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Family Money: The
Cost of Learning
By Leslie
Wright
For many, the cost of raising and educating children
puts a tremendous strain on the family budget. These costs are rising
faster than inflation, and in most cases income isn’t keeping pace. Most
parents will do whatever they can to provide the best education for their
children, but this often means sacrifices in other areas: fewer holidays,
waiting to buy the new car, putting off home improvements.
Most parents would like to send their children to
college. But even if the child is bright, the family finances may not
stretch that far - especially when there are other younger children in the
family that have to be fed and clothed as well.
So far you may imagine I’ve been referring only to
our Thai friends who so often have too much month left over at the end of
their salaries. Not so.
Not only the poor have trouble at the start of every
school term. Middle-class Thais and even the well-to-do also feel the
pinch. As do many retired or semi-retired expatriates who have started a
new family here. And even working expatriates who have children going to
school ‘back home’ but do not qualify for State grants or support.
How to find the large sums of money required to educate
children is a perennial problem, and not just at the start of the school
year.
So how can you make sure that you will be able to
finance the ever-increasing cost of education? I would like to offer some
simple suggestions as follows:
Step 1: Know the various options. Different schools
offer different standards and programme options. Obviously, state schools
and universities are the cheapest. The numbers in the accompanying table
are annual education expenses (in baht) that do not include entrance fees
or room and board. Somewhat daunting figures, aren’t they?
Step 2: Project the future cost. Just when you think
the numbers in the table seem astronomical, you have to realise that
inflation will cause those 2001 costs to increase by the time your child
reaches that level of education. And as mentioned earlier, education costs
both here and internationally are increasing at a higher rate than
inflation.
If you want to send your child to a college in the UK
that currently charges an annual fee of ฃ25,000 (or roughly
equivalent to 1.5 million baht), in 10 years these fees will probably have
risen to around ฃ40,000 (or 2.4 million baht), assuming education
cost rise at an annual UK inflation rate averaging only 5% p.a. This also
assumes that the 2011 exchange rate does not change from today’s.
Step 3: Check the possibilities. Knowing that you will
need to have roughly ฃ125,000 (or 7.5 million baht) available for
your child’s three-year college education in the UK starting in 2011,
calculate how much you need to have today, and how much that sum needs to
grow to reach that target.
Here are a few scenarios that will give you the 7.5
million baht in 2011:
* Your principal of ฃ46,000 (2.9 million baht)
annually earns an average of 10% net;
* Your principal of ฃ55,000 (3.5 million baht)
annually earns an average of 8% net;
* Your principal of ฃ67,000 (4.2 million baht)
annually earns an average of 6% net.
Of course, there are other combinations. The point of
this logic is that the less principal you start with, the higher the
return it will have to generate.
But you shouldn’t be taking undue risks with your
children’s education. Thus you shouldn’t be going into higher risk
investments, which may dip and lose money just when you need it to pay the
school fees.
You should be projecting conservative growth figures on
a conservatively-stanced portfolio rather than expecting higher returns on
a higher-risk portfolio.
Even if you do not have a lump sum of capital to invest
into your children’s education fund today, you may still be able to
achieve the target of 7.5 million baht within the timeframe of your window
of opportunity.
This can be done through a regular investment of a
fixed amount every month or quarter for the next 10 years. Some possible
combinations:
* Invest 596,300 baht every year earning an average of
5% annually;
* Invest 517,700 baht every year earning an average of
8% annually;
* Invest 470,600 baht every year earning an average of
10% annually.
With a regular savings programme you can in fact afford
to take on a higher degree of risk to achieve a potentially higher rate of
return, because the principle of unit-cost averaging is working to your
advantage. When the markets are down you are buying more ‘cheap’ units
in your chosen investments; when the market are high, you are buying fewer
‘expensive’ units.
The price you pay for units over time averages out -
and provided the unit price when you come to cash up your investments is
higher than the average you paid for units, you will make a profit, no
matter what the markets did in the meantime. But this principle only
applies to regular savings programmes, not to a lump-sum of capital.
Step 4: Create the investment portfolio. Assuming you
start with a principal amount of ฃ55,000 (roughly 3.5 million baht),
you will need to construct a portfolio of investments that will give you
the target yield of 8% p.a. over your 10-year window of opportunity.
There is no way that the asset class with which you are
most familiar - the bank deposit - can give you such a yield.
Appropriate proportions of various assets - cash,
bonds, stocks, or unit trusts or mutual funds investing into these assets
- will be able to give you the target yield. However, you should realise
that the annual returns will not be constant for 10 years: they will
fluctuate from year to year.
You may even have a loss in some years (e.g., this past
year) if the proportion of more volatile (which means risky) assets such
as stocks is sizeable in your portfolio.
In such cases, do not be alarmed. When you have time on
your side, you can take on riskier assets such as stocks to increase the
potential return.
Your portfolio, however, should be reviewed on a
regular basis with your financial advisor (you do have one, don’t you?),
and adjustments made appropriate to changing market conditions.
I would argue that you will be better off in 10 years
if you start adding stocks into your investment portfolio when the index
is low, as it is now.
But if you have young children and don’t plan ahead
for the costs of educating them, these costs will either make a nasty hole
in your family budget, or you won’t be able to afford to educate them as
you might want and they deserve.
| Cost of School Fees per
annum (equivalent in baht) |
School
Nursery
Elementary
Middle School
High School
College |
Local – State
N.A.
10,000~15,000
10,000~20,000
10,000~20,000
25,000~36,000 |
Local – Private
50,000~100,000
25,000~50,000
25,000~50,000
30,000~60,000
150,000~240,000 |
International
100,000~240,000
150,000~240,000
240,000~360,000
300,000~400,000
100,000~600,000 |
Uk / Usa
N.A.
360,000~900,000
500,000~1.2m
700,000~1.5m
1m~2m |
Snap Shots: Contrast
and feature
by Harry Flashman
One very good way to give extra impact to your
photographs is to ‘pair’ your images by use of contrasts. This impact
makes the use of contrasting images excellent subjects for ‘wall art’
- that type of end product in photography that can make you a ‘star’
even if it is only in your own lounge room!
The first, and one of the most obvious contrasts is to
take the same subject, but at different times of the day. The “cold”
blue light of morning, compared with the warm golden glow of the late
afternoon. The sun will be coming from different angles, and the light is
totally different. If you have a tripod, you could even add a third image
by taking a shot just after sundown as well.
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photos
Courtesy of PAWS and the Samui Dog Center |
Now there are a couple of tricks here that you have to
watch. The first is that you must take the shots from exactly the same
position, even if you have to camp there all day! What I often do is to
mark the spot where the shot was taken in the morning, so I can come back
and find the identical spot later. The second factor is to make sure that
if you are using a zoom lens, that you use the same setting each time. The
idea is to ensure that the only item of change is the lighting.
Another contrast is to use the weather to give you a
different look to the same subject. Even a street scene with pedestrians
taken in daylight and then again with umbrellas in the rain tells a very
different story. Once more, you are recording the same subject in another
way. So next time it is teeming down with rain go outdoors with your
camera and get something pleasing and then recreate it in the dry.
What we will do now is to exercise our minds (yours and
mine) and come up with some opposites - then work out how to present these
on film. As I have said so many times, a good photograph is “made”
rather than just happening. The way the pros work is to build on a concept
and then work out the way of showing it on film.
So let’s take some - there is young and old that
springs immediately to mind. A shot of a very old person with a young
child is always an attention grabber. Now, how many times have you seen
big advertising companies use just that shot? Lots!
What about old and new? The range here is as big as
your imagination. A shiny new car parked beside a wrecked one, a new beach
umbrella beside a tattered old one, a shot of a worker’s corrugated iron
and packing case ‘house’ beside a bright, spanking new mansion. Or
even a photo of a box Brownie and a new Nikon.
There’s even more - hot and cold, rough and smooth,
light and heavy - there is really no end to what you can portray when you
start thinking about it.
But it doesn’t end there either. Think about the
different ways you can do things. From digging a trench with an old
shovel, to watching a huge mechanical ditch digger at work. How about a
sundial with a watch hooked on it? A light bulb and a candle, a horse and
buggy and a new Mercedes. Again, just let your imagination run riot and go
from there.
Now presentation of contrasting images is important
too. This is where you should finally select the best two shots and get
enlargements done. 10 inches by 8 inches (called 8R by most labs) is a
good size and then get them mounted side by side using a double matte.
With the cost of framing being so cheap in Thailand it is very easy to
produce great wall art. All that is needed are your images and some
original imagination. This weekend, make some wall art and amaze your
friends with your creativity.
Modern Medicine: Are
we on borrowed time?
by Dr Iain Corness, Consultant
A little contentious start to this week’s column.
However, is it really contentious? Being born is, after all, the very
first step in the dying process. One of the world’s great truisms - you
are born, but you will die. It’s the old death and taxes routine.
Now, I fully realise that there are those of different
faiths who are happy in their belief that there is an after-life, or
reincarnation, or some other way by which we can do it all again, and I am
not at cross purposes with that. I am merely talking about the ‘here and
now’ - the next life can look after itself, in my book!
In our respective lives, there will be those of us who
seem to fly though it all, the veritable ‘butterflies’ who flit from
flower to flower, savouring, tasting and, need I say it, enjoying.
Eventually, they run out of puff and quietly fold up their wings and pass
on. On the other hand there are those of us who stumble like buffalos from
one disaster to the next, one illness to another and eventually succumb -
a victim of some tragedy.
Does the first group have a charmed life and the second
are only living on borrowed time, or was it written in the stars? Being
personally of the ilk that does not believe in prophecy, until one of the
seers round the place predicts the winning lottery numbers, I shall
disregard the ‘written in the stars’ concept.
Let us look then at the butterflies and the buffalos.
As far as ‘borrowed time’ is concerned, both are in the same
situation. Our lives are fleeting visits to planet earth, and that’s
all. Like going on holidays, you try to make the most of your two weeks on
the Costa Plenty, so also you should make the most of your 6 months in
Pattaya.
“Six months!” I hear you shout. “Is that all
I’ve got?” In a way, yes.
You see, it is difficult to look ahead much further
than that in the medical sense. So much can happen. Six months is enough
time for a fulminating infection to carry you off, or to develop an
aggressive cancer that will do the same.
So if we are looking down the barrel of 6 months worth
of future, how can we make it such that it is not this coming six months,
but a 6 month time-slot way in the future?
The answer is a simple medical check-up. This will
predict your future life for you, much better than the Indian
fortuneteller with a turban and a well thumbed set of Tarot cards. Advance
notice of when the Bank of Life is going to foreclose comes from your
medical records, not the soothsayers.
But what is the difference between the butterflies and
the buffaloes? Both are on “borrowed” time. It is merely the different
attitudes to life and living. You can complain about only having a handful
of rice, or be thankful that you’ve got something, many do not. The
butterflies have it right. They remain carefree and enjoy life, no-matter
how short, while the buffalo carries the world on its shoulders to its
grave. The choice is yours.
 Dear
Hillary,
Having been around Pattaya for about six months now, I
have noticed that in every bar there is at least one girl with a “broken
heart” sitting sobbing in the corner. Given the nature of their
employment, surely this cannot be the real situation? Don’t they realise
that all their associations are only temporary? The tourist is here today
and gone tomorrow. So their chances of long term happiness are zero,
zilch, nothing. Yet they are sitting there with another “broken
heart”. Are they stupid, or what? Surely they understand this before
they go to work in the bar. Tell me Hillary, or have you got a “broken
heart” too?
Marcus
Dear Marcus,
Well, aren’t you the milk of human kindness, my
Petal! Why do the girls get a broken heart? Because no matter where they
work, these girls are totally normal, with all the usual hopes and
aspirations that even young farang men such as yourself have or have had
at some stage in your life. Is this the person for me? Will this person
really love me? Will this person bring me a new life? When you are working
from a baseline of poverty and planting rice all day, any foreigner who
has enough money to get over here has untold riches from the point of view
of a young farm girl. If you suddenly found Anna Kournikova was dating you
and you began to have high hopes of basking in her lifestyle, you’d have
a broken heart too if she suddenly upped and left, wouldn’t you? The
girls with the “broken hearts” are just the same. Has Hillary got a
broken heart? Certainly not over heartless men like you, Poppet!
Dear Hillary,
I am 26 year old Thai lady live with farang man 49, my
problem is he show me how to use computer and internet, no problem you
think! Well big problem is I keep contact with many farang I know before
man now and also keep look for farang man on internet. I feel very bad for
this but cannot stop and keep spend money in internet cafe as am scared
for use computer at home. Sorry for bad English but cannot get him help me
write this. Please help me.
Nong
Dear Nong,
Hillary will help you, K. Nong, but it is time for
decisions! OK now you have a 49 year old farang who takes care of you, but
you are still keeping these other farang on the end of the internet line
“just in case” something happens with the relationship with Mr. 49
year old, isn’t it? However, if you continue contacting other farangs,
one day Mr. 49 will find out and he will be very upset and he will leave.
In the western world this is known as a “self fulfilling prophecy”.
You are afraid Mr. 49 will leave, so you do something that will make him
leave, so then you can say, “There you are, I said he would go!” You
are only 26 years old, so if something does happen to Mr. 49, you are
young enough that you will soon find a replacement. You don’t need to
find another right now and lock him up for “insurance”. Concentrate on
making the relationship with Mr. 49 as good as possible for both of you.
But you must make the decision now before it is too late, K. Nong.
Dear Hillary,
My girlfriend who is almost half my age is constantly
pestering me whenever I go out for more than two nights in succession, she
accuses me of having other ladies and will not talk to me for days on end
which is quite frustrating. But whenever she goes home to see her children
and family I say nothing at all and am quite happy for her, I have the
feeling if it was the other way round she would not see it the same as me.
I have been a good partner to her and have taken care of Mama and Papa by
buying them a big piece of land and also am very generous to them all,
every month I give her 30,000 baht “pocket money” but all I am getting
is grief. What do you suggest? Please not more money as I am running low!
Tired Thomas
Dear Tired Thomas,
Men and women are different species. Thai women and
western women are also different sub-sets. You are falling into the sauce
for the goose is sauce for the gander trap. What you would do is not in
the slightest related to what she might do. Accept the fact that she is
the way she is. If you are prepared to put up with this behaviour, then
fine. Accept and don’t complain. If however, you find this unacceptable
and too much grief, the answer does not lie in spending more money, my
Petal, the answer lies in spending less. There is no point in flogging a
dead horse with thousand baht notes. It will still be a dead horse. Looks
like you have dug yourself a bit of hole here. Don’t get in too deep.
GRAPEVINE
| Unholy
matrimony
An elderly farang, from Birmingham his friends so
confide, who had married a bright young thing locally and settled in
Sin City, asked his beloved if she would marry again after his death.
She replied that she guessed she would. “And would you make love to
him?” the old guy further enquired. She answered that she thought
so. “And would you give him my old clothes?” To which she
responded, “No chance, he’s not your size.”
Quick fire
Thought you’d like to know, according to press
reports, that there are presently 4,002 licensed firearms in the
possession of civilians in the kingdom and a great many more
unlicensed. If you are in possession of a legal one, you are asked not
to carry it around when you are on a baht bus, playing golf, visiting
a restaurant or whatever. But if yours is an illegal handgun or AK47,
you can hand it in at the police station under a proposed amnesty. Now
what happens if you actually turn up there SAS style is anyone’s
guess. Could be a prolonged stay in Pattaya’s famous free hotel.
Whisky galore
Overheard in the Queen Victoria, Pattaya’s newest
pub in Soi Yodsak. Every week four Scotsmen got together to drink a
bottle of scotch. One night, Jock announced, “I’ve got some bad
news. I’m not long for this world, but I’d like to think you would
pour a wee bottle over my grave.” After a moment’s silence, one of
the others asked, “Would it not be better, Jock, if we gave it a
swill round our kidneys first?”
Sunday lunch
Yorkie’s Pork Platter announces they have started
up their famous Sunday lunch for the high season. There’s a choice
of pork, beef, lamb or chicken with all the trimmings, plus an
optional vegetable soup starter and sweets including fruit pie, sponge
or rice pudding. Main course only is 230 baht. Yorkie’s are also
advertising their Christmas menu, a trencherman’s treat for 650 baht
(children under 12 only 400 baht). There’ll be three sittings at
13.00, 16.00 and 19.00. Amongst the sweets is Xmas Igloo, Christmas
pudding ice cream made with brandy.
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Insurance hazards
If hospitalized, you really do need to scrutinize
your policy. A farang was recently admitted with chronic pneumonia but
he checked himself out after three days, anxious not to waste his
holiday time in bed if you see what we mean. However, the insurers
later brought to his attention that he had quitted too early, before
treatment was completed and against the advice of the attending
doctor. Therefore, the company refused to refund the cash. The policy
stated, “We are not financially liable if you refuse reasonable
medical advice after admittance.”
Chance encounter
A resident farang was having a pleasant evening
with his wife at Hard Rock Cafe when he noticed a young lady sat at
the next table. The more he glanced at her, the more sure he was that
they were not strangers to each other. Finally, he told his wife he
simply must introduce himself and he leaned across to speak. “Excuse
me, but haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” he asked. “Yes,”
she replied, “I’m a nurse at the VD clinic you go to.”
Social disorder
Farangs are still telling us that the 2.00 a.m.
closing time in the kingdom, assuming it’s actually being enforced
uniformly, is a real turn-off. They say they are going to cancel their
next trip, or shorten it, to take their holidays in pastures new where
no blinking fascists will tell them how to spend their well earned
money and precious time off. The big mystery, as regards Asia, is
where they actually plan to go. We have not noticed that nightlife in
Phnom Penh or Penang or the Philippines really booms after two
o’clock and Singapore is as dead as a dodo.
And yet more church notices
Potluck supper Sunday at 5.00 p.m. Prayer and
meditation to follow.
The eighth graders will be presenting
Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the church basement next Friday at 7 p.m.
The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
The associate minister unveiled the church’s new
tithing campaign slogan last night. It reads, “I Upped My Pledge -
Up Yours.”
Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to
the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some
older ones.
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The Message In The Moon
by
Anchalee Kaewmanee
Sun in Gemini/Moon in Capricorn - The Politician
Tough, detached and ruggedly ambitious, this combination
is a pretty cool character. Gemini is exuberant, multi-faceted and
communicative. But that Capricorn inner nature is at all times serious,
purposeful, and shrewd. Oodles of magnetic charm can sway anyone to what is
usually to the advantage of any Gemini no matter the Moon influence. The
Gemini-Cappy knows this, makes use of it, and puts his or her considerable
energies towards the pursuit of status, power and influence.
Possessing an exterior of complete self-confidence,
people born into this Sun/Moon combo never have to worry about collecting
their thoughts or losing perspective. Their goals are so well defined they
seldom stop to question them. There is no conflict or inner confusion here.
Organised and efficient, others admire and respect their discipline, control
and eloquence. Friends and associates may not realise that everything the
Gemini-Capricorn says is actually calculated to produce an effect, and that
these natives keep their true feelings hidden under a calm, patient and
rather aloof facade. Of course they don’t notice. They aren’t meant to.
That deep sense of dignity and decorum which is found in
this combination stems from a well-defined moral code which keeps these
individuals from resorting from ruthless measures in their quest for power
and esteem. But it is also true, that especially in business, they do have a
way of getting the better of others. Able to sense out the weaknesses of the
competition, they will have no qualms about employing the natural eloquence
which the Gemini Sun sign is famous for.
No Gemini ever shrunk from well timed flattery, and if a
bit of hypnotic persuasion is needed to control and at times manipulate
others, they can call upon that as well. Add that to the calm and determined
emotional make-up of a Capricorn Moon sign, and few persons would suspect
that a cobra lies coiled within that warm, charming, considerate package
standing before them. Fortunately this combination is extremely competent,
and a high achiever. The cobra rarely has to strike to get what it wants.
Cooperation is what this sign prefers. A horde of enemies is a drawback to
sustained success.
For natives born into this combination, worldly goods are
easy for them to obtain. The real challenge for them is to encompass the
broad spectrum of what life has to offer. If they fail to do that in their
youth, much later in life, as they become more competitive, they may feel
they have cheated themselves out of many important experiences.
This combination suggests great inner strength, character
and the ability to overcome obstacles through perseverance and fortitude.
But no matter how strong these natives may be, in the end it is possible
they may find themselves without the solace of companionship if they do not
learn to share with others. Basically detached and unemotional, the
Gemini-Capricorn will have difficulty forming deep or meaningful
relationships. It is wise to understand that even though reaching out does
not come naturally, they must learn to understand and appreciate those close
to them.
Natives of this combo are not very romantic, and if they
do chose to marry, they will probably pick a partner who can enhance their
prestige and station in life. As lovers, however, they are loyal and
devoted, even though they may have difficulty expressing true intimacy. With
this in mind, it would greatly enhance their romantic moments if they could
try to show their partner more affection and concern. However, even the
emotionally cool natives of this combination do make good mates and life
partners and excellent parents.
Women’s World: What
shall I wear today?
by Lesley Warner
I told you a bit about ladies underwear last week; I’ll
continue and go through some of the changes in clothing from the late
1800’s to the early 1900’s.
Many women wore petticoats under their skirts. They also
wore very tight corsets and dresses, which they wore for looks not pleasure.
Sometimes, when the women wore them too tight, they would break a rib! To go
with this ensemble they wore big hats with feathers.
The problems with fashion were evident throughout the
nineteenth century. The fashionable woman reshaped her body not with diet
and exercise, but with layers and layers of underwear that then supported
and created what became the correct and ideal silhouette for her gown. The
process of getting dressed in the 1800’s was a time consuming ritual.
There was no being late and throwing on a bra, slip, tights, trainers and a
pair of jeans before dashing out the door.
When getting dressed the fashionable woman first put on
her stockings, which were gartered above the knee with elastic bands that
could reduce circulation of the legs. She might then put on her high cut
button shoes because, once the corset was on, it then became difficult to
bend down to button the shoes. The next two pieces were drawers and chemise.
Drawers were knee-length or longer cotton trousers that buttoned at the
waist, often left open for ease in elimination. Over the drawers she put on
either a hip-length knitted vest and a short petticoat or a chemise. The
next essential garment was the corset stiffened with thin strips of
whalebone. If a woman was too tightly laced she risked squeezing her
intestines and internal organs. Her breathing could be restricted as well.
Still, over this was another corset cover and then a bustle, a contraption
made of coils that was tied around the waist and hung in back. Yet another
petticoat would be worn over this.
Finally came the gown, which might consist of a boned
bodice and stiffened skirt to match. Strings or elastic might be attached
inside the skirt to keep the back fullness and the bustle in place. If it
were cold, a jacket would be worn, decorated with jet beads, which could add
as much as ten pounds to her clothing. In all, her complete outfit could
weigh as much as 25 pounds!
Then don’t forget the hat - the range of women’s hats
from the 1800’s to the 1940’s, spanned from tiny adornments propped
precariously on the wearer’s head to the giant broad brims of the
Edwardian period.
Animal Crackers: Bowerbirds
by Mirin MacCarthy
A fascinating amorous architect of the bird world is the
bowerbird. Overall, there are 17 kinds of bowerbirds in Australia and on the
neighbouring islands of Papua New Guinea. They are all renowned for their
remarkably complex courting behaviour.
 Instead
of using just showy plumes or trilling songs to attract a mate, the
pigeon-sized bowerbird goes though a progression of behaviour culminating in
elaborate displays that are amazing to observe. The male bowerbird, which is
more colourful than the female, constructs an elaborate structured display
bower from twigs, leaves, and moss on the forest floor. He then decorates
his bower with colourful objects, from flowers and pebbles to berries,
shells, and beetle wing cases.
Careful Design
Each species builds its own shape of bower, either a
“maypole,” “mat,” or “avenue” and prefers a different decorating
scheme. A few for instance, surround their bowers with carefully planted
lawns of moss. Others have been known to steal shiny coins, silver spoons,
bits of foil, even car keys, in an effort to create the perfect romantic
setting. The male works, constantly fine-tuning his structure and
rearranging the decorations carefully around the bower.
The Stage is Set
Bowers aren’t nests for raising chicks; they are stage
sets designed to attract and seduce one or more mate. Bowers serve as a
sexual courting device like a peacock’s ostentatious tail. The male bird
uses his bower as a lure to demonstrate his fitness and agility. They
display to visiting females by flaring their feathers, dancing in different
postures and singing a tremendous variety of calls and mimicry. The sheer
volume has to be heard to be believed. The male dances and sings in a frenzy
of ecstatic excitement and the dull female selects a mate by the brilliance
and exuberance of his display.
Father, Builder
Bowers are built entirely by the male bird whose only
interest is to attract a mate. The female has the sole responsibility of
nest building, incubation and raising the young. For this she builds a nest
in a tree in normal fashion, leaving all the fancy design to the males.
Colourful Avenues
The avenue builders, such as the spotted bowerbird of the
interior and the satin bowerbird of the East Coast rainforest are best
known. The spotted bowerbirds are fond of glitter and shine and gather
shells and glass, white bones, tin, even cartridge cases.
The male satin bower bird is dark iridescent blue in
colour which he obviously favours as an aphrodisiac shade. To decorate his
“avenue” he specializes in blue objects, feathers, berries, shells,
flowers, glass, plastic pegs, anything and everything blue. While some of
these decorations are found in the forest, others are stolen from suburban
gardens or the bowers of other males. Most remarkably it was discovered that
at least some of these avenue builders paint the inside bower walls with a
mixture of charcoal and chewed berries. In an amazing example of tool using,
some birds hold a wad of material in their beaks as a paintbrush.
Birds of a Feather
Even more curious, with nesting finished, all birds,
adults and young flock together and forage across country. Males still
return occasionally to work in their bowers but not with the same enthusiasm
of the spring months.
A Slice of Thai History:
The Paknam incident and its ramifications, 1893
by Duncan Stearn
Part One: Background
To reach the Bangkok roadstead it is necessary for
vessels to sail into the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, and as early as the
reign of King Rama II (1809-1824) Thai strategists were aware of the
importance of the seaport of Samut Prakan, situated right at the entrance to
the river on the Gulf of Thailand.
Samut Prakan had been constructed between 1620 and 1628
at the height of the Ayutthaya Period.
In 1819, the king, in conflict with Vietnam and worried
about a possible seaborne attack, ordered the construction of six forts in
the area around Paknam. Three of the forts were completed over the next
three years, while the remaining three were finished during the reign of
King Rama III.
Paknam had started as a small fishing village but began
to flourish soon after the Thai capital was moved to Bangkok in 1782. All
ships coming up the Chao Phraya River had to stop at Paknam to take aboard a
customs officer. For a period of time, all ships had to unload their guns at
Paknam, before they were allowed to continue on to Bangkok.
To further strengthen the seaward defences, another fort
was ordered constructed on the west side of the Chao Phraya River at the
entrance to the estuary. This was the Phra Chulachomklao Fort, designed to
command the river mouth as well as a distance of two kilometres upriver.
Commanded by a Danish captain, the Phra Chulachomklao
Fort was only completed early in 1893, right at the time Thailand was
embroiled in a dispute with France over the sovereignty of Laos.
The French were determined to increase their imperial
possessions in Indo-China, a move that naturally brought them into conflict
with Thailand.
On March 14, Monsieur Pavie, the French Charge
d’Affaires in Bangkok, was instructed by his government to demand
Thailand’s immediate withdrawal from the left bank of the Mekong River and
seek compensation for French subjects whom France claimed had suffered
damages. At the time, the French gunboat Le Lutin was anchored in Bangkok,
giving the Thais little choice but to comply.
However, two incidents broke out in Laos that brought the
French and Thais into further conflict. A French captain was taken prisoner
by Thai troops and a French national was killed. France claimed that the
national was murdered.
The Thais released the French captain and agreed to pay
compensation if it was determined that the French citizen had been murdered.
However, the French government reacted by sending
Monsieur Le Myre de Vilers as a special envoy to Bangkok, with instructions
to withdraw their entire diplomatic mission and send warships to blockade
the mouth of the Chao Phraya River if Thailand refused to recognise the
French claim to the left bank of the Mekong River and pay compensation to
French subjects.
At the same time, worried by the escalation in French
demands upon Thailand, the British sent three warships to provide protection
to British citizens in Bangkok.
Shaman’s Rattle: Brain
fade, is there hope?
by Marion
Dr Cabot on Alzheimer’s
In the article “Alzheimer’s Disease, Learn How to
Reduce Your Risk,” from ‘Ask Dr. Sandra Cabot Newsletter, Edition 6;’
Dr Cabot discusses many of the same dietary and lifestyle factors that were
reviewed last edition in, “The Liver Cleansing Diet” ISBN -
0-646-27789-8.
Dr Cabot says, “The brain is mainly composed of soft
fatty tissue made from essential fatty acids (EFA’s). To preserve brain
function and integrity it is vital to have an adequate intake of EFA’s in
the diet. Nutritional medicine is very potent and it is risk free (a point
reiterated by Dr. Halpern). Essential fatty acids are called ‘essential’
because they are required from the diet as the body cannot manufacture
them.”
“EFA’s are found in raw nuts and seeds, cold pressed
seed and nut oils, oily fish (sardines, mackerel, herring, tuna, salmon),
oily vegetables (avocadoes and eggplant), legumes (lentils, beans, peas),
flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil, lecithin.”
“A great brain food is a mixture of linseed, sunflower
seed and almonds (called LSA). Simply grind in a coffee grinder or
high-powered blender 3 measures of linseed, two measures of sunflower seeds
and one measure of almonds to make a delicious nutty tasting powder.
Sprinkle this LSA on vegetables, pasta, soups, fruit salads, and cereals or
add to a soy milk health shake.”
Avoid damaged fats
“Studies have shown that consumption of trans-fatty
acids (damaged overheated fats and hydrogenated margarines, etc.), increases
total cholesterol and triglycerides which are known risk factors for heart
and blood vessel disease. If you are concerned about the state of your
arteries and veins (which supply blood and nutrients to the brain), then it
is essential to avoid all dairy products, butter and hydrogenated margarines
as well. A dietary alternative is to use fresh avocado, humous, tahini or
(non-hydrogenated, non-dairy) ‘soy butter’ as spreads instead. Some oils
are less damaged by heating than others, and the best for stir frying are
canola, sesame, peanut, high oleic sunflower, safflower and virgin olive
oils.”
Avoid dehydration
Everyone who has worked outdoors in the tropics or over
indulged in alcohol will know just how dreadful dehydration feels.
Dehydration is the symptom of a brain in pain, because, “A dehydrated
brain is prone to the build up of toxic chemicals and shrinkage of brain
cells (neurones).” Adequate fluid intake avoids brain drain and
Alzheimer’s. “Drink at least eight to twelve glasses of filtered water
daily, this is really vital,” advises Dr. Cabot. If the brain does not get
enough oxygen and nutrients from an adequate blood circulation then the
brain will die. “To support the blood circulation of the brain drink
plenty of water and raw vegetable juices, avoid obesity and mature onset
diabetes and keep blood pressure under control.”
The last word
It is a vast relief to know there are pro-active steps we
may take to preserve our central computer and innate intelligence. Living
the life of Riley at 102 is just a matter of good maintenance. Medicos and
naturopaths have long recommended the benefits of stress minimisation, the
relaxation response and meditation for the mind. Additionally, good brain
maintenance means using sensible dietary and lifestyle factors. Avoid
damaged, hydrogenated and saturated fats, keep the brain lubricated with 2 -
3 litres of water daily, not alcohol, cease smoking and avoid pollutants.
Learning a new language, playing chess, mental arithmetic or crosswords
daily all helps keep the cogs oiled. Taking the miraculous Ginkgo biloba
extract daily plus important B vitamins, the antioxidants Vitamin C 500mg
and Vitamin E 500 I.U. daily will all contribute to being able to ride your
Harley to your 100th birthday. Live to ride!
The computer doctor
by Richard Bunch
This week, I will conclude my ramblings about Windows XP;
of course if any of you have specific questions, then as usual please write
to me.
Just to recap, the various flavours of XP are designed
for differing markets. Whichever version is chosen it will be an enormous
leap forward for users presently using any Windows 9x or ME system, whereas
for anyone already using Windows 2000 it is less of a leap but nonetheless a
significant one.
There are of course many things not available in the Home
Edition of XP, given that it is expected that a large majority of new PC’s
delivered next year will come with XP Home, there are certain concerns which
the unwary could fall foul of. One of the most limiting things is that it
isn’t suitable for workplaces. It doesn’t support Win2K, Windows NT, or
Windows .NET Server domains, group policies, roaming profiles, Remote
Desktop, multiple processors, IIS, the Encrypting File System (EFS), Offline
Files and Folders and several other XP Pro features that are either useful
or essential in a business environment. Additionally, this Edition does not
include the Automated System Recovery (ASR) feature, which is included in XP
Pro and I consider essential.
The ASR is a replacement for the Emergency Repair Disk
which was included in Windows 2000 and Windows NT. The ASR stores critical
system files and system-state files from the system and boot partitions and
backs up data, by so doing it is able to provide a way to restore an
unbootable XP system.
In many homes there are more than one PC networked,
providing a cost effective shared Internet connection. This is often
achieved using Windows ME and 98SE, so for these users Windows XP Pro is
what is required, also for any business PC this should be the preferred
platform.
A misnomer is that Passport (.NET) is mandatory, in fact
this is not the case and it is optional, but if you feel threatened by it
then don’t subscribe to it, simple!
I really can’t find anything to really bitch about, I
guess the only thing is that it is somewhat more demanding hardware wise,
but the likelihood is that in a PC purchased recently with brand name
components, then attritional memory is likely to be the norm. But with this
running at 1,000 baht for 256MB of PC133 surely it doesn’t hurt too much!
Does XP have any real downsides? Users of Windows NT and 2000 will almost
certainly already be XP ready.
Send your questions or comments to the Pattaya Mail at
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, 20260 or fax to 038 427 596 or
e-mail to [email protected] The views and comments expressed within
this column are not necessarily those of the writer or Pattaya Mail
Publishing. Richard Bunch is managing director of Action Computer
Technologies Co., Ltd. For further information, please telephone 01 782
4829, fax 038 716 816, e-mail: [email protected] or see the firm’s website
www.act.co.th
Social Commentary by
Khai Khem
Khai Khem flies to the USA
I had booked a trip into the USA before the tragic events
of September 11 took place. With a lot of trepidation, I held my ground and
did not cancel my flight. Knowing it would not be the happiest of times to
travel to America took some of the edge of enjoyment off from what would be
a combination holiday and business trip. That and the fact that I was booked
on one of the airlines whose plane had been hijacked and flown into the
World Trade Center Towers in New York City made me a tad nervous about
following through on my plans. Since I was flying to Atlanta, Georgia, and
therefore to a fairly innocuous destination, I ignored my misgivings and got
on with it.
All international flights out of Bangkok wanted
passengers to arrive three hours before check-in time so that the ground
staff could meticulously hand-search our luggage. Special tables had been
set up for employees to deal with this cumbersome procedure. On October 5th
there were actually few passengers flying since the psychological effects of
the terrorist attack in the USA had provoked a lot of cancellations. The
flight crew on my chosen airline seemed so grateful to see our little group
of passengers that they bent over backwards to make us welcome. The
champagne flowed all the way back to economy class, and the canapes and
special food from the empty first class section was shared by all. The
flight to Tokyo and through to Chicago was not exactly empty, but I did
notice that there were quite a lot of empty seats.
Chicago was my point of entry through Immigration, and
O’Hare Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world in terms of
traffic flow. It is also huge, and confusing. The configuration of the
buildings and the layout and design could have only been approved by a city
administration which secretly loathes visitors from anywhere, including
other parts of the USA. If you happen to be a traveller from a foreign
country, it is advisable to be fluent in English, or wear a nametag and
travel with a ‘seeing eye’ dog, as to ensure some special service or at
least call attention to yourself in some way. My English isn’t too bad,
and I had a 2 hour layover before catching a local flight into Atlanta. How
could I go wrong?
The seething crowds milling around were massive. From
what I could observe, the whole world had decided to fly to the USA (Chicago
in particular) and terrorist attacks; be damned. All the signs in the
airport were in English, but unfortunately the ones I saw didn’t seem to
tell me where to go or how to get there. At this point I still had time and
wasn’t too concerned since I was surrounded by people who were obviously
as lost as I was. I concluded that this pandemonium would be sorted out by
ground crew and we poor international arrivals would be culled and sent to
our respective gates and connecting planes. Wrong. The throngs of travellers
were all asking each other how to get to where they wanted to go.
When in a panic situation, I tend to keep my eyes open
and mouth shut. Good idea on this particular day, since Indians in saris and
dhotis were asking Japanese women in kimonos which line they should cue in
for boarding passes. Korean men in business suits were pleading with young
Australian backpackers for directions to the elevator which would lead them
to a different level in the building. Lines of people waiting in makeshift
cues found themselves not only in the wrong lines, but sometimes in the
wrong part of the airport. Signs with arrows which said “E-tickets”
didn’t really explain to newly arrived passages from Third World countries
that since they already had paper boarding passes, all they had to do was
file through the security checks, which as it turned out were obscurely
hidden in dark corners without informative signs.
My personal clock was ticking and I was no closer to
finding out where to pass through to security and find my gate than when I
had arrived. I overheard an elderly couple from Norway tell a passing
security man that their destination was actually Chicago. They had booked a
hotel and wanted a taxi. But they had been roaming around the airport for
more than an hour and couldn’t seem to find the elevator to get them to
the ground floor. This airport has an underground tunnel which connects the
two-part building. Apparently this poor couple had been going back and forth
through the tunnel without ever finding the ground level. Up the moving
stairs, trapped in a train which seems to only take them to different
concourses, and, according to them each person they asked led them in a
different direction...but alas, never to the car park.
That did it. I panicked. I rammed my way through a line
of people toward a woman working the “E-ticket” counter, waved my paper
boarding pass at the surprised worker and pleaded for a way to security and
my assigned departure gate. In these nervous and jittery days in US
airports, that could probably could have got me shot. No matter. A bullet
would have at least sent me to a hospital and out of O’Hare Airport, and I
was prepared to risk it. Luckily the lady pointed in a general direction
toward another line and uniformed security officers waved me through. I knew
from this shaky start that my little trip to the USA would be interesting,
if not smooth. I’ll share some of my funnier experiences with readers in
future columns.
Down The Iron Road: The
Great Western 4-6-0 Family - Part 2
by John D. Blyth, P.O.
Box 97, Pattaya City 20260
Trials with a Frenchman
Churchward was an outstandingly far-sighted man: not only
did he realize that the simple 2-cylinder layout of his early engines would
not suffice forever, but his contacts overseas had led him to be interested
in compound locomotives, especially in France, but also led him to see if
his own ideas would lead to an efficiency equal to, or better than, theirs.
With the de Glehn compound from France he could collect evidence on both
parts. No. 102, ‘La France’, a 4-4-2, already noted, had four cylinders,
two using high pressure steam direct from the boiler - these two outside the
frames and visible in the picture, and two larger, set between the frames
and using the steam exhausted from those outside. This enables more heat,
and so energy, to be taken from the steam before it escapes to the
atmosphere. No. 102 was of a system developed by Alfred-George de Glehn,
English by birth, but of a Scots mother, and a father from one of the Baltic
States; he is not known ever to have worked in England. His system of
compounding has led to the building of the most complex locomotives ever
produced in quantity.
 ‘Frenchman’
No 102 takes the inaugural ‘Cornish Riviera’ Express non-stop London to
Plymouth in 1904. 4 miles gone; 241 to go.
GWR locomotives were noted by contrast for their
simplicity of design and of controls; one can imagine a GWR driver
confronted, on first encounter with a de Glehn, with controls to enable it
to be driven five different ways, changing as needed using the controls: (i)
using boiler steam in the high-pressure cylinders only; (ii) the same in the
low-pressure cylinder through a pressure reducing valve; (iii) in all four
cylinders, still using a reducing valve; (iv) full compound by closing the
high-low-pressure regulator and opening a valve to allow the steam to pass
as described, to work again in the low-pressure; and (v) reinforced
compound, by staying in model (iv) but also allowing reduced pressure boiler
steam to enter the low-pressure cylinders to get some additional power when
running. There was also provision for individual adjustment of the cut-off
positions for the steam in each system.
Think about all that; it is quite rewarding! Churchward
is not known to have ridden a de-Glehn engine until his own arrived from
France. Who was there to explain it all? Long time legend had it that it was
one Conrad Dumas - it was not! He was well installed in the Swindon Drawing
Office ten years before the arrival of ‘La France’! Dunas was also
credited with bringing the locomotive from Belfort, landing it at Tilbury,
supervising its assembly and first trials!
 No.
104, as delivered, was the second ‘Big Frenchman’; it soon received a
standard G.W.R. boiler.
It was an Englishman, no less: James Charles Crebbin, not
a professional engineer or a railway man, but a well-known builder of
live-steam model locomotives who had ridden on de Glehn locomotives on the
Calais to Paris line of the CF du Nord on many occasions. He was a close
friend of both Churchward and manager Sir Felix Pole, and was well placed to
act as adviser. Unlike some railways where locomotive running is managed
quite separately from design and construction matters, Churchward had a
running assistant answerable to him for such matters; thus is was easy for
Churchward to get a good understanding of the modus operandi from Crebbin,
pass it all on to his inspectors through the assistant mentioned, and so out
to the drivers and firemen. Crebbin (known always as ‘Uncle Jim’) long
outlasted the compound 4-4-2s of the Nord - the last he was to see could
well have been of Chapelon design, for he passed on in 1951.
The Competitors and the Trials
No. 102 was tried against GWR 171 (later 2971), named
‘Albion’ after some time converted to a 4-4-2 and with a boiler pressure
raised to equal that of the ‘Frenchman’. Curiously it seems that almost
no records have survived from the trials, long drawn-out though they seem to
have been, but a lot of running over the more difficult parts of the GWR
main lines. The Dynamometer Car was used, and even the rolls from this seem
to have been destroyed: they are big and hard to hide. Both engines seem to
have done well, the ‘Frenchman’ showing a slight economy in fuel and
water consumption, and with smooth riding that the GWR engine lacked, both
engines achieving the Churchward dictum of a drawbar pull of 2 tons at 70
mph. The saving shown would be more than equaled by the extra lubricating
oil wanted for the complex drive from four cylinders, and maintenance and
repair costs would also be high.
 Once
pitted against the ‘Frenchmen’, here is ‘Albion’ in its later days;
with its tiny nameplate it was a very well-known sight to the author in the
1930s.
Churchward rode on both engines and was naturally pleased
with the performance and economy of ‘Albion’. This was the result of
very careful study of the valve events, No. 171 being provided with 10 in.
piston valves and a long movement of the valves at all positions of cur-off.
Draughtsman W.H. Pearce was responsible for this part of the design at which
he was an expert. Here the compound was at a disadvantage, fitted as it was
with four sets of slide valves which did not exhaust the steam nearly as
freely. The failure of the compound to show any real advantage in economy or
performance caused Churchward to lose interest in this aspect, and yet he
was taken greatly by the smooth ride, impossible to achieve with a
2-cylinder engine due to the inevitable imbalance of the moving parts. When
due for shopping, they can give an exciting ride, far from appreciated on
the footplate. Three cylinders (not used on the GWR) will usually be fairly
comfortable at speed (but there have been some notable exceptions), but four
cylinders is almost a guarantee of good performance on the track. So for
different types of traffic he said in effect, ‘Some of each please!’
It was plain to Churchward that whilst the 4-cylinder
engine would be better, both for itself and the enginemen on long non-stop
runs, for trains making frequent stops or working on steep grades, the
2-cylinder type had better acceleration when getting the train on the move.
It was plain that Churchward was not likely to build any
compounds, yet two more ‘Frenchmen’ were ordered from Belfort and were
delivered in 1905. They were, of course, de Glehns, but were bigger all
round especially in the firebox. One of these is illustrated this week and I
will comment some more next week.
Updated every Friday
Copyright 2001 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand
Tel. 66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax: 66-38 427 596
Updated by
Chinnaporn Sangwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.
E-Mail: [email protected]
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