HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

Fundamentals of Thai economy are sound says GTCC

Second US Tsunami-Detection-System launched in Indian Ocean

Skal Thailand board meets in Bangkok

Airline has gay old time chasing pink dollar

Thailand sends One-Two-Go flight recorders to US

Amazing Bangkok Package

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Fundamentals of Thai economy are sound says GTCC

Peter Nordhues
On September 14, the Moon River Pub in North Pattaya was once again the venue for the regulars’ table of the German Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC). This time the function, which takes place every second Friday of every other month, had over 60 guests.

GTCC deputy chairman Stefan Bürkle gives a brief account of the chamber’s trip to Rayong earlier that day.
Rene Pisters, general manager of the Thai Garden Resort, and guest service manager Claudia Pauli warmly welcomed the “Stammtisch” guests, this being Claudia’s introduction to the event.
Prior to the official opening, everybody had the chance to enjoy a glass of beer or wine and to catch up on the latest community happenings. Just before 7 p.m., GTCC deputy chairman Stefan Bürkle gave a brief account of the trip to Rayong earlier that day. That morning, the chamber had visited the Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (ESIE) and the car manufactory Auto Alliance (AAT) Ford/Mazda with a group of 50 people.
“If we read some publications about Thailand’s current economical state, we might receive the impression that it is lame or in decline,” said Stefan. “From what our group saw today, however, we can tell a different story.
“Construction activities are brisk, indicating a thriving trade circle. The automobile manufacturing sites in Rayong are working to full capacity, producing cars for export. It seems as if the strong baht has had no negative effect on this area of operations. Thus, I say we should not listen to this prophecy of doom. One thing that became clear to us today is the sound fundamentals of the Thai economy.
“Now, following an exhausting bus trip, I am sure all of you are ready to beef up. I herewith declare the buffet opened.”
The attendees hesitated not a moment, and within an instant the delicious-as-usual buffet was surrounded. The evening, as always, continued late, with a good crowd dancing to the rhythms of the Power Jam Band.

(L to R) Rene Pisters, general manager of the Thai Garden Resort, GTCC deputy chairman Stefan Bürkle and Thai Garden Resort guest service manager Claudia Pauli warmly welcome “Stammtisch” guests.

The attendees didn’t hesitate a moment after the delicious buffet
was declared open.

The Moon River Pub in North Pattaya was once again packed
with Stammtisch members.

Second US Tsunami-Detection-System launched in Indian Ocean

U.S.-Indonesia agreement targets ocean climate science, observations

Cheryl Pellerin
USINFO Staff Writer
A second tsunami-detection system for the Indian Ocean was launched from Jakarta, Indonesia, September 19, part of the $1 billion U.S. recovery, restoration and technical contribution to the region after the 9.1-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated the area in 2004.
The first device, called a deep-ocean assessment and reporting of tsunami (DART) system, launched from Phuket in December 2005 and was placed on the seafloor at 9 degrees north, 89 degrees east, halfway between Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Officials from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are visiting Indonesia to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with their counterparts from the archipelago nation’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.
The agreement, signed September 18, focuses on cooperation in ocean and coastal observations and observing systems, marine and coastal hazard mitigation and ocean climate research.
“Indonesia is an emerging economy,” Richard Spinrad, NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research, told USINFO, “and it’s a good time for us in the United States to do technology sharing and scientific exchanges. The MOU will give us that opportunity.”
The same Indonesian vessel that will carry the DART also will launch four ATLAS buoys that will be moored to the seafloor in the Indian Ocean.
“NOAA has used the ATLAS buoys for many years to monitor oceanic and atmospheric processes in other oceans,” Spinrad said. “Now, the opportunity to get the same kind of data in the Indian Ocean will be extremely valuable.”
A key challenge in understanding the relationship between ocean and climate, he said, is understanding the movement of water in the ocean. A particularly troublesome area is called the Indonesian throughflow, where warm, low-salinity Pacific water weaves through the Indonesian seas and islands into the eastern boundary of the Indian Ocean.
“Exactly how those currents develop and what volumes of water flow at what times and what rates, how the temperature changes in the water and flows through is very important for us to understand - for example, El Niño,” he said.
A second DART buoy will be placed in the Indian Ocean as part of the regions tsunami warning system.
The MOU also will create opportunities for collaboration involving traditional fisheries and aquaculture, and for a relationship between NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program and the Indonesian Sea Partnership Program.
Sea Grant is NOAA’s primary university-based program to promote environmental stewardship, long-term economic development and responsible use of coastal, ocean and Great Lakes resources.
The Indonesian Sea Grant Program was established by Widi Pratikto, director general of coasts and small islands in the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, who became familiar with the Sea Grant program while working on his Ph.D. at North Carolina State University.
After returning to Indonesia, he started what has become the Sea Partnership Program in Indonesia, now with a network of 19 regional centers. Spinrad expects students from Indonesia to visit Sea Grant colleges in Florida over the next few months.
Under a separate agreement, NOAA is contributing a DART system, designed by NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, to be placed at 0 degrees north, 92 degrees east, 700-800 kilometers offshore of Jakarta. Indonesia will provide ship time to launch the buoy and also will maintain the DART.
DART systems provide real-time tsunami detection as waves travel across open water, and each station is linked to a satellite for real-time data transmission on global networks.
Over the next year or two, NOAA and ocean scientists in Indonesia and Thailand also will test the next-generation of DART systems, called easy-to-deploy DARTs, with the same functionality as the current DARTs but deployable from a fishing boat rather than a large ship.
The Indonesian and Thai DARTs are just part of the fledgling Indian Ocean tsunami warning system. An end-to-end system for tsunamis and other hazards begins with hazard detection and forecasting and includes experts to evaluate the threat and issue alerts, a public alert system that includes sirens and cell phone messages, and communities that are prepared for such warnings and know how to respond to save lives and property.
Training and building community awareness are a big part of building such a system, and agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development, NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency have contributed significantly to these and other efforts.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission has the lead for developing regionally based programs in the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific Ocean. But thanks to the Tsunami Warning and Education Act, signed into law in December 2006, U.S. agencies like NOAA have formal authority to contribute to international hazard warning systems, Spinrad said.
“We at NOAA have been and will continue to be active in technology development and technical support,” he added.
An animation of the DART system is available at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Web site.
USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov

Skal Thailand board meets in Bangkok

Seen pictured are (l-r) Bob Lee SI Bkk, Somsak Kiratipanich SI Bkk, David Thomas SI Chiang Mai, Brian Sinclair Thompson President SI Bkk, Anchalee Kalmapijit, President SI Chaing Mai, Thomas Hoeborn President-elect SI Hua Hin, Khun Malai, Horst Hornung President SI Koh Samui, Andrew Swatdipakdi SI Phuket,Joan Sarasin SI Pattaya, Deborah Bundityanond President, SI Pattaya & East Thailand and Andrew Wood Skal Intl Councilor for Thailand.

The six clubs of Thailand and their presidents joined Khun Malai Sakolviphak, Skal International (SI) Thailand President, at the Chaophya Park Hotel in Bangkok recently for its bi-annual Executive Committee Board meeting.
During the meeting the presidents discussed a wide range of topics including the upcoming Skal World Congress 04-09 Nov 2007 in Turkey and the Asian Area Congress 21-25 May 2008 in Koh Samui. SI membership development was high on the agenda, the clubs reporting a 64% jump in Thailand membership over the past five years.