Towering above Sathon Pier, the empty high-rise scares locals who fear it might fall on them unleashing ghouls. Braving zealous ‘guards’, Nicholas de Gersigny decided to climb this infamous edifice anyway.

As we cruised along the Chao Phraya enjoying the sights on a balmy November night, my friend asked: “What’s with that big derelict building – it looks like it’s been empty for a while?”
 
“It’s the ghost building,” our guide said. “It’s a hotel they were building but had to abandon their plans when it was half built during the Asian financial crisis in the late 90s – the money just ran out.
 
“Now the structure has too much exposed concrete rot to continue building and will cost too much to pull down so it just sits there – and is haunted – according to locals.”
 
“Can we climb it?” we inquired, our interest intensely piqued.

​Our guide told us it was reputed to be notoriously unsafe. He said he had heard of some “not so friendly” vagrants who inhabit the lower floors, and some “undead” folk on the upper floors.
 
“But if you guys want to I reckon you might as well try – just be careful.”
 
My companion and I, having spent many nights of our misspent youth finding ways into abandoned buildings to scribble on walls and whatever else, had a certain curiosity and a strong affinity with abandoned buildings – and with no disapproving, sensible wives to talk us out of it and no fear of ghosts or vagrants - our minds were made up.
 
We disembarked from the boat, grabbed a couple of beers and headed to the ghost building. 

VERSO, a new international school located at Thana City, opens in August 2020 and is currently accepting applications and hosting campus tours.

Cameron Fox is the Founding Head of VERSO International School.
 
For the past 19 years, Cameron has served the American International School (AIS) in Hong Kong, as a teacher, vice-principal, principal, and since 2005, as the Head of School. As the school’s senior administrator, Cameron has a deep knowledge of the educational and operational requirements of a dynamic international school community. He is also an experienced Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Chair and regularly leads accreditation visits to international schools across the East Asian Region.
 
Cameron is originally from Scotland where he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Strathclyde in Politics and Industrial Relations. He moved to Hong Kong in 1993 and did a master’s degree through the University of York in the UK in Teaching English to Young Learners. This was followed by a post graduate diploma in Education at the University of Hong Kong, where he received his full teaching qualification.

Please provide details of the school – the history, background, and philosophy.
The starting point for VERSO International School began in 2014 with a simple question: How can we design a new international school that will truly prepare its students for a world that is changing faster than at any other time in human history?
 
When my team and I sat down to answer this question, we realized that this was a challenge because as educators, we were conditioned by years of being in a traditional school environment.
 
I decided to approach IDEO, one of the world’s leading design and innovation firms in San Francisco, with this same question. IDEO is recognized globally for using Design Thinking, a methodology that uses a human- centered design process to find solutions to a problem in a creative an innovative way.
 
I took this question to a group of people whose job was to innovate, create, and look at things from a different angle. I asked them to help reimagine what a school of the future could and should be,” Cameron explained, adding that the intention was to get a different perspective from non-educators on what a future school could be like.
 
Intrigued and challenged to design a new kind of international school, IDEO formed a team comprising their designers, and together with me and a group of international educators, we spent 4 months in Bangkok, New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Singapore, visiting more than 25 innovative schools, doing extensive field research, and looking for powerful insights on how to design a school for the future.
 
Using this research data, the IDEO team tested a number of school design prototypes with students, families and educators in Bangkok. This feedback and insight shaped VERSO’s unique purpose pillars, the mindsets and behaviors that our students will develop, as well as our signature learning experiences. The construction of the school began in 2017 with the hiring of the architects, interior designers. Contractors and landscape artists. Many of our teachers, who we call Learning Designers, joined in 2018 to help develop VERSO’s innovative curriculum, approach to teaching and assessment.
 
VERSO is located close to Suvarnabhumi Airport (15-minute drive) on a total project space of 168 rai, or 66 acres, making VERSO the largest school in the Bangkok metropolitan area. The school is divided into three sections which we call loops: Lower Loop (Early Years 2 – Grade 4), Middle Loop (Grades 5-8) and Upper Loop (Grades 9 -12) with a total capacity of 1,800 students.
 
What is the school’s philosophy?
VERSO is built on three simple beliefs. We are an international school that supports learners to develop a strong sense of personal and cultural identity along with a deep understanding of, and an ability to actively engage with the world around them. Our students will gain the confidence to lead their own journey and pursue any path they choose.

VERSO is the first international school in the world to be designed in partnership with IDEO. VERSO’s unique DNA fuses human-centered design with a progressive future-ready international school education.
 
VERSO is designed to give students a much more meaningful and personalized school experience. Our goal is to give students an international school education that empowers them to achieve their full potential. We see VERSO as offering students and teachers a highly creative and collaborative environment where kids are active participants because learning has relevance and purpose. When our students graduate, they will be confident young men and women who understand how to navigate the world around them, and that’s really what VERSO is all about.
 
What is the school’s chosen curriculum?
VERSO delivers an innovative American curriculum from Early Years 2 to Grade 12 that is aligned to New York State Education Department Standards with an emphasis on learning that is interdisciplinary, project based and increasingly personalized.
 
We chose the New York State Education Department Standards because they’re comprehensive, research based and internationally recognized. They also provide clear learning progressions for all students, outlining what learners should know and be able to do.
 
The key components of our curriculum include immersive language-learning, human-centered design, digital media arts, and a holistic approach to health, physical activity and well-being.
 
VERSO students will be organized into cohorts instead of single grade levels. A cohort combines two grade levels and is served by a dedicated team of teachers coordinated by a Cohort Leader.
 
Students will work in a variety of group settings, including one-on-one, small groups, and larger project teams. Our student to teacher ratio ensures that each student receives a high degree of personal attention and individual support. This is an essential piece of VERSO’s educational philosophy.
 
VERSO will be fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and our high school diplomas will be accepted by universities around the world. 

​Background: I was born on July 26, 1946 at twenty past midnight at 82 Ridley Street, Leicester. My father had been a POW (Prisoner of War) in Stalag 18 at Wolfsberg for over four years, my sister having been born in 1940, so along came Gale.
 
How was life back then?
I did not realise when I was young but we were quite poor monetary wise (no bathroom, outside toilet until I was 22!) but my childhood was filled with love and care and I was never hungry. We were encouraged to read and write and regular trips to the local library were made.
 
I passed the 11-plus as had my sister before me and also my brother who was born in 1957 when my parents were considered OLD (44 and 46!)
 
Family today: 
I really felt the distance when our sister Pat died 16 years ago aged 64 but me and my brother, Mark Merrill, have a very strong bond despite the 10 years difference! I am very blessed with my family as well as my in-laws!
 
How did you end up in Thailand? 
The opportunity to come here for three years when we were both 50 seemed wonderful as we expected to earn a fortune and return home rich! LITTLE DID WE KNOW!! The company my husband Michael worked for wanted to open a representative office in the Far East Asia as sales were increasing but no one predicted the devastating financial crash in 1997!
 
Michael was Regional Manager and I was Assistant Regional Manager (general dogs-body) and worked for six years until the firm was sold to GE and I was ousted – not allowed to work downline of my spouse!! Their loss!
 
What about your children? 
Jane and Andrew came with us to Thailand but the timing was not good for them and they both went back to live in Leicester, our home town. It was very traumatic for us all but we have weathered the storm and we are all fairly ‘normal’.
 
Jane returned and lived and worked in Thailand for over 12 years where she met and married her German husband, Henning Hegeler, and they have given us two beautiful granddaughters, Isabel and Mia. Andrew has visited often but prefers to live in UK.
 
British or Thai food? 
I love Thai food but never cook it – why would I when it is so readily available and delicious? At home I cook traditional British meals but one of our favourite places to eat out is at The Londoner on Pattanakarn Road where the quality is consistent with good service too!
 
What don’t you like about Bangkok?  
Traffic is one of my pet hates as I seem to spend a great deal of my time in the back of a taxi – thank goodness for my Iphone. I drove around in my own car for the first 13 years so I know when the taxi drivers take me on the scenic routes! There is so much construction everywhere and it breaks my heart to see the older and historical buildings being replaced by a chunk of concrete. So many of our favourite places have either gone or been modernised when the character disappears too. I really wonder if Bangkok has a Planning Department with all the shopping malls and condos built and being built. It is sad and scary to me!

Great Wall vehicles are available across the globe, including Australia, Europe, the UK and South America. Earlier this year, the company said it would buy GM’s car plant in India as part of its plan to manufacture and sell cars in India.
 
Lookalike controversy
It’s been claimed that some of Great Wall’s car are lookalike copies of other manufacturers’ vehicles. Complaints have come from Italian automaker Fiat as well as Japanese companies Toyota, Nissan and Isuzu.

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. 

Thailand’s most famous model and beauty queen Lukkade Metinee Kingpayome opens academy ‘Muse By Metinee’ and reveals the secrets for success
​ 
Ms. Metinee ‘Lukkade’ Kingpayome, Thailand’s first supermodel, actress, entrepreneur and title holder of Miss Thailand World 1992, is officially revealing her secrets to success and stardom with the recent launch of Muse by Metinee.
 
With almost 30 years in the industry, Lukkade has garnered many awards and accolades for her success, learned the pitfall and secrets to make it in the industry and put all her learnings together in a well-crafted Muse by Metinee curriculum taught by Metinee herself and handpicked professionals. Courses at Muse by Metinee will help those that want to build their skills to become a top model, an actress, a beauty queen, an entertainer or simply how to bring out the best version of yourself.
 
Muse by Metinee is an inclusive learning grounds open to all genders and races from ages four and higher and is held at the state of the art and newly opened Minizize Dance Studio located at The Street on Ratchadapisek Road, starting from March 2020 onwards.

ALATi is located on the lobby floor of Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok and opens daily for an à la carte lunch from 12:00 to 14:30 anddinner from 18:30 to 22:30.
 
Tel:+662 162 9000 or email alati.siambangkok@kempinski.com.

SURF by Seafood Express

SURF by Seafood Express started as a Delivery Premium seafood more than four years ago but has now become a restaurant serving fresh seafood such as Canadian Lobster, Sri Lanka Prawn, Large Crab from and Oysters from Surat Thani.
​
Open : 10:00 -22:00 (Closed on Wednesday)
Tel: 095-778-9000
Delivery Line: @seafoodexpress
www.theseafoodexpress.com
FB : theseafoodexpress / FB : SURFseafoodrestaurant

Blooming bilateral relations
“Our embassy here has four Mongolian diplomats and one local staff. My family and the families of other Mongolian staff live nearby the embassy, which is on Soi Ekkamai 22. We moved to this location from a place on Asoke Road in 2006. We are close to some government offices and the embassies of Bangladesh, Nepal and Egypt among others. Previously, one of our embassy staff was looking after both consular affairs and UNESCAP, but this became too much for them. With a growing number of Mongolians visiting Thailand, we now have a consular officer fully dedicated to the consular affairs, after separating UNESCAP and consular portfolio.
 
“There’s no Thai embassy in Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital; the Thai embassy in Beijing has responsibility for Mongolia. Thai colleagues tell me that Mongolia is at the top of the list for new Thai embassy locations, and we are looking forward to that day. Mongolia has three other embassies in Southeast Asia, in Singapore, Vietnam and in Laos. Vietnam and Laos are our long-standing friends and traditional partners. We established embassies in our respective countries because we were in the same camp under the old global political system, and we are happy to maintain our traditionally friendly ties now that things have changed.
 
“There are 49 Mongolian diplomatic missions around the world including embassies, missions to UN and consulates, and our economic growth makes it possible and worthwhile to maintain them. We have big embassies in Moscow, Beijing, Washington DC, Tokyo and in Seoul, while other embassies are comparatively small. Our embassy in Bangkok is about average in size.

The Gurkhas guarding the British Embassy have been part of the UK’s presence in Thailand for many decades, but sadly things have changed dramatically in recent years with the demolition of the embassy and its move to an office block on Sathorn Road.
 
As the Gurkhas will be returning to Nepal shortly, Bangkok St. George’s wanted to bid an apt farewell by holding a curry lunch at Bistro 33 on 11 January. John Hocking, the new President of Bangkok St. George’s Society, coordinated the arrangements between Sgt. Major Hari Lal Pun MBE and the staff at Bistro 33 to make it a most successful albeit emotional afternoon.
 
It proved a busy event with almost 70 people attending, including representatives of the Royal British Legion, and everybody thoroughly enjoyed the tasty Gurkha curry. After a rather noisy raffle draw presided over by Laura and Martin Smith, the Sgt. Major made a surprise presentation to John Hocking and Gale Bailey. Both were delighted but overwhelmed, especially as the kukuri knives badges they received are regarded as a high honour.
 
The Sgt. Major then held an auction for a kukuri (Gurkha knife), with the proceeds being shared between the Gurkhas and St. George’s Society. Many bids were made but finally it was won by Andrew Dalton, a former Australian soldier (2002- 2013) who completed three tours of Afghanistan where he worked briefly with the British Gurkhas who he holds in high regard.
 
To round off the event, a donation was made to the Royal British Legion Chonburi Branch Thailand to help their welfare work. St. George’s Society would like to thank all concerned for making this event so successful, with special thanks to Barry Shea, Susan and staff of Bistro 33 for their generosity and service. Thanks also to the Royal Oak and others who donated raffle prizes as well as R.B.L. representatives.

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.”