Family Money: US/UK Double Taxation Treaty
By Leslie
Wright,
Managing director of Westminster Portfolio Services (Thailand) Ltd.
A reader asks: “I have read about the new Double Tax
Treaty between the UK and US, and wonder if this will apply to me. I work
for a British company and, for tax purposes, consider the UK to be my
domicile. My employer has asked me if I would be interested in working in
our New York branch on a nine-month contract from September 1 2002. I will
remain on the UK payroll during this time and continue with UK ‘Pay as
You Earn’ income tax and National Insurance contributions. I assume I
will not have a tax liability in the US, as my assignment is short-term.
Is this correct?” The answer: working short-term in the US can indeed be
a tax-free event under the provisions of the new US/UK tax treaty
depending on the duration and timing of assignment, and other terms.
After almost three years of negotiation, a new Double
Tax Treaty was signed on 24 July 2001. This will replace the existing
agreement that has been in place for over 20 years. Subject to instruments
of ratification being signed before December 31 2001, the new treaty is
expected to enter force during 2002. There is a 12-month
“grandfathering” provision that allows the current treaty to continue
to apply in its entirety.
The timing of your forthcoming assignment in New York
allows you to choose whether to abide by the existing or the new treaty
provisions. Under article 15 of the current treaty, you may claim
exemption from American taxation provided you are not in the US for more
than 183 days in the tax year concerned and if your remuneration is paid
by an employer who is not resident in the US. In addition, your
remuneration must not be borne by a permanent establishment or fixed base
that your employer has in the US.
The 183-day test under the old treaty provisions
examines each US tax year separately. As you will be spending less than
183 days in the US during each calendar year 2002 and 2003 (US tax year),
you will meet the first test. Also, if your employment costs will not be
recharged as direct salary costs to a permanent establishment of your
employer’s in New York, you will meet the other requirements. A
permanent establishment, in your case, would be the US branch of your UK
employer.
Having met the requirements, you will be exempt from US
taxation, but you will still need to file your treaty-based US returns in
2002 and 2003, reporting the income for which you are claiming exemption
and substantiating your residence in the UK.
Significantly, under the provisions of Article 14 of
the new treaty, the 183-day test will now be calculated over any 12month
period beginning or ending in the relevant tax year. Therefore, it will no
longer be possible to look at each tax year in isolation and, although you
will spend less than 183 days in the US during each tax year 2002 and
2003, the duration of your entire assignment is more than 183 days.
Additionally, under the new treaty provision, relief will not be available
if your employment costs are recharged to the US even if they are part of
a general management charge rather than direct salary expenses.
You will, therefore, fail to meet the tests under the
new treaty and will be liable to Federal and New York State tax in 2002
(for four months) and 2003 (for five months) as a non-resident alien. The
taxable amount is calculated based on the number of workdays you will have
in the US and the amount of income that is generated during these workdays
in each tax year. Remaining on the UK payroll will not preclude you from
paying US tax.
As you will continue to be resident and domiciled in
the UK whilst working in the US, you will also be liable to UK tax on your
worldwide income. There will clearly be double taxation of income during
your nine-month assignment in the US. To avoid this, you can claim a
credit for US Federal and New York taxes that you pay against your UK tax
liability on this portion of your income. Unfortunately, you will suffer
the higher of the two tax rates (US or UK) on this portion of your income.
Using the 12-month grandfathering provision in the new
treaty, which allows you to apply for the application of the old
agreement, will clearly be more beneficial to you. If your assignment is
postponed to any time after January 2003, you may not be able to revert
back to the old provisions and will be liable to Federal and New York tax.
Keeping good records of your days (business or vacation) at home and host
countries is essential when you are on assignment. I recommend you keep a
diary as one extra day could mean more tax for you or your employer.
Snap Shot: Shoot the entire family - peaceably!
by Harry Flashman
Look through the bundle of photographs you have in that
drawer in the lounge room. What are the subjects of the majority of the
snapshots? If you are like 99% of most non-pro shooters then it is the
members of the family that come out on top in the photographic subject
stakes.
For many people photographs are the ideal record to
show a growing family, from naked on the bunny rug, to first communion, to
marriage. Every family has these shots. A source of joy for grandmothers
and a source of embarrassment for young teenagers!

This week I want to help you produce better shots of
your family, be it the younger members or the older ones. There is no need
for fancy equipment - even a box Brownie would do. What we are talking
about here is photographic technique, not the photographic technical
details. So stick a roll of film in the point and shoot compact and
let’s go!
Take the thorny problem of children first. It is
Harry’s experience that all children are a problem, and photographing
them even more so! In fact I actively dislike taking kiddypix, but you
have got to take them. The problem comes in the fact that children have an
attention span measured in seconds, while teenagers have an attention span
that can be measured in nano-seconds, unless they “want” the
photograph, whereupon they spend all the time hogging the limelight.
Rule 1 is then to set up the shot you want, before
children are brought into it. This does mean you have to “see” the
shot you want and then make it happen. Since the child is the important
subject, select an area with a “nothing” background. You do not want a
cluttered, busy background to take the attention away from the child.
Generally, a blank wall works well, particularly if you position the
subject as far away from the background as possible. In this way, even
with point and shoot compacts, when you focus on the child, the background
will not be in sharp clear focus too. Try for neutral colourings too. A
grey wall is better than a white one.
The next most important thing with kids is to get down
to their level. You will not get a great shot looking down at them while
they squint up to look at you. The camera should not be higher than the
subject’s face when taking good kiddypix.
Only now, bring on the junior “stars” and start
shooting - fast! Move in close so that the head and shoulders fill the
frame. Don’t worry if you crop into the hair - just get close. More
shots are spoiled by being to far away, rather than the reverse.
Now let’s look at photographing the older members of
the family. Grandparents. Nobody wants to see themselves as dried prunes.
If Mum and Dad are really getting on a bit, then consider using a soft
focus filter to just soften those crows feet just a little. Harry refuses
to use the term “laughing lines” as he believes they are not a
laughing matter! And don’t shoot prunes!
So you’ve only got a compact and can’t screw a soft
focus filter on - don’t worry, stretch a piece of nylon stocking tightly
across the front of the camera and it will work OK. Fortunately, parents
do have an attention span that can be measured by standard wrist watches,
so you can try placing them in different areas of the garden for different
effects. As people getting on in years tend to have white hair, look for
darker backgrounds as contrast.
Think too, about getting the older folk to sit down.
Comfortable garden chairs are good, but place them together and slightly
facing each other. You do not want the “sit up straight” school
pictures look with 75 year old grand-parents. And get down to their level
too. Move in close, let them fill the frame and see if you haven’t got a
great shot out of that roll of film.
Modern Medicine: Men’s Health Issues - are they different from women’s?
by Dr Iain Corness, Consultant
At the outset, let me set a few ‘ground rules’. I
admit that I have never been a politically correct animal. I believe in
classification by sex - i.e. two easily remembered groups called males and
females. (I shall, for the point of this exercise omit references to
katoeys and other transsexuals.) I believe that little girls play with
dolls because ‘mothering’ is inherent in females and little boys play
war games because fighting is inherent in males. To back up this system
belief I cite the fact that men are XY and women are XX when you look at
the chromosomes. Anatomically men have appendages that make babies which
women do not have and women get the necessary organs to carry and nurture
children after the female’s eggs have been fertilized by the
aforementioned men’s dangly bits. No, men and women are not the same! I
am afraid that the old ‘hunter-gatherer’ sociology still exists. The
more aggressive of the two sexes, the males, go out and hunt, while the
less aggressive, the females, stay behind, look after the children and
cook the food. We are still following very primitive instinctual patterns,
despite equal opportunity boards and attempts to make little boys play
with dolls.
When it comes to men’s health issues it may be
interesting for you to know that there are differences in the (ill) health
patterns between males and females too. And I am not talking about
problems with the danglers here - I am talking about the whole health
picture. For example, men consult their GP’s half as often as women do.
Why?
Well, there are many reasons for this. Men do not place
personal health care as highly in their priorities as women. For many men,
seeking help or admitting to stress or other disability is perceived as a
sign of ‘weakness’ which should not be displayed. Men are also much
more ‘private’ creatures and worry about lack of confidentiality.
There is even the ‘man-to-man’ interface with which a large percentage
of men do not feel totally at ease. For these and many other reasons, men
do not consult a doctor until, in many cases, it is too late.
The outcome of all this is reflected in no small way in
the death statistics. While the death rate will always be the same - one
per person, women live significantly longer than men. And that is in all
societies, so we cannot say it is the “stress” of modern corporate
living that does it all.
Accidental deaths are much greater in the young males
than females too. Why is this? Well it is partly societal, partly hormonal
and partly the instinctual patterns again. Risk taking is all part of
that. The great warriors who have been heralded through history were risk
takers, right from Hannibal through to Genghis Khan. That same risk taking
can be seen on motorcycles, just as well as on elephants and horses. I
mean to say, tackling the Alps on an elephant was hardly rational, even
then.
So what was the point of this long winded diatribe?
Just to get you men to think about your health a little more, get regular
check-ups and follow some medical advice. You’ll enjoy yourselves longer
for longer, if you get my drift!
Women’s World: “Li le ma?”
by Lesley Warner
Continuing with my “women of other lands” series,
this week I have chosen China, another race we hear various different
tales about - but they seemed to have it all worked out.
Once upon a time it was a problem to remain single in
China, and to be divorced was even worse. Accommodation for a single
person was difficult but they could manage if they were content with a
small room that just housed a bed. Divorce was quite a different matter,
public opinion was against you from the start and one needed to be very
bold to cope with this and to persuade your partner to agree to a divorce
was very unusual.
Getting married in China was traditionally considered a
must, even in the late 1970’s. They had a motto: “It is natural to get
married when you grow up.” So when a girl reached 28 and was still
single, she received a lot of pressure from relatives, neighbours and even
co-workers.
How quickly things changed! In the 1990s, divorce
became much simpler and public opinion was no longer so strict; it almost
became taken for granted.
Now things seem to have gone to the opposite extreme -
getting divorced is much easier than getting married. The latter becomes
more and more difficult since the demands and standards are very hard to
meet, either materially or ideologically.
Nowadays for women in Beijing, the growing divorce rate
is a reflection of a new social and economic freedom, of the rising
expectations that women bring to their marriage. Women now initiate more
than 70 percent of divorces; divorce lawyers say that the most common
reason given is that the husband has had an affair.
Chinese people have greeted each other on the street
for years with a question that reflected the nation’s primary concern:
“Chi le ma?” (“Have you eaten?”)
Now, according to a popular joke in Beijing, people who
see a friend on the street ask a new question: “Li le ma?” (“Have
you divorced?”)
Chinese women have now also gained the right to retain
their maiden names. In old China most women had no formal name before
marriage. They adopted their husband’s surname after they married. In
today’s China, every woman has her own formal name.
These days a woman can enjoy the same rights of
possession and inheritance of family property as men. In the majority of
families, husband and wife jointly own family property and they have equal
access to its use and allocation.
The woman’s right to decide whether or not to bear
children is protected and they can discuss with their husbands on an equal
basis whether or not they will go through with a pregnancy. Historically,
Chinese women were victims of early marriage and burdened by excessive
numbers of offspring. They now display great enthusiasm for the state’s
family planning policy and the overwhelming majority of them are willing
to marry late and have children late and to have fewer so as to guarantee
a better quality of life for them.
Women’s economic independence has promoted their
status in the family. As they have become economically independent,
Chinese women have gained more management and decision-making power in
principal family and economic matters. The share of women’s earnings in
total family income has risen from 20 percent in the 1950s to the present
40 percent. In some rural families the money brought in by women can be as
much as 60-70 percent.
China now has 21,000 women judges and 4,512 women
lawyers; 1,200 women diplomats; 80,000 policewomen; 240,000 women
officers, soldiers and other military personnel.
Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
I think you do something of a disservice to
lonely-hearts farang males looking for stable sincere relationships with
Thai women. The disservice lies in giving them hope that such
relationships might be likely or even possible with the prostitutes by way
of romance. For example a few issues back you reassured some farang that
the ladies are looking for a good man. True, they surely are, but you
failed to mention that the good man should be Thai, not farang; no matter
what they may say, they really don’t want a farang, and their reasons
are both cultural and racist. Then in the 1 Feb column you humorously
suggested that maybe Frustrated Frank isn’t a good lay. Actually Frank
was lucky that none of the 15 prostitutes took serious interest in him; if
so, it would have merely have been to set him up for a fleecing. With the
odd exception, there really are only two ways for a farang to meet one of
the very few good, sincere, eccentric Thai ladies who, without a primarily
financial motivation, will seriously consider a farang as a prospective
husband. One way is to meet one, say, a colleague or a student, in the
course of working in Thailand. The other way is to be introduced by an
already “known good” Thai, say a trusted wife of another farang. The
first test of a lady’s sincerity is not to give her any money beyond
basic expenses and see whether she is willing to work at a real job for
her own money, or for more family money, just as most farang women do.
J. Sixpack
Dear JS,
Aren’t you an embittered one! Hillary is doing a
disservice by giving some males a little hope! What are you doing for
them, Petal? As far as your methods of meeting up with these paragons of
virtue, by getting an introduction from the trusted wife of another farang,
it all seems a bit chicken and egg to me. What comes first? How does your
farang friend find his trusted one? No, J. Sixpack, the way of love is
never smooth, as can be seen by the divorce statistics in your own country
which is currently around 50% of the farang-farang marriages which fail.
And how much does it cost to get out of a farang-farang marriage down
under? So should we say that farangs should not even try to connect with
another of their own? Or only date friends of mate’s “trusted”
farang wives? Time for you to knock the top off another from your sixpack
and “get real” as you impudently suggested Hillary does. By the way, I
am glad that you understood the humour in suggesting Frank wasn’t a very
good lay. You have me a little worried. There is also a small army of Thai
women happily married to farangs that would like to meet you.
Dear Hillary,
I am writing for information about language schools and
learning the Thai language. The advertising literature for some schools
indicate that a certificate from the Ministry of Education will be granted
after 3 months (60 hours) of study (and the payment of 15,000 baht). The
ads also state that you can speak and understand Thai “like a Thai
person within 60 hours.” I have asked to see a copy of the certificate
but I get double talked. I asked if the Ministry of Education requires an
examination and is it level 6 or what level. My questions answered with
many words but no information. Hillary, my question is does any language
school in Pattaya, for Thai language, issue certificates with the
seal/stamp of the Ministry of Education? Would it be possible to check
with the Ministry of Education? I would like to go to a school that issues
a genuine certificate.
Languageless Les
Dear Languageless Les,
Hillary thinks you may be under a misapprehension
here. The Ministry of Education (MOE) licenses language schools to teach
Thai, so you know that those schools with the certificate have reached a
certain standard acceptable to the MOE. However, the schools cannot then
issue a certificate to a student on behalf of the MOE. Certain courses are
available for people to teach their own native tongue to foreigners, and
on successfully completing that course the native speaker may then be
“registered” with the MOE as an accredited teacher. Hope that this
clears everything up for you.
Dear Hillary,
Why is it that all the Thai girls I meet do not want to
get out in the sun? Having come from the UK, getting a sun tan is what is
almost the number one thing in my mind. I want to bask on the beach, but
none of my regular Thai girlfriends will join me on the beach. I may as
well not have them with me during the day. It would be cheaper too,
considering the amount of som tum they can devour in one sitting!
Bronzed Bruno
Dear Bronzed Bruno,
The answer is simple, Petal. Everybody wants to be
something they are not. White folks want to be brown, the brown folks want
to be white, curly haired people want it straightened, straight haired
folk want a spiral perm to make it crinkly. Old people want to be young
and young folk want to be old. Even a fair swag of the old people want to
look young. Flat chested ladies want pneumatic fronts and ladies with
“nom yai” want them reduced. Why they cannot be content with what
they’ve got, I do not know.
Grapevine
Meeting
the deadline
A foreign man, allegedly with a work permit, has
been discovered dead at work from a sudden heart attack after lying
slumped at his desk for almost two days. He had been proof reading a
medical text which was urgently required for publication. Colleagues
said they had not noticed he had expired since he was a very quiet
man who kept very much to himself and did a lot of overtime.
Distraught cleaners discovered the tragedy after they nudged him to
get at the wastepaper basket. Human rights lawyers are using the
case as a warning not to work too hard as nobody notices anyway.
Insect repellants
A farang was at the center of a row in a Soi Post
Office bar this week after he claimed, in an illegal drinking bet,
to be able to tell the difference between male and female
mosquitoes. He and his companions agreed to see how many of the
unpopular insects each could swat with battery operated swatter in
one minute flat. Two guys tied for first place with a tally of five
dead mossies each. One man claimed he had won the tiebreaker as he
could actually confirm there were three males and two females in his
collection. Asked how he could possibly distinguish, he explained
three were on a beer can and two on the phone.
Watch your step
Mrs Olga Fuirst (nationality not known) has made
local legal history by being the first woman to try and sue an
internationally run superstore in Pattaya following an accident with
a trolley. She was quietly shopping in the fruit and vegetable
section when a small boy ran amock and charged into her with an
empty trolley. This caused her to fall over and break her ankle in
several places. Mrs Fuirst contacted local lawyers who said it was
certainly worth having a go and relieved her of 40,000 baht on the
spot to make further inquiries. Five weeks later, the lawyers gave
her a progress report explaining that the case was not going too
well as they had just realized the child in question was her son.
Still watching your step
In another unusual case, Amber Cartdale of
Wyoming tried to take a local restaurant to court after he slipped
on a pool of Sprite and broke his coccyx as he hit the floor. He
said that this mishap had quite ruined his holiday as it is very
difficult to enjoy yourself under heavy sedation. Lawyers initially
agreed to take up the cudgels on his behalf but downgraded their
estimate of likely damages after looking up the word “coccyx” in
a dictionary and discovering where it is. However, the case is not
likely to come to court after Mr Cartdale admitted this week that he
had had a lovers’ tiff with his girlfriend. As she left the table
in a huff, he had thrown the Sprite all over her.
|
Jomtien find
GEOC (Grapevine Eating Out Collective) likes to call
into the Hop Picker out there on Jomtien Beach Road after losing yet
another game of golf. The atmosphere is friendly and the home made steak
and kidney pies are well worth sampling. The all day breakfast includes
Cumberland sausage and, surprise surprise, the fish and chips are made by
a Thai lady who certainly knows what she is doing... Also on food, reader
AF asks how he can be sure that his meals in Pattaya are low in
cholesterol. Well, the only restaurant we know that actually highlights
low cholesterol dishes on the menu is Amor in the alley between
Pattayaland sois two and three. Owner Richard Burk can also deal
successfully with guys and gals who are vegans or even want non alcoholic
beer in one of Pattaya’s best international dining venues. It’s
individual service with a smile.
Crackdown continues
It is a truism that all campaigns tend to widen their
tentacles as time goes by. So with the Pattaya social order crusade to
heal the resort’s sleazy image. There are now committees or sub
committees examining sex shows, farangs up to no good, closing times, baht
buses, rubbish disposal, traffic confusion, drugs and under age drinking.
What began as an attempt to enhance specifically Thai values in Thai
people has inevitably turned in part into a Blame The Foreigners Campaign.
It smacks of xenophobia. But if farangs actually are the problem, why are
so many work permits still handed out to foreign investors in nitery and
bar businesses? And why are some bars - it’s debatable how many -
catering for late drinkers in the city happily ignoring the 2 a.m.
closedown even if they do turn off the lights? Answers on a postcard
please.
Eternal truths
A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand
It is easier to get forgiveness than permission
A conscience is what hurts when all other parts feel
good
Junk is what you throw away two days before you need it
|
Shaman’s Rattle: To Sleep Perchance to Dream
by Marion
Shakespeare was surely aware of the restorative power
of sleep even without the aid of modern research. In their book,
“Natural Highs” (ISBN 0-7499-2254-0) Patrick Holford and Dr. Hyla Cass
state that, “A good sleep is the cheapest, safest, most available and
most natural high going.” Sleep deprivation, aside from being an ancient
method of torture, has a big impact on health and performance.
“Concentration and judgement decline, accident rates increase as does
irritability, and gastrointestinal, hormonal, cardiovascular and immune
problems,” say Holford and Hyla.
“During REM sleep (accelerated dreaming and rapid eye
movement) the brain replenishes its supply of neurotransmitters, such as
noradrenaline and serotonin, crucial for new learning and retention as
well as mood stabilization. Thus adequate REM sleep is vital for memory
storage, retention, organization, new learning and emotional balance.”
This may be information that we are instinctively or subconsciously aware
of.
In spite of having been seen to determinedly clutch the
bedclothes on the intrusion of the alarm at 5 a.m., at sometime or other
we have all lain awake staring at the walls listening for creaks in the
night. Perhaps because of a looming appointment with the dentist or the
taxman, coffee or cigarettes before bed, or simply for no reason at all.
Then we find sleeping pills, which are so heaven sent for a temporary
unusual situation such as a lengthy international flight, are just not the
answer. We discover pills interfere with normal restorative REM sleep, are
habituating and worse, quickly lose their effectiveness, requiring
increasing amounts. So it is a huge relief to discover there are natural
remedies that are far more effective than ‘mothers little helper’.
Good habits help. Planning for eight hours sleep a
night and going to bed and getting up at roughly the same time each day
sets up a triggering pattern. It seems obvious but so does avoiding naps
in the middle of the day!
“Our genetic blueprint for sleep has not evolved
quickly enough to keep pace with our fast paced modern lives. In the days
of candles most people slept an average of ten hours a night. In the
50’s and 60’s the average dropped to 8 hours, now it hovers around 7
and continues to fall.” Our mind and bodies pay the price, unless you
are a monk or lama or meditation adept with perfect mind control, then at
least eight hours sleep each night is vital for repair and rejuvenation.
An effective sleep inducer is the relaxation response,
progressively relaxing all the muscles. Similarly is meditation, by
emptying the mind of all thought and just concentrating on breathing.
Indeed some advanced yogis and practised meditators need very little
sleep, being able to slow their brain waves while apparently awake.
Attempting to practise lying meditation does it for me every time, in
minutes I am sound asleep and snoring, which is not the point, but it’s
still restorative, if not very spiritually advanced.
Stimulants before bedtime are often the unsuspected
culprits of sleepless nights, so it helps to restrict daily caffeine and
avoid coffee, alcohol and cigarettes altogether for at least a few hours
before bed. Other late night stimulation such as watching or reading
thrillers or anxiety provoking reports or projects are not to be
recommended either. Although boring stories and study notes can often
induce unconsciousness, even at inappropriate times some of us have found
to our embarrassment.
Serotonin, the body’s natural antidepressant and
neurotransmitter, improves mood, emotional stability, natural circadian
rhythm or healthy sleep-wake patterns, and dreaming. Fortunately serotonin
and its precursor tryptophan can be found in some foods; bananas, milk,
turkey and tuna are all sleep enhancing. So there you have the ideal
recipe for a nightly snack and there is something behind the old wives
tale of a glass of hot milk at bedtime.
Playing soothing music very softly is often a bridge
into the dream world as it has relaxing associations and helps mask out
other intrusive noise. If all else fails you can always employ someone who
talks underwater with a mouth full of marbles to sing you a lullaby.
Holford and Hyla further recommend, “If you need it
try kava, valerian or 5-HTP ... Kava seems to work on the body to bring on
deep restful sleep without interfering with natural cycles. Start with a
dosage of 60-75mg kava lactones, up to 200mg as a bedtime sedative. Other
sleep promoting herbs include valerian, Californian poppy, skullcap, hops
and passionflower.”
Dr Robert Giller in his book, “Natural
Prescriptions” (ISBN 1-85793-680-9) recommends, “Checking your
medications with your doctor, as some common medications, such as cold
remedies, some beta blockers, and appetite suppressants can cause
insomnia. In addition to regular habits and relaxation techniques at
bedtime, try the herb valerian, two capsules one hour before bedtime, and
take a cup of passionflower tea.” Dr Giller reports, “I’ve had great
success with some of my insomniac patients when they take a calcium
supplement at bedtime, Calcium 1,200 mg.” So there you are, the eyes or
should I say the ZZZ’s have it. Sweet dreams.
Antique, are they genuine? Glass in the USA
by Apichart Panyadee
Glass is collected in America with an enthusiasm and
vitality reflected in the large number of clubs and societies covering
every specialized topic. These organizations have done much to keep track
of forgeries and reproductions. They have turned out to be a boon for the
collector. For example, in 1985 the Heisey Glass Club purchased all the
Heisey molds on the closure of the Imperial factory to prevent them from
being used to make forgeries.
Pressed glass has been the mainstay of the American
glass industry since its introduction in the 1820s. In widespread use
today, it has also created some problems for collectors. In writing his
book on milk glass, E. McCamly Belknap felt the chapter on fakes was the
most important to help differentiate between antique and reproduction. For
instance, the Westmoreland Glass Company in Pennsylvania continued to make
clear pressed milk glass reproductions of early American originals
alongside their own creations from 1889 onwards. The later addition of the
initials “W” or “WG” helps to trace their products.
All
of these are American fakes exposed by Mary Gregory in her book on 19th
century art glass. She discovered them in a museum listed as a selection
of Mutzer creations.
A similar situation arose with the works of John E.
Kemple in Ohio. In 1947 Kemple had acquired 150 old molds and very quickly
unsigned milk glass appeared from the factory and was sold through two
large outlets.
Fortunately molds do eventually wear out, so production
is limited to some extent. But old pressed glass can still be difficult to
attribute because the companies who supplied the molds often sold copies
of the same mold to factories in America and England. In view of the many
complexities, the best advice to the aspiring collector is to join one of
the many glass societies and get to know the subject by talking to fellow
collectors.
In the area of blown glass the classic American style
is the blown 3-mold. In 1941 the MCKearins bought a group of glasses that
supposedly came from the Mutzer family in the early 19th century. After
some initial doubts the group was proved to be fake, possibly made in
Pennsylvania between 1920 and 1929. About 50 pieces have been located
since.
In New Jersey the Clevenger Bros. Glassworks made
reproductions which could be ordered by mail as late as the 1970s. Other
typical American patterns like the Lily Pad or the Hobnail are prime
targets.
Copies of art glass include the expensive Peachblow and
Burmese. Imitations of Wild Rose Peachblow from New England were made in
the 1950s but not in the original patterns and with poor chalky colors of
white shading up to red. The Burmese imitations one will come across are
rather easy to spot. They have a various color shading from a weak pink to
yellow. They suddenly appeared in antique shops in England in the 1970s.
Of a grainy, sugary texture, they probably come from Murano.
Animal Crackers: Bats in the Belfry
by Mirin MacCarthy
While repairing his ship on the north-eastern shores of
Australia at a place now known as Cooktown, Captain Cook and his crew made
several historical discoveries, one of them was the bat or flying fox as
the larger varieties are called. The story has it that a terrified seaman
rushed to the captain reporting coming face to face with a devil, “As
large as a one gallon keg and very like it, he had horns and wings, yet
crept slowly through the grass.” That sailor of three hundred years ago
had the same superstitious fear of “flying devils” as we do today.
Flying
Foxes (Pteropus scapulatus) make their home in tropical rainforests and
mangroves of Northeast Australia and Southeast Asian islands. They
probably earned the name ‘flying fox’ because of their small fox like
faces and eyes and reddish brown fur. They have leathery black wings,
black noses, and a wingspan of up to 200cm, weighing in at roughly 800
grams.
Unlike their smaller cousins, the bats, flying foxes
roost outside in the sun rather than in caves. High in the rainforest
canopy, camps of flying foxes hang upside-down together, in loud bickering
shrieking colonies of as many as a million!
Flying foxes use their excellent eyesight more than
echolocation, or bouncing sounds, to locate their food at night. These
creatures are fruit eaters and are not at all popular with Australian
mango growers. Flying foxes have a long bristly tongue that’s great for
lapping up juicy fruit, and for licking and grooming themselves and their
friends!
These social creatures will lick and groom each other
to express affection, and often nuzzle snouts! Male flying foxes get a
girl’s attention by singing loudly and flashing bunches of hair on their
backs! Female flying foxes think these hairy backs are the latest hot foxy
fashions!
There are over fifty different varieties of bats in
Australia of two major groups, the larger fruit bats including flying
foxes and the smaller insect eating bats. Bats generally are among the
least understood and most persecuted of all animals. Their nocturnal
habits and eerie location abilities have given them an evil rap.
Bats are the only mammals capable of sustained flight.
Numerous species are important as pollinators and seed dispersers; many
provide natural insect control, while others have played significant roles
in medical research. Australian Aboriginals hunted bats as a delicacy ages
ago and bats are still used as a source of food in some countries, while
other countries mine bat guano (excrement) as a valuable fertilizer.
Despite these contributions to mankind, bats are often needlessly
destroyed.
Many unfounded myths are often associated with bats.
One misconception is that bats are blind and will become entangled in a
person’s hair. In fact, bats are keenly perceptive, using both vision
and high frequency sounds to navigate. These sounds are often called sonar
or echolocation calls and enable bats to detect, and possibly identify,
insects smaller than a mosquito.
Another common misconception is that bats are flying
rats. Bats belong to the order Chiroptera, meaning “hand-wing”, and
are actually more closely related to humans than to rodents.
An understanding of the varied lifestyles of bats and
the numerous benefits we receive from these fascinating creatures may help
to dispel these fears.
Next week: vampire bats, fact or fiction?
The Computer Doctor
by Richard Bunch
From SC Pattaya: I am a European living in
Thailand. I recently heard some strange rumblings on the grapevine about
the use of copied software (un-licensed) used in Internet cafes and sold
elsewhere.
I was wondering if you can clarify this issue, as I
have heard nothing officially. Nor have I seen any articles in the Pattaya
Mail about this matter.
I have heard that there have been many arrests in the
Internet cafes of South Pattaya. Surely, the police have to send out
warnings to all Internet cafes in Pattaya giving them a date as to when
their software must all be licensed. I have a friend who owns an Internet
cafe in North Pattaya and she is worried sick. She hasn’t received any
official notification or letter from the police. She bought the whole cafe
as a job lot and the Windows software was pre-installed.
I have also heard through the grapevine that this is
not happening in Bangkok? Sure this has to be done properly with official
notification. Why pick on the Internet cafes when tourists are riding
around on copied Harleys, wearing copied designer clothes, not to mention
that just about everything else in Pattaya is copied.
Can you offer any light on this subject? Can you email
me please, ASAP as my friend is very concerned? Thanks for your time.
Computer Doctor replies: My, we have opened a
‘can of worms’ haven’t we? Normally I wouldn’t answer a letter on
this subject but in this case, I will make an exception. Firstly, this
column is intended to provide advice to bona fide individuals and
companies, so it is not really surprising that this topic hasn’t
previously been aired here.
On the subject of software piracy, whilst it is true to
say that this software is readily available here in Thailand; no one is
making you either buy or use it. The vendor is committing an offence as is
the purchaser who uses it. There is very little software available that
doesn’t require a licence; such software is generally known as Freeware,
and similarly some Shareware programs allow a trial period after which a
licence fee is payable if the software remains installed. However,
mainstream applications from developers like Microsoft do require
licensing. When their software is installed, the licence agreement is
displayed and requires your agreement before the installation can proceed.
Aside from the legal issue, one of the main reasons for using licensed
software is the availability of technical support, patches and often
upgrades.
As to whether the police are raiding establishments in
Pattaya or anywhere else for that matter, I’m afraid I cannot comment.
Irrespective of how your friend came by the software, if she doesn’t
possess valid licences then she risks the due process of law. If your
friend is as you say worried sick then the remedy is in her own
hands, namely to obtain licenses for the software she is using. The police
are hardly likely to advise when raids are to take place. Your software
should already be licensed; after all if your house was full of stolen
goods would you expect the police to advise you they were on the way?
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 0 1782
4829, fax 0 3871 6816, e-mail: [email protected] or see the firm’s website
www.act.co.th
Social Commentary by Khai Khem
Vacation offers sights and insights but no escape
One of the great pleasures of traveling abroad, if
you’re lucky enough to get to do it, is that for a few deluded days you
get to abandon your problems. Your personal problems? The nation’s
problems? You throw some clothes into a suitcase, dash off for the
airport, and once the jet wheels pop off the tarmac, all those problems
shrink as fast as the gridlock down there on the ground, as insignificant
to you now as those dirty dishes you left in the sink.
“I’m going south, far south, to some place of
little interest to bin Laden and his buddies,” my American friend
recently joked to anyone who cared about his upcoming vacation. Ha!
Let’s face it; no one really cares about anyone’s vacation but their
own?
January is summer in Buenos Aires. The jacaranda trees
are in lavender bloom. Old men teach tango to passersby in the street. The
cabbies in their tiny Peugeots and Renaults used to take American dollars
as happily as they took pesos. Now they grab at them like they were life
support systems. My friend got a relatively cheap fare. So-called
“cheap” since we all know Argentina is not exactly around the corner
from Pattaya.
Of course when we were all curious as to why he chose
that particular country just now, he simply shrugged and said it was as
far away from his problems as he could find on the map. Problems? Who’s
got problems? We all live in Fun City. Who could have problems here?
The Argentineans certainly have some problems. But
that’s the luxury of being a mere tourist. The problems of the place you
visit aren’t your own. You can learn about them with curiosity, even
empathy, but then breeze on. Just watch the tourists on Beach Road. Do
they look like they are very interested in Thailand’s problems? Hell no.
They are ticked off because they can’t drink and carouse until dawn
anymore.
So every day since my friend departed, I read, with a
foreigner’s curiosity, about Argentina’s problems in the Buenos Aires
Herald which can be pulled off the Internet. In real print it is a thin
tabloid with smudging ink so taking off the web is great and doesn’t
smear my clothes with black streaks.
It didn’t take long to learn that the Argentine soul,
like the average soul everywhere, is stirred primarily by what is local.
Bin Laden and the American war against him always grabbed a few inches of
the lower half of the front page, but they were never the lead story.
I read about Argentina’s economic crisis and about
thousands of protesters marching in the streets to complain that the
government was trying to reduce the deficit by reducing pensions and
health care for the poor. I read about the floods, the worst in Argentina
since 1914, that have drowned half a million acres of wheat fields and
left thousands of people homeless. The more I read, the more the economics
and politics of the place worried me, but they still remained someone
else’s problems. I was curious as to whether my friend who was
vacationing there was having any fun.
When he finally returned I found out that he did
actually have a pretty good time. He and a fellow traveler had decided to
wander far a field to find some place where he thought terrorists
wouldn’t find him. Apparently Iguazu Falls, where Argentina meets
Paraguay and Brazil is one of the world’s natural wonders. “No
terrorists in Iguazu Falls,” he figured as he and his buddy planned the
excursion. When he returned the local newspaper had a front-page story
which made him cringe. “U.S. authorities have evidence that Al Qaeda,
the terrorist organization headed by terrorist Osama bin Laden, has a base
of operations on the border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay,” the
daily O Globo reported. Terrorists in Iguazu? In blissful ignorance my
friend had a marvelous time. He saw blue butterflies and swam in the
crystal clear waters below the roaring falls in scenery we would all
describe as “picture post-card”.
My friend had been imagining a trip as far as an
American could get from the fears of his own country, and it turns out he
may have been frolicking next to a terror cell. Travel always teaches you
things you didn’t know and realize you should have. It expands the world
and shrinks it, teaches you how big it is and how small. And, just as sure
as those dishes will still be sitting dirty in the sink when you get back,
it teaches you that in a world as linked as this one, there is no true
escape.
Roll over Rover: Why bother training?
by C. Schloemer
Exley, named after a famous writer, is a three-year-old
male German shorthaired pointer who lives in Pattaya. His owner acquired
him from a good hearted veterinarian in Chonburi who offered to find him a
home when the previous owner went back to England because of personal
health reasons and could not take Exley with him.
The new owner, a petite Thai lady, and Exley loved each
other at first sight. Unfortunately she found that she simply wasn’t
strong enough to override her dog’s boundless energy. Exley pulled on
his leash during his evening walks, dragging her along the sidewalk, as
she struggled to keep up with him. He only listened to her commands when
the mood struck him, and was destructive when she left for work. He was
also a headache when she entertained guests. But all in all she seemed to
think that the relationship was working; however, she sensed that Exley
wasn’t as happy as he could be. She asked me to come over and observe
Exley for a while and come up with a few suggestions as to how she could
train her canine friend to accommodate her wishes without so much hassle.
I saw that his pacing and whining habits were not signs
of a mentally relaxed dog. Neither was the destructive chewing that went
on while he was left alone, nor was pulling on the lead, which left him
choking on the way to the park. Exley was a blur of excitement. Happy,
yes. But he didn’t know what to do with himself. Quickly I reached for a
ball, and luckily I had brought one of my teaching leashes with me. The
ball was for Exley. The teaching lead was for my control. After just a few
minutes I discovered a highly intelligent animal that eagerly soaked up
every direction I gave him. He was a dog willing to cooperate. He just
didn’t know what his new owner wanted from him. He was like a spoiled
brat crying out for guidance.
Unfortunately, this is an all too common problem. From
Exley’s point of view, he was the leader, first to greet company at the
door, got attention whenever he wanted it, and led his owner to the park.
So who could solve his problems for him? Only his owner could fix these
problems. She had to take responsibility for creating the problems as well
finding solutions. She could do all this by training, and by making a
commitment to give Exley direction and by becoming his leader.
This is true of all owners and their dogs. Whether the
owner’s problems are similar to the one just described or not, the
importance of training is immense. Training is the solution. It defines
the hierarchy. It puts the owner in charge and gives the dog the freedom
to be dog. Both owner and pooch will be happier, more content with one
another and less stressed out. Training can set both of you free.
A Slice of Thai History: The Opium Trade
Part Seven 1959-1966
by
Duncan Stearn
Sarit was allegedly unconcerned about international
opinion regarding the opium trade; however, General Thanom and General
Swai, the police commander, convinced him that continuing the trade openly
was against Thailand’s national interests.
Therefore, in January 1959, the Thai government passed
the Harmful Habit-Forming Drugs Act, banning the production and sale of
opium. All opium smokers were required to register with the Department of
Excise and seek treatment in official centres within a period of six
months. Within a short space of time, over 70,000 people registered as
opium users. By June 1959, some 900 previously licensed opium dens had
been closed down. Many were later turned into massage parlours.
The opium trade simply went underground and into the
murky arms of underworld figures.
A Corsican criminal named Paul Louis Levet, a former
gold smuggler, was one of the major suppliers to the European heroin
market. Levet had plied his trade between Saigon and Marseille, but in
1955, following the collapse of the gold trafficking market, he turned to
opium and moved to Bangkok, establishing the Pacific Industrial Company.
This organisation, according to the US Narcotics Bureau, was a cover for
opium smuggling.
Levet employed an airline run by fellow Corsican Roger
Zoile to move his product from the Golden Triangle to seaports in
Thailand, Cambodia and South Vietnam.
Zoile was one of three major players in Air Laos
Commerciale, an airline otherwise colloquially known as ‘Air Opium’.
The others were Gerard Labenski and Rene ‘Babal’ Enjabal, a former
French air force officer, with the whole operation overseen by the
Saigon-based Corsican Bonaventure ‘Rock’ Francisci.
However, in October 1962 Rene Enjabal was arrested when
a routine smuggling flight from Vientiane to Cambodia and thence out into
the Gulf of Thailand came unstuck when he fell asleep on the return
journey and drifted into Thai airspace.
Forced to land by Thai air force jets, he was accused
of spying and Enjabal confessed that he had been smuggling opium. Enjabal
was given a six-week prison sentence and then allowed to return to Laos.
However, the resultant international publicity brought about the end of
his airline.
Then, in mid-July 1963, Paul Louis Levet’s activities
in Thailand came to an abrupt end when he, and an accomplice, were
arrested by Thai police at Don Muang Airport in Bangkok carrying 18 kilos
of Burmese opium. His accomplice received a five-year prison sentence
while Levet was released for ‘lack of evidence’ and deported from
Thailand. He disappeared without a trace.
Following a major offensive by combined Burmese and
Chinese forces against KMT troops inside the Shan States in January 1961,
the majority of the 10,000 or so KMT soldiers fled into Laos. The United
States offered to help in the repatriation of the KMT troops to Taiwan and
during March 1961, over 4,000 soldiers crossed the Mekong River and were
trucked to Chiang Rai where they boarded flights for Taiwan.
Nonetheless, some 2,000 KMT regulars remained behind in
Laos and were hired by the CIA to help strengthen right-wing forces in the
region.
However, as the right-wing position fell apart in early
1962, these KMT troops crossed into Thailand, with the knowledge and
consent of the Thai government.
They established hilltop bases near the Burmese border
and returned to the opium trade to finance their operations.
By 1966, with Thailand on the front-line of
anti-communism in Southeast Asia, the government ‘employed’ the
services of the KMT troops operating along the northern frontier, using
them as a form of border patrol force. The KMT, for their part, exacted a
duty on all opium entering Thailand.
Reports vary, but it was claimed that at one time the
KMT patrolled the length of the northern border from Mae Sai to Mae Hong
Son as a kind of surrogate customs force.
|