May 13 - 26, 2011 Vol. 2 No. 10

www.thesamuigazette.com 25 baht

By THE SAMUI GAZETTE STAFF

debuts on Koh Samui May 27

Turn to Page 2 BANGRAK’S LITTLE ISLAND-That little island off Bangrak that manages to appear only dur-ing low tide, became an attraction of sort recently when it was chosen by a film crew doing amovie or pictorial. The film crew came with all the props, including a coconut tree, to makethe location very realistic.

SMALL businesses on theisland, hurting from whatwas described as “way toohigh” airfares charged byBangkok Airways are re-questing the airline com-pany, who is also the ownerand operator of the KohSamui Airport to heed thegrowing clamor to reducethe cost of flights in and outof Koh Samui. Requesting anonymity, own-ers of small businesses saythey are the most hurt whentourists who want to go toSamui instead choose to goto other destinations be-cause of the limited flightsand prohibitive cost of flyingto the island.One businessman, involvedin the construction industryon the island, said he has

lately opted to travel on aferry to Suratthani wheneverhe needs to fly to Bangkokbecause the airfare ischeaper by half although ad-mitting it takes him longerto get to Bangkok fromSuratthani than flying di-rectly out of Samui.“I never fly out of Samuithese days as the prices arejust unreasonable,” the con-tractor said. Another busi-nessman, a bar owner, saidmost repeat tourists whocome for holiday to Samuion a regular basis say theairline fare here has becometoo exorbitant and not thefirst choice when travellingto or from Samui.“They say they would ratherput up

A NEW city plan for KohSamui, putting into seriousconsideration sustainableland use, would be put inplace to help the touristtown cope better during nat-ural disasters.This, according to KohSamui mayor Ramnate Jaik-wang, who in a recent mediainterview, said the new cityplan will involve obliginglandholders to spare a por-tion of their property forwater drainage."Samui needs to shape up itscity plan a lot because it'ssprawled out so rapidly," hesaid. "There used to be sluicesand other means to carry thewater to the sea, but unfortu-

nately they've disappearedas developers made way formore resorts and hotels."The mayor was quoted say-ing.Ramnate acknowledged inthe report redesigning KohSamui would be difficult asthe island is “full of fortune-hunters who care only abouthatching more golden eggs.”"We need to talk," Ramnatesaid, adding "We have to livewith nature."Hundreds of hotels and re-sorts have sprouted on KohSamui over the last decadeand most of them have com-pletely blocked the water-ways leading to the sea.

HAVE you imagined your-self drinking ice cold beer,one after another and testinghow many you can takewhile submerged in water atsub zero temperature? Orperhaps the question shouldbe – do you think you can do it?If you think you’ve got whatit takes, then organize a teamof two or more and enlist fora chance to become the firstchampion of the “Sub-ZeroDrink and Dive ExtremeBeer Drinking Contest,” thefirst of its kind on KohSamui or maybe even inThailand, which debuts hereon May 27 at the Fisherman’sVillage in Bophut.The event differs from other

regular beer drinking contests as this particularone requires participants todrink as many beers as they

can while submerged in abeer mug-shaped container full of water atsubzero temperature. The contest, open to menand women, is a team

competition and a Bt20,000prize awaits the winningteam.There is a Bt300 entry feeper participant, which or-ganizers plan to donate tocharitable groups on the is-land. Organizers require thatyou pay before the game be-gins as you might not makeit out alive. Limited spaceavailable, so hurry and register now. The one day event, organ-ized by Sambora TropicanaResto Pub and sponsored byNamcha Tea House, TheSamui Gazette and TheGallery, will be held at theFisherman’s Village in Bo-phut. For more info go towww.vipsinasia.com

Clamor for low

New city plan for Samui

Extreme beer drinking contest airfare growing

Turn to Page 15

IslandNewsSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

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AN OFFICER of the KohSamui Marine Police wasfound brutally murdered re-cently in his home near HinLad waterfall.The victim was identified asPol. Sgt. Maj. ViraphanKumklong, 39, a squadleader of Koh Samui MarinePolice Station.Police investigators arestudying the possibility themotive of killing may haveinvolved the victim’s rela-tionship with his teenagegirlfriend. The victim ap-peared to have been hit by asolid object causing seriousdamage on his head. He diedin sitting motion, face down.Koh Samui Police Station in-quiry officer Pol. Capt. SurinBuakong, said a police inves-tigation team was immedi-ately deployed to a rentedhouse in an area some 200meters from the Hin Lad wa-terfall after they were in-formed of the murder lastMay 4.He said blood was all overand foul smell was spread allover the room. A clump of

hair believed belonging tothe victim was also found onthe scene. The police also found abaton, believed used inkilling the police officer. Report said the victim hasbeen dead for eight hoursbefore hisbody wasfound.Koh Samuipolice col-lected allthe evi-dence onthe crimescene forfurther in-vestiga-tion. SombatThongrak,the houseowner,said the victim was a wid-ower staying alone in thehouse since the beginning ofJanuary this year. “Normally, he was not a talk-ative person and often lockshimself in the house,” saidSombat.She told police when

she came to visit the victimon the same day he wasfounds murdered, it was theteenage girlfriend who washesitant in opening the door.Authorities are investigatinga report the victim’steenager girlfriend was hav-

ing an affair with anotherguy and the victim discov-ered her secret about beingaddicted to illegal drugs andblamed her and her friend. Koh Samui police suspectthe murderer could be oneof her friends.

New city plan...From Page 1The report cited a poorlyplanned drainage system onthe island does little to helpthe situation and when rainwater sweep down themountains, flooding follows."We must deal with theflooding issue seriously,"Ramnate has said recentlyas he joined thousands ofairline and hotels workersand tour operators duringthe Samui Cleanup Day."People here have alwaystaken the flooding problemfor granted, but we've neverhad flash floods this serious,he said.The most recent flooding,described as the worst inyears, caused cancellationof hotel reservations andstranded tourists for days asferry services to Donsakand flights out of Samui airport were cancelled.A top official of BangkokAirways also advocated better land managementand better ways to copewhen disasters strike to getthe tourists’ confidence andlure them back to the island.“Like it or not, we're going

to have to deal with unseasonable weather amidglobal warming," saysBangkok Airways presidentDr Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth.He suggested Samui practice for the worst-case scenario, at least once ayear - for everything thatcould go wrong during anatural disaster."Practice is very importantfor everyone - the medicalteams, the foreign-speakingguides and the emergencyresponders," the airline executive said. "It helps ushandle an emergency situa-tion smoothly," he told themedia. Needless to say, anefficient disaster-manage-ment plan would also go along way toward regainingtourist confidence, headded. Days of relentlessrains during the last week ofMarch this year causedmassive flooding on the island, power outage,Tourists and residents werestranded both at the airportand pier. Tourism depend-ent businesses again suf-fered a major setback withthe cancellations of hotelreservations.

By CHERDCHAI TAWEEMUANG

Marine police murdered

IslandNewsSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

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THE GAZETTE’S PAGE 3 NEEDS YOU. Because we like to keep things fresh, we in-vite you to send us your cool photos. Email them to editor@thesamuigazette.com.

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Wooobar: Thailand’s newest hotspotKOH SAMUI has a newdestination hotspot, WOO-BAR® at the W Retreat KohSamui. The first W in Thai-land, looking out over theKoh Samui northern coast-line and surrounding islands,features colorful W cocktailslike Wowtinis and Moo-Hee-Toes, live spins each nightfrom the retreat’s residentDJ, and tantalizing tapas in astylish, casual lounge set-ting.Since its opening late lastyear, W Retreat Koh Samuihas become one of the mostpopular places to see and beseen at on Samui. The resortis a modern paradise of vi-brant foliage, unspoiledgolden sand, warm islandbreezes and excitingnightlife. Days at W Retreatare dedicated to individualmoments of relaxation anddetox that will inspire guestsfor a night of energy and cel-ebration.The focal point of the re-sort’s hip scene is the re-sort’s breathtaking open-airvenue perched on the cornerof a hillside with 270-degreeviews of the Gulf of Thai-land and the surroundinghills. With plush lounges andpatio furniture that doublesas art, WOOBAR® is an idealdaytime spot to chill outwith an espresso or a Wow-garita. For the nocturnal by nature,WOOBAR® is a whole newconcept of island nightlife

for W guests and islandelites alike. From his boothperched high from a com-manding point on the mez-zanine level, W’s resident DJtransforms the place fromday to night. Relaxing whilesipping whimsical W cock-tails, guests will surrendertheir worries and inhibitionsas they revel in the overallatmosphere of luxuriousseclusion and island indul-gence. The menu is perfect for dayor night. Cocktail menu in-cludes W’s signature Wow-tini in flavors ranging fromStrawberry Shortcake andCaramel to Thai lemongrassinfused Ta Krai and islandmango Golden Garden. Thesignature Moo-Hee-Toecomes infused with varia-tions and colorful cocktailline-up is enhanced by a lux-urious line of top-shelfliquors and other beverages.Each weekday evening,WOOBAR® hosts Moo-Hee-Toe Madness – a Koh Samui-style happy hour from 6 –8pm. Mix, mingle and meetnew friends while enjoyingpanoramic sunset views ofthe Gulf of Thailand. Theunique design of WOOBAR®also allows it to become theultimate destination to wowguests with W’s dynamicprogramming in the form ofunique W Happenings –lifestyle events reflectingW’s passion for music, de-sign, fashion and film.

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PhanganNewsSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

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Nic’s Restaurant & Bar:Nic’s Restaurant & Bar:

THERE is a restaurant inKoh Phangan that sits nearthe lake in Haad Rin wheretapas, the finest you canfind, abound.Called Nic’s Restaurant andBar, this proud tapas author-ity on an island best knownfor world famous Full Moonparties, stunning beachesand idyllic surroundings, hasbeen around for four yearsand is owned and managedby people well experiencedin the industry.Nic’s is a nice chic place tohang out and is owned byMike Panniza and his wifeHeike.Manager is Kristsada “theangel” Pankum, who alsotends the bar.

“Balu” entertains guests.It’s quite becoming verypopular not only on the is-land, based on consistentgood reviews garnered onTrip Advisor with the greatfood, excellent service andwarm friendly atmosphere.The restaurant is actually di-vided into three areas: bar,restaurant and lounge. One of the newest and mostunique places on the island,Nic’s offers a choice be-tween big tables which isideal for big groups or thecomfort of their bean bags,big cushions or having adrink at its modern designedbar. Their menu offers vari-ous dishes from Thai food toItalian pasta and fresh pizza

from the oven. Nothingbeats their tapas sets whichare very popular and placedtogether to make it easier forcustomers to choose from orat times some guests evenare free to create their ownmenu from Nic’s tapas list.They have home-made tor-tilla wraps (vegetarian, withtuna or chicken) and thenew offering - Spanish tapas. What is obvious is that thereis food for every taste atNic’s and you have thechoice.They make their ownbreads, pastries, etc. andhappy hour is from 6-8pmwhere beer is Bt50 and cock-tails Bt100.The fully stocked bar offers

anything from soft drinks,fruit shakes, beer, pitchersand colorful cocktails. Aftera day in the sun, headstraight from the beach toNic’s 'After Beach HappyHour Specials' between 6and 8 pm everyday. You will find Caipirinha,

Caipiroska and Mojitos areall half price.They also offer free WIRE-LESS-LAN connection forguests. Feel free to bring anotebook and ask the stafffor the password to this con-nection.

By PATRICK ROXAS

Finest tapas in town!

TAPA'S SET:

VEGETARIAN TAPASChampignos in white and garlic saucecountry potatoesfried egg plantserved with bread and aioli ( Spanish Garlic Dip)

MEAT-TAPASChicken Breast with peanut saucemeatballs in tomato saucecountry potatoesserved with bread and aioli (Spanish garlic dip)

SEAFOOD TAPASGarlic Shrimps with chilliShrimps in mayonaise-dill-sauce ( Skagenrora)Country potatoesServed with bread and aioli ( Spanish dip)

Mixed Meat And Seafood TapasChicken in tomato SauceFried squid ( Calamres)Garlic Shrimps with chilliServed with bread and Aioli ( Spanish |Garlic Dip)

THAI TAPAS

Vegetarian Spring Rolls3 chicken Sate & peanut sauceCreamy Coconut Penang Shrimp curryFried Vegetables in oyster sauceServed with steam rice

IslandNewsSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

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Fashion show to kick off regatta

Samui has long been an idealhoneymoon destination, butnew intimate-scale resortssuch as X2 Samui Villas byDesign are also making the is-land a more attractive venuefor weddings.X2 Samui Villas is part of theCentara Boutique Collectionof small but very high-classresort properties, featuringjust 27 villas, each with theirown private pool or outsidegarden area.Set in five acres of land at thesecluded beach of HuaThanon, on the southeastcoast of Samui island, the re-sort has a 100-meter-longbeach frontage with uninter-rupted ocean views, its ownpool, and a beachfront restau-rant serving Thai and interna-tional cuisines includingBBQs.A dedicated function room isable to accommodate up to 20persons for a wedding cere-mony and banquet, and thereis plenty of space in the gar-dens or on the beach for afully catered outdoor recep-tion.X2 Samui Villas has a wed-ding package valid from nowuntil December 2011 priced atBt75,000 net, inclusive of taxand service charges.The package includes co-ordi-nation of the priest, ministeror officiator, floral decorationof the venue with a white or-chid or Thai lotus theme,bridal bouquet, corsage forthe groom, a long-drum pro-cession, an elaborate weddingcake, a bottle of sparklingwine for toasting, a romanticcandlelit Thai set dinner forthe bride and groom, and ahis-and-hers pre-wedding re-laxing Spa Cenvaree massagefor one hour. Optional extrasare also available, includingphotography, make-up andhairdressing and wedding reg-istration. Food and beveragepackages include a one-hourcocktail reception open barhouse brands, hors d'oeuvreselection, heavy cocktail foodreception, buffet lunch, wed-ding dinners, buffet BBQ din-ner, and a Thai classical danceshow during dinner.e-mail to isreech chr.co.th orvisit our website at www.cen-tarahotelsresorts.com

THE “Shades of SummerFashion Show,” organized bySamui Lifestyle magazineand W Retreat Koh Samuiwith Zazen Boutique Resortand Spa and Beach Republicas sponsors, take centerstage in the evening of May28 to kick off the Koh SamuiRegatta 2011 activities.“Samui Lifestyle wants toprovide the island the op-portunity to showcase all thegenuine gems to be foundhere,” says editor in chiefNicole Valdes. “At the end of the day, not

only are we a publication butwe are a lifestyle brand andin using appropriate plat-forms, we plan to shed ahuge spotlight on the offer-ings of the island that reallyseem to appeal to those vis-iting or living on Koh Samui,’she added. “In our latest attempt indoing so, we have decided tocelebrate the beginning ofthe summer season withhighlighting the most tal-ented suppliers of fashion-able garments, stunningwomen and incredible ven-

ues. With an internationalcrowd, we want to give theisland a chance to register inthe minds of plenty,” shesaid.The special event will alsoserve as a competition forthe models, who will bestrutting their stuff for thechance to win: to be the pub-lication’s July/August issuecover girl; a personalized photo shootwhere, designs of the fea-tured looks from Shades ofSummer will be worn by themodel and receive a full

spread in the magazine, joining the likes of AmandaNorgaard (Vogue's "Modelto Watch") and most recently, Geri Hal-liwell (former Spice Girl,current designer for NEXT);two-night accommodationon a beachfront villa and adeluxe spa package at theultra-trendy W Koh SamuiRetreat with an estimatedvalue of Bt55,000; one-nightaccommodation, a compli-mentary meal, and blissfulspa package at Zazen Bou-tique Resort & Spa. This prize has an estimatedvalue of Bt20,000; and a two-night accommodation in the

penthouse suite, as well as aspa package at Koh Samuiocean club, Beach Republic.This prize has an estimatedvalue of Bt30,000.The fashion show will fea-ture the confirmed designsof B&B Genevieve, IslandGirl, and Apollo 8. The runtime for the event isseven in the evening to mid-night.

Samui an attractivewedding destination

PoliceSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

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Man wanted for shooting coprounded up in Koh Samui Samut Prakan resident nabbed for

drug dealing on Koh Samui

By CHERDCHAI TAWEEMUANG

Frenchman found dead

HEART ATTACK VICTIM? - Photo shows policemen check-ing the room of Patrick Rozam, a French national founddead in his room believed to have died of heart attack afterdrinking excessive amounts of alcohol.

A FIVE -year-old autisticchild, unable to resist theheat of the weather, jumpedinto the Pru Chaweng reser-voir and was hours laterfound dead. The drowningvictim was later identified asSarawut Kanancheang or

known as Nong Ton, whowas retrieved from PruChaweng reservoir about 4pm on May 1. The victim’s mother hadtears on her face while hold-ing the body His body had turned pale

with a striped shirt and ashort; police assumed thathe had been dead for fivehours. The scene wascrowded by residents whowatched the tragedy. Ironically, Pru Chawengreservoir was supposed tobenefit Koh Samui residentsby producing fresh water toa number of households inthat area, but it was now theplace that took away a five-year-old child from hermother, said one of residentswho witnessed the incident. Bussaba Meepien, 36,mother of the child told theBophut police with the tearson her face that Nong Tonhad been an autistic childsince he was born. Before

the tragedy took place, shebrought him to check hername on the financial aid toflood victim list near the PruChaweng reservoir. Nong Ton had complaint theheat and ran to the reservoirwhile his mother was notaware of hisson mightjump into thewater and killhimself. The search operation tookfive hours tofind NongTon’s body,which was toolate. Bophutpolice had notfound any

trace of being assaulted onthe body and believed thatNong Ton might be drownedin the reservoir, so they returned the body to hisfamily for conducting afuneral.

A POLICE Investigation team from Nakhon Si Thammaratprovince had recently brought along an arrest warrant andsought Bophut police’s cooperation to arrest a suspect whoallegedly shot and wounded a police officer during the lastcrackdown on illegal drug in Nakhon Si Thammarat. OnApril 29, Nakhon Si Thammarat investigation team, led byPol. Capt. Praphas Srisungkajorn visited Bophut Police Sta-tion with an arrest warrant and asked for the cooperationof their fellow cops in Samui to arrest Somchok Kaewkong,26, who allegedly gunned an officer during the operationin Nakhon Si Thammarat and hid himself on Koh Samui.The suspect Somchok was filed a formal charge with at-tempting to kill and balking officers of the operation afterhe was rounded up at the house with no address number inBophut. The arrest operation was related to the crackdownon illegal drugs last April 7 in Nakhon Si Thammarat whena Pakpanang police investigation team conducted a stingoperation to arrest drug dealer in Nakhon Si Thammarat’sPakpanang district. During the operation, Somchok al-legedly shot and injured Pol. Sr. Sgt. Maj. Wirat Raksa whowas hit in his hand and stomach, before he escaped. Dur-ing a follow up investigation, Pakpanang police found thatSomchok, the suspect, had gone to Koh Samui to avoid ar-rest. However, Somchok admitted that he was the sameperson as stated in the arrest warrant, but he denied thecharge of using a pistol to shoot the police officer. Som-chok was brought back to Nakhon Si Thammarat, pendinga trial.

Heart-broken and drunk

Police believe excessive drinking and extreme hot weather caused death

A SIXTY FOUR-year-oldFrench who has just report-edly broken up with his wifeand has been consuming ex-cessive amounts of alcoholwas found dead recently inhis room in Bophut. Policesuspect he died of heart at-tack caused by the extremeheat.after his wife and he werebroken up while police offi-cer assumed excessive liquorconsumption and the ex-treme hot weather had him aheart attack.The incident was notifiedabout 12:10 am on April 28when Pol Capt Phuriwat

Rodkerd, an inquiry officerof Bophut Police Station, re-ceived a call from owner ofBungalow Relax, indicating adead person at the place. Bophut police went to theBungalow Relax in Maenamand found Patrick Rozam,64-year-old French, lyingface up with turned –to-pur-ple skin. For preliminary investiga-tion, the body did not showany trace of being assaultedand the liquor smell spreadall over the room. Inquiring the neighbors, Bo-phut police knew that Rozamhad stayed on Koh Samui for

years and his wife and hehad just been broken up. Hehad kept drinking exces-sively. Before his dead be-came noticed the neighborfound him was very drunkby consuming excessiveliquor and take him to hisroom. However, the neigh-bors returned to visit himlater, but he had alreadydead. On the other hand, Po-lice assumed that the exces-sive liquor consumption andthe extreme hot weather hadhim a heart attack, but thebody needed to be broughtto Koh Samui Hospital forautopsy.

A FORTY-SEVEN-year-oldresident in Samutprakanprovince had recently beenarrested on Koh Samui by asting operation, the officersfound 13 packages of crystalmethamphetamine, orknown as ‘Ice’. This arrestwas a result of the coopera-tion among related govern-ment units: NarcoticsSuppressions, Koh Samuidistrict office and BophutPolice Station. The suspectwas identified as JinglekSae-Ngow, 47, who was fromSamut Prakan province andwas allegedly involved in the

illegal drug business.Deputy Superintendent ofNarcotics Suppressions Pol.Lt. Col. Watcharin Pansuwansaid he had received a tip-offregarding the suspect’s sus-picious behavior, potentiallyinvolved with illegal drugbusiness and became its net-work on Koh Samui. The sting operation was setup to lure the suspect intothe arrest operation. The of-ficers made an appointmentwith the suspect for deliveryat the house with no addressnumber in Bophut and thearrest operation was kicked

off at once when the suspecthanded out a package of‘Ice’. The officers had confiscatedone package of ‘Ice’ and alsofound other 12 packages inhis pocket; it totally weighed9.33 grams. The suspect hadadmitted guilty and con-fessed that he brought the il-legal drug from his friendand attempted to distributeit on Koh Samui. Bophutpolce filed the suspect a for-mal charge with illegal drugpossession and distributionbefore sent him to the trial.

By CHERDCHAI TAWEEMUANG

By CHERDCHAI TAWEEMUANG

5-year-old autistic childdrowns in Pru Chaweng By CHERDCHAI TAWEEMUANG

Phangan NewsSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

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KOH PHANGAN- One of the must places to visit thenext time you go to scenic Koh Phangan is the beautifulMalibu Beach.This quaint little area of coastline gives an enormousfeeling of calmness, when you cross the small bridgeonto this crystal white sands of this lovely little bay. Malibu is situated just before you enter the fishing vil-lage of Chaloklum, turn left just before the village pro-ceeding down the dusty track which leads to this smallstretch of paradise. In fact it’s the sand that is the real selling point, its purefine white particles glow in the afternoon sun as youwalked out into this stunning beach and lay down underone of the gorgeous little pine trees that grow out of thissand. Bring a towel or roll out a mat and settle down for an af-ternoon of complete tranquility, while looking out at thestreams of fishing boats heading out in the search forthe ultimate haul of squids that the locals fish for on adaily basis.Don’t forget to check out the colorful beautifullypainted long tail boats just bobbing around in this calmwarm water, and if you’re lucky you may get to chat toone of the friendly local fishermen as he prepares hisnets for his next adventure out into the seas. Malibu beach is such an appealing place to spend a day,the sheer lack of tourist and sun worshippers, you couldeasily find yourself having the whole beach on a goodday, not bad in an ever developing world that we live inthese days.And that is what’s so exciting about Phangan - that littlecorners of tranquility are in abundance on this peacefullittle island whether you’re after pristine beaches, stun-ning jungles and woodlands or just the charm of the

Stunning!Stunning!

friendly locals.There is that one and onlybeach restaurant overlooking the bay, selling freshly squeezedfruit juices, coconuts tosip from, icy cold beerand fine cocktails or youcan try some of the localtasty dishes while taking

in this marvelous place on the west coast of theisland, fed and watered, atherapeutic massage.Yes right there on thebeach you will be pampered by local experienced masseurs, a great way to completeyour day here.

As the sun slowly set behind the horizon for another day for sure youwill vow to return verysoon to this magnificentplace.Malibu beach is a champagne day out, come and see for yourself.

By SAMBO (contributor)

MMalibualibu BBeacheach

“In fact it’s the sandthat is the real sellingpoint, its pure finewhite particles glow inthe afternoon sun asyou walk out into thisstunning beach.”

NationSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

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BANGKOK - Thailand'sMinistry of Foreign Affairssays the country is preparedto fight its case to resolvethe ongoing border disputein the World Court after itsneighbor Cambodia ap-pealed to the court to clarifyits 1962 ruling about the an-cient Preah Vihear temple.

Thai foreign ministryspokesman Thani Thong-pakdi made his remarks fol-lowing the latest move ofthe Cambodian governmentin bringing the Thai-Cam-bodian border conflict tothe World Court after theclashes continued for eightdays.

The move came after theCambodian government is-sued a statement saying ithad requested "interpreta-tion of the Court's judg-ment... concerning thetemple of Preah Vihear"prompted by "Thailand's re-peated armed aggression toexert its claims to Cambo-dian territory."

A Cambodian governmentspokesman was quoted byAgence France Presse newsagency saying "We espe-cially want clarificationabout the vicinity aroundthe temple. Thailand is using unilateralmaps to claim our territory."

Thai spokesman Thani,however, said the accusationis simply Cambodia's pointof view, and no more, andthat the neighbor's movewas not unexpected byThailand.

Mr Thani said Cambodiantroops’ intrusion beginningrecently is believed to pavethe way for Cambodia tobring the issue to the Inter-national Court of Justice.

"The Thai foreign ministryis well prepared. Legal advi-sors have been hired to han-dle the case, but wecontinue to believe that theborder dispute should besolved at the bilateral level,"the Thai spokesman said.

"What Cambodia is doingmeans it overlooks the im-portance of regional cooper-ation and the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations(ASEAN)," Mr Thani said.

Mr Thani said the ministryis now awaiting the textCambodia's complaint andwill study it thoroughly. It isbelieved that the court willforward the document toThailand soon.

"However it may take a yearor two, or more, for thecourt's consideration. Westill must see whether the

court will accept the case ornot," he saidThe International Court ofJustice ruled in 1962 thatPreah Vihear temple be-longed to Cambodia, al-though its primary entrancelies in Thailand.

The historic structure haslong been a point of con-tention between the twoAsian neighbors as the exactboundary through the sur-rounding grounds remainsin dispute, with occasionalmilitary skirmishes havingclaimed a number of lives.

The latest clashes eruptedlast April 22 near Ta Kwaitemple in Surin’s PhanomDong Rak district and thefighting spread to nearby SiSa Ket province, forcing theevacuation of tens of thou-sands of local residents fortheir safety.

The Thai army reportedCambodian troops firstfired on Thai soldiers andthat Thailand was obliged toretaliate to protect thecountry's sovereignty.

(MCOT online news

PM Abhisit inspects construction of two mass transit rail system projectsBANGKOK - - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday inspected progress onconstruction works of two mass transit railsystems on the outskirts of Bangkok, aimedat improving urban communication and easing traffic congestion, amid jeers by anti-government protesters. Accompanied by Finance Minister KornChatikavanij and senior officials includingSupot Saplom, permanent secretary forTransport, Mr Abhisit first inspected con-struction of the 49-kilometre purple routewhich runs from Bang Yai in Nonthaburiprovince, passing through Bang Sue toRatchaburana in the city's Thonburi side. .A group of anti-government protesters of theUnited Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) gathered in front of themaintenance centre of the rail system andmocked Mr Abhisit after his motorcade arrived.Another group of UDD protesters were alsopresent when Mr Abhisit arrived later to inspect progress on construction work of the 15.2-kilometre red route which runs fromBang Sue to Taling Chan in Thonburi.An unidentified UDD member was

apprehended by police who were guardingthe area after he ran towards the prime min-ister. Permanent Secretary for TransportSupot later said construction of the purpleroute has been delayed from the actual planby one percent due to lack of workforce, buthe expected the service of this rail systemcould launch as scheduled on January 1,2014. Construction work of the red route isnow about 66 per cent complete, about 14per cent delayed from its original plan, dueto illegal occupation by squatters, while thestate-run State Railway of Thailand which isthe owner of this project and the Transport. Ministry are jointly urging illegal dwellers tovacate the area.(MCOT online news).

More incentives to be given to workers -PM BANGKOK - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, in a LaborDay speech, said his government has helped workers andtheir families in various aspects including raising wages forskilled workers and allowing unregistered workers to enterthe government-sponsored Social Security Fund starting May1 this year. In his weekly TV and radio address, held for thelast time before he dissolves the House of Representativesearly this month and call for a general election expected to beheld in June, Abhisit said his government which has ruled thecountry over two years had assisted workers’ families by urg-ing business enterprises to set up child care centers so moth-ers could tend to their children while working.Several labor laws have been passed, including one, which al-lowed unregistered workers to be able to enter the Social Se-curity Fund and enjoy better benefits, he said.On the upcoming election, Abhisit said he would discuss withmembers of the Election Commission on ways to ensure thatthe election would be held in a transparent manner and hewould ask other parties in his coalition government to ceaseinstalling posters of their election platform for the time beingas it would display “equality to every party contesting in theupcoming election.” Abhisit said he had also discussed withevery minister that “only urgent matters” should be discussedduring the cabinet weekly meeting and that no major projectswould be conferred without prior approval by related agen-cies before the House dissolution. “However, works (by thisgovernment) would be conducted with utmost efficiencywithout leaving any vacuum,” Abhisit stressed. Askedwhether he has mapped out any measures to solve country’sproblems and how he would reform the nation if he has achance to become a prime minister again after the election,Abhisit said more problems are expected due to global uncer-tainty. “Measures to resolve problems have been laid out on along-term basis. We must not lose our concentration no mat-ter how severe the crux is,” the prime minister said.He said he had said repeatedly in the past that he would “notstay long in politics, would switch to another field and teach-ing is my most favorite thing to do.” “However, everything de-pends on the outcome of the election,” he added.(MCOT online news)

Imported food from Japanradiation free -FDA

Thailand ready to fight in World Court - Foreign Ministry

BANGKOK –More than three hundred samples offood and ingredients imported from Japan are free ofradioactive contamination as they have passed Thai-land's Food and Drug Organisation (FDA) lab tests, theagency chief said Tuesday.FDA Secretary-General Dr Pipat Yingseri said hisagency has closely and strictly monitored importedfresh foods and produce from Japan which has beenfacing an ongoing nuclear crisis in the aftermath of theMarch 11 earthquake and tsunami.Dr Pipat said the details of the source of origin andcertificate of analysis of possible radiation contamina-tion guaranteed by a state or certified laboratory areneeded for food which is imported from any of 12 af-fected Japanese provinces. For produce exported fromother provinces, the importers must show documentsshowing the origin of products certified by state agen-cies, Dr Pipat said. Certificate from the JapaneseChamber of Commerce is also allowed in order to fa-cilitate the importing process. The FDA chief said, asof May 2, 320 samples - 235 of seafood, 23 of vegeta-bles, 17 fruits and 45 other ingredients passed the FDAlab test for radioactive contamination. The resultsshowed that radiation contamination in all importedproducts is in normal level.(MCOT online news).

SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

9BusinessBANGKOK –Bolstered by satisfactoryglobal economic growth and an ex-pected easing of the economic woes inthe United States and the public debtmalaise in Europe, the University ofThai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC)Economic and Business ForecastingCenter raised its economic growth. esti-mate this year to 4-4.5 per cent from the4.2 per cent expected earlier.Centre Director Dr Thanawat Polwichaisaid the UTCC's upward revision of theeconomic growth projection was also at-tributed to the expected circulation ofBt40-50 billion in both direct and indi-rect economic activities in the run-up tothe general election, which could stimu-late economic expansion.However, there remain factors affectingeconomic growth including the risinginflation rate, baht volatility, and fuelprice hike. He said a continued rising in-flation rate would press the Bank ofThailand (BoT) to further raise the pol-icy interest rate to rein in inflation.With growing inflation, entrepreneurswill be affected because they may face

higher production costs while being un-able to raise product prices due to stiffcompetition and the official request forcooperation to keep the prices of con-sumer goods unchanged.Dr Thanawat said the country's exportscontinued growing satisfactorily sincethe baht had not greatly strengthened re-cently.Still, it is expected Thailand's baht cur-rency will appreciate further, perhaps toa range of 29-29.5 to the dollar, in thesecond half of this year.Global oil prices are projected to stayhigh at a range of US $ 105-110 per barreldue to the political upheaval in the Mid-dle East and the world economic expan-sion."Although prices of products and con-sumer goods are set to rise, consumerconfidence will not decline because thegovernment continues capping diesel oilprices and entrepreneurs are unable toraise product prices. The rising cost ofliving is considered a negative factor, butthe increase is still not substantial, "hesaid. (MCOT online news).

UTCC raises economic growth outlook projection

BANGKOK – Cabinet's approval of a Bt25 billionloan programme for first-time homebuyers with spe-cial repayment terms and conditions will help stimu-late Thailand's property market and the mortgageloan business in the rest of this year, according toKasikorn Research Center (KRC). Under the loanprogramme, the Government Housing Bank will offerfirst-time homebuyers a mortgage at zero interest forthe first two years if it is less than three million baht,with a full term of 30 years. Homebuyers with lessthan one million baht annual income can borrow upto one million baht. Successful applicants are also eli-gible for a waiver on a mortgage fee at 1 per cent ofthe loan amount and an ownership transfer fee at 2per cent of the appraisal price. The Bt25 billionamount is equivalent to 8 per cent of the new mort-gage loans extended each year. According to a reportby the Land Department and the Real Estate Informa-tion Center, property ownership transfers in Bangkokand its environs in the first two months of this yeartotaled 18,907 units, down 21 per cent from the sameperiod last year. The decline in property market activ-ities stemmed partly from the lack of property stimu-lus measures taken earlier. Simultaneously,commercial banks had begun a gradual increase inlending rates with four major banks offering a mini-mum lending rate at 6.75 per cent. An increase inlending rates by every 1 per cent will have the ap-proved loan amount reduced by 7-8 per cent. Thatmeans the purchasing power of homebuyers will de-crease accordingly. With the implementation of theloan program, KRC said, the property market is ex-pected to be active again in the remainder of the year.At present, housing units which are completely builtand under construction are available in a large num-ber, so it is a good opportunity for property develop-ers to accelerate the marketing and sale of housingunits left in their stock. (MCOT online news).

Bank of Thailand maintains GDP growth forecast at 4.1%

Loans for first-time home buyersto help stimulate property market

Bt40 million to be allocated to OneProvince One Agro-Industrial Product.BANGKOK –Thailand's Ministry of In-dustry is to allocate a budget of Bt40million (US $ 1.3 million) to 150 small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)to develop their businesses under thegovernment's policy of One ProvinceOne Agro-Industrial Product. (OPOAI)in 75 provinces.Each entrepreneur must have registeredcapital of no more than Bt200 million,while the ministry is to increase their in-vestment value by at at least Bt150 mil-lion (US $ 3 million). Puttipong Punnakan, assistant minister

on Tuesday signed a memorandum ofunderstanding on the project andpresided at the opening ceremony of aproject to increase regional capacity tocompete in agricultural processing.The ministry will push the OPOAI proj-ect so that each province has its ownlabel of processed agricultural goods.The project was successful in 2007-2008,when 400 entrepreneurs participatedand which helped them earn more in-come and reduce production costs, withan economic value of over Bt1.3 billion.(MCOT online news).

Now at new location just acrossFarmers Restaurant

BANGKOK - The Bank of Thailand (BoT) proj-ects that Thai economic growth in 2011 will growat 4.1 percent and slightly more at 4.2 percent nextyear.This, according to BoT governor Paiboon Kittis-rikangwan, who added that the BoT projected theheadline inflation rate will rise 3.9 percent fromearlier projections at 3.4 percent as oil and com-modity prices remain high.Meanwhile, the core inflation rate was projectedto drop from 2.5 per cent to 2.3 per cent due to theextension of government measures to help low-in-

come earners. However, in the fourth quarter, thecore inflation rate may rise over three percent inaccordance with the current economic growth.The BoT saw the policy interest rate at 2.75 per-cent as being too low and that it needed to be re-vised to rise to the normal level in balance withthe economy.Paiboon said the new elections will delay the 2012budget management decisions for another fourmonths and the investment budget of state enter-prises will be affected and it has to wait for thenew government.

He said the recent flooding in the South is likelyto have an impact on GDP of 0.1 per cent but thatBt7 billion in compensation from the governmentwill help alleviate the impact.Risk factors for Thailand's economic growth arethe debt crisis in Europe, high oil prices, domesticpolitics after the new election, capital movementsand impact from the disaster in Japan.Meanwhile, the current Thai-Cambodian clasheshave slightly affected trade but if it is prolongs, itwill have an impact on investor confidence andtourism. (MCOT online news)

OpinionSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

10

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LIGHTHOUSE cartoons

Things happen in 3s

EditorialThe high season that never was

Turn to page 11

MY MOTHER has always said that things happen in threes and as everyone alwaysknows mum knows best and the mainstay of that was when famous people happened to die.Well this week saw the demise of three oh so famous people. I was really sad to hear that SirHenry Cooper passed away. I would be startled to hear that you don’t know who Sir Henrywas. Our ‘Enry was the best British boxer of the past century, that’s what I think anyway, hedidn’t win a world championship but did win an unrivaled three Lonsdale belts in Britainand at one time held the British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight belts. His mostfamous bouts were one of two match ups he had against a certain Cassius Clay who ofcourse later on became the best boxer ever to have graced the inside of a boxing, ring theone and only Muhammad Ali. They had two fights, one in Arsenal’s Highbury footballground, which my father happened to go and watch and I still have the ticket to prove it andone at Wembley stadium and with the latter being where our ‘Enrys famous left hook affec-tionately known as Henrys hammer put Clay on his backside. Unfortunately for Cooper,Clays armpit caught in the ropes going down. Cassius promptly got up and regained hiscomposure to beat Henry not to the floor but danced around him cutting him, which eventu-ally won him both of his fights. On hearing of Henry Cooper’s death Ali told reporters hewill miss his combatant and friend like no other fighter he faced before. After Henry’s fight-ing days were over he became a British national treasure and was on TV as a pundit andcelebrity for many years. Goodbye Sir Henry gone but not forgotten. The second personwho passed this week was famous in the sporting world also but a much more gentile sportbecause he was the famous snooker commentator ‘Whispering’ Ted Lowe. He went on to be-come the "voice of snooker" and led the commentary in many tournaments. He also com-mentated in what is generally regarded as snooker's greatest final, that between Steve Davisand Dennis Taylor in the 1985 World Championship snooker final. I remember staying uppast midnight watching that one wow whee I used to know how to really live it up. Lowe ut-tered the occasional on-air gaffe He once told viewers that Fred Davis, struggling to rest oneleg on the edge of the table in order to reach a long shot, "is getting on a bit and is havingtrouble getting his leg over". I remember his most famous quote was when television wasstill without color, yes that right kids the old goggle box used to be only available in blackand white you tell the youth of today that and they would never believe you, anyhow I di-gress, Whispering Ted as he was affectionately known said the famous line when color TVwas just on the increase but some if not most still only had black and white TVs. Ted’s mostfamous line being, "And for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink isnext to the green." Classic. Goodbye Ted gone but not forgotten.Turn to page 11

Well, the much anticipated “high season” seems to definitely have passed, judging by the barren streets. Store and shops are reporting, little, if any, sales. All year long in 2010, starting from spring , optimists, especially landlords, were singing the refrain of “just waitfor the high season!” as their tenants were continuing topay rents based on the peak periods of 2006-2009, thetime of Koh Samui’s brief reign of tourism stardom. Guess what. The “high season” didn’t happen. If it did, it was about one week long, the week after Christmas. Which brings us back to the idea of leasing and renting costs when you are considering starting abusiness. The word is -be careful! The tourist market in Koh Samui is declining, not goingup. For a few years, when the Euro was very high againstthe Baht, tourism was booming. The number of expats moving in to Koh Samui, to eitherretire or start a small business to maybe make a small in-come, was also growing exponentially. As a result, localswho owned land or commercial building, especially inpeak beach areas like Chaweng, Fisherman’s Village, andLamai, began reaping a bonanza. The rents that they could extract were virtually limitless.The hubris accompanied this new, easily acquired wealth,just continued to grow. The next development invented was the idea of “keymoney”, whereby prospective lessee’s could basically pre-pay up to a year or three years rent, and then maybe pay asmall monthly rent. On the surface, one would ask, why would anyone pre-payrent on a business where monthly expenses were to bepaid for by monthly sales. What idiot would do that? Pay out money, before they re-ceived it. Were they offered giant discounts for pre-payingtheir rents? To the contrary. As soon as the first Farang agreed to paythis up-front rent, word got around to the other landlords.These farangs are willing to pre-pay their rent! It soon be-came a requirement of landlords. You want my hot prop-erty, pre-pay me. Market forces of high demand, lowsupply prevailed.Exit to 2011-May. The tourist market in Koh Samui seemsto be mortally wounded, if not fatally. The combinedforces of the recent worldwide economic recession , thedive of the Euro’s (and most other currencies) value, Thaipolitical unrest, fifty year floods on Samui, poor tourismprotection policies, monopolistic practices by transportcompanies, have all combined to make Koh Samui atourist wasteland. But Koh Samui is still an attractive place to live, in spite

Opinion 11SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

Then the third slightly famous person to die this week was acertain Osama Bin Laden. Yes that bearded weirdo murderingbastard was finally hunted down and killed in his house inPakistan while hiding behind his youngest wife. Ten yearsafter his most infamous victory of directing two passenger planes into the twin towers in New York City andkilling over 6,000 innocent people the Yanks finally got theirman. Bloody good riddance I say. As I have said before. I amnot a deeply religious or political man but good job well donein getting to and disposing of one of the nastiest buggers towalk this earth. But with his death you know that more con-spiracy theories will come. Why didn’t they parade his body toprove it was him and what was he doing in Pakistan anyway.So many question that you know will never be answered. Is hedead or is he on an island with Elvis, Lord Lucan and MichaelJackson who knows. Funnily enough the nickname that the USsecret service gave to Osama Bin Laden was Elvis because ofso many sightings of the millionaire Al Qaeda leader. Now justcoming to light was the way he was hunted down in his million dollar house in a suburb of Pakistan and shot severaltimes by US Navy Seals. After they checked his DNA and wassure that it was him they promptly shoved his body off a USNavy boat into Davy Jones’ Locker. To my mind quite a civilized way to treat his body seeing as how many innocent people he killed, some would say they should have stuffed thebody and stuck it on top of the Empire State Building as awarning to other would be terrorists. This would be a greatdeterrent. So good bye Henry, good bye Ted and good rid-dance Osama. So things do happen in threes, this morning Iwoke up and stubbed my toe, stepped on a plug then cut my-self shaving. Ho hum!

Rambles On. . . From Page 10Over a bOttle Of beer

Patrick Roxas

of it all. Generally great weather, beautiful beaches, greatocean views. So if, in spite of all the negatives listed above,you still want to take your nest egg and try to make a living inKoh Samui, beware. The immigration policies are not friendlyto ex-pats, even ones with money to invest. The taxes aremany and vague. Be ready to pay. The landlords are still frozenin time, thinking former prosperity is just around the corner.The only way to combat their unionism on the issue of “key money” is to just refuse to pay it. If all the foreigners refuse to lease places that ask for key money, and don’t suc-cumb to it, they will soon realize that if they want to leasetheir property, they will have to do away with that require-ment. Maybe you won’t be able to get a lease right away, or exactly where you want it, but there are other places to invest.

The high season that . . . From Page 10

Unfair labor practicesREAD a very interesting article at The Nation very recently about alleged unfairlabor practices at one of the well known fastfood chains in Thailand and remindedme of an expat worker’s recent experience here on the island of Koh Samui. A com-pany contacted him through Facebook, email and finally a phone call asking him tocome to Thailand again from his country, nearly eight months after leaving thatcompany very disappointed. He was told things will be better this time - the sameemployment privilege of free house and the use of a motorbike was dangled. Turnedout he had to stay in the office and was issued a dilapidated motorbike. He was toldto start initially with 20k baht salary but an increase was promised in a few months.The guy decided to give it another try wanting to be in Samui again and looking for-ward to meeting old friends and enjoying once again the tropical climate and thewarm and friendly albeit diverse people of Koh Samui. Upon arrival; he was dis-mayed as he was expecting only two different jobs to do like before, but was givenfour separate responsibilities with no added salary or even allowance just twoweeks after starting his work. Before the third month ended, he submitted his resig-nation, finding the salary not enough to make both ends meet as the company doesnot provide allowance for field assignments and coverage expenses and he has todraw from his salary to be able to do the four jobs given to him. The owner of thecompany persuaded him to stay and said if he stays he will not be asked to pay forhis plane ticket, the company will shoulder expenses for securing visa and workpermit and even reimburse transportation expenses from Bangkok to Samui andvice versa. His salary was also increased to 25k baht plus 1500 baht gasoline al-lowance plus another increase promised after the coming high season. A better deal,he thought and reconsidered his plan and went back to work. The dilapidated mo-torbike issued to him finally broke down for good but company won’t buy a new oneand the poor guy, not wanting the lack of company vehicle to use prevent him fromaccomplishing his work, decided to rent a motorbike monthly, paying it from hisown salary. Then a co-employee, like many former employees of the company inthe last five years, decided to leave in November last year without even completinga year at the company and in her absence, management asked this guy again to takeover her responsibilities as well without offering a salary or added allowance. Thework involved going after prospective clients, which of course, entails transporta-tion and communication costs. Unfortunately, it has to come from his own pocketagain.The crazy guy loves so much doing his kind of job despite its demands and difficul-ties and the seemingly unending addition of more responsibilities to him, that hekept on working. The office secretary, a new staff, followed the resignation of thesales a month later and for the next three months after that, those responsibilitiesthat include answering phone calls, replying to emails and correspondences and at-tending to walk in advertisers, has to be absorbed by this guy. As expected, manage-ment found it unnecessary to add even a little incentive to this person they havebeen passing on all these different responsibilities. Eight months into his secondemployment, the guy reminded his boss about the promised increase knowing thecompany has saved quite a lot on those resigned or vacant positions but was told itwas still a difficult time for business and cannot afford an increase. It was this timethe guy finally realized he was not helping a business that needs help to recover butallowing himself to be exploited again and decided enough is enough, With an im-portant reunion coming up in his country that he must attend, he planned his triphome, then submitted his resignation that will take effect more than a month after.As expected, the owner tried to talk to him again and persuaded him to stay. Whenhe insisted he really wanted to go and would just help somebody they will hire totake his place, the owner’s tune changed and was told he must pay back companyexpenses. Because of this, his salary for the last month was not paid. Turn to page 17

ClassifiedSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

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Atkinson 35 sailing yacht

On the IslandSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

14

Powerful binoculars or'binos' are fine, except thehuman hand is not usuallyable to hold them steadyenough, and a tripod is required. A small travellingtelescope, is often able to bemounted on a simple cameratripod, thus avoiding the necessity of carrying a heav-ier purpose built modelaround with you!The brighter and fuller thatthe moon becomes, leadingup to full moon, with thecommensurate Full Moonparties on Koh Phangan, the less detail can be ob-served. When waxing orwaning, the smaller the size, the more detail you can see. Jupiter and Saturn areknown as the gas planets, asmost of what you can seethrough a telescope, are notsolid material at all, but amass of gas, often at incredi-ble temperatures. This in-cludes the famous Cassini rings around Saturn,which provides perhaps oneof the most spectacularsights in the heavens, yet not visible to the naked eye. Distances in space aremind boggling The vastmass of stars and galaxies,are far beyond our own solar system, and distancesare measured in light yearsi.e the distance travelled atthe speed of light over a period of one year. When it is calculated that somestars, which may well havedied millions of years ago,yet can still be seen with thenaked eye or observed witha telescope, the subject becomes even more fascinating.I will not delve into the possibility of extra-terres-trial life on this page, butnew research on the subjectis being thrown up almostevery day. It seems that theonly real chance of life as we know it, might be possible many, many light

years away, and far beyondour own solar system.Far nearer to home, is theever present threat of asteroids, or fragments oflarger bodies, which havebroken off and are hurtlingthough space. Usually theypass nowhere near the earth, or even pass throughour solar system. However,on rare occasions, an asteroid comes far too close to the earth for comfort. These 'near earthobjects' are viewed andtracked meticulously, in case of a collision, whichcould be catastrophic or terminal, for life on earth.Just after 11 pm GMT on November 8th this year, agiant asteroid named UY55, weighing in at some 55 million tons, will passwithin the danger zone fromearth, at an estimated201,700 miles away ( the moon is a mere 238,000mile away on average!). Ifthis asteroid were to alter its anticipated course andcollide with earth, it wouldimpact with the force of65,000 atomic bombs, producing a crater 6 milesacross and nearly 1 km deep.This asteroid orbits the sunevery 14 months, and it iscalculated that there is nochance of it hitting the earthfor at least the next 100years or more. Anothergiant is due to come close in2028, followed by another in2036. It is not until ourgrandchildren or greatgrandchildren are growingolder, in 2182, that there is aserious chance of impact.So, form a keen stargazingGroup on Samui as soon aspossible, and even watchthis rogue asteroid from 11pm GMT on November 8thuntil 7 am GMT on 9th No-vember. The heavens are vital to ourexistence. Let's learn a littleabout them - it's exciting!

By DR CHRIS HERTZOG (contributor)

ISS team building activity heldLAND AHOY! Shiver me Timber! were the cries as the ISS senior school departedon their inaugural water-themed team building activity. The first activity of the day required the student to dress in ridiculous, garishclothes and run in a relay into the sea. Obviously there is only one place to look forsuch fashion disasters. So with Mr. Cook’s wardrobe raided it was Newton housewho took the first round of points. The second activity involved running into the sea wearing wellington boots and fill-ing them with water. Which ever team filled the bins the fastest was deemed to bethe winner. It was Einstein who took the points this time, although with suspicious-ly warm water. A steward’s inquiry was later carried out on the insistence of our

two, very capable yet strict referees, Ms. Ladd, and year 7 student George.After break the student’s wits were pitted against the power and guile of the ISSstaff in a raft building race. Captain Scott, and Seaman Shore were chosen to sailHMS Invincible around the treacherous course, avoiding shipwrecks, mermaids andvarious other pirate themed obstacles. Having started last, and failing to gain any ground all the way around, HMSInvincible limped home in last place. The race was won by Darwin on the BeagleExplorer, after crossing the line just in front of the Einstein team. All students (and staff) had a great day, no one left marooned on Maenam Beachand all escaped walking the plank (detention), so hopefully this will now be anannual event, and hopefully the staff team can avenge their miserable defeat.

Astronomy on SamuiWITH MUCH longer nights on Samui than experienced in Europe during the sum-mer months, the island is superbly situated for stargazing all the year round. Lightpollution is one enemy, usually in built-up areas, which need not apply on Samui.The other is ignorance about the actual cost of starting off in this fascinating hobby.

I myself embarked out in this field, less than a year ago, but during that time, I haveexperienced the most massive learning curve. Thinking that trying to start upwould be exorbitantly expensive, I was incredibly surprised to find out that a reasonable telescope, or pair of binoculars suitable for viewing the heavens, mightcost as little as 5,000 baht or even less!

In Bangkok, where there is an excellent shop supplying all kinds of astronomicalgear, and they continue their after-sales service, by arranging regular stargazingevents, just outside the capital, in order to avoid light pollution from the city. InSamui, the problem hardly exists, except perhaps in Chaweng. The rewards are incredible.! You do not need to be an expert, in order to achieve instant enjoyment. Even asmall telescope can open up new fields, and you can wonder at the vast number ofcraters on the moon, or if moving to the planets, imagine seeing the rings of Saturnfor the first time, or Jupiter with its 4 Galileo moons; Io, Europa, Callisto andGanymede. Mars and Venus are joining in at the end of May, to provide a spectacu-lar view the best for years.

15SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

“The Ultimate Dreamed Destination”

Island News

ANTHONY HAYES aka “T-Bone” is known as a poolsnooker ace on the islandbut recently he played a dif-ferent role – a life saver to adrowning tourist!At around 10 am that day T-Bone and his friendSHEENY headed toChaweng Noi Beach for anearly morning swim. Whenthey were quite close to theTradewinds Resort, they noticed a man some 45 me-ters out in the sea shoutingat them.Initially, they didn't realizethis person was attemptingto get their attention andhad a scan around the beachto see who he indeed wastrying to communicate with.Upon realizing the beachwas completely empty T-Bone, with no concernsfor his own safety, quicklykicked off his lucky snookerflip plops and made his wayinto the water. On getting closer to thetroubled swimmer, T-Bonecould see that he was in

great peril and on severaloccasions was going beneaththe surface. As he got to within touchingdistance, the tourist hadstarted to panic quite badlyand was thrashing about. Reassuring him, T-Bone tookhold of him and told him tostop flapping about andrelax while he performed hisheroics. The man duly complied andthe rescue began in earnest.After getting the unknowntourist back to within stand-ing depth in the water,SHEENY, who had nowcome to realize that the guyin the water was not messingabout as he had originallythought, waded in andhelped with the latter part ofthe rescue. Speaking to T-Bone after the event he said“After reaching the poorbloke I was really strugglingto get him to shore. At one point after severalminutes I thought I was in ariptide as all my effortsseemed to be getting me no

closer to the beach. I was so tired it was a closecall that I kept hold of him, afew more minutes and Iwould have to release himfor my own safety.' Fortunately, it never came tothat and after thanking ourhero profusely, the unknowntourist and the two localswent their separate ways.Well done to T Bone, indeedshowing Koh Samui a differ-ent kind of heroic act otherthan at the pool table.

By JOHN MARTUCCI (contributor)

From game saver to life saver

Bangkok Airways offers special promotionBangkok Airways will be joining “The Ultimate Dreamed Destination” travelfair during 12 – 22 May 2011, at Siam Paragon, offering super-special deals toour honor customers. Bangkok Airways’ tailor-made promotions includespecial airfares for the airline’s domestic and international routes at very at-tractive price such as Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Sukhothai andBangkok-Lampang starts at 1,190 baht per leg, Bangkok-Phuket and Bangkok-Trat starts at 1,290 baht per leg, Bangkok-Samui starts at 1,950 baht per leg. Bangkok Airways also offer roundtrip tickets for Bangkok-Phnom Penh andBangkok-Yangon at 3,790 baht, Bangkok-Siem Reap, Bangkok-Luang Prabang,Bangkok-Mumbai and Bangkok-Dhaka at 5,900 baht and Bangkok-Maldivesat 13,500 baht. The airfares are excluded of Airport taxes, Fuel and Insurance

surcharges. Passengers may start bookingfrom 12 – 22 May and able to travel until31 July 2011. This special fare for Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Phuket can alsopurchase through www.bangkokair.comand Bangkok-Samui can be purchase atall points of sales throughout the period.For more information and reservation,please contact Tel: 02 270 6699 or CallCenter 1771 or www.bangkokair.com

DREAM COME TRUE –Bangkok Airways led by Mr.Songkrot Palakawong Na Ayuthaya (second fromright), Deputy Director – Corporate Affairs and Events,recently sent off a child from the Make-A-Wish Foun-dation of Thailand who wishes to meet the Panda inChiang Mai. As a proud partner of Make-A-Wish Foun-dation of Thailand, Bangkok Airways made it possibleto make her wish come true.

Bangkok Airways makesa dream come true

Clamor for low airfare...From Page 1

But with three or four hours travel time via ferryto Surat and fly from there to Bangkok than paythe excessive fare charged when using Samui air-port,” he said.He said a group of small businessmen on the is-land is even contemplating on writing a petitionto Bangkok Airways to ask for fare adjustment sothat more tourists would be encouraged to go toSamui. Bangkok Airways, who built the Samui air-

port in 1989 and has been operating it since, hasbeen the subject of criticisms lately for its allegedunreasonable airfares and even restrictive fees forother airlines using the airport.A recent study conducted by an independentgroup pointed to the limited number of flights toand from Samui compared to the continuing in-crease in the number of hotel rooms on the islandas a cause of slow tourism business here.It said the hotel industry on Samui faces toughtimes ahead because of inadequate airport capac-

ity and overdevelopment. “Hotels have been added to the island over thepast four years, but the boom has underminedsupply-demand fundamentals and strongly im-pacted last year’s operating performance,” thestudy said.An airport critic told The Samui Gazette otherairlines are charged excessive fees for use of theairport and would rather use the airport atSuratthani which is much cheaper and allows air-lines to offer discounted fares to travelers.

All things gastronomic... From Page 18available. A newcomer to Thailand seldom knows the difference between a green, red, yellow, Panang, or Massaman curry. Attending a course at SITCA makes oneunderstand what goes into which curry, as well as which curries originate from which region.My menu for the day included Homemade Yellow CurryPaste, Yellow Curry with Chicken and Potatoes, Glass Noo-dle Soup with Tofu, and Deep Fried Fish with Turmeric.Students are provided with a booklet of the recipes -theirs to keep and make notes in. They also receive aDVD to take home, with the recipes and photos, demon-strating the steps in the preparation and cooking process. My day at SITCA was a truly memorable experience, onethat I will be reminded of every time I prepare a mealfrom the recipes learnt. I will definitely be back to expand my skills in Thai cooking, and I recommend it toanyone living or visiting Samui.“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into withabandon or not at all.” ~Harriet van Horne, Americanjournalist.

CRISPY deep fried fish with turmeric

T-Bone

Life SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

16

“TOURISTS don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’tknow where they’re going.” I love this quote by Paul Theroux.Sometimes the simplest quotes can make the most sense, andinspire thought or conversation. I have traveled a fair amount. When you get bitten by the travelbug, it is like being infected by Malaria – it is in you forever,resurfacing every so often, when you least expect it, never leav-ing your system. Like some childhood illnesses, some peoplethink that they can ‘out grow’ the travel bug, but this is seldomthe case. You reach a stage in your life, where you settle down,do the responsible thing and suppress all thoughts of adventureto the back of your mind. You begin working a regular 9-5 job,start paying off a mortgage, and regulate the traveling to the an-nual two weeks away, hopefully abroad if the finances allow.But, somewhere, later in life, that itching feeling will againmake its way to the surface, and you will find a way to see an-other small corner of the world.I think that the travel bug is genetic too – passed down to thenext generation. Some people find that they have to curb theirwanderlust when children arrive on the scene. I don’t feel thisis the case at all. Children make great travelers if they are giventhe chance, as they don’t have preconceived ideas or expecta-tions, and with no inhibitions, they see life as one big adven-ture. A child is going to learn as much on a trip abroad as theywill in the classroom, so with a little planning, there is no rea-son why a child can’t miss a bit of school to explore a newplace. It is this sense of adventure and itch to travel that brought us toThailand, first on holiday, and later as residents. Once you havechildren, the way in which you travel changes. We cannot justtravel on a whim, as children do need a sense of ‘base camp’.Living in South Africa allowed us to explore a bit or SouthernAfrican and the Indian Ocean Islands. Hopefully from Samui,we will be able to explore South East Asia, and experience cul-tures that are diverse and very different from the African way. Deciding to become a traveller, rather than a tourist meanschanging your mindset. When arriving at a new destination,you need to look deeper. Tourists only experience the surfaceof a place. They only see what the tourism board wants them tosee, in a surreal kind of way, never experiencing the soul of aplace. Travellers make the effort to meet the locals, and for theduration of their stay, live like a local. A tourist would neverstop off at a roadside diner, frequented by locals, or buy a mealfrom a street vendor, preferring to go to a swanky hotel restau-rant, recommended by their tour operator. In doing so, theyprobably miss out on the best meals that they could have ontheir trip. Tourists will drive the Ring Road, and perhaps venture onto the4170 to Bang Rak and Choeng Mon. A traveller will turn downevery dirt road, in the hope of finding something or someone,to make their trip memorable. Some of Samui’s best beachesare completely off the beaten track, and perhaps it’s best thatmost tourists don’t discover them. However, I do get frustratedwhen I ask a holiday maker how they have enjoyed their trip,only to hear the same old tales of where they have been andwhat they have done. I want to shake them, and challenge theirsense of adventure! The thought that someone’s only picture ofSamui is what they would find on a brochure is frustrating, andgives me the inspiration to write a book – Samui - off thebeaten track. In saying that, a tourist wouldn’t buy it – only atraveller would. Some of the expats that I have met, truly fitthe profile of traveller – completely immersing themselves intotheir new society, learning the lingo, eating the food and social-ising with Thai people. Some on the other hand, although livinghere, almost live a parallel life to the locals. They may live here,but they don’t do anything a local would, so to them expat liv-ing is in fact just an extended holiday as a tourist. I challenge holiday makers and expats alike: become a traveller,not a tourist. As said by American author, James Michener, “Ifyou reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion andavoid the people, you might better stay at home.”

Travelers and tourists

WE all know that Koh Phangan is Samui’ssmaller sister island which lies approxi-mately ten kilometers to the north of the big-ger island. Koh Phangan is definitely lessdeveloped than Samui.The south coast is blessed with good roadsbut as you go north many of these disinte-grate into dirt tracks. This makes transporta-tion a slow and bumpy affair. A boat servicefrom Maenam sails the east coast and isoften the best way to get to some of themore interesting resorts situated on BottleBay. This service serves the Sanctuary Detoxresort and Mai Pen Rai bungalows, too. Atrip to this region of Koh Phangan takes youback in time and gives you some idea howSamui was 10 years ago.The Full Moon Parties on Koh Phangan areworld renowned. Haad Rin is the nightlifehub of the island and every full moon, 10 orso of the clubs band together to host a beachparty which has rocketed to world wide ac-claim. The next full moon arrives on May 17th, so ifyou are thinking of going don’t mark thisdate in your diary because it is a VishakaBucha Day which means parties of the typeenjoyed on Koh Phangan will have to be de-layed until the following day in deference tothe religious holiday. Then surprisingly this peaceful and rela-tively unblemished island turns into a partygoers’ paradise. In the quieter off seasonmonths like the month of May, ten thousandpeople make their way to enjoy the fullmoon revellery. They dance the night away to music so loudthat it reverberates across the water and canbe heard as far away as Samui, itself.You can be pretty certain it will be a diffi-cult task to find a bed close or not so closeto the party unless you book early. For thehardy there is no realneed to spend the nighton Koh Phangan be-cause an armada ofspeed boats whisks pas-sengers across the seafrom Bangrak all nightlong. Most people make theirway to the party fromSamui. You need tobook a return trip toavoid being strandedovernight. Another cau-tion is to be sure to findyour boat by the ap-

pointed time for the return voyage unfortu-nately some party goers find this a difficultfeat to accomplish! Koh Phanagan is definitely worth a visit, sothis speedy in an out approach to the FullMoon party is not to be recommended. Youwould be well advised to spend a night ortwo across there. Venture away from HaadRin and there are many breathtaking sur-prises to be had, because then you have theopportunity to spend a few days in any oneof the many delightful resorts scattered allover the island. As I say if you want to stay during the timeof the Full Moon festivities you need tobook, this means some prior research is indi-cated.However, if you are going to expect an amaz-ing evening, where the huge speakers actlike jackhammers to drive the beat into yourvery bones. This makes everyone get up andboogey. It might not be your cup of tea, itcertainly isn’t mine but I am told everyoneshould try it at least once. Instead I shall begoing to Jun’s wonderful vegetarian Art Cafein Samui Town Centre. This is just off thering road a few hundred meters after the Bo-phut traffic lights travelling in the directionof Chaweng. She opens her door at 2 and closes them ateight on every full moon day. She donatesthe food which comprises a healthy fusionmenu for free and the happy eaters then paya donation for their feast. This goes to support a worthy charity. InApril the money was directed to recompensefor some of the damage incurred by the localfloods and the previous month it went to thesurvivors of the Japanese earthquake andtsunami. To find out more link to their webpage bygoing to: http://juneartcafe.com

Full Moon parties on Koh Phangan, and elsewhere, too!

Rosanne Turner has recently relocated to Koh Samui fromAfrica, and is relishing the adventure. She is a trainer at Is-land TEFL, as well as being a travel writer for several inter-national publications. Share Rosanne’s discoveries of allthings Eastern, curious and extraordinary.

Health 17SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

Unfair laborpractices...From Page 11

FORGET unclean toilets, hair in the sink and leaving thelid off the toothpaste, there are other factors to consider

when in the bathroom. When was the last time you read the

labels on your toothpaste, shampoo and soap? If you care

about a healthy lifestyle, you may be taking steps to consider

what you put into your body, but do you know what you are

putting onto your body?

Chemical cocktail anyone? Every day we use a plethora of

body care products from shampoo to moisturizer, deodorant

to toothpaste. Unless you are sure that you are using natural

products, most of these are packed with synthetic chemicals

that our bodies are simply not designed to deal with. Many

of the synthetic chemicals that enter your body through

skincare products have the ability to upset the natural hor-

monal balance, challenge the immune system and burden the

liver as it tries to deal with the unnatural chemical cocktail.

If you wouldn’t put it in your mouth, don’t put on your skin!

Everything you put on your skin will eventually end up in

your bloodstream, just as if you had eaten it. So let’s have a

closer look at the top 10 offenders. Start reading the labels to

make sure if any of the following chemicals are making it

into your bloodstream on a daily basis.

Top 10 chemicals to look out for: Sodium

Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate.

Often derived from petroleum, this chemical is cheap and

widely used. It provides the foaming action in soaps, sham-

poos and other products. It is a harsh detergent that causes

eye irritation, skin rashes and other allergic reactions, as

well as a scalp condition similar to dandruff.

Petrolatum. Also known as petroleum jelly (yes, it is part of

the petrol industry) this is a mineral oil derivative that the

skin simply does not need or want. The skin literally hates

mineral oils. It is used because it is extremely cheap and is

used for its emollient properties in cosmetics. Don’t be

fooled by the advertising, it can actually create the condi-

tions it claims to treat! It interferes with the skin’s own natu-

ral moisturizing mechanisms, contributing to chapping and

dryness.

Methyl, Propyl, Butyl and Ethyl Paraben. These parabens are

used for their ability to extend the shelf life of a product and

inhibit microbial growth. They have been associated with

skin rashes and other allergic reactions, as well as having an

effect on the body’s delicate hormonal balance due to their

oestrogenic action in the body. They are known to be toxic,

yet continue to be widely used.

Propylene Glycol. Used as a humectant, this can be a confus-

ing ingredient because it can indicate a natural vegetable

glycerin mixed with grain alcohol, however usually it is a

synthetic petrochemical mix. Beware when you see PPG

(polypropylene glycol) or PEG (polyethylene glycol) on la-

bels as these are definitely synthetic and have been known

to cause eczema, hives and allergic reactions.

PVP/VA Copolymer. Used in hairsprays, styling products

and other products, it is a chemical derived from petroleum.

The inhaled particles can damage delicate lug tissue.

Diethanolamine (DEA), Triethanolamine (TEA). DEA and

TEA are “amines” (ammonia compounds) and can form ni-

trosamines (which are cancer-forming) when they come into

contact with nitrates. They tend to be used in cosmetics as

foaming agents and/or emulsifiers and can cause eye irrita-

tion, dryness of hair and skin and allergic reactions. Defi-

nitely toxic if absorbed into the body over a long period of

time.

Diazolidinyl Urea, Imidazolidinyl Urea. Two trade names for

these chemicals are Germall II and Germall 115. These chem-

icals are used as preservatives in many products. Both of the

Germall chemicals do not contain an effective antifungal

agent, so must therefore be combined with other synthetic

preservatives. The American Academy of Dermatology has

confirmed that they are a primary cause of contact dermati-

tis. These chemicals release formaldehyde into the body,

which can be toxic.

Stearalkonium Chloride. Used in creams and hair condition-

ers, it was actually developed as a fabric softener by the fab-

ric industry. It is an ammonium compound that is cheap to

use for hair conditioners. Known to be toxic and cause aller-

gic reactions.

Synthetic Fragrances. Be very cautious of these words on la-

bels as there is no way of knowing what chemicals this in-

gredient contains, and it can contain up to 200 different

ingredients that do not need to be separately listed! The

label can legally just read “fragrance”. Health conditions as-

sociated with these chemicals vary from dizziness, skin

rashes, headaches, vomiting, hyperpigmentation of the skin,

among many others. Be vigilant! Many “natural” products

also contain “fragrance”!

Synthetic Colours . Usually listed as FD&C or D&C, fol-

lowed by a colour and a number, e.g. FD&C Red No. 6 /

D&C Green No. 6, they are only used to enhance the appear-

ance of a product. Many synthetic colours are known car-

cinogens.

Empty promises in a bottle. Besides considering whether

your products are natural or not, think about whether you

actually need them. The advertising around most of the

beauty care products, aimed at women for example, is ex-

tremely powerful and tends to focus on people’s fears and

insecurities. Look in any woman’s magazine and ask the lady

reading it, “Do you feel empowered by the images you are

seeing, or do you feel inadequate?”. It’s the fear of not being

beautiful that fuels the need for more products.

You’re only as pretty as you feel. Like Grace Slick said in her

Jefferson Airplane lyrics back in the 1960’s, beauty comes

from the inside. Your skin and your eyes will shine if you

shine from within. It doesn’t matter how much you pay for a

state-of-the-art skin cream, look into your inner wisdom and

you will know that the chemical cocktail of synthetics is not

what your skin or body needs to be healthy. The only way to

create a beautiful appearance from the outside is to nourish

your body from the inside and whichever products you still

continue to use, make the effort to put only wonderful, clean

and nourishing natural ones onto (and into)

your precious self.

What’s in your skincare products? A focus on the hiddendangers that may be lurking on your bathroom shelf

As a result, the guy wasleft with no money to buya ticket to get home andmissed his class reunion,has a motorbike rental topay and faced theprospect of having tolook for another job. His daughter, who cameto visit him for the holi-days and chose to staywith him to help him inhis many responsibilities,became affected as welland was already on over-stay for 12 days before kind and wellmeaning friends came tooffer help.The guy was also everthankful to God, as onecompany suddenly had anopening for his kind ofwork and offered him ajob. But this fella felt sadwhen he learned how onecompany, maybe feelingbitter, sour-graping orsimply insecure, comesout spewing lies and ma-licious accusations aboutanother company’s em-ployees. The guy thoughtif one thinks it is betterthan another, then simply keep on provingyour better by action, bydoing what you do best.People are smart. Theywill know. They will notice. Peddling half truths andmisinformation just to getattention and to makeone’s self or image lookbetter at the expense ofanother is actually stoop-ing too low and never en-hances one’s character or reputation, be it a personor a company. It is a condescending, de-basing, demeaning actonly desperate peoplemake.

Island NewsSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

18

All things gastronomic

you will) you can come backanother day, to further yourskills in the art of Thai cook-ing. Besides the daily intro-ductory classes, SITCA offersintensive programmes for pro-fessional chefs or experiencedcooks. There is the option of aone week or two week course,which takes a hands-on ap-proach, covering all aspectsofcuisine, as well as instruc-tion in the techniques in-volved in Thai cooking. During my visit to SITCA, Iwas lucky enough to spendpart of my day with a group ofprofessional chefs attendingthe intensive programme.They hailed from three continents, including Aus-tralia, Canada and Chile.These chefs had only thehighest praise for owner,Khun Roong, who is the maininstructor for this programme.Jimmy Shu, a master chef fromAustralia who has travelledextensively and has a passionfor Asian food, enthusiasti-cally insists that ‘this is thebest cooking course he hasever attended’, a powerfulstatement from someone sorespected in the culinaryworld. Jimmy has a passion foringredients, as well as a mis-sion to find authentic ingredi-ents back home. He has beenknown to smuggle fresh produce back into Australia, occasionally being caught atcustoms – so powerful is hisquest, that he is not deterredby this risk. Jimmy took mearound the kitchen, showingme ingredients that KhunRoong had purchased for theday. ‘Is this not the best gingeryou have ever seen?’ he proclaimed with delight, as hestuck a large fat root of thisfragrant spice under my nose.As I was preparing my owncurry paste, the professionalskept calling me to ‘taste this’or ‘smell that’. Their delightwas contagious, as they

included me in their devotion to all thingsgastronomic.Khun Tim was my instructorfor the day. She has decades ofexperience in the hotel indus-try, before joining SITCA.Khun Tim does not view herrole at the cookery school asjust another job, but enjoys informing her students aboutThai food, imparting valuableinformation about the ingredi-ents, as well as preparationmethods and ways to maxi-mize flavor. So often cookeryschools only see their stu-dents as numbers, taking theirmoney and pushing themthrough the system. This isnot the case with Khun Roongand Khun Tim. They wanttheir student to understandthe methods and why one in-gredient is used and not an-other, why we use one spicefor this curry paste, and a dif-ferent one for another. KhunTim knows the medicinal ad-vantages of all the herbs andspices she uses in preparation,and shares this knowledge asshe demos how to chop, grindand prepare the food.Each menu includes making aThai curry paste from scratch.This process in intensely sat-isfying, as you mix the ingre-dients, and pound themtogether into a paste, theheady aromas of spices, herbsand garlic being released intothe air as you do so. In Thai-land, we are lucky to be ableto buy curry pastes at themarket, each stall having theirown family recipe, and eachdiffering in strength. In sayingthis, it is great to be able tomake your own paste, and theprocess is surprisingly simpleand not at all time consuming.Mix more than you require,and it can be kept for up to amonth. Knowing what ingre-dients go into the paste, makesthe enjoyment so much more,and helps you differentiate between the Thai curries

NO tone can dispute that liv-ing on a tropical island is thelife. But if I have to be honestwith myself, there are dayswhen I just don’t feel likegoing to the beach. For friendssitting abroad in the cold, thismay seem hard to believe, butit’s true. So what to do onsuch a day? If anyone else has experi-enced this dilemma, I highlyrecommend a cooking courseat SITCA (Samui Institute ofThai Culinary Arts). A day atSITCA will stimulate all thesenses. The moment you walkthrough the door, you experi-ence a ‘sensory overload’.From the exotic aromas waft-ing from the kitchen, and thesmell of sautéing curry pastetingling your nose, to the vi-brant colours of an array of

chillies, used to prepare theThai curry pastes, and all inhi-bitions about cooking withprofessionals fade away, asyou are in awe of your sur-roundings. Cooking at SITCAis not quiet affair. The soundsof pounding and grinding ofingredients for pastes andmarinades, sizzling, choppingand laughter and chatter fillthe air. Finally your sense oftaste is satisfied, as you enjoythe feast that you have pre-pared. Students may ask afriend to join them at the endof the course to savour thismeal. SITCA offers two cook-ing classes a day, from Mon-day to Saturday, with onestarting at 11:00am and theother at 4:00pm. Each day themenu is different but you canmake your choice from the

website, choosing the menuthat suits your palette best.The fact that the menu is notthe same every day meansthat should you enjoy the ex-perience, (which I guarantee

A day at the Samui Institute of Culinary ArtsSITCA information:Tel: 077 – 413-172 Classes are held twicea day – 11:00am and4:00pm and the cost isBt1,950 per person. For more informationon the intensive cook-ing courses, or fruitcarving, visit the web-

site.www.sitca.net

Turn to Page 15

By ROSANNE TURNER

The writer (left) enjoying a day of cooking experience atthe Samui Institute of Thai Culinary Arts.

Sports 19SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

FC Farang teams KO’ed in Phangan CupFC FARANG All Stars andFC Farang, two expat teamswhich joined the annualtournament Koh PhanganDistrict Cup held recently atthe Ban Tai police stationfootball pitch, failed to makeit past the group stages, withthe All Stars losing all theirthree matches while FCFarang won one and drewanother but lost in the thirdmatch where a draw couldearn them a slot in the quar-terfinals.The All Stars started theircampaign against the ThonSala FC, a team full of youth-ful talent and with greatability. Unfortunate for theAll Stars, an aging team, butwith great experience as theheat on the day and the fit-ness of the opposition en-abled Thon Sala to come outcomfortable winners in thisencounter, 7-0.Later in the afternoon, thesecond expat team FCFarang, opened their accountinto the competition againstPachon Electricity.With the disappointment ofthe All Stars match showing,FC Farang came out fightingand were ahead early in the

match, with a great strike ongoal from Ricky, Fabio madeit 2-0 three minutes later andFC Farang were in control athalftime. Into the second half Pachonshowed more determination,before a fine cross thatfound Fabio unmarked, un-leashing a fierce drive intothe bottom corner of the net,and it was 3-0 and the gamewas safe, confidence flowing

throughout the team androared on by a passionateand vocal FC support.Fabio’s hat trick was not tobe denied, again unmarkedon the edge of the box, hetook one touch and fired hisshot under the helpless Pa-chon keeper. The celebrationwas priceless, the longhaired front man cart wheel-ing on the pitch, that resem-bled a moment often seen inthe premiership, Pachonconverted a late consolation,but FC would register an im-portant 4-1 win on theiropening day.Day two of the competitionsaw both Farang teams in ac-tion with the All Stars kick-ing off proceedings.In the blistering heat of theearly kick off time at 2pm,they faced Chaloklum FC, astrong team with fine pass-ing ability. All Stars looked determinedin the pre-match warm up,but were caught napping andfell behind to an early goalafter just 20 seconds, AllStars improved vastlythroughout the first half,playing some fine football,but were unable to keep a

further 2 goals out beforehalf time. Second half, and All Starscontinued to improve andTony was desperately un-lucky, when his fine effortflew just wide of the post,midway through the secondhalf, Thonsala added afourth in injury time.

FC Farang started their sec-ond match in the competi-

tion, in cooler conditionslater in the day, and washoping to build on the previ-ous day’s fine win againstPachon. Their opponentswere Seagate FC, who hadalso won their openinggame.In an extremely tight en-counter, both teams battledin the middle of the park forlong spells, only for the finalpass to let them down. Thehighlight being, after a fineFarang move, Fabio saw hispowerful effort smashagainst the inside of thepost, Seagate took the leadon the stroke of halftime,when the Seagate front manappeared to use his hand in agoal line scramble, as hebundled the ball into the net,second half continued to bea tense affair, and with fiveminutes remaining, coachSoren made an inspired sub-stitution, bringing on supersub Duncan, and the big mandidn’t disappoint, in thedying seconds, Fabio’s longthrow from the corner flag,into a crowded penalty area,found the head of Duncan,who just managed to hold offthe keeper and nod in a dra-matic late header at the nearpost,1-1 and the game hadbeen saved.

After a day off rest and withFC Farang not playing untilSunday, All Stars turned upfor their final match.Already out of the tourna-ment and just playing forpride faced Thai Coffee, oneof the early favorites to winthe tournament. A gallant ef-fort in the first half, All Starswent into the interval only 1-0 down. Coach Soren lookedcalm in his halftime teamtalk, but was forced to takeTony "the rhino" off as hewas suffering from heatstroke, Sambo took the cap-tain’s armband, but his lead-ership skills didn’t seen towork, as All Stars concededfour more goals in the firstten minutes of the secondhalf.

All Stars pushed more play-ers forward in the succeed-ing plays and almost scored,when Dave’s long rangestrike had to be tipped overthe bar, by the Thai keeper.The team, however, did geton the score sheet, register-ing a goal in the competi-tion, with 5 minutes to go asEamon slotted a neat finishafter a defensive error.5-1 at the final whistle andthe All Stars were out of thetournament.With FC Farang needingonly a draw to progress tothe quarter finals, playersturned up in good spirits forthe vital match versusThessaban. In a poor game of very fewchances in the first half andwith Thessaban alreadythrough to the next round,both teams didn’t seem upfor this important fixture, in

a dull first half, Thessabanscored a scrappy early goalon the eight minute, but thisdidn’t wake up the Farangoutfit, and were lucky not tobe two behind, when Thess-aban hit the underside of thecrossbar on 15 minutes. 1-0 at halftime and all to playfor, but the game didn’t im-prove in the second periodas FC Farang appeared to bethere in body and not inmind, eventually losing an-other 4 goals. But the Farangrefused to give up and wererewarded when Duncan,found himself clean throughon goal and calmly slottedthe ball under the advancingkeeper, for a well deservedconsolation.The champion’s trophy waslifted eventually by ThaiCoffee, who won the tightfinal match against ThonsalaFC, 1-0.

FC Farang

FC Farang All Stars

Sports20

Zane Bar jumps from 4th

ZANE Bar won two lopsided matches and lost a thirdmatch by a narrow margin to take a big jump from fourth tosecond in the standings of the ongoing Lamai Pool League.Zane outscored Holland House 16-4 on April 14 then embar-rassed defending champion PJs Bar 17-3 the following weekbefore losing 1 close 11-9 match against Hip Bar to garner 42points out of a possible 60 to move up in the standings just8 points behind league leading Eden Bar.Eden scored 11-9 and 13-7 victories over Hip Bar and ScooterBar, respectively, to keep the top spot going into the secondhalf of the season.PJs also lost a recent match against Holland House to slideto 3rd with 115 five points off Zane.Extratime, which enjoyed the lead briefly in the early stagesof the season, managed to squeeze back to fourth displacingHip Bar.Extratime is 7 points behind PJs and is holding a precarious2 point advantage over Hip Bar.Not far behind is Easy Bar at 102 points and Woody’s andScooter Bar at 96 points each.Holland House and Lamai st occupy 9th and 10th place.Comedy Klub continues to look for its first win and is hug-ging the cellar with a draw and 9 losses after 10 matches.

Big boys show up

SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

DOWNto the last eightteams, the big boys of Samuipool showed up and domi-nated their opponents easilyto advance to the semifinalsof the Knockout Cup compe-tition of the Samui PoolLeague played every Mon-day.Last season’s winner Lord’sBar led the advance by beat-ing Thairish Bar. The crackteam from Choengmon wasso unforgiving, yielding onlya frame in the race to 11match that moved themcloser to a back to back title. Thairish, currently ranked4th in Division 2, was simply

no match against Andy andhis boys and bowed out ofcontention after making asfar as the quarterfinals.Chillin Beach Lounge, play-ing with a much improvedline up and having the homecourt advantage wasted notime in trouncing CosmicBar, 11-3. The win put theLamai-based team into apossible collision coursewith either title contendersLord’s Bar or Bamboo Bar.Bamboo Bar also made it tothe last four after blasting anundermanned On’s Livewiresquad, 11-3 in Soi Reggae.Bamboo avenged its defeatto On’s last season during

the semifinals, although thevictory appeared not assweet as it would have beenas On’s stalwarts Chris andTony were both out of Samuiand did not play.Chris is spending threeweeks in England whileTony may be away fromSamui for a long time as On’sowner Steve says his numbertwo player has left for Eu-rope and may stay thereawhile to work.In a battle between two Divi-sion 2 teams, Spicy Baredged The Office, 11-9, totake the last ticket to thesemis.

to 2nd spot in Lamai pool

DARKHORSE - Photo shows Chillin Beach Lounge ownerand team captain Mattelito, all focused as he takes a shot.Chillin easily disposed Cosmic Bar in their quarterfinalsmatch to advance to the semis along with top contendersLord’s Bar and Bamboo Bar. Spicy Bar closed the door onThe Office during their own quarterfinal game to take thelast ticket to the semis.

Knockout Cup quarterfinals:

Lord’s Bar, Chillin,Bamboo, Spicy advance

Lamai Pool League

Standings:

Team P W D L Pts

1. edens bar 10 9 1 0 128

2.zane bar 11 4 1 6 120

3. pjs bar 11 6 2 3 115

4. extratime bar 10 5 4 1 108

5. hip bar 10 6 2 2 106

6. easy bar 11 3 1 7 102

7. woody’s 10 4 1 5 96

8. scooter bar 10 4 2 4 96

9. holland house 10 4 0 6 85

10. lamai st 9 2 3 4 84

11. comedy klub 10 0 1 9 80

SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011Sports 21

Lemon’s wins Jack Daniels trophyTHE FIRST season of theJack Daniels Maenam PoolLeague ended recently andLemon’s Bar swept both teamand individual honors duringthe end of season party.Lemon’s finished the tourna-ment at the top finishing theseason without a loss whileone of its players, Mean tookthe best player award by win-ning all his matches.Jomar’s Bar took the runnerup trophy in the eight teamcompetition among bars andpubs in Maenam. The secondseason starts soon and otherbars interested to join theleague should contact Austenat Lemon’s Bar. The league issponsored by Jack’s Daniels.

DEREKMcKenzie, SantiburiGolf and Country Club’s owngolf pro, gets a hole in oneduring the Songkran DayFestival last April 13, 2011.McKenzie achieved the rarefeat on the 12th hole of thecourse, 165 yds from theblue tees using an 8 iron.The hole in one was his second in his lifetime…thefirst one coming 26 years agoat the age of 13. An outstand-ing achievement indeed for agolfer as some including thelegendary Jack Nicklausfailed to produce a hole inone in his PGA career.Today’s hottest golfer, TogerWoods has made 18, that in-cluded 2 in the majors.

By PATRICK ROXAS

SHOOTING a hole in one isone of the hardest feats insports. Acing a hole is agolfer's ultimate dream,which requires great skilland lots of luck. Check outthese facts and records ongolf's toughest shot.Longest hole in oneThe longest straight shothole in one in golf historywas hit by Robert Mitera onOctober 7, 1965 at the Mira-cle Hills Golf Club inOmaha, Nebraska. Miteraused his driver to ace the10th hole from 444 yards!Mitera couldn't even see theflag from where he teed off.He only realized he'd acedthe hole when he arrived atthe green and another golfertold him his ball was in thehole.Oldest and youngest golfersSome golfers play for yearswithout shooting a hole inone, while others manage todo it at an early age. Theyoungest player was barelyout of diapers when he shothis first hole in one. JakePaine was just three yearsold when he shot a hole inone on a 65 yard hole inLake Forest, California. Theoldest player is Harold Stil-son, from Boca Raton,Florida. He was 101 years oldwhen he aced the 108 yard16th hole with a four iron atthe Deerfield Country Clubon May 16, 2001.Most hole in onesNorman Manley, of Califor-nia, holds the record formost hole in ones with 59.Manley shot his first hole inone in 1964 and aced fourholes in 1979. That's not toobad considering the odds ofhitting a hole in one areroughly one in 40,000.Famous first hole in onesTiger Woods was six yearsold when he hit his firsthole in one. Michelle Wiehas had six hole in ones inher short golfing career.Wie shot her first ace whenshe was 12.Useless piece of golf triviaTed Hoz of Baton Rouge,Lousiana, USA, has col-lected 69,384 golf balls since1986. If the balls were set in a lineside by side, they would ex-tend almost 2 miles (3.2 km)(Source:www.kidzworld.com)

Hole in one facts and records

H le in one !

BEST PLAYER- Lemon’s Bar player Mean is shown in this file photo looking to pot the 8ball positioned by the mouth of the corner pocket but blocked by two balls of his opponent.The Thai player finished Maenam league’s first season undefeated and won a trophy.

THE KSSSC Snooker League sponsored by Tropical Interiors is reaching the halfway point and there has been many twists and turns overthe last few weeks. Probably the biggest talking points are Todd "The Hurricane" Feeney's recent results. Firstly, he was after 2 veryspeedy frames leading Scottish Pat 2 - 0. However, Pat decided that to have any chance of even pulling a frame back he'd have to slow"The Hurricane" down. Slowly but surely to Todd’s frustration Pat pulled back the next 3 frames to run out victorious. "The Hurricane"came up next against John from the Premier Bar who it has to be said has had some really bad luck this season and thought his luck waschanging after he went into a 2-0 lead. In a complete turnaround from the previous week Todd came flying back and with 2 black ballgames ran out champion of the day 3-2. His next game was yet another epic, this time he was facing the ever steady Dennis O'Brian andyes you have guessed it another 3-2 - this time Dennis edged it. Flea returning after a week out had a double game week having to faceJohn from Premier Bar twice. Tonks Snooker Hall had its biggest crowd of the season and all were interested to see how this match wouldpan out, with some of the biggest breaks of the day falling to both players it was touch and go as to who would be top dog. Having hadmore luck and more lives than a Cheshire Cat, Flea "The Flooker" ran out 3-0 winner on both games. T-Bone is still showing everyone howit’s done - so far this season he has only dropped 2 frames , a truly remarkable feat considering the quality of opposition. This week Stevefrom Tropical Interiors was his latest 3-0 victim. Another double game saw a much improved Jay taking on last year’s champion Lincoln.Two completely contrasting games here, first game Lincoln had no answers to Jays presence but in a complete turn around Lincoln"turned up" and whooped Jay 3-0. Robbie Tremarco is not quite sticking to his promise. At the end of last season he won the WoodenSpoon and publicly stated that "I'll not be last next year and you can take that to the bank" it's looking likely after another 3 losses the onlything Robbie will be taking anywhere is another wooden spoon.

KSSSC Snooker League: Twists and turns over last few weeks

RARE FEAT- Photo shows Santiburi pro golfer Derek McKenzie (center) with the Singha golf bagand other items awarded to him after making a hole in one recently at Santiburi. With him areMarco Maki (left) of PoolRX (left) and Coetzer Deysel (right) W Resort GM.

SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

22

JOHN GREENWOOD’S League of Gentlemen pool updates

AS THIS season rolls to an extended end thanksto all the bad weather and floods and no electricfor days on end, but with the Championship al-ready done and dusted and gone to the BambooBar once again, these last few weeks of games arejust to fill in the blanks so as to get a final pictureof who is good and holy in the League of Gentle-men season six pool league. The game of theweek was of course Bamboo Bar vs Elephant andCastle. With Bamboo flushed with their victori-ous season, they still had the passion for anothervictory but saying that was it their first team thatturned up. First off was Mark against Harold andwith Mark playing like a man who had been exor-cised and managed to do the almost impossibleand miss shots by at least 2 or 3 feet. Takingnothing away from big H who played straight andsteady pool to rack up the first game 3-0. Next upwas Johnny vs Pat. Johnny who in practice wasflying but came up against Pat who everyoneknows is a great player but Pat who was sportinga lovely floral shirt to the amusement of his ownteam missed a pot on his last color and sent it upand down the table to fluke it in the cornerpocket which left him an easy black ball to go oneup. Johnny dropped his head which you should

never do when playing Pat. Who claimed thisgame with another lesson in straight shooting andcool shot making. Johnny who wanted to win aframe so badly was once again the victim of badluck when Pat came up smelling of roses whilewearing them with another fortunate shot tosweep this game up 3-0. Next to the table whichseemed more likened to a set of gallows to theEandC team, was Paul who probably played thebest for the Elephant and Castle but with Adamas his combatant the bad play seemed to rub offand was duly beaten 3-0. Who was going to stopthe rot for the EandC well not Dean who seems tohave lost his way in getting to the venues to playpool. So up stepped Od, thankfully he played thebest for the team this night because he beat theover confident Richard 2-1. With this match stillavailable for a draw Paul and Mark won the firstframe to keep hopes alive but lost the game 2-1 toAdam and Rich. With the final match going thesame way giving the Bamboo Bar an easy 5-1 vic-tory. Andy and his team at the Lords Bar had amoral boosting 5-1 victory at home to the BungyBar which keeps them, for now, away from thewooden spoon. That position is being held by Rikand his bar who with only 3 wins this season

Bamboo cruises to easy victory

Premier Sports Bar held favored On’s Livewire to a drawpreventing Steve’s boys to overtake Lord’s Bar at secondplace in the standings. Flashing pool brilliance every nowand then but still lacking the consistency needed to makethem a title contender, Premier managed to keep On’s atbay during the match that the Soi Reggae team could haveused not only to move up from third to second but also tonarrow the gap between them and front running BambooBar.Premier benefitted from On’s playing without Chrisand Tony, both stalwarts of the team.Lord’s lost for the second time and is now tied with On’s at22 points, 9 behind Bamboo’s 31 points.Bamboo cruised to a 5-1 victory over Jordan’s at Maenam to put more distance between them and those attempting to stop them from taking their third consecutive Monday League title. In the second division,Tam’s Bar blasted Samui Rock Café, 6-0, to remain on topwith 30 points and on course for their first title in onlytheir first season. Aussieland also scored a 5-1 victoryagainst MUZZ to stay within striking distance of Tam’s at25 points.

Team Played Won Lost Drawn Frame Diff Pts 1 Bamboo Bar 21 18 1 2 102 562 Tam's Bar 21 13 5 3 76 423 KSSSC 20 11 5 4 40 374 Premier Bar 20 9 6 5 26 325 Bungy Bar 20 9 8 3 - 6 306 Cork N Cask 19 6 6 7 2 257 Elephant & Castle 20 6 8 6 -16 24 8 Arada Bar 21 6 12 3 -62 219 Birds of Bamboo 22 5 13 4 -54 19 10 Lazy Coconut 19 5 11 3 -44 1811 Lord’s Bar 19 4 10 5 -16 1712 Riks Bar 19 3 11 6 -48 15

Food Wine

Premier draws On’s

and this week had another loss at the hands of Tam’s Bar who ce-mented their second place spot with a 4-2 away win. Joe’s Cork andCask team who have played much better pool in the second half ofthe season and this week gave a resound 4-2 beating to the LazyCoconut. Flea’s KSSSC team who had challenged early on in theseason now have to be satisfied with a closely fought 4-2 away winagainst the Birds of Bamboo and with it almost a definite thirdplaced spot. The Premier bar had the biggest win of the week witha 5-1 14-4 demolition of the Arada bar. I would like to report thatthe League of Gentlemen presentation night is to be held at Lord’sBar in Chong Mon on May 25.

&TEFL Monday League:

League Table

Division 1

POS P W D L F A +/- PTS1Bamboo Bar 11 10 1 0 54 12 42 312Lord’s Bar 10 7 1 2 40 20 20 223On's Livewire 10 7 1 2 36 24 12 224International 10 5 2 3 37 23 14 175Chillin Bar 9 5 1 3 33 21 12 166Jack’s Bar 10 4 1 5 29 31 -2 137Premier 10 2 5 3 29 31 -2 118The Hut 10 2 2 6 24 36 -12 89Jordan's 11 1 2 8 24 42 -18 510Lemon's Bar 11 0 0 11 0 66 -66 0

Division 2

POS P W D L F A +- PTS1tams bar 11 10 0 1 50 16 34 302aussieland 11 8 1 2 43 23 20 253spicy bar 10 7 1 2 35 25 10 224thairish bar 11 6 0 5 33 33 0 185cosmic 10 3 3 4 28 32 -4 126cats bar 9 2 4 3 24 30 -6 107tre-kronor 9 2 3 4 24 30 -6 98samui rock cafe 9 3 0 6 22 32 -10 99the office 10 0 4 6 23 37 -14 410muzz 10 0 2 8 18 42 -24 2

WE all love 'special occasion' meals that are enjoyed in luxurious, and beautiful, surroundingsand we all have our favorite spots. The Rockpool Restaurant ticks all the boxes whenit comes to beautiful surroundings, it would behard to find a more spectacular view or a betterlocation, but here, there is no need to wait fora special occasion, because luxurious diningis being offered at a refreshingly affordableprice. The Rockpool is reached by your personal chauffeur -driven buggy that winds its waydown from the car park throughbougainvilla- lined lanes, to a choice of twospectacular dining areas. The first is an impressive restaurant that has polished hardwood floors and marquee- styleroof that boasts an impressive open-plankitchen - where you can get a glimpse ofsumptuous dishes being expertly created. The second is the semi-alfresco veranda, embedded into the cliff face with a sophisti-cated deck that extends out over the water’s edge. From here the sunset, floodlit beach and rocksand spectacular ocean views can be enjoyed overa cocktail while you contemplate the menu in thebar area.The well stocked bar, that sits under the branchesof a beautiful old tree, is a great place to enjoy anice cold beer, a glass of wine or a cocktail, whileenjoying amazing views, friendly conversationand, of course, some Rockpool hospitality. The food at The Rockpool is as impressive as thesurroundings. The House Special Frenchair- freight imported oysterscan be enjoyed by the halfdozen either natural, withclassic mignonette, Kil-patrick, with bacon, shallots,tomato coulis and Tabascoor Rockefeller, with Englishspinach, cream, onion andpanko breadcrumbs. For tapas lovers there is animpressive menu with de-lights such as homemadeOyster Pate, served withhouse brioche and parsleycouscous and Crisp PorkBelly served with Frenchgreen lentils, apple reduc-tion and pickled radish.The main menu is equally

impressive with dishes such as the entree of Gen-tly Seared Scallop Escabeche served with greentomato tempura, shallots and basil oil, the maincourse choice of Caramelized Tasmanian Salmonwith mixed pepper and red Thai curry and asparagus ragout.

The Couscous legumes with Thai seasonal vegetables, dried fruits and mixedherbs is a delicious vegetarian optionand, for meat lovers, the Seared Ten-derloin of Australian grass fed Lambserved with curry eggplant, zucchinitomato – citrus gremolada and naturaljus will not fail to both impress and satisfy. If you are unable to decide what toenjoy at this incredibly fine dining es-

tablishment, then why not try the incredibly rea-sonably priced, recently introduced, DegustationMenu. This is the perfect way to indulge in a widevariety of beautifully prepared and presenteddishes without the agonizing choice of pickingfrom the ‘all- too -delicious’ main menu

The dessert menu has lots to offer, however, Irecommend finishing your meal with the con-versation -stopping, wickedly delicious Passionfruit Pannacotta that delivers an explosion ofpleasure with every taste, this is a dessert to diefor. The Rockpool is one of Koh Samui’s treas-ures and provides not only expertly createddishes, to be enjoyed in stunning surroundingswith a spectacular view, but a place where luxu-rious dining and that 'special occasion’ feelingcan be enjoyed whenever you choose because,here, it comes without a special occasion pricetag. The Rockpool serves breakfast, lunch anddinner, and is located five minutes north ofChaweng Beach on the road that takes you toChoeng Mon. For more information, or, to make

a reservation contact Chris on 0818956463

Food Wine& SAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

23

IImpressive,mpressive,satisfyingsatisfyingindulgenceindulgence

ROCKPOOL RESTAURANT’S House Special -French air-freight imported oysters -can be enjoyed by the half dozen ei-ther natural, with classic mignonette, Kilpatrick, with bacons,shallots, tomato coulis and Tabasco or Rockefeller, with Englishspinach, cream onion and panko breadcrumbs.

By SUZANNE BUCHANANBy SUZANNE BUCHANAN

On TheIslandSAMUI GAZETTE | May 13 - 26, 2011

10. Sunrise comes and morninglight reveals little surgical scarabove “her” Adams Apple.

9. “Her” makeup rubs off inmorning revealing she moreclosely resembles Jackie Chan.

8. In morning, “she” locksbathroom door and you hearfaint buzzing of your electricrazor.

7. Maybe the full length redsequined gown she was wearingas she sat on her moped whenshe called out to you shouldhave been a give away.

6. In morning, “she” changesshoes from black satin Italianpumps to Nike Air Jordan, andyou realize that “her” foot sizeis a US 14.

5. Uh oh. Come to think of it,the size of “her” hand was hugetoo.

4. Once the alcohol wears off,you kinda faintly rememberthat she resembled the leadsinger in the cabaret showdown the street---the one whosang Gloria Gaynor’s “I WillSurvive.” And – uh oh – she’s wearing thesame red sequined eveninggown that the cabaret singerwas wearing too.

3. Reality check. She was toogood to be true, right? The prettiest girl you saw allnight?

2. In the morning her voicesounds slightly different thanthe night before, more gravelyand coarse---kinda like JohnnyCash’s.

1. You walk out of your roomin the morning and your bestfriend starts laughing hysteri-cally at you and says, “I told you so….”

TOP TEN WAYS TO TELL IF THE GIRL YOU METINFRONT OF SOI GREEN MANGO AT 2AM AND

A GREAT wave of anticipation is hovering over a selectnumber of Asia Pacific’s leading property professionals. The Asia Pacific Property Awards 2011, in association withBloomberg Television, have just been judged and Kalara In-ternational Properties has been informed that it is amongthe winning companies. Successful entrants have been invited to attend a high pro-file gala presentation dinner at the Longemont Hotel Shang-hai on May 31st. Kalara International Properties will thendiscover whether the company has won a five-star or highlycommended award in the category of Best Real EstateAgency in Thailand and Best Real Estate Agency Website forThailand. The event is part of the long established International Prop-erty Awards and its award winners’ logo is recognized as asymbol of excellence throughout the global industry. Attain-ing one of these coveted awards is indisputable evidencethat Kalara International Properties is capable of beatingsome exceedingly strong contenders within the highly com-petitive Asia Pacific property arena.Later this year, the highest scoring winners from the AsiaPacific Property Awards will compete against other winningcompanies from Europe, Africa, the Americas and Arabia tofind the ultimate World’s Best in each category. The Asia Pa-cific region has an enviable record of achievement at inter-national level, having scooped seven World’s Best awards inthe finals of both 2009 and 2010. No doubt the property in-dustry will be watching and waiting to see if this recordnumber of international wins can be matched or even beatenin 2011.The judging panel is chaired by Lord Bates of Langbaurghand consists of more than 60 professionals whose collectiveknowledge of the property industry is unsurpassed by anyother property awards. This year’s judges include JamesBacon, UK account manager of Google; Peter Bolton King,group chief executive of the National Federation of Propertyprofessionals; David Dalby of the Royal Institute of Char-tered Surveyors (RICS); and Mike McNamara of the RoyalBank of Scotland (RBS).

Kalara wins prestigious Asia property award

BROUGHT HOME ISN’T REALLY A GIRL

THE ROTARY Club of Koh Samui (ROCKS) gala dinnerheld at Farmer's Restaurant on Friday 29th April wasa great success, a press release from the club sent to theSamui Gazette said. ROCKS, according to the statement,raised the money to start their Disaster Relief Fund, whichwill help the Thai community in the future when there areemergency situations such as the recent floods. The civicclub is reportedly already planning other events this year toraise funds for this worthwhile cause. “The Rotary Clubwould like to thank all those who attended and our generousdonors of the many raffle prizes,” the statement said. It saidthe prizes donated added to the excitement of the evening.The next Rotary dinner will be May 27. Please contact theSecretary of ROCKS, Christian Glanville for further details:rockssecretary@rotarysamui.org.

ROTARY gala dinner at Farmer a success