Anantara Resort -Hua Hin

Hua Hin's Anantara Resort is a charmingly refined place with a seaside setting, writes Supida Kaewsuksombat.

The 187-room Anantara Resort in Hua Hin is a distinctive Thai village-style property located on the sunrise coast of the Gulf of Thailand, around 220 kilometres south of Bangkok. Hidden amidst 14 acres of luxuriantly landscaped gardens and lagoon pools, the picturesque resort enjoys a beachfront location at the quiet end of Hua Hin's long sandy beach.
A three-metre high terracotta wall cleverly cocoons the resort from the hustle and bustle of town. As you make your way along the landscaped driveway, a sense of clam descends. Polished timber floors and Thai-style sala (pavilions) heighten the ambience of the intimate tropical hideaway.
Echoing Hua Hin's mainly provincial, primary low-rise landscape, the Anantara comprises 21 two-storey structures interspersed with meandering pathways and ponds filled with lotus blossoms and lily pads. All garden and sea-view rooms and suites feature private balconies or terraces.
For those looking to indulge, the Lagoon Wing boasts 38 rooms and 12 Anantara Suites with large balconies surrounding a private pool and lagoon. The Lagoon Wing provides guests with the highest levels of attentive service and first-rate facilities. Guests in the luxurious Lagoon Wing can enjoy benefits such as a roundtrip airport pick up, in-room express check-in, a beautiful selection of signature soaps, one-hour Internet connection, CD and DVD selection, a choice of local daily English newspaper, an iPod connection and breakfast in your room or in the restaurant not far from the beach.
Three bars (including a pool bar) and four restaurants present guests with an extensive choice of wining and dining options. Breakfast is offered at Issara Cafe, which offers both a buffet and a la carte options. If alfresco dining is more your style, enjoy grilled specialities, sandwiches or pizza during the day and beachside barbecue dinners at Sai Thong.
The resort's signature restaurant, Baan Thalia, offers an innovative Italian menu for dinner only. Overlooking the swimming pool, Rim Nam serves international fare during the day. Classic Thai favourites and local dishes are presented in the evenings when the restaurant takes on an intimate ambience with a view of the romantically lit pool and palm trees.
With its elaborate teak ceiling, large overhead fans and ornate furniture, Sala Siam, adjacent to the lobby, is reminiscent of times long gone. Enjoy international and Thai cuisine for lunch and dinner or sip a cocktail and listen to live music in the evening.
For the ultimate in relaxation and rejuvenation, book a massage, health or beauty treatment at the stunningly sensual Anantara Spa. For those with more energy to burn, the resort has a fitness centre and tennis courts. Five golf courses are within a short drive of the resort. Thai cooking classes, excursions to Hua Hin's nature-based attractions and an array of water sports are amongst the recreational pursuits available.

History's wanton women

The journal of a 17th-century Austrian merchant offers a lopsided view of Siam's lewd ladies

There are few things that raise Thai hackles more than hearing their beloved country branded by foreigners as a sex paradise.
Yet this reputation does not date back, as one might imagine, to the Vietnam War, when American serviceman flooded into Bangkok and Pattaya for rest and recreation and the sex trade thrived.
In fact, the image can be traced back to the 17th century when junk merchants regularly passed through the kingdom. Christoph Carl Fernberger von Egenberg, for example, described Siamese women as "excessively lewd".
"They are always approaching the men and urging them to go with them into their houses and have sex with them," he wrote in his diary, which was discovered in 1972.
Fernberger arrived in the harbour of Ayutthaya in November 1624 during the reign of King Songtham. He was 26 at the time. His accounts of his travels in the region, which include Siam and Pattani, are almost unknown to foreign scholars but many Austrian historians believe Fernberger was the first of their countrymen to set foot in the two Southeast Asian harbour cities.
The first Austrian in Ayutthaya was impressed by the wealth of the kingdom and the wise rule of the Siamese king as well as his "open door policy" and strict law enforcement, says associate professor Helmut Lukas who recently talked about Fernberger's diary at a Siam Society lecture organised in cooperation with Chulalongkorn University's Centre for European Studies.
Lukas, however, doesn't agree with Fernberger's perspective of the women in Ayutthaya.
"Like any big port, Ayutthaya had a well-established prostitution ring catering to foreign seamen. But it would be wrong to assume that their behaviour was indicative of Thai women of that era," says Lukas, an academic with the Social Anthropology Research Unit, Centre for Studies in Asian Cultures, Austrian Academy of Science.
As an independent observer with no obligations to a trading company, Fernberger's diary may offer an alternative perspective to the often one-sided Dutch sources, the Austrian anthropologist adds.
"But his pages on the women in Ayutthaya were based on his impressions of a very limited area, which he wrongly extrapolated to the entire country," Lukas points out.
Unfortunately, many Dutch merchants held similar views of the woman they took as their "wives" in Ayutthaya, according to professor Barbara Watsan Andaya, author of the paper "From Temporary Wife to Prostitute: Sexuality and Economic Change in Early Modern Southeast Asia" published in the Journal of Women's History in 1998.
"VOC employees in Ayutthaya even referred to their 'wives' as whores, sluts and trollops and the like," writes the professor of History and Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii.
While researching her paper, Andaya discovered that other than several works covering prostitution, no historical investigation has been carried out into the changing attitudes toward sexuality in Southeast Asia, despite the fact that the "high status" of women is often cited as characteristic of the region.
Siamese women in the 17th century are also mentioned in the diary of French ambassador Simon de La Loub่re, who arrived in Ayutthaya some 30 years after Fernberger.
The ambassador writes in his memoirs about a brothel in the capital of Ayutthaya, which was home to some 600 women from different levels of society, including the daughters and wives of the court's noblemen.
La Loub่re, who was in Siam during the reign of King Narai, also relates how prostitution tax, collected from those with permission to run brothels, was first imposed in this reign and that the largest brothel was run by one of the king's noblemen.
Prostitution in the port city of Pattani is also mentioned in the journals of several 17th-century foreign traders.
The Dutch merchant Van Neck, who arrived in Pattani in the early 1600s, describes the women at the harbour and their services.
"When foreigners come from other lands to do their business…men come and ask them whether they desire a woman. The young women and girls also come and present themselves, from whom they may choose the one most agreeable to them, provided they agree what he shall pay for certain months. Once they agree about the money (which does not amount to much for so great a convenience), she comes to his house, and serves him by day as his maidservant and by night as his wedded wife."
For his part, the foreign trader had to agree not to consort with other women while the temporary wife was similarly forbidden to converse with other men. The "marriage" was deemed to last for as long as the man kept up his residence, "in good peace and unity".
Fernberger, who arrived in Pattani in December 1624, wasn't interested in hooking up with a woman at the harbour. His attention was on the female ruler with whom he had been granted an audience.
Pattani was under the rule of Raja Ungu, the third of four successive queens to take the throne. Fernberger describes her as an absolutist ruler who did not listen to any council.
In his diary he describes the royal entourage of 200 women. As a sign of royal power, she kept about 50 elephants and possessed some 50 men who she used for her sexual pleasure.
Lukas says the women of Pattani, and especially the queen, enjoyed many liberties.
"This proves that being a Muslim doesn't mean being "macho" or a misogynist. The gender equality in the old Pattani kingdom sets an example for modern times," he says.
But some of Fernberger's accounts about the queen are much less credible.
Lukas smiles as he recounts Fernberger's reason for leaving Pattani.
He writes that after being granted an audience with Raja Ungu, she provided him with a house and 10 slaves. He later helped her fight the Siam invasion in January 1625 in which Pattani won the battle. The young Austrian describes how the queen expressed her gratitude by sending him a present and passing on a message that she would visit him at night.
"Fernberger says a Malay colonel gave him to understand that the queen intended to make love with him. As he'd heard that men who had failed to meet her high expectations were ordered to be killed, Fernberger clandestinely sneaked down to the shore, boarded a small sailboat and went back to Ayutthaya. His stay in Pattani lasted 71 days," says the professor, laughing.

From : http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/07/23/lifestyle/lifestyle_30041864.php

Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

The Nation

Life and the cultures of death

Coming to terms with the end can offer us a new beginning, as those who care for the terminally ill discover

Individualists see dying as a very personal matter. For others, the way in which we die can benefit those who survive us. It has been 14 years since the Venerable Buddhadasa Bhikkhu moved on to another realm, but his admirers continue to wonder at - and learn from - the way he faced his last moments in this world.
The monk suffered several strokes before lapsing into a coma on May 25, 1993. Forty-four days later he died at his residence in the forest temple of Suan Mokkh, having been released from hospital, still unconscious, on July 8.
It's been said that he would have died on his birthday, May 27, had his life not been artificially prolonged. While Buddhadasa lay in a coma, two cultures of dying clashed.
At a recent seminar commemorating what would have been Buddhadasa's 101st birthday, sociologist Prawase Wasi noted that the doctors insisted on using medical technology, while his disciples would have preferred to honour the monk's wish and let nature take its course.
"The monk said he would not carry his body to escape death," said Prof Dr Prawase, who visited Suan Mokkh in 1991, when Buddhadasa's memory was enfeebled but he could still occasionally preach.
Prawase recalled that he was studying abroad when his 85-year-old grandmother told a relative she knew her time had come to die, but she wanted to wait for his return.
Three months after he came home, his grandmother - though in good health - stopped eating and drinking and soon died peacefully.
It was a stark contrast to the view of death shared by many terminal ill people today, he said. Many are willing to spend a fortune trying to prolong their lives.
Prawase also frets over modern health treatment, remembering a woman who was devastated when hospital staff refused to let her hold her dying husband's hand.
Artificially prolonging life is widely viewed as the ethical way. Others see it as prolonging death.
"It's a very sensitive issue," Prawase said.
"We should be better able to understand the diversity of cultures."
Since Buddhadasa's death, Prawase said, more doctors and nurses have begun attaching greater importance to the dying patient's emotional state and try to ease their final moments.
Komatra Chuengsatiansup, director of the Ministry of Public Health's Society and Health Institute, cited examples of different cultures that utilise rituals to help people come to terms with death. China has a funeral tradition by which the relatives of the deceased cross a bridge seven times, symbolically accompanying the departed spirit into heaven.
In old Siam, said the Buddhist author and ecologist Venerable Paisal Visalo, death was acknowledged as a natural part of life with community gatherings. These days it's a private matter.
"Can you imagine what would happen today if you held a funeral in your housing estate?"
"These days," Phra Paisal said, "we try to forget death altogether. We search for physical happiness, glorify youthfulness and repel ageing."
Social worker Supaporn Pongpreuk found a way to integrate modern technology with dying peacefully at home. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 she underwent chemotherapy, then decided to heal herself naturally, through meditation and mindfulness.
Her close friend Surapee Chootrakul saw the calming effect, and in a TV documentary taped six month before her death, Supaporn explained that she spoke to her pain "as a friend. 'Dear pain, today I have already tried - can you be kinder to me?'
"It depends on how you put your mind to responding to the pain."
Surapee joined Supaporn's relatives and other friends in taking turns visiting her at home, meditating with her, giving her massages.
One friend played the flute to soothe her - and became a better musician. Another helper learned how to help - he discovered the value of a caring community.
Dr Termseak Puengrasamee of Prince of Songkhla University, who treated Supaporn, said it was their mutual decision to pursue the self-healing at home.
Her home is where she really belonged, he said - she had elderly relatives there and a mae chee (nun) who Supaporn respected. They joined her meditation and chanting, which can't be done at a hospital.
Kandawsri Tulathumkij, a nurse in the radiology department at the same university, pointed out that groups of medical personnel meet regularly to share their experiences as caretakers of the dying.
"State-of-the-art technology alone can't help them die peacefully," she said. "The societal and spiritual approaches must come into play.
"Physical death is the same for everyone," Kandawsri added, "but when it comes to spiritual death, a hundred people have a hundred ways of dying."

Thai youth hooked on computer games

About one in every four youths play computer games everyday, a poll reveals.Abac Poll Research Centre found 26.3 per cent of those aged 10 to 15 play computer games everyday or nearly everyday. Another 21.1 per cent plays between three and four days a week.
Almost one quarter of those playing on a daily basis are aged between 16 years and 20 years and one fifth is aged 21 years to 24.
In general, almost a quarter of youth plays on a daily basis or nearly everyday while 22 per cent plays between three days and four days a week. Another 23 per cent plays between one and two days a week.
The survey found 10 to 15 year olds play an average of two hours and 44 minutes a day while those aged 16 years to 20 years play about three hours and 13 minutes. Twenty-one to 24 year olds play three hours and 21 minutes.
So, in general, youths play computer games, online or offline, approximately three hours and one minute a day.
Entertainment was the main motivation for 97.8 per cent of respondents, reducing stress from study or work was cited by 91.7 per cent while 83.4 per cent sought to develop computer skills. Seventy-four per cent likes to make new gaming friends and 74 per cent likes to meet people online.
Respondents admitted to negative aspects of playing computer games.
Wasted money was cited by 89.4 per cent, eyesight problems was admitted to by 82.9 per cent and 64.7 per cent said it was a waste of time and 50.6 per cent admitted to it affecting study or work.
Centre director Noppadon Kannika concluded that 90 per cent of polled youths played games in the 30-day period before the poll and more than half love playing fighting and shooting games.
Compared with results two years ago, the number enjoying violent games had increased, he said. He encouraged the government to implement preventive measures against violence in youth.
The survey was conducted from July 8 to July 25 and involved 1,441 people aged between 10 and 24 in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces.

SheiKra @ Busch Gardens Tampa

The name SheiKra evokes the power and speed of an African hawk as it twists and plunges - giving riders a 70 mph, adrenaline-pumping experience like no other. At 200 feet, SheiKra now takes the crown as Florida's tallest roller coaster. This thrill machine is also the tallest dive coaster in the world and the first of its kind to incorporate an Immelmann loop (a rolling maneuver), a second, 138-foot dive into an underground tunnel and a water-feature finale. SheiKra offers three minutes of over-the-edge excitement on more than half a mile of steel track.SheiKra serves as the centerpiece of Busch Gardens' newly themed Stanleyville area, which also includes the new 500-seat, indoor/outdoor Zambia Smokehouse. The restaurant is situated on the coaster's perimeter, allowing guests to be a part of the action while dining.You must be 54 inches tall to ride SheiKra. For safety, certain physical restrictions may apply.

http://www.buschgardens.com/BGT/sheikra_wm_medium.html

* US theme park on Google Map

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&om=1&z=4&msid=107932430623888862840.00000111e34520bdf8b76&msa=0

Bangkok

Bangkok was founded in 1782 by the first monarch of the present Chakri dynasty. It is now the country's spiritual, cultural, diplomatic, commercial and educational hub. It covers an area of more than 1,500 square kilometres, and it is home to approximatlely ten million people or more than 10% of the country's population.
Over the last few decades, Thailand's capital city, Bangkok, has changed into a modern, exciting and sophisticated city. It offers to visitors not only the cosmopolitan amenities they would expect from other big cities, but also a unique treasure trove of cultural attractions. Thailand, in the heart of Southeast Asia, was never colonised and thus kept its unique culture and heritage intact. Bangkok offers visitors the opportunity to experience fascinating glimpse of Thailand's gentle culture amidst the bustle of a great and dynamic metropolis. This great city has had astounding success in combining the ancient and modern world.
For tourists, Bangkok has a feast of attractions to offer. The city is dotted with 400 glittering Buddhist temples of great beauty and fascination, magnificent palaces, classical dance extravaganzas, numerous shopping centres and traditional ways of life, especially along the "Venice of the East" timeless canals and the Chao Phraya River of the "River of Kings" winding through the city. It is worth taking a trip along its waters before exploring further into different canals to take a glimpse of old Bangkok.
Useful tourist information on Bangkok can be obtained from the official website of the Bangkok Tourism Division : http://www.bangkoktourist.com/

Planet of the apes

Set down in Lop Buri and you'll find that the monkey is king, writes Steve Rhodes

Monkeys are everywhere just like being wound up as an extra in a "Planet of the Apes" movie.
It has been a long, hard journey filled with fitful slumbers and wild dreams, and when I finally stagger off the bus at the Lop Buri bus terminal, I can't help feeling that I must still be dreaming, and that I have somehow wound up as an extra in a "Planet of the Apes" movie.
Monkeys are everywhere, swarming along power lines and periodically leaping down and helping themselves to some choice morsel from a noodle vendor's cart before fleeing back to the safety of their lofty perches, just out of range of the enraged vendor's slingshot.
I make my way across the street in search of a bowl of fortifying noodles and discover Nirundorn Luengsak-sri, an earnest young man of extraordinary talent and ability, who has transformed the humble thong sandal into an art form with some deft strokes of a sharp knife and a vivid imagination. His designs were originally inspired by the monkeys but he has since branched out into more ambitious and lavish models.
Prices range from about Bt200 upwards, depending on the complexity of the patterns. Being something of a thong buff, I promptly snap up several pairs.
Nirundorn tells me an interesting story.
"Monkeys run this place," he says. He goes on to explain how the human population have even erected a temple in the middle of the town to accommodate the thousands of simians who populate the place.
The temple was built 800 years ago and has become the scene of an interesting annual event known as the Monkey Banquet.
Tradition demands that when you visit the temple and pray to the monkey god for help or advice, and actually get the help that you ask for, you must repay the monkeys with an offering of food. A local hotel owner who wanted to improve his business got wind of this and dropped by the temple to seek guidance.
Business boomed and he was so grateful that he now stages a massive feast at the temple every year where the monkeys gorge themselves on all manner of delicacies while the newspapers and television networks have a field day covering the event.
Nirundorn has asked the monkeys for help with his thong carving business and it is also doing very well. He suggests that I should pop round and have a look at the temple and then proceed on to the recently completed monkey hospital at the local zoo, which has been set up by the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand to treat ageing monkeys who, not as agile as they used to be, have been involved in road accidents.
The hospital has four staff made up of two vets and a couple of wranglers who help subdue larger apes while they are having minor illnesses treated without anaesthetics.
Then there's Colonel Virat Phupeangjai, once a director of the zoo. He retired four years ago and is now secretary of the Lop Buri branch of the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation.
Voluntary work at the hospital keeps him pretty busy but what spare time he has is devoted to writing. Recently he completed a book called "Mike", a hilarious account of the life and times of one of the zoo's more colourful characters, an orang-utan who was being smuggled out of Indonesia but was intercepted at Bangkok airport and sent to Lop Buri Zoo.
His subsequent adventures are chronicled in the colonel's book which is lavishly illustrated and well worth a read. It's available at the hospital for Bt95 and proceeds from the sale go towards buying much-needed equipment for the hospital, where visitors to the zoo are welcome to drop in.
In addition to Colonel Virat's book, there is an interesting range of souvenirs, the sale of which also goes towards equipping the hospital.
All in all visiting this rather obscure little town was an eye-opening experience. Without the monkeys, Lop Buri would be just another provincial town in Thailand. The monkeys have put it on the map and attracted tourists who would otherwise have no reason to go there, thus greatly benefiting the town's human population.

E3 2007: Feet-on Wii Fit

A Wii title designed to give you a workout. We try it out.


July 12, 2007 - At its E3 2007 Media Briefing in Santa Monica, California, Nintendo pulled back the curtain on a unique title in the vein of Wii Sports, but taken to the next level. It's called Wii Fit (formerly codenamed Wii Health Pack), and it's really a two-part package. Part one revolves around a console-exclusive peripheral called the Wii Balance Board - essentially, a slim, white scale with built-in gyroscopic technology that very accurately measures shifts in weight and posture. Part two, of course, is the software that makes use of the device - in this case, a series of mini-game-like activities that challenge users to try different exercises for results that can be tallied and compared. If Wii Sports got your heart moving, and it might have, Wii Fit will really make you sweat and it will probably leave you sore the next morning, too.
The title has already become the darling of the mainstream press, and for good reason. It is a "videogame" with a purpose. You don't just shoot some bad guys or race some cars in a virtual world. You use the peripheral and the software to perform a wealth of daily exercises that are laid out and controlled to test your physical prowess, whether you want to do yoga or push-ups. It's a universally understood concept - something that even stubborn non-gamers find approachable. Not all hardcore gamers, on the other hand, are excited about the prospect of another "expanded audience" effort from Nintendo. We can relate to both sides, so when we finally kicked off our shoes and donned a pair of booties before stepping onto Nintendo's latest Wii add-on, we tried to keep our mind wide open.
It's the real deal. Wii Sports only scratched the surface of the newly explored health videogame genre, if that's what we're to call it, but Wii Fit dives headfirst into workout territory. Nintendo premiered a trailer for the title at its E3 2007 press conference and the footage showed off a large selection of workouts and exercises, including push-ups. However, in the demo we played, only a handful of modes were available, all designed exclusively for your feet. We wouldn't classify ourselves as the epitome of healthy living, but we do go to the gym on a regular basis, and we have engaged in both cardiovascular and strength training workouts. Wii Fit explores the former and we have to admit, it does give you a challenge. Even during its three balance tests (Balance Test, One Leg Balance Test and Agility Test), we found the process becoming difficult as time wore on.
All you have to do is step on the Balance Board with one leg and try to keep your weight centered. Easy, right? Not so much. Your weight is represented on-screen as a thin red line and whenever your balance shifts to one side or the other, the red line zigzags with it. The line itself is housed within a graphical blue bar, and the longer you stand there, struggling to maintain balance, the thinner the bar becomes. Sooner or later, even the slightest shift in weight will be enough to send the red line out of the bar's bounds, at which point you will effectively lose the test. Obviously, the trick is to stay within those limits for as long as you possibly can. It's pretty difficult. If you kept at it for a half hour, you'd probably have to wipe the sweat off your brow several times or more.
Standing on one leg for extended periods of time is more challenging than you might realize, but even some of the two-legged tests are no slouch. In one, you're challenged to shift your body weight quickly and accurately in order to move a red dot on-screen toward a series of blue squares. You're timed, and if you fail to shift correctly before the clock counts down, your red dot will not reach the blue squares and you'll lose. We started off well, but couldn't keep up as we advanced since the timer drained quicker.
It is the stretch exercises, though, that really give you a workout. In these, you might have to stand on your right leg, kick the left one backward, and stretch forward with your right arm, all while keeping an on-screen line balance line within the acceptable confines of a yellow zone. Within minutes, you can feel your heart moving.
There are other modes to play around with, some of which feel more like workout-videogame hybrids. For example, in Hoop Twirl, you swing your hips in a circular motion while standing on the Balance Bar, as though attempting to swing a hula-hoop. The mat can accurately read even the subtlest changes in your motion and posture and portray those changes on-screen via a Mii character animation. Every so often, AI-controlled characters will throw more hoops your way and to catch them you will need to lean forward, arms outstretched into the appropriate direction. If your balance is true, you will keep catching hoops and the more you have, the harder it becomes to maintain their momentum.
Soccer Ball Heading has been demonstrated in official videos. Here, you lean to the left or right on the Balance Board in attempts to align your on-screen Mii with oncoming soccer balls. Again, if your balance is true, you'll be able to head-butt them back; this happens automatically, you don't actually need to perform a head-butting gesture. We found this exercise to be particularly challenging because once you're off key, it can be challenging to get back on track. In addition, there's a Ski Jumping mode where the goal is merely to lean forward as your on-screen skier shreds down a slope, and then quickly lean up and back as he nears a jump. And finally, there's the downright hard Ball Rolling, where your balance essentially serves to steer on-screen balls, complete with realistic physics, around various puzzle boards and ultimately into holes. It's downright tough, and we didn't even advance to the "difficult" stages, according to Nintendo representatives on-hand.
What we played, we liked, but not everything is perfect. For one, the Balance Bar performed a calibration of your feet at the beginning of each challenge, which seemed like overkill. Worse, was that sometimes the title would ask you to step off and back on the board again, but then it would not register that you had actually done as told. Clearly, there are a few quirks left to be worked out, which is probably why the package, which will purportedly retail for more than $49, won't come out in Japan until this holiday and not in America until next year.
In addition to pure exercise endeavors, the Balance Bar has a lot of potential to be utilized in more traditional videogames. Who among us wouldn't like to control the board in SSX Tricky or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater using Nintendo's new peripheral, for example?
We'll have much more on what is sure to be one of Nintendo's most popular Wii "games" yet in the coming months. Until then, be sure to check out our media section for screens and videos.

Dubailand

Dubailand is a tourism and entertainment complex being built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that will contain 45 mega projects that are divided into five themed zones spread across 3 billion square feet and is expected to be fully completed by 2020.

C I R Q U E D U S O L E I L ' S " O " A T T H E B E L L A G I O H O T E L L A S V E G A S

How to describe the seemingly indescribable wonder and artistry of Cirque du Soleil's latest and most dazzling display? An Esther Williams-Busby Berkeley spectacular on peyote? A Salvador Dalí painting come to life? A stage show by Fellini? The French troupe has topped itself with this production -- and not simply because it's situated its breathtaking acrobatics in, on, around, and above a 1.5-million-gallon pool (eau -- pronounced O -- is French for "water"). Even without those impossible feats, this might be worth the price just to see the presentation, a constantly shifting dreamscape tableau that's a marvel of imagination and staging. If you've seen Mystère at TI at the Mirage or other Cirque productions, you'll be amazed that they've once again raised the bar to new heights without losing any of the humor or stylistic trademarks, including the sensuous music. If you've never seen a Cirque show, prepare to have your brain turned inside out. We know -- those ticket prices -- ouch. We want to say that we can guarantee it's worth it, but that's a decision only you can make. (Though no one we've personally sent has come back regretting that they went.) But we can say this: Watch this show, and you know where a good chunk of the money is going (in other words, they spend a bundle nightly to mount this thing). Note that no tank tops, shorts, or sneakers are allowed. Wednesday through Sunday 7:30 and 10:30pm.

Baht measures proposed to Commerce Ministry

The joint private committee comprising the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai Chamber of Commerce, and the Thai Bankers Association, on Monday proposed its short-term and medium to long-term measures of dealing with the stronger baht to Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet.

The short-term measures include the extension of the period that exporters can hold the foreign currency accounts to more than the current limitation of 14 days.
More, the government should urge the state enterprises to repay US dollar-denominated debt before the due dates.In addition, the committee urges the government to set up the fund to help the SME exporters, which have been affected by the stronger baht.
According to their proposed medium and long-term measures, the government should establish fund to handle the continued baht appreciation as well as providing more privileges to local investors to encourage their overseas investment.
The joint private committee would in this evening meet with Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to propose the measures.
Separately, Narongchai Akarasanee, chairman of Export-Import Bank of Thailand, said in a seminar on Monday that Thai government should use at least US$10 billion of foreign reserves which is at around US$73 billion at present to help curb baht appreciation as a short-term measure.
He said the government should allow state-enterprises as well as private sector to convert their foreign debts into baht.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Chalonphob Sussangkarn commented on Monday that he doesn't agree that Thailand should implement the fixed exchange regime or the basket of currencies as suggested by some. "It is too old fashion," he said. He added the solution for the baht appreciation is that the central bank fully implements the existing measures. So far, the central bank may act too slow, he said.
In addition, Bank of Thailand governor Tarisa Watanagase insisted that the central bank would not turn back to implement the fixed foreign exchange regime.
Asked how the central bank would help exporters amid rising baht, she said the BOT has already helped "oversee" baht.

No more bets, Please at Las Vegas

Macau is the casino capital of the world, but beyond the tables there's 400 years of cultural heritage from East and West to see

For a small, quiet island, Macau has one big reputation. Sharp-eyed businessmen have been quick to spot the opportunities of an island just an hour or so by ferry away from Hong Kong or southern China, turning the Chinese enclave into a gambler's paradise.
But behind the large, mysterious-looking casinos, there are more sedate but equally impressive sources of entertainment to be found in the traditional temples and old Portuguese cathedrals scattered around the island.
The Portuguese ruled Macau for about 400 years, and a lot of its architecture reflects European influences. Even now, many of the signs in front of stores are written in Portuguese. The kinds of food and souvenirs on offer all over the island also betray the mixed Chinese and Portuguese heritage. And alongside the Macau-born and Chinese inhabitants lives a core Macanese population of mixed Chinese and Portuguese nationality.
For the visitor seeking an insight into this rich cultural melting pot, the A-Ma temple is a good place to start. Built around 1488, it's the oldest temple on Macau and was also the first thing to meet the eyes of the original Portuguese adventurers who landed in 1553. Meaning to ask the locals what name they used for the island, legend has it that the Portuguese sailors pointed to the temple. "Ma Ge" came the answer - the locals' name for the temple then - which in time became "Macau". The many shrines on its hillside location give visitors the chance to pay their respects to the Chinese Buddha images on their way to the top. Another thing to look out for is the incense in a swinging burner, which smoulders continually for three months.
In sharp contrast, the Cathedral of Saint Paul sitting on a small hill with stone steps leading up to it displays the Western side of the island's heritage. But examine its Catholic statuary and you'll find that it's also tinged with Chinese themes. More evidence of Portuguese rule can be detected at the hillside fort, Fortaleza do Monte, in whose garden a cannonball fired to protect Macau from subsequent invaders still lies.
The most popular spot for shoppers has to be Senado Square, a paved area in the centre of town lined with European-style buildings and shops with brand-name clothing at bargain prices.
Thrill-seekers bored with the casinos can try bungee jumping off the Macau Tower, the island's tallest building. Those less enamoured at the thought of plunging 233 metres at the end of an elastic band can get their kicks just watching.
Slot-machine fatigue is also what leads many visitors to Fisherman's Wharf, a Las Vegas-style entertainment complex built by Stanley Ho, the richest man in Macau and owner of a number of casinos including the Casino Lisboa. At this collection of buildings in the outer harbour area you can shop, visit the Roman Amphitheatre or try the volcano-themed amusement park, complete with a replica of a live volcano.
At the time I visited, the island was quiet - outside the casinos, at least. But Roel Sedano, a teenager who works in a local souvenir shop, says that even youngsters like him are getting tired of the mushrooming population of gambling dens.
"I don't think it's a good idea, it's all casinos, they should have shops too."
But it seems there's no stopping them. In 2006 Macau overtook Las Vegas to become the world's biggest gaming market, with at least 24 casinos operating. Big names include the Grand Lisboa casino, Steve Wynn's casino, Galaxy and the Las Vegas Sands.
I decide to chance my arm at the last one, where some of the most frequent visitors are from China and Hong Kong. The gamblers inside say they come for fun, but there's obviously some serious winning and losing going on. Though the most popular game here is baccarat, as a casino newcomer I reckoned the roulette would be an easier challenge so I headed towards the wheels.
I got chatting with a man from China, who told me he visited Macau twice a week by ferry. Confiding that his T-shirt factory was on the slide, he nevertheless seemed eager to pump coins into one of the automatic roulette machines.
"It's easy, you don't need chips or a dealer," he enthused, advising me to bet big, but stay within a budget. Another Chinese man joined us, and reported that he had just lost HK$6,000 (Bt25,300) in 10 minutes.
"You have to put big bets down. If you do it in dribs and drabs, there's no use," he told me.
The Las Vegas Sands Corp is expanding its empire on the island with the Venetian Macao casino resort on the Cotai Strip, a complex which will encompass 300 shops and 3,000 suites. Manchester United will be the first guests at the resort's hotel when they arrive for the Venetian Macao Cup on July 23.
The influx of big money has brought its own problems, though. Counterfeit currency cases, illegal immigrants, document forgery and organised crime have all made the news on the Macau recently. Earlier this year, a man jumped from the third floor of a casino after losing all his money. And after a 16-year-old girl managed to make it to the tables and win a small fortune, the casino agreed to pay out to the under-aged youth's mother.
My tour guide in Macau, Emily Ho, is not alone in believing that the crime situation can only get worse if more casinos are opened.
It will be interesting to visit again in a few years to see what's changed. I'm crossing my fingers that at least the delicious Portuguese egg tarts will stay the same.

Rewat "Ter" GMM Concert

GMM artists including Ter’s eldest daughter “Patt” Suthasinee, paid a tribute to late Rewat "Ter" Buddhinan concert last Saturday at Impact Arena.

Ultimate in Luxury (Car)

The Lexus LS460 is a wonderfully comfortable car fitted with all mod cons, although not necessarily the most fun vehicle to drive

Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, has long been trying to catch up with European luxury carmakers. The brand has been highly successful in the United States, where it usually tops customer-satisfaction surveys thanks to its high level of craftsmanship and reliability. But elsewhere, Lexus has not been able to repeat its US success story.

In turns out that customers in many countries are still loyal to German brands like BMW and especially Mercedes-Benz, which are considered as status symbols. With a lesser-known Lexus, it's a little more difficult for people to notice that you've "made it".

The latest Lexus model to be offered here is the flagship LS460, which, in my view, is the best candidate from the auto-maker to challenge the Germans, and beat them in several areas.

The LS460 unveiled last year is the fourth-generation LS. The company says the car is based on its "L-Finesse" design concept featured earlier in its concept vehicles. Nevertheless, there are traces of the BMW 7-Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class in certain areas, something for which Lexus has been heavily criticised by the media.

Fortunately the new design isn't all bad, giving the LS a sportier and elegant look. Compare it to the outgoing LS420, which is pretty boring to look at, and you can easily notice the dynamism that has been incorporated into the new car.

The fully imported LS460 is available in two versions: short wheelbase for Bt9.55 million and long wheelbase for Bt11.55 million.

I had the long-wheelbase version for several days and had a great time with the car. Despite its five-metre length, the LS460 is easy to drive. Everything is powered and offers a luxurious feel, whether it's the steering or the control buttons.

BMA: Bangkok will become a paradise

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will establish a fund for the project to turn Bangkok into a paradise.

"The fund will be used most efficiently to tackle problems like garbage, pollution, traffic and drugs," BMA spokesman Chanin Rungsaeng said yesterday.

He said the fund would also be used to provide recreational activities, sports and education in the capital.

"We plan to complete the project within four years," he said, adding that the project to turn Bangkok into a paradise city was in line with HM the King Bhumibol Adulyadej's initiative.