Regular features from August 2002 80th Issue

To Lola's owner.
Dear Observer's reader,
As anyone, I was horrified that a hotel could have poisonned your dog. I would gladly brake the 2 knees of the guy who did, so that he remembers what suffering is.
The hotel is lucky that its name is not mentionned: There were, certainly, many more different options than killing your dog and they can not be forgiven. However, and pardon me to be rude, but you are greatly responsible of your dog's death as well!
What was your dog -constantly- doing in a big hotel? Weren't you supposed to keep her in YOUR place? Didn't you know that dogs "can not
read"? Weren't you supposed to have her a walk twice a day? Weren't supposed to educate her in order to protect her from the wild surrounding world?
Well, obviously, you failed to do so. To put the blame on the hotel is too easy, I am sorry to say so. Having a dog is having responsabilities. A dog is not a toy and in my eyes, you deserve broken knees as well!
Alain

For more Thai vocabulary click here. This month find out what day of the week it is:

days of the week
monday - wun jun - Çѹ¨Ñ¹·Ãì
tuesday - wun unkarn - ÇѹÍѧ¤ÒÃ
wednesday - wun poot - Çѹ¾Ø¸
thursday - wun praruhut - Çѹ¾ÄËÑʺ´Õ
friday - wun sook - ÇѹÈØ¡Ãì
saturday - wun sao - ÇѹàÊÒÃì
sunday - wun ahtit - ÇѹÍÒ·ÔµÂì
second - wee nah tee - ÇÔ¹Ò·Õ
minute - nah tee - ¹Ò·Õ
hour - chua mong - ªÑèÇâÁ§
day - wun - Çѹ
week - ahtit - ÍÒ·ÔµÂì
month - deuan - à´×͹
year - bpee - »Õ

season - nah / reudoo - ˹éÒ / Ä´Ù
hot/cold/rainy season - nah rorn/yen/fon - ˹éÒÃé͹/àÂç¹/½¹

months of the year
january - mokarah kom - Á¡ÃÒ¤Á
february - goompah pun - ¡ØÁÀҾѹ¸ì
march - meenah kom - ÁÕ¹Ò¤Á
april - mesah yon - àÁÉÒ¹
may - preutsahpah kom - ¾ÄÉÀÒ¤Á
june - mitunah yon - ÁԶعÒ¹
july - garakadah kom - ¡Ã¡®Ò¤Á
august - singha kom - ÊÔ§ËÒ¤Á
september - gunyah yon - ¡Ñ¹ÂÒ¹
october - dtoolah kom - µØÅÒ¤Á
november - preutjikah yon - ¾ÄȨԡÒ¹
december - tunwah kom - ¸Ñ¹ÇÒ¤Á

this month - deuan nee, next month - deuan nah, last month - deuan tee leaw (same with weeks and years)

If you have any language questions or would like translations, send us an email at the Observer.

Rotary Round Up

At the recent Rotary family night held at the Hotel Grand Hua Hin, Khun Wanna Choksuchart, took over as club president from Khun Roongroch Seeluangsawat.
Lisa from Germany left for home and the picture below shows her receiving a farewell gift from Khun Panya Phonortong.

Flight News

With thanks to Alain de Rocker
*The US House Subcommittee on Aviation has approved legislation that paves the way for a test program allowing up to 1,400 airline pilots to carry firearms. "Arming trained and qualified pilots is a necessary step to ensure the safety and security of the flying public," said John Mica, Chairman of the Aviation Committee. "The decision to arm pilots and crew was not taken lightly. First, unfortunately our aviation system is in a vulnerable stage of transition and will be for some time. Second, it is impossible to place air marshals on all of the at-risk flights. Third, full cockpit door conversions will not be completed until mid-2003. Fourth, pilots had the ability to arm themselves in the past. Fifth, we know terrorists have been trained to take over commercial aircraft by lethal and non-lethal means. Finally, if there is another terrorist hijacking, the Department of Defence will be forced to make the difficult decision of having to shoot down a plane full of innocent passengers to prevent that plane from being used as a weapon. I strongly believe that under these circumstances, arming trained and qualified flight crew members is a necessary step to ensure the safety and security of the flying public."
* British Airways (BA) is no longer "the world's favorite airline" with Lufthansa now having a stronger claim to the title. It is reported that BA's tag line is based on IATA statistics relating to international passengers. While BA carried 31 million passengers this year, Lufthansa is expected to take a million more. It is also said that by 2006, Air France will be carrying more international passengers than BA. Other carriers such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines cannot claim to be the 'world's favorite' because most of their clients are domestic.
Help...My Flight is Oversold
Part 2: What to ask for in a travel voucher
There are a few things to ask for when you are offered a Travel Voucher:
· Ask that it be made out to include your family so that the Travel Voucher is transferable to someone other than yourself (ex. JOHN DOE AND/OR FAMILY). This way, if you are unable to use it, someone in your family can.
· Ask if the Travel Voucher can be used systemwide, meaning that it can be used domestically or internationally.
· If you are traveling on an airline that has partner airlines, ask if the Travel Voucher is applicable on partner airlines as well. If not, ask if it can be used on codeshares. An example of this would be travelling from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv by using United Airlines from Los Angeles to Frankfurt, and then Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv. Lufthansa has a codeshare flight on this routing with United Airlines, so the Lufthansa flight will also have a United Airlines flight number. If codeshare flights are permitted, you will have more ways to use your credit for future travel.
· And here is a tip that is not widely divulged. Ask if you can extend the validity of the Travel Voucher. Some airlines will allow you to extend the Travel Voucher if you bring it to the airline's ticket counter or ticketing office before it expires, and for a small fee the validity is extended for an additional year. This is very useful if you have a voucher that is worth a fair amount, and you don't want to lose its entire value.
· Ask about the flight that you will be booked on, and if the times work for you, get the airline agent to pull a seat for you, which is essentially getting a boarding card with a seat number.
· And finally, ask for a Meal Voucher so that the airline is paying for you to have something to eat while you wait for your new flight.
Please note that you may or may not get all of the above in a travel voucher. This does not make it worthless, it is just important to know what you are getting before you agree to it.

Favourite Holiday Dishes from Tantawan's Kitchen

STEAMED FISH WITH LEMON
Ingredients: River Bass about 400g
Galangal, 3 slices
Lemon Grass 1 root
3 Citroen leaves
2 soup spoons of chilli
2 soup spoons of sliced garlic
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
2-3 soup spoons of fish sauce
3 soup spoons of lemon juice.
Clean and remove the insides of the fish, slice the sides of the fish, fill the slices with galanal, lemon grass and put on a plate, steam for about 15 minutes. Mix the chilli, garlic, fish sauce, sugar, and lemon juice together. When the fish is cooked place on plate and spread the sauce on the top and serve with jasmine rice.
Hope you like this dish, if you have any questions or an idea of your own please send to me by e-mail at chuntuma_b@hotmail.com.

Wolfgang and Bua celebrate their 1st year's anniversary

The gang at Golf Tours enjoy their staff party at Baan Hua Hin

Reg taking some fishy advice at his birthday party

Ganesha's Khun Lek proudly shows of baby Pun who was born on 16 March 2002

Limelight's Steve enjoying the celebration with Stan after his first golf match with the Pattaya boys

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