’s barely athird the US rate. To make realmoney we need a strategy for

exponential expansion.Trying to catch people who

actually commit crimes – robbers,hired gunmen, corporate con-art-ists, etc. – is problematic. It givescops a bad name when they can’tfind them, or get bought-off.

We’ll never pump up prisonfigures that way.

But by simply outlawing thepoorest 20% we can realize thebenefits of a huge prison popula-tion overnight – not to mentionforever do away with peoplecheating on their tax returns bypurposely under-reporting theirincome.

Naturally, many targeted forarrest will want to escape. Thisraises the possibility of openinghunting tours – maybe with a kindof “catch and release” program,as in big game fishing, to main-tain stocks.

“Let us admit the truth,”Frederick of Prussia once wroteto Voltaire, “the masses remainas nature made them – malevo-lent animals.”

We, too, should admit thetruth: men haven’t changed sincethe 18th Century, and compassionhas no place in society.

The weak exist merely to beused, yet technology is renderingthem useless. It is worth ponder-ing that, despite the brouhahaover out-sourcing to China, theChinese, too, have lost millions ofjobs in the last decade.

“Let the unemployed turn toarts that defy automation,” youmay suggest. But none do – think“Photoshop”. Anyway, lai Thaipainting, fruit carving and mud-mee textile weaving can be out-sourced, too. Even sex tourismmay go virtual – then where willwe be?

Clearly, unless all can be-come shivering bartenders orbreast enhancement surgeons –two jobs for which the market ap-pears endless – more work mustbe found. What better way thanthis harmless innovation in lawenforcement? Consider the op-portunities in prison services,medical, legal and para-legal; un-dercover investigation; aerial sur-veillance; auditing (to discover thepoor); arrest insurance (for thoseworried about falling into the bot-tom 20%); and entertainment(talk about having captive audi-ences!). Remunerative mono-graphs such as “Prisons: Popula-tion trends and key issues formanagement,” can be written forthe Criminal Justice Review andsimilar publications.

Then, of course, there arethe hunting tours....

As I said, this is not a radi-cal proposal. It’s simpleKeynesian economics – but witha twist. Eventually, as demandgrows, we can expand the pro-gram – and start hunting themiddle classes.

By Marque A. Rome

F E A T U R E SSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 29

In The Stars by Isla Star

VIRGO (August 23-September 23): A shaky start to the week couldleave you unsure about what the coming days will bring. Rest as-sured that this negative spell will pass quickly and the rest of Sep-tember should allow you to make easier progress. Those celebratinga birthday this weekend will be pleased by a gesture made by some-one overseas. Wear strawberry red to encourage inspiration.

LIBRA (September 24-October 23): If you have a new business, thepath will become smoother by enlisting the help of a trusted friend.Aries knows how to oil the wheels but you have enough rice on yourplate at the moment. Love is set to take off even if you’re not imme-diately attracted to someone you meet this week. You will soon dis-cover that the person concerned is worth getting to know.

SCORPIO (October 24-November 22): Believing in your dreams isimportant during the final week of September as you will have agolden opportunity to make one of these come true. Money matterswill require careful handling on Monday and Tuesday as a mistakewill not be in your favor. Leo is about to ask for advice. Be ambigu-ous to avoid a sticky situation. The number 4 is lucky on Wednesday.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23-December 21): Connections madelast year will prove useful this week. Many of you are about to takea leap into the unknown and will be glad of this help and a financialreward is due to land in your lap. Romance requires patience thisweekend as your partner could be hard to please. Those of you whoare single are advised to wait a while before approaching Libra.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 20): If a job is harder than teach-ing a mermaid how to walk, perhaps it’s time to call it a day. Bowingout gracefully will earn you more respect than failing to deliver whatyou promised. On Sunday, look out for an interesting Taurean as thiscould lead to the romantic connection you’ve been searching for.Wear the tangerine orange to send the right signals.

AQUARIUS (January 21-February 19) Some of you will learn thatyou aren’t the only fish in the sea early next week. If you’ve beenassuming that a lucrative job is as good as yours, this news will comeas a wake-up call. It shouldn’t be too late to get your act togetherand prove that you are the perfect person to be employed. A Cancerianfriend can give helpful advice. The number 3 is lucky on Monday.

PISCES (February 20-March 20): Diving in head first is not whatmost of you enjoy doing but you will need to run some risks duringthe last days of September if you want to boost your finances. Thoseof you who are self-employed should turn to Sagittarius for adviceand others should ask a Capricorn colleague for help. If you dare todo something different now, success is assured for the remainder ofthis year. The color slate gray boosts confidence.

ARIES (March 21-April 20): As your monetary situation continues toblossom, potential investments are worth investigating. Slow growthbears the best fruit; any get-rich-quick schemes proposed are simplyhot air. On Tuesday, a chance meeting with an old flame yields infor-mation that will help you decide whether to re-kindle this affair. Friendsensure that you have a weekend worth remembering. The number 9can bring good fortune on Thursday.

TAURUS (April 21-May 21): You will be content to enjoy a laid-backweek after recent whirlwind activity. Take advantage of this as Oc-tober promises to bring many social opportunities, most of which youwon’t want to miss. Romance is not your priority now but Sagittariusis determined to get your interest. If friendship is what you desire,make this clear and they will understand. Use rose pink to balanceyour energy.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21): You could be accused of having doublestandards this weekend. Those of you who know this to be true shouldrethink your business strategies. An attractive Scorpio ires you onSaturday, proceeding with caution is advised. Regarding personal fi-nances, now is not the time to splash out on unnecessary luxuries.You will appreciate them more if you save up first.

CANCER (June 22-July 23): The answer to a business dilemma shouldbecome clear this weekend. The stars will support your efforts to getahead but progress will become smoother next month. Ride out theremaining days of September by laying firm foundations and makingconcrete plans. Romantic relationships will be subject to misunder-standings; if a culture clash is involved, you are advised to be the onemaking more allowances. Number 6 can is lucky on Thursday.

LEO (July 24-August 22): Those of you looking for love will be grati-fied this weekend. Cupid has your best interests at heart and is aboutto act accordingly. However, friends are about to demand more ofyour time and attention, particularly an Aquarian who is going througha troubling time. At work, Aries would like to burst your bubble ofsuccess, so be careful when sharing information. The scent of mag-nolia enhances your ability to charm.

C O M P U T E R S30 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Era of iConfusiondawns in Thailand

COMPUTERKHUN WOODY’S

YouTube can be viewed from Thailand again – but can you believeeverything you see?

By now, you undoubtedlyknow that Thailand’sMinistry of Informationand Communication

Technology (MICT) has officiallystopped blocking YouTube.com.Yes, that means you can nowwatch tonnes of fascinating vid-eos (start at topyoutubevideos.com) or even upload questionsfor the CNN American Presiden-tial debates (youtube.com/youchoose) – hardly an endorse-ment, I know.

At about the same time, theMICT appears to have stoppedblocking access to many othersites once considered worthy ofgovernment censorship.

Brazil, Iran,Morocco, Turkeyand the UnitedArab Emirateshave, at one timeor another,blocked citizens’ access toYouTube. This particular bout ofThai YouTube blocking startedApril 3 in response to an ama-teur clip offensive to HM KingBhumibol Adulyadej. Thailand isno stranger to YouTube blocking:the MICT last banned YouTubeon March 8 when someoneposted a clip of Thaksin Shina-watra’s CNN interview.

While it’s true that theMICT has lifted the ban, the cir-cumstances continue to bam-boozle me. On August 31, TheNation reported that YouTubewould curb any clips which havecontents considered an affront toThai people or those that violatethe Kingdom’s laws.

“YouTube had just finishedcreating a program that wouldblock sensitive video clips frombeing accessed from Thai Inter-net service providers (ISPs),”ICT Minister Sitthichai said.

At least, that’s what theMICT claims. On the YouTubeside, I’ve heard nothing: no pressreleases, no interviews, no leakedcomments, no blog entries. Ifsomebody at YouTube madepromises to prevent playing of-fensive clips on computers lo-

cated in Thailand, they certainlyhaven’t told the world.

YouTube has the technicalability to block playing specificclips in specific countries, and hashad that ability for some time.

Yo u Tu b ecurrently blocksvideos in Franceand Germanythat may violatethose countries’

racial hatred and neo-Nazi laws.On April 7, the BBC re-

ported (tinyurl.com/2on94g) thatYouTube’s head of global com-munication advised, “It’s up to theThailand government to decidewhether to block specific videos,but we would rather that thanhave them block the entire site.”

How will the ban work? TheNew York Times quotes MinisterSitthichai as saying, “Any clip thatwe think is illegal, we will informYouTube and YouTube will havea look independently… If You-Tube agrees that it is illegal forThailand or against Thai culture,they will block it from viewers inThailand.”

Again, there’s nothing I canfind from YouTube either con-firming or denying the assertion– or clarifying it, for that matter.The Financial Times quotes ananonymous source as saying,“YouTube will consider requeststo remove material that contra-venes local law. It will only actafter taking independent legaladvice.”

The five-month YouTubeblock began when a person us-ing the screen name “Paddid-daa”, working on a computer that

appeared to be in the US [IPspoofing is easy, so take that ob-servation with a grain of salt],posted several childish video clipson YouTube that were insultingnot only to the Thai monarchy, butalso to anyone with a modicumof taste – not to mention intelli-gence.

On May 10, a woman iden-tifying herself as “Silapajarun”posted a video on YouTube thatclaims to contain screen shots ofa conversation she had withPaddiddaa. If you watch thevideo (which you can now see aty o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v =GehITIJc8p8), you will be treatedto 10 minutes of, uh, well, let’sjust say it’s not the most coher-ent video I’ve encountered. Thevoice-over, presumably providedby Silapajarun, comes from awoman who speaks AmericanEnglish like a native, and alsospeaks excellent Thai.

A little more than three min-utes into the video, Silapajarunshows a sequence of instant mes-sages that she claims came fromPaddiddaa. Here’s what Paddid-daa has to say, according toSilapajarun:

To all Thai people I’m backbut not to insult but to apologizeto Thai people about what I havedone. Can you forgive me andlet’s work together and finish offwhat I have started? I am a fol-lower of Thaksin Shinawatra theformer prime minister and by “fin-ish off what I started” mean I willtry my best to make YouTube re-

move all offensive clips to Thai-land so YouTube will be availableagain in Thailand. I post it hereso all Thai people can see I willwork for Thaksin no more. Yes Imight have achieved nothing butit’s better than being hated for-ever.

You can draw your ownconclusions. The Paddiddaa ac-count doesn’t exist any more, andI was unable to find copies of themost egregious videos.

On a different note, it lookslike Thailand’s new Computer-Related Crimes Act, which I dis-cussed in my July 27 column, hasclaimed its first two victims, butdetails are very sketchy.

The Financial Times said onAugust 31 that “in recent weeks,authorities have used a new lawto arrest two Thais for what weredeemed particularly offensivecomments about the monarchy onInternet chat rooms, a senior Thaiofficial told the FT”.

On September 6, The Na-tion reported, “Net surfers havesought a Thai government expla-nation over a report in the Finan-cial Times about the arrest of twoThais for alleged offensive com-ments about the monarchy on anInternet chat room. They’reafraid that a webmaster goingmissing under suspicious circum-stances might be one of the vic-tims.

The webmaster, known asPraya Phichai, is well known inthe Internet community as heactively participates in web board

discussions about the monarchyon many sites. ICT Minister Sit-thichai Pookaiyaudom deniedknowledge of any arrests. PolMaj Gen Wisut Wanitchbutr, com-mander of the Economic andCyber Crime division, also said hisdivision had not arrested the twoThais.”

On September 7, thePrachatai site reported, “An ar-rested member of Internet discus-sion forums has been released onbail today, his family memberstold Prachatai. 36-year-old com-puter programmer, whose cyberalias is Praya Pichai, was report-edly arrested on Aug 24, and de-tained at the Bangkok RemandPrison.

“He was charged under Ar-ticle 14 of the new ComputerCrime Act which has been in ef-fect since July 18.” (see www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=197)

Then on September 8, TheNation said, “A woman who wasreported to be the second personto have been arrested under thenew Computer Crime Act hasbeen detained at Bangkok Re-mand Prison…

“ w w w. p r a c h a t a i . c o mquoted its source as saying thatthe unnamed woman had beenarrested on August 24, the sameday the 37-year-old webmasterwas arrested, and had been de-tained in jail since. It said her fam-ily had financial constraints andwas struggling to pay her bail.The on-line paper, however, didnot give details of the woman.”

Why the secrecy? Whoknows. Is it possible that two Thaicitizens were arrested for violat-ing the Computer Related CrimesAct – and two weeks later, no-body had bothered to inform ei-ther the Minister of ICT or theCommander of the Economic andCyber Crime division? I’ll leavethat a rhetorical question.

If you’re concerned aboutnews like this, we talk about thelatest – what you can do, whatyou can’t do, and what can landyou in the slammer – at the regu-lar Sunday PC Group Therapysessions, 10 am until noon at theSandwich Shoppe in Patong.Everyone’s invited, from abjectnovices to grizzled PC veterans.Dummies, too.

Much help and advice getsdispensed, absolutely free. Dropme a line for directions.

When he isn’t writing computerbooks and magazine and news-letter articles, or knockingMicrosoft around on hiswebsite, Woody Leonhard(woody@khunwoody.com,www.askwoody.com) runsKhun Woody’s Bakery and theSandwich Shoppe in Patong.

September 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 31

AV

Halfpage

B U S I N E S S & M O N E Y32 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

TALKSMONEY

By Richard G.. Watson

Brandeaux scores high inacademic performance

Long-term readers of thiscolumn will recall articlesI wrote on ground rent,student accommodation

and key personnel accommoda-tion – perhaps not the most ex-citing or glamorous of invest-ments on offer. However, they allshare the same important out-come: they make money.

Brandeaux Ground Rent In-come Funds is up more than 12%over 12 months; over the sameperiod, the Sterling Fund is up11.54% and the Dollar Fund11.81%. The last two funds men-tioned hold around 70% groundrents and 30% stu-dent accommoda-tion, as well as a tinyportion of key per-sonnel (nurses on acontract with theUK’s NHS Trust).The Student Ac-commodation Fundis up 11.05% overone year and55.28% over fiveyears.

Wall Streethas jitters, the USsubprime market isa mess and the world is watch-ing with concern as risk aversiontakes deeper root. Perhaps I amtoo conservative and old fash-ioned, but to me the ideal invest-ment is one that simply keepsgoing up in value, regardless ofmarkets.

These investments are allmanaged by Brandeaux, a Lon-don-based investment house. Theoriginal concept of ground rentswas as an investment propositionthat could be incorporated with aunit trust or mutual-fund vehicle.

The concept was originatedby Kay Brandeaux, a profes-sional fund manager from Loui-siana living in Europe, who thenbench-tested using a broker fund

attached to the Scottish Life Of-fices Association for four years.

This was effectively a fi-nancial laboratory. The productworked; investors were assuredthat targeted returns of 8% to

10% for this fundwere anticipatedafter annual man-agement fees. Thefund performed atthe top end of therange. Then it hit aserious problem: Itsimply could notcope with the vol-ume of money thatwas trying to beplaced in the fund.At that stage, theStudent Accommo-dation Fund was

also deluged with cash. This wasin the aftermath of thestockmarket crash of the early2000s.

To Brandeaux’s credit, thecompany responded by closingfunds and opening new ones. Itwould have been easy and prof-itable for the firm to have takenin the extra cash.

There is not a huge marketin ground rents; they are boughtand sold at auction. Brandeauxstill runs the only organized inves-tor funds in this area. Other par-ticipants include pension funds,private investors, and so on.

The move into university-student accommodation wasshrewd. The UK has over two

million university students; thereare now over 100 accredited uni-versities. Young university stu-dents are by no means all of thestudent population, as KayBrandeaux told me.

“There is an endless supplyof lawyers wanting to becomeaccountants and accountantswanting to become lawyers;most of this population are in their30s.”

Brandeaux simply acquiredproperty suitable, on average, forthe accommodation of 200 to 400students. Each student has theirown room with en suite facilities,Internet connection, and so on.There are communal study andcatering areas and residents haveCCTV security and 24-hourswipe-card access.

However, often the configu-ration of the building will includethree- to five-bedroom apart-ments, fully self-contained.

The reason that this is a suc-cessful mix is that often, a num-ber of students will arrange to rentthe larger apartments for the du-ration of their degrees. The stu-dent accommodation website is:www.libertystudents.com

Brandeaux now accommo-dates over 10,000 students. Highimportance is placed on good re-lationships with universities, asthey are often the source of blockbookings. However, in one city,the local university had to place200 students as Brandeaux’s ac-commodation was already full.

There is a serious shortage ofsuitable student accommodation.

Strict attention is paid to thecredit worthiness of each appli-cant; parental and bank guaran-tees are required. The paymentsystem is as follows: 50% of theannual fee is payable in advance,with 30% payable at the begin-ning of the second term.Brandeaux is, basically, in thehotel business – but with 98%occupancy rates and bad debtsof just 1% to 2%. Any hotelierwill tell you that these are ratesthat can normally only be dreamtabout. The UK university-studentpopulation is rising at 3% to 5%every year, with many comingfrom overseas.

When stockmarkets startedto rise again in 2003, surplusmoney pressure decreased andBrandeaux reopened its funds. Itsfund-returns are increasing com-pared to long-term past averagesand are exceeding their targets.An independent financial adviserin Kuala Lumpur noted that oneof the Brandeaux funds wentdown in value.

I investigated. What actu-ally happened was thatBrandeaux’s management feehad been deducted and the fundhad not risen in value from theprevious week. Brandeaux man-agement fees are 1.5% per an-num, payable throughout the year.

Although Brandeaux col-lects 50% of the student accom-modation annual fees in advance,

it actually drip feeds this moneyto investors.

Brandeaux only deals withinstructional investors; in otherwords, offshore insurance com-panies, private banks, and so on.Brandeaux is not open to retailinvestors. That has always beenits policy and, because of the anti-money-laundering regulations thathave been subsequently intro-duced, it makes even more sense.

I was introduced to KayBrandeaux and ground rents inmid-1996 when I was in this busi-ness in South Africa as regionalsales Manager for Royal & SunAlliance International – nowFriends Provident International.

He explained the conceptof ground rents and I washooked; here was an investmentthat was not market-related andoffered high, consistent returns.Over eleven years later, I ammore firmly hooked than ever.

This column has coveredareas such as hedge funds, assetbacked securities, and so on. Inreality, not one of our clients, cer-tainly via Global Portfolios, hasany exposure to these areas.

Richard G Watson runs GlobalPortfolios Co Ltd, a Phuket-based personal financial-plan-ning service. He can be reachedat Tel: 076-381997, Fax: 076-383185, Mobile: 081-0814611.Email: imm@ loxinfo.co.th.Website: www. global-portfolios.com

B U S I N E S S & M O N E YSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 33

ON THE MOVE

Fabian Doppler, fromGermany, has joined theMcEvily & Collins law firmas an associate who fo-cuses on real estate andcorporate law, advising cli-ents on matters includingproperty acquisition, com-pany registration and com-pliance issues. He studiedlaw at Freie UniversitatBerlin, the Eberhard KarlsUniversitat Tubingen andthe Universite de Lige.Most recently, Mr Dopplerwas counsel for an interna-tional law firm based in KohSamui.

Thapanat Lohavej, fromNakhon Sawan, has beenappointed Director of Food& Beverage at BurasariResort. He is a certifiedsommelier with over 20years’ experience in thehotel industry, includingworking at Regent HotelBangkok, The SukhothaiBangkok, the SheratonSukhumvit and theSheraton Phuket. Most re-cently, K. Thapanatworked at ItalThai Indus-trial Co Ltd in Bangkokwhere he worked in distri-bution.

Pernilla Strandberg, fromGothenburg, Sweden, hasbeen appointed GeneralManager of the Med Parkat Phuket Boat Lagoon.She will also be in chargeof marketing for the com-plex, which consists of DC-one The Dental Clinic,Face2Face Skin and Aes-thetic Center, a health spaand the alfresco bistro.Before joining Med Park,Ms Strandberg was a res-taurant manager for Buf-falo Steakhouse and an En-glish teacher at schools andbusinesses.

Location vital for Veg Fest success

Phuket’s annual Chinese vegetarian festival means high occupancyrates for local hotels and usually marks the start of the high season.This year’s festival (October 11 to 19) is expected to attract moreChinese tourists than previous years.

PHUKET: Phuket’s annual veg-etarian festival is almost upon usonce more, with many hotels onthe island gearing up to handle theinflux of tourists.

Hotel operators in PhuketCity are hoping that this year’sextravaganza from October 11 to19 will mark the start of theisland’s busiest high season todate.

Suwalai Pinpradub, directorof Tourism Authority of Thai-land’s (TAT) Southern Region 4Office, said that judging from thestrong hotel-occupancy figures sofar this season, the number ofpeople expected to attend thisyear’s festival should be evenmore than last year.

“The hotels in Phuket Townare 70% booked for the periodof the vegetarian festival. Themajority of the tourists will onceagain be from our neighboringcountries, such as Malaysia andSingapore,” said K. Suwalai, whoadded that hotel occupancyshould be close to full by the timeof the festival.

“We have promoted thefestival through various media.We are hoping that people willeat vegetarian food in honor ofHM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s80th birthday. This year, we haveinvited the Hong Kong press tojoin the festival, opening up a newchannel through which to pro-mote the event,” said K.Suwalai.

In the past, the vegetarianfestival has failed to attract astrong following from the Chinesemarket, but as most Chinese tour-ists travel around the time ofNational Day Golden Week,which begins October 1. “Thiscould mean there may be manyChinese tourists interested in vis-iting the festival this year,” K.Suwalai added.

Panida Utarapak, front of-fice manager of Pearl Hotel, toldthe Gazette that the hotel isbooked 60% occupancy fromOctober 14 to 15 and bookingsare at 80% for the last three daysof the vegetarian festival (Octo-ber 17 to 19).

By Janyaporn Morel& Sangkhae Leelanapaporn

“If there had been no bomb-ings in Haad Yai, the situationwould have been better and oc-cupancy as high as 100%,” shesaid.

According to K. Panida, oc-cupancy this time last year waslower than usual because of in-surgent attacks in Haad Yai,which caused many bookings tobe canceled. Most of last year’shotel guests came from Haad Yaior Malaysia, attending the festi-val in the hopes that it would bringthem luck..

“We will have vegetarianfood available for hotel guests andwill arrange space for guests towatch the festival parade. Mostof the guests who stay here areregular customers who book ayear in advance. They are happywith the hotel’s location becausethe parade from each shrine willpass right in front of the hotelbuilding on Montri Rd,” said K.Panida.

Pearl Hotel has 212 rooms,which go for between 1,000 and1,500 baht per night during thevegetarian festival. K. Panidaadded that occupancy rates athotels in Phuket Town were gen-erally quite low this year, with

hotels on the beach front doingbetter business.

Chaithawat Satthaphol, as-sistant director of sales at theMetropole Hotel Phuket, told theGazette that there are a lot ofSingaporean tourists traveling tothe island, accounting for about70% of all guests at Metropoleat the moment.

Many of the guests are re-turn visitors who come to Phuketevery year for the festival. Witha total of 248 rooms, Metropolecharges around 2,000 to 2,500baht a night during the festival.Every year, just before the festi-val, the rooms begin filling up andreach full occupancy by the timethe festival starts, said K. Chai-thawat.

“Most guests at the Metro-pole book through the hotel’swebsite or affiliate websites, suchas Gullivers.com, while somebook through tour operators,”said K. Chaithawat.

“We have a number of pro-motions at the moment to attractguests. For example, we havevegetarian cuisine and buffets onoffer. We also have programs toassist guests in preparing tablesand props for ceremonies they

might want to perform during thefestival,” he added.

K. Chaithawat said that in-creasing numbers of guests stayat Metropole during the vegetar-ian festival every year. Peoplewho come one year might go andtell their friends and familiesabout it, and then next year theytoo will book. Word of mouth isimportant for publicity.

The ideal place to be locatedfor the festival is in Phuket Town,which is where the festival is busi-est and why Metropole does sucha roaring trade during this time.Once the festival is over and thehigh season is in full swing, theguests are predominantly Russianand Scandinavian, said K. Chai-thawat.

“As with Pearl Hotel,Metropole’s location in PhuketTown works to its advantage dur-ing the vegetarian festival, as it isclose to all the major Chineseshrines where activities takeplace. The low cost of food andaccommodation when comparedto coastal resorts is also inMetropole’s favor,” said K.

Chaithawat.Location is key for prosper-

ity during the vegetarian festival,as Uraiwan Tohom, Front OfficeManager of Royal Phuket CityHotel on Phang Nga Road toldthe Gazette. Royal Phuket Citywill not have any special promo-tions except for vegetarian foodbeing served.

“This year our 250 roomsare about 25% booked up for thefestival period. While we expectslightly more people to booknearer the time, we don’t thinkwe will match last year’s occu-pancy, which was just over 50%full, because of economic prob-lems. Because we are not locatedon the main road where the pa-rades pass, we only get the guestswho can’t find a room in the mainhotels,” said K. Uraiwan.

K. Suwalai told the Gazettethat she estimates that about 2,000hotel rooms on the island will befilled during the vegetarian festi-val, accounting for up to 5,000people, with each person ex-pected to spend about 3,700 bahtper day.

S P O R T S34 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

RAWAI: Islanders who wish tounleash their inner army man orwoman will be excited to knowabout Phuket’s first airsoft battle-field at Phuket Airsoft BB Gun,which opened July 15 on four raiof land next to Patong ShootingRange at Chalong Circle.

Airsoft is a modern combatsport, similar to paintball, whichinvolves team games using airsoftguns – air guns that fire spheri-cal, plastic pellets. Combatantsface off against each other withreplica firearms, but there is verylittle risk of injury as direct hitsfrom the pellets are only mildlypainful and all participants inairsoft battles are required towear safety goggles. Also, themaximum speed of pellets mustnot exceed 400 feet per second.

Mana Rattanapan, managerof Phuket Air Soft BB Gun, said,“We have airsoft automatic riflesthat people can use to shoot oneanother safely. Each of the two

SNEAK ATTACK: An airsoft sniper scopes out territory at Phuket Airsoft BB Gun, where two teamscan battle it out in games using air guns that fire small pellets.

teams uses airsoft guns and agreeto follow some simple rules.

“The rules are: guns areonly to be armed and fired on thebattlefield; participants must notshoot each other within a five-meter radius; all competitors mustwear face masks at all times;nobody is to shoot an opponentwho had his hand raised abovehis head in surrender,” added K.Mana.

The battlefield at Phuket AirSoft BB Gun is filled with numer-ous corrugated iron bunkers andother hiding spots, making it theideal place for two teams to gohead-to-head in all-out combat.

A full day’s play at PhuketAir Soft BB Gun costs 890 bahtper person, including use of anairsoft gun with 300 pellets, uni-form, face mask, light refresh-ments and accident insurance.Bags of about 5,000 additionalpellets can be purchased for 500baht.

Phuket Air Soft BB Gun isopen daily from 9 am to 6 pm,

with a nighttime service availableat an extra fee. Teams must com-prise at least two and not morethan 10 members. Four staff areon hand at all times during gamesto make sure each battle runssmoothly.

People can bring their ownguns, but all guns must be in-spected before play to ensurethey meet Phuket Air Soft BBGun’s guidelines.

Airsoft began in Japan inthe late seventies when, as partof a national gun craze, peoplebegan seeking legal alternativesto firearms. In recent years,airsoft has gained in popularity asan alternative to paintball be-cause of its more realistic battlesituations.

Unlike paintball, airsoft isbased on an honor system,whereby players rely on eachother’s honesty – leaving thegame after admitting being hit.

For more information call K.Mana at 089-5921959.

New battleground forPhuket gunslingersBy Pathomporn Kaenkrachang

PHUKET: Phuket’s cricket fans have somethingto look forward to as the 2008 Island FurnitureCricket League is fast approaching, with finaltouches to the logistics of the competition now un-derway.

Organizers the Phuket Cricket Union arehoping for at least five teams this year. That num-ber would expand the number of games needed to20, which would be played on a round-robin basisleading up to a final showdown between the twoleague leaders.

Islanders are invited to stake their participa-tion in the league now by submitting the names oftheir teams and team captains.

The services of match officials are also be-ing called upon, as dedicated umpires and scorersare always in short supply.

Once the number of teams has been decided,schedules and associated costs for the coming sea-son will be finalized and announced.

Last year’s cricket league saw league win-ners the Phuket Academicals (PAC) go head-to-head with the Island Cricket Club (ICC) in the fi-nal. In what was considered a walkover, PACromped home and took the title by 76 runs and fivewickets.

Anyone interested in playing next season, butwho do not have a team, are welcome to contactthe Phuket Cricket Union, which will find a side forthem.

For further information, to become a spomsoror to enter a team into the league, contact the PhuketCricket Union. Tel: 086-1208346. Email: scarfy@loxinfo.co.th

Phuket prepares for coming cricket season

SAPHAN HIN: Phuket Badmin-ton Club held a charity tournamentin honor of HM King BhumibolAdulyadej’s 80th birthday atSaphan Hin from September 5 to9.

Local athlete 18-year-oldKiatisak Dasamut won the titlein the singles division for 18-year-olds, winning his final match 21-12.

Kiatisak was also half ofthe winning doubles team withJakapan Laovittaya, winning thattitle with a score of 21-6.

Phuket Vice-GovernorWorapoj Ratthasima presidedover the event and even took tothe court himself in an exhibitiongame with Phuket Public Pros-

ecutor Chetvit Tiontipanvadee.The tournament saw 200

players take part in 220 matchesplayed across 11 divisions, withplayers from Bangkok and 14Southern provinces battling it outfor medals, certificates and the1,000-baht top prizes.

Second and third places ineach division received 600 bahtand 400 baht respectfully.

Players in the tournamentwere from a wide range of agegroups, from as young as nine upto over 60 years old .

An additional six friendship-doubles matches took place at theevent between local residents.

The matches were held toraise money for Patong Hospital,with 120,000 baht being donatedby the teams.

Local teenagerwins charitybadminton

By Semacote Suganya

Phuket Vice-GovernorWorapoj Ratthasima smiles as he takes onPhuket Public Prosecutor Chetvit Tiontipanvadee.

S P O R T SSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 35

PATONG DARTS LEAGUE

Bangkok Hospital Phuket Director Dr Kongkiat Kespechara (center,left, with orange shirt and glasses) joins soccer teams from BangkokPhuket Hospital (in white, with fans in orange) and the PhuketReporters’ Club (in blue) at Baan Kathu School.

The Bangkok Hospital Phuket team won the friendly matchwith a 2-1 win after a tense on-field battle on September 7.The match was held to mark the donation of sports equipment tothe school.

Burmese boxing, or lethwei as it is known tonative Burmese, datesback to the Pyu Empire

of around the year 800. Rules ofthe sport parallel those of MuayThai, allowing punches, kicks, el-bows and knees. Unlike MuayThai, however, head butts andthrows are also permitted.

Burmese boxers do notfight with gloves, instead wrap-ping their hands in either hemprope or gauze cloth. These wrapsprovide little in way of paddingand cause frequent cuts and abra-sions. Each fight is divided intofive, three-minute rounds and thecontests are often wild, bloodyaffairs.

Victory comes by surrenderor knockout, and if both partici-pants are still standing at the endof the battle, a draw is declared.In some cases, fighters areknocked out, revived by their cor-ner, given two minutes to recu-perate, and then given the optionto fight on. Leth wei rules stipu-late each fighter can be knockedout twice before the contest isfinally halted.

As you can imagine, it is not

By Scott Mallon

In leth wei, head butts and throws are not only permitted, but are considered important parts of aBurmese boxer’s offensive arsenal.

Burmese badasses fight dirty

a sport for the faint of heart.In the past, bouts were held

in sand or dirt pits. However, thishas increasingly given way tostandard boxing rings. Leth weicontests are generally held dur-

Battling without gloves de-mands that the boxers are tre-mendously conditioned in order toabsorb the repeated blows; lumps,bruises and scar tissue are guar-anteed.

Although most leth weifighters lack the refined skills oftraditional boxers or Muay Thaifighters, they have earned a repu-tation of being exceptionally rug-ged, never-say-die fighters.

Other than in Burma, thereare very few skilled, bare-knucklefighters fighting on a regular ba-sis. Recently, however, a team ofBurmese traveled to Japan,where they defeated four out oftheir five opponents.

There are leth wei gyms allover Myanmar. Unlike with MuayThai gyms here in Thailand, how-ever, these gyms are not readilyaccessible to foreigners. If youdon’t know the right people it’srare to come across a leth weiboxing camp or event.

Scott Mallon is a Bangkok-based freelance boxing writerand photojournalist who sits onRing magazine’s ratings advi-sory panel. He recently visitedBurma to film a documentarywith a foreign film crew.

PATONG: In a week withmostly predictable results,Valhalla pulled off a major upsetby taking two points at second-place Offshore.

The surprise result givesQueen Mary a two-point cush-ion at the top of the table.

Meanwhile, Beach Housefailed in their quest to pick up theirfirst point of the season on theroad at Piccadilly.

They were tied at the endof the singles but were sweptaway in the doubles en route to a6-3 loss.

Ulf of Piccadilly scored a180.

Send all match info to:darts@phuketgazette.net

ing festivals or as part of a spe-cial event, with boxers often trav-eling around the country in searchof fights.

The boxers are, to someextent, akin to the old-time pugi-

lists who fought bare-knucklebouts in England and America inthe 1800s and early 1900s. Fight-ing to survive and feed their fami-lies, they are willing to fight any-one, anywhere, anytime.

September 11 results: QueenMary* 7 Market Bar 2; Pic-cadilly* 6 Beach House 3; Off-shore* 4 Valhalla 5; Shakers 6Simply Red* 3; Dogs Bollocksbye; (* = winner of beer leg).

Standings: 1. Queen Mary (11);2. Offshore (9); 3.= Shakers,Piccadilly (6); 5. Dogs Bollocks(5); 6.= Market Bar, Simply Red(4); 8. Valhalla (3); 9. BeachHouse (0).

September 25 matchups:

Market Bar v Beach House;Valhalla v Piccadilly; Shakers vQueen Mary; Simply Red v DogsBollocks; Offshore bye; (hometeams first).

Valhalla pips Offshore

P H U K E T P R O P E R T Y36 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Gardening by Bloomin’ Bert

Clueless in the garden

Email Bloomin’ Bert at:bert@bloominbert.com

Fancy a cute bush? Try the pinwheel jasmine, or pud-doom in Thai. It’s fragrant only at night and itsflowers are visible in moonlight. Other than that, Bert hasn’t a clue why it’s in his garden.

Iwish I actually knew what Iwas talking about. Unfortu-nately, as with many things,I’m sure I’m not alone in this

regard. Even so-called experts intheir field have been known to besomewhat lacking in expertise;it’s just that some are able to hidetheir ineptitude better than others.

How many times have youtaken your car to the local repairshop to have the mechanic blokein greasy overalls lift the bonnetand immediately do that sharpintake of air through pursed lipsthing? “I don’t like the look ofthat”, he’ll say. On further ques-tioning it will become evident thatyou’ll need to spend money justto find out what the problem is.In other words, he hasn’t thefaintest idea.

Clueless shop assistants arefrustrating at times too. Is it justme that gets a tad irritated whenyou go into a shop and ask themwhy this digital camera is betterthan that digital camera, and allthey do is get out the instructionbook or read the box? Even Icould have done that.

I’ve had some big problemswith my Internet connection inthis part of the world, as I thinkhave many residents of Phuketwho are foolhardy enough to at-tempt to get on-line.

Consider this exchange be-tween myself and the customerservice department of an Internetservice provider, who weren’texactly excelling in the way ofcustomer service at the time myInternet was down.

After about 10 or 15 min-utes of being passed around, re-ceiving various advice from vari-ous customer service agents invarying degrees of befuddlement,I get as far as a lovely-soundinglady saying “The Internet is work-ing now”. I check. It is – just.

“OK, but it wasn’t workingwhen I called you, ten minutesago.” I reply. “What was theproblem, anyway? Have youfixed it?”

“There isn’t a problem now.The next time there is a problem,I’ll email you about it,” she help-fully responds.

“But I won’t be able to…

Never mind. Thank you verymuch.”

I’m so glad our phone con-versation was ‘being recorded forquality assurance purposes’.

At least you can getthrough. It’s impossible to callyour local bank in the UK now –all you can do is call a nationalnumber (which they inevitablycharge you for) so that you canspeak to some clueless buffoonin Ipswich about the overdraftyou discussed with your bankmanager in Yorkshire just lastweek. They haven’t a clue; youcan hardly expect them to.

As somebody the Gazettetosses the odd shekel towards meevery now and then to suppos-edly ramble on about gardening,I really should be able to pick outmost of the green stuff growingin the region and put some kindof name to it, but not always.

I took a picture of a bushgrowing in my garden about threeyears ago, and it’s only today that

I’ve actually found out what it’scalled – seriously. I’ve got acouple of very valid excusesthough: one, as I mentioned ear-lier, I haven’t a clue and two, theterm tabernaemontana divari-cata hardly rolls effortlessly offthe tongue.

Otherwise known as thepinwheel jasmine, or pud-doomin Thai, this cute bush is native toIndia and Southeast Asia. Thereare actually about 140 species oftabernae montana scatteredaround the tropics, but the pin-wheel jasmine is one of the morecommon. It’s fragrant only atnight and the flowers arestrangely visible in moonlight.

The pinwheel jasmine is oneof the most reliable of the shrubbloomers with an impressive dis-play of flowers year round. It cangrow to two or three meters inheight but is in no particular rushto get there.

It’s perfectly happy in ei-ther sun or shade – about the

only thing to remember is not toplant this thing any closer than acouple of meters from any ce-ment structure that matters.Tabernaemontana divaricata andhouse foundations don’t mixwell.

The many branches tend togrow almost parallel to the groundgiving the shrub an attractive,slightly weird horizontal look. Asit happens, the species name,divaricata, means “at an obtuseangle”, but that may be referringto the flowers.

Pruning isn’t particularlynecessary as this thing is rela-tively well-behaved, but you mightwant to give it a trim every oncein a while. Like many membersof this family, the stems of theplant exude a greasy, milky latexwhen broken. Related to the rub-ber tree in some way maybe? Idon’t know – ask somebody whoactually knows about this kind ofstuff.

Anyway, the large shiny

leaves are a deep green, about15 cm in length and around 5 cmwide. The waxy blossoms arewhite five-petal pinwheel things,appearing in small clusters on thestem tips.

You can propagate the pin-wheel jasmine from cuttingsfrom newish growth or, althoughI have yet to see it, by seed. Oryou can do it like the rest of usand pay a visit to the local gar-den center.

In some forms of Thaimedicine, pinwheel jasmine isused as an analgesic and seda-tive. In South America and Af-rica extracts of jasmine plants areused as stimulants. How thesame plant can be used as both asedative and a stimulant I’m notsure… Perhaps yet another ex-ample of experts making it up asthey go along?

Also, pharmacological re-search of the alkaloids in ta-bernae montana plants showpromise in helping interrupt ad-diction to opiates, cocaine, nico-tine, and alcohol. Personally, giventhe choice of a fag (cigarette,before any confused transatlan-tic types email me) and a Heine-ken or chewing on one of theseplants, I know which optionwould win out.

Pinwheel jasmine should beused as a feature. It’s brilliant forlighting up a shady corner orplanted near an area used fornight entertaining.

As it has a kind of layeredgrowth habit, it would even workin one of those trendy Japanese-style gardens. The white pinwheelblooms with their tiny yellow cen-ters are individually small butthere are enough of them to puton a good show.

Should you decide to go offand buy one of these, you can bepretty sure that the little man whogreets you won’t consult the seedpacket from which it was grownbefore answering your questions.He actually does know what he’stalking about. Me? I haven’t aclue.

P H U K E T P R O P E R T YSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 37

Home of the Week Nai Harn

This two year old home ofclassic Thai architec-ture with a contempo-rary interior on two rai

at Nai Harn is surrounded bymanicured lawns and tropical gar-dens with a forest backdrop.

The three bedroom, fivebathroom house is designed toreflect traditional architecture,while offering the comforts andamenities of a western home. Itis tucked away from the mainroad in a tranquil setting, makingit an idyllic home for a large fam-ily.

Terraces surround thehouse, taking maximum advan-tage of space and provide out-door living areas. Around the backis a tiled saltwater pool and anadjoining Jacuzzi is set in thesandwashed deck.

The contemporary interior isdesigned to be airy and cool.

Large, mosqito-net-covered win-dows and high doors that openonto the terrace allow the air tocirculate and natural light to pourin.

Tastefully decorated tiledfloors also help keep the interiorcool and are easy to clean. Allbedrooms are en suite; the mas-ter bathroom has a tub and rain-water shower.

The living room, dining roomand Western-style kitchen sharean open floor plan. Long granitecounters and built-in cupboardsline the kitchen, which has a built-in two-range gas stove and oven.

Privacy is provided by asurrounding wall.

The driveway leads to acarport and a detached garagewith space for four cars, behindwhich is the maid’s quarters, com-plete with a Thai kitchen.

The asking price for thishouse, which can be bought free-hold or leasehold with chanote

title, is 24 million baht. Additionalpossibilities include sub-divisionsof the land for additional build-ings.

For more information pleasevisit www.siamrealestae.com orcall 076-288908.

Reinventingthe classicThai look

Above: The large windows and high doors that open onto the terrace allow the air to circulate throughoutthe home and the natural light to pour in. Left: The home includes a large saltwater pool.

P H U K E T P R O P E R T Y38 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Construction Update by Janyaporn Morel

Krissana Condotelunderway in PatongPATONG: Krissana ParadiseCondotel, a new hotel and con-dominium project on four rai about200 meters from Simon CabaretPatong, is about 15% completesince construction began in June.

The project is being devel-oped by the two companies un-der the Krissana House Group –Krissana Paradise Condotel CoLtd and JK Asset Co Ltd fromBangkok – and is expected to becompleted by mid-2009.

Krissana Paradise Condotelwill comprise four five-story con-dominium buildings and one five-story hotel building of 70 rooms.The condominiums will compriseone- and two-bedroom furnishedapartments for sale, totaling 112units throughout the project.

Project developer ChetiyaKrissana told the Gazette thatabout 60% of the four-rai site willbe used for gardens and land-scaping to make the developmentmore attractive.

“The benefit of our project

is that we are making the build-ings smaller, with each buildingonly five stories high and eachstory comprising six to eight units.

“We are placing an empha-sis on privacy and security. Wewill have a key-card security sys-tem and CCTV cameras in ev-

ery building, as well as 25 CCTVcameras around the project,” saidK. Chetiya.

The project’s facilities forresidents include a clubhousewith a fitness center, a meetingarea and Internet access. Therewill be two types of one-bedroom

unit and four types of two-bed-room unit, from 43 square metersup to 70sqm. Prices will spanfrom 3 million baht to 6.9 millionbaht.

“We want to create a de-velopment with homely resi-dences in a tropical environment.While our design is modern, wealso emphasize energy conserva-tion. The windows will be madeof reflective glass to deflect thesun’s heat rays in order to con-serve energy [used for air condi-tioning],” said K. Chetiya.

“Phuket is less of a touristisland now; it’s becoming moreresidential. Therefore, a resortdesign would have been a badchoice at the moment, which iswhy we have created a modern-style living condominium for thenext generation of Phuketpeople,” she added.

“We emphasize the use ofspace and functional design. Wehave arranged the space in eachunit so that it doesn’t use a parti-tion or wall to divide it up. Weare also using earth tones to cre-ate a cozy feeling.

“We have customers fromall over the world, including manywho want to invest in a secondhome,” said K. Chetiya. “About10% of the apartments have beensold, with more than half our cus-tomers wanting to buy a resi-dence to rent it out.

“We think that with the roomfeatures and facilities we can of-fer, we can meet their require-ments.

“Everything, including furni-ture, will be supplied. Customers

will just need to bring their lug-gage and they can move in rightaway,” she added.

“We are negotiating withthree rental-management compa-nies who have approached us totake care of the rental side ofbusiness for our customers. Wewill choose one company that willmanage all aspects of renting theapartments on behalf of our cus-tomers,” said K. Chetiya.

The hotel building underconstruction is planned to be com-pleted at the same time as thecondominium project in order toavoid construction noise disturb-ing residents.

“Our project aims to pro-vide a good standard of living atan affordable price. As we havea construction company in ourcorporate group [CCJ Construc-tion Co Ltd], we can ensure ourcustomers that the residences willbe built of first-rate materials aswe control the construction stageof the development,” said K.Chetiya.

“We can reduce the cost ofconstruction while still using thehighest-quality materials,” sheadded.

The Krissana Group is alsodeveloping the 48-room KrissanaParadise Hotel at Bang TaoBeach, which is expected to openin November.

For more information contactKrissana Paradise Condotelsales office at the project con-struction site. Tel: 076-342927-9, 089-9686803-4. Website:www.krissanaparadise.com

The condominiums have been designed without partitions orunnecessary walls in order to maximize space.

Each of the four condominium buildings at Krissana Paradise Condotelwill be five stories high, with six to eight units on each story.

Situated on fourrai of land, theproject has beendeisgned toprovide maximumprivacy forresidents.

P H U K E T P R O P E R T YSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 39

WATCHPROPERTY

By Bill Barnett

Going for the Green

Bill Barnett is Managing Direc-tor of C9 Hotelworks (c9hotelworks.com), a Phuket-basedhotel and residential property-consulting firm. With more than20 years’ experience in the re-gion, he has played an activerole in some of the island’s big-gest developments.

Landscaping is a disciplineinherent to architecture,yet it is often overlookedwith amazingly little time

and money spent on it. Althoughlandscaping is one of the most im-portant elements of a house or ahome development, it can some-times end up looking like a beau-tiful woman who doesn’t knowhow to dress up.

Neither arcane nor minor inscope, proper planning, executionand budgeting help make sure thathard or soft landscapes not onlyenhance a project – they canmake or break a project’s aes-thetic appeal.

In many instances the com-mon malpractice is that landscap-ing or gardens are planned afterthe construction is completed andwhatever greenery fits into theexisting areas will justhave to do. Landscapingplans are delegated togeneral contractors, whoin turn find the cheapestalternative for filling theopen areas, oftenusing a small nurs-ery or supplier’splan.

Not includ-ing planning forlandscaping whendrawing up thebudget for con-struction can mean that by thetime it comes to working on thegarden architecture, the projecthas gone off-budget and littlefunds remain to create a gardenas equally spectacular as thebuilding’s architecture.

Proper landscape design, beit by a landscape architect or de-signer, is an essential part of theinitial project planning. It’s bestto sit down the planner with yourarchitect at the onset of a projectand look at how both can provideinnovative ideas that work withthe theme and leave scope forboth professionals to give creativeinput.

Landscape design is farmore than just turning the soil,weeding and manicuring greenareas. A skilled designer willhave input on exterior lighting,swimming pool enhancements,such as water features andponds. He or she will also con-sider paths and walkways tosculpt the overall look and feelof all outdoor areas and theirdecorative features.

In the planning stages, feed-back is needed from the teamswho are designing the electrical

and sanitary systems to ensureadequate provision of electricalsources for lighting and irrigationsystems for watering plants, suchas hose bibs and sprinklers, mustbe considered.

Given the often-torrentialweather conditions in Phuket,proper planning of water drain-age addressed in advance willprevent rapid deterioration of ex-terior building elements and soilerosion.

More times than I care tocount, I have seen substantial in-vestments in expensive plantsand landscapes literally go down

the drain overnight simplybecause there was noforethought given todrainage and the ability todischarge or contain wa-ter.

By consider-ing all the ele-ments of landscap-ing in detail duringthe initial planningstages, everythingcan be worked intothe overall budget.This process can

include segregating trees and her-baceous items (plants, grass andso on). From these a bill of quan-tities (BOQ) can be listed andsuppliers can bid in a mannersimilar to bidding for construction.

Proper use of a BOQ willhelp get the best prices as com-parisons can be made on the unitprices of individual items. Thedevil is often in the detail, andcontrolling costs can be donewhen documentation such as thisexists.

In similar fashion to the ser-vices provided by an architect, alandscape designer will conductsite visits during the constructionand subsequent softscape instal-lation.

Realistically, plans often re-quire modifications due to siteconditions or building require-ments, so site visits are key tomaking quick alternations whichcould save money later whereyou are not required to tear downsomething that’s already beenbuilt. Careful attention to docu-menting and issuance of site in-structions controls additional ex-penses from your contractor andsuppliers.

Changes do occur. Somedesigns look good on paper butneed to be altered after the ac-tual work being done can be

seen. Hence, make provisionsand a contingency plan, the sameas would be done for the build-ings.

This generally ranges from10% to 15% of the total value ofthe initial budget. Outdoor en-hancements, such as artwork anddecorative items, give distinctionto a project and are every bit asimportant as the paintings thathang inside the home.

We are blessed that Phukethas a spectacular natural environ-ment and an abundance of tropi-cal plants, trees and vegetation.There are an increasing numberof specialists in this field locally,such as Ross Palmer at KumaraStudio, while further afield inBangkok Bill Bensley and BCA(Belt Collins) have completedmany of the island’s landmarkprojects.

For any project, be it a newhome or development, make asmart decision by giving land-scape design its due.

Innovative landscape design, not only gardens but also features, isevery bit as important as villa design in the quality of a project.

C L A S S I F I E D S40 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Property Gazette

PropertiesFor Sale

LAND FOR SALE

12.5 rai, 25sq wah, Nor Sor3 Kor. Sea view, AmphurSikao in Trang. 33 millionbaht. Tel: 076-200977,089-9710749.

NICE HOUSEFOR SALE

Perfect house, 4-5 bed-rooms, ready to move in,includes 2006 Honda Jazz.Contact Tel: 081-8915296.Email: hkthomesale18@yahoo.com For photos anddetails, visit our website:www.jikkycar.com

180SQMNEW PENTHOUSE

Panoramic sea view, 2-3bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,kitchen, large living room.From 8 million baht. Pleasecontact me for a viewing.Tel: 081-9685963. Email:kuno@bayproject.com Forfurther details, please visitour website: http://www.bayproject.com/invest/index.htm

AO POR LANDURGENT SALE

150 rai, Chanote, panoramicsea view. From 2.3 millionbaht per rai. Contact formore information. Tel: 089-7727012. Email: se_rim@hotmail.com

BEAUTIFUL NAIYANG LAND

5 mins to Phuket airport,close to the beach, 10 rai.120 million baht. Must see.Tel: 089-7727012. Email:gyb_giff@hotmail.com

POOL VILLAIN NAI HARN

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,Western kitchen. 5.5 millionbaht. Tel: 076-288047, 081-8941660. Email: cottrell@loxinfo.co.th

TWIN GARDENBUNGALOWS

Up to 6 bedrooms/4 bath-rooms in secure estate neartop bilingual school. 4 aircons,2 ADSL lines, satellite TV, ga-rage. 3.9 million baht IncludesCRV or Soluna car. Tel: 089-9546433, 089-2885028.Email: kjralph@hotmail.com

LARGE VILLAIN CHALONG

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,big garden. 4.5 million baht.Tel: 081-8951826. Email:info@far-away.net

KHAO LAKLAND FOR SALE

Next to upcoming 5-star LeMeridien Khao Lak resort. 7.5rai at 5 million baht per rai. Formore details please email:info@bluewaterphuket.com

NEW SEAVIEWCONDOMINIUM

We have a variety of units at 60,120 and 180sqm. OverlookingChalong Bay and Rawai Bay.From 1.8 million baht. ContactKuno. Tel: 66-81-9685963.Email: m@bayproject.com Forfurther details, see our websiteat http://www.bayproject.com/invest/index.htm

SEAVIEWAPARTMENT

2 bedrooms, top floor, northPatong, 20 steps to the beach,freehold. Price: 9.7 millionbaht. Tel: 086-2765117. Forphotos, please send email:jihshand@gmail.com

KHAO LAK SHOPHOUSEFOR SALE

A 3-story shophouse on themain road in Khao Lak. 300meters from the beach &shophouse center. OppositeKhao Lak Laguna Hotel. Tel:084-8432949, 086-2717979.

KAMALA HOUSE1 rai land, 2 bedrooms, hillview, big garden, quiet place.8.9 million baht. Please callTel: 081-6697814.

SURIN LANDFOR SALE

1,016sqm: 6 million baht.996sqm: 5 million baht. 5-min-ute walk to Surin Beach. CallTel: 081-8687676.

NAI HARNBEACH CONDO

Located in a lovely residenceof 8 units. Modern, 60sqm ofliving space, sleeps up to 4people. 1 bedroom, 1 bath-room with Jacuzzi, spaciousliving room with Europeankitchen, full aircon, elegantfurniture, cable TV. Nice ter-race overlooking landscapedgarden and swimming pool.Parking. Walking distance tobeach. Only 2.6 million baht.Tel: 087-2815795. Email:chaussecyril@yahoo.fr

RAWAI BEACH VILLA400sqm house, pool, 3 bed-rooms, 3 bathrooms. Gardenand covered terrace. Price:7.5 million baht. Tel: 086-9408914. Email: freeholdprop@yahoo.com

RAWAI BEACHDUPLEX

15-year lease, 107sqm du-plex house, pool, carport, gar-den. Price: 1.5 million baht.Tel: 086-9408914. Email:freeholdprop@yahoo.com

RAWAI 2-STORYHOUSE

140sqm, 2 bedrooms, 2bathrooms, close to thebeach. 1.5 million baht. CallTel: 086-9408914. Email:freeholdprop@yahoo.com

HILLSIDE HOMESfor sale/barter. 4 brand-new,quiet, natural, luxurious 2-bed-room and 2-bathroom villas.Fully furnished with outdoorwhirlpool. Approx 180sqm on a100sq wah plot of land. In themost guarded, prestige estateof Saraburi. For sale at 4.75 mil-lion baht each or barter withseaview-land plots or condodevelopment in Phuket. CallTel: 081-8142040. Email:sailesh@thaimartin.com Visitour website: www.ziam.com

RAWAI BEACH CONDOSea view, foreign freehold.650,000 baht. Tel: 086-940-8914. Email: freeholdprop@yahoo.com

HOUSE IN PATONGB4.7 MILLION

23sqm, furnished, 3 bed-rooms, aircon, 1 bathroom,living room, kitchennette,washing machine. Tel: 081-5690664. Fax: 076-344485.Email: sunsetap@ji-net.com

12 RAI IN PATONGBeside main road enteringPatong. 12 rai of mixed flatland & hill land, sea view, per-fect for commercial, homesand apartments. Chanotetitle. 3 million baht per rai. Tel:086-5950188. Email: nsupin@yahoo.com

PATONG HOTEL

New, fully furnished, 14-room hotel with splendidview in Patong for sale. 20million baht. Call now!Tel: 081-5976195. Email:unique_property@hotmail.com

SHOPHOUSE INCHALONG FOR SALEAs new condition, excellent lo-cation. Many extras. 4.3 mil-lion baht. Tel: 085-7987156(Eng), 085-8831695 (Thai).

2-STORYTOWNHOUSE

Living area: 98.5sqm. Landplot: 144sqm. 3 bedrooms, 2bathrooms, carport, and gar-den. 618,000 baht. Last pay-ment: 1,472,000 baht. Tel:081-4940450. Fax: 076-264-517. Email: linjee@gmail.com

POOL VILLAFOR SALE

Bang Tao, 3-4 bedrooms, 2bathrooms, kitchen, sat TV,Internet, auto door. Tel: 084-8516121. Email: phuketmat@yahoo.com Visit our website:www.phukethome.ws

LAGUNA AREA VILLALuxury villa with 3 bedrooms,3 bathrooms, swimming pool,garden. Great location nearLaguna Village. Tel: 087-893-4636. Email: annericphuket@hotmail.com

58 RAIBEACHFRONT LAND

Koh Yao. Chanote. Half theland is flat with 300 metersof beachfront and behind acalm river crossing. Ideal foryacht pier. The rest of theland has a little slope withnice sea view. Thai owner.Price: 3.5 million baht perrai. Please contact Sakorn.Tel: 087-6050365. Email:tim.kamalaparadise@hotmail.com

RAWAI BEACH CONDOSea view, foreign freehold.550,000 baht. Tel: 086-940-8914. Email: freeholdprop@yahoo.com

NEW 3-STORYCOMMERCIAL

building. 2 bathrooms. Price:4 million baht. Please con-tact Tel: 086-7432011.

NAI HARN HOMEW/ POOL

Private, secluded, 2 bed-rooms, 2 bathrooms, cus-tom pool, located on over a½ rai. 9.5 million baht. Tel:087-2095174.

PATONG HOUSEFOR SALE

Large, quiet hillside loca-tion, 270sqm living space.3 to 4 bedrooms, 4 bath-rooms, living, dining, Euro-pean kitchen, aircon, woodflooring throughout. Doublecarport, 4 balconies, smallgarden, partial sea views.Price: 7.8 million baht. CallTel: 087-2681170.

KAMALA HOME @2.89 MIL BAHT

Furnished, 2 bedrooms, 2bathrooms. Land: 200sqm.100m to beach. Call Tel: 038-720980, 083-1206042.Fax: 038-720215. Email:cincharoen@exotiq.com

APARTMENT BUILDINGProfitable business, return-ing a healthy 12% yield.Apartment building, consist-ing of 21 studios, manager'scottage, mini mart and otherassociated businesses. Cur-rently trading at 75% occu-pancy. A great businesswith scope to expand profitsfurther. Tel: 087-9484300.Email: grants.construction@gmail.com

POOL HOUSEBANG TAO

For sale. 3 bedrooms, 2 bath-rooms, 2 car park, big livingroom, 2 levels ,only 4.7 millionbaht. Tel: 084-8516121.

LUXURYSEAVIEW VILLA

Direct from owner. 32 mil-lion baht or rent. No agents.Tel: 089-4742958. Email:tm_thanida@yahoo.com

SOUTH END OFPATONG BAY

Patong Bay. Beautiful housein a top location. For detailedinformation about this houseand the location see ourwebsite. Tall, spacious, 4bedrooms, 4 bathrooms,pool and amazing sea viewin the daytime and stunningscenery over Patong inevening time. Located inBaan Suan Kamnan. A green,clean, quiet and lovely resi-dential area at the south endof Patong Bay. House for saleat 30 million baht. Owneralso open for lease or rentaltalks. Possibilities for firstmortgage directly fromowner. Partly off-shore pay-ments are possible. Pleasecontact Edwin at Tel: 086-7866350. Email: buurmanb@hotmail.com Visit ourwebsite for more details.www.patongbluepoint.com

KARON LANDFOR SALE

15 million baht per rai,Chanote, hillside, pan-oramic sea view, quietarea. Please contact foradditional information.Tel: 089-7727012. Email:se_rim@hotmail.com

SURIN/BANG TAOAPARTMENT

Club Lersuang, 2-bedroomapartment, ground floor, bigpool, gym, restaurant, bar,etc. 6 million baht. Tel: 076-271870, 087-0790650.

C L A S S I F I E D S

Property GazetteSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 41

BEAUTIFUL HOUSE

FOR SALE

51.47sqm, in ChanakranProperty Village, 3 bed-rooms, 3 bathrooms. Be-hind TOT Public Co Ltd inChalong. The house is un-der construction and willbe ready within one month.Price: 3.9 million baht.Please call for more de-tails. Tel: 081-9562406.

3-STORY HOUSE

FOR SALE

Near Chalong circle.405sqm, fully furnished, 3bedrooms, 4 bathrooms,aircon, garage for 2 cars.Good location for business.Tel: 089-8742960. Email:pwarunee@hotmail.com

MAGNIFICENT

SEAVIEW

over many tropical islandstoward Krabi and PhangNga. Probably best views inCape Yamu. 4 bedrooms, 4bathrooms, large colonialmansion, on large land plotwith swimming pool. In fin-ished exclusive develop-ment. Only 25 million baht.Tel: 086-2796283.

HOUSE FOR SALE

OR RENT

4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms,50sq wah, garden. Sell: 2.9million baht. Rent: 30, 000baht per month. Tel: 089-5444400.

KALIM

BEACHFRONT LAND

Beautiful land for sale. 21-3-49 rai at Kalim Beach,Chanote title, water, elec-tric. Tel: 081-7474742.

6 HOUSES, BANG TAO

All 6 for only 12.5 millionbaht. Unique investment. CallMarc. Tel: 085-7839062.

HOUSE FOR SALE

Villa California, Chao Fa EastRd. 2 bedrooms with aircons,2 bathrooms, fully-fittedkitchen. 1.3 million baht.Tel: 089-8684644.

HOUSE FOR SALE

Located near Laguna area.Living area: 150sqm. Landarea: 650sqm. 7.5 millionbaht. Tel: 087-8938590.

SEAVIEW PLOTS

IN BANG TAO

Fantastic view, ready tobuild, underground utilities.Starting at 3 million baht.Call to view. Tel: 089-590-3665, 086-2670157. Email:bannuaton@yahoo.com

PHUKET

COUNTRY CLUB

Unfinished duplex renovationproject, directly on the 15th

fairway. Tel: 087-5074395.Email: radrussell@gmail.comPlease visit our website:www.fairway15.com

FIRST CHOICE

PATONG

New real estate agency look-ing to sell your property,condo, villas or commercialor residential land. ContactMimi at Tel: 087-9766385(English/French), or Linjee atTel: 081-4940450 (Thai).Tel: 076-600151, 087-976-6385. Fax: 076-600153.Email: mimi@firstchoice-real-estate.com

BIG HOUSE FOR SALE

Thalang area, 3 bedrooms, 2bathrooms, 532.2sqm, fur-nished, nice view, quiet. 8 mil-lion baht. Tel: 086-7401969.

LAND FOR SALE

1,728sqm of beautiful land.Just 150 meters off BangNiang Beach in Khao Lak.Price: 4.5 million baht. Tel:076-485614, 081-8912134.Fax: 076-485613. Email:info@iq-dive.com

HOUSE FOR SALE

New 2-story house withopen-plan kitchen, diningroom, living room plus 2seperate living rooms, 4bedrooms, 3 en-suite bath-rooms, laundry room, bigverandas, 2 car parks. Lo-cated in Chalong area. CallFrank. Tel: 086-6831964.

HOUSE FOR SALE

3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom,garden, big kitchen, balcony,aircon, tank, furnished, nearKathu waterfall. Tel: 076-323696, 084-7597880.

18 ROOMS FOR SALE

18 rooms/bungalows on 5 raiof land with 14 years remain-ing on land lease. Lots ofroom for expansion. Photosand price provided on request.Tel: 081-7193375. Email:resortonphiphi@hotmail.com

LAND INVESTMENT

30 rai full of palm trees inKapong, Phang Nga. Pricedat only 120,000 baht per rai.Financing available. Email:bourlis@hotmail.com

KATA BEACHFRONT

LUXURY

5-star, exotic, 1 bedroom, spa,pools, ADSL, furnished. Pricereduced to 8 million baht. Email:asiasail@yahoo.com For furtherdetails, please visit our website:http://koumbele.com/kata1/

SEAVIEW PLOTS

IN BANG TAO

Fantastic view, ready tobuild, underground utilities.Starting at 3 million baht.Call to view. Tel: 089-590-3665, 086-2670157. Email:bannuaton@yahoo.com

LUXURY APARTMENT

IN PATONG

with lots of elegant furniture.3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,well-equipped kitchen. Club-house including swimmingpool, snooker, sauna and bar.Comes with new Toyota For-tuner. You can have privateswimming, just open the sidedoor. Best views of Patong,especially when standing out-side on the balcony. 190sqmin a nice location. Bring yourbaggage to stay immediately.Please contact the owner.Tel: 085-1982577.

HOUSE FOR SALE

2-stories in a most desir-able and secure estate. 3bedrooms, 3 bathrooms,study, living room, kitchen,laundry room, set in fencedgarden. Furnished, ADSL,UBC. Price: 7 million bahtobo. Tel: 084-8439579.Fax: 076-323421. Email:somlerdee@yahoo.com

2 BEACHHOUSES

FOR SALE

Kamala: 15 million baht.Rawai Beach: 29.5 millionbaht. Both are ready to movein. Contact Marc at Tel: 085-7839062.

PATONG HOTEL

FOR SALE

Built 1 year ago. Successful.60 million baht. Tel: 085-7839062 (English), 086-2767510 (Thai).

20-46 RAI IN

KAMALA

All land has a fantastic seaview and good road access.Chanote. Land can be soldin divided plots. Thai owner.Price: 6 million baht per rai.Please contact Sakorn atTel: 087-6050365. Email:tim.kamalaparadise@hotmail.com

BEACHFRONT

POOL VILLA

Located on a private beach.Priced at only 9 million baht.Contact Tel: 084-4422510.Email: admin@thaisunshinedevelopments.com For de-tails, visit our website: www.thaisunshinedevelopments.com/sichon_beach .htm

RAWAI POOL VILLA

2 bedrooms, 150sqm, fur-nished, ready to move in.Price: 4.3 million baht.Please contact for moreinformation at Tel: 085-7839062.

C L A S S I F I E D S

Property Gazette42 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Property Gazette

Properties For RentCHERNG TALAY-

MANIK

2 rai, hill views, Chanote,wall around land. Price:5.9 million baht. Call Tel:086-2746511.

HIGH-QUALITY

HOME

2 stories, 4 bedrooms, ½ raiin Rawai. Separate buildingwith maid's unit, storeroom,laundry, large kitchen. 300mto Chalong Circle. Large liv-ing areas, 2-car garage. Toomany features to list. Price:12.5 million baht. Tel: 081-4776662. Email: verndono@yahoo.com

NAI THON

LAND PLOT

2km from beach, ready tobuild. Price: 15,000 bahtper sq wah. Includes per-mit. Tel: 084-0526400(Martin), 086-6865304(Narin). Email: martin@phuketvillage.se

LAKESIDE HOUSE

130sq wah of land. 2-story house, 4 bedrooms,2 bathrooms, kitchen, liv-ing room, Chuan Cheun la-goon. Contact Peggy. Tel:081-8914664.

HOUSE FOR

URGENT SALE

Large 4½ -bedroom house inChalong. Up for urgent sale dueto relocation. Selling at 10.5million baht only. A bargaindeal. Tel: 076-282211, 081-8926251. Email: mrsouza@hotmail.com For further de-tails, visit our website: www.phuketdreamhome.com

OCEANFRONT VILLA

5-star, on the beach, sale di-rect by owner. Only 29.5 mil-lion baht. Tel: 085-7839062.

THAI BUNGALOW

Rural Ban Liphon, Thalang.2 bedrooms with aircons,lounge, dining room, largeback patio with garden. 8mins to Boat Lagoon, 15 minsto the airport. 920,000 bahtono. Call Clare at Tel: 083-3906700, or evening Tel:086-4702787 (English). Tel:086-0918355 (Thai).

KOH YAO YAI

LAND FOR SALE

4.5 rai, Chanote, hillside pan-oramic sea view, close tobeach. Please contact formore information. Tel: 086-5955574. Email: kraisorn@ppfashionworld.com

FOR SALE OR LEASE

3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1story, fully furnished, newmodern house on private roadin Kathu. Electric gate, nicewalled garden, large terrace,private parking, telephone,Internet. 6.2 million baht ono.Must sell due to move to Bang-kok. Tel: 087-3865200.

BEACHFRONT

SEAVIEW LAND

25 rai of fantastic beachfrontland. 5-200 rai sea view plotsin Patong and all over Phuket.Tel: 081-5395454. Fax: 076-260311. Email: mk@phuket-no1.com For further details,please visit our website:www.phuket-no1.com

TOWNHOUSE

FOR SALE

Chalong, fully furnished, allteak furnishings, 3 bedrooms,4 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2-car garage, utility room and 2balconies. 7 million baht. Tel:076-280709, 085-7950779.

KATHU GOLF

VIEW LAND

1.9 million baht per rai. NearLoch Palm Golf Club and BIS.The land totals 70.5 rai (NorSor 3 Kor). Quiet and scenicwith access to water, elec-tricity and road (800 metersis road frontage). Please con-tact Sumon for details. Tel:076-352069, 081-6919346.Fax 076-261028. Email:sumon@ridethailand.com

REDUCED 1 MILLION

Boutique hotel for sale. 6rooms, busy restaurant-bar-tour desk on Nanai Rd. Only2.5 million baht. Call Andrew.Tel: 087-2825086.

HILLSIDE LAND

1,760sqm. Chanote, quietand exclusive area, privateaccess. Located 1.2km westof Rawai Rd. 4.5 million baht.Tel: 085-7827551.

LAND FOR SALE

8 rai coconut farm near TapeeRiver in Surat Thani. 80mwide. Electricity and water.Price: 4.5 million baht. Con-tact for more information.Tel: 089-0927697. Email:matklang@hotmail.com

ABSOLUTE BEST

BEACHFRONT

land and villas for sale at thebest prices in Thailand. Email:admin@ideacon.biz For info,please visit our website:http://www.thaisunshinedevelopments.com

URGENT SALE

Khao Lak. Bang Niang bunga-low-apartment resort. 8 bunga-lows with 2 rooms and 2 bun-galows with 3 rooms. 6m x12m swimming pool. Sauna,Jacuzzi, restaurant. All roomswith aircon, TV, DVD playerand ADSL. Parking available.9 million baht. Tel: 076-346-065, 081-8914844. Email:joerg@phuket.ksc.co.th

HOUSE FOR SALE

New 2-story house withopen-plan kitchen, diningroom, living room plus 2seperate living rooms, 4bedrooms, 3 en-suite bath-rooms, laundry room, bigverandas, 2 car parks. Lo-cated in Chalong area. CallFrank. Tel: 086-6831964.

LAND IN KAMALA

All with Chanote. 5.5 rai in themost exclusive area near Ka-mala center, on flat land: 8.5million baht per rai. Also, 6 raiwith good sea view: 6 millionbaht per rai. 20 rai with best seaview in Kamala: 6 million bahtper rai. Tel: 086-2742308.Email: kim@kamalafalls.com

HOUSE FOR SALE

3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom,garden, big kitchen, balcony,aircon, tank, furnished, nearKathu waterfall. Tel: 076-323696, 084-7597880.

SEA VIEW

3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms.Sea, bay and hill views. Greatlocation. Tel: 081-6932250.Email: lumpoon@loxinfo.co.th

HOUSE FOR RENT

Chao Fa area. 3 bedrooms,1 bathroom, 2 aircons (inbedroom and drawing room),fully furnished, 2 car parks.10,000 baht per month.Tel: 089-9728686.

APARTMENT NEAR

LOCH PALM

Apartment 85sqm. 2 bed-rooms, living room, bathroom,kitchen, terrace, pool, fan, air-con, telephone, Wi-Fi, cableTV. Available for short-termrent: 800 baht per day. Long-term rent: 15,000 baht permonth. Contact Jamriang. Tel:076-202725, 081-8916632.Email: golflandview@gmx.de

APARTMENT

KATA BEACH

Nice, cable TV, furnished. Tel:086-5958512, 081-9704638.Email: nalumana@yahoo.com

CONDO FOR RENT

Rawai area, renovated,aircon, cable TV. 400 baht perday. 6, 000 baht per month.Tel: 084-1899868.

RAWAI NAI HARN

New large luxury house forrent. 5 bedrooms, aircon, 5bathrooms, big outside living,swimming pool. 70,000 bahtper month. Minimum 1-yearlease. Tel: 081-3971835.

HOUSE FOR RENT

New two-story house, 3 bed-rooms, 2 bathrooms, 300mfrom Monument. Go to PaKhlok. 25,000 baht permonth. Minimum 6-monthlease. Tel: 083-1743880,087-2646808.

2 BIG HOMES

WITH POOL

Special price for 6-monthlease: 20, 000 baht, 30, 000baht. Near Laguna, spa,cable, quality furniture, luxuryliving. Tel: 089-5944067.

LAND & HOUSES

PROJECT FOR RENT

Fully furnished, aircons, 3bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. CallTel: 081-2713875, 081-8945873. Email: tournuk18@yahoo.com

BEACHHOUSE

FOR RENT

House on beach at Silay, fullyfurnished, 10-minute drive toPhuket City. 25,000 baht permonth. Tel: 081-5351269.Email: sutida@sinohousephuket.com

NICE HOUSE

IN THALANG

Heroines Monument area.House at the corner with nicegarden. Fully furnished. Kitchenfitted w/ oven and 4-ring gascooker. 3 bedrooms, 1 bath-room, 1 shower, 3 aircons, laun-dry w/ washing and drying ma-chines. 24,000 baht per month(1-year contract), or 21,000baht per month (2-year contract).Photos on request. Tel: 081-7975764. Email: dennis.mo@hotmail.com

CHALONG TOWNHOUSE

Furnished, 2 bedrooms, bigkitchen, aircon, telephoneline, cable, minimum 6-monthlease. No pets. 9, 500 bahtper month. Utilities extra. Tel:076-344487, 087-2814535.

MISSION HEIGHTS

Luxury 4-bedroom house forrent. Large swimming pool,garden service included. Longor short term. 60,000 bahtper month. Call K. So. Tel:081-3444473.

CHALONG HOUSE

for rent in Land & Houses.3 bedrooms, fully furnished,aircon, TV, UBC. Tel: 081-9560241, 089-4740645.

RAWAI BEACH

STUDIO

Furnished, kitchen, ADSL,UBC, aircon. 4,500 baht permonth. Contact Khun Noki.Tel: 086-6865567.

KARON STUDIO

APARTMENTS

New, luxury rooms. Goodprices & 5 mins to KaronBeach. ADSL. Five roomstyles. Daily: from 550baht. Monthly: 9,000 baht.Tel: 076-398436-7, 086-5945121, 089-7247148.Fax: 076-398436-7.www.karonstudio.com

PALAI GREENHOUSE

AND BIG GARDEN

Fully furnished, 2 aircons,2 bedrooms, hot shower,living room, kitchen, gar-age. Price: 11,000 bahtper month. Palai area. CallTel: 081-8924311.

RAWAI BEACH VILLA

Furnished house, pool, 3bedrooms, 3 bathrooms,garden, terrace and coveredcarport, UBC, safe. Rent:35,000 baht per month. Tel:086-9408914. Email:freeholdprop@yahoo.com

BOAT LAGOON

LUXURY

Waterfront townhousesfor rent. 2 & 3 bedrooms,UBC, TV. Long- or short-term rent from 35,000baht per month. Call K. So.Tel: 081-3444473.

RAWAI SEAVIEW

APARTMENT

New deluxe studio. Full kitch-en, cable, DVD, great view,furnished. Long-term rent:6,000 baht per month. Tel:084-0571420.

C L A S S I F I E D S

Property GazetteSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 43

Agents for Classified Advertising

PHUKET

K.L. Mart Tel: 076-280400/3Patak Rd, Chalong Fax: 076-280403

Earth Language School Tel: 076-232398/9Phang Nga Rd, Phuket City Fax: 076-232398

Sin & Lee Tel: 076-258369Thalang Rd, Phuket City Fax: 076-211230

Taurus Travel Tel: 076-344521/2Aroonsom Plaza Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd, Patong Fax: 076-344523

41 Minimart Tel/Fax: 076-324312Srisoontorn Rd, Cherng Talay

Deli Supermarket Tel: 076-342275Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd, Patong Fax: 076-344314

25% Discount on Classifieds for Shopper Card Holders

IF YOU...Place your ad in these pages;Present your Shopper Card; andPay for the ad at our offices,

you’ll enjoy a 25% discount* AND have your ad appear free ofcharge in the Phuket Gazette Online.

With more than 10,000 visitors a day, the Island Trader Online isThailand’s most active classified marketplace.

*Ads may be submitted in person or online (phuketgazette.net/classifieds), butmust be paid for at the Gazette offices. The discount is not available whenpayment is made at our agents.

The Phuket Gazette Co Ltd367/2 Yaowarat Road, Phuket CityTel: 076-236555 Fax: 076-213971

BEACHFRONT HOUSE

for rent. 1-4 bedrooms. Con-tact for specific details. Tel:076-381181, 076-381189.

OCEANFRONT KATA

APARTMENT

5-star, 2-bedroom apartmentwith spa, pool , ADSL, gym.60,000 baht per month.Email: asiasail@yahoo.comFor details see http://www.koumbele.com/kata2

NEW CHALONG HOME

Furnished, 2-bedroom homefor rent with phone, UBC, andaircon. Call Tel: 089-6521473.

CHALONG

SHOPHOUSE

This new 3-story shophouseis available for long-termlease. Ideal for home office/shop accommodation. Inquir-ies at Tel: 089-6521473.

KATA LUXURY

APARTMENT

1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apart-ments, 2 bathrooms, en-suitein master, fully fitted, teakkitchen, huge terrace, park-ing, furnished or unfurnished.Long or short term. Starting at20,000 baht per month. Tel:089-5926890. Email: northwest98@yahoo.com

RAWAI BEACH DUPLEX

homes, 93sqm each, pool,garden, parking . Promotion:15, 000 baht per month. CallTel: 086-9408914. Email:freeholdprop@yahoo.com

HOUSE FOR RENT

IN RAWAI

Fully furnished, 1 bed-room, fan, cable, 29" TV,hot water, oven, store-room, washing machine,kitchen utensils, fencedyard, nice & safe area. CallTok. Tel: 087-2668728.

HOUSE FOR RENT

Soi Ruam Nanachart,Saiyuan, Rawai. 2 bed-rooms, 2 bathrooms, biggarden, aircon, furnished,telephone, ADSL, 5 minutesto Nai Harn Beach. Long-term rent, only 35,000 bahtper month. Tel: 076-215-367, 081-5351570.

RAWAI/NAI HARN

New, large, luxury house forrent. Large swimming pool,garden, 5 bedrooms, 6 bath-rooms, big sala. Minimum1-year lease: 75,000 bahtper month. 30-year lease:18 million baht. Contact Tel:081-3971835.

PATONG TOWER

CONDO

Beautiful Patong Towerbeach condo with stunning280º panoramic views ofthe sea, hills and town.Large outdoor patio andwrap around balcony. Com-pletely renovated, Internetand washing machine.Available from March 1,2007. Contact Tel: +11-861-381-6344147. Fordetails, visit: www.patongtowerrental.com

PATONG BAY

VIEW HOME

Enjoy the views from this2-bedroom, 2-bathroomhouse. Full kitchen, diningarea, pool, ADSL, UBC.The view says it all! Price:50,000 baht per month.Tel: 087-8821963. Email:benlee53@hotmail.com

MODERN HOUSES,

QUIET LOCATION

2 houses in Nai Harn for long-term rent only. 2 bedrooms, en-suite bathroom, UBC, ADSL,alarm, full aircon, ceiling fans,big terrace, tropical garden,fenced in, small pets allowed,garage w/ 100sqm storage. 5minutes to the beach, beautifulview. Only 25,000 baht permonth. Tel: 089-8744050.Email: happyjo@procom.in.th

LAGUNA RENTAL

HOUSES

22-25,000 and 30,000 bahtper month. Long term. Tel:085-7839062.

KAMALA VILLA

Large 4- to 5-bedroom villa, 3bathrooms, quality teak kitchen,side-by-side fridge, full-sizesnooker table, 42" plasma TV.Broadbrand Internet. 3- to 4-cargarage, set on ¾ rai with beau-tiful tropical gardens. Part ofprivate boutique estate of 4villas. Garden maintenance,house cleaning, cable TV. All in-cluded. Long-term: 55,000 bahtper month. Tel: 081-8111067.

SHOPHOUSE BLOCK

5 terraced houses for rent onthe bypass road. 35,000 bahtper month. Please contact K.Vachira. Tel: 081-3269495.

4 BEDROOMS

WITH EN-SUITE

Large luxury villa in Rawai.For short- or long-term rent.Plasma TV, UBC, cable, air-con, big pool, garden. Tel: 086-2790837, 081-5377137.

B.L. APARTMENT

New in Kathu. Big rooms, 1bedroom, 1 living room, aircon,cable TV, ADSL, hot shower,garden, car park. Price: 8,000baht per month. Contact Tel:081-6923163.

4-BEDROOM VIP

Kathu villa for rent. Pool, aircon,maid. 4km to BIS school. Lake,golf & valley views, quiet on pri-vate hill. 1-year rent: 65,000baht a month. Call Noi. Tel: 087-2698492.

BANG TAO HOUSE

FOR RENT

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,pool, 2 levels, big living room.Tel: 084-8516121. Email:phuketmat@yahoo.com

TWO CONDOS IN

PATONG TOWER

for rent. 1 condo with onebedroom, kitchen and largeliving room. 1 condo withtwo bedrooms, large livingroom, teak kitchen. Daily:1,200 baht. Weekly: 7,000.Monthly: 25,000. Tel: 087-2770552, 087-2773086.Email: lhanfirm@online.no

SUPER RENTAL

OFFER

Fully furnished, 2 bedrooms,Cherng Talay area. 25,000baht per month. Also, Lagunaarea for 30,000 baht permonth. Tel: 085-7839062.

TWO-STORY

SHOPHOUSE

for rent on the beautiful is-land of Koh Tao. Ideal for abusiness and perfectly situ-ated in the main market. Rentfrom 23,000 baht per monthwith no key money. Termsnegotiable. Contact Ricky.Tel: 089-4852635. Email:schizm72@hotmail.com

HOUSE FOR RENT

Fully furnished, 3 bedrooms, 2bathrooms, aircon, cable TV,ADSL. 18,000 baht per month.Tel: 089-9732917. Email:brunuiviv@hotmail.com

SEAVIEW HILLSIDE

APARTMENT

5-star seaview studio apart-ment with swimming poolnear Lotus. Daily, monthly, oryearly rates available. Only12 units in apartment. Yearlyrate: 12,500 to 44,500 baht.Tel: 081-8779292. Email:prakaisriroj@hotmail.comFor further details, visit ourwebsite: www.gracegardensphuket.com

HOUSES

FROM WELLTA

Do you want to rent or buy ahouse on my island? MaybeI can help you. Tel: 081-9680309. Email: info@house i n phuke t . c omwww.houseinphuket.com

QUIET AND SAFE

SINGLE HOUSE

5km from Laguna. Furnished,UBC, satellite TV, telephoneline, Internet, big garden. 3bedrooms, 2 aircons, 2 bigbathrooms, bathtub, hot wa-ter. Short- or long-term rent.16,000 baht a month or13,000 baht for 1-year lumpsum. Contact Tel: 087-4172757 (English), or 086-6829804 (Thai).

KATA LUXURY

OCEANFRONT

Five-star, one-bedroom apart-ment. Pools. Gym, ADSL,quiet area, beachview.28,000 baht per month.Email: asiasail@yahoo.comFor further details, pleasesee our website at http://koumbele.com/kata1/

DESIRABLE HOUSE

for rent or sale. Suituated insecure environment, 2-storyhouse, 3 bedrooms, 3 bath-rooms, living room, study,kitchen, dining room, garage,ADSL, UBC, mature garden.Rent: 35, 000 baht per month.Sell: 6.9 million baht. Tel: 084-8439579.

SECLUDED VILLA

RENTAL

One of only three Europeanstandard villas near Rawaibeach sharing a beautiful pooland tropical garden. Fully fur-nished, aircon, UBC, TV, tele-phone, ADSL. 25, 000 bahtper month. Min 6 months.Tel: 087-2810452, 085-473-3607.

RAWAI SEAVIEW

APARTMENT

New deluxe furnished stu-dio. Kitchen, cable, DVD,great view. Long-term rental6,000 baht a month. Tel:084-0571420.

BANG TAO HOUSE

FOR RENT

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,pool, big living room. Tel: 084-8516121. Email: phuketmat@yahoo.com

PANWA BEACH

HOUSE

2 rooms, nice terrace. Forrent in September or for longterm. 12,000 baht per month.Tel: 081-2717071.

TROPICAL VILLA

near Rawai Beach. 2 bed-rooms, 2 bathrooms, Euro-pean kitchen, aircons, UBCTV, telephone, furnished,private pool and garden andfully maintained. Minimum6-month lease: 35,000baht per month. Tel: 087-2810452, 087-8931180.

C L A S S I F I E D S44 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Property Gazette

Classified ads are charged per line. Each line is 95 baht,

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

All advertising must be paid for in advance.

Deadline for Property Gazette pages: 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.

BuildingProducts

& Services

HouseholdServices

PropertyWanted

PropertyServices

WHEN YOU WANTLAND

for commercial building orhomes in Phuket. Wehave quality choices froma variety of locations foryou. Please contact formore information. Tel:085-2575711. Email:ppsr.property@gmail.com

WANTED TO RENT3- to 4-bedroom villa, bungalowor house for 1 month overChrismas period. Dec 27 toJan 16. Send info to email.Email: athena@screwpile.com

LAND FOR PROJECTOur VIP client wants to buyland - seafront or good view -on which to build a resort andresidential project. At least 20rai is needed. Please send fulldetails and photos by email.Urgent. Tel: 076-524000,081-8912333. Fax: 076-223237. Email: surin123@csloxinfo.com

RESTAURANT ORGUESTHOUSE

Wanted for rent only, centralPatong. Tel: 081-0907809.

WOULD LIKE TORENT LONG TERM

Nice condominium or housewith access to communualswimming pool. Minimum 2bedrooms. Rent up to 30,000baht per month. Needed fromFebruary 1, 2008. Danish per-son, please send details byemail. Tel: 086-9974572.Email: jfridberg@hotmail.com

PATONG TOWER

condo with a sea view.Keen buyer ready to pur-chase. Please contact withmore information if youhave one available for sale.Tel: 084-447 1978. Email:diggerresort@hotmail.com

LAND WANTEDSuitable to build house, quietarea with trees, prefer seaview, near electricity/wa-ter, access to road, proof ofownership. Will pay up to1.5 million baht. Please con-tact David at Tel: 085-790-8241.

LONG-TERMRENTAL WANTED

Retired British couple livingin Phuket require a 2- to 3-bedroom spacious villa orapartment with pool, all insecure environment.Internet and cable TV re-quired. Must be of highstandard and well present-ed. Your property will bevery well taken care of!Contact via email: phuketgraham@yahoo.co.uk

KARON BUILDING PLOTWe want to buy a building plotin or around Karon or Katasuitable for one small houseor bungalow. 200- to400sqm-plot ideal. Musthave Chanote, electricity,water and telephone avail-able. Owners only. Pleaseemail with your completedetails. Will reply to all re-sponses. Email: ken.devitt@btopenworld.com

THAI-STYLE VILLA

16 million baht. Thai-stylevilla. 610sqm. For utilityarea. Contact Chaya atTel: 081-3317693. Email:chayath@gmail.com

AccommodationAvailable

PROPERTYSEARCHERS

Just explain to us in detailwhat kind of property you’relooking for and our researchteam will try to find for youthe perfect match, free .Contact Marc. Tel: 085-7839062. Email: sales@phuketmarbella.com

PHUKETHANDYMANSERVICES

Installing, reparing andmaintenance for electrical& air-conditioning systems.Renovation and paintingwork also available. Reliableand reasonable prices. Tel:081-5384989 (Eng), 086-9487489(Thai). Email:mnobnorb@hotmail.com

KATA BEACHBeautiful guesthouse withWi-Fi. Best value. Tel: 081-8948446. Email: sfrkata@gmail.com For more informa-tion, please visit our websiteat: www.southernfriedrice.com

PATONGAPARTMENTS &

ROOMS

Long- and short-term rent.8,000-25,000 baht permonth. Tel: 076-512151,089-2909567. Website:w w w . b r o m m a t h a ihouse.com

CHALONG ROOMHot water, aircon, TV, DVD,Wi-Fi and fridge. 5,500 bahtper month. Tel: 089-4727304.

ROOMS FROM430 BAHT PER DAY

for a 1-month stay or dailyfor 600 baht. Aircon, TV,fridge, sat TV, maid service,close to Yanui Beach. Call087-8844663 for more in-formation.

PATONG ROOMSAircon, ceiling fan, cable TV,fridge. Nicely furnishedrestaurant+bar+pool. Ideallong stay tourist daily rate 500baht, montly 7,000 baht.Please call Andy at Tel: 087-2825086.

PHUKETHOME MAINTENANCEConstruction, renovation,electricians, plumbers, car-penters, painters, tilers, gar-deners, aircon servicing, sand-wash and curtains. ContactK. Rin at Tel: 084-1935124.

GARDENLANDSCAPING

Design & build. Turf, decks,lighting. Garden & pool main-tenence. Tel: 087-2658002.Website: www.irisrachawadeegardens.com

HouseholdItems

TEAKWOOD BALIFURNITURE

Carved Bali-style teakwoodsofa, imported from Bali. Justbought it 2 years ago from abig shop on Rama IV Rd. Re-ally a collection or investmentitem. Will sell at a loss for23,900 baht. Please contactfor more details. Tel: 089-6929498. Email: zeazon@gmail.com

Looking for land to buy?See more classified ads at www.phuketgazette.net

FRIDGE & FURNITURERawai fridge and freezer (asnew), desk, king-size mat-tress, kitchen cupboard/ cabi-net, DVD. Tel: 083-1825710.Email: yachtpaula@yahoo.com

TEAK GARDENFURNITURE

Four sets of teak gardenfurniture for sale. One set= 2 chairs & 1 table. Pricefor 1 set: 6,000 baht. Forall 4 sets: 24,000 baht.Tel: 087-2632294. Email:sa tmanmarc - in fo@yahoo.com

Specialist in European stone-care products and services:

Prevent: rust, stains, mildew,algae, scratches

Remove: builders’ residue,incorrect sealants, rust, stains,

mildew, etc. Daily care &cleaning products also available.

Tel: 087-2824930, 076-271217Fax: 076-271218

Email:info@thestonedoctor-asia.com

• Restoration• Sealing/Protection• Maintenance

All your maintenance,protection & cleaning needsfor natural and manufactured

• Marble • Sandwash• Granite • Terracotta• Slate • Terrazzo

The Stone Doctor

C L A S S I F I E D SSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 45

Boats & Marine

CRUISER FOR SALE

200 passengers. Length:29.9m. Beam: 5.0m. Draft:1.2m. Two 500hp diesel en-gines, air-conditioning. Steelhull. 40kVA generator. 6.5million baht. Call for details.Tel: 076-212172, 081-8947565. Fax: 076-212252.Email: info@seacanoe.netWebsite: www.seacanoe.net/charter_boat.html

TWIN ENGINE

speedboat. Everything reno-vated and brand-new. Mustsee! 1.2 million baht obo. Tel:084-6644050. Email: aadams007@yahoo.com

POWER DINGHY

4.7m with 120hp inboard jetand trailer. Only 400,000 baht.Please contact for more infor-mation. Tel: 081-7370557.Email: Dive_Block@web.de

INFLATABLE BOAT

for sale. 2-seat canoe, neverused, pump, paddles, travelbag. 10, 000 baht. Tel: 084-1899868.

FISHING BOAT

New, fiberglass. Length:4m, width: 1.5m. 5hpYamaha engine. 120, 000baht. Contact Eat. Tel:081-4775637.

SAILBOAT

1968 Islander for sale. 44-ftworld cruiser, lying in Yacht Ha-ven Marina. US$50,000. Email:temptation44@hotmail.com

C L A S S I F I E D S46 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Island Job Mart

Looking for a job?Still haven’t found the perfect candidate?

Find more Recruitment Classifieds at www.phuketgazette.net!

RECEPTIONIST

& MESSENGER

Must be able to speak, writeEnglish well. Messenger musthave own motorbike. Email:ops@theestategroup.com

WEB DESIGNER/

DEVELOPER

Looking for Thai nationalswith skills in one or more ofthe following: Web design,Photoshop, Flash, CSS,HTML, PHP, SEO. Tel: 084-8522006. Email: karl@imagevuex.com Please visit:www.imagevuex.com

AQUAMARINE

DIVERS

Aquamarine Divers, Phuket’sfinest live-aboard operator, isexpanding its business into day-diving trips. The following newpositions need to be filled:

1) Dive Shop Manager: For-eign/Thai national with provenexperience in the diving indus-try. Strong managementskills. English language manda-tory. Second language a plus.

2) Day Trip Tour Leader: For-eign/Thai national with provenexperience. English languagemandatory.

3) Office Assistants (2): Fe-male Thai nationals. Proven ex-perience in diving/tourismbusiness. Computer skills amust. Bachelor’s degree orequivalent, good command ofEnglish, pleasant personalityand good presentation.

4) Accountant: Female, Thainational. Bookkeeping, taxdeclarations, etc. Computerskills a must, good commandof English a plus.

5) Driver: Male, Thai national.

Interested candidates.

Tel: 076-383083, 081-5848502. Please send CV withphoto by email to: admin@philkade.com

COOL SALES STAFF

Dharma Bum are opening 2new boutiques. 1 in CherngTalay and 1 on Karon Beach.We are in a need of motivatedsales staff fluent in English andwith a genuine interest in fash-ion. Call Susanne Tel: 084-8529522.

SALES

REPRESENTATIVE

Food wholesaler is looking forThai natiotional with Bachelor'sdegree, good command ofwritten and spoken English andhas their own car. Experiencein food business is a plus. Salaryup to 25, 000 baht per month.Includes commission. Pleasecontact for more informationat Tel: 081-8933138.

YACHT BASE

MANAGER

for our new base in Lang-kawi. You must have experi-ence in the yacht charterbusiness and have good tech-nical skills. Please send yourresumé via email. Tel: 081-9704020. Email: thailand@dreamyachtcharter.com

BUNGALOW RESORT

ALL POSITIONS

* Restaurant manager

* Receptionist

* Cook

* Waiter/waitress

* Cashier

* Maid

* Beach boy/girl

* Trainees and more...

You should be motivated,service-minded, with pleas-ant personality, an energeticindividual, have minimum of2 years experience and goodcommand of English. Pleasesend your resumé, expectedsalary and recent photo toemail: pia@phuket-bangtaolagoon.com

OFFICE ASSISTANT

urgently required for well-es-tablished real-estate com-pany. Experience is a must.Able to organize and be re-sponsible. Good communica-tion skills over email and di-rect contact with customers.Very good written and spo-ken English skills are re-quired. Must be able to workwith Microsoft Word, Excel,etc. Email: info@phuket-tropical-realestate.com

HOUSEKEEPER

NEEDED

English-speaker for cleaninghome, cooking and helpingto go out. Can live in. Tel:086-7458832. Email:gregmackay67@hotmail.com

OFFICE ASSISTANT

REQUIRED

We urgently require a full-time office assistant.Good command of Englishand Thai a must (read,speak, write). Shop salesexperience preferred.Must be presentable.Please contact for addi-tional information at Tel:076-281510, 081-554-454. Email: james@wahoo.ws Please visit ourwebsite at: www.wahoo.ws

ADMINISTRATOR

with good English skills, age18-25, single and musthave driver’s license. Also,teacher for children. Tel:076-239209, 084-188-5828.

COOK NEEDED

Cook urgently needed. Fe-male only. Tel: 076-286-061, 081-8914019.Email:tkoschig2000@hotmail.com

PROPERTY

RENTALS

We are a small real-estatecompany next to Laguna,looking for a talented indi-vidual to join our team. Youneed to be organized, havea positive attitude and a de-sire to learn. Excellent writ-ten & spoken English es-sential and lots of personal-ity. No experience required.Call Bee for more info. Tel:081-9793369.Email:phudtheera@phuketrealty.net

C L A S S I F I E D SSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 47

Island Job Mart

WEB MARKETING @HOLYCLOTHING

Experienced Web marketerneeded for expandingInternet fashion retailer. Ex-perience with SEO, shoppingengines, email, classical mar-keting a must. Fashion mar-keting experience a bonus.Superior salary. Foreigneronly. Work permit available.Tel: 085-789 9249. Email:gstephenkay@yahoo.comVisit our website at:www.holyclothing.com

WORK CS @HOLYCLOTHING.COMCustomer-service agentsneeded for expanding Internetfashion retailer. Are you CSexperienced, hard working, ateam player, computer savvywith fluent English? Superiorsalary. Thai nationals. Tel:085-7899249.Emai l :gstephenkay@yahoo.com

See our stunning product se-lection & website here: http://www.holyclothing.com

CHALLENGINGMODEL CASTING

Challenging model castingfor 3- to 13-year-old boysand girls, Western-mixedThai and Thai at MyclipStudios. Please contact K.Varintara. Monday to Fri-day, 9 am to 6 pm. Tel: 076-380610, 081-737 0623.Fax: 076-380612. Email:nat@myclipstudios.comFor further details, pleasesee our website at:www.myclipstudios.com BOOKING/

RESERVATIONOffice girl with good spokenEnglish for boat charter busi-ness. Must have own trans-port. Good salary & commis-sion comes with reliability &loyalty. Karon area. Tel: 081-0817163. Email: gsmith100@gmail.com

URGENTLY NEEDSTAFF

Thai or Filipino support staffneeded for Int’l childcare.Cooking, nannying and recep-tionist. Experience an advan-tage. Please contact for detailsTel: 084-7144104.

GENERAL MANAGERExperience involved in trading,accounting, HR, sales, mar-keting, ISO 9001, construc-tion business. Seeking positionas GM. Please call 081-649-5620 for more information.

REAL ESTATE SALESI have 26 years’ experience inall aspects of real estate, 15years as a principal workingwith some of Australia’s larg-est developers, mainly fromoff the plan to completion.Why bark yourself when youcan employ a dog. Please con-tact for more information atTel: 087-0245036.

MEXICANRESTAURANT

Chalong Staff wanted 1 cook2 waitress with English speak-ing for new Mexican restau-rant located in Chalong. Pleasecontact for more details atTel: 089-1638166. Email:vjnong@gmail.com

EmploymentWanted

Gazette Online Classifieds – 10,000 readers every day!

ENGLISH TEACHERAVAILABLE

Highly-qualified, British En-glish teacher with 20years’ experience availablefor any type of work. Goodrates. Tel: 086-7458832.Email: gregmackay67@hotmail.com

ENTHUSIASTICPERSON

for small guesthouse in Karon.Take care of reception, staff,tourists, give info, etc. Pleasecontact for more details atTel: 086-2718254.

ANYTHING ISPOSSIBLE

Vibrant Thai company withAustralian expertise wantsyou and your energy, ideasand enthusiasm. Come andtalk to us for more informa-tion. Tel: 084-1845162.Please visit our website:www.shades.co.th

MARKETINGMANAGER

A premier property manage-ment and villa-rental companyneeds a Thai national with anoutgoing personality, strongEnglish and strong communi-cation skills. 3-years’ experi-ence in travel/hospitality mar-keting channels includingWeb, print and signage. Abilityto deal with agents is essential.Good salary and perks includephone and fuel allowance.Please submit resume withphoto to interview. Tel: 076-270750. Fax: 076-270751.Email: hr@pipsphuket.com

CLIENT RELATIONSBright, clear-thinking personis required for our office.Must be a good communica-tor, have good written andspoken English and be ableto work with minimum super-vision. Salary commensuratewith experience. ContactTel: 076-348117, 081-9703028. Fax: 076-348118.Emai l : rob@sa i l ing -thailand.com Send CV byemail or fax. For more info,please visit our website:www.sailing-thailand.com

STAFF FORINTERNET

business in Rawai. Thai fe-male staff wanted part timeon Saturday and Sundaywith computer skills andbasic English knowledge.Good salary. Contact Mr.Rudi or Khun Nat. Pleasecontact for details at Tel:076-288808, 081-090-9640. Email: info@phuket-car-rentals.com

JUNIORACCOUNTANT

Bachelor’s degree in Account-ing. Knowledge of taxation re-porting. A/P-A/R ledger. Tel:076-239111. Fax: 076-238974. Email: suporn@asia-marine.net

TELEMARKETINGEXECUTIVE

We have a number of oppor-tunities to work in an ex-panding company in south-east Asia. Are you money ori-entated, goal driven, haveconfident & polite telephonemanners? Interested in work-ing abroad? If so, apply nowby sending your CV to email:ronsmith99@gmail.comNative English speaker only.Flights and accomodationswill be paid for. Please con-tact for more information atTel: 087-7731327. Email:ronsmith99@gmail.com

L’ARTISTA& JITTRAKORN

Restaurant in Patong ur-gently requires the followingstaff:

- 2 waiters / waitresses

- 1 Thai cook assistant

Please contact for more de-tails. Tel: 076-294506,085-8871743.

C L A S S I F I E D S48 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Tout, Trader & Trumpet

ArticlesFor Sale

MOUNTAIN BIKE

LA Spectrum, 21 speed, 3months old. New: 7,100 baht.Offers welcome. Contact Tel:085-0942366.

RESTAURANT/

CATERING

equipment. Commercial fridgeand freezer, oven, servingsets and more. Contact Tel:081-5369079.

STAINLESS STEEL

FRIDGE

75cm x .75cm x 2m. Highquality double door refrigera-tor. Suitable for bar/resturant.Price when new: 36,000baht. Offers (buyer to collect).Tel: 089-9546433. Email:kjralph@hotmail.com

COFFEE MACHINE 2 GR

Spinel Duetto Coffee Podsespresso machine, 2 groupswith steam and hot waterwand. Do not need to knowhow to make nice creamycoffee anymore. 100% new!79,000 baht o.n.o. Call oremail. Tel: 087-5912811.Email: vincesil@hotmail.com

Bulletins

PIWC GALA BALL

The Phuket InternationalWomen's Club announcesthe most prestigous eventthis year - the annual Gala Ballon Saturday, November24th at the Indigo Pearl inNai Yang Beach. Watch formore details. Tickets will bein great demand. Pleasecontact for additional infor-mation.

K.Carol atTel: 087-4178860,

email: carol@aplusplussoftware.comor K.Sue at

Tel: 087-2776948.Email:

arnulphy@loxinfo.co.th

NEPAL HIMALAYAS

HOLIDAYS

For the ultimate Nepal holi-day - hiking, rafting, safa-ris, cultural stays at first-class hotels, safe soft ad-ventures. Email: leighw7@hotmail.com please visitour website: www.itreknepal.com

TO OSLASH

Please contact me again withyour email address so that Ican send you the guesthousedetails and photos. Email:info@thephuketproperty.com

SPONSOR A NEEDY

CHILD

The Phuket InternationalWomen's Club is a volun-tary organization raisingfunds for educationalscholarships. We rely onthe goodwill of our donorsand sponsors - small andlarge. If you would like toput something back intothe community in whichyou live, contact us to findout more about giving aprize or being a sponsor.Contact Carol (Tel: 087-4178860 or carol.fryer@piwc.info) or Sue (Tel:087-2776948 or sue.arnulphy@piwc.info).

SOLO 24 HOUR BIKE

MARATHON

Marco Reinard will go on asolo, 24-hour Bike Marathon21-22 September, 2007 toraise awareness about pollu-tion and other environmentalproblems in Phuket. Join us inCheering Marco and support-ing our bid to help keep PhuketClean. We'll be at YouniqueBar from 7 pm onward.Please contact via by email:chutikarn@hoteltravel.com

PATONG

GUESTHOUSE

Great location, 500m frombeach, turn-key operation andbuilding for business. 24 millionbaht. Tel: 084-8479847.

BusinessOpportunities

PATONG

RESTAURANT

Soi Patong Tower. Well-estab-lished 100m from the beach.Best location in Patong. 40seats. 3-year lease. ContactDennis. Tel: 085-0753603.

KATA RESTAURANT

Pool table, 3 TVs, seats 80.2nd floor: 4 bedrooms, 4 bath-rooms. Rent: 14, 000 permonth. Sell: 1.8 million baht.Tel: 081-5395948.

BEAUTY SALON &

MASSAGE

For lease at Soi Nanai. Goodlocation & nice decoration.Contact K. Daeng. Tel: 089-8721795.

BANGLA BAR

for sale fully furnished, lowrent, good profit. For more in-formation, please email:buybarpatong@hotmail.com

GUESTHOUSE

for sale includes bar, 60-seatshop, spa, swimming pool, 5rooms, 32sqm each. CherngTalay next to Laguna. 29-yearlease. Tel: 083-1823751.

PATONG

RESTAURANT FOR

LEASE

Visible from Rat-U-Thit 200Pi Rd, a newly remodeledand fully equipped restau-rant with seating for 40 lo-cated inside hotel, availablenow. All you need is foodand staff. 2-minute walk toJungceylon. No key moneyand lease term negotiable.35,000 baht per monthwith all utilities included.Pay 6 months rent and 6-month deposit. Great op-portunity and a must see!Tel: 085-7932477. Email:garyteets@yahoo.com Formore information, pleasevisit our website: http://www.lawanresidence.com

INVESTOR/PARTNER

Required for bar in busyBangla Rd area. For informa-tion, please contact after 6pm at Tel: 084-8436792,6684-8436792 (Int'l).

BAR FOR SALE/RENT

Soi Sukhumvit. Good price.1-year contract for 3 moreyears. Tel: 087-0145817.

RESTAURANT

FOR SALE

Kata Beach, 3 bedrooms,TV, pool table, fully stocked,seats 80. Tel: 089-5880839.

NEW PATONG

LUXURY CLUB

All new. Construction finishedon June 1st. Excellent location.50m from the beach. 6- or 12-year lease available. 100%ready to open tomorrow.Great opportunity. Space avail-able for restaurant below. Thisplace won't last long. Call now!Tel: 084-6644050. Email:aadams007@yahoo.com

SHORT-TERM LOANS

Real-estate loans. 15% +fees. Secured by real estateonly. Tel: 086-9421930.

GUESTHOUSE PATONG

Please call K.Kevin. Tel: 084-7300190.

BEER BAR BANGLA

Please call K.Kevin. Tel: 084-7300190.

GUESTHOUSE

for lease. Best location in Pa-tong Beach. 50m to BanglaRd. 15 brand-new rooms anda restaurant. Only 2.3 millionbaht to take over 9-year con-tract. Tel: 086-0043008,084-0535780. Email: info@ayudhya.net Visit our website:www.ayudhya.net

WANTED: SHOPHOUSE

Must be in Patong, Kata orKaron - in a good location,without key money and withrental direct from owner/land-lord. Tel: 087-4717253, 084-4436085. Email: cold_ko@hotmail.com

Need help finding a lawyer? www.phuketgazette.net

BUSINESS SPACE

WANTED

Looking for small businessspace. Please contact me ifyou have or know of some-thing available. Tel: 083-1058885. Email: hkmellin@hotmail.com

RESTAURANT

for sale in Nai Harn. 40 seatswith equipment. Ready tostart. 1 million baht. Tel: 081-6070184.

ANGEL SEAVIEW

room & restaurant. For lease:60-80 seat restaurant with 4bedrooms, all with sea view.Tel: 085-8885144.

PATONG BAR

and restaurant. Prominent po-sition at Patong Beach, seats80, good turnover and pro-fits. Call Raymond for full de-tails. Tel: 084-8494562.Email: curtains_unlimited@hotmail.com

BAR FOR SALE

Very good location. Soi offBangla Rd. Lease contractfinishes June 2010. Goodprice, high season coming sobe quick. Please contact formore information. Tel: 089-5872694. Email: djn1690@hotmail.com

WHOLESALE

FRANCHISE

Only one of its kind in all ofPhuket. Priced at 3 millionbaht. Return on investmentin less than 24 months!Email: admin@ideacon.bizBe your own boss, for infoplease visit our website:w w w . i d e a c o n . b i z /wholesale_franchise.htm

POOLBAR

FOR SALE OR RENT

Excellent location in Patong.Bangla Rd near Rock Hardand Seduction disco. Fullyequipped and operational,well decorated, 10 pooltables, 200sqm in size. For in-formation, call K. Kees in theafternoon or evening. Man-agement contact optional.Great business opportunity.Contact for more information.Tel: 081-8267129.

INTERNET CAFE

8 computers, all fixtures, 10-month lease left, able to ex-tend 3 more years. Quick saleat 275,000 baht, or 375,000baht with 3-year lease. Situ-ated on busy Nanai Rd. Email:bmudablue@aol.com

TEACHING OFFICE

The place is ready for teachingor to make an office. Includesparking. 32sqm, 2 aircons,telephone and Internet withADSL. Please contact formore details. Tel: 076-296-613, 083-3906709. Email:private_language@yahoo.com

BusinessProducts &Services

ANDAMAN LEGAL

ADVISERS

26 Hongyok-Utit Rd, Talad Yai,Samkong, Phuket. Associ-ated with Advocates and So-licitors Bangkok, Phuket andUK. We provide a wide rangeof high-quality and specializedlegal services to individual andcorporate clients.- Legal consultations- Conveyancing andcommercial- Alien businessestablishment- Notarial certifications- Trademark and patentlicenses- Immigration and work permits- Court disputes- Wills, married, divorce- Settlemet agreement- Juristic contract

Tel: 076-236124, 02-5113264, 081-9377219.

Email: AndamanLegal@gmail.com,

solicitor40@aol.comWebsite:

www.Haroldstock.com

OSTEOPATH

Tel: 076-388524,081-6072343.

www.garnettsymonds.com

C L A S S I F I E D SSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 49

Tout, Trader & Trumpet

Soi Dog Foundation Tel: 081-7884222

Takeme

homewithyou!

INFLATABLE GAMES

Sumo wrestling, football,gladiator, eliminator. Ideal forparties. Tel: 076-321651. Visitour website: www.phuketinflatablegames.com

CHIROPRACTIC

Dr. Richard CracknellTel: 076-330889.

www.chiropractic-phuket.com

FITTED WARDROBES

Built-in kitchen, built-in liv-ing-room furniture. Interiordesign drawings. Pleasecontact for more informa-tion.

Tel: 076-321651.Website: www.modernlife

furniture.net

PROJECTOR SYSTEMS

Enjoy a TV screen up to 150"that is ideal for showing allsporting events, etc. Sup-plied and installed by Britishtradesmen from 49,995baht. Tel: 089-5319987,089-0491785. Website:phukethomecinema.com

WEB PAGE

only 3,000 baht includes de-sign and printing. Tel: 089-2350969. Email: sales@lfr-asia.com Website: www.lfr-asia.com

VISA & LEGAL

SERVICES

Company registration 2,229baht; 1-year visa 7,900 baht;retirement visa 7,900 baht;work permit 7,900 baht;UK&US visa 19,999 baht.No more visa runs, get a1-year visa for only 7,900baht. Establish your Thaicompany today to buy landor start your business foronly 2,229 baht. Propertytitle search, sales contractand land registration.Thailand's largest legal ser-vice network. Always lowprices by our licensed Thailawyers.

Tel: 076-290376, 076-290487.

Email: info@siam-legal.com

For additional information,please visit our website:www.siam-legal.com

Computers

IMAC INTEL 17"

like new 2 GB RAM, 160 HD,iLife 2008. Original, still under2-year protection plan. 33,000baht. Tel: 087-2849690. Con-tact by phone or email:fullmoonlaser@hotmail.com

2 LAPTOPS

Ultralight: 10,000 baht. Media-Center: 18,000 baht. For de-tails, call Tel: 089-9087350.Email: jacek_fi@hotmail.com

Golf Stuff

FULL GOLF SET

Ben Sayers clubs, putter andbag. 30, 000 baht. ContactMicky. Tel: 087-8885944.

Notice

Miscellaneousfor Sale

ROLEX

Rolex Daytona 18k/ss dia-mond dial, serial no A1998,model 16528. For sale atoffers around 300,000baht. Tel: 076-292729,084-4404608.Email:symonds_9@hotmail.com

ClubMemberships

Wanted

SATELLITE CABLE TV

Multichioce for 3,600 bahtper year. Movies, sport, mu-sic, Arabic, European, Asiannews, etc. Hotels, condos,apartments. Resort repairsand upgrades are welcome.Tel: 089-4746998. Email:mpshop.sattv@gmail.com

GOLF MEMBERSHIP

Looking for golf membershipat Phuket Country Club or BlueCanyon. Tel: 081-7190379.

Mobile Phones

ASUS P535 NEW

EURO VERSION

3 months old, 2 GB RAM,Destinator 6.0, Windows mo-bile 6. New: 24,900 baht. Sell:18,000 baht. Please contactfor more information. Tel:087-2849690. Email: fullmoonlaser@hotmail.com

Pets

FREE TO A

GOOD HOME

2 handsome dogs. Male,neutered. Easy care, live out-side. Well-trained, child-friendly, fine around otherdogs. Travel well. Love thebeach and walks. Englishowner has to leave Phuketsoon. If you think you canprovide a loving home, pleasecall Clare. Tel: 083-3906700,or 086-4702787 (evening).

Personals

BACKGAMMON

Retired businessman lookingfor backgammon players inPhuket. Tel: 081-5778443.

LADY COMPANION

I am an international single busi-nessman and have come to livein Phuket. I live a five-starlifestyle, and I would like tomeet a lively, intelligent andattractive lady for companion-ship. If you are interested.Email: phuketwanderer@googlemail.com

TRUCKING SERVICES

Moving off the island, loadingand unloading. Tel: 081-7761490. Email: henri195@gmail.com

PersonalServices

TAROT WORKSHOP

September 30. 4 Sundays, 3-5pm, learn to read Kabbalah.3,990 baht. Tel: 089-6478519.

SATELITE

ERICSSON R190

Satelite/GSM capable.Comes with leather case.30,000 baht new; will sellfor 15,000. Please contactfor more information.Tel: 076-512602, 081-

7373116.Email: davy.

polky@yahoo.com

CHILDCARE AND

BABYSITTING

I am a young bilingual womanavailable for babysitting,childcare, basic tutoring andgeneral activities with childrenages one day to 10 years. I amhalf Austrian/half Thai andspeak fluent Thai and English.Tel: 081-6911492. Email:ambrozina_85@hotmail.comFor further details, please seemy website at: www.imagevuex.com/amber/

JUST ASK ME

What property you wantto buy and I’ll find it foryou. Please contact to K.Marc. Tel: 085-7839062.

C L A S S I F I E D S50 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Wheels & Motors

Saloon Cars

Need wheels? Check out www.phuketgazette.net

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Please use this form to write your classified advertisement.

Then hand it to any of our agents.

Classified ads are charged per line. Each line is 95 baht,with a minimum of 4 lines (heading included) per ad.

All advertising must be paid for in advance.

Deadline for Wheels & Motors page: Saturday 12 noon.

Wheelsheelsheelsheelsheels & MotorsotorsotorsotorsotorsAdvertisements

TOYOTA COROLLA1995

1.5L, manual,140,000km.Well-maintained and ser-viced, good condition. Price:105,000 baht. Must see.Tel: 087-2709093. Email:s.anut@hotmail.com

MITSUBISHI LANCER

1993, 1.5L, manual, goodcondition, runs great. Price:160,000 baht. Please call.Tel: 086-7432011.

For more info please call us at

Tel: 076-224632, 076-216243

www.suremotor.com

Phuket’s Most Trusted &

Reputable Supplier of the Finest

Quality Used SALOONS,

SEDANS, JEEPS & PICKUPS

New cars or trade-ins –we have what you’re

looking for.

BENZ SLK200SPORT 1997

Perfect condition, 80,000km,1.85 million baht. Tel: 087-2 8 4 9 6 9 0 . E m a i l :fullmoonlaser@hotmail.com

MAZDA MX-5ROADSTER

Classic 1993 NA, silver, re-conditioned, mint condition,reluctant sale. 780,000 bahtono. Please contact for detailsat Tel: 089-8748804. Email:rat_phuket@yahoo.co.uk

SUBARU WRXGreat condition, 500, 000baht ono. Tel: 085-7977786.Email: tj_biggie@hotmail.com

HONDA CITY TYPE Z

(1500 cc) 2005. Price:435,000 baht. Tel: 081-8 6 8 7 6 7 6 . E m a i l :jenadeniz@gmail.com

Pickups

CHEVROET ZAFIRA2.2 SPORT

for sale. Black. 30,000km.Never been broken. Checksdone. New: 1,350,000 baht.Leasing may be taken over fornext 36 months, down paymentor full cash payment to discuss.Tel: 081-8512280. Email:dennis.mo@hotmail.com

NISSAN NV 2001Auto, 6 months, 1st-class in-surance, velor interior. 230,000 baht. Please contact Tel:089-9708281.

ISUZU D-MAX CAB 4

2003. 100,000km, perfectcondition, runs great, 3.0L,automatic, only one owner.Price: 470,000 baht. Con-tact for more information.Tel: 087-2709093. Email:s.anut@hotmail.com

MERCEDES S280

Private number plate, verygood condition, bullet-proofwindows, usual S class extras,can be used for limousine ser-vice. 1.1 million baht. Pleasecontact for more information.Tel: 081-9796320. Fax: 076-292-242.Email: gordon@seal-superyachts.com

TOYOTA VIOSTURBO

Special edition TRD, 143hp,black, sport car leather alcan-tara seat, registered 9/04.45,000km. Like new condi-tion. Genuine reason for sale.Paid: 830,000 baht. Sell:580,000 baht. Tel: 084-060-3477. Email: attivitaphuket@yahoo.co.uk

HONDA CIVIC2006, 2.0L, 25,000km, sil-ver. Great condition. Price:880,000 baht. Contact Tel:089-7241140.

MAZDA 3 FOR SALE

Black, 6 months old, CD play-er with 6-disc changer/mp3,rain sensor, automatic lights,full options package. Pleasecall Tel: 081-7371687.

HONDA ACCORD3.0L V6 2003

Metallic gold, powerful eng-ine, 220psi. Good condition.Price: 800,000 baht. Pleasecontact for additional informa-tion at Tel: 076-239820,081-7373720. Fax: 076-239-828. Email: chaiyaphong@dewaphuket.com

CHEVROLET AVEO

For sale. New condition,5,000km, special model, un-wanted gift, take over pay-ments. Please contact moredrtials at Tel: 084-0548122.

1996 MAZDALANTIS

1 , 8 0 0 c c . M a n u a l ,110,000km. Double airbag,no accidents. Good condi-tion. Dark brown. Price:240,000 baht. Please con-tact for additional informa-tion at Tel: 084-0577505.

CHEAP PICKUPTRUCK

95 Mitsubishi. Body is rough.Lots of current repairs. Price:110,000 baht obo. Tel: 081-6930766. Please send toEmail: danboy3@ gmail.com

TOYOTAHILUX TIGER

2000, low mileage, clean,perfect condition, very re-liable. Owner is relocating.Asking price: 320,000baht. Tel: 076-281479,087-0190852. Email:dj_chet10@hotmail.com

ISUZU 2003 4-DOOR

Auto., 60,000km, like newcondition. Price: 495,000baht. Please contact for ad-ditional details at Tel: 084-4413633.

TRITON MEGACAB 2D2006, 2+2, new condition,blue, low kilometers, CD,farang owner. Must sell.Price: 435,000 baht. Tel:085-7959105 (English).

FORD RANGER XLT

2002, 71,000km, dieselengine, runs great, excel-lent condition. Price:270,000 baht. Contact foradditional details. Tel: 086-2812899.

TOYOTA FORTUNER

Great condition. 50,000km,2-years young. 2.7L engine.Dark gray. 850,000 baht.Please contact for more in-formation at Tel: 086-7866350. Email: buurmanb@hotmail.com

NISSAN NVQUEEN CAB

Rear hardtop with door,mettalic gold. Karon. Ac-cepting offers. Please con-tact for more information atTel: 081-0869921.

NISSAN NVFOR SALE

Automatic, new tires,seats, battery, new plugs.CD player. Nice car at greatprice. 145,000 obo. Pleasecontact for more details. Tel:081-6891116. Email:pappy186@yahoo.com

NISSAN NV 2005WING ROAD

Bronze-gold color, 1,600cc,manual, good condition,22,000km. Price: 290,000baht. Please contact forspecific details. Tel: 081-3670991.

TOYOTA SOLUNAFOR SALE

2000, silver, auto., good con-dition. Price: 240, 000 baht.Contact for more details.Tel: 081-6078567. Email:suksavat@hotmail.com

TOYOTA WISH 2004

Great condition, 55,000km.Price: 790,000 baht. Pleasecontact for additional details.Tel: 081-6935169.

C L A S S I F I E D SSeptember 22 - 28, 2007 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E 51

Wheels & Motors

4 x 4s RentalsMotorbikes

TOYOTA FORTUNER

FOR RENT / SALE

2,500 baht for daily or15,000 baht for weekly rental(include insurance). For moredetails.Tel: 081-5399269

FORD RANGER

2005, 1, 300km, diesel, opencab, first owner, TV/VCD,many extras. 330, 000 baht.Tel: 081-5375948.

MAZDA FREESTYLE

CB, luxury, 2004, 2 tone,ABS, 12-valve turbo diesel, allelectric standard, 78 t. km,one owner. Price: 350, 000baht. Tel: 085-4730414.

ISUZU DMAX 4-DOOR

2.5L, diesel, 58, 000km,2002, Carryboy sport lid, verygood condition. 450, 000 baht.Tel: 086-1588752.

SUZUKI JEEP

Caribian, 1.3L, registered Sept01, new tax blue book. 185,000 baht. Tel: 087-2696174,084-3046723.

RESTORED

LANDROVER

Rebuilt from frame up, nowlike new, 2.7 diesel, powerwinch, tow hitch and more.375,000 baht obo. Pleasecontact for more information.Tel: 089-5934125, 085-4734619. Email: piratespizza@gmail.com

ISUZU CAB 4, 4WD

2001, 56,000km, manualgears, 3.0L, good condi-tion. Price: 430,000 baht.Tel: 087-2709093. Email:s.anut@hotmail.com

MITSUBISHI

STRADA

VG turbo, Grandis D-cab.4x4, 2003, one owner.68,000km. Full Mitsubishi-service history. Immaculatecondition. 475,000 baht.Please contact for more de-tails. Tel: 081-0875487.Email: divesdowndeep@gmail.com

ISUZU DMAX

CAP4 4X4

2004, 3L turbo, Highlander,76,000km, 5 speed, new20,000-baht Bridgestonetires, new 40,000-baht ste-reo, 8 months of tax/ins.515,000 baht ono. Tel: 081-7880980, 081-1752754.Email: rjmenzies@lycos.com

NISSAN FRONTIER

4-DOOR 2007

395,000 baht. Please con-tact for information. Tel:086-1542255.

KIA SPORTAGE

4x4, aircon, good condition.195, 000 baht. Please con-tact for additional details.Tel: 085-0942366.

RANGE ROVER

4.6 HSE

British racing green, excellentcondition, only 77,000 miles,full insurance until March2008, only 2 previous owners(chauffeur driven). Reluctantsale. Please contact AlasdairJunor for more information.Tel: 083-9889507.

SUZUKI CARIBIAN

10,000 baht/month. Full in-surance. Long-term discount.Tel: 089-4727304.

NEW TOYOTA VIOS

rental Black, deluxe editionwith full insurance for 6, 000baht/ week or 19, 000 - 21,000 baht/month. Tel: 089-5885692.

FORTUNER FOR RENT

Good deal to rent per month.28, 000 baht, TV, automatic.Tel: 081-7190379.

P.M.P CAR FOR RENT

Toyota Vios: 1, 000 baht perday. Honda Jazz: 1, 000 bahtper day. Suzuki Jeep sporty:600 baht per day. ToyotaFortuner: 2, 000 baht per day.Toyota Wish: 2, 000 baht perday. Contact for more detailsand more information. Tel:083-1743880, 087-264-6808.

FORD ESCAPE FOR

RENT OR SALE

Black, year 2006. 4x4.50,000km. Only 18 monthsold. Perfect truck for Phuket.For rent at 10,000 baht perweek or 30,000 baht permonth. For sale at 1 millionbaht. Tel: 081-8917499.Fax: 076-342906. Email:jacques@southsiam.net

A1 CAR RENTAL

Cars, trucks that are all fullyinsured for rental. Best pricesfor long-term rental: 12,000to 22,000 baht per month. Formore information on specificvehicles, contact Tel: 089-8 3 1 4 7 0 3 . E m a i l :a1carrent@myway.com

YAMAHA NOUVO

Blue, 6,800km, 1.5 years old.29,000 baht. Black, 2.5 yearsold. 29,000 baht. Tel: 089-5885692.

SUZUKI 125

Best buy. Immaculate, underwarranty, disc brakes, Jan.2005, 16,000km. 26,000baht. Tel: 089-0939752.Email: nfoxtrot@hotmail.com

HONDA BAJA 250

Second hand, good condition,green book, year 2002 with54,000km. Not used on dirtfor the last 2 years. Seriousbuyers only, please. Bike atyour disposal for a test drive.Pictures on request. Email:maxidive@gmail.com

HARLEY: 2 MODELS

Nynas Super Glide, 2004. Only600,000 baht. Also, Softailmodel, night train, 2000. Only580,000 baht. ContactSumon. Tel: 076-352069,081-6919346. Email: sumon@ridethailand.com

HARLEY DAVIDSON

HERITAGE

Harley Davidson HeritageSoftail, 1,450cc. Year 2004,only 4,000km, full options.Comes with registration book.Price: 750,000 baht. Tel: 076-352069, 081-691 9346. Fax:076-261028. Email: sumon@ridethailand.com

JRD QUEST 2003

18,000km, red color.19,500 baht. Tel: 087-2849690. Email: fullmoonbeach@hotmail.com

BIG BIKE

Suzuki GSXR 1,100cc, 1991model in fair condition. Red andblack, new tires and battery.70,000 baht ono. Please con-tact for more information atTel:076-292729, 084-440-4608. Email: symonds_9@hotmail.com

YAMAHA MIO AUTO

17 months old, new tires,green book. Great price:23,000 baht. Tel: 076-383380, 086-6837162.Email: somthawin_pw@hotmail.com

HONDA PHANTOM

Black. 2 years old. 4,500km.Many extras. 70,000 baht ono.Tel: 087-2665697. Email:bobedward1@hotmail.com

400cc HONDA STEED

Good condition, includesgreen book, tax, insurance .Price 120,000 baht. Tel: 084-0596294.

SUZUKI HAYABUSA

1,300 GSXR

Production year 2004, blackand gold, 22,000km. DualAkrapovic slip-ons, steeringdamper, Galespeed goldwheels, race clutch/rear brake,original Hayabusa tank cover,sport windshield replacement,convertible passenger seat.Permanent positioning lights,custom plate frame, etc.Tel: 081-0862112. Email:clickconnect@gmail.com

CUSTOM VFR 400

NC30

Excellent condition, runsvery well, green book, newtires, new brakes, taxedand insured, 21,000km.Price: 110,000 baht. Firstto see will buy. Be quick!Tel: 084-8386209. Email:nstretch4@hotmail.com

YAMAHA NOUVO

auto 2002 20, 000km, blue,good condition. Quick sale atfirm price of 17,000 baht.Tel: 085-2723771.

FORD RANGER

Open cab, blue, 13,000km,CD/VCD/TV. 1st owner, ex-cellent condition. 350,000baht. Please contact formore information. Tel: 089-5880839.

JIKKY CAR RENT

Many types of new cars.Low prices and good condi-tions. Insurance included.Tel: 081-8915296. Email:jikkycar@yahoo.com

FORD ESCAPE

for rent or sale. Black, year2006. 4x4. 50,000km. Only18 months old. Perfect truckfor Phuket. For rent at 10,000baht per week or 30,000 bahtper month. For sale at 1 millionbaht. Tel: 081-8917499.Fax: 076-342906. Email:jacques@southsiam.net

NEW TRUCK

FOR RENT

Chevy Colorado Highlander,standard black, leather, JVCstereo. Long-term rent:12,000 baht per month obo.Tel: 087-2803686.

NEW VIOS

FOR RENT

Many types of cars for long-term rent. Price: 10,000-18,000 baht per month.Tel: 081-5388567. Email:suksavat@hotmail.com

Wanted

SECONDHAND

FORTUNER

Looking for secondhandFortuner. Priced at around800,000 baht. Please con-tact for more details at Tel:081-7190379.

52 P H U K E T G A Z E T T E September 22 - 28, 2007

Looking for a place to stay?See more classified ads at www.phuketgazette.net

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