scandasia thailand - january 2012

More Swedish Schools in Thailand

Thailand

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Scandinavian Society Siam Garden PartyDate: 18 February 2012Location: Roof Top Terrace, Oakwood Apartments Trilliant, 26 Sukhumvit 18, Bangkok

Scandinavian Society Siam invites members and friends to a Garden Party on the Roof Terrace on top of Oakwood Apartments Trilliant, Sukhumvit Soi 18 in Bangkok. The Scandinavian Society Siam and ScanDeli have joined hands to offer you this delicious outdoor dinner among good friends in the cool breeze of the winter followed by a romantic dance under the stars to a live band.

Tickets will be available at Cafe Europe, 64/1, Sukhumvit Soi 20, Bangkok, tel. 08 4342 0190 or ScanDeli, Sukhumvit Soi 20, tel 02 - 258 0884.

Coming Events

ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish residents in Thailand.

We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in China, Singapore and the rest of South East Asia.

Your FREEScandAsia Magazine in Thailand

Please sign up for your own FREE copy: www.scandasia.comPublisher : ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. 4/41-2 Ramintra Soi 14, Bangkok 10230, Thailand Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8, Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Mø[email protected]

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Printing : Lake & Foundtain Printing Co., Ltd.

Daily news and features here:www.scandasia.com

The Nordic Masters Golf TournamentDate: 11 February 2012Location: The Vintage Golf Club

Thai-Finnish Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) now invites you and your friends to participate in the pres-tigious golf tournament “The Nordic Masters”. All players will receive a premium golf polo shirt and a luxurious golf ball marker to make sure they look great on the course. After play TFCC invites you to our Gala Dinner in the club house of The Vintage Club, where TFCC will serve a delicious buffet with free flow of Beer! During the dinner TFCC will have Grand Raffle’s Draw and Auction followed by the Price ceremony. You can find more information and register online at http://www.thaifin.or.th/nordic_2011.php

SWEA’s Welcome Back PartyDate: 12 January 2012Location: ScanDeli, Sukhumvit Soi 18, Bangkok

Saying good bye to year 2011 and starting your new year 2012 with delight. Swedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA) invites you to have “WelcomeParty” on 12 January 2012. The venue will be ScanDeli. Let’s have dinner and share our happiness together. Please mark your calendar and stay tune for more information at www.sweabangkok.com.

Movie Night in PhuketDate: 19 January 2012Location: Kata Top View

Don’t you just love when you can watch a movie with Swedish soundtrack? Come and enjoy the monthly movie night at Swedish Church, Kata Top View. Meet up at 18.30 to see the sunset view at Kata before screening at 19.00. Popcorn and snacks are avail-able at special price. Please email to [email protected] and suggest future movies - maybe one, you have yourself?

Swedish Society in Hua Hin Annual MeetingDate: 26 January 2012Location: 3 Girls Restaurant

If you are Swedish living in Hua Hin, don’t miss the op-portunity to meet Swedish friends in friendly atmosphere. Enjoy the traditional pea soup together and find new con-tact to expand your network. The Annual Meeting will be held at 3 Girls Restaurant on 26 January 2012. For more information, please visit www.svenskforeningenhuahin.se.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY SCANDINAVIAN SOCIETY

The Chambers Visit to IKEA

The Nordic Chambers of Commerce visited the IKEA store in Bangna Trat Road on 21 December 2011.

They were met by Lars Svensson, IKEA, who explained the ‘IKEA shopping experi-ence’. After a tour in the store and breakfast kindly provided by IKEA, Lars Svensson ex-plained the concept and strategy of IKEA’s establishment in Thailand for the interested audience.

TSCC Executive Director Peter Björk thanked Lars Svensson after the visit.

6 ScandAsia.Thailand • January 2012

Danish Network’s End of the Year Party

HuahinDK organized the last network-ing in 2011 on 9 December 2011 at Mondo Vino. The event was also

Christmas celebration. About 63 people par-ticipated. Special thanks to Kurt from Danish Jailhouse for food arrangement. Congratulation to Preben Jakobsen who won “Member of The Year”. He is founder of the book club of the network and always brings books to every networking so mem-bers can borrow or swap their books. All members are thankful for this contribution to make the club better. HuahinDK wishes all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The network will do its best to continue contributing interesting and beneficial events in year 2012.

A chance to completely unwind and enjoy the serene scenery found on Koh Phangan and in

Salad Buri Resort & Spa

Salad Buri Resort & Spa60/2 Moo 8, Haad Salad, Koh Phangan, Suratthani 84280 Thailand

Tel: +66 (0) 77 349 146, +66 (0) 77 349 147 / Fax: +66 (0) 77 349 148Email: [email protected] / www.saladburi.com

A chance to completely unwind and enjoy the serene scenery found on Koh Phangan and in

Salad Buri Resort & Spa

Salad Buri Resort & Spa60/2 Moo 8, Haad Salad, Koh Phangan, Suratthani 84280 Thailand

Tel: +66 (0) 77 349 146, +66 (0) 77 349 147 / Fax: +66 (0) 77 349 148Email: [email protected] / www.saladburi.com

Sweden - Digitally yours!

“Sweden is a leading IT-country and the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok is right up front, too, when it comes to ap-plying digital means of serving its clients.”

That was the message when the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok on Wednesday 14 December 2011 presented the new IT Strategy of the Swedish government and introduced a few of the local Swedish IT savvy companies at the fashionable Bed Supperclub nightclub in the heart of Bangkok's hot nightlife. Ambassador Klas Molin held the opening speech at the event that was called in as a press conference, but in reality turned out to be a networking event, except the guests were not the typical members of the Thai-Swedish Chamber of Com-merce, but more a mix of the Young Professionals with outside guests from some of the local Bangkok media. The two examples among the Swedish companies in Thai-land, that had been invited to show how they worked with IT, were Area Digital - an advanced web creating company based in Bangkok – and the Hyde & Seek Gastro Bar which is partly owned by Swedes and over the last year has grown to be a well established destination for not only Bangkokians, but also international residents and visitors. To promote themselves Hyde & Seek Gastro Bar are using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They are regularly online and connect to the guests by having polls about their drinks and food etc through Facebook. Area Digital are not only a full service agency that construct quality websites, they also build advanced solutions based on da-tabases and helps with online marketing for different companies.

Visa videoAt the event, the Embassy showed its new video explaining how to get a visa to Sweden. The clip, which is in Thai and Swedish and with subtitles in both languages, shows how to apply for a visa to Sweden. Through visualizing the application process with the help of internet platforms such as YouTube the Embassy hopes to be able to better explain the necessary steps needed to apply for a visa to Sweden. The goal is to increase service and understanding of the application process through simplified information made available online. Although the application process in real life is not as simple and pleasant as the video shows, it was still a modern and in-structive method of communication. The Embassy works extensively with it’s website. You can find updated information about visas, travel information for Swedes and more. The Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok was named the best website year 2009. The Embassy launched its first social media project on Facebook end of April 2010 and shortly thereafter an account was created on Twitter. The main purpose with social media has been to inform Swedes living and travelling to Thai-land about the situation in the country but it has also been used as a channel to inform Thais about Sweden and to promote all things Swedish. The embassy has also been exploring new platforms for in-formation including an increased use of online media. The Embassy is primarily part of Swedenabroad.com, but a number of other institutions related to information about Swe-den are also integrated into the embassy's total communication platform. Some examples are SI.se, Studyinsweden.se etc. involve Government bodies; the goal is to engage the whole country in excelling at using IT-technology in order to simplify every day tasks and promote the advantages of user-friendly digital solutions so that innovative technology can be used to serve society. Therefore we want to share some examples with you of this.

Photos by Tommy Nori


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ScandAsia News Brief

In Denmark, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's birthday on Monday 5 De-cember 2011 was this year celebrated

extravagantly with a festive reception at The Old Stock Exchange in central Co-penhagen. H.E. Ambassador Piyawat Niyomreks and Mrs. Piyapin Niyomreks welcomed the guests in the old building erected by King Christian III. The toast to His Majesty King Bhu-mibol Adulyadej was delivered by Am-bassador, Lord Chamberlain Ove Ullerup and the Ambassador of Thailand in re-turn led the guests in a toast to her Maj-esty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. The two Thai Consul Generals in Denmark, Mr. Carsten Dencher Nielsen and Mr. Ib Thomsen held each a speech on the occasion and the Ambassador of Thailand briefed the participants on the severe flooding in Thailand. Throughout the evening, the guests were entertained by Uptown Jazz Band under the supervision of Lieutenant Col-onel Christian Eugen-Olsen except dur-ing the show of Thai dance performed by the Baan Ram Thai - Don Tri Thai dance troupe who had come from Thailand specifically for this occasion. The Thai Embassy's celebration of The King's birthday are traditionally quite well attended events, but this year, on the auspicious occasion of his 7th cycle birthday, the occasion had drawn in more guests than ever. They all enjoyed a truly delicious Thai dinner.

King Bhumibol’s Birthday Celebrated in Copenhagen

Clear Rules Precondition for Successful Berry-PickingA study conducted by the Lappea Re-

search Institute of the University of Lapland notes that foreign berry-pickers

will be needed in Finland in the future, too, but improving the berry-pickers’ position requires clearer rules. Researcher Pekka Rantanen said the sector has the prerequisites for operations, but in order to work better, it needs more efficient self-regu-lation and active development of the precondi-tions for picking work. “Coming to Finland as a picker is very chal-lenging. A successful berry-picking trip requires that other people working in the sector also act systematically and appropriately,” Rantanen con-tinued. The research project was co-financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, and the Ministry of the Interior. Financing was also received from the EU External Borders Fund. The research project was launched on the recommendation issued by the then Ombuds-man for Minorities Johanna Suurpää in De-cember 2009. Jarno Valkonen, D.Soc.Sc., was responsible for the research project, and the researcher was Pekka Rantanen, M.Soc.Sc. According to statistics, each year roughly 12,000 berry-pickers from countries with visa requirements arrive in Finland.

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Danish Church Minister at Christmas Service in Bangkok

Christ Church on Convent Road in Bangkok was filled with Scandinavians on 24 December 2011 when the

Swedish vicar Lovisa Moller led the commu-nity in a traditional Christmas Service in Bang-kok. Parts of the gospel was again delivered by various members of the community. The Icelandic part by Viktor Sveinsson, the Norwe-

Vicar Lovisa Möller at the tradional Christmas Service in Bangkok.

gian part by Ambassador Katja Nordgaard, the Swedish part by Ambassador Klas Molin and - surprise - the Danish part by Manu Sareen, Denmark’s Minister of Church and Equality! The minister was vacationing in Hua Hin and had come to Bangkok only for the service. “I am investigating if the Danish church tax can follow the Danes when they move abroad

Manu Sareen, Den-mark’s Minister of

Church and Equality, read this year the Dan-

ish part of the gospel instead of Poul Weber.

and form the basic income that a Church in Bangkok would need,” he told ScandAsia, adding that the Danish community would have to provide a substantial part of the funds themselves if a church should be established in Thailand. Several of the Danes present encouraged the Minister to carry on his investigation.


5

ScandAsia News Brief

The UD truck business in Thailand has officially been taken over by AB Volvo of Sweden ending a two-year legal

dispute with Hong Kong-listed Tan Chong International. Tan Chong, licensed by Nissan Diesel Motor (NDM) of Japan to assemble and distribute UD trucks in Thailand in 2002, charged the Swedish truck maker with breaching various terms of distribution and technical assistance agreements dated Dec 27, 2002. It was seeking compensation of HK$2.64 billion (10.6 billion baht) for dam-ages early last year. AB Volvo acquired the UD truck busi-ness worldwide by taking over NDM in

Volvo Takes Over UD Truck Operations

2007. The pair settled legal proceedings in September 2011, with Volvo required to pay a settlement to Tan Chong. Volvo Group Thailand, the authorised assembler and distributor of Volvo trucks in Thailand, has managed UD trucks locally since 1 Dec 2011, while Tan Chong remains contracted to assemble UD trucks to 2013 to ensure a seamless transition. President of Volvo's Thai unit Chris-tophe Martin said some UD truck dealers that previously worked with Tan Chong have approached Volvo Group to continue their UD truck business. There are 8,000 UD trucks in the coun-try, with 3,000 to 4,000 actively used.

New Maersk Line CEO

Søren Skou has been appointed as the new CEO of Maersk Line starting 6 January 2012. Søren Skou replaced Eivind Kolding who left Maersk

Line to become Chairman of the Executive Board of Danske Bank. Søren Skou's career with Maersk includes the po-sition as General Manager of operations at Maersk China. From there, he was promoted to VP/Sr. VP/EVP/CEO at Maersk Tankers, Head of Strategy and M&A at Mærsk Olie og Gas AS and Member of The Group Executive Board at A.P. Moller Maersk.

Danes who wish to be registered on the official “List of Danes” in Thailand have to register via

a new system established by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The new sys-tem allows a user to log in and update own data like addresses, phone numbers and next of kin. The purpose of the list is to enable the Embassy to contact Danish nationals in case of an acute crisis situ-ation. Go to: https://danskerlisten.um.dk

New List of Danes Abroad

New Trophy for SSS Cup Scandinavian Society Siam’s Golf

Section re-instated on Saturday 10 December 2011 a new SSS Golf

Cup after the original trophy was lost between two recipients. A new trophy was donated by the Board to the Golf Section and introduced with a few words by Board Member Flemming Winther Nielsen. The first Winner of the new SSS Cup was Leo Alexandersen.

Golf Captain Kristian Wenzell with the new SSS Cup trophy.

January 2012 • ScandAsia.Thailand 13

SAS Economy Extra Named the World’s Best Scandinavian Airlines’ long-haul premium economy offering,

Economy Extra, has been named the world’s best in a new survey by Global Traveler. Over 36,000 frequent travelers

participated, of which almost all travel in a service class other than Economy. SAS placed first in the category Best Airline for Pre-mium Economy with its Economy Extra class. SAS was one of the first airlines in the world to introduce a premium economy back in 2001, and it is available on all long-haul flights between Scandi-navia and Asia and the US. “This award is an honor to SAS, especially as it is the most frequent travelers that have voted for us. Our Economy Extra product is well-liked by both business and leisure travelers want-ing greater comfort, more leg room and even better service than in Economy, at a very competitive price,” says Niels Henrik Hans-en, Director and General Manager South East Asia, Scandinavian Airlines. Economy Extra on SAS’ long-haul routes is a separate cabin with wider seats than in Economy, more legroom, greater choice of meals and drinks and audio/video-on-demand entertainment. Economy Extra customers can also access Fast Track security (where available), travel with more luggage and earn more Eu-roBonus points. For more information on SAS’ different service classes on long-haul flights, please visit www.flysas.com/intercont

It’s about the quality in the education we

give at this school. And I’m

very picky about teachers, they are the absolute basis for this business.


First Officially Licensed Swedish School

The Quality Swedish School (QSS) in Kamala, Phuket was in August 2010 officially licensed by Thai authorities to operate as a Swedish school in Thailand.

By Joakim Persson

It had been a year dominated by red tape, a lot of costs and oth-er details when Birgitta Green and her husband finally in Au-gust 2011 as the first Swedish

school ever in Thailand was officially licensed by Thai authorities. Birgitta is in particular proud of having receipts on everything. ‘’We have not paid anything under the table to get things trough, which was the first condition the lawyer and auditor we hired had to accept.”

Sourcing teachersBirgitta’s connection to running schools on Phuket actually goes back to the very first school by and for Swedes set up in 2005. Back then she acted as a coordinator in Sweden to feed that school with teachers.

Coming back on holiday in the spring of year 2009, she was asked by families if she could not open up another school. With these signals from parents, indicating a growing demand, Birgit-ta, now principal, started a dialogue with legal advisors. “And we came back in the au-tumn to initiate a Swedish School. After having thought things through, my husband and I agreed that when taking on this challenge we ought to do it the right way from the start - knowing that this would take time and require money.” “I wanted a certified school where the Thai authorities would allow me to run a Swedish school following the Swedish curriculum and using Swedish teaching material. So we started that process and all the paperwork.”

The Swedish alphabetOne year later they landed on Phuket and headed right to the last hearing. There the strictly dressed Thai authori-ties representatives prompted the jet-lagged Swedes to answer the question: ‘How many letters are there in the Swedish alphabet?’ This was on August 3rd and the school was to open on the last day of the same month. During the summer all the Swed-ish books had been sent to the Thai authorities for them to go through. “They wanted to look at every-

thing, which they were of course welcome to do.” But it went well and the officials congratulated them with the message: “You should know this has tak-en us a lot of time, as it is the very first school which has been given a license to be certified as Swedish school in Thailand.” Birgitta especially took not when they said: ‘Thailand’. Not only Phuket. So with a license plate on the fence by the entrance, QSS started operations with Swedish teachers and three students, which eventu-ally grew to be just under twenty for the first year. In the beginning of 2012, QSS expects to have at least twenty-five students, and thirteen in its kinder-garten and be fully booked up until week 19.

Quality the key pointQSS will accept no more than 45 students in the school, where, as indi-cated by the name, quality is in focus. “It’s about the quality in the ed-ucation we give at this school. And I’m very picky about teachers, they are the absolute basis for this busi-ness,” says the principal who is not a teacher herself. “Quality also means no more than twelve students in one group. One must not have to wait in order to get help from the teacher. But I don’t interfere with their pedagog-


First Officially Licensed Swedish School

thinks the rules of the The Swedish National Agency for Education are obsolete and intends to write to Sweden’s Ambassador to Thailand about these tests.

You pay yourselfFinancially, almost without excep-tion parents must foot the bill for the education here themselves. Only a handful of municipalities ap-prove that the school voucher sys-tem follows the child to the school they attend outside Sweden, either the whole sum or the actual cost for the education. To get the education paid for otherwise is only possible based on consideration of special reasons. “It has a lot to do with jealousy in Sweden. I have seen this in my own municipality,” says Birgitta. Globalisation is increasing move-ment across borders and many Swedish families have moved and are increasingly moving abroad permanently. There seem to be some rising awareness also in Sweden that the times are changing. It was announced earlier in 2011 that the Swedish Ministry of Education will investigate based on the new realities who will have the right to government funds from Sweden for having their children in a Swedish school abroad. Today only those working for a Swedish author-ity has this right but the regulation is considered out-dated.

ics, which they also know before coming here.” QSS offers all topics, including second languages, domestic science and handicraft.

The parentsAs for what kind of families who will place their children at QSS, there are a few patterns. Some are those who run businesses on Phuket, oth-ers are those having a tough pe-riod back home and simply need a change of scenery trying to find their way back. “Or when one partner has health issues and coming here for recupera-tion. And we have those coming here on maternity leave so it’s very wide.” However, new regulations makes it difficult for families to get any extra leave other than the ordinary holidays, so next school year QSS expects to have a growing group of students coming only for two weeks. “New school plan does not give parents permission to get extra leave in the way it was possible be-fore but if they can sign up the child to a Swedish school on the destina-tion and I give a certificate that they have been here, they can get more easily get permission for leave.” Students in Grade 7 and up are also welcome but if not taking their studies via Sofia Distans such stu-dents must however return to Swe-den for the national tests. Birgitta

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ScandAsia magazine.indd 1 12/24/11 12:52 PM

Birgitta Green is the first person to be officially authorized to operate a Swedish school in Thailand.


New Swedish School in Hua Hin This YearH

ua Hin has for a num-ber of years attracted Scandinavian tour-ists in general and Sweeds in particular.

Apart from the traditional charter tourism in Hua Hin an established part of the city is now also all the villa areas where Swedish families has invested in a house in order to be able to spend more of their time in this part of the world. In order to meet up with the growing Scan-dinavian population and their needs for an education which corresponds

with the Swedish curriculum a new Swedish school is being established in the autumn of 2012. The school in Hua Hin is be-ing set up by Sanuk - the Swedish school of Thailand. Sanuk was the first Swedish school to establish in Thailand in 2004 on the island of Koh Lanta and in January 2011 a second school was established in the tropical paradise of Huay Yang. Sanuk schools offer Scandina-vians in general and Swedish families in particular the service of preschool and school and they also have their

own Childclub for tourists visiting Thailand. The schools are open for families that stay in Thailand for a period of 4 weeks and up to several years. Patrik, one of the school owners says “The schools follow the Swed-ish curriculum and only work with educated and experienced teachers in very small groups with no more than up to about 10 children in each class. The quality school service that we offer has been very well received and appreciated by the families in

both Koh Lanta and Huay Yang.” “Since Hua Hin is a very popu-lar area for Swedish families it feels natural for us to establish a school there in order to offer all Scandina-vians in the area the service of a high quality Swedish education.“

For more information about Sanuk schools please look at the website www.svenskaskolanthailand.se

Kathrin Blüme playing her guitar with the Swedish children in the world’s most beautiful school yard.


Eastern Swedish School Opened in Ban PheA

Swedish couple who quit their jobs and moves with their chil-dren to Thailand is no longer really news, and

yet it is the kind of step that takes courage. So what makes a family do it and how did they go about it? In the case of the Fredriksson family from outside Gothenburg who dared to do it, the breaking up from the western society’s routines also has another dimension – they eventually opened a new Swedish school in Thailand. For the Fredriksson’s it’s about fulfilling a dream. Actually, their Thailand story has a very spontane-ous start in that they purchased a holiday home in Thailand - in a vil-lage for Swedes - on paper without even having visited Thailand. When they came over for the first time during the autumn 2008 they utterly fell for the country and after a second visit in 2009 to their second home, they felt they would like to spend more of their time there, and not just visiting. But with young children this requires educa-tion facilities. They wanted a Swedish school but there was none on Thailand’s

east coast, from Pattaya and further east, where in fact an already large community of Swedes have settled down primarily between Ban Phe, Koh Samet’s mainland port town. and Mae Phim - in addition to the larger community in Jomtien/Pattaya.

Starting a school on his ownIn early 2010 Martin had understood the situation and found a mission – if he wanted a Swedish school there, on Thailand’s east coast, he would have to open it himself! So he start-ed contemplating the idea, and set-ting things in motion, while his wife was sceptical at first. These are still early days but their school start-up became real-ity as Eastern Swedish School (ESS) opened on 1 November for the first test-run as of its inaugural, short-ened school year. But much has been accomplished already within a relatively short time frame – from idea to inception. Many key compo-nents have fallen into place, seem-ingly almost as if meant to be. And it did not take long before many Swedish families, both in Swe-den and as second home abroad families in Thailand started showing interest.

Expect 25 students in 2012A total of around 25 students are expected during this first school year, most of them short-term dur-ing the peak winter season. ESS functions as an away-from-home school as well as a permanent school. “We have two variants. Those who will study full time whose par-ents live or work here or those semi-Swedish where often the father is Swedish and with a Thai mother, or she has own children where they have the interest in hav-ing their children learning Swedish. And one thinks that many of the Thai schools don’t keep the similar quality as a Swedish school,” ex-plains Martin. “The other one is those vaca-tion children where the parents want to stay longer than two weeks. We start from minimum four weeks but the first year we accept also for shorter periods than that as one wants to come here and get to know the area, the school and try it out.” And then one brings study plan and books from Sweden and ESS has contact with their teacher back home for evaluation.

In early 2010 Martin Fredriksson realized, that if he wanted a Swedish school in the Rayong area, he would have to open it himself!

By Joakim Persson

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Eastern Swedish School Opened in Ban Phe “So when applying for leave one also applies to this school so we write certificates to the school back home that the student is registered. And that enables parents to be here up to three months, which is popu-lar especially for those families on parental leave.” Up to grade 6 students can study full-time at ESS. After that one must sign up to Sofia Distans in Sweden, for distance learning via the Internet, where ESS is also interested in taking on and doing lecturing onwards. “Since no foreign schools are allowed to give grades it becomes complicated if they want to stay here longer than grade 6. We don’t have all the languages here or for example handicraft as topic, in which they get grades in high school. And there are many national tests that we are not able to hold.”

Life coaching educationIn addition to being in Thailand, studying at ESS will be special for the children and their parents as they get a unique pedagogic which is permeated by principles from mental training. Initially Martin Fredriksson had consulted the already existing Swedish schools in Thailand but eventually he could join forces with education expert Lars-Erik Uneståhl who is conveniently expanding his coaching training centre to Thailand. Centre of Excellence Training, and affiliate to Skandinaviska Ledarhög-skolan, is located nearby Thaihem, a Swedish villa community some 20 kilometres further east of Ban Phe. Lars-Erik Uneståhl is well known for his work and research within men-tal training and as sports psychologist, which paves the way for high quality in the education, according to ESS. The teaching style takes into consideration each student’s indi-vidual method of learning, while learning to learn and learning for life - where the school is the first step in one’s life of continued learning. It’s a lot about the individual, to create motivation with the student; self-confidence more than pumping the brain with information,” explains Martin. The school will not be satis-fied with just showing the path to good grades but to also work on life coaching and also places focus on health, including both physical and mental training.

ESS also intends to train the parents to get a long-lasting effect when they return back home.

Ban Phe in the centreThe school is quietly located in the small port town of Ban Phe, on the premises of a vast privately owned land where bungalows for rent are also spread out, and with large open grass fields round the school build-ing. Going down to the beach is walking distance. “When looking in a wider per-spective that the school will grow to target a larger area, then it is very well-placed. People stay on Hat Mae Ram Phoeng beach, near Ban Phe and towards Mae Phim. And we are also close to Rayong.” The goal for ESS is first to keep on growing until to a capacity of having up to 70 students. Then Martin is also positive to the idea of opening up an affiliate school in Jomtien/Pattaya, a few years down the line. One step at a time.

Since no foreign schools are allowed

to give grades it becomes complicated

if they want to stay here longer than grade 6. We don’t have all the

languages here or for example handicraft

as topic, in which they get grades in high school. And there are many

national tests that we are not able to hold.

Martin Fredriksson on the balcony of the new Swedish school in Baan Phe.


Where the Waters Meet - Pak Nam Pho

Wherever you read about riv-er life, inland shipping and timber floating

in the old Siam, you time and again see the name ‘Pak Nam Pho’, liter-ally that is: ‘The Confluence at the Pho Tree’’. A place of utmost im-portance, in fact it was the capital of the waterways; the floaters, the fish-ermen, the rafts and the rice barges, but also the wildlife, especially the birds benefited in millions from the rivers and the swamps. Sooner or later, most of the teak logs from the concessions up north arrived here; also the thou-sand of logs from the East Asiatic Company concessions of approxi-mately 5.000 km2 in and beyond Phrae Province by river Yom. Nowadays the official name of the town and province is Nakhon Sawan, it means: ‘The Heavenly City’; and it is beautifully situated 240 kilometers northeast of Bang-kok. Nevertheless, the old name: Pak Nam Pho is much more in daily use, a bit more down to earth -sic- as it is. In the swamps just east of Nakhon Sawan, river Nan, with its tributary Yom, meets river Ping and they form ChaoPhraya river..

Years of flooding, years of droughtIt is early October 2011, it is the rainy season and it is not a pleas-ant drive up the central plains from Bangkok. In many places even the highway 1 and 32, The Asian High-

way, is starting to flood, from time to time only one lane passable. It is the time of flooding; all paddy fields, villages and even towns to the east and to the west are partly inundat-ed. But this is also the period of the year where all the teak logs in ‘the old days’, could float quite fast down the minor rivers, for example Yom and Nan. In extraordinary rainy sea-sons, like this year, the water over-flew the river banks. Learning by watching nature really, I finally understood why it was necessary -as early on the river route as possible- for the compa-nies to let their Siamese river-teams built rafts of the logs and man them. They did that immediately before the old town of Sukothai where the river passed the last waterfall, or more exact: cataract, the waterbed still narrow and not so much wider than the rafts. If they had not done so very many single logs would have been stolen or lost in the flooded paddy fields or the swamps; on their way first to Pak Nam Pho and then finally through the very flat plains to Bangkok. On the other hand; in dry years the logs got nowhere and in 1904-5 EAC experienced that it had taken three years -three seasons- to get the logs from Phrae the approxi-mately seven hundred kilometers down to the sawmills in Bangkok. In those years the logs were laying in one big mess at the bottom of the almost dry riverbeds, and EAC doctored the books, in order to hide that many million dollars were

stranded somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It must be remem-bered that the company had invest-ed heavily in Phrae, starting years earlier. Both H.N. Andersen and his partner up here, Captain Guldberg would like to see the sawmills in Bangkok work!

Young Dane in Pak Nam PhoIn 1909-10 Ernst Mazar de la Garde, son of the postmaster in Ribe, Den-mark, spend the season in Pak Nam Pho. The young man of 25 year was working as Forest Assistant mostly in and around Phrae, employee of EAC. His primary job was to super-vise the logging and, with the help of the elephants, to get the logs down to the river Yom. But when we meet him, he had established him-self in Pak Nam Pho. Here EAC had a domicile built on pontoons and moored to the quay. In the house there were both offices and living quarters and Gardes job was to fol-low and inspect the arriving rafts. Thereafter he, together with his counterparts, the King’s officials, had to measure the length of the logs since the royalty had to be paid ac-cording to this. Today there seems to be nothing much left neither of buildings nor teak. Only a few Chi-nese trading houses stand, simple and functional architecture. The rafts themselves were im-pressing. They consisted of around 180 logs, tied together with rattan, and then shelters for the crew, who lived ‘onboard’, were made. After the royalty procedures the rafts

The confluence of the Nan river and the Ping river that form the ChaoPhraya river is an interesting place to visit when you know its historical importance among others for the Danish teak trade 100 years ago.

By Flemming Winther Nielsen


Where the Waters Meet - Pak Nam Phocould then start out on Chao Phra-ya River, the last leg of the journey to Bangkok maneuvered with the help of two huge oars in the front of the raft. After the last raft had left, Garde also started out, but he was travel-ling north in a ‘manpowered’ boat of the company. Because of all the cataracts in Nan and Yom River, steam boats could no longer be used. It was then his task to find stranded logs between Sukothai and Phrae, where the rafts had not been formed yet. Pak Nam Pho was back then the outpost of the local edition of civilization. Small steamships eas-ily reached its wooden quays. We know that King Chulalongkorn in 1881 asked, then Captain, Andreas Richelieu to sail the Norwegian ex-plorer Carl Bock up here. It took four days and nights and a lot of coal against the current. Also The Royal Gendarmerie had a post and a block house in the town. Colonel Carl Springer, then captain, was most active in trying to reclaim stolen teak. The logs were often hidden in the big swamps to the East of Pak Nam Pho. Later Colonel Springer resigned from the Gendarmerie and for the rest of his life lived in Phrae where he worked for EAC. During our short stay of 3 days, the water level in the rivers rose tre-mendously fast and the current got even stronger. Dykes of at least 2 meters had been erected on top of the quays, but the water had already started to lick over them, more sandbags were added. The peaceful rivers and the landscape had turned to be an infer-no of water running at high speed. High time to leave. It took us 11 long hours to reach the outskirts of Bangkok.

Travel thereIn the dry season travelling to Na-khon Sawan by ‘The Asian High-way’ 1 and 32 is easy and the town and surroundings are really worth it. There is a steep hill - or rock, in northern part of town; prominent in the landscape also because of antennas and radars, but neverthe-less there is public access by a ser-pentine road. The road starts by the pompous Greek inspired white Town Hall at the foot of the hill. On the top there is a little temple and a

magnificent view over the town, the rivers and the swamps. As an extra, a lot of birds will surround you. As an exception, I would like to recommend a hotel, namely The Vissanu Grand Plaza. Although ab-solutely affordable, the hotel offers good value (and a good breakfast) for money. As all over the world you can be sure when you note all the cars of the sales representatives and the technicians parked safely in-side the hotel campus.

Source:Mazar de la Garde, Ernst (1945): ’Blandt Teaktraeer og Elefanter’ [Among Teaktrees and Elephants]

Post ScriptumWe left Nakhon Sawan the fifth of October 2011. The water situation was as the photos show. But I really feared how this would end; the amount of water was extreme and the speed fast and powerful as an iron fist. Two days later the town was totally inundated up to the foot of Khao Kop Mountain. Nakhon Sawan paid a high price and it will take a long time to rebuild. Whether people can live in the town without fear in the rainy season, I don’t know.


Our house is located on the bank of the Chao Phraya river a few kilometers downstream of

Nakhon Sawan city center. On Sep-tember 7 the slowly but steadily in-creasing river water level exceeded the embankment level - which is the level of the road - and water started to flow into our house and garden. Fortunately our house is a tra-ditional cool wooden Thai house with a second floor well above any expected flood level, so we could move our belongings upstairs and stay there until the flood was over. But unfortunately that took much longer time than we had expected. During the major 1995 flood, which was the highest flood re-corded since the completion of the two major dams upstream Nakhon Sawan in the 1960’s (Bhumipol and Sirikit dams), our road and house was flooded by up to 15 cm only for 2-3 weeks. In 2011, however,

Nakhon Sawan City became flooded with up to 3 meter of water in a matter of hours when parts of the high flood protection dikes recently constructed in the city along the Ping and Chao Phraya rivers broke down due the extreme river discharges and water levels in September- October 2011.

Text and photos: Steen Asger Nielsen

Living With The Floods

our house became flooded by up to 1 meter for nearly two months. After the first week, the water level exceeded the maximum 1995 flood level, and we became really surprised and a little worried. Our worries increased every day with the ever increasing water level: How high could the level become? Would the road embankment be eroded due to the continuous over-flow? Would we be able to come around for necessary basic sup-plies? Would power and water sup-plies be maintained in a safe way? Would we eventually have to move our family somewhere else and risk looting? Anyway, we decided to stay as long as possible and reasonably safe. Thanks to my brave wife we managed quite well during the two months of flooding, securing basic supplies by fishing in the garden downstairs and by walking about one kilometer through the flood water to the nearest local market.

The author is a retired Danish civil engineer and hydrologist. Since his graduation from the Technical University of Denmark in 1971 he has worked as hydrologist, project manager and training expert on numerous water projects in Europe, Africa and Asia. In the last 22 years mainly on flood management projects including computer-based flood modeling and forecasting projects in India, Bangladesh and Thailand.


But I must admit that our stress levels increased considerably after our neighbor saw a crocodile on his way to the local market, and when another croc was spotted nearby a week later. Suddenly the fun was over and the children ceased to play and swim in the flood water, and small boats became very popular. Great relief on October 13 when finally the water level peaked and only the garden had been de-stroyed. Most other people in Na-khon Sawan were not so lucky. Three weeks later we were dry again and it was time to start the clean-up and repair of everything downstairs plastered with 2 months of river sediments.

How can such flood disasters be avoided in the coming years?The extreme river discharges in Sep-tember-October that created havoc in Nakhon Sawan and along the river on its way towards Bangkok were partly caused by the forced high releases by the two upstream dams when becoming full. In 1998-99, I was involved in the most comprehensive flood mitiga-tion study for the Chao Phraya river basin executed by JICA, Japan. In a follow-up study in year 2000, the Crown Property Bureau (CPB) se-lected the most suitable JICA alter-native for further implementation. The main components were (1) pro-posed changes to the old reservoir operation rules curves for the two large dams upstream (rule curves specify the maximum allowed reser-voir water level for each day of the year) and (2) a large diversion chan-nel east of Bangkok from Ayuttaya to the Gulf of Thailand. Unfortunately the selected flood mitigation measures were never implemented. Prompted by the 2011 flood disaster, however, the government will reportedly now finally imple-ment a new plan based on the JICA study and the Follow-up study.

Upstream: Better water managementIf managed well, the two upstream dams are useful tools for modifying and decreasing the natural floods in the Chao Phraya river basin. If the proposed new rule curves for the two dams had been implemented, much more discharge would have

Living With The Floodsbeen released from the dams early on in the 2011 rainy season, reduc-ing or maybe even eliminating the enforced high releases in Septem-ber-October on top of the already high natural flows downstream. Thereby the disastrous 2011 flood peak in Chao Phraya river at Nakhon Sawan could have been reduced considerably, probably to a magnitude similar to the one in 1995, when the peak river wa-ter level was 0.8 meter lower than the 2011 flood peak and the cor-responding discharge about 1000 m3/s (15-20%) lower. Such a flood would, at least in the upstream parts of the river, have been manageable as it would not have been able to destroy or submerge many local flood defenses constructed since 1995.

Downstream: A new canalfrom Ayutthaya to the Gulf of SiamIn the downstream parts of the river system from Ayuttaya to Bangkok the river flooding problems are very complex and a solution here requires additional measures, in particular a controlled diversion of flood water from the main river upstream during high floods, such as JICA’s proposed large diversion channel around Bang-kok (a “Chao Phraya 2”). It was, however, never con-structed despite CPB’s recommen-dation in year 2000, maybe due to need of house evacuations etc. or the high cost of about 30 Billion Baht. But such an investment would in fact have been peanuts compared to the economic cost of the 2011 disaster flood alone, reportedly to-taling 1300 Billion Baht. Unfortunately the only major option available already this year 2012 to reduce the risk of another disastrous flood, is improved man-agement of the two major dams up-stream, which therefore becomes even more important in the short term. Thus the mentioned JICA rule curves, or even better rules taking into account the major 2006 and 2011 flood events as well, should be implemented urgently. At least the mistake made in 2011 by keeping the dam water levels too high throughout the rainy season should not be repeated, as Thailand and its brave people can definitely not afford another such flood, neither so-cially or economically.

Nakhon Sawan is located where Mae Ping meets the Nan River to form the Chao Phraya River.

Civil engineer and hydrologist Steen Asger Nielsen could during the flooding catch his dinner in his own back yard.


The Chao Phraya River curves through the southwestern part of the historic city of Ayut-thaya. When the flood-

ing his Thailand in October 2011, it was inevitable that the river would overflowed onto nearby floodplains, especially southwest of the river and west of Route 356. Still, the huge amount of water was unexpected. Fields, roads, and buildings were all submerged by sediment-clogged flood water. The ancient city of Ayutthaya is World Heritage site under the United Nations Educational, Scien-tific and Cultural Organization. As the water receded, assessment of the damage and repair and clean up quickly took place. Already in December, Ayutthaya was ready to celebrate the 20th anniversary of be-ing declared a Unesco World Heri-tage site. Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya was established by King U Thong in A.D. 1350. Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam (known as Thai Kingdom or Thailand) which is longest capital city of Thai history. In the sixteenth century, it was described by for-eign traders as one of the biggest

Ayutthaya World Heritage 20th AnniversaryThe historic city of Ayutthaya, that lies downstream from Nakhon Sawan along the Chay Phraya river, was inevitably hard hit by the flooding disaster that hit Thailand in October and November 2011. But in December, the city was ready to celebrate its 20 Year Anniversary as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

By Pimjai Chaimongkol

and wealthiest cities in the East. In A.D. 1767, the city was completely burned by Burmese. The city was left in ruins and was impossible to rebuild. General Taak-Sin, the governor of Taak, gathered forces and made a strike back at the Burmese. He finally established the new capital at Thonburi. In 1782, King Rama I moved the capital to Bangkok. The city of Ayutthaya was re-founded near the old city, and is now capital of the Ayutthaya prov-ince. The ruins of the historic city of Ayutthaya represents the truly an-cient Thai art, culture and history.

Wat Niwet Thammaprawat

Wat Lokayasutha

Wat Chaiwattanaram

Ayutthaya World Heritage 20th AnniversaryBy trainTourist can take a train which is termi-nal of Northern and Northeastern part of Thailand and take off at Bang Pa-in, Ayutthaya and Baan Phachi Railway Junction. It takes about 2 hours from Hua Lamphong terminal station. More information call 1690.

By CarFrom Bangkok to Ayutthaya, tourist can take public highway no. 1 (Phahonyo-thin road), turn to public highway no. 32 and turn left to public highway no. 309. More information call 1193.

By BusTourist takes a daily bus at Morchit Ter-minal Station. Besides there are vans available at Victory Monument as well.

By CruiseCruise is the most popular trip from Bangkok to Ayutthaya. Tourist can take a one day trip on ancient boat with nice facility, Thai food on board and enjoy the scenery along Chao Phraya River.

How to Get There

Tuk Tuks in Ayutthaya have two parallel benches for passengers.

Bang Pa-In Royal Palace


What to DoCruising around Koh MuangKoh Muang or Island City is the main town of Ayutthaya. Koh Muang is surrounded by Pa Sak River and Chao Phraya River. In the past, Thai people built house near the river because they believed the river ba-sin is plentiful land and it was conve-nient for transportation and trade. Cruising around Koh Muang takes about one and a half hour. Tourist enjoy the attractions near the river where is location of many ancient temples, historic site or Thai-style houses. The fee is about 800 baht by small motorboat (maxi-mum 8 passengers). Tourist can ne-gotiate with the helmsman to stop by the side. The starting point is at Phanan Choeng Temple.

BicyclingBicycling is highly recommended as Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) encourage to have a Eco Tour or Green Travel. Tourist is able to sense the historic site with-out any interruption the culture. Tourist just take their time enjoy the sightseeing. Bicycle rental fee is about 20 baht/day. Some guesthouse pro-vides it free of charge. Tourist can find many bicycle shops near Ayut-thaya train station. Remember to have a map with you, sun helmet and put sunblock on.

Where to GoAyutthaya was ascendant country for 417 year. There was the record that the city had a good relationship with foreign trader in Asia and Eu-rope. They had permitted to build the village outside the wall such as

Japanese Vllage and Portuguese Vil-lage. There are many historic site in Ayutthaya, tourist would enjoy to learn from.

Bang Pa-In Royal PalaceBang Pa-In Royal Palace or Summer Palace is located in Bang Pa-In dis-trict. Bang Pa-In Royal Palace was originally built by King Prasat Thong in A.D. 1632. The most buildings were constructed by King Chilalong-korn between 1872 and 1889. The Palace was restored by King Mong-kut in mid of 19th century. The outstanding buildings in-clude Wehart Chamrunt or Heav-enly Light - a Chinese-style Royal Palace; the Warophat Phiman Royal Residence; Ho Withun Thasana Tower; and the Aisawan Thiphya-Art Pavilion in the middle of a pond. The palace is surrounded by won-derful gardens and landscape. Visitors who visit the palace must be clothed in proper attire. The following dress code are not al-lowed; sleeveless, short-pants, san-dals, short skirt, tight fitting trousers, see-through shirts and blouses. Pho-tograph is prohibited in some area. The ticket fee is 100 baht/person.

Wat Niwet ThammaprawatWat Niwet Thammaprawat is locat-ed opposite Bang Pa-In Royal Palace. It was built by King Rama V. The cha-pel and buildings was built in Gothic style. Outside is look like church but the Buddhist temple is actually inside. The principal Buddha image is Phra Buddha Naruemon Dharmopath. The colors glass was created virtual image of King Rama V. The excitement is visitors have to cross the river by cable basket because the temple is located in the bank of the river.

What to EatRoti SaimaiWhen you talk about Ayutthaya, one thing that you can’t miss is Roti Saimai which is originated dessert influenced by Islamic from 80 years ago. It is a candy floss or cotton can-dy which is wrapped in a sweet roti. The best place to find Roti Saimai shop is at Auu Thong Road near Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital. The recommended stall is Bang Bee.

Mae Nam RestaurantMae Nam Restaurant is located in Klang Market. From Bang Pa-In junc-tion, take a public highway no. 32 at km 22 (inbound to Bangkok). The favorite dish is the grilled tiger prawn with spicy seafood dip. Others rec-ommended menu such as grilled fish with salt coating, and boiled cocker-els with spicy seafood dip.

Bang Bee Roti Saimai

You have to come here and experience. You can learn new things every day. I go to food markets with Thai chefs and they

can always show me something new.


4

Travelling Chef Loves Working in AsiaMathias Olsson, a chef from Sweden with vast international experience, is into his third year in Bangkok.

By Joakim Persson

There are two things to highlight in this story. That the well-known Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa no longer bears

this name. And its Swedish Executive Sous Chef, Mathias Olsson. Mathias Olsson has been work-ing with Bangkok’s only true city resort for two years already. The rebranding of Marriott to Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa is a little more recent. The name change to Anantara enhances the indigenous cultural experience of the resort, which is always in focus for this Thai brand. For it is the life and landmarks by the river that best give a sense of this city’s ancient past, while the endless water flow symbolizes timelessness.

Back and forth to AsiaSwedish chefs are rare in these wa-ters, so how has this particular riv-erside property managed to entice Mathias Olsson - or the opposite? Probably his valuable experience from hotels elsewhere in the region has been of significance and Asia ranks high for Mathias as a place where to live and work. His most recent position was with a five-star hotel start-up in Dubai, Angsana. Closer to Thailand he has earlier held the position as Executive Chef for the Raffles Grand

Hotel d’Angkor in Cambodia. Previously he had travelled back and forth to Asia during a number of years while doing seasonal chef work; ski seasons in Switzerland and some-times during the summers in Norway. “I used to go almost every year for 3 to 4 months to Asia and travel around everywhere. Then I thought: why not try and find a job here in Asia? I liked it more here than in Eu-rope anyway.” The first job he got was in Singa-pore, but bringing his fiancée and es-tablishing a popular café they were yet unable to stay on due to that she could no longer extend the visa. So eventually they were forced to move on to new shores.

Chef on the seven seasBecoming a skilled chef he had pre-viously learned the hard and only way; in his case in a five-star hotel in England by working his way up from the lowest position in the kitchen. Prior to that, he had followed in the footsteps of his grandfather who was a sailor, taking jobs as an 18-year-old chef on cargo ships and by that building his interest in travel-ling and getting to see the world. But the cooking was not that in-teresting aside travelling everywhere and after two years he came back on shore and wanted to improve his cooking skills.


Travelling Chef Loves Working in Asia

International chefHaving worked large parts of his adult life outside Sweden, he is not particu-larly Swedish anymore, which fits An-antara Riverside Bangkok (Anantara Bangkok Riverside) well with its wide variety of cuisine in the ten outlets. “I guess I’m more international because my wife is Swiss and I spent a lot of time in Switzerland and don’t speak much Swedish anymore other than with my family and my Swedish neighbour here in Bangkok.” “Sometimes we serve some herring or marinated and smoked salmon and these things I do the Swedish way. But I’ve worked in eleven countries now and spent a lot of time in England, Switzerland, and France - so my cooking is tra-ditional French and German more than Swedish.” Everywhere he has worked he takes the best with him and utilizes it at the next position. In Bangkok, he will continue for at least another year, “unless they move me some-where else within Anantara,” he adds, indicating that he is happy to continue working for this Thai brand.

Asian food extra curricular“I don’t cook much Thai food my-self, but from working in Singapore I’ve had Chinese staff, and from the Middle East many Indonesians, Philippines and Indian staff so I’m

well versed with most dishes from around Asia.” Asian cuisine is not taught to chefs in Europe, he says. “You have to come here and experience. You can learn new things every day. I go to food mar-kets with Thai chefs and they can always show me something new.” Mostly he helps out with cook-ing the Western food while his duty is to oversee the whole operation and the 130 cooks involved. He finds being Sous Chef, a position which he has held for nine years, to be a good role where one doesn’t have to spend too much time in the office and still has time to cook in the kitchen - even though he would like to cook more. “With so many outlets it’s more managing, such as recipe- and menu writing. But I do a lot of hands-on training.” Within a year or so he expects, however, to take on an Executive Chef role as he is climbing up the ladder. Mathias has a significant point, why western chefs often have prob-lems coming to Asia to work here. It requires a different approach: “Asia has always been hot! A lot of people want to come here but it’s very different working here than in Europe. When I take care of things in a hotel there I only need give an

instruction once and it works. Here, in the kitchen environment you have to be more patient and spend a lot more time on training and you need to follow up a lot. It takes a while to get things done sometimes. So the management style is completely dif-ferent from Europe.”

to try new things while some other nationalities will only eat their own food. So there is really not the need to have any Scandinavian dishes on the menu.” Case in point, one of Sweden’s largest evening newspapers, Expres-sen Mat (please remove Mat), has just visited him to do a theme on Asian-inspired food and for ScandAsia he showcased Japanese food at the newly renovated Japanese steakhouse Benihana which delivers, as witnessed, a very lively ‘eatertainment’ through theatrical Teppanyaki style. Nothing short of very special dining experiences, Anantara Bang-kok Riverside in addition to this of-fers Italian cuisine in a Tuscan villa setting(please add restaurant name, Brio), a legendary Sunday brunch at the Riverside Terrace(please change to Trader Vic’s), or how about din-ing on delectable Thai cuisine while gliding past the city’s famous cultural sites!(please add restaurant name, Manohra Cruises) And there is even more on-wa-ter luxury to enjoy from Anantara, with the truly unique offer for over-night cruises upriver on a couple of one-hundred-year-old rice barges which have been painstakingly re-built from teak and restored; blend-ing quintessential old world charm, modern comforts and truly person-alized service.

Scandinavians more daringVisitors from Sweden perhaps stay-ing a bit longer and becoming keen on some Swedish food can certainly turn to Mathis (please use Mathias) and he will cook whatever they wish to have, as long as they let him know in advance, he says. “Usually Scandinavians are quite adventurous, they will have any food; Indian, Thai etc. and they like


Some Legends Get Better…

InterContinental Samui Baan Taling Ngam Resort Announces Opening as 1st February 2012, marking the Return of the Island’s Legendary Grand Dame.

The highly anticipated InterContinental Samui Baan Taling Ngam Re-sort has announced its opening date as 1st

February 2012. Located on the former site of Baan Taling Ngam Resort, the stun-ning 22-acre property has a legend-ary status as Koh Samui’s first ever luxury resort and opens following a 10-month multimillion dollar reno-vation project led by some of the region’s best known consultants. She boasts 79- luxurious guest residences, seven stunning swim-ming pools, a private beach with 150m licensed jetty, a number of unique 2-bedroom villas, world class dining and an expansive spa raised 120 meters above sea level. Ranging from 67 to 320 square meters, each residence will boast a private balcony, expansive bath-room with soaking tub and water-fall shower - and be adorned with unique ‘pops’ of colour adding a contemporary edge to the resort’s strong Thai heritage. 12 signature

standalone Beachfront Pool Villas are just steps away from the shore-line and feature luxuriously appoint-ed living and lounging areas in addi-tion to a private sundeck, swimming pool and 24-hour butler service. Seven swimming pools through-out the resort will give semi-private pool access to villa guests looking for space; whilst a 150-metre li-censed private pier will be home to three resident luxury boats available for guest use. The ‘must try destination’ of the resort will be Air Bar, an ultra lounge bar offering 360-degree views of the Gulf of Thailand and a unique menu of molecular cocktails from Joseph Boroski of Sip Slowly New York, sakes and unusual tapas, sushi and sashimi. Gourmet dining will come in many forms with beachside restau-rant Flames serving up Modern Eu-ropean cuisines cooked live, grilled or flamed in front of guests - and Amber, a range of delectable Thai and Asian cuisines through an open dine-in kitchen concept with onsite

bakery and multiple live cooking sta-tions allowing guests up close to the action. With InterContinental’s “In the Know” Concierge programme, guests will be guaranteed a journey of discovery with the hotel’s ‘insider experiences' showcasing the best the island and surrounding areas have to offer, as well as the ability to create a range of tailor made and bespoke packages to engage cus-tomers with the local community and rural Thai life to ensure life long memories to take home. Baan Taling Ngam has been ranked in New York Times’ best seller book “1000 Places to See Before You Die,” for its stunning sunset views and vistas across the famous “Five Islands” and Angthong National Park. Well-loved through the years by discerning travelers who have come across the world to this idyllic destination, the Baan Taling Ngam legend gets even better as it flies the new flag of InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.

Special offer

Opening rates for the resort’s signature Beachfront Pool Villas will start from 17,195 THB +++ per night and be available until 31 March 2012, including:• Breakfast at Amber Restaurant• Welcome cocktails at Air Bar• Complimentary Wi-Fi internet access throughout the resort• Complimentary use of the resort’s fully equipped fitness center, tennis, golf practice area, mountain bikes, kids club, library etc.• Complimentary use of the resort’s many non-motorised water sports activities including kayaking, sailing, and wind surfing.

Bookings can be made online at www.intercontinental.com/samui or by contacting the resort’s reservations department on Tel. +66 (0) 7742 9100 Email [email protected]


Lover’s Chocolate Indulgence Package

Lotus Spa of Siam, Siam City Hotel invites you to Indulge in a little relaxation and romance this Valentine’s Day for only Bht 4,000++ per couple over a luxuriant 1.3 hours.

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Students Brought Christmas to Klong ToeyT

he Mercy Centre is a foundation set up in 1973, devoted to the children of Bangkok’s slums. One of these centres is located

in Klong Toey where it is dedicated to taking care of and educating around 60 children of varying ages, living with HIV and AIDS. The disease not only weak-ens the ones infected, but also stigma-tizes them. In the Mercy Centre, how-ever, the house-mothers have created a caring and nurturing environment in which HIV and AIDS is present but not the main focus. Two years ago a student-led group from NIST - New Interna-tional School of Thailand - focus-ing on charity started to work closely with this Mercy Centre in Klong Toey. The group called itself “Dreams We Believe In” (DWBI). This Christmas, we started early, asking the children already in October to fill out a card with their Christmas wishes. Various mem-bers of the NIST community, both students, parents and staff, chose a card and bought the child what he or she wished for. When we ar-rived at the Mercy Centre on the day of the celebration, we hid the bags with the gifts in the storeroom, saving the best for last.

The partyAs there is a mix of children of all ages at the centre, the youngest 15 months, the oldest 17, we divided them into two different age groups with games designed for each. The younger group started off with “Santa Says”, a spinoff of the classic Simon Says. Music freeze and various other quick-paced games took place before the piñatas were brought in. The children gazed in awe at the large Candy Cane and Christmas tree shaped piñatas bought from Manee Piñatas, a private contrac-tor in Bangkok that kindly donated a third piñata, free of charge. When the piñatas broke, the children rushed forward to grab as much candy as they could; one little boy, maybe three or four years old, got two handfuls. A few older children wanted to trade with him, to exchange a marshmallow for a small Haribo bag of candy, but he refused and ran away. One of us volunteers helped him, tried to put the candy in his pockets. He was wary at first, but he tolerated the help when he realised we wouldn’t steal it, and asked us to open one of the plastic wrappings so that he could enjoy some of it right away.

Bei Otto and ScanDeliThanks to generous donations from two restaurants, Bei Otto and Scan-Deli, we had enough food to feed the entire group. Bei Otto, located on Sukhumvit 20, supplied German buns with burgers and sausages, while ScanDeli, located on Sukhum-vit Soi 18, donated Swedish Christ-mas Food. The house-moms at the Mercy Centre prepared noodles as well as a safety plan in case the children wouldn’t like the European food. At first, the children chose the familiar noodles, but after some encourage-ment they came to appreciate the other food as well. Before long, the children came back for seconds. The German burgers, the Swed-ish meatballs and Christmas ham were especially favoured. On the other hand, the Swedish salmon and herring were less popular, but some brave children tried it. Throughout the meal, classical Christmas songs such as Feliz Navidad and Jingle bells were played; it would not be Christ-mas without them. One NIST student volunteer had baked sixty cupcakes with varying frostings and decorations. The chil-dren expectantly got one each, and I sneaked a second serving to one of the girls who had previously assisted in plating the food. She smiled at me before going back to her spot on one of the long benches. “They have been talking about this for weeks” one of the house-mothers told us. “It is fun to see them enjoying themselves.”

Giving of the giftsWhen the children were finished eating, they remained seated. An expectant air fell over the group, as “Santa” took his place in front. One after one, he called out the names of the children and gave them their gifts. One touching moment was

How do you remember your childhood Christmas celebrations? How you celebrate them? Did you enjoy good food and the presence of family and friends? Read here how we, a group of students from the New International School of Thailand (NIST), tried to show some of the children of Klong Toey’s slums what Christmas can be like.

By NIST Student Mathilda Strobel with help from the DWBI team

Gajan, 3, enjoying her matching hat and dress. She got exactly what she wished for.


Students Brought Christmas to Klong Toeywhen a boy, possibly eight or nine, bowed before he received his gift. The children didn’t open the gifts straight away, but watched their friends and classmates receive theirs first. When the magical moment had passed and all the gifts had been delivered, the unwrapping be-gan. Phon, a girl of thirteen suffer-ing from limited vision, got the hat and dress she wished for. Another boy, got the socks and futsal shoes he had longed for. A teacher greatly involved with DWBI donated two bikes, too small for his own sons. I sat with one boy as he un-wrapped the first of his two gifts. I knew what it was, a t-shirt, and I knew it was what he wished for. He smiled as he pulled it out, but did not unfold it. He looked at the t-shirt; it was from Lee, before try-ing to push it back into the wrap-ping. He folded the attached card, but did not open the second pres-ent. Instead, he placed them both together with the two extra packs of jellybeans he got into a neat pile. Picking up the pile, he clutched it tightly to his chest and smiled at me. When I asked him if he was not going to open the second present, he smiled and shook his head. He wanted to savour the moment.

Time to leaveWhen the time came for us to leave, the atmosphere was almost exuberant. The previously main-tained order was gone, and the children had pockets full of candy, presents in their hands and smiles on their faces. A girl of ten, named Phet, had taken one of the piñatas shaped like a Christmas present and put in on her head. On our way down from the second floor, one of the boys who had received a skateboard lied stomach down on it, arms ex-tended, and rode across the room. I was later told that the skateboard he had wished for on his Christmas card was one of the small ones that you control with your fingers. He never thought it he could get a real one. And so with everyone happy and Christmas spirit in the air, DWBI took our leave. Just as we were about to leave, one of the kids ran up to us and said “Come back tomorrow again, yeah?”

Intense concentration over a new toy.

Christmas lunch. After momentary hesitation, the European food was enjoyed. Shown above are two ten-year olds.


Flemming Soerensen was thrilled when his company Oriental Invest was invited to take part in an episode of the famous American

TV-program called Househunters International. “I felt very lucky when I received the call from HGTV,” Flemming So-erensen says after having experi-ence the life as a “TV-star” for at few days in November “We haven’t had the time yet to promote Oriental Invest in North America, so this was a great oppor-tunity.”

Young coupleThis episode of the program is about a young couple from England looking for a house in the Hua Hin area, and it gives Flemming Soe-rensen the opportunity to show his latest project, Oriental Beach Pearl, 30 km south of Hua Hin The resort is still under con-struction, but two lines of houses and the 2800 sqm pool are ready, so a camera crew from the Brit-ish production company Leopard Films worked hard to follow Mr. So-erensen showing the young couple around in Oriental Beach Pearl.

Three housesThe couple in the program, Ben and Sutiya Shingleton, is taken to two other residences as well – a pool house in the northern part of Hua Hin and an apartment in the centre of the city. Oriental Beach Pearl, however, offers the couple best value for money, because it is a little bit away from town. When the first section of Beach Pearl is completed, there will be 36 houses around the enormous swim-ming pool. 24 more houses will be added later. In the resort there will be a restaurant, fitness room, super-market, and of course a pool bar.

PositiveTo Flemming Soerensens satis-faction Ben and Satiya were very happy with the house they saw, and they speaking favorably in the pro-gram about the facilities in Oriental Beach Pearl. They have recently

started their own company in Hua Hin, Thai Gardening Design, design-ing and building gardens, patios and terraces so their recommendations carry some weight. The Househunter’s program is well known in USA and Canada. It is broadcast by the cable network HGTV (House and Garden TV). First time a Househunter pro-gram is broadcast, it has approxi-

Oriental Invest on American TV Program

Flemming Soerensen walking along the enormous pool with Ben and Satiya.

mately two million viewers, but after being re-broadcast numerous times it is estimated that the program from Thailand will eventually have had 10-12 million viewers. “Sometimes coincidences just make you feel privileged,” says Flemming Soerensen. “Obviously there is an Ameri-can interest for Thailand. We meet a growing number of Americans

and Canadians in the Hua Hin area, so being exposed nationwide over there is a great opportunity. The program will probably be broadcast in February 2012

Links:www.orientalinvest.comwww.thaigardendesign.com www.hgtv.com

Flemming Sorensen, Oriental Invest, with Sutiya and Ben Shingleton, Thai Garden Design, during the shooting of the TV program.

Interior Design/Build Kitchens Furniture Renovations Offices

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Novotel Bangkok Platinum

Novotel Bangkok Platinum is the smart choice for your next holi-day or business trip to Thailand. Novotel is located on top of Platinum Fashion Mall, which is Thailand’s Largest Fashion Mall,

in the heart of Bangkok’s shopping district. Featuring 283 well-designed rooms (100% non-smoking room), the hotel offers two bars. and one restaurant, three meeting rooms, one Ball-room, free Wi-Fi internet, iMac internet corner, in-room LED flat screen TV, outdoor swimming pool, fitness center and free indoor secured car park.

The Pool BarIs the perfect place to relax while the sun sinks below Bangkok skyline.

Platinum LoungeA sophisticated venue, ideal for a quiet chat with friends, casual meetings or a therapy to recover after day’s shopping. Enjoy creative cocktails, lo-cal and international beers, wide selection of wine, and tantalizing snacks, while enjoying the hotel’s acoustic live band. The Square Discover International & Thai cuisine offering exotic flavors. Trendy and chilled out dining venue, offering a daily buffet and "A la carte" selection. Novotel Bangkok Platinum is conveniently located, only 10 minutes walk from Chidlom BTS Sky train, Siam Square, Siam Paragon, and a short drive to the Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail link and motorway entrance.

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On December 6th 2011, thirty months after the actual be-ginning of the project Mandala in Bang Tao,

it was finally recognised by the Thana-chart Bank Thailand Property Awards for its Mandala Condominiums as the Best Condo Development on Phuket. Its initiator, builder and entre-preneur Staffan Nordstrand from Sweden personally attended the awards ceremony held at Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel in Bangkok. The award comes in recognition of quality where only the best of the best can win. The awards assist in promoting a high level of quality in Thailand's real estate, construction, architectural and interior design sec-tors where nominees undergoes scrutiny to become short-listed and eventually the winners. Mandala eventually made it (nominated also in 2010) and won the condominium category for Phuket in tough competition with Alanna and Kamala Falls Residential Resort. The developer come book au-

thor Staffan Nordstrand said after the receiving the prize that he thinks the quality has been decisive. “We decided to go through with - simply put and as we so of-ten are tired of hearing - Swedish standard. But we succeeded - and not only regarding materials but regarding a European approach in how we handle our workers. To be socially involved, to understand them and their knowledge and what they can do and cannot so we can place them in the right team related to their competence, is the key.” The Swede oversaw the con-struction from inception to final product and gave on-site training to the building team. He set a benchmark for luxury property on Phuket and personally monitored the quality control in order to conform to and even exceed ISO standards both in terms of site op-eration and overall build quality. The meticulous construction meant it took seven months longer than planned. A detailed approach was tak-en in how all the materials were

Swede Wins Property Awardin ThailandBest Condo Development for Phuket Goes to Staffan Nordstrand’s Mandala Condominiums.

By Joakim Persson

sourced and used. Eliminating all the levels in-between the manager and the craftsman doing the actual job was also essential. Staffan, who plans to retire in one year from now to concentrate on his newfound interest in writ-ing books, likes to think that he has contributed to higher standards. “Many of the other construc-tion companies and project leaders have come to me to ask for help. Then I have replied: ‘No I can’t but I can show you the way we did things.’ And that has contributed to raising the bar - definitely. And looking at Alanna, Kamala Falls and many others, the level has gone up significantly in the last three years.” He also gave praise to the con-struction contractor DCM Solu-tions – in which he found his perfect match - for their uniqueness in hav-ing genuine, top craftsmanship skills in the form of its Managing Director Julian Olds, and who has educated his own workers. Both counterparts had a strong understanding and could thus more easily understand each other throughout the project. “There were no consultants between us and we could commu-nicate easily. Also you must know what you are doing and consequent-ly you have quality, and quantity con-trols which I’ve done myself.” A non-biased panel of judges handpicked from the real estate industry selected Mandala Condo-miniums to be among the award winners. They reviewed entries and submitted their short-list to BDO Advisory Limited, which is oversee-ing the process and then selected a final short-list of up to five per award category before jointly de-ciding upon the winner. Site inspec-tions and face-to-face meetings with project senior executives of the short-listed developers were under-taken in the process.

Staffan Nordstrand, second from left, at the award ceremony.


Vikings Earn Well-Deserved Point in Pattaya

It was a large squad of 16 players that made themselves ready for the trip down to the humble fishing village of Pattaya on the 10 Dec, the last game of 2011.

By Johan Mühlman

initiated the counterattack leading to Vikings second goal, just before the halftime whistle. The Scans were awarded a free kick just outside the box and Peter Sveistrup was given the chance to takeit and boy if he did. His hard struck cannonball went straight through the Pattayawall with no chance for the keeper to make a save. Half time score: 2-2. The rest of the game was a hard fought battle, where Chris Lundqvist and Takafumi Hikita worked tire-lessly breaking up play and deliver-ing balls to wingers and attackers, Peter and Sivva in particular. Sivva had great chance midway through the second half, but hisshot went straight at the Pattayagoalie. Udd-man kept on working as hard as ever and the Viking defense with Stein, Skouen, Micke, Oscar and Gaute all stepped up a notch in second half. Tim Real had a glorious opportunity mid through the half, but his well-placed header was saved by the goalie. Great attempt, Tuna! Talking about defense, with an incredible TV save, Juuso really kept the Scans in the game only 10 minutes from time. He has earlier explained that he is sometimes trying to look “ex-tra” good… but believe me, keep-ing that shot out of the goal was an extraordinary achievement.It could have been the perfect day if Sivva would have scored only seconds from full time, but it wasn’t to be this time. 2-2 was the finalscore, a well-deserved point for Vikings.

Man of the Match: Chris LundqvistAfter the game the whole team stayed over in Pattaya to have a bachelor party for Chris Lundqvist, but that is of course a totally differ-ent story…

By different means of transportation all guys met up at the Thai Polo Club at 12.45, the new home turf of Pattaya

City. The Polo Club is an impres-sive area with acres of landincluding polo turfs and a nice full size football pitch. The pitch is a bit bigger than

the ones in Bangkok, so the Vikings needed to be up for lots of run-ning… Unfortunately there was no running at all for two time man of the match, Martin “Breitner” Stens-man, who hurt his back during warm up trying to receive a bad pass from coach Mofok. Even though Mike Physio tried to work some “magic”,it wasn’t to be for Breitner this day. A comeback in the lineup saw old timer, still going strong, ex-coach Niclas Uddman. A defensive midfielder with lots of experience and the right attitude to make things happen! The game started off in a great pace and the width of the pitch was made into use by PattayaC-itywho came in numerous attacks through their quick wingers. Vikings initial attacks mostly from long balls to Peter Sveistrup, who was given the chance to prove himself up-front. The first real chance for the Vikings came on a corner after 20 min of play.Spiderman hit a beautiful ball that ended up at the far post where central defender and “King in the air”,GauteGautestad, showed up and hammered it into the back of the net with his rock hard Nor-wegian forehead… 1-0 Vikings! The goal seemed tohave woken the Pattaya players, who now piled the pressure on the Scandinavians. It would only minutes for the equalizer to come after some misunderstand-ing in the Vikings defense, 1-1. Af-ter some quick turns of play,Finnish goalkeeper JuusoHeikurainenhad to grab the ball from his own net for the second time in only 10 minutes. At this point Vikings started to look shaky and the score was now 2-1 to Pattaya City. The first half was not quite over yet though and it was a pass from the central defense that

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The landmark hosting by Myanmar in early December of the first-ever Travel Leaders' Symposium on Sustainable Tourism was a historical opportunity for over 100 travel industry representa-tives from the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) and around the globe to gather, share their experiences and learn more

about Myanmar. Termed a great success by participants and observers, the Travel Lead-ers' Symposium was held at the Nann Myint Viewing Tower, Aureum Palace Hotel Bagan, under the joint sponsorship of Myanmar's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and the Myanmar Tourism Board, in conjunction with the Me-kong Tourism Coordinating Office. “We have been very pleased to welcome all of the local and inter-national travel experts for this event, and we are delighted to have their knowledge and input as Myanmar returns to the world's spotlight as one of the newest and most exciting tourist destinations,” said Dr. Khin Shwe, Chairman of the Myanmar Tourism Board.

Promising destinationMyanmar is viewed by many as among the world's most promising emerging travel destinations, and should remain so for many years into the future. The

meeting featured top speakers from the public and private sectors, as well as international organizations, who talked about the pros and cons of the expected growth and addressed various issues, from visa facilitation to po-tential destinations, from sustainable tourism destinations including National Parks to community-based tourism along with the better development of local handicrafts and cottage industries. Myanmar is experiencing rapid growth in arrivals as the country is now opening up politically and economically. According to the latest figures from Myanmar Directorate for Hotels and Tourism, Myanmar received from January to October this year 302,236 air travelers, which is almost as much as for the whole year 2010, when the two international airports in Yangon and Mandalay welcomed 310,688 foreign travelers. An additional 350,000 travelers arrived overland to Myanmar from January to October 2011.

25 pct. growth last yearAccording to data from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Myan-mar is projected to be among the world's fastest growing markets, with tourism increasing by 25% for the whole year 2011. Myanmar has lagged behind much of Asia in developing its tourism industry, but the potential is enormous. The symposium noted Myanmar's wealth of untouched cultural and natural assets, and highlighted the need for the country to learn from mistakes and successes of other destinations, including the ones in the GMS. One of Myanmar's greatest assets is its local population with its sense of genuine hospitality and friendliness. Some of the speakers urged Myan-mar to develop an overall tourism master plan. Some urged the govern-ment to set sound polices and ensure that the private sector abides by the rules. “We want to expand tourism and bring more development to the country, and we realize the need for good planning and clear guidelines,” said H.E. U Htay Aung, Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. For many years, the Asian Development Bank has been supporting sub-regional tourism cooperation in the GMS. In his presentation, Steven Schi-pani, ADB Social Sector Specialist, stressed that although the outlook for GMS tourism remained favourable, there was no doubt that brisk growth would put tremendous pressure on the sub-region's tourism assets.

Myanmar is among the world's fastest growing markets, with tourism increasing by 25% for the whole year 2011, according to data from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

Visit Myanmar Before the Rush

At the opening ceremony of the Travel Leaders’ Symposium on Sustainable Tourism, PATA CEO Martin Craigs shakes hands with H.E. U Htay Aung, Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, following the an-nouncement of the newly established PATA Myanmar Chapter.

Local hosts at the co-located GMS Travel Fair demonstrate the art of horse hair lacquerware crafts to Mr Sounh Manivong from the Lao National Tourism Administration and PATA CEO Martin Craigs during the Travel Leaders’ Sym-posium on Sustainable Tourism, the first-ever international travel trade event to take place in Myanmar


Benefit the poor"Innovative approaches are needed," he said, "along with better tourism management to make sure benefits flow to the poor." Among his suggestions were: more community-based tourism and development of pro-poor supply chains; strategies for preventing and managing negative social impacts of tourism; mainstreaming environmen-tal sustainability in the tourism sector; improving the protection of pre-cious heritage assets; and policy and regulatory reform aimed at accelerat-ing sustainable tourism investment. PATA CEO Martin Craigs added: “The private industry is the one that will look at developing business. However they will not regulate themselves. It is up to the government to create the right balance for the benefit of all, and the job of business enterprises to voice their opinion to governments. PATA will then help facilitating the dialogue between the various players of our industry.” Dur-ing the opening ceremonies of the Symposium Mr. Craigs was joined on stage by H.E. U Htay Aung, Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, to announce the official launch of PATA's Myanmar Chapter. The Travel Leaders' Symposium on Sustainable Tourism concluded that to help achieve good sustainable development of any destination, attention must be paid to the preservation of landscapes, cultural pro-tection and empowerment of communities. Additionally, more attention should be paid to involve Myanmar's younger generations in the future of tourism. “We not only want to grow tourism in Myanmar, we want to expand across all sectors, and showcase our culture and rich heritage, but not at a pace that will harm the environment or exceed our capacity to deliver a unique and satisfying tourism experience for all visitors,” said tourism consultant Daw Kyi Kyi Aye.

About the Mekong Tourism Coordinating OfficeThe Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) is an intergovern-mental body uniting the national tourism organizations (NTOs) of the sixnation Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). It is tasked with fostering the sustainable development and promotion of travel within the region, and marketing the GMS as a single destination under the 'Mekong Tour-ism' brand.

Visit www.MekongTourism.org

Visit Myanmar Before the Rush

Dragon Trail President Mr. Jens Thraenhart (far right) leads a panel discussion on “The Future of Sustainable Tourism in Myanmar”; from right to left (seated), Dr. Aung Myat Kyaw, Chairman of Sandoway Resort / Orchestra Travel & Ayravat Cruises, Mr. Luzi Matzig, Chief Executive Officer of Asian Trails, Mr. Min Din, Managing Director of Columbus Travels & Tours, Prof. Dr. Chira Hongladarom, Secretary-General, Foundation for Intl Human Resource Development, Ms. Su Su Tin, Managing Director, Exotissimo Travel Myanmar and Mr. Martin J Craigs, Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)

Evil

Are you done?

When you have completed the above puzzles, please send your solution by fax to +66 2 943 7169 or scan and email to [email protected]. We will make a lucky draw among the correct

answers. Five lucky winners will receive a ScandAsia polo shirt.

Name: ___________________________________________________

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Deadline for submitting your solution is 15 February 2012

Medium


Preheat the frying pan and melt some butter in it. Brown the butter before adding the meat. Fry the steaks on both sides. Whale meat should be fried for about 4-5 minutes on each side. The steaks taste best when they are medium rare, but they should be warmed right through and not eaten raw. While the steaks simmer, drip a little soy sauce and some of the red wine over on both sides. Lift the steaks onto a plate and place a piece of aluminum foil over. Boil the pan with the rest of the red wine and stir it into a sauce with the salt, pepper and herbs, cream and some thickening.

Serve the steaks on a plate, place an onion ring on each of them or soft fried onions on the side. Young boiled potatoes are good with whale steaks, but so are baked potatoes, home fried potatoes even rice. Serve with a bowl of good, crisp lettuce and mixed salad.

Whale Steak

Whale meat is red like beef but has a milder taste, not like fish, but definitely from the sea. Some say it tastes a bit like liver and if not treated right and frozen right after the slaughter, it can have an unpleasant taste of fish oil.

If you are able to get hold of 4 slices of whale meat @ 150 - 180 g you should try this interesting recipe where the whale meat is fried in some red wine that is used as sauce afterwards with various herbs and spices.

4 steaks of whale meat3 dl red wine1 dl cream

scandasia thailand - january 2012

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