REGULARS
Should I stay or should I go?
Remember the song? It was recorded in 1981 by the Clash featuring Mick Jones. It reminds me that I’m getting older. The song goes on “If I go there will be trouble, if I stay it will be double”. How does this relate to the investment world? Well it doesn’t directly but the sentiment does. Recently many investors have seen valuations plummet, especially over the last nine months. What had been great gains in the past few years have suddenly been wiped out by market crashes all over the world and nest eggs have started to look a lot smaller. Panic sets in and the decisions have to be made. Should I stay where I am in the hope that the markets will recover and when I am back to where I was a year ago, then move? Am I courting double trouble as the song says with this attitude? If you’re like most investors you will behave irrationally and that’s not a surprise to anyone who watches the markets. There are ways to answer this question and aren’t there always ways to make money in the markets? Let me introduce you to a theory known as behavioral finance which posits that investors behave irrationally in systematic and predictable ways because of human psychology. A major mistake and one of the biggest made by individual investors, is to hold losers until they break even or make a little money, and then sell them. There are few things in life more emotionally satisfying than closing out a winning stock trade-and few things more painful than selling a loser. One study found that investors are nearly twice as likely to sell winners as losers. The result: a lot of times you end up watering your weeds and cutting your flowers. Another big mistake investors tend to make is to be overly optimistic about past winners and overly pessimistic about past losers. Everyone knows investors who have piled into glamour stocks after their best years are behind them. A variant of that behavior is to buy a great company even though its stock is overpriced. The antidote to this is to hunt for undervalued stocks. Cheap stocks do outperform expensive ones. Another common investment mistake is to under-react to changes in companies fortunes. This can be seen on CNBC and Bloomberg TV by the behavior of brokerage analysts. They set an estimate for what they think companies per share earnings will be for the year. The company subsequently releases much better quarterly earnings than the analyst expected and raises its outlook for the year dramatically. What does the analyst normally do? He raises his estimate for the year. But more often than not he doesn’t raise it enough. Almost inevitably he and his fellow analysts later issue more upward earnings revisions. I keep wondering why this happens. I have discovered that psychologists call it ‘the confirmation effect’. That means that people tend to look for evidence that confirms what they already believe. They move only slowly to embrace new thinking which contradicts their preconceived views. While there is little doubt that financial behavior is motivated and driven by human psychology there is still the skeptic in me that whispers - So what, my personal fortune has taken a big hit and all the smart investment jargon in the world won’t bring it back. I have great sympathy with this viewpoint but in adopting it I am steadily progressing toward the closed mind and blaming others for my predicament, which is always the easier and softer option, instead of taking steps to improve my situation. We have read that the biggest mistake individual investors make is to hold losers until they break even or make a profit. If as an investor you are sitting with big losers and you want to move forward from here and find the shares and funds that are doing well now, and can prosper in the future then there is only one thing to do. Change your current losers yourself or sit down with your broker and let him assist you in picking these new funds and stocks. Try and avoid ‘double trouble’ jerry@swissinvestcenter.net
Mag’s Page
Note the term ‘shorts’; which is what twig-like young things are now wearing. Not old fashioned ‘hot pants’ (although they look pretty much the same to me). There are some other subtle differences of course. Back in around 1970 my prize possession was a pair in purple suede, which would probably now fetch quite a bit on Ebay had they not suffered shiny patches in the posterior area. Now they are mainly denim for the plebs, or in more tailored fabrics for the Top Shop set. Accessorising them has changed subtly as well. First time round we wore them with plain 20 denier tights - American Tan of course - and platforms. (The British climate being what it is some leg covering was, and still is, essential). Now the tights are opaque and as colourful as possible, and the footwear can range from spiky heels to trainers. It is actually quite a relief to see that so many young British women are still thin enough to wear shorts in the street. It’s a fashion which does require certain proportions, unlike mini-skirts and crop tops, which were flaunted with ‘muffin tops’ and tummy piercings a year or two back. Browsing the recommendations of a fashion page on the latest ‘best buy’ shorts, (for no particular reason other than to wonder who would pay upwards of £80/5,120 baht for them) I was transported back to the purple suede. Working for the local Council at the time, the dress code was strictly skirts; even though the work involved no face-to- face contact whatsoever with Joe Public. Then one momentous day my supervisor announced that our Council employer would allow us to wear trousers for work. Not denim of course: ‘Proper’ trousers only. And not hotpants. But it was a turning point, no doubt brought on to some extent by the fact that trousers provided a much more acceptable covering than our skirts did at that time. But surprisingly it was to be another six years before women police officers were allowed to wear the trousers in 1976. As a result of last month’s rant about additives, in particular the invasion of the Pentapeptides, the Daily Mail, (right wing bastion of accurate reporting, and supporter of the McCann’s,) has latched on to the great additives debate. It’s good to see that the National dailies are not above lifting ideas from these humble pages, and with their infinite resources they have revealed a problem which seems even more widespread and worrying than the odd peptide. Like me, you may have wondered how so many creams and potions on sale in the Land of Smiles can get away with containing whitening ingredients. You might also have wondered why we pay so much attention to what is in our food, and so little to what is in the stuff we slap on our skin. According to the Mail, an organisation called the Women’s Environmental Network published a report in 2003 entitled ‘Getting Lippy’, which claimed that beauty products may contain some pretty nasty stuff. And taking their research further, found a whole raft of things with long names which should be used at your peril! Don’t even attempt to pronounce the first one - phthalates-stabilisers widely used in deodorants, lotions and makeup which are said to impair fertility. Formaldehyde, (an additive apparently banned in Sweden), is said to be found in things like shampoo and shower gel, and can aggravate allergies or worse. Parabens, used as preservatives in creams, are known to interfere with hormone function, while pesticides, used in the cultivation of the raw ingredients for cosmetics, can be linked with cancer and Parkinson’s disease. It’s all quite scary, especially as there seem to be few controls on the listing of ingredients in beauty products. Also very confusing for those of us who were brought up to believe that creams only penetrated the very top layer of skin, which is constantly being replaced anyway. Which meant that any cream could only make you feel better and not produce a lasting effect! How times change, along with, apparently, our anatomy. And finally - didn’t they do well? In stark contrast to other opening ceremonies China really did put on a spectacular Olympic show. The ripples could be heard almost immediately in Whitehall. ‘How do we beat that?’ and of course the answer has to be you can’t. Don’t even think about it. Maybe for 2012 we should keep it really simple. Drag Wogan out of the mothballs, stick Brian May on the stadium roof with a guitar, and get the Red Arrows to do a quick twirl. That should do it.
Bricks & Mortar
SUNNY SOJOURN: TIME TO TAKE YOUR RELAXATION SERIOUSLY AND PLAN FOR SOME DAYS OF HANGING AROUND IN THE SUN WITH A BOOK AND A LONG COOL DRINK
Whatever the weather we all enjoy a good afternoon nap and the perfect way to lounge away a couple of hours involves a rocking chair and a hammock - a wide, double one made of comfortable cotton, that you can toss pillows or cushions on, and while away an afternoon reading and dozing in the shade. Movement is the key: the gentle motion is soothing, relaxing and very soporific. Finding a beaten-up, old rocking chair and restoring it is also well worth the effort, especially if it is one that has clearly been enjoyed over the years. If you have a porch or covered area, are feeling creative, and have a good carpenter and handy-man in the household, try taking the next step on from the porch swing: the day-bed porch swing. You’ll need to create a sturdy wooden base, and then suspend it at all four corners from the porch ceiling. Then add a single, comfortable mattress complete with a fitted cotton or canvas cover that can easily be washed or sponged clean. Add pillows and a throw rug, lie back and enjoy the best nap of the summer. If you’re an amateur at DIY though, call in the professionals to avoid any nasty accidents. In terms of stationary pieces, I can’t say that I’m a big fan of all the predictable teak loungers, wrought iron chairs, and nasty plastic seats that leave you feeling hot and bothered. With a little bit of thought you can use an unusual piece that you can transform into an original summer lounger. A small, single wrought iron bed can look wonderful decked in summery cotton fabric, with a comfortable mattress and plenty of bolster and scatter cushions. It’s bound to make you want to sleep outdoors on balmy nights.
Whatever you choose, make sure that the piece has plenty of depth: narrow, upright benches and seating do not offer the chance to sprawl out. The other key point is low maintenance: you’ll never relax if you are worrying that a passing shower might damage a treasured piece. Fabrics need to be nice to touch, cotton and washable. You can never have enough floor and scatter cushions, much to my maid’s dismay, and my dogs’ delight. Cotton rugs are handy, especially on grass: they’ll help to keep your cushions less stained, and form areas of focus and interest that are guaranteed to lure you out into the garden. Or, why not pick a secluded part of the garden, far from the bustle of the household, and create a shaded outdoor spot? An open-sided canvas tent or awning will do the trick. Or make your own shade with a fixed frame and a canopy of branches, trellis, or canvas. Just be sure the latter is well secured to the frame, and will withstand gusts of wind. Lay a sisal, all-weather rug as your ground cover, then conjure your own comfortable lounging haven with whatever takes your fancy. Leave phones, laptops and reminders of the daily grind indoors, and enjoy the sunny afternoon in peace. PRACTICAL TIPS An easy-to-access storage space is essential to protect cushions and soft furnishings from the rain. If space precludes storing a single mattress when not in use, consider a good quality inflatable mattress instead.
d'Geek
VIDEO GAMES MOVE TO MASS MARKET
The big players in the video games industry gathered for a conference in Los Angeles and their targets were the mass market, rather than the traditional gamer originally captured by the macho shooter Halo. Both Sony and Microsoft were expected to follow Nintendo into the social arena, with ‘building communities’ and ‘social gaming’ the buzz words of the conference. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is heading for a change of direction and audience as the company announced a change in its online games system, Xbox Live. The company aims to put the console “at the heart of the living room”, claiming that the industry is rapidly becoming the largest in the entertainment sector, with games outselling both music and movies. New titles and features were announced - many based on Nintendo’s Wii, which has seen success with social and interactive titles such as Wii Fit. The console target market is now shifting towards a different demographic to include women, younger girls and older people. The online character, or avatar-based system Microsoft proposes, is similar to that used by Wii. Sony is working on a system called ‘Home’ for its PlayStation 3, which will offer similar social features. Nintendo announced a new accessory for the Wii, called a Wiimote controller, which promises 1:1 motion mapping in future supported titles. The Japanese company also revealed a number of new sports titles for the console, while, for the more musically inclined, Wii Music will join the popular Guitar Hero and offer a semi-freeform environment that allows the player to choose from more than 50 instruments to play individually or in a group. Sony announced a slew of new releases for its PS3 and PSP along with a new movie downloading service. The company’s main focus was on the games themselves as opposed to market strategies and new technologies. The Home system was covered with new features in its online platform and the all-encompassing console for gaming, video, TV and music. All three corporate players seem to be after the same thing - total domination in the home entertainment market. All are offering a social online platform where players can interact and compete and they all have their own media partners from which other content such as movies and music can be downloaded. Although this battle has been primarily over the latest games and gadgets, there is so much more at stake. Today it is a games console, but tomorrow the unit is likely to control every piece of audio and visual information that comes in and out of your home ... at a price of course, and that is probably the only thing that will separate them.
TELECOMS: Following the world-wide launch of Apple’s latest 3G iPhone last week, a number of technical issues prevented the smooth introduction of the new device to the market. Shops packed with frustrated iFans were common across the USA following the launch as staff struggled to activate the phones due to overloaded Apple servers. AT&T, the sole carrier for the unit in the USA, blamed Apple’s iTunes software for synchronisation problems. Original iPhone owners also faced problems as their units locked up if they tried to download anything from the Apple online mothership.
Although these issues were solved pretty quickly it does show that even companies noted for their reliability run into problems now and then. You would think that following the hype and promotion leading up to the big day a company the size of Apple would be prepared for such a demand and resultant strain on its systems, but evidently not.
INDUSTRY: Following on from last week’s Viacom vs YouTube privacy saga, in which Viacom demanded data on all YouTube downloads, the two have come to an agreement over the use of readers’ viewing information. Viacom has agreed to let YouTube owner Google make the data anonymous, offering a large viewer database that blanks out private information such as member name and IP address. Google seems to have swerved away from what could have been a PR disaster by keeping hold of private information on its readers. Even so, the case may have paved the way for others to sue the search giant on related copyright claims. The English Football Association Premier League and Scottish Premier League have already jumped on the bandwagon by filing their own separate class action suits against Google.
By Martin J Young (Asia Times Online)
Earth report
Last July, Greenpeace activists brought hundreds of balloons, symbolising carbon emissions from new coal power plants in Thailand, to the ministry of energy in Bangkok. After successful campaigns in New Zealand and the Philippines, the Rainbow Warrior spent 21 days in Thailand as part of the ‘Quit Coal, Lead the Energy [R]evolution Tour’ promoting solutions to climate change. The tour included human banners, port blockades and a visit to the Ministry of Energy. Thailand’s energy revolution should be underway already thanks to a new law that allows residents and villages to generate electricity from wind turbines or other renewable sources and sell surplus electricity back to grid. This should help alleviate poverty and unemployment among Thais as well as generate clean energy. That sounds sweet - but the reality looks very different as many bureaucratic barriers prevent people from taking up this opportunity. And the lack of a Renewable Energy law that prioritises green electricity over ‘dirty’ electricity means that investors are gearing up to build coal-fired power plants instead of wind farms. Last year even nuclear energy appeared on the agenda. When the Rainbow Warrior, sailed into Songkhla Greenpeace was launching a petition to the Ministry of Energy demanding they reject coal, nuclear and other fossil-fuel energy systems, a petition that was endorsed by over 1500 residents. The ship then moved on to Thapsake when hundreds of local people joined thecrew to form a human banner proclaiming ‘Quit Coal’ on the beach. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is proposing to build a 4000 MW coal-fired power plant in Thapsakae but local communities are opposing it due to concerns about pollution and climate change. These villagers added their voice to the Greenpeace petition to the Ministry of Energy. In Rayong province the crew of the Rainbow Warrior staged a peaceful protest against the expansion of a Belgian-owned coal power plant in Mapthaphut, anchoring a few meters off the coal wharf and unfurling banners saying ‘Quit Coal’ and ‘Coal = Climate Change’. The ship was confronted by tug-boats and coal plant personnel who fired water cannons as it entered the coal port. European energy companies such as the Belgium-based Suez Energy International, part of the largest energy consortium in Western Europe are involved with the expansion of the coal industry in Thailand, even though the European Union has committed to drastically reduce its own carbon emissions by as much as 30 percent by 2020. In Bangkok, Greenpeace delivered a petition as activists filled the Ministry of Energy HQ with balloons printed with the word ‘CO2’. The balloons symbolise the carbon emissions from the construction of new coal power plants in Thailand.
Coal is the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive of all fossil fuels. Energy from coal now accounts for roughly 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Emitting 29% more carbon per unit of energy than oil and 80% more than gas, coal is one of the leading contributors to climate change. Burning coal also releases massive amounts of toxic substances such as mercury and arsenic, which have deadly impacts on human health. Greenpeace is calling on the Thai government to quit coal and increase energy efficiency. The government needs to adopt legislation that provides investors in renewable energy with stable and predictable returns and guarantee priority access to the grid for renewable generators. Thailand does not need coal - it needs an Energy Revolution.
Arts & Culture
This month we bring you the rip-roaring John Huston, an Oscar-winning, legendary tough-guy type director whose off-screen exploits were as absorbing as his movies. Indeed, as he also became infamous for womanising, heavy drinking, reckless gambling and fist-fighting, he doubtless earned his nickname, ‘The Monster’. Despite this boisterous image he was responsible for some classic movies, many fronted by the legendary Humphrey Bogart. Read on and make notes. John Marcellus Huston was born in Nevada, Missouri on 5 August 1906, the son of the Canadian-born actor Walter Huston and sports writer Rhea Gore, but was raised by his maternal grandparents, Adelia Richardson and John Marcellus Gore. As a student in Los Angeles, he became the California amateur lightweight Boxing Champion, winning 23 of 25 fights, collecting a broken nose at the age of 18. Following a miserable failure as a reporter for the ‘New York Graphic’, his father got him a job writing screenplays in the dream factory of Hollywood, where he excelled. As a screenwriter Huston made scripts adapted from books and plays, and also enjoyed a successful acting career; appearing in Otto Preminger’s ‘The Cardinal’, for which he had an Academy award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In Roman Polanski’s ‘Chinatown’, he also played a notable screen ‘heavy’ alongside Jack Nicholson. Huston’s films were insightful regarding human nature and predicaments, and sometimes also included scenes or brief dialogue that were remarkably prescient concerning environmental issues that came to public awareness many years later. 
Huston favoured shooting films in sequence and on location. Like that other legendary macho director John Ford, he shot economically and edited sequences in his head so that his financiers would not be able to cut scenes easily. This style may have helped his art, but did not prevent many his battles with studio heads in Hollywood, though he directed some classics during his career in California. Humphrey Bogart won an Oscar in Huston’s ‘African Queen’ (1951), playing a gin-swigging, foul mouthed river trader who helps prim missionary Katherine Hepburn to escape the Germans during World War 1. Their trying odyssey downriver gradually sees the two incompatibles falling in love (of course) with the always detached Bogart finally discovering commitment as he attacks a German gunboat. A witty script by James Agee (from the novel by C S Forester) helped to make this improbable romantic tale a movie classic. It is said that during filming, Huston advised Katharine Hepburn, “Eleanor Roosevelt. Let her be your model.” Hepburn later related, “That was the best piece of direction I have ever heard.” Increasingly unhappy with the ‘moral rot’ in the USA, Huston moved to Galway, in Ireland and became an Irish citizen in 1964. By 1978, however, he decided that Irish eyes were not smiling, as he gave up his estate in Ireland because, “it cost me so much to live there that I had to stay away working all the time just to afford it.” One of Huston’s most famous directing roles was in ‘The Misfits’ (1960), written by Arthur Miller and featuring an all-star cast including Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach. This was of course also memorable for being the last screen appearances of movie icons Gable and Monroe. Miller’s verbose script concerns a bunch of emotional cripples scratching out a living on the rodeo circuit with Monroe as the Reno divorcee who becomes their earth mother cum conscience. Critics agree that the movie only really comes good in the mustang round-up at the end; an overly symbolic but nevertheless magnificent sequence. Whilst making ‘The Misfits’ Huston spent long evenings after work carousing in the Nevada casinos after filming, surrounded by movie groupies and hookers as he gambled, drank heavily and smoked his famous cigars. Gable remarked that, “if he keeps this up he will soon die of it”; but ironically and tragically Gable himself died three weeks after the end of filming from a massive cardiac arrest whilst Huston went on to live for 26 more years. Monroe (by the aged 36) also died in mysterious circumstances at her Brentwood home in August 1962. Huston was a serial womaniser who was married five times. The list: Dorothy Harvey (1925 to 1926), Lesley Black (1937 to 1945), Evelyn Keyes (1946 to 1950), Ricki Soma (1950 to 1969) and Celeste Shane (1972 to 1977). All but the marriage to Soma (who died in 1969) ended in divorce. He claimed that the love of his life was New York socialite Marietta Fitzgerald, but she divorced her husband to marry the billionaire British MP Ronald Tree, leaving Huston heartbroken. It was rumoured that Huston and Fitzgerald once broke a bed during a particularly wild and steamy session of love-making one evening! In addition to his children with Soma, he was also the father of director Danny Huston (by Zoe Sallis), and among his close friends were Bob Mitchum, Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway. After filming the documentary ‘Let There Be Light’ on the psychiatric treatment of soldiers for shellshock, Huston resolved to make a movie about Sigmund Freud and psycho-analysis. The resulting film, ‘Freud, the Secret Passion’ began as a collaboration between Huston and Jean-Paul Sartre; but the latter, following a bitter disagreement with his American partner, dropped out of the project and requested that his name be removed from the credits. Huston went onto make the movie starring Montgomery Clift as Freud.
During the 1970’s, Huston was a frequent actor in Italian films, and continued acting until the remarkable age of 80 (‘Momo’ 1986), a year before he died. Humphrey Bogart, however, described Huston as “one lousy actor.” Huston is also famous to a generation of fans of J R R Tolkien’s ‘Middle-Earth’ epic stories as the voice of the wizard ‘Gandalf’ in the Rankin/Bass animated adaptions of ‘The Hobbit’ (1977) and ‘Return of the King’ (1980).
Huston had a longtime affair with the fashion designer and writer Pauline Fairfax Potter, and was the inspiration for Clint Eastwood’s 1990 film ‘White Hunter, Black Heart’ in which Eastwood played the central character whose major desire was to shoot an elephant during a break from filming ‘The African Queen’ on location. In 1941, Huston had been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ‘The Maltese Falcon’. He was nominated again, and won in 1948 for ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’, for which he also collected the Best Director Award. Huston first mooted ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ (a rollicking Rudyard Kipling tale set in India and Afghanistan), for Gable and Humphrey Bogart in the 1940’s; but shelved the project for later years which proved to be fortuitous. During filming in 1974-75, it was obvious that Sean Connery (as ‘Daniel Gravot’) and Michael Caine (‘Peachey Carnahan’) were hugely enjoying themselves playing ex-British Army rogues out to enrich themselves as they lorded it over the natives. Caine’s daughter Shakira also had a minor role as a young woman forced to marry Connery’s character, and Christopher Plummer played the storyteller Kipling himself. On Huston’s minimalist style of directing during the film however, Caine once said, “He feels, for the kind of money that we get paid; we ought to know how to do it ourselves.” Huston responded, “If you make movies about movies and about characters instead of about people, the echoes get thinner and thinner, until they are reduced to mechanical sounds.” He elaborated, “Directing is simply an extension of the process of writing. The most important element to me is always the idea that I am trying to express. The audience should not be aware of what the camera is doing. They should be following the action and the road of the idea. I don’t believe in over-dressing anything. No extra words, no extra images, no extra music. It seems to be that this is the universal principle of art.” Huston received 15 Oscar nominations during his career and remains the oldest person ever to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar, when at the age of 79 his name was put forward for ‘Prizzi’s Honor’ starring Jack Nicholson. He also has the unique distinction of directing both his father Walter and daughter Anjelica in Oscar-winning roles (‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ and ‘Prizzi’s Honor’ respectively). In July 1987, ‘Mr North’ was a family affair co-written by Huston and directed by his son Danny. Huston began by playing a part in the movie before poor health caused him to step down and his old hell-raising and drinking pal Robert Mitchum stepped in to take over the role. The older Huston remained on location in Rhode Island almost until the end of filming. Huston directed no less then 40 movies from 1941 until his death from emphysema at Middletown, Rhode Island, on 28 August 1987. He was 81 years old, and had directed his final film, ironically named ‘The Dead’ earlier that year. Lauren Bacall described him as being “Daring, unpredictable, maddening, mystifying and probably the most charming man on this earth.”
IMPRESSIONIST ART Hua Hin Impressionist 2008 This is the theme for the Hua Hin Artist Group, President of the group Khun Tawee Kesa-Ngam invites all who may be interested in this form of art. Nineteen extremely imaginative artists have joined together to paint such important places as Mrigadayavan Palace, Kao Takiab, Hua Hin Railway station, the fishing pier and local beaches. The exhibition is at Baan Silapin on the Pa La U road leading to the by-pass. 81 Moo 14. From 4th to 30th October 10 am until 5 pm everyday except Mondays. For more information call or fax Khun Supsuda 032 534 830, 089 548 5074. This is an event not to be missed - particularly for art lovers!
‘DREAMING THAILAND’ EXHIBITION FOR CHARITY The art exhibition, ‘Dreaming Thailand’ was held at the Happy Gallery on the Takiab Road from 2nd to 30th August. Held to raise funds for the Prachubchok Home for handicapped persons, the exhibition featured four artists: Khun Suphasthua Moonbejong from Uborn Ratchathini College of Fine Arts; Khun Niran Chanhom from Chiang Mai; Khun Koonchurn Sethma of Ramkamhaeng University, and Khun Sawat Ke-Sebgam from Uborn Ratchathini. Pictured here at the opening of the exhibition are (left to right): Khun Wichai (Prachuabchok Home Manager) with artists Khun Sawat and Khun Koonchurn. For more information, contact Khun Wichai Chinsuporn at Prachubachok Home Tel: 032 619 176; 032 554 388. Cellphone: 0818583168.
E-mail: pchome 943@hotmail.com Website: prachuabchok.com
Profile - Ian Holm
Knighted for his services to British drama in 1998, the velvet-voiced actor Ian Holm is one of Britain’s most hard-working and prodigious talents. He started with ‘The Bofors Gun’ in 1968, and most recently in ‘Ratatouille’ in 2007. Born in Goodmayes, Essex on 12 September 1931, he was christened Ian Holm Cuthbert, the son of Scottish parents Dr James Harvey Cuthbert and Jean Holm. He was educated at Chigwell School before going to the world famous Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Holm was an established star of the Royal Shakespeare Company before making an impact in television and film.
In 1965, he played Richard III in the BBC television serial ‘Wars of the Roses’. Holm’s movie career commenced with minor parts in films such as ‘Oh! What a Lovely War!’ (1969), ‘Nicholas and Alexandria’ (1971); ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ (1971) and ‘Young Winston’ (1972), but his first memorable role was as the treacherous android Ash in Ridley Scott’s science fiction cult movie ‘Alien’ (1979) and his performance as the Italian coach Sam Mussabini earned him a special award at the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award as best supporting actor in Hugh Hudson’s smash British hit ‘Chariots of Fire’ (1981).
In 1989 Holm was nominated for a BATFA award for the TV series ‘Game, Set, and Match’. He continued to perform Shakespeare plays, appearing with Kenneth Branagh in ‘Henry V’ and as Polonius to Mel Gibson’s ‘Hamlet’ in 1990. Holm reunited with Branagh in ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ (1994), playing the father of Branagh’s Victor Frankenstein.
In 1997 Holm further raised his profile with two prominent roles – as the stressed but gentle priest Vito Cornelius in the ‘Fifth Element’, and the tormented plaintiff’s lawyer in ‘The Street Hereafter’. He also played the sadistic German sergeant alongside Richard Thomas in the critically reviled re-make of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (1979) and the long-suffering lover Des Cussens to Miranda Richardson as Ruth Ellis in Mike Newell’s ‘Dance with a Stranger’ (1985).
He memorably starred as the Royal surgeon Sir William Withey Gull alongside Johnny Depp (an impossibly young Inspector Abberline) in the 2001 Jack-the-Ripper saga ‘From Hell’ before going on to appear as Bilbo Baggins in the blockbuster ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’, having previously played Bilbo’s nephew Frodo Baggins in a 1981 BBC Radio adaption of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. In 2003 Holm reappeared in the final installment of the trilogy, ‘The Lord of the Rings; The Return of the King’, for which he shared a SAGA award.
Holm has also had parts in two of David Cronenberg movies, ‘Naked Lunch’ (1991) and ‘eXistenZ’, and is Harold Pinter’s favourite actor. The famous British playwright once said, “Ian puts on my shoe – and it fits!”
Most recently, Holm played the suave, right-wing arms dealer Simeon Weisz alongside Nicolas Cage (Yuriy Orlov) in ‘Lord of War’ (2005) where he memorably states, “I don’t just sell guns; I take sides. Bullets change governments much faster than votes.”
Holm has been married four times, most notably to actress Penelope Wilton and they appeared together in the TV production ‘The Borrowers’ (1993). He is currently married to artist Sophie de Stempel, a protégé and life model of Lucian Freud. He has five children from three women. His eldest daughter Jessica is presenter of the popular ‘Crufts Dog Show, and Sarah-Jane Holm played Jenny Rodenhurst Simcock in ‘A Bit of a Do’.
Health Matters
Dengue (pronounced den-gey) is the second most important of the mosquito-borne diseases, after malaria, and is carried by a different species (aedes aegypti) of mosquito from the malaria carrying variety. the average person in europe or north america has never heard of this disease and few doctors there have any experience with it. although there are occasional cases in these countries, they are usually traced to visits to more tropical countriesThe malaria carrying mosquito is a night feeder; the dengue variety is a day feeder and is also equally present in built up urban areas, whereas the malaria mosquito is more prevalent in country areas. The disease is endemic through the tropics and every year millions of people come down with the illness and several thousand die. It is particularly vicious when contracted by children. The disease was first recognised in 1779; the old name for the disease was ‘break-bone fever’ due to the intense musculo-skeletal pain that is a feature of the disease. Like malaria, its relationship to the mosquito was not appreciated until much later. 
It is difficult to assess how many cases there are in any one place in any one year. This is because the disease has a wide spectrum; some patients only have a mild flu- like illness for a couple of days and are even able to work through the period of the infection. Others are severely affected and of course there are some fatalities. In children it can be very severe and in Southeast Asia many children die from this disease every year. There are three classifications of Dengue diseases but they are all really degrees of severity of the same disease. The milder form is Degue Fever but it may progress to Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever and eventually to Dengue Shock Syndrome. DENGUE FEVER: The initial symptoms are similar to many viral diseases; a sudden onset of fever, severe headache, flushing, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea. There are other symptoms that are more typical of dengue than other diseases: severe muscle and joint pain and a fine rash on arms and legs. DENGUE HEMORRHAGIC FEVER: In this more severe form changes occur in the body’s ability to form blood clots. The number of platelets in the blood decreases and spontaneous bleeding may occur. This can show itself by tiny bleeds under the skin that can look like a rash but if you look carefully it is made up of many tiny red spots. Bruising of the skin may occur after very small blows and bleeding may also occur from the gums. The fever usually lasts about six or seven days. DENGUE SHOCK SYNDROME: This is very rare and represents organ failure which may lead to deathThere are four types of dengue viruses, all closely related, but quite different. This causes a peculiar problem. When you are first infected by a dengue virus, your body will react and produce an anti-body to fight the disease. After you have recovered the antibody remains in your body and any further attacks are resisted. There are many diseases like this and this phenomenon is the basis for vaccination against infections. In Dengue this process seems to be a little flawed. When you are infected with a Dengue virus different from your first experience the body, feeling that it knows this virus, is slow to create an antibody. This means that the second attack of dengue may be much more serious than the first, which is the reverse of the usual pattern. This is called the ‘Original Sin Theory’ meaning that the original disease is still haunting you. We believe that the more severe varieties of Dengue are caused not by a first but by a second or third attack, each one with a different virus Significant outbreaks occur in a cyclical manner about every six months. This is thought to be due to a short term cross-immunity giving protection against all varieties. When this wears off the patients in the community are susceptible once again. PREVENTION: At the present time there is no vaccine available. Work is being done, some in Thailand, at developing a vaccine that will give protection against all four types. The Thai vaccine has passed its animal testing phase and a trial involving thousands of volunteers is now underway.
There is NO person-to person transmission of the disease; there must be a mosquito to act as a carrier. Mosquito prevention is the most important technique. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water and all containers and collections of water should be eliminated. Personal protection against bites with suitable clothing, mosquito nets and insect repellant is useful.
TREATMENT: The mainstay of the treatment is supportive therapy; this means supporting the body until the body’s natural protective mechanisms take care of the situation. It is important to maintain the body’s fluid level - large amounts of oral fluids must be taken and we often use intravenous fluids (drips) to achieve an adequate input of fluids. This is particularly important if vomiting and diarrhoea are present.
Careful examination of the blood must be performed. Serum antibody tests will help to make the definitive diagnosis and examination of the platelet count and liver function tests must be done. Every year we have many patients transferred to the Bangkok Hospital Medical Center from other parts of Thailand and neighboring countries. The reason for their transfer is not just the excellence of our medical and nursing care but the accuracy of the blood investigations performed by our laboratory. Even patients with quite mild symptoms can show changes in their platelet count and liver function tests. As the fever goes down these results usually come back to normal. Only very rarely is transfusion with either whole blood or platelets is necessary. It is important that you do not take Aspirin or any of the related anti-inflammatory drugs to help treat the fever. Aspirin has an effect on the blood which interferes with the clotting mechanism. If you add the effect of Aspirin to the effect from Dengue the results can be unfortunate. You can take Tylenol or Paracetamol. There have been several cases of international residents of Hua Hin contracting Dengue. Golfers seem to be particularly at risk. Just think about it: bare arms and legs and lots of water around. I think that what we need to develop is a mosquito repellant sunscreen cream...in the meantime, I recommend that you use both.
Useful Telephone Numbers for Hua Hin
Railway station
032-512 770, 032-511 073
Bus station of Hua Hin
032-511 654, 032-512 543
Bus station of Prachuabkirikhan
032-601 901
Bus station of Pranburi
032-621 443
Hua Hin Hospital
032-520 401
Dog Rescue Center
0-1981 4406
Wild life Rescue Center (Tayang)
032-458 135
Department of Land Cha-am office:
032- 430 846-7
Department of Land Hua Hin office:
032-536 164, 032-512 407
Department of Land Prachuabkirikhan:
032-611 211
Department of Land Pranburi
032-622 199
Local Government (Hua Hin)
032-521 340, 532 471
Local water supply
032-511 677
The Power Board of Hua Hin
032-512 215, 032 513 165
Observer office:
032-531 078
Red Cross.
032-512 567
San Paolo Hospital
032-532 576-85
Polyclinic International
032-516 424, 032-516 425
Shell Cooking Gas
032-511 144, 032- 515 620
The Communication Authority of Thailand
(Hua Hin)
032-511 351
Rotary Club of Hua Hin
0-1916 6637
Meeting every Thursday 8.pm
at Hua Hin Grand Hotel & Plaza
[
return to the top ]
