Family Money: Trusting Yourself

By Leslie Wright

Trusts arose in the Middle Ages when knights going off to the Crusades, unsure when or if they would ever return, charged someone they trusted to look after their landholdings and take care of their families’ interests during their absence.

The basic concept hasn’t changed much down the centuries.

Trusts vary from one regime to another, but what most people think of as a Trust - a totally discreet way of holding their assets which others cannot get their hands on - is generally called a Discretionary Trust.

How Trusts Work

The basic legal premise of a Trust works on the principle of not having direct ownership or control of the assets in question.

Thus, when you set up a Trust, you are effectively giving away your ownership and control of those assets to the Trust. (In trust parlance, by the way, you are called the Settlor.)

At the same time, you will have given the Trustees - the people that now own and control those assets - a set of instructions on what to do with them given certain circumstances. These instructions are set out in a document called a Letter of Wishes.

This Letter of Wishes can be amended at any time during your lifetime, so you can change your mind from time to time as circumstances dictate.

While the Trustees are under no obligation to act upon these instructions, in practice they will always do so provided it would be neither illegal nor be to the detriment of the beneficiaries of the Trust to do so.

The beneficiaries are the people who will benefit from the Trust - either the people whom you wish to inherit your estate upon your death, or your spouse, children and even yourself during your lifetimes.

For example, you may put all your income-producing investments into a Trust, and request (which effectively means instruct) the Trustees to pay you an income from them for the rest of your life, and for the rest of your spouse’s lifetime.

As an example of how a Trust can protect your family’s interests after your death, you can request the Trustees to ensure that upon your demise, your children are to continue their education in an international-standard school and/or university, and to receive a specified index-linked allowance until their 25th birthday, when they are to receive control of 25% of their inheritance, and another 50% if & when they each get married.

The Trustees would arrange to pay the school & university fees, and charge your Trust a reasonable but modest fee for so doing, as well as for following your other instructions.

Similarly, to protect your local spouse (or life-partner) against potentially-greedy relatives, or prevent misuse of your capital, you can include a stipulation in your Letter of Wishes that she (or he) is to have an income - a specified monthly allowance if you wish - from the assets throughout her/his lifetime, but not access to the capital, the remainder of which passes to your children - including or excluding those from a former marriage, if you so wish.

These examples demonstrate that you are able, through your Letter of Wishes, to retain a high degree of control of your assets (and indeed your family’s use of them), even though you have legally relinquished ownership of those assets and have no direct access to any of them.

Avoiding problems

Establishing a trust gets around the potential problem in some regimes of forced heirship (discussed last week); forced repatriation of assets to your home country; or disinherited relatives or their disapproved-of spouses - or disgruntled ex-wives - creating problems in the courts and tying up your estate for years in expensive litigation.

A Discretionary Trust eliminates these potential problems.

Effectively, the Trust couldn’t be successfully sued provided it was properly set up in the first place, and in a regime (such as Guernsey or the Isle of Man) where the laws protect both the total confidentiality of the Trust itself and are resistant to enquiry from third parties (such as the tax man), or litigation from disgruntled people such as creditors who are trying to attach your assets (which they can’t because you don’t own them any more - the Trust does).

Similarly, if a Trust had been established well in advance of a marriage failing, your spouse could not attach your Trust’s assets in divorce proceedings. (I wish I’d known that 23 years ago when it happened to me!)

Not only for the super-rich

Trusts of course cost money to set up and administer. The charges will depend on the complexity and variety of the assets being placed into the Trust.

For a simple set of assets (a portfolio of offshore investments, for example), the costs can be surprisingly modest.

In any event, the charges involved are usually considerably less than the potential cost to your heirs of the inheritance tax to which your estate might otherwise have been subject, plus the legal fees and other costs of winding up that estate.

Whom to trust?

While a Trustee can be a person (your brother-in-law or closest friend, for instance), in most cases it is better to establish the Trust with a well-established company which specialises in providing this service.

The reason for this is that a company doesn’t die like a person does: it can continue to administer your Trust down through generations to come, if that were your wish.

As the Trust continues regardless of your continued existence or departure from this life, your estate (that is, the assets now held in Trust) will not need to go through probate upon your death, and will be distributed exactly according to your specified wishes in the form of gifts from the Trust.

(However, in the case of UK-resident heirs & beneficiaries, a somewhat different form of trust should be used, to comply with recent changes in UK legislation regarding gifts from offshore trusts, and the tax that would be applied to same.)

Some people worry that relinquishing ownership or control of their assets to some third party may leave them or their heirs exposed to fraud or malfeasance, and perhaps lose everything.

Certainly that is a very legitimate concern if you were trusting an individual with your assets, no matter how close a friend or relative he might be. (And what happens to your assets when he dies?)

On the other hand, while a corporate trustee (a company which specialises in trusts) effectively owns and controls the assets held in trust by them, a legitimate and well-established firm in a regime where strict regulations prevail to govern the financial services industry (such as the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, for instance) are not able to make a profit for themselves out of the assets, nor are those assets available to their own creditors.

They must use the assets only for the benefit of the beneficiaries as set out in the trust deed and the Settlor’s Letter of Wishes, and must keep the identity of the Settlor, his beneficiaries, and his assets totally confidential at all times.

Such firms’ business, growth, reputation and continued existence are entirely based on - you guessed it - trust.

Leslie Wright is Managing Director of Westminster Portfolio Services (Thailand) Ltd., a firm of independent financial advisors providing advice to expatriate residents of the Eastern Seaboard on personal financial planning and international investments. If you have any comments or queries on this article, or about other topics concerning investment matters, contact Leslie directly by fax on (038) 232522 or e-mail [email protected] Further details and back articles can be accessed on his firm’s website on www.westminsterthailand.com

Editor’s note: Leslie sometimes receives e-mails to which he is unable to respond due to the sender’s automatic return address being incorrect. If you have sent him an e-mail to which you have not received a reply, this may be why. To ensure his prompt response to your enquiry, please include your complete return e-mail address, or a contact phone/fax number.

By Mirin MacCarthy

Poramase Ngampiches is a handsome young Thai man following in his father’s footsteps. Hard working vice president of the Grand Sole Hotel and member of the Chonburi Council (Provincial Administration Organization), Poramase is intelligent, happy, friendly, caring and generous. Thailand’s future rests with such dedicated young people. Poramase’s two younger brothers are still in America studying. Even at his earlier schooling at Assumption boarding college here, Poramase was all work and little play, excelling in maths, sport and making friends. “I had little time for sanuk,” he said and smiled ruefully.

On graduation he spent six years studying at the California State University, U.S.A. studying finance, graduating Beta Gamma Sigma, an award for high scholastic achievement, with a Masters in Business Administration, Finance Major and a Bachelor of Arts in Finance. A popular student, it is no surprise he was elected president of the Thai Students Association in 1993.

Poramase was happy to return home to Thailand, the country he considers the best. “America is a great place to study, as I knew it was only for six years. I would not consider living there, though. I was a minority and Thai nationals naturally cannot pursue a career in American politics,” he said with a laugh, indicating a well-mapped future. On his return to Bangkok in ’96 Poramase was credit officer of the Siam Commercial Bank for two years.

Elected as secretary to the standing committee of Tourism in ’97 and academic to the committee in ’98, Poramase returned with his financial expertise to Pattaya, Grand Sole Hotel in 1999. He swims every morning to keep fit, has an active social life as a member of the Chonburi City Council, also as a member of the Thai Hotels Association. In his rare spare time he enjoys listening to slow music.

Poramase regrets only that his lifestyle does not leave him much time to share with his friends. His philosophy in life is to keep happy, to do good, be honest with everyone and to share with those less fortunate. “This is what I learned from my parents, it is what my family does.” What values would he teach a son? “I am single and raising children in this society now is a complicated issue. Because of the economy there is much pressure for parents to spend time away from their families. The children often grow up directionless because of this or drift into drugs or crime. It is not an ideal time to raise a family.”

“Success to me means being personally happy, having a happy family and being able to work for the good of the entire society. Success is not a position, I would not say I have achieved success yet, there is so much to do.” Poramase’s plans for the future are to continue with hotel management and hopefully running as a Member of Parliament in four years time at the next election. When asked what influence Buddhism has in his life his answer was, “I am not the type of person to go to the Wat every week. I believe, rather, Buddhism is in your heart when you live a good life.” Then he touchingly presented me with a Buddhist amulet of Luang Por Sothorn from Chanchangsao Province, saying simply, “That will bring you protection if you live a good life.”

His advice to other Thai school leavers is to do exactly what he has done, “Find out what work suits them best. I think some young people today don’t know what they want to be. Take an honest job, study hard, work hard and go for it.”

If he was in the position of never having to work, “I would share time talking with my good friends I made in school. The necessary socializing I do in my career leaves me with very little time for my friends unfortunately.” Poramase Ngampiches is the man to watch, the man of the future, a bright star on his way up. He is, additionally, single, handsome, personable and eligible, ladies take note.

by Mirin MacCarthy

by John D. Blyth 

When I wrote about this serious railway accident in Pattaya Mail, issues of 2nd and 9th February, I had little doubt that I would have to return to the subject.

A British friend has sent me a cutting from the ‘Daily Telegraph’, one of Britain’s more reputable papers. An article by their Transport Correspondent carries the banner headline ‘Hatfield crash track broke into 300 pieces’; under this is a remarkable photograph of the rail, all possible pieces of which appear to have been gathered up by the Health & Safety representatives (no doubt causing the much-criticized delay in picking up the wrecked coaches and re-laying the line). It is too big to reproduce in full, but I will offer the Mail a part of it, and I hope this will give readers an insight as to the astonishing way the whole rail disintegrated as the train passed over it at 115 mph.

Railtrack, the organisation ultimately responsible for track maintenance, has taken the course of sub-contracting virtually all track maintenance to civil engineering contractors, whose staff do the actual work on the track; before, all was done by railway staff, many of whom had a lifetime’s experience of the work, which might well be new and strange to men working for a contractor. One wonders just how much real knowledge such men might have. As for inspections, these are carried out by Railtrack, who have two main methods — visual examination of the line, and electronic inspections from apparatus carried on a moving train. Of these, the former is the more thorough, but is far slower. However, it has been admitted that the electronic method does not identify all types of fault, and the ‘Gauge corner cracking’ seems to be one of these, due to the angle in which the cracks form.

The article quotes comments from a whole army of qualified men as to the condition of this rail, terms such as ‘very poor’, ‘far below normal standards’, ‘large numbers of surface cracks’, and ‘extensive flaking’. A replacement rail had been supplied to the site and had lain alongside the line for several months; it remains to be explained why this had not been put into place, or a speed restriction imposed at a point where a faulty rail was known to be present. It is suggested that an electronic test had been carried out on a length of rail known to be faulty less than three months before the accident, and still no action was taken to replace the rail or impose a speed restriction.

Chief Railway Inspector Vic Coleman has expressed concern that inspections had failed to detect rails on the point of breaking, both at Hatfield, and at Mossend, Glasgow, a month later; this train was also derailed but there were no deaths. The Inspector has recommended that Railtrack intensify and overhaul its methods of track inspection and repair.

Further investigation is to take place on the Buffet Car, which turned over, and in which the four fatalities occurred. It appears that this vehicle became uncoupled from the one behind it, the type of coupling used, the ‘Janney’ or MCB type, of American origin, being especially noted for its ability to remain coupled in such conditions, an important factor in avoiding ‘telescoping’ of the coach bodies, an important feature in lessening the damage done in a smash. The Buffet Car turned on its side and struck a trackside mast, possibly two.

I have previously mentioned that, as railways worldwide ‘talk to one another’ it is known that the problem of ‘gauge corner cracking’ is not limited to one country, or to one type of steel, type of railway, or nature of traffic, or is any reliable remedy known. Moreover it seems that it is on the increase, and that isolated rails will begin to fail at an age far below that which should be expected. There is, then, a real problem.

Charges of ‘corporate responsibility’ are not acceptable in British law, although there is some pressure to amend this limitation; thus there can be no question of Railtrack as a body being the subject of charges of manslaughter; if any charges are brought, it will be by the Crown Prosecution Service following a separate police investigation; the Health & Safety at Work Act may be invoked should the CPS decide not to start proceedings.

Railtrack, accepting that the condition of the rail at Hatfield was ‘wholly unsatisfactory’, believes that the emergency re-railing programme (which has caused such chaos nationwide to train services) and its alterations in maintenance procedures will ensure that there is no recurrence. No comment has been made about the competence of contractors’ employees and supervisors to get work on schedule carried out before real trouble is imminent.

If experience with the new era of rail accidents, in which the legal profession quickly get involved, is followed in this case, it will run and run. I do not want to follow it too fully in this modest column, but if and when anything of real importance crops up I will let readers know.

The Mia Noi Blues

A few years ago I attended a discussion at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club in Bangkok which centred around ‘women’s issues’ in Thailand. The guest panel for that evening was made up of well known women in Bangkok’s community, including professionals and the social elite. As the discussion came to a close, the ladies were kind enough invite questions from the audience, which naturally included many members of the press.

One young female reporter for a Western publication finally put forth the question we were all dying to ask, but none but she had summoned the courage to step up to the microphone and drop the brick. “How do Thai women deal with their husband’s ‘mia nois” (mistresses)”? Suddenly, I knew the evening was not coming to a close; it was just beginning. The guest speakers that evening all had a sense of humour and were generous with their answers and explanations. Apparently this was a subject close to their hearts. Each one had a different take on the subject, and each had an individual view of this cultural tick which is so prevalent in Thailand.

Some of the older women were philosophical. They had weathered many storms and seemed to accept this situation in the same manner they coped with children’s measles and chicken pox. None whom I spoke with were bitter or complaining. All of them freely admitted that in their world, this was a common situation, and most of them had confronted it at one time or another.

Of course these were extraordinary people; accomplished, well travelled, educated, and intelligent. One would expect that they would handle themselves well in any situation. Why would straying husbands be an exception? For the most part, they weren’t.

I found it interesting that in Thailand, most of the wives at this level of income and social standing work outside the home in a profession or run a business, perhaps several. She raises the children and has a lot of clout in the decision-making area in all aspects of the family’s life. In fact, she pretty much works like a dog and carries a lot of heavy responsibility. She is saddled with the creaking family home, probably located in a family compound. If she’s lucky, her in-laws live far enough away that gridlock traffic prevents visits them from dropping in too often. Her ageing Honda is nothing to look at, but it will have to do. Her husband is most likely a pretty good man in most areas, successful, a member of good standing in the community and a good father. The mia noi is simply a dalliance. She provides a distraction which the wife no longer has time for. As one lady put it, some men stay little boys forever, not all, but many.

The mia noi, however, gets the penthouse and the new Mercedes, and perhaps is set up in a little business some place off the beaten track. She is usually a pretty, young filly with long legs and short skirts, many years her paramour’s junior, but of course, that is exactly the role she assumes. She is there to entertain, and is pretty much a status symbol for those Big Boys who can afford what the wives refer to as ‘toys’. The mistress gets the trips to Europe and the Gold Visa card and the designer clothes. But the mia noi still usually ends up on the fuzzy end of the lollipop. The wife may have lost a little face, maybe even her figure and looks. But two useful weapons, RESPECT and POWER are things she rarely relinquishes.

Naturally she has respect, if she has been a good wife and mother. How brutally she uses the power depends on how obnoxious the mia noi becomes. Some wives occasionally cancel the credit cards. Mortgage payments on the sports car and apartment often go astray as well. Since most of these men are not sneaky about their little side dishes, the bills may often come to the house, since the secretaries at the office are gossips. Sundays and special holidays are considered family time in Thailand, so the mia noi must find something else to do on these occasions. Since these ladies are on call and expected to show some gratitude, they spend a lot of time waiting for their lovers to show up. Wives can be forgiven if they hatch a few plots to keep Daddy home, or at least very busy. All that waiting needs patience. Some young girls just don’t have much.

These wives rarely make much of a fuss about the affairs. Husbands who are inclined toward this sort of thing change their girlfriends out on a regular basis. In other words, they come and go (no pun intended). But the wife stays on. Occasionally a little Sweetie will succumb to illusions of grandure and figure she will eventually replace the wife and get it all. That’s when the family shifts into high gear and normally puts the squeeze on the young lovely. Almost never do they go for the jugular of the wandering husband. For he is a permanent fixture, the breadwinner, the children’s father, and he will retain their loyalty. The mia noi usually runs for the hills.

The younger ladies on the panel were not quite as long suffering as their elders and seemed to think that this particular characteristic of connubial bliss, Thai style, would die a natural death amongst the more progressive and educated couples of the newer generations. Ah, the optimism of youth.

by Richard Bunch

From Sandra Goodenough: As an avid reader of your column in both the newspaper and Internet, perhaps you can give me a bit of advice. My computer is getting on for 14 months old and until now it has been quite brisk in operation but lately it has become rather sluggish, taking anything up to 20 seconds to open a file or folder. For your information, my PC is a Pentium III 500Mhz, the hard disk is 10Gb and it has 64Mb of memory, the Operating System is Windows 98SE.

Computer Doctor replies: The first thing you should try is to defragment the hard disk; you can either use the standard Windows offering – Start>Programs>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter or a utility like Executive Software’s ‘Diskeeper’, the latter has several advanced features which allow the job to be scheduled depending on certain criteria. Whichever you choose, this task should be performed regularly. Files become fragmented with use and when you try to access them, it takes longer for the system to display them, as it has to be pieced together from several different areas on the hard disk. Defragmentation reassembles the files contiguously. You should also run Scandisk to check the hard disk for defects. Another possible cause is installation of software, as quite often these applications configure your system so that each time the PC starts, so too does the application, at least part of it, hogging resources unnecessarily. One program which you can use to determine and rectify this is Startup Cop which is a free utility available from http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,000YKL,.html A virus could also be the culprit, so make sure you have the latest engine and database for your Anti Virus Software and then run a complete scan. The last thing to check is that you haven’t got any real mode drivers loading, so right click the My Computer Icon, select Properties then Performance; you should see ‘Your system is configured for optimal performance’ if you don’t see this an explanation will be presented.

One final note, 64Mb of memory is a little on the low side and with memory now so cheap, it is well worth increasing this to at least 128Mb. Memory is one of the most cost effective upgrades you can make to improve the overall performance. When physical memory is short the system uses Virtual memory, which is a contiguous area of hard disk. This is, however, significantly slower than physical memory. A telltale sign of lack of memory is frequent disk activity when not expected.

by Apichart Panyadee

The coral reef

A coral reef is a paradox. It is an island of varied and vivid colour in the monotonous blue of the tropical waters. A rampart of intricate and infinitely various shapes, it gives form to the formless open sea. The tropical coral reef is the richest of marine systems amidst warm surface waters that are in fact, the poorest in nutrients of any environment on earth.

Purple anthias amid chalice coral

The coral reef has small beginnings. When the tiny, transparent coral larva settles out of the plankton, it attaches itself to a hard surface. It transforms itself to a polyp, which is basically a central mouth, with which it extracts calcium and carbonate ions from the sea. This eventually builds a skeleton around the polyp. Now it has become a fortified cup of coral limestone. Each species of reef building, or stony coral, constructs its fortress on a different blueprint. The skeletons take the shape of stars, asterisks, craters, pores; hundreds of configurations, and each one is distinctive.

The original settler divides itself asexually into 2 polyps, then into 4, then into 16, and eventually into 1,024, and so on and on it goes. It grows into a colony. This colony is a cluster of genetically individual polyps. At this level of organisation, each of the hundreds of species builds after its own genetic blueprint. The colony takes on a different configuration, and therefore a colony of coral may appear in hundreds of configurations such as button, bubble, staghorn, organ-pipe, and even brain shapes. Marine biologists usually study coral colonies en mass, rather than as individual polyps. Coral is classified and named by the shape of the colonies’ skeletons because the polyp itself is fragile and mortal. Therefore, it is the skeleton which remains to shape the colony.

Soft coral polyps

Under the right conditions - on shallow continental shelves in the tropics or sub-tropics, or on the shores of oceanic islands in the warm seas - the colonies collect into masses to form reefs. Naturally, the coral have help to build such marvels. The stony coral may be the building blocks of the reef; however, algae are the cement, and a myriad of small animals and plants that live and die on the coral reef, decompose and fill the cavities. Reefs are generally divided into three categories; the barrier reef, the atoll, and the fringing reef. Reefs are living organisms, super-organisms. The coral polyp is not much to look at in itself. It is basically a circle of translucent tentacles, and a mouth which also doubles as an anus. Yet this tiny organism is the greatest builder on earth.

The 1960’s a lumber company fought the state of California through the courts for years to clear cut in that state’s Redwood forests. The company cut down what was thought to be the oldest living thing on earth; one of two giant Redwood trees. A court injunction finally saved the other tree. The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is considered the largest living organism on our planet. A super-organism, indeed.

The classification of barrier reef is the most impressive of the three basic categories. It is a long, gargantuan being of limestone, chlorophyll, and stinging tentacles. The thousands of species of coral, alga, sponge, arthropod and fish which compose it all help to create a collective bio-engineering structure of immense complexity. The outer, seaward edge is constructed in what is called a spur-and groove edge. The reason for this particular choice of design is for the survival of the reef. The spurs point out to sea, toward the endless assault of incoming swells. By deflecting the incoming waves into the grooves, they force the sea to expend its energy against itself. In other words, the sea is forever trying to wash the reef away. But the reef outsmarts it.

by Lesley Warner 

In the Hot Spots: The Spicy Girls Too ogling den (Pattayaland Soi 1, a hefty knee-length boots’ throw up the road from the original Spicy Girls) has just had a facelift with the front of the playhouse now lit up like a floating restaurant.

The den has just added draught beer to its range of intoxicants, serving the amber liquid up at a cheap 45 baht in Happy Hour (from 7:30pm to 9:00pm) and 55 baht at other times.

There are also plans to turn it into an afternoon beer boozer, opening around 1:30pm and playing videos of popular British programs like ‘Only Fools And Horses’ and ‘Porridge’.

For the Hungry: If you want to find the best chicken and cashew nuts dish in Fun Town, then make your way down to Soi 6/1, that’s the one before Soi 6 (colloquially known as Soi Yodsak), and about 50 metres before Beach Road you will encounter Street Kitchen. The chicken is glazed rather than simply fried and, to my taste buds, is delicious and at 60 baht a serve is good value for money.

Is there a ‘Ginger’ in the house? Tonight (Friday, March 9) sees the opening of yet another ogling den, this one is called Gilligin’s Thailand and it’s located in Pattayaland Soi 1, along the same side of the street as the well-run Spicy Girls and Spicy Girls Too ogling spots.

Everything’s bigger in Texas, but these boys are from Arizona and they probably have the largest erection, sign that is, ever seen in Fun Town. In fact, if the damn thing ever comes crashing to earth it’ll probably register about seven on the Richter Scale.

For the opening party the first beer is free and from day one all spirits are double shots. I’m wondering if any of the serving wenches bears even the smallest resemblance to Ginger or Mary Anne (from the old Gilligan’s Island television series for those of you who might have grown up in a cultural wasteland)?

In the Hot Spots: The Dollhouse ogling den (Walking Street, underneath the Marine Disco) was a day late in opening but has since more than made up for it by offering 10 baht drinks between 7:30pm and 8:30pm. Imbibers can order whatever takes their fancy in that time and pay just 10 baht.

The new joint is well lit on the outside, which is half the battle to getting punters through the front door. The old axiom that ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’ is certainly true, for books, but when it comes to ogling dens, a front entrance that’s brighter than a Christmas tree should attract boozers like moths to a flame.

The layout of the den is exactly the same as its counterpart in Clinton Plaza in Bangkok, so for the weekend warriors down from the Big Chili it must feel like home.

For some of the hardened balloon chasers around town, it must be horrible having to make the decision to get inebriated before they go out and get the free nosh and specials on offer in places that are generally quite some distance from the Dollhouse. Still, we all know most balloon chasers have skins thicker than a rhinoceros with rigor mortis. Never mind, the ‘Crazy Hour’ 10 baht drinks prices will only continue for a few weeks more.

Look ma, no skis: For those of you who like water sports and want to get away from the usual jet skis and banana boats of Jomtien, I suggest you try the Lakeland Water Skiing Park, along Sukhumvit Highway. At 300 baht per person for two hours or 500 baht per person all day it represents terrific value for money and is great fun whether you are an experienced water skier or not.

I definitely belong in the latter category, Lakeland being my first experience in the water skiing caper. Considering I spent most of my time in the water, rather than on top of it, I still thoroughly enjoyed myself. A good place to go with a few friends, although I’m given to understand that it gets quite busy on the weekends.

Courtesy of the Bush Telegraph: Seems like the Ban Chang night scene might be starting to crank up a notch or two if this information I received from Peter, a reader from those parts, is anything to go by.

Peter writes that the Kiwi Bar (located behind the Suzuki Bike shop, off Sukhumvit Highway) is well known in the local area for its Bar-B-Ques, good cold bottled and draft beer and, according to him, lovely hostesses. For those who might indulge a little too heavily in the giggle sauce and don’t want to drive, there are some rooms available for an overnight stay.

My e-mail address is: [email protected]

by C. Schloemer

Good points: brave, loyal, ideal guard, extremely intelligent

Take heed: stands aloof from those outside the family circle, likely to win any battle, if kenneled outside in cold climate, needs heated, draft-proof kennels.

The Doberman is a strong, alert guard that will enjoy the comforts of its master’s home and protect him and his family with his life. It is unlikely, however, that he will have to actually give his life. The Doberman generally gets the better of any opponent and is one of the best guard dogs in the world. Because the Doberman is lean and his coat is short, this animal will not do well in frigid outdoor kennels.

Highly intelligent, this dog is a joy to train. It can be an aloof animal which takes its responsibilities seriously. It is skilled in tracking and makes a fine police dog. There is some difference of opinion on whether this dog makes a good family pet with children. There are owners who swear that their Dobermans are terrific with their kids and would not have another breed. Others are suspicious and feel the breed may be too fierce for a domestic situation. This is not an easy debate to finish. Breeding and temperament comes into play with this breed so choose your breeder wisely and let him help you choose from a family line which has proved gentle and affectionate. If a family pet is not what your are looking for, but a guard or working dog, this breed will not disappoint.

Size: Ideal height at the withers: dog 68.5 cm, bitch 65 cm. Considerable deviation from this ideal should be discouraged.

Grooming: The Doberman, with its short coat needs little grooming other than a daily rub-down with a Turkish towelling to remove loose hairs. He is sleek and shiny and good nutrition and exercise will keep him that way.

Origin and history: Louis Dobermann of Apolda, in Thuringia, Germany, was a tax collector during the 1880s. Having a penchant for fierce dogs, he decided to breed the ideal animal to accompany him on his rounds. (Nobody liked tax collectors, even in those days.) It was a relatively easy task for him since he was the keeper of the local dog pound as well and had accesses to a large number of strays. He had in mind a medium-to-large sized dog, which must be short-haired, thus easily maintained. The dog he had in mind needed stamina and intelligence. And he had to be loyal.

The existing German Pinscher was considered to be both agressive and alert. Therefore, it was around this breed that Mr. Dobermann founded his breeding stock. Then he introduced the Rottweiler into his breeding program. The Rottweiler is a dog with great stamina and tracking ability, he is fierce and tenacious. It is also believed that the Manchester Terrier, which at this time was a much larger dog, was also brought in to the mix to achieve the desired coat and colouring Mr. Dobermann was determined to have. This is where the Doberman gets his short, gleaming coat, and the fine black and tan markings.

by Jan Olav Aamlid - President - House of the Golden Coin
http://www.thaicoins.com

Roman Erotic Spintriaes - Tessera

On one of my trips to the USA I came across some tokens. They were copies of tokens used for special proposes more than 100 years ago in the USA. They were made of copper, and had different inscriptions, like on one it said: 10-cent looki, 25-cent feeli, and 50-cent dooi. The token was signed with Rose’s Saloon.

The tokens fascinated me, and I bought about 20 to 30 different ones, but found out that since these were copies, no one was accepting them. One of my colleges told me the original ones were very rare and expensive. Lately I have been thinking that the original tokens had been confiscated by the authorities, and might be in the White House.

But in the first place it was not the idea of Rose or some of the other saloon owners to issue tokens for this purpose. Close to two thousand years ago, during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius (14-37 AD), some special looking tokens were struck.

Unlike coins struck during the reign of Emperor Tiberius these tokens did not bear the Emperor’s head, only an erotic motif. The reason for striking these tokens was so they could be used in the many brothels of Rome. The reason for not using the Emperors head on the token might be that Emperor Tiberius was not to “see” what was happening inside the brothels.

The adverse of the tokens show erotic scenes and on the reverse a number. Discussions have been going on for years as to what the purpose of the numbers was. Living in Thailand I have happened to see in some bars girls do carry a number, but on the tokens from Rome, I have only seen number one and up till fourteen. It is not likely that there were only 14 girls in the brothels so the number might have another purpose.

Another theory might be that the brothels did not have names but numbers for discretion purposes. I believe it was more convenient to say to your friend, while the better half was listening, see you at number eight this afternoon than see you at Rose’s.

All these tokens are very rare. In all, only about 500 pieces are known, of several different types and numbers. No one is known in more than 10 specimens. They cover a wide range of motifs. Some show the well-known “Monica Lewiinski scene”, some show homosexual scenes and on one of the tokens a man is shown using a whip on a woman.

As these tokens are normally very worn, it is believed the tokens were used for a very long time, even longer than the reign of Emperor Tiberius. Reading the history of Rome, another reason for the tokens being so worn might be that they were used frequently.

Most of the tokens were struck in bronze, but some were even struck in lead. Today these tokens are very popular among collectors. Their prices range from about 50,000 baht to 500,000 baht depending on the grade. It is just too bad the recipients of the tokens at the time of Emperor Tiberius are not around to cash in.

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