AMERICAN businessman Larry Sloven has just finished a meeting with the Board of Investment (BOI) – and he looks extremely happy with what he’s learned.

The director of Capstone International, a China-based company that manufactures products ranging from LED lights to power tools in Shenzen province, is looking forward to moving some of his operations out of China – and Thailand is very much on the agenda.

“We’re planning on establishing a subsidiary office in Thailand to manage the manufacture of a new line of digital electronics products to be launched in January 2019 at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas,” explains Mr Sloven.

JOIN OUR INSPIRING COMMUNITY WITH ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE IB DIPLOMA AND THE IB MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME

KIS International School is inviting ambitious students to apply for the coveted IB Diploma academic scholarship, also known as the “One Million Baht Scholarship”, for the academic year 201-2020 onwards. KIS scholarships are well respected in the international school community and are awarded in order to recognize academic excellence and open up the world of the International Baccalaureate (IB) to deserving candidates. The IB Diploma scholarship winner will be granted full tuition for the duration of the two-year IB Diploma programme, valued at around 1.6 million Baht.
KIS scholarship students achieve high IB Diploma scores and go to excellent universities in the US, the UK, Europe and elsewhere, often receiving university scholarships too.

The “One Million Baht” scholarship is open to applicants of all nationalities who are fluent in English and currently in Grade 10 (Year 11). Applicants should be academically strong and well-rounded. Candidates may be eligible for a partial scholarship. Students may apply now and the last day for the scholarship testing is March 22, 2019.
Academic scholarships for other secondary school grades are also available.

If you would like to be a part of our inspiring community please request full conditions and details of the scholarships from the admissions office admissions@kis.ac.th. More information about KIS is at www.kis.ac.th.

Over a long and momentous life, Anand Panyarachun has emerged as one of Thailand’s most astute and influential figures. In addition to his stellar first career in diplomacy, he has served as a business leader, philanthropist, prime minister, economic liberal, and social reformer dedicated to the development of Thailand.
 
In the highly anticipated new biography Anand Panyarachun and the Making of Modern Thailand, journalist Dominic Faulder traces the key events in the elder statesman’s life – from his childhood in Bangkok during the Second World War through to the derailment of his diplomatic career, his two unexpected tenures as an appointed prime minister, his role in the drafting of the ‘People’s Constitution’ of 1997, and much more.

​The book is more than a biography. The outcome of six years of in-depth research and hundreds of interviews with Anand and those who have met or worked alongside him, it is a panoramic retelling of Thailand and the region’s political, social, and economic history during the late 20th century – and packed full of insights into key moments, as told by those who witnessed them, or played a pivotal role. Interviewees include figures such as Abhisit Vejjajiva, the late Singaporean president S.R. Nathan, social critic Sulak Sivaraksa, and women and children’s rights defender Saisuree Chutikul, as well as the economists Ammar Siamwalla and Amnuay Viravan, former Bank of Thailand governor and development expert Snoh Unakul, and energy expert Piyasvasti Amranand.

​Bangkok-based author Stephen Leather is one of Britain’s most prodigious and successful writers, with almost 50 books and six screen plays to his credit.

He is also a top selling Amazon Kindle author, and the second bestselling UK author worldwide on Kindle in 2011.
Leather, 61, enjoys considerable fame locally for his books on Thailand, especially Private Dancer and Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye.

When did you first realise you enjoyed writing? 
I began writing when I was in college, but never managed to get beyond a few pages 

First job?
I was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. I began my writing career as a journalist, working for newspapers such the Glasgow Herald, Daily Mirror, The Times, Daily Mail, and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong 
Yeah, that is all true!

Alexandre Demard is a chef at ‘Oxygen Dining Room’ at X2 Chiang Mai Riverside Resort (pronounced 'Cross To'), known for his finely honed cooking techniques and elaborate plating, and had been specialized in french cuisine for over 15 years.

Chef Alex joined X2 Chiang Mai Riverside Resort as part of the opening team in 2017, managing the contemporary Oxygen Dining Room in conjunction with another Michelin-starred chef, Nicolas Isnard. The stylish venue, right on the banks of Chiang Mai’s Mae Ping River has quickly made a name for itself fusing traditional Thai flavours with international culinary standards.

Awards
- The winner of ‘Iron Chef’ Thailand
- The winner of ‘So Amazing Chefs 2018, Thailand (Jury Award)
- Oxygen Dining Room, Thailand Tatler’s Best Restaurants Guide
- X2 Chiang Mai Riverside Resort, 2018 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence
- Asia Pacific Property Awards Architecture 2018
- 2019: X2 Chiang Mai Riverside Resort, Best Hotel Architecture Thailand
​
Chef’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandredemard/
W: X2lobby.com
FB: @X2chiangmairiverside

Nicole’s dissertation for the course work in an ongoing two-year Ancient Medicine seminar was “Garlic through History”, which sparked her interest in the link between food and medicine. This led to her applying and receiving a grant in 1999 to study and research the Green Revolution in Cuba, a movement that came into existence after the Soviet Block collapsed in the early 1990s and Cuba ceased getting help, finding itself cut from the world. This forced the Cuban government to seek self-reliant methods to sustain its economy. 

Asked “Why garlic?” Nicole answers, “Garlic is everywhere – in rituals, medicine, food.” 

For her research work in Cuba, Intersection of food and medicine, Nicole received an award from Tufts University. This and similar work began to cast doubts on her initial desire to pursue the traditional medical route.

During her studies with her mentor, Nicole also learned Yao Shan, which is medicinal cooking, as well as fluency in the Chinese language. She jokingly calls herself, “White Chinese medicine doctor.”

In 2007 after one year in China Nicole’s future was about to change when she went back to New York to attend a friend’s wedding. There she reconnected with Sebastian, with whom she had lost touch, and instead of returning to Beijing she remained in New York. She and Sebastian got married, with nuptials in the following year in Colombia, then settled in Chicago, where Nicole opened her own acupuncture clinic.

​PLANNING IN ADVANCE
​
Once the official announcement was made in 2017 that MotoGP would be coming to Thailand, myself and three friends determined that immediate action would be needed to secure accommodation within reasonably easy reach of the Buriram circuit.
 
Hotel rooms closest to the circuit had doubtless been allocated to personnel directly connected to the event prior to the dates being announced so the best we could do was a hotel in Nang Rong, 50km from the track. We booked this almost exactly a year in advance. Tickets for the race weekend went on sale early in 2018 and we secured these via a PTT promotion within three days of their being made available. Price for a weekend ticket in the main grandstand 2,550bt.