Regular features from January 2006 121st Issue

It's your responsibility.

At the beginning of a new year many people like to take a personal inventory and look at ways to improve the quality of their lifestyle and the quality of the lives of those close to them.

After all no major company ever prospered without at least one annual inventory so why should you as an individual be any different?

We don't discuss personal problems here but we feel that money and lifestyle is as close as it gets to an individual without getting too personal.

So I think it is really important to also do an annual inventory on our savings and investments. You can cover lifestyle changes in your New Year resolutions but here I would like to discuss what I think is your responsibility.

Firstly- are you happy with the return on your savings?

This question should be put in context of where you put your money and also in the time frame of your investment. If you have your capital in a bank account then you know the consequences and you knew in advance what your returns were going to be small. If you want to improve these returns then you will have to take some actions.

If your investment is in a balanced portfolio with a five to ten year time frame or invested for income for a non-determinate period then this has likely been a really good year. Probably returns around 15%

If you've shown a loss or a very small return over the past year, don't panic but check with your broker that the strategy you adopted at outset is still on track to meet your financial objectives as viewed in the long term.

Perhaps you could do better by switching into funds that more accurately meet your needs than your current holdings.

Has your broker met your expectations when it comes to service?

The easiest thing for a broker to do is to keep in touch with clients when times are good and the investment portfolio is getting fatter. Good brokers know that the important time to keep in touch with clients is when the portfolio is getting smaller as he probably knows this is temporary and that the market will turn.

It is essentially a matter of reassurance for the client. You should also schedule an annual meeting on the anniversary of your portfolio to discuss objectives having been met and corrective action to take. Remember though that to take one year in isolation is never a wise thing to do. The worst thing is to move out of a fund that is just about to skyrocket.

If you're broker is not doing this then get another one. Would you stay with a doctor who consistently failed to keep his promises?

Are you happy with the domicile of your savings?

Most offshore jurisdictions have excellent consumer protection, little if any tax liability, confidentiality and provide trusts for your beneficiary's protection. I've said it many times in these articles but it's worth repeating. Switzerland is by far the destination of choice for the wealthy because of all of the above. Especially if you are getting on in years and considering whom you should leave your portfolio to on your demise. If you're based in Switzerland one thing for sure is that your beneficiaries will benefit as no probate or expensive lawyer's fees will be applied to decimate your estate after your death.

You may not give a hoot about who gets your money on your death or you may be like many do not like to face up to the fact that if you live in Thailand and are married to a much younger woman you will probably be dead long before your spouse.

So like all personal inventories the content is up to you. Sometimes the person you should fear most is yourself. Try and plan to become proactive when it comes to your savings and lifestyle.

Warren Buffett's tips for individual investors include this “The market is there to serve you and not to instruct you. It is not telling you whether you are right or wrong. The business results will determine that”

If you would like further information or clarification on any matter discussed, please contact jerry@swissinvestcenter.net

Mag's Page

Traditionally this is the time of year when we look back on the last 12 months through a sentimental Mekong/SangSom induced haze, recalling the major - and not so major events.

The one in the U.K that probably caused the most debate worldwide, and the most outpouring of grief in 2005 was the death of George Best.

Whilst undoubtedly a great footballer, Best's career on the field had been finished for years, and those years had taken their toll. A few journalists were brave enough to point out that his personal life had been less than perfect, provoking a torrent of letters from indignant fans well into December. Which brings us to the point. How can so many people show such grief for a person they have never even met, and can only identify with through media coverage?

Yet we see it more and more here. The mounds of floral tributes at accident or murder scenes, and outside the homes of famous people who have died. The hundreds of flowers thrown by onlookers as the corteges of those more well known pass by.

There seems to be an almost gruesome need to identify with victims in some way, which is relatively new to this country and quite scary.

Would bereaved fans consider making more lasting tributes to their idols, such as donations to a charity? Or perhaps that would be too anonymous.

Back in the '80s I had to go through London's' Kings Cross station a week after that terrible fire. A single red rose at the entrance to the Tube said it all.

Now for some events which probably didn't make the Bangkok Post.

Sharon Osbourne eclipsed her fragile ageing rocker husband Ozzy (Black Sabbath) by rising to fame in her own right and saving the Osbourne family fortunes. And she did it without wrecking her nose.

Peggy Mitchell returned to Albert Square to save her daughter Sam from a life sentence. Closely followed by the Mitchell Brothers, who arrived in matching black leather jackets and in the nick of time to save Peggy from a good beating.

Wolf jackets thankfully went out of fashion.

For the Yorkshire folk among you - Richard Whiteley's memorial service filled York Minster to capacity. Anyone who has visited the Minster will realise that is no mean feat.

A month later, and maybe inspired by the huge turnout above, the first black Archbishop of York was inaugurated.

Following her success on one of those never ending and mind-blowingly boring 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' programmes, Carol Thatcher is tipped to continue the family tradition. Come to think of it the Tory Party could do much worse, and did for all of 2005.

Finally, at the time of going to press, Sir Cliff may or may not be number one in the charts again. A good enough reason for you to return to that bottle of Mekong/SangSom.

A prosperous and Happy New Year to all in the Land of Smiles

CD Review

Gorillaz - Demon Days (Parlophone)

Gorillaz return with a blisteringly good album that happily skips from genre to genre and looks set to be one of the most rewarding albums you'll hear this year.

When Gorillaz's debut album came out in 2002, buoyed by the huge success of the "Clint Eastwood" single, no one really knew what Albarn and co. were up to. We knew the band was supposedly made up of ten year old musical genius Noodle, Satan worshipping green toothed bassist Murdoc, cuddly brick outhouse drummer Russel and the blue-haired singer 2D "for the ladies", but it essentially sounded like an Albarn solo album produced by then-collaborator Dan The Automator. Singles aside, the debut album sounded somewhat unfinished, with most tracks being no more than vague sketches.

Demon Days is a different, more widescreen kettle of fish altogether. Hooking up this time with Dangermouse, who produced the online bootleg Grey Album which spliced Jay-Z's Black and The Beatles' White albums together to create merry copyright hell, Albarn has accumulated a stellar supporting cast of star guests to broaden Gorillaz's musical horizon.

Tracks such as the basstastic current hit single "Feel Good Inc" featuring De La Soul and the free download "Dirty Harry", which seems to blend the menace of a children's choir over a Tom Tom Club-ish funk stand out. Shaun Ryder guests on the mighty "Dare", and sounds more alive than he has for years. But the album's highlight has to be the rumbling dub of "All Alone" which unites Roots Manuva with Martina Topley-Bird.

Other unlikely collaborators crop up throughout, with Ike Turner on "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead", Neneh Cherry sexily supporting "Kids With Guns" and Dennis Hopper narrating a tale about the happy folk on "Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey's Head".

A concise and enjoyable 50 minutes, Demon Days is so much more than just a rock star's novelty side project or thinly veiled solo album. It's a triumph for all concerned and should rightfully end the year as being one of its finest and most celebrated releases. Tremendous.

Game Review

Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game

Available for Xbox, PC, GameCube, PS2, DS, GBA and PSP.

The game of the film of the book…

Games based on films really are a peculiar proposition. Even more so if the film itself is based on a book, as each shift in medium involves shifts in conventions and requirements.

The game of the new Narnia film is mind-bogglingly odd – the first level involves you beating up furniture to gather tokens. What would CS Lewis make of such nonsense? The game of Harry Potter's latest cinematic adventure also relies on the token-gathering convention (in this case, Bertie Bott's Many-Flavoured Beans litter the environments). Although the Goblet Of Fire game is fun in a robust EA chart-topping kind of way, the best of the current crop of games released to cash in on the season's blockbuster films is probably UbiSoft's King Kong.

Although it essentially takes characters, trappings, settings, and some story elements from the film, like all these games do, it does abandon some of the more gratuitous game conventions and clutter. You don't run around collecting Kong droppings or suchlike, and you don't have a messy interface, and there's no HUD-style info, a device that aligns it somewhat with a movie. Instead, when you're playing as hero Jack Driscoll in what is basically a first-person shooter, he calls out the state of your ammo supplies, for example, which isn't a bad idea. And the game itself is more considered than the bulk of titles based on films.

The biggest predicament for designers making games based on films is that the player has to be constantly doing something. So, unlike a film's narrative - which unfolds with more dialogue, character interaction, etc - in games it tends to unfold as you fight, fight some more, then fight some more after that. In this case, working your way across Skull Island while fighting dinos and sundry beasts with your gun or handy projectiles.

The King Kong game does make things more interesting, however, by having you play as Kong himself too, with third-person giant ape action levels. And it's pretty nifty, although controlling Kong is probably more suited to a joypad than a PC keyboard. All in all, UbiSoft's game is an ambitious attempt to innovate the traditionally awkward film adaptation.

Nana – movie review

Female buddy movies are not uncommon, at least not since Ridley Scott's seminal "Thelma and Louise," but the release of Kentaro Otani's "Nana" hot on the heels of Tetsuya Nakashima's "Shimo-tsuna Monogatari (Kamikaze Girls)" is probably a first for Japanese moviemakers, and they both carry it off in some style. Despite the apparent similarities between the characters in the two movies, “Nana” is not a rip off, and both are well worth seeing.

The buddies in "Nana" are a big-eyed young woman (Aoi Miyazaki), girly-girly to the nth degree, and a sneering, leather-clad rocker (Mika Nakashima) who both happen to have the same first name.

"Nana," is a product of the pop-culture phenomenon that is Ai Yazawa's eponymous hit manga of the same name. Since its debut in the comic magazine "Cookie" five years ago, "Nana" has been compiled in 12 paperback editions that have sold 22 million copies.

Otani would seem an unlikely choice of director for this project, based on his previous work, but he hits the big romantic notes that fans of the manga, not to mention viewers of all those full-throated, wet-eyed celebrations of jun-ai ("pure love") on TV, no doubt expect. He also makes extensive use of flashbacks and narration -- devices that tend to undercut the immediacy and urgency of the proceedings.

At the same time, Otani grounds his story in character, not the more usual mix of stereotype and formula. Also, though his two principals may hardly be original types, they are real enough individuals, whose dilemmas cross the barriers of age, sex and culture.

By the big climax, at a rock concert, we feel the weight of those dilemmas, even though the two friends are doing nothing more dramatic than staring intently at a stage. We've all been there, in one form or another, wanting something we can no longer have, reliving moments that are past, regretting decisions that are final.

The first one we meet is Nana Komatsu (Miyazaki), she of the bright eyes, chipper manner and cute, crinkly smile, as if Shirley Temple had been reincarnated as a 20-year-old Japanese provincial girl. She is off to reunite with her high-school sweetheart, Shoji (Yuta Hiraoka), now a student in Tokyo . On the train she encounters Nana Ozaki (Nakashima), a hard-core rocker, impeccably cool in her black leathers; her kohl-rimmed eyes glittering with ironic amusement at her new companion's enthusing.

Nothing in common? Not quite; Nana O takes a liking to Nana K, while Nana K is impressed by her seatmate's air of sophistication and maturity, though she is exactly the same age.

When they later discover, by chance, that they are both in the market for the same funky old apartment Nana K suggests that they become roommates -- and Nana O agrees. They shop for household furnishings like a pair of newlyweds, with Nana K playing the role of the bubbly bride, Nana O, the indulgent groom.

A happy lesbian couple in the making (or revealing)? Not really; Nana O is madly, but one-sidedly, in love with Ren (Ryuhei Matsuda), a moody guitarist with the band she used to front. He has since gone on to fame and fortune with his band Trapnest. She wants to succeed in her own right and meet him on equal terms. To that end she forms the Black Stones, a garage band that consists of two high-school mates and a handsome newcomer (Kenichi Matsuyama).

All this striving strikes Nana K as false pride. She would be supremely happy as a traditionally devoted housewife -- or so she believes until she discovers what is really on her Mr. Right's mind.

The two romances driving the plot are mostly par for the TV drama course, though Otani stages the various betrayals and partings with a starkness that is anything but contrived. He also tells the story of the Nanas' friendship without resorting to clichéd oil-and-water gags. Instead he shows us, in scene after deftly calibrated scene, why these two not only click, but deeply connect -- and why the real strength of their relationship is a mutual admiration for the qualities one has, but the other lacks.

Miyazaki and Nakashima excel in revealing the hurt and anger behind, respectively, Nana O's smiling mask and Nana K's cool facade. Also, Nakashima, a million-CD-selling rock vocalist in real life, pours it all out in kick-ass stage performances. Amazing -- a Japanese movie about the rock scene that actually rocks.

Useful Telephone Numbers for Hua Hin

Railway station
032-512 770, 032-511 073

Bus station of Hua Hin
032-511 654, 032-512 543

Bus station of Prachuabkirikhan
032-601 901

Bus station of Pranburi
032-621 443

Hua Hin Hospital
032-520 401

Dog Rescue Center
0-1981 4406

Wild life Rescue Center (Tayang)
032-458 135

Department of Land Cha-am office:
032- 430 846-7

Department of Land Hua Hin office:
032-536 164, 032-512 407

Department of Land Prachuabkirikhan:
032-611 211

Department of Land Pranburi
032-622 199

Local Government (Hua Hin)
032-521 340, 532 471

Local water supply
032-511 677

The Power Board of Hua Hin
032-512 215, 032 513 165

Observer office:
032-531 078

Red Cross.
032-512 567

San Paolo Hospital
032-532 576-85

Polyclinic International
032-516 424, 032-516 425

Shell Cooking Gas
032-511 144, 032- 515 620

The Communication Authority of Thailand
(Hua Hin)
032-511 351

Rotary Club of Hua Hin
0-1916 6637
Meeting every Thursday 8.pm
at Hua Hin Grand Hotel & Plaza

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