DEC 2013
Risky Burma Dreams ScandAsia.dk
ScandAsia.fi
ScandAsia.no
ScandAsia.se
Opinion
Buy a piece of Paradise
R
ecently there was an advertisement in an English-Language Magazine: ‘Invest in Paradise, prices start from 12.2 million Baht…..….’ I imagine The Land Developer and Saint Peter himself sitting there, at Heaven’s gate, issuing eternal Title Deeds to the hopefuls - all of them dressed in white, fresh from the earthly struggle for fortune and fame. Maybe His Darkness, the Devil, will also be in attendance, ready to help those of us who cannot pay 12.2 million Baht. He will then guide us on the voyage deep downstairs to an even warmer location. Well, well, just marketing words of course but this ad made me think of real and false development.
Your FREE ScandAsia Magazine in Thailand 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.
Please sign up for your own FREE copy: www.scandasia.com Publisher : 211 Soi Prasert Manukitch 29 Prasert Manukitch Road Chorakae Bua, Lad Prao Bangkok 10230, Thailand Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8, Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: news@scandasia.com Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com Assistant Editor: Wachiraporn Janrut wachiraporn@scandmedia.com
St. Matthew’s gospel 13.12 says: “For the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away”. Maybe the Land Developer knew this text and just looked at it face value, ‘let’s sell Paradise then’ but that is meanwhile not within his reach and I suppose the church can come up with an interpretation, showing the silliness of the developers misuse of words. One of my theological friends gave the following interpretation: ‘The one who will listen and learn [to the teaching of Our Lord] will experience lots of fruits thereof, but the one who let himself be deceived by greed, will lose it all’. My friend added that his interpretation was maybe a bit ‘rough and ready’, but in accordance. And as it shows so often, the Christian message is well in line with the Buddhist teaching; in this case the teaching of ‘The Middle path’, where we are told “to stay neutral, upright and centered. Meaning to investigate and penetrate the core of life………with an unbiased attitude” [Teaching in Chinese Buddhism 1996]. Behind both teachings are of course that if our intellectual compass is biased and for example geared solemnly towards money matters or sexual pleasures we cannot think in a true analytical way, we then become mental slaves. Then we maybe will fall into the trap and believe that a piece of paradise can be bought! Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919) was an American business magnate who owned the biggest steel empire in the US. He became meanwhile, and quite early in life, a bit untraditional and decided to give away his billions. He declared: “There is no idol more debasing than the worship of money” – or: “There is nothing lower than money worshipping” [Wikipedia]. He then founded more than1.200 public libraries both in the USA and in Europe, he built Carnegie Hall; MellonCarnegie University etc. etc. and he was left with only a few millions when he died. What he saw and what we all have to see is that money is without soul and if we worship them they will freeze our mind and make us senseless addicts. Happy Christmas and May your God be with you.
Advertising : Finn Balslev finn@scandmedia.com Piyanan Kalikanon piyanan@scandmedia.com Nattapat Maesang nattapat@scandmedia.com Karsten Reinholdt Jakobsen karsten@scandmedia.com Graphic Designer : Supphathada Numamnuay supphathada@scandmedia.com Printing : Lake & Foundtain Printing Co., Ltd.
Daily news and features here: www.scandasia.com
Flemming Winther Nielsen is Senior Lecturer (retired) DSH. DK. M.Sc.soc. (Aalborg University). The author has working and research experience from the Sudan, Zambia, Portugal and Thailand.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY SCANDINAVIAN SOCIETY
Coming Events
Thailand Golf Championship Date: December 12-15, 2013 Location: Amata Spring Country Club, Chonburi Inaugurated in 2011, the Championship has already firmly established itself as one Asia’s most prominent and premier professional golf tournaments, which is becoming a hugely popular event for the players to attend. Thailand Golf Championship tickets are available at Thaiticketmajor at Baht 300 each for Round 1 and 2 (December 12 and 13). The price for Round 3 (December 14) is Baht 400, and for the final day on December 15 the price is Baht 500. A 4-day package ticket is only Baht 800.
Scandinavian Christmas Service Date: Tuesday 24 December 2013, 13.00 - 15.30 Location: Christ Church, Convent Road, Bangkok There are Christmas celebrations at the Norwegian Church in Pattaya and the Church of Sweden in Phuket, but the most traditional Christmas Service in Thailand is the one in Christ Church on Convent Road in Bangkok, where the gospel is read in all the Nordic languages. After the service in the Church, Scandinavian Society Siam hosts a small reception where we wish eachother a Merry Christmas before we go home for each of our family Christmas celebrations.
New Year’s Eve 2014 in Bangkok – light, parties, event & fireworks
Visit to Asiatique with Dinner Cruise on Chao Phraya
Date: Tuesday 31 December 2013, 22.00 - 02.00 Location: Central World Square
Date: Tuesday 21 January 2014. 14.00 – around 24.00 Price: 2.000 Baht incl bus, cruise and dinner Sign up: ingemar.kullgren@gmail.com no later than 3 January 2014
New Year’s Eve in Bangkok usually rock with its amazing nightlife atmosphere which takes the entire celebration to a great level. The city has many popular places but the place which gets the maximum highlight is the Central World shopping plaza. It is one of the biggest shopping places of the world and the biggest countdown event of Bangkok occurs in front of the Central World Square. Thousands of people gather in the Central World Square in order to attend the celebration and welcome the New Year. To enjoy the evening with magnificent light, different types of sound shows, live concert by the popular local bands and more, try to reach there at least two hours before midnight.
6 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
Join Scandinavian Expats Pattaya on a trip to Asiatique, the renovated old warehouses of EAC on the banks of Chao Phaya river in Bangkok. Keywords are Shopping, fun, great food, interesting invironment. The visit is followed by at two hours cruise on the river with buffet dinner while the sights of Bangkok floats by.
Scandinavisk TV and Radio. Now you can watch all your Scandinavian favorite TV program in Thailand. We provide Worbits TV package with 28 Scandinavian and English channels. The channel list can be read on worbit.net. We have proxy server in Thailand. Our IPTV box you can use World Wide just the internet line is good enough. Our Set Top Box is a computer that runs Android 4.0 and can run all internet radio and favorite apps like YouTube, skype, google and IPTV. If you have a stable internet line you are just a telephone call away from having a new smart TV with Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and English channels. Want to check out the quality you can see our IPTV Box in Buy: SanSatnetwork IPTV Box Worbit channels 1 Year
9000 8000
Are You on vacation? You can also rent the whole package: Rent each mont 2000 Deposit 7000
Contact us directly or one of our dealers: Jomtien, Suk Restaurant & Bar, Soi WatBoon Pattaya, VIP Reiser, Ved sjømannskirken Pratamnak, Boonnisa Bar (NAV) Surin, Oasis Bar Cha Am, Scandic Bar, Soi Longbeach HuaHin, Aladdin Bar Koh Chang, Daylight Global
Latest! Check out our IPTV in.
Technicians in: Khon Kaen Chaiyaphum Jomtien/Pattaya
and Contact: Tlf: 090 736 1536, E-mail: scansatnetworkasia@gmail.com http://www.facebook.com/ScansatAsia
Past Events
Exclusive Business Seminar by Penn Investment
T
hai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce held on November 12 an exclusive busines seminar at the legendary Mandarin Oriental Hotel together with Penn Investment. There were more than 30 members and guest attending the evening. The Global Economic Outlook topic was very beneficial and the evening was very interesting. Thank you Penn Investment for a very inspiring and joyful evening!
Dancham networking with KVIK and Royal Copenhagen
O
n Tuesday the 8th of October 2013, the Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce hosted the monthly networking event sponsored by our two Silver sponsors KVIK and Royal Copenhagen. The event was held at Restaurant Bourbon Street & Oyster Bar, here the guests enjoyed the cozy New Orleans inspired setting as well as a buffet of delicious traditional Cajun dishes. In addition to representatives from our two Silver sponsors KVIK and Royal Copenhagen, the event was also attended by members from companies and organizations such as Rockwool, The Danish Embassy, Jebsen & Jessen, DSV Air & Sea, ECCO, Ben Adisti,, Designers Field, Pacific Orientation Relocation Services, Rodl & Partner, JAC International, Tulip Pacific, Danish Energy Management, EABC, Pacific Rim Rich Group, Skap Technology, Pinnacle, and Bangkok Base.
8 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
Past Events
Former Finnish Para-Archery champion won silver in Bangkok Photos by Finnish Embassy
L
ast year’s Paralympic champion Jere Forsberg of Finland won silver in Para-Archery World Championships in Bangkok in November 2013 as Russia’s Timur Tuchinov took the new world champion title. The Russian won men’s individual recurve standing and men’s team recurve open events in an intense competition held on 1-7 November 2013. Embassy of Finland congratulates the whole Finnish Team for the success in Bangkok. World Archery, in full agreement with the International Paralympic Committee, clearly states that the Paralympic Games and World Archery Para Championships should not be for anyone who has a physical disability, but for those athletes with a disability where the disability has a direct and important impact on the archery performance. As of 1 April next year the classification rules will be changed to reflect this situation.
J-P Antonios (right) of Finland won gold in Para-Archery World Championships in Bangkok today!
December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 9
SSS visited Thai-Danish Dairy Farm on a weekend trip
O
n Saturday November 23 a bus left from the parking lot behind Hotel Mermaid at Sukhumvit soi 21 half filled with members from Scandinavian Society Siam. After a two hours drive 150 km North of Bangkok we arrived in Muak Lek, where the Thai-Danish Dairy Farm, also known as Thaigården was established in 1961. Today, the farm presents itself to visitors as a fusion between a Danish farm with black and white cows producing milk the same way as the Danish agronomist Gunnar Niels Sondergaard and Danida taught them back then - and an American rodeo show complete with a mini-zoo with ostriches and a few camels on the side. We were taken around the 400 hectares big area in carriages pulled by a farm tractor mainly to see the stables where they breed the calves and milk the cows. After one and a half hour guided tour we continued in the bus to the Eco Valley Lodge near Kao Yai National Park, where we stayed overnight. The children played by the pool and baked twist bread and grilled sausages over the fire, while the grown-ups had dinner in the restaurant along with a couple of beers. Next morning, a group of 10 participants went out on a biking tour around the area to suck in some fresh air and move their legs before the bus would head back to Bangkok. The bus made a short stop in downtown Muak Lek where we had the chance to see the burial plot of Knud Lyne Rahbek, who died at the age of 19 after helping his father measuring the land for the railway back in the 1890’s. The place is still maintained by SSS. We were back again at Hotel Mermaid on Sunday at 3pm and we agreed that the trip had been a great opportunity for at get-away from the hectic Bangkok-life. There are more photos from the trip on www.scandasia.com.
10 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
Improve your sales by by implementing
25%
T h e Wa i te r B u t to n
or more ®
Place this sticky button on every table in your restaurant or bar, and give your customers the attention they deserve. Each button is wireless and connected to a remote LCD display, which will let your waiters know which table needs service. The waiter button has 3 functions; Service, Bill and Cancel – and that’s how easy it is. You are losing sales every day (even more than you think), as staff are either busy trying to figure out who needs service, playing with their telephones or just don’t pay attention to customer needs. The waiter wai button makes the difference between a sale and a lost customer, and shows your guests that you take them seriously. The modern design will fit in anywhere and the button can even be placed in a special display stand, in combination with your in-house promotions. Make your investment in the future today, - and reward yourself with more sales, and happy customers.
Promotion package All packages include 1 LCD display.
10 buttons
thb 23,995,-
20 buttons
thb 32,995,-
50 buttons
thb 59,995,-
All prices are ex. 7% VAT
Choose your color & call now +66 854 091 201 or e-mail: info@thewaiterbutton.com – we ship day to day all over Thailand.
®
The Waiter Button
www.thewaiterbutton.com facebook.com/thewaiterbutton.com info@thewaiterbutton.com
the
waiterbutton PRESS FOR SUCCESS
Past Events
Women on Top at Chambers Breakfast talk
H
igh-flying women executives and a management guru took centre stage at Nordic/FrancoThai Chambers Breakfast Seminar on 26 November 2013. Insightful viewpoints and valuable lessons were shared by distinguished speakers from such diverse industries as top luxury lifestyle company, Ralph Lauren, to mobile network giant Ericsson and AmPerformance management consulting firm. Pia Ayouty, Senior International Business Manager to Ralph Lauren at Central Marketing Group, gave an engaging account of culture clash as she was settling into her new job since the beginning of 2013. “I have to bite my tongue and place my hands behind my back,” Pia said. The Swede was discussing the do’s and don’ts in the typical Thai workplace, which include “polite and humble” as a “desirable” character trait, drawing knowing smiles and chuckles all around. Camilla Vautier, President and Country Manager of Ericsson Thailand, offered an insider perspectives based on her implementation of Change Leadership at the Swedish telecommunications giant’s multi-cultural work environment. “Change takes time,” Vautier said of the 3-year reorganization programme and the leader must identify and communicate clearly the need for change and follow up on “Do or Die” actions. “If all else fails, remove the obstacles.” Anne-Marie Machet, Managing Director of AmPerformance, provided good advice on how to deal with today’s fickle workforce in turbulent time as companies focus more and more on financial results. “People under 40 tend to abandon the concept of loyalty. Talented workers are the most valuable assets of a company. Make sure people are part of the tribe.” People stay if you respect them, she said. The Breakfast Seminar held at Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel was well attended by some 40 members of Nordic/ Franco-Thai Chambers with women members outnumbering men, something that did not happen very often.
12 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
News Brief
Telenor, dtac expands 3G network coverage in Thailand
T
elenor of Norway, the major shareholder of Total Access Communication (DTAC), has earmarked THB34 billion to expand its third-generation (3G) network coverage in Thailand over the next three years, following healthy mobile data growth registered by dtac, the Thai subsidiary. Telenor’s President and CEO, Jon Fredrik Baksaas, this year’s ITU keynote visionary speaker, stressed the importance of mobile connectivity and advantages to be gained from providing mobile Internet access to the 500 million in Asia who remain unconnected. “We’re here because the parties that ITU brings together all contribute greatly to our cause in bringing the mobile Internet for all,” said Baksaas, also Chairman, GSMA. “Together, we can help growing markets by ensuring level playing fields and by sharing knowledge and resources.” “The world has 7.2 billion people. More than 90% of the world’s population lives in an area with mobile network coverage, but still so many people are left out,” said Baksaas. “According to 2010 data, the United Nations reported that mobile phones are an important tool for raising people out of poverty. Because telecommunications plays a key role in empowering society, Telenor and dtac are joining forces to demonstrate our role in making mobile technology more affordable, reliable and available so that more people can benefit,” said Mr. Baksaas at the ITU Telecom World 2013 held in Bangkok on 19-22 November 2013. “Telenor’s mission is to deliver mobile internet access to our Asian markets, including Thailand, and to develop the next growth wave for the mobile industry, which will enable economic and social development. Entering the new era, smartphones and internet connectivity are no longer a luxury good, but a powerful tool for everyone. Mobile service providers must ensure that connectivity is available in all areas and bring the devices that are affordable to everyone,” added Mr. Baksaas. Telenor and dtac’s focus on developing affordable data plans and making smartphone devices more accessible to more people coincides with an all-time record quarterly increase in smartphone penetration in Thailand. In the third quarter of 2013, the Thailand smartphone market saw a 29.1% increase – from 7.1 million to 8 million smartphones. 14 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
EU may remove Schengen Visa requirement for Thais
P
rime Minister Yingluck and Baroness Catherine Ashton, EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, discussed on 13 November 2013 the possibility of exempting Thai people from applying for Schengen visa prior to ordinary visits. PM Yingluck drew Catherine Ashton’s attention to the 85-percent increase of Thai tourists to Japan which was a result of the Japanese Government granting visa exemption for Thai nationals. Visa exemption for Thai nationals to the Schengen area, which covers the EU countries plus a few others, including Norway, would similarly help stimulate mutual trade, investment, and tourism, and enable closer and more convenient interaction between European and Thai citizens.
‘World’s first’ suction powered art?
V
acuum cleaning, one of the more tedious household chores, has just been elevated to an art form thanks to collaboration between Electrolux and Thailand’s artist Chalit Nakpawan. An impressive artwork was created by the artist, using the company’s latest-model vacuum cleaner. Chalit used Electrolux’s new UltraCaptic bagless vacuum machine – featuring an innovative dust disposal “Compact & Go” technology – to create “Power,” an elaborate art work composed of different coloured sand. Mr. Sutti Manokitjarunman, General Manager of Electrolux Thailand said, “Khun Chalit combined his artistic creativity, and the innovative features of the new UltraCaptic vacuum machine, to create the world’s first vacuum powered artwork.” “He made use of UltraCaptic’s strong power, and the innovative ‘Compact & Go’ dust disposal system that enables super compressed dust collection, to create this masterpiece.” Mr. Sutti added, “On behalf of Electrolux Thailand, I would like to thank Khun Chalit for creating this incredible artwork. I would also like to thank Saatchi & Saatchi Co., Ltd. and Wake Up Rabbit Production House for their help in developing, and realizing, this original world first art project.” Electrolux invites you to experience the powerful performance of Electrolux’s UltraCaptic vacuum machine at www.electrolux.co.th or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUd7zq6V5UU
News Brief
Thailand’s defence capability boosted by Saab Gripen fighters By Sine Neuch Thomsen
Sweden helps disaster victims in Philippines
A T
he kingdom’s 2013 defense budget rose to US$5.7 billion, a 7% increase from the year before. Increased spending in recent years has allowed an already capable military to modernize and add new weapon systems to its inventory. The website Global Firepower actually ranks Thailand as the 20th most powerful military in the world. Swedish company SAAB has made giant inroads into the Thai market in terms of both aircraft and shipborne systems. On September 4th, 2013 SAAB delivered the final four Gripen JAS39C/D fighters to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF). Two tranches of aircraft have given the air force a total of 12 Gripens, two Saab 100B Argus Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft fitted with Erieye radar, and two Saab 340 aircraft. Thailand’s new fighters will also gain RBS-15F anti-ship missiles as part of their armament. Saab is reportedly interested in basing its planned Saab Gripen Fighter Weapon School in Thailand, this after South Africa failed to support the initiative. Saab opened an office in Bangkok in August to help expand its footprint throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The office will serve as a regional hub to integrate work already undertaken by offices in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea. This is only an extract from the original article, first published by Gordon Arthur in Asian Defense & Diplomacy special edition for Defense & Security 2013 is part of a three-part series reviewing recent acquisition programs in Thailand.
Norske Skog Thailand sold to local firm for THB1 billion
16 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
mbassador Klas Molin together with parts of the Swedish support team went to Ormoc and Tacloban with a Swedish Hercules Plane on 20 November 2013. Three Norwegian aid workers accompanied him Ormoc and a Swiss doctor and the Norwegian Ambassador accompanied the group to Tacloban. In Tacloban, two members of the support team visited the mayor’s office and local authorities to gather information about the situation. Two members of the Swedish support team (a doctor and a police officer) will remain in Tacloban overnight. According to the report from the trip Tacloban was devastated even though a rough cleanup had already started. The security had been stabilized. The Situation in Ormoc was significantly better. The Hercules plane flew out rice and other supplies to Ormoc and an ambulance and other supplies to Tacloban. From both destinations, the plane evacuated Filipino civilians to Cebu: 110 persons from Ormoc and about 60 persons from Tacloban.
N
orske Skog Thailand was sold to Charoen Aksorn (CAS) Group, a Thai printing supplies company, for THB1 billion. Norske Skog, the largest newsprint paper producer in Thailand, sold its paper mill in the central province of Singburi through a bidding process after struggling with losses for four years, incurring accumulated losses of THB70 million. “The sale is part of our strategy to improve the company’s cash flow and financial position. We are very satisfied that we could sell it in Thailand to a buyer who has long term plans for the plant,” Head of the Norske Skog Group, Sven Ombudstvedt told the Aftenposten in October. Norske Skog is the only producer of newsprint paper in Thailand. It has 239 employees and it was the last plant Norske Skog group had before it withdrew from Asia.
So much is provided to make SKYY your home. SKYY Hotel is the perfect choice for long and short stay visitors to Bangkok, Thailand’s City of Angels. SKYY Hotel & Residence is conveniently located on vibrant Sukhumvit Soi 1 in the heart of Bangkok’s central business district, beside world-renowned Bumrungrad International Hospital, Southeast Asia’s largest medical center, close to embassies, within walking distance to the entertainment, shopping area and BTS Sky Train Station.
Address:
SKYY Residence is the perfect choice for long stay visitors to Bangkok, Thailand’s City of Angels. The SKYY residence offered the choice of Studio Suite, One bedroom and two-bedroom layouts. Each residence has a separate bedroom, living and kitchen area. Every apartment is designed to allow you to relax, live, work and entertain in comfort.
Website: www.skyyhotel.com
Website: www.skyyresidence.com
Reservation: rsvn@skyyhotel.com
Reservation: rsvn@skyyresidence.com
88/8 Sukhumvit Soi 1, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoey-Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 Thailand Tel: +66-2105-0888 l Fax: +66-2105-0887 E-mail: rsvn@skyyhotel.com l Skype Name: skyy.hotel Facebook: www.facebook.com/SkyyhotelBangkok Website: www.skyyhotel.com www.skyyresidence.com
News Brief
Mai Ellegaard leaves Euro-Center By Thana Poopat
I
n an organizational shakeup, longtime Bangkok resident, Danish expat Mai Ellegaard, abruptly resigned in late October as Thailand General Manager of Euro-Center, a global claims-handling agency for international travel insurers. The board of Pragued-based Euro-Center Holding announced that Ellegaard was replaced by General Manager for Euro-Center China Vladimir Alidis as the Regional General Manager who now oversees both China and Thailand operations. Ellegaard, who had been on maternity leave at the time the Euro-Center board made known its reorganization decision, did not return to work while Alidis took over with immediate effect on 21 October 2013. “This is done in view of a more long-term strategic view in which we would like to see more synergies and best practice developed between the two entities, both from an operational and business development point of view,” the Euro-Center Holding’s board said in a statement. Vladimir joined the Euro-Center Group in the Summer 2013 and has a long term experi-
ence within the areas of assistance and network development from his 15 years with International SOS in various parts of the world. Alidis, in an interview with ScandAsia, said Euro-Center operations in China and Thailand were overlapping as they had among themselves been responsible for similar groups of clients in 21 countries in the Asian region before he assumed his newly-created position of Regional General Manager. “Of course, cost efficiency is important and this is a goal of any commercial organization in our challenging times,” Alidis said. [The fact that] we have the similar group of clients… gives us the natural impact for coordination and we are also looking at the business growth in the region.” The main thrust of Euro-Center Asia Region is the regionalization of policies and procedures to improve existing core business and development of the new businesses, which do not contradict to our core clients and shareholders interest, he said. Euro-Center Holding said Ellegaard resigned because she wanted to spend more time with her family and to look for new challenges elsewhere.
Affordable Luxury Retirement Care In Thailand BRINGING THE GLOBAL MARKET TO THAILAND
Real Estate Brokerage Services Buy, Sale, Rent, Commercial Mikael Ingelsbo
Harmony
Tel: 032-511740, 086-392 3557 Email: harmony@remax.co.th Hua Hin www.remax.co.th/harmony
Ove Dahlen
Beach Town
Tel: 032-433573, 081-7014200 Email: beachtown@remax.co.th Cha-Am www.remax.co.th/beachtown
RE/MAX IS LOOKING FOR NEW AGENT AND FRANCHISEES IN THAILAND
remax.co.th
Tel: 091-0042870
18 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
Nursing & 24 hour care in a beautiful garden resort. Independent living with care or dementia care in luxury villas. www.careresortchiangmai.com email:enquiries@careresortchiangmai.com
News Brief
IKEA promotes the joy of gift-giving for worthy causes
I
KEA’s popular Soft Toys for Education campaign was back. For every soft toy sold in the IKEA Bangna store during the campaign (Nov 10, 2013– Jan 11, 2014), the IKEA Foundation will donate €1 to support children’s education projects managed by Save the Children and UNICEF. “IKEA is delighted to support Soft Toys for Education again this year. We are passionate supporters because we understand education is the most powerful and effective way to help children escape poverty, and has a direct impact on well-being from better health to increased opportunities,” said Lacia Sherlock, store manager, IKEA Bangna. “Based on past results, our customers share this passion and we’re looking forward to another successful festive season campaign,” added Ms Sherlock.
To build extra interest, IKEA has launched a new range of soft toys to coincide with the 201314 campaign. The IKEA superheroes range includes LUFSIG, a soft toy wolf, KRULLIG, a soft toy elf, SANGTRAST, a soft toy fairy, GULLGOSSE, a soft toy king, and NOJSIG, a soft toy princess. Thanks to the generosity of customers, IKEA Banga raised €85,271 (THB 3.6 million) last year. The money was donated to an IKEA Soft Toys for Education global fund that raised more than €9 million (THB 382 million) for UNICEF and Save the Children programs. Since Soft Toys for Education was launched in 2003, the IKEA Foundation has raised and donated €57 million to UNICEF and Save the Children to support education projects that have benefited 10 million children in 46 countries.
Twice the Joy-Share the Joy Campaign IKEA customers can also bring smiles to Thai children through the “Twice the Joy-Share your Toy” campaign. From November 10 until January 11, 2014, customers can purchase an IKEA soft toy and drop it into a collection bin at the IKEA Bangna store - IKEA Thailand will match every soft toy donation made by supporting customers. When the program ends, the toys will be donated to orphaned children living in five villages (in Bangpoo Samutprakarn, Hatyai Songkla, Nongkhai, Chiang Rai and Phuket) run by the SOS Children’s Villages Foundation. IKEA is confident of attracting another great response. Last year more than 1,500 IKEA soft toys were donated to children living in southern Thailand’s Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces.
Are you looking for a new place in SINGAPORE? I know the perfect HOUSE or APARTMENT in strategic locations for you and your family to live.
Let me help you find your dream property!
HSR International Realtors Pte Ltd 3 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh #01-01 HSR Building, Singapore 319378 Tel: 6559 8888 Fax: 6559 8889
Keenan Bode BA (Hons) Marketing Director CEA Reg No.: R028500I
Call me NOW for a NON-binding discussion!!! (+65) 9735 0107 keenanbode@hsr.com.sg keenan.bode@yahoo.co.uk December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 19
Risky Burma Dreams Veteran Foreign Correspondent Bertil Lintner warns foreign businessmen of bitter lessons to be learned in Burma. By Gregers Moller
B
ertil Lintner, award winning Swedish Foreign Correspondent based in Thailand, is highly critical of the majority of corporations moving in to do business in Burma since the country has opened up and international sanctions against the regime has been lifted. “I am much more critical of the so-called transition process in Burma than most other foreign observers, and foreign investors don’t want to hear that,” Bertil Lintner says. “They seem to prefer glossy, more upbeat interpretations of recent developments in Burma. But most of my Burmese friends share my views. They know as well as I do that the military is still in charge of all important decision making, and 20 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
that the military even controls the country’s most powerful business conglomerates, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings and the Myanmar Economic Corporation.” “I would argue that most foreign businessmen, business consultants and risk analysts are out of touch with reality. There are a few exceptions, though, but the general trend is to look at things through rose-tinted glasses,” Bertil Lintner adds. “It’s not just that the military remains in power, there are many other obstacles as well which are the legacy of decades of brutal military rule: rampant corruption on all levels, military meddling in private businesses, a fragile legal system – yes, the military is acting with impunity even when
it comes to businesses - and an acute shortage of educated and skilled people. Hundreds of thousands of educated people have left the country because of military rule; at home, universities and even high schools have been closed off and on ever since the military seized power in 1962.” “Many new Western investors are talking about “ethical” and “socially responsible” investment, but they have to remember that their competition comes from Chinese, Indian, Thai, Singaporean, Malaysian and Korean businessmen who do not have such considerations when it comes to investing in Burma.” “It is my impression that most foreign investors are very naive when it comes to Burma and its supposed economic potential. They should be
Most foreign investors are very naive when it comes to Burma and its supposed economic potential. They should be prepared for some bitter lessons to be learned, but most of them are not.
prepared for some bitter lessons to be learned, but most of them are not,” he warns.
The ethnic wars Bertil Lintner agrees with the observers who are concerned with the brutal war that the central Burmese rule is waging against states with different ethnic majority. “There is hardly going to become any peace in the ethnic areas because there are two fundamentally different, incompatible views of what kind of country Burma should be,” he explains. “The ethnic groups, whether armed or not such as political parties and civil society organisations - are demanding the same thing: a federal system with autonomy for ethnic areas. The military wants to maintain a highly centralised state structure. The military believes that federalism would be the first step toward disintegration of Burma.” “Although peace talks are being held and ceasefire agreements agreed upon, the military keeps attacking Kachin and Shan rebels in the north. In the south, we are seeing a heavy militarisation of Karen and Mon areas.”
First visit in 23 years Bertil Lintner is one of many foreign correspondents who have been blacklisted and not been allowed to enter Burma for many years. Only in his case, he has been on the list since 1985. The previous Burmese government body, the State Peace and Development Council, said his reports on Burma were groundless and based on wishful thinking. Ironically, Lintner was the first foreign journalist to learn about Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest in 1995. In October 2012, Bertil Lintner legally visited Burma for the first time in 23 years. He wrote about this in a report in the German magazine Du: “While walking down the streets of Rangoon for the first time in 23 years, I remembered how it all began in March 1988.” “It was March 12, a Saturday, and Win Myint, his namesake Win Myint and Kyaw San Win – three young students from the prestigious Ran-
goon Institute of Technology, RIT- strolled down to a small teashop opposite their campus on Insein Road. It was a simple, country-style bamboo structure with an earthen floor, not fancy but popular with locals as well as RIT students. A brawl broke out between them and some locals over what kind of music should be played on the teashop’s tape recorder: their favourite, Sai Hti Hseng, a singer from the Shan national minority whose songs resembled Bob Dylan’s, but set in a Burmese context - or Kaizar, a Burmese crooner who sang only love songs.” “The police intervened, but mishandled the situation. A 23-year old RIT student, Maung Phone Maw was shot and killed by the police, the first victim of the turbulent events of 1988. From then on, resentment with the authorities grew and, in August 1988, erupted into a nationwide uprising. Burma would never be the same again.” “I have no idea where Win Myint, Win Myint and Kyaw San Win are today, and they could never have imagined the avalanche of events they were about to precipitate when they strolled down to that nondescript teashop a Saturday evening 24 years ago.”
Suu Kyi and the 2015 election During this visit, Bertil Lintner also met with Aung San Suu Kyi. About this visit he wrote: “It was evident from my discussions with her that she has her own agenda and refuses to be a pawn. But it is also clear that the government has gained an enormous amount of goodwill by releasing her from house arrest, and letting her travel to Europe and the United States to promote “the new Burma” - without having to give up an inch of its power.” “There is still an open question, what will happen at the next general election, scheduled for 2015? Judging from statements by several ethnic leaders and spokespersons, the NLD may already have lost “the ethnic vote” by being vague on issues relating to the civil war and the refugees. Moreover, Aung San Suu Kyi seemed very frail when I met her - and three years from now, she
will have turned 7o. Her NLD is also not nearly as well organised - and well funded – as the military’s Union Solidarity and Development Party, USDP.” “There is no doubt that Aung San Suu Kyi will have her place in Burma’s history - and the world’s - but then perhaps more as a beacon of hope during the dark years of military rule and, in the words of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in 1991, her “struggle is one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades. She has become an important symbol in the struggle against oppression.” “As an elected politician, however, she has a long way to go before she becomes a national leader assuming any high office within the state. If indeed she ever gets there.”
Swedish immigrant – stays in Thailand Bertil Lintner was born in Sweden, but his father was Austrian, so he only became Swedish citizen when he was three years old. His surname, Lintner, is south-German/Austrian, not Swedish. “My father came to Sweden as a refugee from Nazi Germany, which at that time had occupied Austria, and he and my grandfather had both been incarcerated in concentration camps in Germany. So you can see that my background is not exactly that of an “ordinary” Swede,” he explains. He left Sweden in 1975, when he was 22 to travel in Asia and worked in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Japan before returning to Thailand in December 1979 with the intention of staying here for good. “I have lived here since then, apart from two years in the wilds of northern Burma in 1985-1987. I feel much more at home in this part of the world Thailand, Burma, India and so on - than in Sweden.” He has no intention ever of moving permanently back Sweden. “When I am in Sweden, which happens about once a year, I feel like an outsider, can’t relate to what’s going on and what people are talking about. Chiang Mai, where I now live, is my home and I am not going to move anywhere.” December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 21
Smoked Salmon
Swedish style conquers Thai market Karl-Erik Ågren is the sailor who started to smoke salmon in his backyard in Phuket. Today he runs an operation with a turnover of 100 million baht - and is bringing his smoked salmon to the Thai people. By Michael Töpffer
22 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
I
n the eastern suburbs of Bangkok, the production is moving ahead at high speed. A newly delivered shipping container with 22 tons of frozen Norwegian salmon is being carried in to the factory quickly - to avoid the tropical heat. Scandinavian salmon that used to be a luxury food, is now becoming a staple in Thailand - much thanks to Swede Karl-Erik Ågren, 44, from Hudiksvall, along the northern Swedish coast. With his company, KS Seastar, where K stands for Karl-Erik and S for Stig, the other co-founder, Scandinavian style salmon is about to conquer the Thai market. It should be 20 degrees in the smokehouse and the salmon needs to be there for 10 hours, Karl-Erik Ågren explains as he shows ScandAsia around his factory. In one room, some 10 staff are busy cutting and slicing salmon, in another room staff are busy packaging it for delivery. The road to becoming a major player on the food market in Thailand goes from his family business in Sweden, to the life as a sailor on the seven seas, and finally to the restaurant business in Thailand. When I first came to Thailand in the mid-90s, I noticed that the smoked salmon that was sold here was expensive and of low quality, he explains. At that time, Karl-Erik Ågren had left his life as a sailor and started to work as a chef in Phuket. The high price of imported smoked salmon in Thailand is due to high import taxes, up to 60 percent, on ready-made food as well as VAT. I was sitting at home thinking and I saw an opportunity, Karl-Erik Ågren explains. If the salmon is imported raw, only five percent
import tax is levied, and no VAT. I realised that if I import raw salmon and smoke it here, it could be sold much cheaper, he says. Through a local importer in Phuket, Karl-Erik Ågren bought some raw salmon. He then built a small smoke in his backyard and started to experiment. Karl-Erik Ågren has fishing in his family. His stepmother’s father was a fisherman. As a young man, Karl-Erik Ågren helped him fish along the Swedish coastline. They also smoked and fermented various kinds of fish. I learned the art of smoking fish, he says. One challenge for Karl-Erik Ågren in Phuket was to find good sawdust to use for the smoking. In Sweden, sawdust from juniper and alder is used, none of which is widely available in Thailand. Karl-Erik Ågren started by visiting sawmills around Phuket and asked for sawdust from different trees to try for his smoking. He soon settled for ton son, a Thai tree whose sawdust gives a good enough smoke. Since then, production has increased at an enormous pace. Every year for the last 10 years, production has doubled. The first year one ton of smoked salmon was sold every month. Today, 90 tons are sold. During this expansion, Karl-Erik Ågren has moved to Bangkok and opened a proper factory. He now has 50 staff in Thailand and another 10 at the newly opened factory in Cambodia. The salmon is delivered from Norway, with a new container coming every week. I recently hired a new CEO, Anders Jacob
Andersen, 55, from Roskilde in Denmark, to help oversee the production. Last year, the turnover for KS Seastar was around 100 million baht. This year it will reach 200 million baht and for 2014, they aim at 400 million baht.
It’s an explosive growth We don’t have capacity to grow any faster, says Karl-Erik Ågren. Recently KS Seastar won a contract to deliver salmon steaks to Chester’s Grill, one of Thailand’s largest fast food operators. The demand was so huge that the staff at KS Seastar needed to work 24 hours a day. Recently, a new slicing machine was acquired for six million baht to increase capacity. Karl-Erik Ågren explains the popularity of salmon in Thailand with a growing middle-class, and that the fish is relatively cheap and easy to prepare. And as the salmon is farmed, there is a regular delivery. This can not be guaranteed with fish that is caught. Among his many customers, KS Seastar prides itself for having some of Bangkok’s most swanky hotels, including The Peninsula, Sheraton and The Meridien. The Swedish Embassy is also a client. Right now, Karl-Erik Ågren and KS Seastar are looking for more space for the factory. They have reached the capacity limit in the factory and need to expand. We keep on growing. I don’t see a limit to how much salmon we can deliver to the Thai people, says Karl-Erik Ågren.
December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 23
If you can’t find anyone better, I accept
24 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
In August 2012, Matti Myrberg was appointed Honorary Consul of Finland to Laos. He is in fact the first Finland’s honorary consul to Laos ever. ScandAsia has visited Matti, who resides in a huge villa of his own design in the embassy area in Vientiane. By Kim Birkkjear Lund
“W
hen the embassy in Bangkok asked me if I would accept to be appointed, I answered: If you can’t find anyone better, I accept.” At the time he wasn’t sure what an Honorary Consul actually does. He expected that the main part of the job was to introduce Finnish business to Laos and vice versa and for the moment the only Finnish company having production in Laos is Stora Enso Oyj. A Finnish-Swedish paper and pulp giant that runs 1.200 hectare trial plantations in Laos. “Other Finnish companies in Laos are present in connection with different NGOs or development project. And then of cause there are Pöyry*.”
Retirement plan was postponed Matti and his first wife had planned to retire after his job in India has been completed. He then worked in India on a digital radio project. But when his wife died in 2002, Matti decided to postpone his retirement plan and his next assignment brought him to Laos in 2004. In Laos Matti worked for Hifab Oy as a consultant on an Asian Development Bank/Nordic Development Fund financed project which provided electricity to 32,830 households in 570 villages. He worked at the project six years before he finally retired in 2010. While working in Laos Matti met his second wife Chandavone and when Matti retired, he and Chandavone choose to stay in Laos. “I realised that my wife wouldn’t be happy in
Finland and that I was quite happy here in Laos, so we decided to stay here.”
No distressed tourists so far As an Honorary Consul, helping tourists is part of Matti’s job. “So far I only have had one request. A mother was concerned because her teenage son hadn’t called her for 3 days. We agreed to wait over the weekend before I started to make inquiries to the Laotian authorities and fortunately he called her during the weekend,” Matti tells with a smile, as being from a generation where even landline phones were rare and long distance calling not something you did on a daily basis. With a limited numbers of Finnish tourists in Laos, Matti does not expect that part of the job to be extensive.
A handyman Manual labour gives Matti Myrberg just as much pleasure as intellectual challenges does so when he designed his family’s villa, he placed a workshop central in the house. Here he makes furniture and right now he is finishing a spirit-house for his wife. A project he has spent almost half a year on. And more projects are waiting in the computer, where Matti uses AutoCad to design his projects. “Working with local hardwood is challenging. Some are like cement for my tools. Most of my tools I have brought from Finland and it isn’t possible to get spare parts in the right dimensions here, where tools are for either constructions or for big scale production,” Matti tells while standing by his
biggest spare part problem: a 10 inch band saw. But else almost everything is available in Vientiane today. “Times are changing rapidly here. Access to all kind of supplies has increased and you don’t have to go to Thailand to get whatever you need anymore.” And the changes are very visible. Traffic has increased tremendously and big development programs with plans of building Skyscrapers and shopping malls are underway. Together with the new times comes major price hikes. When Matti bought the land for his villa, he paid 20 US$ per square meter. Now sellers ask 160 US$.
An inveterate collector Besides taking care of his duties as Honorable Consul and making furniture in his work shop, Matti also has his library with 4,780 books that he and his first wife have collected through the years. Some of them are in languages he doesn’t speak such as his collection of old French books. But most of them he can read, and he intends to do so. Favorites are books on history and natural science especially mathematic and biology. Biographies, which Matti considers as recent or contemporary history, are popular as well. And then there are the 700 Finnish 1st edition novels. In the library on the first floor, there are also some of Matti’s other collections. His collection of knives hangs on the wall and on a table there are a collection of mechanical calculators and some old typewriters. “If there is more than two of something in this world I am tempted to start collecting it,” he tells with an ear to ear grin.
* Pöyry is a Finnish consulting and engineering company which involves in the Xayaburi Dam project 15 civil society groups has complained to the Finnish government about. December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 25
ECCO Thai factory shutdown is part of consolidation, expansion
T
he closure of one ECCO Thailand factory in the northern Thai province of Pichit was part of an ongoing consolidation of production geared towards more efficient quality and cost control and future expansion, a senior executive of the Danish company said. Panos Mytaros, ECCO Group Executive Vice President, said in a statement on 12 November 2013 in response to ScandAsia’s earlier report on the Pichit plant’s shutdown, said ECCO Thailand was in the process of consolidating all its production activities in Thailand in Ayutthaya, 80 km north of Bangkok. This is where the company today has a tannery and a complete shoe factory with both stitching of uppers and direct sole injection to manufacture finished shoes. “The reason for consolidating all production activities at one site is to improve quality and cost of operations and hence the quality and cost of ECCO shoes. This is an important initiative to ensure that ECCO Thailand stays competitive in terms of both price and quality,” says Mytaros. Over the next 20 months capacity will be expanded from currently 10 to 20 stitching lines. Each stitching line is on average manned by 45 employees. The factory will house four direct injection machines to produce finished shoes. In
26 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
connection with the capacity increase ECCO will recruit and employ approx. 1,000 employees for the 10 new stitching lines. Since the severe flooding in Thailand in 2011 ECCO has invested significantly in rebuilding the factory in Ayutthaya. Also, the site is now better secured against flooding, and the factory itself has been modernised and refurbished to support a high-quality, efficient production set-up. A total of 1,150 employees in the factory in Phichit will become redundant, but will have the opportunity to relocate to the Ayutthaya factory. “We hope that as many employees as possible will apply for the open positions we will have in Ayutthaya as we increase our capacity there. These are skilled employees that we would very much like to re-employ in Ayutthaya. And we would be happy to assist with and facilitate relocation from the Phichit area to Ayutthaya,” says Panos Mytaros. Employees in Phichit that do not wish to relocate with their families to Ayutthaya will be treated fairly with severance pay in accordance with Thai labour law. “Whereas we are pleased to be able to maintain our planned level of production in Thailand via this relocation of activities to Ayutthaya, we truly regret to have to say goodbye to a number
of employees who have worked hard to support our company – not least in the wake of the terrible flooding two years ago,” says Panos Mytaros. In addition to ECCO’s tannery and shoe production, the site in Ayutthaya also houses important corporate global functions: the ECCO Shoe Making Academy, where the future shoemakers of ECCO are educated and trained; the ECCO Leather Academy, where the future leather and tanning specialists of ECCO are educated and trained; ECCO Engineering and Mould, which develops and produces moulds for the group; and a section of ECCO Global IT. Gitsada Boonchirt, Vice Managing Director of ECCO Tannery Thailand, in an interview with ScandAsia, denied that the shutdown of Pichit plant had anything to do with the countrywide THB300 minimum daily wage introduced by the Thai government at the beginning of 2013. The average minimum daily wage where ECCO had factories in 2011 ranged from THB170-180 jumped to THB300 when the Thai government introduced the universal daily wage on 1 January 2013. “The average skilled worker on full-time employment at ECCO is paid between THB500-600 per day, which far exceeds the minimum daily wage,” Gitsada said, adding that the amount includes living, transportation and other allowances as well as a range of incentives. At present, the annual output of ECCO Thailand from its sole factory in Ayutthaya, which employs about 3,000 workers, is 3.2 million pairs of shoes, he said. This will be raised to 3.5 million in 2014 and 3.8 million in 2015. Earlier, an official of the Danish shoe manufacturer was quoted by Pichit provincial officials as saying the closure of factory could be attributed to rising production cost linked to universal daily wage hike, which pushed up production cost to a point where it was no longer viable to keep the plant in the northern province open. Founded in 1963, ECCO is the only major shoe manufacturer in the world to own and manage every step of the shoemaking process. Today, ECCO products are sold in 85 countries at 1,100 ECCO stores and 14,000 other sales locations. The company is family-owned and the workplace to 19,500 employees from over 50 countries. In 2012, revenue increased by 14 % to DKK 8 billion with profits before tax of DKK 1.1 billion.
Bannsuan Villa
& Condominium
Our residential resorts is your new home warm, smartly, greenness, fulfill your highest expectations and translate your dreams into reality.
HOUSE fo & weekly r sale monthly r or ent Property locate: in Bann Hyayyang, Tabsakae, Prachuabkhirikhan province just 306 kms from Bangkok to the south. A few minutes by walk to the beach where you can get the really relaxing.
V.T.P Resource and Service Co.,Ltd.
233/1 Preamreothai 3 Village, Kanjanapisek Rd., Kannayaow, Kannayaow, Bangkok 10230 Thailand TEL : 02 510 7325 l FAX : 02 509 1106 l MOBILE : 08 1551 6006 Email : vattanapong191@hotmail.com l www.bannsuanhuayyang.com
December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 27
Swedes lead the way in global sustainable entrepreneurship pioneering event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia By Andrea Hessmo
28 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
E
radicating poverty and creating a better, greener world with sustainable entrepreneurship was the main topic for discussion at the Club Terra Viva event at the World Marketing Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 28-30 September. Club Terra Viva is a group of pioneering entrepreneurs, key influencers, scientists and NGO:s that convened under the umbrella of the World Marketing Summit in Kuala Lumpur to find solutions for sustainable entrepreneurship. The meeting was initiated by Swedish-born entrepreneur and business connector Camilla Hall, who is based in Singapore. The aim of the Club Terra initiative is to raise seed capital for sustainable entrepreneurship projects. The Club is led by Dr Ashok Khosla, world renowned environmentalist who spoke at the event. Dr Khosla is former president of IUCN and founder of Development Alternatives in Delhi. Present were also representatives from France, SeaOrbiter, a groundbreaking underwater vessel, Waste2Wear, a Dutch-owned environmentally friendly clothing company in Shanghai as well as other entrepreneurs and scientists. “Camilla has the ability to bring key people together and create meaningful relationships,” said Dr.Khosla. “We now need to influence global decision makers to realise the gravity of the world’s problems,” he said.
Swedes making a global environmental difference One of the speakers at the event was Anna-Sofia Winroth, a Swedish entrepreneur and founder of Gefle Chocolaterie. Winroth’s mission is to continue creating high-end, ecofriendly and ethical chocolate that does not destroy the environment and that creates fair working conditions. She owns two plantations of cacao in the Dominican Republic where she has started a knowledge project to improve the transformation of the cacao bean in a natural way. “My ambition is to create a positive and visible change in the cacaobelt,” Winroth said. I want to show that quality is equally important as ethical and environmental aspects. The greatest challenge for me now is to make this vision scalable and globally acknowledged.” Another Swede making an impact on the African continent is the legendary zoologist Annie Olivecrona. Passionate about animal welfare since childhood, Olivecrona has worked for 40 years in East Africa to preserve the chimpanzees who are very near destruction. A large part
of the market for the illegal hunt of these animals is in Asia. “I don’t think people are aware of what is happening worldwide, the illegal hunt of animals, the rainforests being burnt down, and how that affects the wild life,” Olivecrona said. “You cannot re-grow a tropical rainforest again and we can’t afford to lose it. It’s not just about the
trees disappearing but also medicine plants that are so important for the future. We are so badly informed about it, but the indigenous people living there, they know this. And we can’t afford to lose all these animals living in the rain forest because everything is connected.” Olivecrona cooperates with a number of organisations and indi-
viduals worldwide to prevent the destruction of the African apes. She and Dr Khosla had a long debate at the summit on how to influence key global decision-makers. “We can no longer say that we will do this tomorrow, or the next generation will do this, or we need to save humans now,” Olivecrona said. “There is no point in saving humans if you’re not saving nature and animals at the same time, because if your saving humans but not nature, then we’ll all die in the end. If we destroy the forests and the oceans we won’t be able to breathe,” she said. Further down on the African continent, in South Africa, Zaiga and Thomas Magnusson from Falsterbo, Sweden, have created and developed a programme called Star for Life to help and combat the HIV epidemic. The programme is financed by Swedish entrepreneur Dan Olofsson. When he realised that his 5-star safari lodge was located in the middle of the greatest HIV area in the world where 40% of the population was infected, he wanted to make a difference. He asked the Magnusson couple for help to create an education programme which started in 2005. The couple has 25 years of experience in competence and leadership development for clients such as McDonalds and Toshiba. “When we got to the first school there were 38 girls aged 12-16 who were pregnant. It was a challenge to understand how we could help,” Magnusson said. The couple created an education programme with a concept of a “dream-book” where students write down their dreams. It is about changing mindsets and building selfconfidence, especially with girls. “If youths don’t have their own dreams they will follow the dreams of someone else. That’s how it works, “ Magnusson said. The couple has worked with 100 000 students in South Africa to encourage these simple and positive values. The performance of the students who received the Star for Life programme increased dramatically compared to the ones that didn’t receive it. It was all about education and changing the mindset. “If you have only 1 dollar to live on, hope is what is most important,” Magnusson said. “We have brought hope to these schools and I think hope is the greatest thing you can give another human being.” Zaiga and Thomas Magnusson want to continue to make a difference and expand their programme to Asia. They are convinced that the programme will work very well in Asia too.
December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 29
in Asia 2013 Romhild’s Bangkok Christmas 2013
E
lizabeth and Peter Romhild are frequent participants in events in the Bangkok community and a very charismatic couple. Together the couple has one daughter and one son who are both studying abroad. Elizabeth and Peter met in Iran, where Elizabeth was born by a Danish mother and Armenian father. In 1979, they had to leave the country when the revolution started. Since then, they have lived in several countries and in 1988 they arrived in Bangkok and have no plans on leave. Elizabeth has made herself a name as an artist, known for her sensual paintings and impressive sculptures. Her paintings are as colourful as she is; a warm hearted woman with a great smile. Peter is a tall guy with wild white hair, active board member in different companies and President of the Danish Chamber of Commerce. Asking Elizabeth what she and her family’s plans are for Christmas, she replied quickly, “We will celebrate a traditional Gammel Jul (Christmas) in our Bangkok home, with a big Julebord (Christmas table) and all the typical Danish dishes, and of course Gingerbread and Glögg (hot spiced red wine). “Our son will be home from New York and our daughter from Denmark. When the kids lived at home, they used to help me with the Christmas preparations, but this year I have to do it by myself as they arrive just in time for the holiday.” When asked if she has a special Christmas memory, she answered, “When I was a child, I once received some Marionette dolls and I got so deeply attached to them and I still am.” Trying to get her to spill the beans about Peter’s secret wish for Christmas, Elizabeth paused and with a smile she said, “Well, a sleigh-ride through a snowy landscape, that’s what he would enjoy I think. The closest he will get will be a boat ride through the klongs, I suppose.” At last Elizabeth was asked what her big wish for her children would be. “I wish for them to live their lives and fulfill their dreams, to stay honest to themselves, appreciate the good life they have and be healthy and happy”. What more could one ask for? Merry Christmas!
Øystein Tønnessen Singapore Christmas 2013
32 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
Ø
ystein Tønnessen, Head of Music & Information at the Norwegian Seamen`s Mission, will celebrate Christmas in Singapore together with his family.– Christmas Eve we have a great Scandinavian celebration with 200 people at the Norwegian Seamen`s Mission. On Christmas Day we will have a private family celebration together with my mother who is visiting us from Norway. We are looking forward to have lots of time together, eat great food, travel a bit and just relax. Our daughter Ella will meet Santa for the first time, wonder how that meeting will go:)
M
Katja Nordgaard, Norways Ambassador to Thailand
eeting the blond, good looking Norwegian ambassador to Thailand is a great pleasure. When she smiles, the whole world smiles. Katja Nordgaard has been an ambassador for Norway located in Bangkok since three years and three months. She loves her job and enjoys meeting interesting people. Katja was also responsible for Myanmar until October 28th this year, when an Embassy was opened and a new Ambassador arrived. During her many trips to Myanmar she learned to love that country and its people. She enjoyed seeing how the country developed and opened up. Katja has not been back to Norway for Christmas holidays in three years. “This is the best part of the year in Thailand” she says “so why leave?” She is looking forward having her 2 eldest daughters, 21 and 19 years old, coming home to Bangkok for the Christmas celebration. They both study in England, while the youngest daughter, who is fourteen, goes to school at NIST Bangkok and sees her mummy daily. Katja comes from a family who cares a lot about traditions. There will be a Christmas table with Norwegian dishes like “Ribbe”, which is similar to
Spare ribs, but more meatier and you serve it with cabbage and “lingon” Cranberry which is heavy food, so you have to take a small Aquavit to digest, she explains ”. Her mom and brother with family will arrive in time for the festivities and her home will be full but before that, the four women will take a needed rest and be visiting a Yoga resort in south of Thailand, a pre-Christmas gift. Asking Katja if she has a special Christmas memory she replies: “Yes, in 2001 we were located in South Africa and the kids were young. We spent Christmas Eve on a beach, sitting on a rug, listening to the Norwegian Choir “Sölvguttene” who were singing on the car radio, we shared the Christmas gifts and enjoyed the sea and calmness around us, that is a very dear memory to me.” Unfortunately Katja will move back to Norway 2014, in time for her youngest daughter to begin the gymnasium (high school). “We still have time here and we do have much more to experience she finishes before we say good-bye and Merry Christmas to an amazing Thailand!
Hanna Holtinen’s Beijing Christmas 2013
A
s a nonbeliever Christmas has not had any particular meaning to me for years. Despite the tacky Santas at local malls and on restaurant windows, it has been rather easy to forget about the whole Christmas frenzy that occupies most people’s minds for weeks before the actual celebration back home. No pre-Xmas parties, company Christmas dinners or panicky last minute Christmas shopping and most importantly, no akward attemps to start a conversation with that one distant relative who has been coming around for Christmas all your life but whom you never really bothered to get to know better. Last time I recall celebrating Christmas was almost ten years ago when I had just moved to China. I shared a flat with two other students and we invited a few friends over. Living on a very limited student budget our Christmas dinner wasn’t much to brag about, but we had rice porridge, hot glögg and good company and I have to say that was the best Christmas I’ve had since childhood. This year Christmas might not just be another day in the grey. My Chinese husband and I had a baby this autumn and since she seems to appreciate all things glittery, we’ve been thinking about decorating the house. No worries about overdoing it, I am sure she will love even the ugliest Santa as long as it has a little shiny wreath wrapped around its neck and belly. Whilst going to Christmas church is not on our list, we will listen to some Finnish Christmas carrols, exchange gifts and eat Ikea ginger bread. Maybe I will manage to make rice porridge and I think there is some glögg ingredients buried somewhere at the back of the kitchen cupboard. Also, let’s not forget family time wearing matching red thermal underwear, an age-old tradition in my Finnish family.
Det bästa från Sveriges Television för dig som semestrar, arbetar eller bor utomlands. Enda sättet att se flera av SVT:s mest populära program utanför Sverige. I vinter sänds nya säsonger av program som På Spåret, Äkta människor och Stjärnorna på Slottet och i vår börjar bland annat Melodifestivalen, Mästarnas mästare och Antikrundan. Visste du att även hotell kan abonnera? Fråga efter SVT World på ditt hotell och fyll i enkäten på vår hemsida - som tack får du en naturbok! Läs mer på svt.se/svtworld och följ oss på facebook.com/svtworld Abonnemang tecknas på www.connova.se eller +46 (0) 141-20 39
December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 33
Dining Out
The culture of dining out in Thailand is way different from what we are used to back in Scandinavia. Living here, you are going to be pulled into this culture whether you like it or not. By Sine Neuchs Thomsen
34 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
I
had barely been in Bangkok for a week before I rushed to the nearest Big C to buy myself a stove for all the meals I was going to cook for myself in my new home in Thailand. Now three months later, how many times did I use it? Twice. To be precise. First time, I boiled an egg. The second time, I boiled water to clean some delicate clothes in a tub. And how many times did I actually cook a meal in my room? Well, does a salad count? Otherwise it is zero.
I surrendered fast I consider myself a passionate amateur chef, but I had to surrender after only a few weeks. Now I do not even consider cooking at home. It just does not work. And why also try? The food in the street is freshly made, delicious and most important ly at least ten times cheaper than the meals I could cook at home after spending hundreds of baht in Foodland and Tops Market. Now I eat out at least twice a day. Three times if one day I am out of milk or just do not feel like eating oats in the morning. And I guess that is how it is just supposed to be if you want to live an easy life in Thailand. When you wander around Bangkok, even in the small hidden and most narrow streets you find small outdoor restaurants, or let’s call it stalls, where people alone or in bigger groups have their mandatory rice or noodles dishes.
I have not met many Thai people who know how to cook, and I understand why, the dining out culture is simply an essential part of the Thai society.
Happy with street food Once I tried some street food behind Central World at Chitlom. We were a group of ten and for me it was the first time I tried the real street food, where you literally sit on the street and have your meal. Three restaurants stalls were lying next to each other, with different menus and different staff. I could not distinguish between the staff from each other and it seemed like one big chaos. But to tell from the happy mood of the customers they got what they ordered, and so did we, even though we were a group of ten people who just dropped by. Sitting there on pastel colored plastic chairs drinking water and lime shakes from tin cups and while hav-
ing papaya salad, fried rice, grilled fish and a number of dishes more, we really felt the atmosphere of the street food culture of Thailand. And when it started to rain just after we had our dishes it did not take the staff more than 5-7 minutes to build a ceiling to prevent the rain causing any customer loss. That really is how you run a business where the hunger of the passing people are the indisputable focus. And when you leave from a dinner like that you are full and satisfied, and have not paid more than 100 baht.
My Danish routine Back home I cook everyday for dinner, and I usually use the leftovers for next day’s lunch pack if I do not
already have something more “luncheous” in the fridge. I often get dinner invites from friends who like to cook, and I pay back by inviting them over for a dinner, that I prepare or we prepare together. Once in a while and not by the end of the month, we spoil ourselves dining somewhere in the city. I have not met many Thai people who know how to cook, and I understand why, the dining out culture is simply an essential part of the Thai society. What I find hard to understand is why brands like KFC, McDonalds and Subway are doing so well as they are. Your own Thai food is cheaper, healthier and way more delicious!
International Baccalaureate
- an alternative to the Danish ‘Studentereksamen’ • internationally recognized • gives admission to universities all over the world • taught in English You can stay at Nyborg Gymnasium’s boarding school.
Contact us for more information about the programme and the boarding school.
Deadline for applications: 15th of March
Nyborg Gymnasium & Kostskole Skolebakken 13, DK-5800 Nyborg, tlf +45 65 31 02 17 post@nyborg-gym.dk, www.nyborg-gym.dk
December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 35
มุมภาษาไทยสำ�หรับฝรั่ง
mum pha:să: thai sămràp fàràng
The Sounds of
By Klavs Johansen Photo by Disraporn Yatprom
Thai
L
earning the language is the path to understanding any culture. There are excellent shortcuts along thispath,such as sports, music and working together, which each will take you a long way, but, in the end, nothing brings us as far towards understanding and participation as the language. Is that a goal, is it worth it? Ask anyone who has walked the path in the case of Thailand – for however short or long – and I am sure that their answer, like mine, will be a resounding “Yes! Get as far as you can and enjoy it all the way!” In this and coming issues of ScandAsia Thailand, we will discuss small and larger aspects of the Thai language. The topics will flow in no particular order, as it is not the intention to serialize a textbook. That said, let’s begin by establishing the sounds which are important in any language and crucial in Thai, if you wish to understand and be understood. As is clearly visible everywhere in Thailand, the Thai language is written using its own writing system, beautiful, but without any resemblance to the roman alphabet of the West. It is an alphabet, nonetheless, of Indian origin and perfectly tailored to the sounds of Thai. It is time-consuming, if not difficult, to learn. Attempts to write Thai, transcribe it that is, using Roman letters have taken place ever since the first Westerners arrived in Thailand. Most of these attempts have lacked consistency, and even those which were consistent,differedin aim and audience. For our purpose, we will write Thai with an adaption of the Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGST) which is the official system for rendering Thai with Roman letters, and thus the system one is most likely to encounter on street signs and elsewhere where Thai is written in the Roman alphabet. Thai is a monosyllabic language. This means in principle that each syllable– with the exception of syllables in loanwords –is a word in its own right. Thai is also a tonal language. This means that each syllable is pronounced with a tone and the tone defines the meaning just as much as the initial consonant, the vowel and any final consonant of the syllable. Moreover, Thai vowel sounds may be either long or short and – just as thetone – the length is part of defining the meaning. 36 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
Since RTGST isn’t designed to teach Thai to foreigners, we have here made some adjustments to show tones and long vowels. In our transcription system, most letters are pronounced as in English. We enclose our transcriptions in slashes // to distinguish them from the surrounding text. In the following, we will describe the sounds of Thai and, whenever the pronunciation is not straightforward, we will give some examples for illustration. Try asking a Thai to read the examples aloud. The sounds of Thai should be learned by imitating the Thais, not by using more or less equivalent sounds from another language.
The Consonant Sounds The consonant sounds /b/, /d/, /f/, /h/, /j/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ng/,/r/, /l/, /s/, /y/ and /w/ are pronounced more or less as in English.
Note that /ng/ may appear at the beginning of a syllable. Practice by saying ‘sing-a-song’ and gradually isolating the ‘ng-a’.Examples: งู/ ngu:/ ~ snake หงุดหงิด/ ngùtngìt/ ~ to be moody Also, note that many Thais will pronounce the /r/ as an l, whileothers distinctively roll the /r/, which is considered more correct and educated. The consonant sounds /k/, /p/ and /t/ are pronounced un-aspirated (without blowing air) as the k in skills, the p in spice and the t in sting,respectively. The corresponding aspirated versions are written /kh/,/ph/ and /th/. So /kh/ is pronounced like the k in king, /ph/ as the p in pencil (not as phi Philippines!) and /th/ as the th in Thailand. A few examples to illustrate the difference, anddon’t forget to ask a Thai to read them for you:
Thai Language Corner for Farangs
กินข้าว/ kin khâ:o/ ~ to eat (rice) ไปภูเก็ต/ paiphu:kèt/ ~ going to Phuket เต็มถัง/ tem thăng/ ~full tank (”Fill her up!”) Of the consonant sounds, the following combinations may appear in the beginning of a syllable: / kr/, /kl/, /kw/, /khr/, /khl/, /khw/, /tr/,/pr/, /pl/, /phr/ and /phl/. Quite few, actually, compared to the combinations possible in any Western language I know of. But it is getting even simpler: The only consonant sounds ever appearing at the end of a syllable are /k/, /p/, /t/ and /m/, /n/ and /ng/! So if you have heard Thais saying ‘hoten’ instead of hotel and ‘min’ instead of milk, here’s the explanation.
The Vowel Sounds The plain vowel sounds are /a/ as a in father, /e/ as e in hen, /i/ as i in pin, /o/ as o in old and /u/ as u in blue. Additional plain vowel sounds (even if we write them using more than one letter as we have run out of single letters) are /ae/ as a in cat, /or/ pronounced as written, /oe/ pronounced close to er in number, and, finally, /ue/,which doesn’t have an equivalent in English at all, but you can try the ue in sue, said with a broad smile. Examples: คืนเงิน/ khue:nngoen/ ~ to return the money ไปซื้อของ/ pai súe:khŏr:ng/ ~ to go shopping
All the plain vowel sounds exist in a short and a long version with the latter being approximately double the length of the former. We indicate long vowels with a colon /:/ right after the vowel, e.g. /u/ short and /u:/ long. Examples: คุณ/ khun/ ~ you คูณ/ khu:n/ ~ to multiply The plain vowel sounds may be combined in quite a few ways, but their pronunciation is no surprise, once you know how to pronounce the individual plain vowels in the combination. So just a few examples: ไทย/ thai/ ~ Thai เบียร์/ bia/ ~ beer เลี้ยว/ líao/ ~ to turn แมว/ mae:o/ ~ cat กลัว/ klua/ ~ to be scared เสือ/ sŭea/ ~ tiger Finally, we should mention the glottal stops, i.e. sounds made by obstructing airflow in the throat, which often result when a syllable ends in a short vowel sound. We indicate this by writing an apostrophe /’/ right after the vowel. The following examples give an idea what the glottal stop at the end of a syllable sounds like: เกาะ/ kòr’/ ~ island ปอเปี๊ยะ / porpía’/ ~ springrolls
The Tones Standard Thai features 5 tones, meaning that any syllable is pronounced with one of these tones. Different tone results in different meaning. The tones are mid tone, low tone, falling tone, high tone and rising tone. In our transcription, we indicate the tones with the following signs: Low tone /`/, falling tone /^/, high tone /´/ and rising tone /˘/. The signs are placed above the vowels. When no sign appears, the syllable is pronounced with mid tone. Examples: Low tone: ป่า/ pà: / ~ jungle Falling tone: หน้า / nâ: / ~ face High tone: น้า/ ná: / ~ uncle Rising tone: หนา/ nă: / ~ to be thick Mid tone: นา/ na: / ~ rice field That’s it! The sounds of Thai presented in a few paragraphs. Don’t despair, if you didn’t get it all first time. Try out whatever you picked up and keep the rest for later reference. Listen to the Thais and repeat.Over and over again. Think in whole expressions, rather than words and syntax. Learn the written language for support. Needless to say, you cannot learn Thai just by reading this column, but hopefully it will provide an entertaining supplement no matter how far on the path towards understanding you have come. โชคดีนะครับ/ chô:k di: ná’khráp / ~ good luck!
Sommerskole på Herlufsholm
- for piger og drenge i alderen 13-15 år
Tilbring 2 sjove og spændende uger i sommerferien på Danmarks ældste kostskole i selskab med 13-15 årige fra hele verden. Programmet byder på niveauinddelt danskundervisning, sportslige og kreative aktiviteter samt ekskursioner og oplevelser. Lær om Danmark, mød nye venner og nyd de enestående, historiske og smukke rammer som Herlufsholm Skole kan tilbyde.
SOMMERSKOLE 2014 18. JUL. - 1. AUG.
Læs mere om vores sommerskole på www.herlufsholm.dk Herlufsholm Skole og Gods • Herlufsholm Allé 170 • 4700 Næstved • DK • Tlf. (+45) 55 75 35 00 • Fax (+45) 55 75 35 14 • sommerskole@herlufsholm.dk • Find os også på Facebook
December 2013 • ScandAsia.Thailand 37
Medium
Icelandic layercake Ingredients: 3 cups of cream Evil
The sponge: • 4 egg whites • 140 grams icing sugar • 140 grams shredded coconut Chocolate crème: • 4 egg yolks • 60 grams icing sugar • 100 grams melted cooled butter • 100 grams melted chocolate
Procedure: Whisk the egg whites very stiff and mix with icing sugar and shredded coconut. Spread the mass in a butter greased cake tin. Bake the sponge in 50-60 minutes at 175 degrees in the lower drill in the oven.
Crème: Whisk egg yolks with icing sugar, the melted but cool butter and mix it with the melted chocolate.
Are you done?
W
hen you have completed the above puzzles, please send your solution by fax to +66 2 943 7169 or scan and email to puzzles@ scandasia.com. We will make a lucky draw among the correct answers. Five lucky winners will receive a ScandAsia polo shirt. Name:
___________________________________________________
Age: ________________________
Mobile:
___________________
Address:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Email:
__________________________________________________
Deadline for submitting your solution is 15 January 2014 38 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2013
Take the finished sponge out of the cake tin and place it on a round platter. Spread the chocolate crème on the sponge and decorate with whipped cream on the top.
When it’s time to do business, we’re exceptionally open.
Every business has a different story and a different goal. We understand that. Over many years in this market of unique opportunities, we’ve developed the local knowledge, resources and connections needed to turn ambitions into reality. That’s why we’re one of the most well-established northern European banks in the region. For corporates, financial institutions and private banking clients, we’re ready to listen and cater to your needs – in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Delhi. Welcome to contact us at Tel: +65 63 57 08 95 singapore@sebprivatebanking.com.sg www.sebgroup.com/privatebanking