Alan Parkhouse is one of the most respected senior journalists in the region. Fellow writer Scott Murray recently caught up with ‘Parkie’ to talk about his many experiences in a long and eventful career.

Alan Parkhouse is one of the most respected senior journalists in the region. Fellow writer Scott Murray recently caught up with ‘Parkie’ to talk about his many experiences in a long and eventful career.
 
Alan was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1954. He grew up in Grafton, a town of about 30,000, in northern New South Wales. He left Grafton High School at 15 to start an apprenticeship as a hand and machine compositor, or hot metal printer, at the Daily Examiner, Grafton’s local newspaper since 1859. Later, he went on to the Sydney Graphic Arts College as part of his apprenticeship.
 
Otherwise, he studied at the school of hard knocks. Alan switched to journalism in the 1980s and became the editor of two suburban papers in Sydney before moving to the bigger national dailies. He has worked in newspapers in Australia, Thailand, England, Cambodia and Hong Kong. As well as the two suburban newspapers in Sydney, and he has been the editor-in-chief of The Phnom Penh Post and Khmer Times in Cambodia and the acting editor of the Sunday Bangkok Post roughly 10 times while the editor was on holidays. 

The DSI was established in October 2002 primarily to create a strong, proactive law enforcement agency that would focus on national security and also transnational and organized crime.
 
Pol Gen Sombat has been director-general of the DSI since his move from the Royal Thai Police in January 2004. The DSI now has only one office in Bangkok but there are plans to expand to other regions of the country. “We have got here many highly qualified officers chosen from the ranks of police, customs and revenue departments, as well as prosecutors, accountants and lawyers from a variety of other government departments.”
 
Pol Gen Sombat said that the biggest problem for the DSI is training. “Some of our recruits don’t know how to investigate, so we have to train them. We have a close relationship with foreign investigation experts in the United States, the United Kingdom and several other countries. They come here to instruct our officers,” he revealed.
 
Pol Gen Sombat dismissed a criticism that was rife in the agency’s early days: “Some officials didn’t like the DSI because they thought it overlaps other agencies. They still had an old working culture mindset. Things are better now and we cooperate very well.”
 
He also admitted that in the beginning some officers thought that they were better than other law enforcement people because they were selected to the DSI, but that situation has also been resolved.
 
Pol Gen Sombat highlighted two controversial cases currently being investigated by the DSI. First, the disappearance of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaichit, who had defended several suspects in connection with the violence in the restive South and who went missing on March 12, 2004. The second case was the murder of environmentalist Charoen Wat-aksorn, who was gunned down on June 21, 2004 after testifying before a Senate committee about attempts by some influential people to grab public land. He was instrumental in pressuring the government to scrap plans to build the Bo Nok power plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan province.
 
Pol Gen Sombat is well aware that the handling of both cases has received a great deal of attention, and criticism, from local and foreign media as well as human rights organisations.
 
“I can assure you that everyone at the DSI is doing their utmost to solve both cases,” he said.
 
The DSI was assigned to investigate the Somchai case about five months ago because it was a priority case that the police were having difficulties with.
 
“I am really trying to solve this case and I am confident that we will succeed. But a lack of evidence makes the investigation very difficult. You see, Somchai’s body has not even been found yet.”
 
As for Mr Charoen, he added, “we have arrested several people, but his wife is not quite happy and still wants us to arrest more. We have no evidence on which to do so, and this has disappointed her. We work according to the evidence, and not because of pressure from any party. We do our best but we have to follow laws, regulations and to respect human rights.”

FROM THE YEAR 2006
The head of Thailand’s oldest and biggest independent law firm, David Lyman has found peace and serenity in his adopted home

As a youngster, David Lyman didn’t want to become a lawyer as his parents and many of his relatives were. Instead he joined the US Navy, but couldn’t escape his destiny. While debating whether or not to stay in the Navy,he decided to try studying law, and said to himself after the end of the first semester: “This is what I really want to do!” Four decades later he can still say, “I never regretted it.” 

Mr Lyman is now Chairman and Chief Values Officer of Tilleke & Gibbins International Ltd., which is the oldest and biggest independent law firm in Thailand. With 265 employees, the company serves more than 5,000 corporate and business clients from over 100 countries. The clients include national government agencies, banks, airlines, shipping companies and fashion houses.
 
“The company was established in 1890 by a Ceylonese, Mr William Alfred Tilleke. It was bought by my father in 1951 and I took over after his death in 1984,” Mr Lyman said. 

“I came to Thailand for the first time with my parents in 1949, when I was 12 years old. They had decided to live here for good because it was a very friendly place – as it still is today – in comparison with other countries in the region at that time, when wars of independence raged in many nations around Thailand.
 
“My father compared Thailand to the ‘eye of the hurricane’ because the eye is always calm, sunny, no wind blowing while the storm rages all around. Thailand is still a land of calm and sun,” Mr Lyman said.
 
“Of course,” he continued, “I know what is happening in the South and so on, but generally speaking the Thais are a quite accepting and open society. 

“They are open to new ideas. I have learned how to appreciate their culture and how to function within it, just as my parents did. I have also adopted the ‘Thai way’ of doing things. I try to live by a code of ethics, stay out of local politics, be honest, work hard and do my best to understand how the system works, because you have to work within the system. And that’s how we have developed a world-wide reputation.” 

David’s parents made substantial contributions to the Kingdom. Mr Albert Lyman was a founder of the American Association of Thailand (now the American Chamber of Commerce) and also a founder and chairman of the Bangkok Stock Exchange (now the Stock Exchange of Thailand).
 
Mrs Freda Lyman received the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand 5th Class in 1961 for her work with the Foundation for Crippled Children and was the first foreign woman to be decorated by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
 
“We have had a good relationship with virtually every government because we don't involve ourselves with political matters,” Mr Lyman said. “Of course we have to understand the political situation and to know the politicians. I have known some of them since we were all young. We grew up together.
 
“I am not concerned about ‘good or bad’ government. All my concern is that this country must develop. The Thai people want to see it develop. There’s a saying that ‘Thailand succeeds despite governments’. It succeeds because of the nature of its people and their culture. And as I said, it is the ‘eye of the hurricane’. It has a peace and serenity that you can’t find anywhere else in Asia.”
 
Business-wise, Mr Lyman said that there was not much competition here until 1965. “Now, there are a lot of foreign-owned or foreign-oriented firms as well as the Thai lawyers who were trained in Thailand or overseas, and lawyers who left their firms and established themselves here. There are fine lawyers in this country. Good client service is a key to a successful practice. Many law firms can do the same things we do, and we can do the same things they do,” Mr Lyman stressed.
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Starting with a single pig ten years ago, selling his products in local farmers’ markets and to friends, Joe Sloane has grown his food business into one of Thailand’s leading and most recognizable suppliers of artisanal meat products.
 
The line-up includes sausages, bacon, hams, pies, burgers and a range of aged goods like salamis and chorizo. Today, ‘Sloane’s’ gets through four tons of meat a week, all from “high welfare” sources dotted around the country which UK-born Joe visits on a regular basis.
 
Most of his beef, for example, is from farms in Korat, while the pigs are sourced from a family cooperative in Ratchburi, and chickens from Khao Yai. Other suppliers are based in Sisaket, Chantaburi and Chiang Rai. All supplies are processed by 40-strong staff in the company’s Bangkok factory.
 
In addition to supermarkets popular with Thailand’s expat community, Joe supplies a number of leading hotels such as Hyatt, Marriott, St Regis, Kempinski, Anantara, Sheraton and the Minor Group as well as outlets like Starbucks.
 
In fact, it was Starbucks that helped to give his business a major boost when it added Sloane’s Cumberland sausages with Gouda cheese and egg on its menu as a breakfast special. The product was a surprise hit and almost overnight his Cumberlands went main stream.
 
Sloane’s goods are also available in restaurants in Luang Prabang, Laos, while plans to export to Singapore were shelved because the island republic only allow heat-treated pork products. Here in Thailand, some restaurants now make a point of highlighting the ‘Joe Sloane’s’ products as a sign of superior quality menu items.
 
To make his recently introduced range of pies, which include steak and kidney, steak and stout, mince and onion, chicken and ham, chicken and asparagus, traditional pork, cranberry and gala, Joe uses a traditional pie making machine from John Hunt of Bolton, a huge 80kg cast-iron contraption, some 60 years old, which he brought into Thailand in sections from the UK.
 
In terms of price, Joe reckons his products are roughly 20% more than the competition – “typically 250 baht against 290 baht for Sloane’s and 600 baht against 500 baht for other products.” 

Who can join the FCCT and what are the fees?
Anyone can join. About a fifth of the membership are correspondents and journalists. The remainder range from diplomats to NGO workers, retirees to students. The fees vary according to category but the highest rate – for associate members – is still only baht 6,500 per annum.

How many members?
The FCCT has over 800 members.

What are the approximate membership demographics?
Ages range from 16 to 96 originating from most corners of Earth.

What are the main benefits of FCCT membership?
Free entrance to almost all events; 25% discount on F&B of good quality and reasonably priced; welcoming staff; great networking; informative and interesting events; outdoor terrace; access to books written by members; excellent working space on the fly.

What events does the FCCT host?
The FCCT usually hosts three events a week including Monday night documentaries, Wednesday night panel discussions, as well as various report and book launches. Topics range from politics (local, regional and international), to business, human and animal rights, and environmental issues.There are also more cultural evenings, sometimes built around a particular author or noteworthy individual. The FCCT also hosts lighter events: sake and craft beer tasting, plays, and tango nights, and has a children’s hour on Friday afternoons.

Celebrities
Over the course of over 60 years, the FCCT has welcomed countless famous speakers including world leaders, politicians, pundits, adventurers, writers, actors, directors, activists, sports people, and more – and many of their pictures can be viewed in the entrance area.

Reciprocity
The FCCT has reciprocal arrangements with 29 clubs around the world including the FCC Hong Kong, FCC Tokyo, the National Press Club in Washington, and the Frontline Club in London.

Who’s in charge?
Good question. The FCCT is managed by an executive board elected each year with no member allowed to hold the same position for more than two consecutive years. The main board forms committees to manage various aspects of the club including programmes, publicity, finance, membership, and professional matters. Daily operations are managed by the general manager and his friendly staff.

I knew my “husband to be” wasn’t allowed to have alcohol as he had just been released from hospital where he had been treated for his drinking behavior. I told his friends to keep him away from alcohol, but they told me not to start nagging like an old wife before we were even married.
My husband was a close friend of the King since their time in boarding school. I wanted to cancel the wedding, but my future mother in law and the high society priest wouldn’t let me. You can’t cancel such a wedding with so many ‘high-so’ people in attendance, they said to me. I found out later that almost all the couples that priest had married were eventually divorced.
A couple of years followed with many exciting trips and festivities with the Royal couple and life was in a way a dance on roses, but it also had a lot of thorns. We lived in Lugano for almost a year, but it was a city for elderly people, not much to do, so later on we moved to Zurich, which I loved from the beginning. The city has flair, polite people, and beautiful shops and, as everybody knows, excellent food.
Back in Zurich after our honeymoon, I was asked by the fashion store where I had bought my wedding dress if I’d like to start modeling for them. It was a great idea, as I didn’t have to speak a lot of German. I could talk to them in English, but they mostly answered in Swiss German or sometimes in High German, so after a while, I learned to speak acceptable German. I never bothered to learn to speak Swiss German, but I understand it well. In my opinion, it’s not a very nice language, not at all feminine. Today I’m fluent in German after more than 35 years in Zurich.
Zurich was a big fashion center at that time, with a lot of haute couture ateliers and eventually I worked for all of them. It was a time when models were treated as divas. On a day with four or five shows, normally held in an exclusive hotel, you’d start early morning at the hairdresser, followed by the make- up. You were served breakfast, lunch and dinners with mostly Champagne and wine between the shows. You also earned very well. So it was a great time which I’m very thankful for.
When I married in 1977, it was uncomplicated to become Swiss. I received my Swiss passport three weeks after we returned from the honeymoon which made it easy for me to work. That has changed today.
I was very happy in Zurich. I travelled quite a lot, worked in Germany, Italy, France, and Lichtenstein. Those were the days. Well, is there anything that stays perfect forever?
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Divorce and a new husband: My husband and I got divorced after seven years, due to his drinking problem. It is harder than one thinks, to live next to someone who is addicted to alcohol. I was happy we did not have any children. I decided to stay in Zurich after our divorce; I was happy there and had a huge circle of friends and plenty of work.
After a year as a single, I met my second husband. He was also living and working in Switzerland. He is half Swedish and half Hungarian. When we met, he was working for the UNHCR in Geneva. We married in Zurich 1984 and the four first years as husband and wife, we lived apart, he in Geneva and I in Zurich.
It was okay to begin with, but after the four years of travelling between the two cities (mostly he had to come to Zurich, as I didn’t like Geneva that much) he applied for a job in a bank and moved to Zurich. Here we had a great life. We wanted kids, but even with lots of trying it didn’t work out.