MAY 2014
Patrolling the streets of Udon Thani ScandAsia.dk
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Coming Events
EABC conference on Digital TV
Your FREE ScandAsia Magazine in Thailand ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish residents in Thailand.
On Thursday 15 May 2014 from 08.30-13.45 the EABC will be doing an event on Digital Broadcasting and Digital TV at Room Sukhumvit, Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit near the Asoke BTS station. Everyone with an interest in broadcasting and the IT industry should attend and the entry fee varies from THB 1000 to 250 depending on who you are. The event will contain several speeches on different subjects in the sector and a networking lunch. Go to www.eabc-thailand.eu to register for the event
DanCham Networking Event
We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in China, Singapore and the rest of South East Asia.
On Thursday the 15th of May the DanishThai Chamber of Commerce is holding a network event. DanCham as it is known in daily speak is inviting all members but also non-members of all chambers and business associations in Thailand. The event is reoccurring monthly event and this time is sponsored by Harlem Shakers. It all takes place from 18.30 PM – 20.30 PM at the Harlem Shakers, Thonglor 8. The event is free for the members of DanCham but will cost non-members a fee of THB 600. Food and juice is included in this price.
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 Managing Editor: Thana Poopat thana@scandmedia.com 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
Norwegian weekly Wednesday Throughout May all Norwegians both expats and tourists are welcome to join the informal meeting at the restaurant Terrace 90 at Soi 90 in Hua Hin. During these events it will be possible to join the community of Norwegians in Hua Hin and you can also feel at “home” for a couple of hours. The meetings are always held on Wednesday at the Terrace 90 between 15.30 – 17.30.
o k i s i r Selv , 0 . kr
Her er der intet der står med småt....alt er inklusiv! Lad dig ikke snyde....hos os er der ingen overraskelser, når du henter din sommerferiebil. Vores priser er ALT INKLUSIV - ingen selvrisiko ved skader. Så kør trygt afsted i en bil fra Europcar. Book online på europcar.dk/udlandsdansker eller kontakt vores danske reservationscenter på tlf. +45 89 33 11 33 eller mail: reservations@europcar.dk May 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 3
SAAB-SEB Golf Tournament A Resounding Success O By Christer Holmvall
n a glorious and warm Saturday in March, 128 golfers made their way down to Black Mountain in Hua Hin for the first ever SAAB-SEB tournament. People not only came from Hua Hin and Bangkok but from all over Asia for this event, which has grown to be the most popular on the SSS calendar. For a challenging golf course the scores were quite good – especially in the A group where Geir Bing won with 40 points including 1 birdie, Mats Holm came second with 39 points which included an amazing 4 birdies and the last podium spot went to Jan Hammarlund at 39 points as well but higher handicap than Mats and he also had two birdies. The top 3 all came from the SSS member group. The B group and overall winner was Dan Enstedt whom had 37 points despite his 42 putts. One of the highest puts which meant that tee to green he played super well. Daniel Häggmark of the international team came second at 36 points while Bjorn Bjerkaas came 3rd with 34 points. Honorable mentions go to Mikael Olsson whom took the 4th prize which is actually 3rd prize in the SSS competition. Longest drive on hole # 18 went to Bo Palmqvist and the ladies was won by Sherry Fager. There was also a team competition which was won by a whopping 5 points over their 2nd place counterparts. The winning team was Roby Janssens, Wichien Harnpraween, Sverre Haug and Kristian Bo. Live music was then played and a great buffet dinner Scandinavian style at the golf course The next tournament is the Oakwood-Blufox tournament on the 26th of April. You can already now sign up at www.zabai.golf Happy swinging!
4 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
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May 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 5
Past Events
Fun-filled DanCham Easter Lunch
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n Friday, 4th April, 2014, DanCham hosted the annual Easter Lunch with its members and friends. More than 80 guests, mostly Danes but also other nationalities, attended the traditional Easter event at Admirals Pub & Restaurant. They gathered to celebrate the festival, which marks the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring in Denmark. A special thank you to ECCO, Pandora, and Nordea for being main sponsors of this happy event. Support from Carlsberg, Designers Field, BMC, Royal Copenhagen, Scanproducts, Georg Jensen, Jyske Bank and Visit Beyond is also much appreciated.
Christer Holmvall is new SSS Chairman
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hrister Holmvall, an active member of the Golf section of Scandinavian Society Siam, was elected new Chairman of Scandinavian Society Siam at the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 23 April. Another new member of the board was Savija Korslund. Outgoing Chairman Robert Kronberg left the board in high standing after three years of dedicated service, the last two as Chairman of the almost 100-year-old association of Danes, Swedes, Norwegians and Finns in Thailand. The remaining board members were all re-elected. They are Christina Hammarlund, Thordur Adalsteinsson, Claus Gundersen, Lars Anderson, and Knut Hauslo. The AGM took place at Rembrandt Hotel and the members were treated to a full course sit-down dinner in the Senor Pico Restaurant after the AGM, supervised by General Manager Eric Hallin and David Nilsson of Rembrandt hotel. The activities of the past year was presented by Robert Kronberg, including the financial report. He was assisted by Christina Hammarlund regarding the membership situation - counting over 200 members - by Thordur Adalsteinsson regarding the Bulletin and the website, by Erik Dahlstrom regarding the golf section and by Gregers Moller regarding the heritage section. A special task of this year’s meeting was to merge the new legal foundation of the SSS, the articles of association that have been registered with the Thai authorities, with the old ByLaws of the SSS. The members voted unanimously for the new set of ByLaws worked out by Claus Gundersen and Gregers Moller, that synchronizes the two documents in all key aspects.
Swea Lunch på Crepes & Co
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en Swedish women and a baby were gathered to enjoy each others company at SWEA’s April lunch. The lunch is a reorccuring monthly SWEA event and beyond the good company and friendly smiles the women also enjoyed some excellent cuisine at the popular restaurant Crepes & Co. at Soi Langsuan in Bangkok.
6 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
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News Brief
Telenor’s dtac launches LTE with Ericsson
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o meet the needs of a data-hungry new generation of users in densely populated areas, dtac TriNet Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Thailand’s second-largest mobile operator dtac, has assigned long-time partner Ericsson to deploy a 4G/LTE network. The 4G/LTE on 2100MHz rollout began in February 2014 and once completed consumers can expect a superior user experience when browsing the internet on their smartphones or downloading movies at much faster speeds. By deploying 4G/LTE on 2100MHz, dtac TriNet will ensure improved network capacity and enhanced performance in Bangkok. dtac will also have a cost-effective network ready for continued data-traffic growth. Panya Vechbanyongratana, Senior Vice President, Network Operations Division, dtac, says: “Our vision of Internet for All, equality of access to all Thais, is to enable all Thai people to access the internet for a better quality of life. Enhancing customer experience in data services. We are pleased to roll out 4G services and we’re convinced it will lead to many advantages not only for our users, who will enjoy better and faster access to information through our high-speed mobile broadband network. It will also foster entrepreneurship and active development among mobile operators, vendors, application developers and content producers.” Camilla Vautier, Head of Ericsson Thailand, says: “This confirms our long-standing partnership with dtac and is important, not only for Ericsson but also in terms of realizing the Networked Society. Through this network rollout, we are enabling Thai citizens to access faster mobile broadband services that can enrich their everyday lives.”
Denmark-based Cambodian dissident sentenced in absentia
Mr. Sam Serey meets with Mr. Michael H. Winther, the Danish ambassador in Thailand in 2012 and hands over the book “Mystery of Cambodia”. Photo: KI Media
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enmark-based Sam Serey, president of the Khmer National Liberation Front (KLNF), is, according to Cambodia’s courts, the ringleader of an international organization that planned to topple the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Along with 12 associates, Mr. Serey was sentenced to prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on 11 April over the alleged terrorist plot. Seven of the group’s members, who were present in court, are set to spend the next five to seven years of their lives in jail. But Mr. Serey, who was among six KNLF members tried in absentia, is living in Denmark, where he claims to have been granted political asylum in 2010. When he is not writing articles against the alleged mismanagement and corruption within Mr. Hun Sen’s government, Mr. Serey says he volunteers for the International Red Cross in Denmark and is studying the Danish language at VIA University College in Aarhus. “I think the verdict is very injustice for us because we are working peacefully to find justice, freedom and democracy for Cambodia,” Mr. Serey said on 13 April, speaking by telephone. 8 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
Swedish authors discuss children literature at Bangkok Book Fair
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he Swedish Embassy, together with Nanmeebooks Publishing and the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (PUBAT), on April 3 presented a literature event “Happy Reading – Children’s literature in Thailand & Sweden”. The event took place at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in connection with “12th Bankok International Book Fair 2014”. Two well-known children’s literature writers from Sweden Eva Susso and Anna Höglund, who is also an illustrator, talked about modern Swedish children’s books and the history of children’s literature in Sweden. In addition to this, Eva Susso’s book “Babo pekar” was launched in both English and Thai . The event consisted of one full day of seminars, panel discussions and other activities. After having finished their contribution in Bangkok, Anna and Eva flew to Myanmar on April 4. There they continued a discussion about Swedish children’s literature while visiting a Child Care Home in Yangon.
Application deluge at the visa section of the Royal Danish Embassy
News Brief
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t is high season for issuance of visas to go to Denmark, and the visa section receives about 100 applications daily. It is about four times as many as on a normal day in for example November where about 20-30 applications are sent to the visa section daily. “Many people are going to visit family and friends in Denmark during the Danish spring and summer from April to August. At the same time several tourist groups are going to Denmark as well as to Iceland which our visa section also covers”, says Annette Rosenqvist, Head of Visa section. “Typically the peak season for visa issuance is from March to August. This year we are extraordinarily busy as one of the tourist groups going to Denmark consists of about 2000 tourists who will join a cruise tour in Scandinavia out of Copenhagen in May 2014. The visa section has hired extra temporary staff for the busiest time of the peak season to ensure that the processing time of maximum 15 days for issuance of a visa can be maintained.
Visa application Center also busy Naturally there is also great activity at the Visa Application Center, VFS, which receives the applicants, obtain their finger prints, key in their applications and ensures that all required documents are submitted to the visa section for further consideration. During the peak season VFS is operating with two queues: One for group tourists and one for the regular applicants. Unfortunately applicants experience hours of waiting time presently, but a new biometric station will soon be in place at VFS enabling the office to speed up the processing time of applying for a visa. “While we are pleased that so many tourists choose to visit Denmark we are also fully aware that both the tourists and the regular applicants may have to wait longer than normally for both the application procedure and the issuance of the visa. I would, however stress that we are doing our best to ensure that we deliver visa on time, which is 15 days from the time of application”, says Ambassador Mikael Hemniti Winther.
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27/02/2014 14:26
May 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 9
The most important part of this work is to be able to explain the differences between Thai and Western culture, and how to solve it.
Swede Kjell Nyström, 66, works as a tourist police volunteer in Udon Thani, a work that apart from making the streets safer also has improved his understanding of Thai society.
Patrolling S the streets of Udon Thani
Slowly patrolling the streets around central Udon Thani late one afternoon is a gentlelooking but well-built farang with a friendly smile. Dressed in police-like uniform, badge and a belt with his tools is Kjell Nyström, 66-year-old retiree from Stockholm, Sweden. He is part of the growing Tourist Police Volunteer unit of the Royal Thai Police. But if you think his work is filled with actions, you will be disappointed. “We don’t really use force. Most problems can be solved by negotiations and understanding of difference in culture,” the Swede explains. By Michael Töpffer
10 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
ampanthamit Road in central Udon Thani is as close to a night-life area you will get in this booming Isaan town of Northeastern Thailand. With two dozen bars and restaurants and an ever mushrooming number of hotels, it has become the preferred hang-out spot for a growing number of westerners who either visit Udon Thani as tourists or those already have settled in the region. Kjell Nyström has seen the rapid change this province has gone through over the last few years - and he himself has been part of it, actively playing a role in trying to smooth out the conflict that can arise when different cultures and traditions blend together over a short time. “The most common cases we have involve a domestic dispute where a foreign person has an issue with a Thai partner, often as a result of lack of understanding,” explains Kjell Nyström. “The most important part of this work is to be able to explain the differences between Thai and Western culture, and how to solve it,” he continues. Kjell Nyström is part of the Tourist Police unit of the Udon Thani police. Many times per week he dons his uniform and patrols the streets of the city. “We are not allowed to use any force. If such a situation occurs, we have to call in the regular police,” he explains.
We use negotiations The role of the tourist police is more of a negotiator, he explains. Sometimes it is purely an issue of language skills, where many in the tourist police unit are fluent in a number of foreign languages, some even speak Thai. Often when foreigners are involved in a dispute, accident or crime, the tourist police officers are called in to facilitate the communication between the conflicting parties.
And here you find one of many different aspects of how to solve a dispute in Thailand, as opposed to the Western way, Kjell Nyström explains. “I used to live in the US. Over there, you sue one another, but here in Thailand it often comes down to negotiations, even for a serious crime, like assault, it is often up to the families to talk and maybe agree on compensation. This is something that can seem very strange for a westerner,” he says. “Here you often try to avoid bringing in lawyers or going to court. It simply is better to just talk,” he says.
Fourteen foreigners The tourist police unit in Udon Thani is made up of 12 Thai officers and four staff at the office. Some of the Thai staff are multi-lingual, mastering English as well as Spanish and Portuguese. The foreign staff consists of 14 officers, including Brits, Australians and a handful of other European countries. Among them, they speak a dozen of foreign languages, which is really key to their success at work. But Russian is not one of the languages spoken. “Here in Udon Thani we don’t see many Russian tourists yet, unlike other parts of Thailand, so we don’t yet have the need for any Russianspeaking staff,” Kjell Nyström says. An important part of the job is also to contact relatives, embassies or insurance companies in case of accident or crime. Sometimes, it is just a matter of being available to answer questions from tourists about things, from directions to rec-
ommendation on the best restaurants in town. “We walk the streets to show our presence. We are here to help,” he explains.
Background in IT Before settling in Thailand, Kjell Nyström had a long and international career as an IT-expert, which started at the state railroad in Sweden and ended at IBM. “I was working in sales. And being a tourist police volunteer is a bit similar. It is about convincing other people into something,” he says. His work took him around the world and as he was nearing retirement age, he wanted to find a place to settle. Thailand was an option, having first come here as early as 1978, and he went to Phuket to scout for prospects. There he met his current Thai wife, and one thing led to another, and now they live in Udon Thani with their two children, aged five and two. Once settled in Udon Thani, Kjell Nyström realized he needed to fill his time with activity. A friend who was already in the tourist police volunteer unit asked him to join and the rest is history. Now he works every 4th day, in six hour shifts, morning, day or evening. He mostly patrols the streets on foot together with at least one colleague. Occasionally they go by police-car.
Careful selection Joining the tourist police unit has turned out to be quite popular among retirees. Many try, but only
some will pass the informal screening tests. New recruits have to join three months of internship, patrolling all different shifts with at least five different colleagues. “We will evaluate all candidates thoroughly to see if they fit in well. We sometimes turn some applicants down,” Kjell Nyström explains, saying that some candidates are too aggressive or try to dominate or micromanage other people, or think they will play a role as crime busters, arresting criminals. “This is not our style,” he says and goes on saying: “We have more use of people who have had careers as doctors or priests rather than policemen.” Kjell Nyström truly enjoys his time as a tourist police volunteer, not least for all he has learnt about Thai society. “As a retired man, I didn’t want to get stuck in my sofa, this has given me much better opportunities,” he says. The benefits are many. “When you are married to a Thai, you learn from one person only, but in this work I meet so many people, both rich and poor, and it has given me a better understanding about almost everything, not least about the political turmoil in the country,” he says. And more important than anything else, the importance of never ever losing face. “Instead of saying that “you are wrong”, you need to say: “How shall we solve this”.” The tourist police patrol both on foot and by car.
May 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 11
Bangkok, a puzzle that can’t be solved
Fragments of a city and unanswered questions are what Danish designer Marie-Louise Kristensen transformed into jewellery and exhibited in Bangkok. By Sine Neuchs Thomsen
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anish jewellery artist Marie-Louise Kristensen exhibited her latest collection in O.P. Garden in Bangkok during December last year. The collection reflected her impressions of Bangkok from a three week stay in the city in the fall of 2012. “I was overwhelmed by noise, heat, street kitchens and clashes of patterns and contrasts.” Marie-Louise Kristensen told ScandAsia about this first impression of Bangkok. 12 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
After producing a jewellery collection called Copenhagen Ducks, inspired from her view on the city of Copenhagen, she was invited by Atty Tantivit, who runs her own gallery called ATTA in Bangkok, to do something similar with the most populated city in Thailand. “I was simply confused. Compared to Copenhagen, Bangkok is so unorganised and illogic. It was an explosion of different impressions that filled my head and made me want to ask a lot of questions,” the artist told.
Head full of questions Who would build a skyscraper right next to a small wooden house with a satellite dish on the roof, and why would they use one type of flagstones on one side of the street when there was another one on the other side? It was just a few of the questions that popped up in the head of the Danish artist. The fragments and the heterogeneity that Marie-Louise Kristensen experienced in the city became the main thread in her collection which. Her 15 pieces of jewellery are exhibited in ATTA’s gallery until the beginning of January. Divided in five minor groups they all represent a theme or a topic, which she felt made a special impression to her.
Needed to get away After two hectic weeks in the city she had to get away to control and organize all the impressions in her head. “My mind needed rest, so I went to the beach to relax and get a distance to all my thoughts from the city,” said Marie-Louise Kristensen.
“While I was lying in a sun bed I realized that I had to accept, that all the questions I had in my head would remain unanswered. With that in mind I could start working with my collection,” she added. Back home she reorganized all her photos, texts and thoughts in a clever system. “I felt like I had a lot of bricks to a jigsaw puzzle that couldn’t be solved. I somehow started to see a pattern, and that is how the five minor groups were created,” she said. That is what ended up in the minor topics counting houses, streets, trashcans, plastic chairs and teeth. But how did she get the idea of making trashcans into jewellery? “Walking around the city I saw many types of trashcans. Near Grand Palace they were beautifully decorated like small temples, which made it almost impossible to see what it actually was. Other places it would be just a small white plastic bag hanging in a lamp stake,” she explained. All the jewelleries have an obvious connection to the streets of Bangkok. Whether it is the small house with the satellite on top or the pedicure-tourist who is so eager to have her nails done, that she need a third foot, they all represent a side of Bangkok that made a deep impression on Marie-Louise. “But I am not done here yet. There are so many topics to continue with,” she said, slightly revealing that we might get to see a Banko{K} llection 2.0 some day. The exhibition was made possible with a grants from the Danish Art Foundation and Danish Art Workshops.
The Nordic light in Bangkok Eyes like deep blue fiords, blond hair like snow covered mountains and a smile like the midnight sun, let me introduce to you Katja Nordgaard, Norway’s Ambassador to Thailand. By Agneta Bekasssy Photos by Daniel Herron
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atja and her two year older brothers were born in the small city Motala, in Sweden. The father was Norwegian and the mother German. The parents met and fell in love during the time Katja’s father was studying in Germany. When the children were 5 and 7 years old, the family moved to Norway, to a suburb to Oslo, the capital of Norway. Katja remembers her childhood as very peaceful and happy. Already at a young age, Katja was very interested in Internationals Affairs and she was an active member in the organization The European Youth. After having finished school and before starting at University, she took a year off to travel around the world. In 1983 she decided to study Public Law, but then changed direction and instead took an MBA at the NHH - Norwegian School of Economics - specializing in International economics and Finance. After having finished studying, she worked one year in a bank as Chief of De14 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
partment, Corporate Customers. At an age of 27, Katja applied to the training program for Foreign Service and got accepted. Already in 1990 she came to London and worked for three years as a Press and Cultural Attaché at the Norwegian Embassy, a job she found very interesting. Katja has three daughters, but only the youngest daughter Elida, is living with Katja in Bangkok. Her two eldest daughters are attending university in England. Elida goes to NIST, one of the many International schools in Bangkok. Katja and Elida try to spend as much time as possible together, often accompanied by their beloved dog Remba, who they took care of since she was an abandoned puppy.
Long working day As an Ambassador, Katja has long working days. She wakes up every morning at 6 am and she and Elida take the BTS to Asoke from their home in ThongLoh. Elida goes to her school and Katja often goes to
the fitness studio. She likes starting off the day with some exercise and after her session at the gym, she takes the BTS to the Embassy at Phrom Pong. Her days are full with meetings and no day is the same. Twice a week she has meetings with her staff. There are working lunches and dinners several times every week. She has close contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo and often she receives visitors from Norway or other countries. She is working very closely with all Embassies and also the UN.
A sporty woman In her free time, Katja loves to go hiking, swimming and playing tennis. She is fond of almost every sport. Cross country skiing back in Norway belongs to her absolute favorites. You have no doubt about her dedication to sport and a healthy life when you see her slim figure. When I ask her if she doesn’t like to eat, she burst out laughing and says “Of course, I love to eat and to cook”, well, it is hard to believe. She very much likes Thai food and says charmingly “arroy mak” (very good). As she has been around in many different countries, she has also learned a lot about their inhabitants and their specialties’. During 2001 to 2004 she stayed in South Africa as a Minister counselor at the Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria where you can safely suppose she had the pleasure to enjoy the South Africa’s good wines. Until 2013, Katja was also responsible for Thailand’s neighboring country Myanmar, a country she visited often and which she got very engaged in. Norway opened an Embassy in Myanmar by the end of year 2013 and a new Ambassador took over the responsibility for the country. Katja sometimes travels around in Thailand visiting her countrymen living here. There is a big community of Norwegians settled in Thailand and their numbers are increasing every year. At least once a year, she also invites the Norwegians for a garden party at the beautiful residence, a
very appreciated event among the Norwegians. The Norwegian National Day on May 17th is also celebrated in the garden with lots of happy children running around waving with flags.
Memory from Thailand Katja became Norway’s Ambassador to Thailand in 2010 and I asked her if she has a very special memory from the years that has passed since and she said, “Oh many, many!” but still mentions one in particular. “I remember especially when we arranged an exhibition to show the world’s oldest Buddhist manuscripts (which were found in Afghanistan) and sold on the international market to a Norwegian collector. It was very moving and unforgettable to see how the Thai people greeted this exhibition with a huge procession and the interest from every part of the society.” My last two questions for Katja were, what advice she would you give to her daughters. She smiled and answered: “I want all three of them to live the life they want to, to believe in themselves and be happy. I hope they will contribute to making the world a better place and to always stand up against injustice and for the empowerment of women.”
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Leaving Thailand Unfortunately Katja and Elida are leaving Bangkok already this summer, returning to Norway, where Elida will start high school (gymnasium) and Katja will be taking up new, interesting tasks. I asked her if she had a special destination in mind that she would like to be transferred to after some years in Norway. Katja laughs and says: “I have no idea. First I want to settle in Norway again and then I’ll wait and see where destiny will take me.” Wherever she will go, I have no doubt she will stay the beautiful, engaged woman dedicated to her family and work. I wish Katja and her daughter a pleasant return and the very best for her future. We will deeply miss you here in Bangkok! May 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 15
Thai laws protect Consistent enforcement of rights protection of citizens and non-citizens under Thai laws inspires confidence that encourages foreign investment and ensures social harmony for members of expat communities living and working in Thailand. By Thana Poopat
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r. Uthai Arthivech is in charge of a special office set up under the Office of the Attorney - General to ensure that foreigners are protected equal to Thais under the law. The office also helps Thais abroad receive fair treatment and adequate protection under the laws of the country they live in. “Some laws exclude or restrict the rights of foreigners from certain specific actions, such as land purchase/ownership, but Thailand’s Constitution does not otherwise discriminate between citizens and non-citizens,” said Dr. Uthai, Senior Expert Public Prosecutor, Office of International Peoples’ Rights Protection (OIPP), Office of the AttorneyGeneral. Consistent implementation of rights protection inspires the kind of confidence that encourages business people to invest in local econo-
“Foreigners have pretty much the same rights as Thai citizens. They are entitled to the same rights to protection under the laws as Thai citizens,” says Senior Expert Public Prosecutor Dr. Uthai Arthivech.
mies. Long-term residents, particularly expats married to a Thai, also benefit from equal protection under the Thai laws, which brings about social harmony. Expats who are long-term residents of Thailand are taking great interest in learning about their rights under Thai laws, Uthai said. To illustrate his point, the Senior Expert public prosecutor said, the Thai state makes available the same avenues of recourse to citizens and non-citizens alike. Faced with injustices or unfair treatments, foreign residents are entitled to the same rights as Thai citizens’ to lodge complaints with the Ombudsman, Interior Ministry, Administrative Court, Office of the Human Rights Commission and other official channels. “We do not discriminate against foreign complainants.” Still, many foreigners are confused by Thailand’s legal system and criminal justice system because even though there are similarities, there are also differences. For example, in criminal justice system, public prosecutors do not really control the way police officers handle criminal cases from the beginning as recognized in the Continental European Countries. Police investigators and public prosecutors play different roles and belong to separate procedural steps in Thai criminal justice system as quite like in the English criminal justice system. Public prosecutors cannot interfere with police investigation until police investigators conclude their cases and forward them to Office of the Attorney General. This is what Thailand is different from most other countries.
Child custody As the result of growing number of families through marriages between Thais and foreigners, there are more cases of contests for child custody rights. Under Thai law, a mother cannot be prosecuted for abduction of her own child in Thailand because under Thai law, mother is natural and normally legal guardian of her child. If such a case finds its way to Office of the Attorney General, the case is more often than not dismissed because under Thai laws the mother cannot be prosecuted. 16 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
foreigners equally But if the abduction takes place in another country that are signatory to the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of Child Abduction, the Thailand’s Office of the Attorney General can be asked by foreign countries to send the abducted child back to rightful custodians in a foreign country. Thailand is a signatory to the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of Child Abduction. And the Thai court does not generally prescribe strict visitation rights, rights of child custodianship, unlike in most western countries. That has something to do with cultural difference.
Inheritance If a foreigner died in Thailand, how does one deal with inheritance? The Thai laws apply. If the Thai spouse of a foreign resident died it becomes a bit complicated if inheritance includes land ownership. In that case the foreign spouse will inherit the property, including land, but is allowed to keep only 1 rai as place of residence or for commercial purpose and/or up to 10 rai as land for agricultural or industrial purpose. Any land in excess of this limit must be disposed of within one year. “Our clients are mostly Thai women living abroad. But we are expanding the services to foreign residents in Thailand,” Dr Uthai said.
Discretionary power Another aspect of Thai legal system that confounds most foreigners in Thailand is the relatively wide range of discretionary power granted to government officials in the interpretation of the laws, such as allowable
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percentage of foreign ownership in Thai company that want to purchase land. Regarding land purchase/ownership requirements, they are not as straightforward as many people think. There are other considerations when determining percentage of foreign ownership, such as possible threat to national security. The legal limit for foreign shareholding in a Thai company seeking to purchase land is 49 per cent. But the limit can be altered and adjusted when national security concern enters the equation. “Interpretation of laws in practice may differ. But foreigners, who feel they are being discriminated against or treated unfairly, have the right to lodge complaint with relevant authorities, like the Administrative Court.” Uthai said it was worth noting that the exercise of discretionary power must not contradict the laws or the underlying principle of the laws in question. By nature, government regulations tend to be more restrictive in terms of a person’s rights than the laws which are applicable to everyone. Land transactions are not the only areas affected. Law on rights to nationality also has elements linked to national security concerns.
inheritance, the OIPP charges only THB700 as judicial fee. Uthai said basic knowledge of the Thai legal system among foreign residents is improving as the result of outreach programmes, under which relevant government officials
organize occasional seminars, lectures attended by local expats. But many continue to be confounded by the finer points of laws on nationality, immigration and residency rights, right to work, investment rights and alien’s rights to property.
Free if you are poor Generally speaking, Office of International Peoples’ Rights Protection offers legal advice and legal aid to Thais and foreigners virtually free of charge provided that they meet the criteria of not being able to afford lawyer’s fee on their own. On
The top photo is from a PDRC demonstration - the lower is from a UDD demonstration. Both sides question if the legal system truly provides justice for them and protect them against injustices. The police and the public prosecutor institutions are also considered unreliable when seeking justice.
13/2/2014 10:56:53 PM May 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 17
There is no such thing as a free lunch Getting old in Thailand By Flemming Winther Nielsen
I
try hard to keep quiet. If I engage in the conversation or discussion at this café in Bang Saray, a recent suburb established south of Pattaya, my day will be gone and nothing much achieved. And I almost always keep quiet. To talk to people absorbed in a negative spiral is hopeless, like preaching moral and optimism with a lifted index finger. This Swedish fellow present in the café, not older than 55, was plastered with untreated psoriasis on his face, elbows and legs. He drank heavily and after the fourth big Leo Beer and a whiskey he got troublesome and accused all and everybody of all sorts of dirty behavior, all of us being pedophiles etc. He then invited people for a fight, although he could hardly stand on his feet. A young lady, the owner of the café, first downed a Vodka shot and then disappeared. A few moments later she came back driving her Toyota Camry, then ordering the Swedish old fellow to take the passenger seat; she then drove him home; 15 minutes later entering the café again, another shot of vodka. There are so many like him, they express their anger and fear differently and not all have violent tendencies. In that sense, beer is better than hard alcohol, but how to hold back the per-
18 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
sonal disgust or distaste, I don’t know.
Down and out What is going on in Bang Saray and to a much bigger extent in Pattaya is sick and sickening, the beer bars, the girls, the children running around late, and the atmosphere of many people being ‘down and out’. We first visited Bang Saray 12 years ago. Had food on the pier and slept in one of the little cottages on stilts adjacent to the restaurant. The Wat overshadowed the scene and everything was peaceful, no bars, only a few local food shops. Today, Bang Saray is in reality a dumpsite of human wrecks from Scandinavia, very many from Sweden and Norway, the presence of Pattaya nearby is heavily felt. It must be mentioned that many of the Scandinavians living on the Eastern Seaboard are former blue-collar workers. Their lives were not filled with creative activities, such as writing stories, playing music, writing poems. They have lived a very practical working life. It is understandable that now they cannot find ways to ‘kill the time’ and the bellies and the consumption grow. We all know that as old farangs we are not allowed to
take up any, no matter how small, practical jobs. Then the spouse has to make up for much.
Which wheelchair, Sir? Back in Bangkok, my local pharmacy discreetly reminds me of my own situation. One section holds an extensive exhibition of at least 25 different wheelchairs, rollators, walkers with 4 wheels and efficient handbrakes, plus crutches and various other walking aids for the impaired. The exhibition interests me; when will it be my turn? Which model will be the right one for me, with or without built-in bedpan? Typically none of the wheelchairs are electrical. In the Thai traditional family, they have young children and grandchildren who will push the old folks’ wheelchair. But we, the farangs, often have not. I have talked with many old Danes and other Scandinavians, mostly Swedes, who also worry. Not all the time but from time to time. How will the last time be? Will the spouse be loyal and stay on, once you are an ‘old man’ and the sources of income more limited?
Love and romance Personal attraction, love and romantic courting are Western inventions and it is risky if you be-
lieve that the same model is valid here, pragmatism dominate the scene. You might be frustrated and sad to experience that the relationship between the sexes in Thailand is based on family dependencies and on cash, which is why the girl you really like might also be a heavy handed collector. Don’t blame her or her father; this is a cultural and economic heritage. You only have to blame yourself for being a Western fool, seeking romantic company. I think of my encounters in Bang Saray and wonder if mental loneliness can really be compensated for by being with a spouse maybe 25 years your junior, from a money focused and very different culture, speaking very little English and only one word of Swedish?
Stymied pension Talking rights and economy, the distance between Thailand and Scandinavia is much longer than between any EU country and Denmark. A serious matter regarding Danish ‘Peoples Pension’ is that for inexplicable reasons Danes are only entitled to the basic amount but not the supplements if they live outside the EU. Some creative people worked around this by getting an address in for example Spain; domiciled there you will get the
supplements, but busybodies in the Danish system cried foul. One somehow humiliating aspect about this is that with only the basic pension, your income is just not high enough to secure a one-year retirement visa. So off you must go to Laos, Cambodia or Burma every third month. I fail to see why the politicians in their incomprehensible wisdom cannot give the same rights as if you had decided to live the last part of your life in Cyprus.
Problem export There are two very different perspectives with which to look at the obligations and rights of the home countries to interfere with the life of their old citizens while staying, e.g. in Thailand. The first is that people have made their choice and have to live with the consequences. The second is the humanistic Christian one that countries, like the Scandinavian, claiming to be caring welfare societies, must take some sort of responsibility for their ageing fellow countrymen. Since I have listened to so many life stories from old farangs, stories about neglect, abuse, lack of tender loving care in childhood, I opt for the second view. Often a divorce at home was
the last straw. On the initiative of The Norwegian Seaman’s Church in Pattaya, a study was carried out, titled: ‘Thai – Norske barn I Fokus’. Here it was concluded that there are severe problems regarding the upbringing of these children, caused obviously by the shortcomings of the parents, the mixed couples, where the man is often so much older than his spouse. The study was heavily criticized, mainly concentrating around: ‘We have no problems, leave us alone’. Easily done, since this preliminary study didn’t have the weight of an academic demand for validity and reliability.
Could we be proactive? It is often the case that a problem or a dysfunction in a so-called welfare society will be swept under the carpet for a long time. None of the governmental stakeholders will take action. Then a very unhappy case in the circles of e.g. Bang Saray will make the inflammation boil burst. I would find it more decent if those who carry the responsibilities act before a tragic accident make the calamity obvious for everybody. And finally: No, I don’t believe that sending people back to the nursing homes in Scandinavia is the solution.
May 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 19
Any time soon To the dogs?
Flemming Winther Nielsen’s struggle with getting older ended sadly on Tuesday 21 January 2014. His funeral took place on Monday 27 January 2014.
In dealing with our ongoing process of aging we have to use all our remaining intellect, skills, strategies and tactics in order not to let go and let the alcohol or the nursing home get the better of us. By Flemming Winther Nielsen
20 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
W
hen I am writing about aging I am dealing only with the “normal” process of aging. It is about the lucky ones among us, who only slowly get older and weaker. I have not sufficient knowledge to talk about the maladies such as Alzheimer, Dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Aphasia etc. and then one should rather remain silent.
Stoicism and the Middle Path The old Greek concept of Stoicism as well as the Buddhist teaching of ‘The Middle Path’ both offer excellent tools for us to keep our balance while getting older. They represent the opposite of the consumerism and thrill seeking pleasures so common in the stressful years of our working life - until they finally lose their attraction and we have to find more valuable foundations. The core of Stoicism is that reason must govern emotion. We must stay cool and not give in to the chaos of emotions with unpredictable consequences. Stoicism thereby helps us to carry the burdens put on our shoulders, losses and sadness, in a calm and reflective manner. ‘The Middle Path’ demand from us that we “stay neutral, upright and centered. Meaning to investigate the core of life with an unbiased attitude”. I can only recommend more reading about these two subjects, but will emphasize that they are not only techniques to be learnt; you can practice them extensively if you have decided to stay proud and upright as long as possible. A supervisor or ‘teacher (ajarn)’ would be an advantage.
Right here we are at the crossroads: It is up to us, as individuals, to decide whether we intent to stay proud and upright or whether we will let ourselves go to the dogs. Easy to say, I know, but I fight every day and so can you. Going to the dogs will often mean alcohol with all that follows, legs full of arthritic veins, liver problems etc. This country is not geared for old and weak foreigners; it is geared for the healthy and wealthy. Not much network among ourselves; often nobody to take you under the arm. Going to the dogs in Denmark will usually mean that you accept the room in the nursing home. Here you will experience that decline in your faculties and dementia is around the corner. You will be under a regime where the nursing home owners - the municipalities - bureaucratic rules design your day and what to do when: There is the duty roster for the staff. Get up time, breakfast time, lunch time, coffee time, dinner time and bed time. Individual deviations are not appreciated and by the end of it, the sooner you develop a light dementia the more practical for the staff. Through many years of my working life I have visited so many different homes for the elderly but the picture is almost the same. The staff can hardly be blamed since they have been ‘silently’ disciplined into the system. Furthermore it seems that the politicians and leading staff in the municipalities don’t have the intellectual capacity to lift their thinking and decisions up from the 175 years old bureaucratic way to build organizations.
The way we look at others Unfortunately, other people invariably see us through their own filter. In his thesis: ‘Om oplevelsen af andres adfaerd’, Professor, Dr. Psych. Franz From (1953) points out how our perception of other people’s behavior tends not to have much to do with the truth about that behavior, action, expression. It is only all too easy to apply one of the many stereotypes like: stupid old fool, dirty old man, old clown, old bitch, old witch, old cow, and old crow. Also from our children we can only expect a filtered experience and not a searching and unbiased mind, the stereotypes tend to win, they are easy, convenient and an easy way out, hence also the ‘Generation Gap’ mentioned in my earlier article on aging published in February. Respect for the individual seems to die with the end of that persons working life. Therefore we will also have to cope with these labels, stigmas also called. Eventually the cruel joke of the Gap will repeat itself. Our children will, when their children are grown ups, and they themselves are starting old age, from their offspring realize that they are met with the same prejudices as we were.
มุมภาษาไทย
l
mum pha:să: thai
l
Thai Language Corner
the Tongue By Klavs Johansen
A
llow me to start this month where we ended the column in April, that is, by encouraging you to send us questions and proposals to be covered in future columns about the Thai language. Just write an email to us on thai@ maprao.dk. This month, we will look at tongue-twisters, these small sentences, intended to be difficult to say, especially when repeated quickly. Made out for fun, they may be difficult to pronounce for the native speaker, and even more difficult – and thus even funnier – when attempted by a foreigner. In Norwegian language, they say Ibsens ripsbusker og andre buskvekster (the redcurrant bushes of Ibsen and other bushy trees), while the Swedes say Sju sköna sjösjuka sjuksköterskor på skeppet Shanghai (seven beautiful seasick nurses on the ship Shanghai). In Finland, I am told, it is possible to say Tuulan ja Tuulin tuulinen tuuli tuulee talvella täällä ja tuolla (the windy wind of Tuula and Tuuli blows in the winter here and there), and in Iceland Hnoðri í norðri verður að veðri þótt síðar verði (a small cloud in the north becomes bad weather sooner or later). The Danes do enjoy asking foreigners to pronounce Rødgrød med fløde (red jelly with cream). I am sure tongue-twisters exist in most languages and, definitely, Thai is no exception. Besides the fun, tongue-twisters are a good way of practicing pronunciation and we will here take a
few in Thai with that intension. As usual, try them out with a Thai close to you. To ease the process, we will build up the tongue-twisters word by word: Two classics with foreign learners of Thai language are ไม้/ má:i/ ~wood ใหม่/ mài/ ~new ไม่/ mâi/ ~not ไหม้/ mâi/ ~to burn ไม้ใหม่ไม่ไหม้/ má:i mài mâi mâi/ ~new wood doesn’t burn and ใคร/ khrai / ~who ขาย/ khă:i / ~to sell ไข่/ khài / ~egg ไก่/ kài / ~chicken ใครขายไข่ไก่/ khrai khă:i khài kài/ ~who sells chicken eggs? Note in particular the tone contrasts in the first example of seemingly identical syllables and the contrast between /kh/ and /k/ in the second example. Another good example for tone practice is น้า/ ná: / ~uncle ทำ�/ tham / ~to do นา/ na: / ~rice field หน้า/ nâ: / ~season ฝน/ fŏn / ~rain
น้าทำ�นาหน้าฝน/ ná: tham na: nâ: fŏn/
~uncle works the rice fields in the rainy season The tones are high-mid-mid-falling-raising. The following is a popular tongue-twister among the Thais: ยักษ์/ yák / ~a giant ใหญ่/ yài / ~big ไล่/ lâi / ~to chase เล็ก/ lék / ~small ยักษ์ใหญ่ไล่ยักษ์เล็ก/ yák yài lâi yák lék/ ~the big giant chases the small giant Our last example is not for the fainthearted: สาว/ să:o / ~girl แสนสวย/ săe:n sŭai / ~gorgeous ใส่/ sài / ~to wear เสื้อ/ sûea / ~blouse, shirt สีแสด/ sĭ: sàe:t / ~red-orange สวม / sŭam / ~to wear ส้นสูง / sôn sŭ:ng / ~high heels สีส้ม / sĭ: sôm / ~orange สาวแสนสวยใส่เสื้อสีแสดสวมส้นสูงสีส้ม/ să:o săe:n sŭai sài sûea sĭ: sàe:t sŭam sôn sŭ:ng sĭ: sôm/ ~a gorgeous girl wears a red-orange blouse and orange high heels.
โชคดีนะ/ chô:k di: ná’/
~good luck and don’t get discouraged –they are, after all, tongue-twisters May 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 21
A taste
that takes you home
T
he Kitchen in Chon Buri delivers home-made specialties from Denmark right to your doorstep. Peter Bak runs the business together with his wife with an eye on quality and customer
satisfaction. Peter Bak, a 60 year old Dane, has been in the restaurant industry for 40 years. One day he was surfing on the web and discovered a new opportunity to expand his business. Instead of just having a restaurant, the demand for tasty stuff from back home caught his eye.
My father’s rules
THE KITCHEN Ban Bang Sare, Chon Buri, Thailand 20250 Tel: 082 138 3823 Email: pethot2@gmail.com www.the-kitchen-bang-saray.com 22 ScandAsia.Thailand • May 2014
“My father always told me that I should stick with two things – Quality and Quality - and then it would never be a complete failure,” Peter Bak said when I was talking to him and this really seems to be a quote, which has glued itself to his mindset. He fondly rememberes the first time he tried out doing a traditional Danish specialty. It was “Hamburgryg” and as the name might indicate it has something to do with ham. He put a slice of the slightly smoked and salted ham in his wife Boe’s mouth and waited anxiously for the respond. Boe looked at Peter and said: This is not pork; this actually tastes like real meat. That was when Peter and Boe realized that it was possible to produce quality specialties in Thailand that tasted just like the ones in Denmark and a new chapter in their business life began. “I import fresh natural herring from Denmark” Peter said and went into detail with how the herring is then put in a brine to give it that exact same taste that many Danes might miss from the annual Christmas and Easter lunches. This obsession with leaving nothing up to chance and having an eye on every detail in the production might be why the business has grown to be a success today. “I am amazed and at times overwhelmed
with how big a demand there is for my products and at times it might be hard to keep tabs on every order, but I still insist on controlling the quality of what comes out of the kitchen and making sure that it lives up to the standards we have set,” he said with a reference to how the old fashioned mouth to mouth advertisement. “If people find something they like and it is good every time they order it, then they will tell their friends who will have the same experience and do the same,” Peter stressed. The Kitchen delivers their specialties to most of Thailand via the bus station nearest you and everything is put on dried ice to make sure that it will not go bad. Depending on your location, the delivery time varies, but usually three days is the wait you will have to endure before you can savour your feast. Peter admits that the revenue from the business is close to exceeding the one from the restaurant, which it initially was just meant to be a side business of.
Deli on the way Peter and his wife will soon be opening up a new restaurant, where they try to mix their business’ even more together. “We have no intention or ambition of being too big. When you get too big, you tend to slip up here and there,” he said. The new restaurant will have a deli counter so you can either just drop by and stock up on your favorite Danish delights or you can enjoy the view of them while having dinner. The deli will have many of the same items that are already sold on The Kitchen’s website such as the homemade chicken salad or the rye bread, which many Danes love. If you are not stopping by the deli and need a delivery there is a minimum order of 10 products unless you are willing to pay a delivery fee of 300 Baht.
Chicken Breasts
with rosemary and juniper
C
hicken is also popular in the Nordic countries. The following dish is mostly special in the use of a white sauce. If you cannot get hold of any juniper berries (=enebaer) they can be left out or you can experiment with some other bitter-sweet ingredient.
Ingredients • 4 boneless chicken breast • 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped • 16 Juniper Berries, dried and ground • 1 tbsp olive oil • 1 tsp cornflour • 200ml half fat crème fraîche • 200ml hot vegetable or chicken stock • Brown or white rice • Serve with salad leaves
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Place the chicken in a roasting tin and sprinkle with the rosemary and juniper berries. Season lightly, drizzle over the olive oil and cook for 20 minutes. 2. When the 20 minutes is almost up, mix together the cornflour and the crème fraîche then carefully stir in the hot stock. Pour the mixture over the chicken breasts then return to the oven for a further 15 minutes, making sure the chicken is cooked through, the juices run clear and there is no pink meat. 3. Serve with rice and a simple green salad on the side. May 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 23
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