Regular features from February 2003 86th Issue

Feelings; express yourself without misunderstanding! Following last months feelings page here are some more. Many words that express feeling or emotion usually begin or end with the word 'jai' which generally means heart (literally hua jai). When prefixed to a verb it often becomes an adjective describing ones more permanent state of mind.

Heart, mind - jai - ใจ
Brave, bold - jai glah - ใจกล้า
Broadminded - jai gwang - ใจกว้าง
Hard hearted - jai keng - ใจแข็ง
Narrow minded - jai kaep - ใจแคบ
Easy hearted, fickle - jai ngai - ใจง่าย
Indifferent - jai jeud - ใจจืด
Blackhearted, cruel - jai dum - ใจดำ
Kindhearted - jai dee - ใจดี
Resolute - jai ded - ใจเด็ด
Single hearted - jai diow - ใจเดียว
Restless, fanciful - jai dtaek - ใจแตก
Small minded - jai noi - ใจน้อย
Delighted - jai bahn - ใจบาน
Gullible - jai bao - ใจเบา
Discouraged - jai for - ใจฝ่อ
Calm - jai yen - ใจเย็น
Impatient - jai rorn - ใจร้อน
Malicious - jai raai - ใจร้าย
Absent minded - jai loy - ใจลอย
Cheerful - jai sabai - ใจสบาย
Noble minded - jai soong - ใจสูง
Dejected - jai sia - ใจเสีย
Soft hearted - jai orn - ใจอ่อน
Comfort, relieved - jai oun - ใจอุ่น

Common ones
Here are the ones you're likely to hear on a daily basis:

jai yen or jai yen yen literally translated means 'cool heart' but often used to mean calm down, relax, don't worry.
jai dum or jai raai these two refer to someone who is cruel (literally 'black heart'), mean or inconsiderate.
jai dee the opposite of jai dum, you're a good hearted person if a Thai calls you jai dee. Not to be confused with dee jai which means 'happy'.

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

Returning Home

Expatriates returning home are usually obsessed with a three letter word ending in __x.
Of course I mean Tax
For all nationalities it pays to take advice on this move and minimize your liability.
As there are many Brits living in the Hua Hin area I want to have a brief look at the implications for them. Other nationalities please feel free to contact me for advice.
You may need to start your tax planning in the tax year prior to your return. Obviously detailed tax planning is outside the scope of this article but here is some advice that may be helpful.
Income Tax Planning. It is generally advisable to close overseas bank accounts prior to your return. Interest credited to your account up to closure is not taxable in the UK
Unlike the USA earnings relating to work overseas are generally not chargeable to UK income tax but any bonus or terminal leave pay, paid after return, is liable. To mitigate this make sure all bonuses and terminal pay is paid prior to your return.
Lump sums from pension schemes or provident funds are generally tax free.
Overseas pensions paid in the UK after becoming resident have a beneficial tax treatment.
Share options need careful consideration. The tax position will depend on when options were granted the scheme under which they were granted and when they are to be exercised
If you have a spouse who is non-domiciled perhaps you should consider the merits of establishing an offshore trust.
Capital Gains Tax.
Two matters are crucial. Individuals who left the UK on or after 17th.March1998 remain potentially within the scope of UK capital gains tax in respect of assets held prior to departure, unless they are outside the UK for five complete tax years. If these conditions are not met then gains and losses accruing to the individual whilst overseas are treated as chargeable in the year of return.
A property owned and occupied as a person's home can generally be sold free of capital gains tax. If a property was lived in prior to overseas assignment, reoccupied on return and then sold, the period of absence due to work overseas (even if the property was let), is treated as a period of residence. The key point is that the property must be reoccupied on return to preserve the capital gains tax exemption.
Inheritance Tax Planning. A UK domiciled person is liable to inheritance tax on world wide assets. Even if you have lived abroad for many years you are unlikely to have lost your UK domicile. If an individual plans to return to the UK then they have an ideal opportunity to consider inheritance tax planning strategies at that time. Trusts particularly overseas trusts for non-domiciled individuals can be extremely efficient in mitigating inheritance tax..
In conclusion, returning to the UK gives rise to very real tax issues that need to be considered well in advance of the event. Advance structuring and planning of an individual's affairs can ensure that tax is minimized and wealth maximized. Tax legislation is constantly changing and therefore it is essential for expatriates to receive up to date advice based on their individual circumstances.
If there is any area of financial planning you would like to pursue please contact
Jerry McMenamin at info@swissinvestcenter.com

Flight News

Security Costs More With KLM
Passengers flying with Dutch carrier KLM will have to pay another USD$3 on their tickets from February 1.The airline announced today it is adding that amount to its security
surcharge, bringing the total to USD$8.KLM said it was increasing the charge because of rising insurance costs since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US. In addition it had to contribute to the tighter security measures introduced at airports around the world. The carrier has also invested extensively in extra security personnel and measures, both on board its planes and on the ground.
UK Airports Show Signs Of Recovery
Major UK airports staged a recovery last year aided by a big boost in passenger numbers during the December holiday period. The seven airports operated by BAA group, which include London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, handled a total of 9.4 million passengers last month, an increase of 15.3 percent over the same period last in 2001.
Throughout the whole year BAA airports handled 126.6 million passengers - 3.9 percent up on 2001 and 2.3 percent more than in 2000. The best performing airports were London Stansted, up a healthy 38.6 percent on the back of strong low fare airline traffic, and Edinburgh in Scotland which grew by 18.4 percent. Falls in traffic at Heathrow and Gatwick against 2000 figures were due to the continuing weakness of the North Atlantic market, BAA said.
Malaysia Airlines To Fly A380s
Asian carrier Malaysia Airlines is to fly six of the world's largest passenger jets, the Airbus A380-800. The Kuala Lumpur-based flag carrier said that deliveries of the first
three of the giant aircraft are scheduled for 2007. Malaysia will lease the 555-seat planes from its holding company PMB, which today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the European manufacturer. Datoi Md Nor Yusof, the airline's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer said: "With this acquisition, we believe Malaysia Airlines would be even better equipped to sustain and improve on our position as a premier carrier. "We are very well positioned in the region and combined with the
encouraging traffic growth on our flagship long-haul routes, slot constraints in our key destinations and the A380's expected cost advantages, we believe there is a strong economic rationale for the addition to the fleet, even more so by the time we take delivery in 2007." Currently, Airbus has 95 orders for its super-jumbo A380, the first of which is due to enter service in 2006.
EasyJet Faces H1 Loss
The soaring success of Europe's biggest low fare airline, easyJet, took a minor knock after its chief executive told a newspaper the carrier would report a loss for the first half of its fiscal year. Ray Webster broke the news to the Financial Times after the budget carrier's December traffic figures showed that seat sales had dropped back to 2000 levels as capacity surged ahead.The airline also included, for the first time, integrated December traffic figures with Go, the rival low fare operator which easyJet took over last summer. Commenting on the December figures, Mr Webster, who was reported as dismissing any immediate problems for the successful UK-based carrier, said: "It was a particularly busy month. We flew 1.4 million people,
announced a number of new routes to go on sale before the end of the Winter and launched our biggest-ever schedule offering 100 routes for the Summer."
"Capacity, measured in the number of seats for sale, grew by 44 percent compared to December last year, with a particular increase from the London market due to the establishment of our Gatwick services in early 2002. "Load factors reverted to the levels we saw in December 2000, following a spike last year caused by the sales and promotions that we launched after September 11th. "We also made real progress in the integration of easyJet and Go by operating under a single Air Operators Certificate and selling seats from a single reservations system." EasyJet also announced last month that it had signed one of the biggest passenger aircraft orders of the year with Airbus. The carrier is to buy 120 of the European manufacturer's A319 planes.

News from Hua Hin Dog Rescue Centre.

Slowly but surely, the community of supporters of Hua Hin Dog Rescue Center grows, month after month. In Hua Hin, mostly foreigners (farang in Thai language) are concerned by Christine and Jean Claude's cause, albeit their number is extremely low.
It appears that the rescue of these sad animals is of more concern to visitors than locals.
The world of internet is a powerful thing and as the dog rescue website gets into the search engines, more animal lovers get access to the day by day running of this particular aspect of town.
Not surprisingly, most of the website visitors are from USA, and in particular Minnesota, Virginia and California (50 % of the sessions). No wonder: that is where the animal cause has most of its interest! Regarding Europe, England and Germany count most of the dog lovers. The audience of the site itself grew steadily since its creation in May 2002. In Hua Hin, great comfort and moral support were brought to Christine and her team from foreign residents who offered food, toys, chewing bones and so on for Xmas and New Year. A vicious virus attacked the Centre in late December and many of the puppies died of it. A huge quantity of injections has been made by the veterinary in order to stop the progression of the epidemic, with success so far.Finances are getting low due to those uncommon expenses and the HHDRC needs, more than ever, your support.
The action of HHDRC is pure charity. Its books are wide open to the public and published on the Internet monthly, for higher transparency. For more details, have a look at http://www.dogrescuecenter.com or call 032-513 664 prior to visit the centre.

Favourite Holiday Dishes - tom kha gai

Preparation:
Bring the chicken stock to the boil, add lemongrass, galangal and kaffirlime leaves. Pour in the coconut milk, add chicken and mushrooms and flavour with fish sauce, lime juice and chillies. Simmer for a few minutes until the chicken meat is done then serve with steamed rice.

Chef's tip; Instead of chicken, seafood can be used for this dish. A nice touch is to add a few drops of chilli oil. If no straw mushrooms are available, champignons can be used instead.

Ingredients:
100g chicken stock (standard recipe)
2 stalks lemon grass, finely sliced
30g galangal root, sliced
2 kaffir lime leaves
500g chicken breast, sliced
80g straw mushrooms, quartered
3 tbs fish sauce
3 tbs lime juice
3 bird chillies, crushed
400g coconut milk

Nok with husband Peter celebrate her birthday at Rua Rimtarn

A great night was had by all at the Dusit's New Year Party

Double celebration for Yui, (left) 2nd anniversary of Guy's Bar and his birthday

The Tiger Cup comes to the Dusit, proudly displayed here by Observer girl Tantawan.
Congratulations to the Thailand national football team and to Dusit regular, coach Peter Withe on winning the magnificent trophy

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