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Greg Lange and Friso Poldervaart

16/5/2022

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Providing a lifeline for Bangkok’s poor during the pandemic

For many thousands of impoverished people, Bangkok Community Help (BCH) has been an absolutely vital lifeline during the past two years of the Covid pandemic.
Set up in April 2020 in response to the obvious and growing need for food and medical supplies in Klong Toey and other low income districts, BCH reaches out to the needy on a daily basis thanks a small army of volunteers and sponsors. Its work has meant the difference between life and death for untold numbers of people in Bangkok and surrounding provinces.
Leading the charge is American businessman Greg Lange and Friso Poldervaart from The Netherlands who jointly founded the project, which has morphed from a small group of like-minded individuals into a complex operation involving hundreds of daily tasks. BCH is now registered as a charity with the Thai government.
Despite their daily proximity to hundreds of Covid sufferers, neither Greg nor Friso has proved positive for any virus.
The scope of their work is staggering. The following statistics tell an amazing story.

Bangkok Community Help (BCH)

Launched April 9, 2020
Operates without a break
Free Covid tests given to over 250 people a day, each receiving a ‘bag of happiness’ filled with groceries toiletries, fruits and other goods
Hands out 3,000 meals a day

Up to December 31, 2021 distributed:

* One million kgs of rice
* 1.3 million packets of instant noodles
* 530,000 hot meals
* 840,000 cans of fish
* 210,000 litres of cooking oil
* 630,000 face masks
* 210,000 bars of soap
* 210,000 bottles of shampoo
* 210,000 bottles of alcohol gel
* 5,000 litres of oxygen
* 15,000 ATK tests
* 10,000 strips of paracetamol

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The Bangkok doctors behind the school for abandoned children

16/5/2022

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Every day across the world at least 7,300 children are abandoned. Just outside Bangkok, there is hope for at least a few of them – thanks to Dr. Cleopandh Soorapanthu, a senior doctor at Bumrungrad Hopistal in Bangkok who runs the Chaiyapruk Foundation for abandoned and abused children in Thailand.
"When you think about how many children are left alone on the street or are born in prisons to drug-addicted mothers, and those who have been abused, you must open your arms and do something," says Dr. Cleopandh, who together with her husband Dr. Somsughi saw a chance to contribute and give some children a happy, safe childhood and an education.
An obstetrician, Dr. Cleopandh is not only a loving mother to her own children, but also a substitute mother to 48 abandoned children.
She was born to a Thai mother and a German father who came to Thailand to teach at Chulalongkorn University, while her mum worked at the US embassy. After her father's passing, her mother decided to move back to Bonn in Germany, where Dr. Cleopandh received her medical education.
For 20 years, she and her husband managed a successful practice in Germany before relocating to Bangkok. Since its launch in 1985, the Chaiyapruk Foundation has grown considerably and today consists of a three-building complex in Nakhon Nayok, north of Bangkok, where it provides the children with love and security.  The kids regard the doctors as their parents.

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Olympics beckon for Bangkok Patana’s super sailor Christopher Marsh

16/5/2022

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Christopher today and as a five-year-old at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club
Bangkok Patana schoolboy Christopher Marsh continued his stellar sailing career recently by winning a well-deserved first place over two-time Thai Olympian Kamolwan Chanyin at the Thailand International Laser Class Association (ILCA) 6 National Championships held at Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Pattaya.
It’s the latest in a long line of successes for the 15-year-old, who moves to UK this September to study for his A levels at Royal Hospital School where he has secured a sailing scholarship.
Christopher, who was only five when he took his first sailing lesson at the RVYC and eight when he won his first race, is having a very busy year. As a member of the 2021-22 RYA Laser Radial Youth Performance team, he trained with his teammates at Weymouth in the UK before travelling onto Abu Dhabi for the 2022 Asian Sailing Championships where he competed for the first time in the ILCA 7.
     Last month he returned to the UK for the Youth Nationals, followed in July by four back-to-back ILCA 6 events - Youth Europeans in Thessalonica, Greece, Youth Worlds in Hague, The Netherlands, UK Nationals at Hayling Island, and then the Youth Worlds in Texas, USA.  
     August will see the Thai-English teenager back to training, including two weeks in Gran Canaria sailing with Tamas Eszes, Sailing Academy. 
The future certainly looks bright for Christopher. His father Stephen says the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand has developed an Olympic program for the youngster for the 2028 Olympics, but he will try for Paris Olympics in 2024.
     An avid sailor who competes or trains every weekend and all school holidays, Stephen is a regular at his home base of the RVYC where he is supported by his father, mother Kittiwara, and younger brother William, another up and coming sailor.
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‘What Life Was Like When AmCham Thailand Was Born’

18/4/2022

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The following is the third and final part of a presentation by David Lyman, Chairman and Chief Values Officer, Tilleke & Gibbins International Ltd at the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand’s Membership Monthly Luncheon, April 26, 2006
Bangkok's Infrastructure

Don’t forget that this is the Land of Mai Pen Rai, a concept, we used to say, which is similar to the Spanish Manana, but without conveying the same sense of urgency.

​We put up with certain difficulties which were more inconveniences than deprivations. Potable water pumping stations and electricity-generating plants were bombed by the Allies during the war. Thus, running water from the tap for more than a couple of hours a day was a luxury. All drinking water had to be boiled.
Since the water pressure was always low, water pumps were necessary to get water to the second floor of your house and above. So, when the water flowed, you filled up bathtubs, ongs, water tanks, buckets and whatever containers were available, not knowing when the water would flow again.
Electricity supply was inconsistent with frequent brown-outs and blackouts rotating through various parts of the city. Every house and office had ‘step-up’ transformers to boost the voltage of whatever inconsistent electricity trickled in. Sometimes it would go off at untimely moments.
In the summer of 1955, I was incapacitated by appendicitis and was taken to the Bangkok Adventist Hospital for an operation. Just as I was being wheeled to the operating theater, the lights went out. So, instead of using an elevator, I swung myself off the gurney, walked down two flights of stairs, marched into the operating room and literally climbed up onto the operating table. An emergency generator in the hospital supplied lighting for the surgeons to do their bit. However, the anesthetist couldn’t see too well for the spinal he was giving me and I ended up with 25+ years of periodically debilitating headaches.
The telephone system was archaic even for that era. Old black Bakelite rotary phones, heavy as could be, little was automated. Phone lines, with only five-digit numbers, took many months to get and often were out of service. One of the reasons for the appalling situation was no competition for the government monopoly, TOT. About 28,000 subscribers and for every 10 phone lines there were 11-12 paying customers, and they were not party lines. This meant that someone’s phone was always out of order, unless you paid the repairman a stipend to keep you on line.
To make an overseas call, that could only be done from booths at the General Post Office on New Road or the then new Erawan Hotel (which opened in 1956). Both required advance booking of several hours to several days. Teletype was still very new and not really available commercially. Fax machines were about 20 years off in the future.
So businesses used cable addresses for international radio-telegrams inbound from overseas and outbound. Ours was LYMAN, BANGKOK. Since charges for outgoing messages were by the letter or word, messages were short and cryptic, sometimes using commercial codes which provided combinations of a few letters to equal whole phrases or template sentences. Foreign airmail took 4-12 days to get to addresses in Europe and the US; sea mail (surface mail) took 1-3 months. Domestic mail and telegraph were quite efficient.
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A Bangkok phone
"The telephone system was archaic even for that era. Phone lines, with only five-digit numbers, took many months to get and often were out of service. One of the reasons for the appalling situation was no competition for the government monopoly."
Public health was always an issue. The US sponsored a major malaria eradication campaign throughout the nation which was a significant, though not a total, success. Our homes became screened, when we could find screening, to keep out mosquitoes, flies, wasps, bees and other airborne creatures. And in absence thereof, we slept under mosquito nets.
A bottle of ‘Sketolene’, made by the British Dispensary, was a life saver – you splashed it all over yourself to keep the mosquitoes at bay, for about six hours. A side effect was that it took the varnish off of any furniture it touched. We all sported sore arms having had our annual or semiannual injections against cholera, scrub typhus, typhoid and paratyphoid, tetanus, Japanese B and every three years against smallpox.
"I was being wheeled to the hospital’s operating theater, the lights went out. So, instead of using an elevator, I swung myself off the gurney, walked down two flights of stairs, marched into the operating room and literally climbed up onto the operating table."
Such inoculations were available at the Snake Farm of the Thai Red Cross on Rama IV Road and at the Immigration Division of the Police Department. Every newcomer suffered from ‘Bangkok Belly’ within one or two weeks of their arrival. Some foul-tasting Chinese medicine cleared it right up giving your plumbing time to adjust to the tropical enzymes being ingested. Hospitals for foreigners were the Bangkok Nursing Home, Bangkok Adventist Hospital and Bangkok Christian Hospital, plus Siriraj and Chulalongkorn. In Chiang Mai, there was the McCormick Hospital.
Oh yes, Thailand is home to many very poisonous snakes. Cobras, kraits and vipers, of varying degrees of lethality, were often found in gardens, along with pythons, so one had to be careful where you walked and you always carried a flashlight walking anywhere at night. Fortunately, antivenom was readily available at hospitals and clinics, if you could identify the snake which bit you. Surrrrrrrrre!
The Bangkok Post and the Bangkok World were the English language newspapers of the day. Both were good papers with wide international as well as local coverage. At one time, my mother was the Society Editor of the Bangkok World. To get around the censors, The Post had a column called ‘The Postman Says’ and the Bangkok World had another column which were both political satire. The Bangkok World's was composed and reported by the office chinchook (gecko) (whose name escapes me) – the Thai equivalent of the fly on the wall.
I recall two reports, which could have been written just as well today – one was that a Thai MP had suggested that the Democracy Monument on Rajadamnern Avenue should be demolished as monuments were only erected for or to dead things. The chinchook commented – “Ask a stupid question and you get a stupid answer.”
The other report from the office chinchook had to do with the corruption in the government-owned Pork Monopoly which was headed by an honest man who resigned in disgust. “It wasn’t the long hours and the hard work,” he said, “which prompted my resignation – it was just the smell of the pigs.” Thailand’s one TV station, the first in Asia, opened in 1955. It broadcast only a few hours a day, but it was a start to the distractions of electronics.
Conclusion

So that’s the way I remember how life was in Bangkok in and around 1956. Others will tell the AmCham story and the tales of its founders and those who followed them. There is far more of this story to relate of the parallel developments of both the Kingdom of Thailand and AmCham Thailand. But that is for another time. 
Each of Thailand and AmCham grew at accelerated paces never stopping to this day. A few hiccups were encountered along the way, but none ever upset or diverted the special relationship of friendship and spirit of cooperation between the U.S. and Thailand which we knew and from which we have all mutually benefited. Thank goodness.
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Siam Viking – for the finest imported seafood, meats and home dishes

18/4/2022

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Contact: admin@siamviking.com, LINE: @siamviking.th. Tel. 090-9504547, 063-3986677.
Looking like some modern-day Viking, the towering figure of Jan Erik Asbjornsen from Norway is the entrepreneur behind one of Bangkok’s highly rated importers of imported frozen seafood and meat –named, most fittingly, Siam Viking.
A former five-star hotel chef, this enigmatic Norwegian set up Siam Viking in 2016 with the specific objective of bringing better quality of fish into Thailand for hotels, restaurants and home sales.
And that’s not all. Jan Erik also sells premium quality meats and frozen ready meals for reheating at home.
To maintain the highest standards of his seafood, Jan Erik handpicks the best line-caught fish available. This has been frozen at sea, using the top freezing standards and equipment to ensure they are without bruising, glazing or containing phosphates of any kind.
While Pacific Cod loins and fillets, along with Norwegian Haddock, Atlantic Smoked Salmon and Alaska Sockeye Salmon are the company’s top sellers, Siam Viking also imports an extensive range of other seafood products, all line-caught and meeting the EU standards for healthy and environmentally conscious fishing.
They include Smoked Norwegian products like Mackerel fillets, Haddock fillets, and Whole herring (kippers), as well as Norway Coldwater Prawns known for their unique salty taste and sweetness.
Plus Gravalax, Sanriku oysters and a range of interesting products such as Codcakes, breaded Cod Burgers and even Salmon Burgers.
Siam Viking imports premium New Zealand Beef, Australian Ribeye, US Brisket and Tenderloins as well as Lamb rack.
Frozen meals include Beef Bourguignon, Chilli con Carne, Lasagne, Cod Curry, and even Fish and Chips.
All the above and more are available at the Siam Viking shop, 2nd Floor, Liberty Plaza, Sukhumvit 55(Thonlor), Basngkok 10110.
Delivery is available anywhere in Thailand, and orders in Bangkok before 4.30pm  are delivered the same day.
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The young man from Panama with a song in his heart

18/4/2022

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Agneta Bekassy De Bekas meets multi-talented Bernardo Diaz

When he first arrived here in April 2015 as the young son of Panama’s ambassador to Thailand, HE Maria del Carmen Martinez, little did Bernardo Diaz think he would still be here, six years later, working as a musician and member of the Buhonero Clandestino band,  visiting professor, promoter of Latin American culture, football fan and cannabis advocate.
“My mum gave me the opportunity to continue my studies in Thailand while she was serving as Panama’s ambassador,” says this talented young man who goes by the nickname of Bernz. “I was only planning to stay for a couple of months.”

Please describe your work experience.
“As a musicians and singer, it has been really amazing. The audience feedback, if they understand what I’m singing or not, has been delightful. I have also acknowledged that life is a relay race and my role has evolved me into becoming more of an event/performance producer nowadays, rather than performing myself.
“As a professor, I’m an advocate for education at any cost; education is the only way for all of us to move forward. To get educational material for the less fortunate children, who are studying music in pursuit of a better life, is important to me.
“Concerning cannabis, I think by educating the farmers and population in general, we can avoid the negative side of this plant and focus on the positive.
“Every semester I go to the top universities in Thailand to hold conferences and workshops to promote and teach Spanish and explain Latin American culture. I have also more actively started to teach Spanish online and it has been a nice experience.”
Where have you performed?
”The first concert as Buhonero Clandestino was at River City. Since then we have performed at Flamenco Bangkok, Mahanakhon Sky bar and at the top of EmQuartier, where we did more than 200 shows there. Our second Concert Gallery was at Black Cabin, the third one at Live Lounge.
     “We have appeared on TV Channel 3, PPTV and Thai PBS as well as top hotels like the Oriental Mandarin, Park Hyatt, Sukothai Bangkok, Anantara Riverside, Shangri-La and the Okura Prestige. We participated at bazaars and performed at fashion shows, while I have sung for the International Women’s Club Bangkok.”
     Bernz was born in Panama, just after the fall of the Noriega dictatorship and government, following the US Invasion in 1990.
Bernz and his elder brother Bernardo, nicknamed Berny, were brought up by caring parents who made sure that the two boys had everything to keep them healthy and happy, and that they also had the freedom to pursuit a professional career.
Says Bernz: “In my childhood we were a close family. But because our location in Panama, we were concerned about our security. Panama was very hostile before it took control over the Panama Canal.
“My brother and grew up between Ciudad de Panama and Volcan, the highlands of Chiriqui, a province located on the other side of the country. I went to school in Ciudad de Panama.
“I can still recall the clean air and the aroma at Volcan, probably the cleanest air I have ever breathed.”
Bernz attended The Oxford International School during his first years, as did his brother. They got their nicknames so their teachers and friends could differentiate them. Although there is a seven-year age gap between the brothers, Bernz was always hung around with his elder brother and his friends.
“My school was fun and interesting, there was a very good exposure to classic theatrical plays and I had the chance to perform in many different disciplines from young age - karate, ballet, drama, painting and of course, football.
“By the time I graduated I had been on stage many times and also participated in football tournaments. I knew more or less what my passions were going to be and where I would invest my time.
“I ended up with a bachelor degree in marketing with emphasis on Graphic Design in Panama and my MBA in Sports Operations at Stamford International University, Bangkok. I also had the pleasure of living in Madrid, Spain for a while and got to study and work with the best club in world football - Real Madrid.
“Football is like a religion in Latin America. Even before I was born I started to like football, probably because my mum watched the World Cup on TV,” jokes Bernz.
“I started to play when I was very young and I can still remember my first goal.”

So Bernz, did you follow your dreams?
“Yes, I did indeed. I kept a proper diet, didn’t partying too much and avoided illegal substances. I went to training and practices as I wanted to compete and to reach the national team.
“During my time at home, I read about music and learned how to play guitar through the internet. The day I felt the guitar vibrating next to me, I began to see a new world, a world of calmness and serenity.”
As a young boy, Bernz was both sporting and artistic. “I was social, creative and probably a bit naïve, but also curious, shy, maybe quiet and sober. I did not exactly understand myself, what was going on with me.”
He joined a football club and started to play in a rock band. “I had to find a way to pay for my musical productions. My parents were not so happy about my idea of a musical career. They constantly argued about my music, but they ended up supporting and helping me out. I enjoyed studying as long as the topics were related to painting, acting, videogames, astrophysics, manga, poetry and handcrafts.”
Bernz’s brother Berny also is in the music business, as a sound engineer. His mother has also always enjoyed singing.
“My goal is to further lead a generation to find a way to make music useful and to become productive in their lives.
“Thailand has a very special place in my heart. The Kingdom and its people have welcomed me and my family so warmly. This country has had, and still has, a great impact on me; it has made me the person I am today.
“I have learned how to speak, read and write Thai and by learning a country’s language, you get access to information normally hidden to an average expat. To master the language helps a lot in the relationships with friends, business and daily life. Maybe Thailand chose me and not the other way around,” says Bernz with a smile.
“My solo motorbike rides in the northern Thailand and around South East Asia with friends are good memories. In 2016 I displayed my artwork at Bangkok Lyrical Lunacy and then launched my music career at River City Bangkok in 2017.
“I have travelled inside Thailand to promote Latin culture, doing workshops and conferences at the top universities. I have also contributed to bringing Panamanian authorities to Thailand and helped towards the visit of H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and a delegation of Thai officials to Panama. That was amazing.”

What about the future?
“I haven’t achieved everything I have in my mind, but I’m working on it. When I was a teenager, I absolutely wanted a special guitar. I got myself a job and after a while I was able to buy it, a good feeling. In my early 20s I wanted to release an album and reach out to the national media, and I did.
“I wanted to make a name for myself with my music and I think I have done that, or at least I’m on my way. I would say that everything I have done until now, has been a preparation for what I believe will come.
“I have to mention two friends who have been a lighthouse during dark nights; my friend Dean Kelly who, like me, is Panamanian and was my mentor when I was developing an app for Uni finals. He has also given me feedback on Buhonero Clandestino’s performances. His wife, Natalie Glebova, with her course ‘Win in Love’ allowed me to reach a more mature approach in life, where I learned how to love myself and visualize my objectives on this planet.
“My dream is to work on more Buhonero’s songs and to collaborate with other artists. I want to record and release as much music as possible. I would love to tour with my music and to take part in international music festivals. I have been working on an app over the last three years, and it would be an achievement to release it.
“The cannabis industry has just started and I’m very happy and excited, but this one is by far, ‘a bet along the way’.
“As an entertainer I must say it has been really amazing. The audience feedback, if they understand what I’m singing or not, has been delightful. I have also acknowledged that life is a relay race and my role has evolved me into becoming more of an event/performance producer nowadays, rather than performing myself.
“As a professor, I’m an advocate for education at any cost; education is the only way for all of us to move forward. To get educational material for the less fortunate children, who are studying music in pursuit of a better life, is important to me.
“Concerning cannabis, I think by educating the farmers and population in general, we can avoid the negative side of this plant and focus on the positive.
“Every semester I go to the top universities in Thailand to hold conferences and workshops to promote and teach Spanish and explain Latin American culture. I have also more actively started to teach Spanish online and it has been a nice experience.”

Why have you become so attached to Thailand?
“The first thing that comes to my head is the Thai Food. I just love it and can eat it daily. I have had so many experiences here which have shaped my way of thinking. This country has nurtured my dreams and I’m thankful to call it my home.
“My future goals are to release four studio albums with Buhonero, record different artists and build a record label. I also wouldn’t mind winning a Grammy.
“I want to keep on working in the football industry and also mini football in Thailand. Launching our app on the market and seeing it becoming a success is also a wish.
“Another goal is to send farmers to install cannabis farms in Chiriqui, Panama, and allow them to bring back the Panama Red Strain and install a long term cooperation program with local authorities and educational centers. I wish to promote the legalization of cannabis for recreational use.
“Last, but not least, I want to find the woman of my life and dreams and start a family - a woman with confidence. That’s hard to beat, and is attractive to me. Latino women often react emotionally and they can be a bit manipulative. Thai women tend to be calmer and can go into one’s soul, into the consciousness.
“I also like to be able to travel frequently between Thailand and Panama.
“The list of people who have inspired me is too long, but to mention only a few, they are Carl Sagan, Elon Musk, Chopin, Rene Perez, Rodney Clark, Gustavo Ceratti, Chris Martin, Francesco Totti and Ruben Blades.”

Do you have time for any hobbies except music and football?
“I try as often as possible to do some outdoors activities such as; swimming, wake surf, body weight working, and I enjoy attending art exhibitions and I do write poetry. I love travelling to beaches as well as to mountains in good company. Nice conversations also enrich one’s life.
Do you think you will stay here for a long or return to Panama in the future?
“As I mentioned before, I’m planning to travel more to Panama. I would like to stay in Panama for some months, working on the farm and return to Thailand to tour the music we record. My future wife, if it happens to be a Thai woman, would definitely have to get used to this lifestyle,” laughs Bernz.

Anyone special you really admire?
“Yes, I do admire my mother Maria del Carmen Martinez, for everything she has achieved with her strong vision and character. She is truly inspiring me, a loving and caring mother and I hope I make her proud of me.”
If you have the opportunity to spend an evening with one special person, who would it be and what would you do?
“I’m not going to mention her name, but I would search for the best location, a cozy environment, spend the night looking into each other’s eyes, unveiling our souls through conversations, until we reach the point when we can truly trust and respect each other. When that happens, I’m sure I will start singing for her and make sure my song will stay in her heart.”
And that’s how a young, talented, romantic Latino American man plans to woo his future wife!
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My Life in Thailand Dr Donna Robinson is a British doctor well-known among expats and locals in Bangkok

18/4/2022

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B​y the time I was 30 years old, I had worked for a few years as a doctor in the hospital. Leading up to that time, I had moved to New Zealand in 1986 and met the man who is now my husband in Hong Kong in 1987. I moved back to London to complete training as a general practitioner and completed the exams in 1989.
In early February 1990, I left London for the long trip to Bangkok, after spending a few days in Delhi with my friend Clare and her aunt. It was usual for a flight to stop in at least one country before reaching Thailand, so I chose India. Soon I said goodbye to Clare and went to the airport. I had a purple suit on, so the other passengers thought I was with Thai Airways.
After waiting for two hours, we were told the flight arriving had a problem, and we would not leave Delhi that night. Ground staff gave us hotel vouchers for two per room and told us to match with other passengers. As it turned out, I shared the room with a young male Indian Fijian. Probably nowadays you wouldn't be allowed to share rooms like that, or you would have insisted on one room per person!
I was moving to Thailand to be with Ian, who was working as a roads engineer, back when they built all the expressways here. I was so happy to see him when I arrived. We stayed at the Rich Inn on Sukhumvit 53. Back then, there was a shortage of accommodations for foreigners looking for apartments and houses in the Sukhumvit area. I remember the walls moving with the thunder of traffic that went on all night.
I signed on for some classes at the AUA (a Thai language school where you learn by listening to people speak), and Ian had bought me some learn-about-Thai-culture books. I visited one or two NGOs, and I stayed busy at the weekends exploring the city. One week I even visited Kanchanaburi.
During that first year I think I became quite down. One Monday morning, it hit me, "What was I doing here in Bangkok"? I guessed the honeymoon was over, and it hit me that everything was so different here. I got really overwhelmed, looking at what I had done, coming to this strange place. Surprisingly, though I thought maybe Hong Kong or Singapore would be easier places to practise as a doctor, I never once thought of leaving and going back to the UK.

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The amazing truth behind Britain’s first embassy in Bangkok – and who really owned the recently sold compound on Ploenchit

17/4/2022

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Inspired by the much-debated sale of the British Embassy compound in Bangkok in 2018, former property executive Simon Landy set about researching the history of foreign land ownership in Thailand dating back to the reign of King Mongkut in the 19th century. His work has resulted in a fascinating book ‘The King and the Consul,’ which the author has subtitled ‘A British tragedy in old Siam’ to highlight the untimely death of the first British senior diplomat in the country while negotiating a suitable site for Britain’s consulate using a nominee structure familiar to today’s foreign buyers to get round ownership laws.
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What inspired you to write The King and the Consul?
The idea came from the sale of the British Embassy Bangkok compound on the corner of Ploenchit and Wireless Roads. There were rumours that the land had been granted to the British government by the Thai authorities, and so shouldn’t (or couldn’t!) be sold for profit. That rumour, I discovered, wasn’t true. But in looking into it, I came across the amazing story of how the British were granted their first compound on the river in 1856. And that’s the core story in my book.

Is this your first book?
It’s the first book, yes, although I’ve been writing articles and papers for decades. Before the book came out, I had two papers published on related topics – one in the Journal of the Siam Society, the other in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong.

Please tell us about your background and life in Thailand.
In a nutshell, I first moved to Thailand in 1981 to teach at Chulalongkorn University. The job was great, the pay not so much. When I got married and became a father I moved into the business world, eventually focusing on the property consulting business. My last job was as executive chairman of Colliers International Thailand and I retired from that in 2017.
Please explain how Thailand’s current view of foreign land ownership was largely shaped by a treaty with Britain dating back almost 150 years ago, and the involvement of several key characters featured in your book.


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The Quiet Botanist from Sweden behind Thailand’s ‘Garden of Eden’

12/4/2022

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Best known as Pattaya’s premier family tourist attraction, visited by up to 10,000 people a day, Nong Nooch is also regarded as one of the world’s most significant botanical gardens, thanks to Anders Lindstrom, a constant presence in the park
F​or more than three decades, a lavishly bearded 50-year-old botanist from Sweden called Anders Lindstrom has quietly beavered away at Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden, helping it to win prestigious awards at the Chelsea Flower Show while also putting Thailand at the forefront of the quest to preserve and protect the world’s plants.
Although far better known as a family entertainment venue on a super-grand scale, Nong Nooch devotes more than half of its 500 acres to nurseries for the cultivation of some 12,000 species, making it one of the largest and most diverse botanical collections in the world.
They include rare and near-extinct species as well as an unrivalled inventory a an almost complete collection of cycads and over 900 species of palms and over 300 varieties of bougainvillea along with virtually every other plant seen in Thailand.
Working in tandem with Nong Nooch’s owner Mr Kampon Tansacha, this deeply committed Swede has been a constant influence on the project’s development and stature over the past 30 years. From numerous visits to many other tropical countries, he has brought back all kinds of tropical plants previously unknown here, and exchanged plants with many of the world’s leading botanical gardens - and all the while stored seeds and pollen and gathered valuable information that will help preserve these most precious of resources for future generations.

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Gridiron beauty Jayne targets ‘midsized’ women with her new health and fitness app

12/4/2022

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Former American football star Salinee Jayne Caldwell uses her professional and personal experience to help a “neglected group” get into shape physically and mentally with YA BISH
After a stellar career in the bone-crunching sport of women’s football in the United States, Thai-Australian beauty Salinee Jayne Caldwell is using her retirement from Gridiron to launch a fitness guide aimed at midsized women.
Now living in Bangkok, Jayne has teamed up with fellow pro-footballer Quincy Hewitt from New Zealand to launch an app called YA BISH that offers all kinds of health and fitness tips for women who are “lean on top and thicker below” – specifically those sized between 10 and 14, and aged 18 to 45, explains Jayne, who set pulses racing when she appeared on front cover of The BigChilli back in December 2018.
Jayne and Quincy see the move into the online fitness industry as a logical step after their professional sporting life. “We worked with a certified personal trainer to pull out the favorite workouts from our playing days to suit our target market. The challenge was to create something that is not only different but better than anything currently available,” says Jayne. “So we hit a demographic that has been completely neglected – midsized women. As professional athletes, it legitimizes the project.”

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