THIS MONTH
Hua Hin Online Community
Now that we’re deep into the low and wet season more and more Hua Hin expats and visitors are turning to the internet for both information and entertainment. HHAD forums continued to grow during July and August with the addition of new sections and plenty of new members.
Crime continued to be a hot topic with more break-ins reported, possibly linked to the downturn in the economy and the rising cost of living. A number of foreigners have also been attacked while traveling home after dark by teenage gangs on scooters. We always advise caution when traveling late at night in areas out of town where inebriated patrons can often be encountered. In general though Hua Hin is a very safe place to live aside from the occasional soi dog!
Accommodation hunters now have a wider selection to choose from with the addition of the G House Hotel, Baan Leeya Resort and SeaJays Resort to our listings. All is quiet this time of year in town which makes it a great time to visit if you want to avoid the hustle and bustle of high season. The beaches are empty and the bars and restaurants are quiet, the only constant that remains hectic in Hua Hin is the traffic!
A new venue called Sunset Boulevard has opened up in Khao Takiab offering wifi internet, pool and cold beers and a sunset view over the temples and hills. Pizza lovers will be impressed with the addition of Stefano’s to the list of restaurants offering decent Italian and Thai food in Hua Hin. Food has been at the top of our topics list for quite some time now with the opening of Villa Market, a new Tesco Lotus in Pranburi, and rumours of a Big C south of town. Never before have Huahinians had so much choice in the culinary department.
The property pundits have been quiet this month with the main discussion being about current prices. The supply seems to be far greater than the demand at the moment with more houses still being built. Many are wondering if the prices of property in Hua Hin are ever going to fall, this looks unlikely as the town is still a very desirable place to be located, many owners are not bothered whether they sell their house or not and the current political and economic climate in Thailand is bound to improve at some time … we hope.
On the events front we’ve seen the Hua Hin Regatta, the month long Golf Festival and are now looking forward to Hua Hin Bike Week which will be held in the coming months … watch this space.
Plenty of ‘life in Thailand’ topics were discussed last month including relationships and finances, life in the town or city, the origins of corruption and expat longevity or general staying power. As ever there have been more stories of problems and difficulties at Hua Hin immigration, the lack of consistency with the ever-shifting regulations seems to be the cause of most of them. Some got their visas extended with a breeze and others faced a tornado of trouble as different bureaus interpret different rules in different ways … confused? We are!
Ask the expats had plenty of requests for the weird and wonderful ranging from oversized shoes to skateboards to water pump repair men to accordion players! Whatever your question you’ll find an answer on HHAD.
HHAD forums are the only definitive and original online message boards and discussions for the area with over 3,700 members and 1,700 daily readers. There are sections for finding and booking accommodation, seeking out bargains, and exploring the local area and beyond. There is also a nightlife section for the night owls, a restaurant and feeding guide along with an online meeting point for visa runners and clubs. The ever popular “Ask the expats” section is great for quickly getting the answers you need from the people that live here. Logon and find out what is happening in Hua Hin: www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/
BEAUTIFUL THAILAND
“I Have A Dream” Dr. Martin Luther King’s immortal words should not be taken lightly ... however Khun Iti Puknilratana certainly dreams big! He has plans for Hua Hin that left guests at his ‘Beautiful Thailand Card’ cocktail party open mouthed.
Phase one of his project was outlined at the function held at You Yen Balcony in August. This includes trade and exhibition centres, a real estate market, a night bazaar and beauty contests. The grand hall will be big enough to host music and dance competitions. According to Khun Iti the buildings should be ready (under the Cha-Am overpass) by January 2009.
Future plans include hotel/condos, a new golf course, football and tennis training centres, an international school, a movie production centre, yacht charter and a cruise liner, but wait for it - ‘Kingstown’ as Khun Iti likes to call Hua Hin will also be the venue for a horse racing track. All this is planned for 2011 to celebrate His Majesty’s 84th birthday. Grand schemes indeed, in the coming months the Observer will outline how you can become involved in Khun Iti’s dream.
Wine Rack
This month we tackle the problem of storing wine. your wine ‘cellar’ might be anything from a proper, underground cellar filled with expensive rarities, to a few bottles kept on a rack in the kitchen, in either case, there are certain requirements for maintaining wine in good condition that you should know about. in modern, air conditioned, well insulated houses, some of these conditions are hard to find, though this is only really a problem if you have wines you intend to keep for the mid to long term - say from three to ten years or more. What to cellar? First of all, not all wines are suitable for long term storage. If stored correctly almost all red wines will stay in good condition for two or three years after release, whereas most white wines are best drunk within a year or so. Beyond that, only certain wines are considered worth ‘laying down’. With such wines, we hope that not only will they keep for ten years, but that they will evolve positively in that time, gaining complexity and subtlety as they mature. Red wines suitable for mid to long term storage: Only those red wines with sufficient tan
nins and acidity will last longer than a couple of years. This rules out lighter wines (like Beaujolais or most wines from the Côtes du Rhône, for example) and most of the cheaper red wines, such as those from Central Europe. As a rough guide, wines costing under 1,000 Baht are unlikely to stand up to longer storage. Among the best bets for red wines suitable for laying down are: Vintage port (but not LBV or “ordinary” ruby or tawny ports) Red Bordeaux (perhaps only those costing more than 3,000 Baht from this expensive area) Other Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot based wines (from the USA, Australia, Chile, etc.) Red Burgundy (but only the finest, of Premier Cru level or above) Wines of the Northern Rhône such as Hermitage, Côte-Rotie and Cornas From Spain, better Riojas and from Italy, better Chiantis, Barolos and Barbarescos. White wines suitable for mid to long term storage: The vast majority of white wine is made for short term drinking - within a year or two of vintage date. A few whites can reward patience, and those include: Fully sweet white wines (particularly botrytis wines of Sauternes in France, and German wines of Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese quality) Better chardonnays (again, maybe only those costing over 3,000 baht as a general rule of thumb) Vintage champagne will cellar for several years, but it is usually best to buy this as you need it. Storage conditions: The perfect cellar is cool (around 10° - 12° Celsius), has no wild fluctuations in temperature, is dark and is free from vibrations. In addition, it is relatively humid: which will cause the characteristic mould to grow on old bottles. These are the ideal conditions for cellaring wines, but they are conditions that humans would find uncomfortable. Modern homes are rather unfriendly places in which to cellar wine. Bottles are placed horizontally into racks. This is vital for all wines that are being stored for more than a month or two. Keeping the bottles horizontal means that the cork is kept in contact with the liquid, preventing it from drying out. If the bottles are left upright, the cork will eventually shrink, allowing air to enter and quite quickly spoiling the wine. One of your first purchases should be a simple rack that will let you store your bottles on their sides. Despite the inhospitable environment outlined above, it is possible to find a place with adequate (if not ideal) conditions in a modern home, if a few simple points can be observed: Constant temperature is far more important than absolute coolness. Ideally, a cupboard where the temperature will be consistent. If you can keep the temperature down below around 17° Celsius (most living rooms are around 21° - 23°), so much the better. Garages and sheds are not a good idea, as these are affected with too much temperature fluctuation. Dark conditions will avoid the wine’s fine colour being spoiled, so again an under-stairs cupboard might be a possible choice, but in any event try to ensure the wine is not in direct sunlight. Freedom from vibration is important. Constant agitation doesn’t give the wine time to ‘rest’ and mature slowly. Don’t site your wine rack next to the washing machine or spin-dryer! A humidity level of around 80% is ideal for wine, but feels positively damp for humans. If your wine is kept for a long time in too dry a place the cork can dry out, which might prematurely age the wine. Strong smells can taint the wine over long periods of storage - another reason why the kitchen, garage or food store might not be the ideal space for very fine wines. Another aspect that you should learn more about if you plan to build up your own cellar is the effect that vintage conditions play on the suitability of wines for laying down. Many wine books publish vintage charts that show the quality and the ‘age-ability’ of each vintage for each of the important wine regions. For example, 1990 was a superb vintage in Bordeaux and many of the wines will last for 20 years or more. On the other hand, 1991 was a wash-out: many of the wines from the same producers are best drunk in the first half dozen years of their lives. If you can pick a space bearing most of these points in mind then buy a few suitable bottles, you have a cellar! Serving wine: There can be a lot of pretension surrounding the ‘correct’ serving of wine. Some people make too big a show of having wine at exactly the correct temperature, served in exactly the right glass. On the other hand, there is no doubt that there are certain sensible guidelines for serving wine that should ensure your enjoyment of every bottle is enhanced. Serving temperature Most authorities agree that there is an optimum temperature for the enjoyment of various styles of wine. Red wines can seem very ‘flat’ and lacking in taste and scent if served too warm. That is one of the problems with the commonly quoted ‘Room temperature’ rule: unfortunately, the meaning of room temperature was very different when this rule was established - before the days of insulated walls, fitted carpets, double glazing and central heating. The living rooms of modern houses areoften maintained at around 23°C. In wine terms, ‘room temperature’ is actually several degrees lower than this. The best and easiest advice is probably not to worry too much for your everyday wines. If serving a special red wine, leave it in a hallway or cool cupboard for a few hours before serving, rather than the heat of your kitchen. If serving an expensive white, put it in the fridge for just an hour or two rather than leaving it overnight to chill too much. With white wines, the reverse is true. White wines should be served cool rather than freezing cold. Certainly, the temperature of a domestic refrigerator is too cold for many wines at around 5°C. At this temperature even great wines can taste dull and insipid.
Decanting wine: Red wines are sometimes decanted before serving. Not all reds need decanting; only those that have thrown sediment in the bottle, or need to be exposed to air in order to ‘open them up’. Some wines (most of the finest red wines and vintage Ports, for example) are bottled without filtration. This means that small particles remain in the wine. These particles - tannins, yeast cells, microscopic pieces of organic matter - are entirely harmless, but are unpleasant if poured into your glass. For such wines decanting into a clean vessel prior to serving is the best solution. To decant a wine, the bottle should be stood upright for a day before opening to allow the sediment to settle in the bottom. Then, use a steady, gentle motion to pour the wine into a clean vessel, leaving the last centimetre or so of wine in the bottle, along with all the sediment. If you can pour the wine with a light source behind the neck of the bottle even better: then you can easily see as sediment starts to flow towards the neck. The idea of ‘letting the wine breathe’ by decanting it and leaving it for a few hours before serving is to expose the wine to air, which will soften it and mellow any harsh tannins. This is an inexact science, and only needs to be done if you are sure the wine is too young and would benefit from the procedure. Glassware: Serving wine in suitable glassware can make a huge difference. If you have ever tried drinking wine out of a thick rimmed pottery mug you will know what I mean! Once again, a sensible approach is needed here: some people insist that there is a specific glass for every type of wine, so chardonnay should be served in a chardonnayglass, Riesling in a Riesling glass, Rioja in a Rioja glass, and so on. There are specialist companies such as Riedel of Austria who manufacture an enormous range of expensive and beautiful glasses for this purpose. The basic requirements though, are actually a lot simpler:
1. The glass should taper towards the top, so that the aromas are trapped in the glass
2. The bowl should be large enough to allow you to swirl the contents
3. The glass must have a stem so the heat of your hand does not transfer to the wine
4. The glass should be plain and clear so you can see the colour of the wine.
As long as your glassware follows these basic rules, it should be ideal for enjoying your wine. Be careful to rinse your glasses carefully after washing, as traces of detergent can taint a wine quickly. Preserving left over wine The two great enemies to wine are oxygen and heat. If a half finished bottle is left uncorked in a warm room overnight, it will almost certainly have lost its freshness and flavour by the morning. The wine has reacted to the air and heat and has started to oxidise, taking on a stale, flat character. There are various opinions on how best to preserve open bottles for short periods, and various products on the market that claim to do so. One useful system involves a canister containing an inert gas. The gas is squirted into the bottle, forming a protective barrier from the air, then the bottle is stoppered. These systems are quite effective and claim to do no damage to even the finest, most delicate wines. An inexpensive option is a device called the Vacu-vin. This is a small pump and a collection of rubber stoppers. A stopper is placed in the half empty bottle, the pump is placed over it, and the air is drawn from the bottle until the stopper seals. In theory you have removed the air, causing a vacuum, which should help preserve the wine. I find that this method has mixed results - some wines stand up to overnight storage better than others - but is an inexpensive option that has some effect. A simple solution is to keep a couple of empty half bottles clean and ready to be used. By pouring the remains of a half finished full bottle into a half bottle, you automatically exclude oxygen. A simple cork should keep the wine fresh for a short period. Some people swear by freezing half finished bottles. They claim that months later, if allowed to slowly and naturally defrost, the wine tastes as fresh as the moment it was frozen.
BANGKOK BUZZ
RINGS FROM OUTER SPACE
Fancy wearing a ring on your finger that originates from outer space? Our health and fitness expert Ray Roseman always has a good nose for a business opportunity. Through contacts, he found out that a meteorite which had hit an area north of Bangkok in1983 might just be worth inspecting. So with some friends he drove up from his apartment in the Chitlom area to the crash site recently and collected some samples of the ‘stone’ from outer space.
“I am told that this material, which is very hard like carbon, can be made into rings”, says Ray; “and the rings could sell for quite a lot of money. Currently I have an expert in this field turning some of the material into rings for me. But don’t place your orders just yet – I have to get the ‘stones’ evaluated first.” Maybe diamonds just don’t cut it anymore. Perhaps we should get ready for a new ditty – ‘Meteorites are a Girls’ Best Friend? RB: RadioBangkok
Radio has come a long way since a young 22-year-old named Guglielmo Marconi made the first transmission across the English Channel in 1898 when radio communication was first established between England and France. But the birth of Radio was actually in 1896 when the very first experimental transmissions were made. Radio is, almost unbelievably 110 years old. Some would even argue that it has its roots even earlier. Originally ‘radio’ was a general prefix meaning ‘radiant’ or ‘radiation - hence the term ‘radio-activity’, in its early days it was, of course, known as the ‘wireless’. More than a century on, Radio is not only popular but thriving, going from strength to strength. Why is this? It is similar to the way books and newspapers work. They are a friend, and, in the main, listening is a solitary occupation and leaves the power of the imagination to unleash it to its full creativity. But radio has even more powers to entice you in. It can use the power of music to enhance and nurture our senses, for excitement, passion, love, energy. Today technology has opened the boundaries for Radio to exceed all expectations. Radio has one major advantage over all other media in that it allows us to ‘multi-task’. You can listen to the radio while doing other things: driving, cooking, working, bathing, walking the dog, etc. You have company, and you are never alone. television, otherwise known as radio with pictures, and there are constant demands on you to go and look at what is being talked about. You are taken to the TV and it interrupts what you are doing. The television is not so much a solitary occupation but often a group activity where the family will sit down together and watch their favourite soap opera or film.
The radio is always there for you; talking to you. You can find your favourite genre of music; keep informed on world and local events, reminders of time and perhaps items of special interest to you. Radio today is going places; there are so many stations but because of the limitations of Marconi’s original system, transmission has been difficult and expensive over great distances. America (the USA) is now running two satellite systems, Sirius and Xm, but these are still expensive and need a mass audience and still have geographic limitations, although much larger than previous conventional radio broadcasting. And then along came the Internet, for many years a solution with all the answers but no one knew what questions to ask. Rapidly now coming of age, ‘the net’ can bring worldwide radio to Internet users. 
When I was young, growing up in the UK, it was exciting to listen in to Radio Luxembourg or even Radio Moscow. This was not only programming and content that we generally had no access to but it was ‘foreign’. The quality was terrible but it didn’t matter, sometimes you would lose the signal altogether or interference would drown it out, but still we listened. And we would tell our friends all about it the next day at school. The Internet has broken down so many barriers. Research from March 2006 shows that in the UK more people now surf thenet longer than watch television. What can you do while surfing the net? Doing your e-mail, your homework, research, that latest recipe, online shopping – you can listen to the radio and WOW what a choice! It is true that you can also watch video or even TV in many other countries on the Internet but still TV wants to dominate – it has that ‘you must watch me and do nothing else’ attitude and the speed of connection (or bandwidth as its called) is often not good enough to ensure a good reliable viewing experience at a reasonable size. Not like the good old days of Radio Luxembourg when a little interference was acceptable, we now expect our TV reception to be excellent. So now you have tens of thousands of Internet radio stations to choose from and are not only limited to listening on your home PC. New technology now sends the radio station to your mobile phone, to your wireless Blackberry device or Windows Media Pocket PC device; the boundaries of telephones and radios is rapidly shrinking, almost disappearing. With Singapore based Sydus Mobile RadioBangkok.net can be listened to on 55 million handsets, on 191 models and across the globe in 91 countries – and those numbers are growing rapidly. While listening at home you now don’t even need a PC; you can plug an Internet receiver into the phone socket and immediately tune in to your favourite station anywhere in the world, but especially here in Bangkok. www.RadioBangkok.NET We run RadioBangkok.net, established a little over two years ago. It is now the largest English Language Internet radio station in Asia, broadcasting 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We offer local news, international news, time checks, 60,s 70’s and 80’s music, local topics and all with a Thai or Asian flavour. Many expats and visitors to Thailand tune in from all around the world. We retain that wonderful link to the Land of Smiles: over a quarter of a million people listen in to hear snippets from Thailand.
Listen to us on high quality streams in Windows, Itunes, Real Audio, Winamp, Music Match or any other system you care to choose. Not only listen to us throughout the day but if there is something you missed then download it to your Apple I-pod, mp3 player or listen to our Audio on Demand streams anytime you please. Do you want to be a Radio Star? Contact us with your demo; we can put you in front of hundreds of thousands of listeners. www.RadioBangkok.net (We capitalise the R & the B - always use the full name with the extension .net as part of the station name) Featuring & to come: International News - Thailand News - European Top 10 with DJ Roro Legal Eagle with Sunbelts Greg Lang Siam Jazz with Jaz Jackson Clubbers Guide with DJ Florian Stickman- Mehkong Kurt
Bangkok Lights Out with Tom Parker Asian Gold with Ricky Vaughan Bangkok Business Connections Sam Worthington Restaurant Reviews Flirt Dating with Karin Frick
The Travel Bishop Vic Plessner Special Reports Global Issues- Bangkok City Chefs
American Express Top Restaurants Broadcasting in Thailand has a long history. The original Radio Bangkok was Thailand’s very first radio station. An old palace standing on Ratchawithi Road near the Victory Monument in the heart of Bangkok was once used for the first radio broadcasting experiment in Thailand. Now the location is Phra Mongkutklao Hospital, originally constructed in 1909 as a royal residence and later used as a hotel. In 1927, King Prajadhipok allowed the Prince of Kamphaeng Phet to set up the first experimental radio station. The station, called ‘Radio Bangkok at Phayathai’, made the first public broadcast in Thailand on 25 February 1930, the anniversary of the King’s Coronation Day. The King inaugurated the broadcast with a royal address delivered from the Amarin Winitchai Throne Hall within the Grand Palace. Graphics and banners available at www.radiobangkok.net/press www.radiobangkok.net/press/banners
WATCH OUT FOR KevinWood Kevin Wood has lived and worked in Bangkok since 1992 and has published 3 books; ‘Onist’, ‘Opium Sparrows’ and ‘Hairy Plodder (The Magic Plaster)’ and a contemporary music album (‘The Patpong Opera’) with 17 of his original songs, based on his ‘Observations of Bangkok’. He has been the manager/singer/MC of a famous live music bar in Patpong since 1997 and formally worked as a live radio DJ on 105FM, 107 FM, and 95.5 FM. Over the next few months Kevin will be observing some of the ex-pats who have made successful lives for themselves here in Thailand with insights on how they achieved these successes; both professionally and personally.
BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL RUGBY SEVENS 31st Oct. – 2nd Nov., Police Stadium
This is early warning of the upcoming International Rugby Sevens Tournament incorporating an anticipated top-level list of Men’s and Women’s teams that, in combination with Thai Rugby Union rugby elite, will bring to Bangkok a fast & furious, action-packed competition that is not to be missed. Information Summary: 1. Teams enquiries/entries are still being received – the latest from Mel’s Exiles, Wales/UK; Top Gun Sevens, Houston, Texas; “Tom Carling Sevens”, London, Raging Bull Beer Rats, London – looks like this year’s Sevens will be the strongest yet. 2. The IRB Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) will apply at this year’s Sevens. Thai Referees will be able to update themselves via a 2-3 day, Refresher Course to be conducted prior to the Sevens by Referee Coaches John Hill (Perth) and Bruce Birchall (London). 3. The associated Boys U15s, ‘Rugby Challenge’ 15-a-side tournament (16 schools) will now be played on 25/26 October at Bangkok Patana School. Additionally it is anticipated a Youth Coaching Clinic will be conducted in Bangkok on 31st October – a number of Sevens teams have volunteered their services. 4. In order to assist in the development of rugby in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam particularly in up-country districts and for newly established clubs, an appeal for old but serviceable boots in the small to medium size range is being made. If participating clubs have an opportunity to assist in this respect by perhaps first collecting such and then sharing baggage on the flight out, your assistance will be hugely appreciated. 5. The Team Manual which you can download from the web site is constantly being up-dated – the Rules & Laws section is yet to be ratified and should be considered as a guide at this stage. 6. Subject to their availability, the Organisers have been advised a number of Australian, England and Scottish players are being targeted to appear in Bangkok. 7. Tournament Social activities will include a “Welcome Party” at The Londoner Pub on Friday evening, after the tournament the Awards Dinner at the Tournament hotel, the Royal Benja Hotel plus team-organised ‘bonding’ sessions. 8. An international and Thai panel of Referees will adjudicate at the tournament.
BANGKOK SEVENS, TEAMS UPDATE Teams confirmed or with registered interest include: Men’s Division Australia: Darwin Dingos (cfm); Lloyd McDermott, NSW (cfm); Country King Browns, Qld/NSW (cfm); Darwin Taipans (cfm) Lindfield Barbarians, Sydney
Ireland: Reliant Rooneys, Dublin Malaysia: NS Wanderers (cfm) New Zealand: Linton Army(cfm); Grammar-Carlton (cfm); NZ Legends Niue: Niue Barbarians Scotland: Rugby Ecosse (cfm) Thailand: Southerners (cfm); British Club(cfm); Mahasarakham Uni (cfm); Royal Bangkok Sports Club (cfm) Old Bangkok Bangers (cfm); Chiang Mai Suas (cfm); Royal Thai Police (cfm); Thai Barbarians (cfm) England & Wales: Mel’s Exiles (cfm); Tom Carling Sevens; Reading RFC; Raging Bull Beer Rats USA: Top Gun, Houston Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan National Development side Women’s Division Australia: Lloyd McDermott (cfm) Hong Kong: RFU Women’s U20 New Zealand: Arongatahi Singapore: Singapore Bucks (cfm) Thailand: Thai Air Force (cfm); Bangkok IPE (cfm); Yala Army (cfm); Mahasarakham (cfm); Korat Veterans Division Australia: Stray Cats, Darwin
Russia: Moscow Lads (cfm) Thailand: Old Bangkok Bangers (cfm); Phuket Viagrabonds (cfm) David Dufall, Managing Director Brunsworth Ltd. & Chairman Bangkok Sevens: Tel/Fax: 66-2-249 1834 Mob: 66-8-1822 5932 Web: www.bangkoksevens.com
Eckie
Another great day of fun was had at the Rainbow Rehabilitation Centre in the Pakkred area of Bangkok when Clown Eckie recently spent a few hours clowning around for the children at the centre. Here’s one little girl who won’t forget the Clown! RAINBOW HOUSE RESIDENCE This residential centre provides care and support to abandoned children and young adults in a professional learning and developmental environment. The children com
are stimulated mentally and physically while teachers help them to count, read, colour, etc., and physical therapists work with those children who do not have complete control over their bodies. LEARNING CAN BE FUN! With Clown Eckie’s ‘Interactive Buffoonery Show’ added to the schedule, the children also discover that having such fun is another great way to help them develop self-confidence. This is all done with the hope that the children will one day be able to live independently. Character building - ballooning around Rainbow Rehabilitation Day-Care Centre Disabled children in Thailand are abandoned for various reasons. Some parents are teenagers who cannot meet the responsibilities of caring for disabled children. Other parents are simply unable to afford to stay at home to look after a severely disabled child. Children in the day-care programme attend five days a week. They range from a few months to about seven years in age. Orphans are selected on the basis of having good potential to be either reunited with their birth families, adopted, or placed in a foster home. All of the children at the day care centre were delighted to see Clown Eckie’s silliness when this big fat foreigner came along to make a complete fool of himself. This show was sponsored by Sutlet Group Bangkok Meanwhile, back at the Eckie charity collection depot in Klong Toey, Bangkok, there have been many kind donations of old computers, toys, clothing, and school equipment. Eckie regularly takes all these goods to places where there is great need of them. Goods have gone to Burmese refugee camps around the Mae Sot region of Northern Thailand, where Eckie has made a number of trips. He has entertained both the camp residents and the children of migrant worker families living in the same area. More recently, goods have been distributed around Mae Hong Son.
Clown Eckie’s next article will feature an orphanage visited during his tour of the far Northern mountain region of Mae Hong Son. ‘Clown Eckie Charity Shows Project’ Here are a few things you can do to help: •Make donations of toys, toiletries, books, clothes or other useful goods and send to: Clown Eckie. 148/24 Sukhumvit Soi 22, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110.Thailand. •Tell Eckie about worthy groups or organizations that you think he could consider offering a free performance. •Sponsor a performance. This means that Eckie can make a firm commitment to your chosen show and will not accept any other bookings for that period. Sponsors often share the costs with a group of friends or work colleagues.
Hotel News
MARRIOTT RUBBISH FREE DAY
On August 8, 2008, Pol. Maj. Jaturapat Bhiromkaew. Ph.D., Inspector, Hua Hin Tourist Police and his party led the ‘Hua Hin – Rubbish Free’ day on Phetkasem Road when 100 volunteers from Marriott Resort and Spa, students and faculties from Baan Nong Hieng School and Somthawin International School actively helped clean the street. This social - oriented event was sponsored by Ford JorCharoen Prachuabkhirikhan, Meguiar’s Hua Hin by diisplay, Hua Hin Surf FM. 102.5 and Starbucks Coffee.
MANOR PARK ON THE STARTING BLOCKS
The Manor Park Resort project on 102 Petchkasem Road has now passed its’ mandatory Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and is ready to commence building. A large club house is planned, along with tennis and squash courts, pool tables, sports lounge,
a children’s day care centre and three restaurants plus a bar-b-cue area for families.
Phase one of the project will commence with 112 apartments to be finished by August 2010 with four large swimming pools on 7 Rai (11,200 sq. metres) of land. Phase two involves building another 500 apartments plus a Conference Centre capable of housing up to 2,000 people. The total area for this should be approximately 58 Rai. Manor Park also offers a 7 per cent investment programme. Further details from Sales Manager Jimmy Jones, Life Style Resort Condominiums; 102 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan 77110. Telephone: (032) 531525/5311252 or 08 71098275. Fax: (032) 531535.
E-mail: jimmy@manorparkhuahin.com. The company’s website is at www.manorparkhuahin.com
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