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More on my thoughts on the changes I have observed in Hua Hin since I was last there: apart from increased traffic serving new housing developments, the town centre really hadn't changed as much as I would have expected, and in fact looks generally smarter and more attractive to tourists.
Less obvious at first though is the huge increase in the number of expats, many of whom must logically be occupying those new houses. In fact the total expat population of Hua Hin is now estimated to be around 3,000. So where do they all go?
It has been said that 9 or 10 years ago the entire expat population of Hua Hin would fit into Berneys' 19th Hole Bar, and maybe they would have done, with a bit of overflow into surrounding bars which no longer exist. But even then most expats probably knew about 50 others by name, in addition to the folks they knew by sight in places like the Grand Market, or on golf courses.
In those days people lived closer to town of course, simply because there wasn't sufficient demand to provide new housing further out. The Condo Chain was considered to be rural living, and Khao Takiap was little more than a dirt track wilderness. A few hardy souls were venturing Nouth towards what is now Hua Hin aiport, but needed 4 x 4's. Even fewer were willing to set up home in areas where snake killing skills were a pre-requisite, and being adept in the use of a baling pan was essential.
As a result the town centre was the main focus of social life. There have of course always been a few people who prefer to sit outside their local shop and put the world to rights over a few tinnies. But even they were rarely further out than Soi 88 or 51 a few years back, where tuk-tuks and motorbike taxis were plentiful and cheap.
Most though were to be found in the town centre several days or nights every week. Even Cha-am expats made regular trips into town to 'do the rounds' and catch up with the gossip.
But with the new millenium came the start of a property boom which has continued to thrive, perhaps beyond the expectations of many old timers. The fact that foreigners continue to buy properties in Hua Hin, despite Thailand’s recent problems and ailing rates of exchange, is encouraging. All towns and cities grow, and Hua Hin is no exception. With growth however comes an inevitable increase in isolation, as smaller and more self sufficient communities develop on the outskirts.
Hua Hin still has its’ well established darts and pool leagues which continue to do well, but with many of the same teams and players as were around in the 'old days'. In fact the most noticeable change in the leagues is a welcome increase in Thai players. So overall, aside from going into town for league matches, or maybe for a Sunday roast/special occasion/obligatory visit to a friend’s bar, it seems that more expats now stay closer to home than they once did, in a kind of self imposed exile.
Where the expat increase may once have been expected to result in increased trade for the town centre, the opposite seems to have happened. Add the current exchange rates and traffic congestion to the equation, and many bars and restaurants have become even more dependent on the high season tourist trade.
Enterprising business owners have responded by opening bars and eateries a little further out of town, where they can cater more conveniently for the wider spread expat community. It is a brave move for any such business to distance itself from the tourist trade (and from the higher prices which are more acceptable to tourists). This move can ‘pay off’ in terms of lower rents and a steady year round trade, but which in turn draws even more expats away from the centre of town.
The new housing is in itself a contributory factor, as buyers expect, and demand, more 'Western' style detached properties which can only be built on the outskirts. And so the outward movement continues. A movement which can't be reversed, as the town centre (perhaps fortunately) simply doesn't have the space needed for detached Western style living.
Thankfully technology has gone a long way towards maintaining Hua Hin’s community spirit, with the increasing use of websites. In particular Hua Hin After Dark (HHAD) which has helped to spread the word about events and activities, as well as providing the kind of general information which could once only be obtained by constantly 'doing the rounds', and often returning home without it! (If indeed you remembered what you were looking for in the first place.)
The forum has perhaps most importantly shown that expats can still rally round when others need help, whether by arranging fund raising activities, hospital visits, or practical support. In fact it is difficult now to imagine life in Hua Hin without an online community. That in itself is probably the second most noticeable change, and one which will continue to help Hua Hin to thrive.
Money Wizard
The importance of currency diversification.
Last week a prospect asked through an e-mail if he could do anything about the falling pound. He had annual pension income of 16,000 pounds sterling which this time last year was equivalent to one million baht, but now was only equal to 800,000 baht.
On top of this throughout Thailand the cost of living is going up while his standard of living is going down for people holding sterling. Last week I read an article by a so called property expert which stated that the main reason property sales had ground to a halt was lack of tourists and the world recession. Maybe this is a classic case of not being able to see the wood for the trees. Surely the collapse of sterling is one of the main reasons Brits have stopped buying in areas like Pattaya, Phuket and Hua Hin?
A small condo in any of these locations last year, say at 6 million baht, would have cost a sterling investor 96,000 pounds. This year the same 6 million baht condo will cost a Briton 120,000 thousand pounds - all through appreciation of the Thai baht. That’s a 20% increase. Mind you, had you bought last January and could sell now at the same price you bought at, you could make 20% profit on the sale.
Early last year it was US dollar holders who had to tighten their belts. New Year 2008 would have seen US investors having to pay 2 dollars and 10 cents for one pound sterling. Today they can buy the same pound for 1 dollar and 46 cents.
None of this matters of course if you live in the US or in the UK. All you have to do there is worry about the economic collapse and snow drifts in February.
Unfortunately the guy who wrote to me can do nothing as his income derives from UK based occupational pension schemes. Were his income to derive from savings and investments, then he could take action to avoid these currency collapses.
If however you have a portfolio of assets which is all denominated in the one currency then you are caught in the trap. For some misguided reason it is difficult to advise some investors to move out of their home country currency - the mighty dollar - the mighty pound. This is of course a very insular attitude but you would be surprised by the number of open-minded expatriates who still carry this particular practice.
FOREX trading is specifically about trading different currencies to make money. Portfolio currency diversification is another world away from FOREX dealers. FOREX is usually a high risk business and much more like gambling than portfolio asset allocation although for people who know what they are doing it makes sense to allocate a small percentage of their overall net worth to this as a pastime. It makes better sense that watching TV in the evening.
The idea behind currency diversification is not to make money. The principal objective is not to lose it.
Let’s take an example. You are a retired expat living in Thailand and have life savings of say 400,000 sterling.
40,000 you keep in an offshore bank for your annual holiday and to change your car whatever your particular whim is; plus 20,000 in a Thai bank to cover day-to-day expenses and your retirement visa. That leaves 340,000 in an offshore investment from which you draw down 17,000 every year (5%). lf this is in sterling denominated funds then at the moment you are suffering a loss of real income living here, just like the correspondent already mentioned.
At outset had you selected 33 percent US dollar funds, 33 percent Euro funds and 34 percent sterling funds, you could have avoided this loss of income (provided your funds have not been victim of the stock market collapse. That is another story). The idea is that if you are properly diversified the fall in sterling will be offset by the rise in the Euro.
I am quite aware this is a simple concept and you would be surprised how many people have ignored it or are ignorant of it.
Now may be too late to change for sterling investors. Wait until your currency recovers and then take action. US dollar investors should now be taking steps to diversify.
Your comments appreciated to jerry@swissinvestcenter.net
Wine Rack
Good wine is no longer in a bottle: it’s canned!
Pink Grap, launched in France in 2005, represents a new way of drinking wine. It is the first of its kind: Bordeaux wine in a can. Light and fruitful, Pink Grap is a delightful mix of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet-Sauvignon. Ideal for wine connoisseurs or beginners to wine alike, Pink Grap is a new experience for any candidate prepared to embark on a new adventure.
The 25cl can of Pink Grap is equivalent to two glasses of pure wine. This is an ideal amount, respecting alcohol guidelines. It can be shared between a couple on a romantic evening, consumed on an individual basis or among a group of friends. Furthermore, for those who are very keen on wine, Pink Grap can be the ‘wine appetiser’ to a bottle.
The aluminum can ensures simplicity of transportation. Unlike bottled wine, there is limited risk of the can breaking. In addition, Pink Grap can be taken anywhere: on a picnic, on the golf course, or into a night club (though the management of the club may object to this, of course!)
Not surprisingly, the convenience and innovation of Pink Grap has sparked interest not only in Europe but also in the high-class restaurants and other venues in Asia. Many wine traditionalists used to the standard bottle are curious about this different way of consuming wine, and those adventure seekers are also eager to sample Pink Grap.
In fact, the much talked-about Pink Grap has recently been released in specific locations in Thailand, notably in the ‘chic’ restaurants and night clubs of Hua Hin and Bangkok. It is with great pride that CEOs of the Asian branch, Mr. Pananchai Klumklomchit and Mr. Charles Sitruk introduce their wine to the Thai market in 2009.
One of their goals is to lead wine into the future. With Pink Grap, they are doing so by adapting wine consumption to 21st century lifestyles, representing convenience.
"Pink Grap is the wine of the 21st century," explains CEO Mr. Klumklomchit.
The can comes in an elegant, black velvet bag, which is a souvenir and could become a collector's item for collectors. Thrill-seekers: be informed that Pink Grap has arrived in Thailand! So take the opportunity for Pink Grap to be your new experience. One can will set you back ???? baht.
Earth Report
Congo rainforest needs greater protection
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has recently completed a World Bank sponsored review of the logging industry with some positive results. Yet it has allowed an expansion of the industry to more than twice the recommended size. Following the review, the DRC government refused 68 out of 87 appeals against cancelled logging contracts. Such a high number of rejections is a positive sign that it is starting to take a stand against the logging industry in order to protect the forest and the communities that rely on it. But there is still a lack of governance and enforcement within the industry. Greenpeace states that the rainforest is in urgent need of stronger protection. The government appointed a technical working group to review all existing logging contracts. This group advised that new long-term logging areas be reduced to 4.4 million hectares but the government has approved 65 new logging contracts totalling 9 million hectares.
Legal Logging?
The recent DRC logging review has been widely criticised and an independent observer appointed by the government at the request of the World Bank has acknowledged that none of the review criteria was properly verified. A 2002 moratorium on new logging concessions has been violated and the Forest Law that was passed 6 years ago is still to be implemented.
Multi-national timber companies such as the Swiss Danzer Group and the Portuguese company Nord Timber have obtained hundreds of thousands of hectares of rainforest for logging and under the pretext of ‘remapping’. To date 15 million hectares of forest has been allocated through this dubious practice.
Clearly many challenges remain for the fight to save this forest but the DRC government must continue to resist pressure from greedy international timber companies. Affected communities have been systematically excluded from the logging review process and crucial information such as maps, contracts and logging plans have not been made available at the local level - or elsewhere.
Local people also lack the right to appeal logging decisions. The DRC desperately needs to develop a land use plan that takes into account the needs of the Congolese people.
DRC government must continue to stand strong
The Congo basin is of incalculable importance not only in terms of bio-diversity and resources for local people but also as a giant carbon store that is essential for climate protection. It is the fourth largest forest carbon reservoir in the world. Yet over 25 percent of this precious ecosystem is controlled by the logging industry. If logging is allowed to continue at the projected rate, the DRC alone risks losing 40 percent of its forest within the next 40 years.
Some activists hope that the latest logging contract cancellations will create momentum for developing alternatives to industrial logging. Benefits from avoiding deforestation can actually yield higher incomes.
Companies are cutting trees faster than ever in the Congo with no regard for social and environmental consequences. In order to stop this, Greenpeace is calling for the adoption of an international financing mechanism, ‘Forests for Climate’, that makes the Congo Basin rainforest, and others like it, more economically valuable when left intact than when hacked down for timber. This international funding mechanism would address bio-diversity, equity and social issues while helping to protect the global climate.
Deforestation accounts for about one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions and replacing industrial logging in the DRC by an internationally-backed forest protection system would not only be financially beneficial to the people of the DRC - it would make the country a key climate protector.
Health Matters
The high cost of drugs today
In the last twenty years the cost of health care has increased in every country in the world and in every country it has increased faster than the rate of inflation. This can partly be explained by the newer, more sophisticated treatments that are now available. Coronary artery by-pass surgery is a costly business; before it was pioneered most of those patients who now leave the hospital with a new lease of life would have died. People are living longer and there is a cost. One of the elements in the health care that has increased at a much faster rate than have the other elements is the cost of medications. When patients review their bills after a hospital stay they are often horrified at the high cost of the medications that they have received.
It is easy to blame the drug companies for the cost of the drugs and accuse them of gouging the public with their high prices. I have some sympathy for both sides in this argument. The cost is high but the cost of the research is also breathtakingly high. Many drugs are ten years in the development and testing stages before they come to market. Understandably, long trials have to be performed before the drug is released for general use. A selected group of volunteers have to take the drug and be monitored for the efficacy and the side effects. This may take several years, as we need to know about both side-effects that occur immediately and others which take years to reveal themselves.
In every country in the world these results have to be submitted to the authorities for approval: In the USA to the Food and Drug authority (FDA) and in the UK to the Ministry of Health’s Committee on Pharmaceuticals. This is a lengthy legal and scientific process and they have to use moving vans to bring all the documents to the hearings.
Many of the drugs are now manufactured here in Asia. Most of the large companies have factories in China and an increasing number in South East Asia. Even though they are made in Asia, they conform to western standards.
One of the problems is that if a company should develop a drug in an area in which there are many such drugs, such as antibiotics or anti-depressives, and the new one is just slightly better than the existing drugs there will be an immediate large market for it. If, however, they develop drugs for a disease that may be a dreadful disease but with few patients suffering from it, the company may never recoup its research bill.
After the drug is released the company is usually given the equivalent of a patent on the drug. No other company can make it. When this protection runs out then other companies may make copy drugs. An example of this is Lipitor, the cholesterol lowering medication. Its patent runs out this year and there will be cheaper copies available. These new versions are called ‘generic drugs’. The generic companies are quite legitimate, ethical companies who have nothing to be ashamed of in what they are doing. Their facilities and products are inspected and approved. Their products are usually as good as the original.
The problem is that unethical companies may copy the drug before it is off patent and these medications are offered to the public at attractive prices. They may not be as pure, the dosage may not be as reliable and they may deteriorate very quickly. Worse still, these illegal drugs may be complete fakes and contain nothing but sugar or baking powder. I am sure you are not surprised to hear that the guys who are offering to sell you medications out of a backpack in the night markets may not be qualified pharmacists and should be avoided.
This all works fairly well in developed countries but in the developing world there are problems. Thousands of people are suffering from diseases and neither they nor the governments can afford the treatment; a good example of this is AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
There is a huge ethical problem here. The cost of medications for AIDS patients if the drugs were obtained from the companies that developed them would be over 25,000 baht a month. Remembering that these patients are poor and far too sick to work, which often means that the drugs are unobtainable. However ‘copy’ drugs are available for 1000 baht a month. These drugs are technically illegal and contravene all international trading agreements, but who could argue if governments obtain and distribute them?
Perhaps a compromise could be agreed upon, where life-saving drugs were exempted from the patent protection in developing countries and non-lifesaving drugs subjected to the same protective mechanisms.
The names of drugs need explaining. Each drug has a chemical name and a ‘trade’ name. If this was not confusing enough the trade name may be different in different countries. Meperidine is an excellent analgesic used pain relief after surgery and in other situations. In the UK and Thailand it is known as Pethidine, in the USA and Canada as Demerol and in China as Dolantin. When the generic form is released it cannot use the same name and usually uses a different name. However the chemical name is always on the packaging in addition to the trade name.
What advice can I give to you as a consumer? ‘Caveat Emptor!’ (Buyer beware). Obtain your medications from a hospital pharmacy or from a reputable drugstore/chemist shop. Thai pharmacists are well trained and I have found the young people that I work with to be very ethical. Use the same pharmacist all the time and develop a relationship with them. Do not shop around to save a few baht; the advice of a certified pharmacist is worth the extra charge. The pharmacist may offer you the choice between the original drug and a generic; the better pharmacies are careful where they obtain their generics.
If you are having a prescription refilled, one that you obtained in your own country, take the box or package to the pharmacy and show it to the pharmacist. The pharmacist will be able to see the chemical name and identify the medication.
Fake drugs are not a big problem in Thailand but it can happen. When you are buying a drug, look at it carefully. Is the drug made by one of the major companies whose name you recognise? Look carefully at the packaging. Does it look professional? Read the instructions on the box, spelling and grammatical mistakes are a tip-off that this may not be a good purchase. The CEO of Glaxo-Smith- Kline has announced that they will reduce the price of their meds in 50 developing countries to 25% that charged in the US or UK.
Dr Michael Moreton is the International Medical Co-ordinator at the Bangkok Hospital Medical Centre; and he can be contacted to answer any Health Care questions. Moreton@bgh.co.th
Book Review
How can dieting make you fat?
Now here is something new - the splendidly titled ‘Dieting Makes You Fat’. Its author, Geoffrey Cannon, is unequivocal in his belief that dieting causes the very condition it is meant to cure.
His argument is simple: in evolutionary terms, the human body cannot distinguish between dieting and famine. We are hard-wired to respond to the threat of an insecure food supply by retaining body fat rather than burning it off, just as camels are biologically designed to store fat in humps to survive forays in the desert. “The more we endure cycles of dieting, the more our bodies become trained to seek out food, slow down vital functions and conserve body fat,” says Cannon. Apparently, it’s evolution, not lack of willpower, that causes us to seek out sweet foods. “In the forest, sweetness was nature’s way of telling early humans that fruit was safe to eat.”
For anyone who has ever tried to stick to a diet, some of Cannon’s advice might come as a shock. He says that restricting calories is the worst possible way to achieve the body of your dreams. “If you have more body fat than you want, don’t even think of going on a diet,” he warns. “Be more physically active instead, and be patient. You need to train your body to build up lean tissue, which works more efficiently than body fat.” He isn’t advocating that you go and binge on biscuits, but suggests that if you are active, then you can enjoy a balance of good food — even cake.
Cannon points out that there are huge misconceptions about the link between physical activity and weight loss. “Many people, including GPs, mistakenly believe that the amount of exercise you need to take is huge, and they’re still thinking in terms of energy balance — for example, playing two hours of squash to work off a cupcake.” Researchers at Stanford University, however, found that people who exercised regularly burnt off 500-700 more calories a day than their sedentary counterparts. Crucially, fit bodies burnt off this energy largely during the time they were resting, not just while they were pounding away on the treadmill.
Somewhat unusually for a writer in this field, Cannon has direct experience of the misery of being overweight. He battled through a childhood fuelled by comfort eating following his parents’ divorce — fish and chips with pickled cucumbers, washed down with ‘Tizer’; and he continued to struggle through his years at Oxford, where he discovered the delights of cucumber sandwiches layered with butter and salt. He writes movingly about how his emotional hunger for a true home led him to overeat through marriage break-ups and career changes, before he became a nutrition writer and campaigner. Eventually, it was daily running, not dieting, that got him on the path to being thin. He also became an official at London Road Runners’ Club, with over 2,000 members.
Nor is Cannon jumping on the anti-diet bandwagon: ‘Dieting Makes You Fat’ was originally a bestseller in 1983. He decided to write a 21st-century version of the book to tackle issues such as the global obesity time bomb and phenomena such as Atkins, about which he is dismissive. “It’s quite tricky to know what he was going on about,” he says. “In as much as I understand, if you’re on 1,500 calories a day, and are not encouraged to take any physical activity, then it’s not going to work. I don’t care how many people say it does.” Fortuitously, research published by UCLA last year, while Cannon was working on the new edition, concluded that (guess what?) diets don’t work.
The lead author of the study, Traci Mann, noted: “You can initially lose 5 to 10 per cent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back. We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more.” The success rate for maintaining weight loss five years after a diet ends is estimated at only 5%.
“People make the mistake of judging the success of a diet at the point that it is stopped,” says Cannon, who points out that this is like assessing the state of your finances based on the one day in the month when your account is in the black. “It’s madness. Dieting triggers the body to go into reversal. When people come off a regime, it’s a form of the bulimic syndrome. They find they can’t stop eating. I’ve had that when coming off a diet, and it’s scary.”
Is this really true of every diet, even a teensy crash diet in the week before you hit the beach? Apparently, these are the worst: restricting calorie intake by anything more than 200 calories a day will trigger a rebound effect, and the more drastic and long-lasting the diet, the worse the rebound once it ends. In some studies, people coming off a diet ate 10,000 calories a day - and still felt hungry.
“People often ask me, ‘If this is all true, why haven’t I heard it before?’ Well, my response is, ‘In whose interests is it to tell you?’ The diet industry sells its wares on the basis of repeat custom; if a diet doesn’t work, it’s your fault. It’s time for a paradigm shift. Much of what our bodies do is beyond the control of our minds. Claims made by the diet industry appeal to our base desires, like the e-mail spam messages saying you have won £5 million or can enjoy great sex for the rest of your life,” Cannon says. “The dieting business is fabulous. It sells dreams. But dreams rarely come true.”
Dieting Makes You Fat by Geoffrey Cannon (Virgin Books)
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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