Family Money: Charging It Up (Part 2 of 3)

By Leslie Wright

Last week we started looking at the comparative entry charges and switching costs of unit trusts and unit-linked insurance policies.

The conclusion was that the slightly higher initial entry cost attached to most unit-linked insurance policies is generally offset by lower or free switching costs.

Cynical readers will say that there must be a catch. Well, maybe there is.

Complex charging structures

The principal catch is that investment plans issued by insurance companies typically have a more complicated charging structure than the straightforward bid-offer spread applied to unit trusts and mutual funds.

However, this does not necessarily mean these plans are more expensive.

It’s a matter of comparing relative cost-effectiveness given your particular needs and circumstances and the time-frame you expect to remain invested.

The charges that are levied on unit-linked investments vary considerably from one type of vehicle to another, and from one institution to another.

It is important when choosing a suitable investment vehicle for your own needs, therefore, to compare the overall charging structures of several plans, to ensure the one you select meets your requirements, and has a cost-effective charging structure that is appropriate to your circumstances.

Of course, most investors don’t have direct access to all the relevant information to be able to make a judicious decision.

That is where a professional advisor can help you, by being able to compare various alternatives from different institutions, and recommend those which most closely meet your particular needs and circumstances.

So let’s examine these charges in a little more detail.

Offsetting the entry costs

First, either a bid-offer spread is charged at the time of making the investment, or various establishment charges are deducted during the early years of running the plan.

Overall, these establishment charges typically add up to the same as a bid-offer spread - but because they’re spread out over several months (or years in some cases), more of your money is growing in the meantime.

The bid-offer spread that is applied to unit-linked insurance funds is generally higher than that applied to unit trusts - typically 7% as opposed to around 5% for the more popular unit trusts.

But before you get turned off by this difference, it is worth noting that in many cases this higher spread is offset by increased allocations to units; and with certain lump-sum vehicles (typically for larger amounts) you can even buy all your units at the bid price, so pay no up-front spread at all.

What does this mean in layman’s terms?

Simply that instead of 100% of your money being invested which then has a bid-offer spread of (typically) 7% deducted, the institution counts it as if you’d invested more than 100% - up to 104% or even 105% in some cases, depending on the amount you’re investing and into which vehicle from which institution.

This effectively reduces the bid-offer spread to much more acceptable and highly competitive levels.

"Why not simply reduce the spread so it’s easier to comprehend?" you may ask.

Well, the answer to that is simply because both the offer and the bid price of the funds are quoted in publications such as the Financial Times or on the institution’s website, so cannot be adjusted for each individual client.

The only way the institution can ‘discount’ the price you will actually pay (and hence make their investment vehicle more attractively competitive) is by adding an extra element in the computation process, which is by counting your investment as if it were larger than it actually is.

Sound complicated? Or too good to be true? It isn’t.

Cost-effectiveness

Imagine you’re investing £100,000. If you had to pay a bid-offer spread of 7%, it would mean that on Day One your investment would have £7,000 deducted from it, and your net investment of £93,000 would have to grow by 7.53% to get back up to its starting point of £100,000. Not an enticing prospect for most prospective investors!

So the insurance companies’ shrewd marketing people put their heads together with the actuaries and devised a way to offset this up-front charge (or ‘front-end loading’ to use the industry jargon), to make their vehicles more attractive.

The result was a sliding scale of increased allocations, whereby instead of 100% of your money being put through the bid-offer spread, up to 105% of your investment goes through the spread-charge exercise, meaning they’ve effectively discounted the entry costs down to only 2.35% - which is an enticingly-low entry-cost compared with unit trusts, and acceptable to most investors.

But not all. Some investors - especially more substantial ones - are averse to paying any up-front charges at all.

So, the insurance firms’ shrewd marketing people put their heads together etc., and came up with some attractive vehicles that have no bid-offer spread while still giving 100% allocation, so nothing is deducted from your investment at the beginning.

Wonderful!

"But there must be a catch," you say. "Certainly these firms have to make some money somehow, and aren’t completely daft!"

Of course. They do it in one of two ways.

First, some vehicles from some firms permit you to buy in at the bid price (so you pay no front-end load) and even offer you an increased allocation (so even more of your money is growing from Day One), but levy an establishment charge over the first 18 months or so, and an administration or management charge (as they often term it) during the first 5-6 years.

If you look closely at the figures these represent, they often add up to 7% in toto - the same as the bid-offer spread.

However, because you were given a ‘bonus’ allocation at the beginning, and quite often ‘loyalty bonuses’ along the way, these charges in reality are reduced to only around 3-4% for more substantial amounts - so are very competitive compared with unit trusts, and in some cases actually cheaper.

Also, being spread out over 5-6 years, they are relatively painless whilst your investment is growing faster.

‘Early’ withdrawals

The other way they ‘get’ you is by applying punitive redemption penalties during the first 4-8 years (depending on the vehicle and the institution).

This is because the actuaries have learned over the years that most investors are fickle, and don’t keep their investments with one institution more than about 2 1/2 years on average.

Thus they build redemption penalties into the charging structure.

These serve two purposes.

First, to encourage investors to keep their money invested longer to avoid these charges; and secondly, to discourage them with penalties from taking it out and placing it elsewhere.

It means the same thing, but addresses the problem from two different psychological standpoints. The old ‘carrot and stick’ method of motivation, in other words.

To a serious medium-term investor (and 5 years is in fact a relatively short term when it comes to considering strategic investments), these redemption penalties have no significance, since they can be avoided altogether by keeping the investment going for at least 5-6 years.

Also, the competitively low entry costs, very wide range of funds to choose from in selecting your portfolio, and free switching in the meantime can make these unit-linked insurance vehicles especially attractive propositions.

(Next week: Part 3 - the Costs of Saving)

If you have any comments or queries on this article, or about other topics concerning investment matters, write to Leslie Wright, c/o Family Money, Pattaya Mail, or fax him directly on (038) 232522 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Further details and back articles can be accessed on his firm’s website on www.westminsterthailand.com.

Leslie Wright is Managing Director of Westminster Portfolio Services (Thailand) Ltd., a firm of independent financial advisors providing advice to expatriate residents of the Eastern Seaboard on personal financial planning and international investments.

The computer doctor

By Richard Bunch

From Simon Holloway, Rayong: I have a small network and wish to backup the data between the PC’s hard disks, thus ensuring that at any given time I have full access to ‘live’ data should a PC fail or hard disk go down. Is there such a program available, or is there a simple home spun method of doing this?

Computer Doctor replies: The good news is: this is a relatively simple task and something that can be practised even on a single PC between hard disks. There is a home spun method as you put it. This harps back to the old DOS days but is nonetheless just as effective today within the Windows environment. In essence you need to make one or several batch files, depending on your requirements. These can be made with a simple text editor like Notepad, not Word or similar, they need to be saved with the extension .bat not txt. There are, however, one or two rules that you need to bear in mind. Firstly, you need to limit yourself to the 8.3 DOS naming convention, i.e. My Documents becomes MYDOCU~1. Secondly, any reference to a network drive needs to be to a Mapped Drive Letter, i.e. F: = C: On Jeremy, these are best reconnected at login to ensure they are available when the batch file is run. Lastly, ensure the directory/s exists in the recipient drive/directory. The xcopy command is a good one to use and you can elaborate on this by using various switches, the most common and useful are: /s copies sub directories, /e copies empty directories, /v verifies the copy, /m only copies files with the archive bit set, i.e. only those files that are new or have been modified since the last copy. You can also ‘pipe’ an output to verify the task run with the > sign followed by a valid drive/directory/filename.txt. So your command line would look something like this "xcopy c:\mydocu~1\*.* f:\simon\mydocu~1 /s /e /v /m > c:\log\mydoc.txt" without the quotes! You can then automate this to run at specific times using a scheduling program such as the Task Scheduler that comes with Windows 98 or ClockWise from RJ Software.

I hope that helps, once you’ve worked it out you can rest in peace.

The comments contained within this column are not necessarily the views of the author or Pattaya Mail Publishing Co., Ltd. Letters may be edited.

Send your questions or comments to the Pattaya Mail at 370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, 20260 or Fax to 038 427 596 or E-mail to [email protected].

Richard Bunch is Managing Director of Action Computer Technologies, on South Pattaya Road (900 metres from Sukhumvit Road). Providing total computer and IT solutions to corporate clients and households on the Eastern Seaboard.

Successfully Yours: Mick Crawford

by Mirin MacCarthy

Michael (Amazing Mick) Crawford is one of those priceless commodities in Pattaya, an all round Mr. Fix It, Painter and Decorator. Being a Director of Coastal Constructions, part of the Northern Thai Group, and employing 22 staff, he is, however, far removed from his modest start of a few years ago.

Born in Essex in the U.K, Mick worked as a painter and decorator for a while then went to work for Shell as an aircraft refueler for thirteen years. "We used to get four days off at a time so I was still doing painting and repairs on my days off. I’ve never liked to sit around doing nothing."

In ’89 his life took on a different direction after his divorce and then meeting a Thai girl in the U.K. She wanted to come back home so the ever-amiable Mick relocated. He has been here now for six years and is ahead of the game, looking at the big picture, even though he admits to having a couple of false starts in the beginning. "I did what I tell everyone else not to. I’d only been here a month and I bought a bar. I had it for a year and a half and I sold it. I was lucky to get out of it. Didn’t lose money but I wouldn’t buy another one."

After another short stint of working for someone else, he finally started working for himself, which was something he had always had in mind. "Even when I was with Shell I didn’t feel as though I was achieving anything. I always wanted to start my own company. Now if anything goes wrong I only have myself to blame."

Mick started off with just one guy working for him. Then the concept for Coastal Constructions was born 18 months ago after Mick had met Bryant Berry of Northern Thai Real Estate when he painted his house. With Bryant’s business connections and Mick’s ability, Coastal Constructions looked as though it could be a viable venture.

Now with twenty more staff it is full steam ahead for the company, which is fully occupied with complete home renovations from floor to ceiling. "We employ all our staff and give them good pay, so they do the work and don’t sleep all day. None of them are contractors. We do 90% of the work ourselves, even to building our own kitchens." He is naturally proud of the end result of any job and wreathes into smiles when he recalls the problems they have sometimes had to get over.

Mick’s hopes and plans for the future are all work orientated. "I’d like to expand a little bit more, keep working and hard at it. I like to be doing work, then I feel like I’m achieving something."

He swears he has no other interests, "I’m working most of the time. I like to go out and have a few beers with the boys now and then. I only have Sunday afternoons off a week and I’ll take the ‘Missus’ out."

Mick’s advice to people coming to Thailand to live is, "To have a good look around before you invest any money in anything. It’s the same as anywhere in the world. If you know what’s going on you won’t get caught."

To be honest with people is important for Mick. "If you make a mistake, then put your hand up for it. If you say ‘Sorry I messed up’ then you can go and fix it and that’s O.K. with most people. Otherwise it just comes back to you later."

Success to Mick is purely doing what he is doing. "Making this business work. Without Coastal Constructions I’d still be riding around on a step-through balancing a tin of paint on the handlebars." And with the way his business is expanding today, he certainly has earned his nickname, "Amazing Mick".

Snap Shots: Painting with light

by Harry Flashman

In actual fact, the whole basis and definition of photography is "painting with light". Painting images onto photographic emulsion using light as your paintbrush. Once you understand this basic lesson you can produce brilliant photographs - no matter what kind of camera you own.

Look at some of the images this week. They were taken with what would now be called totally primitive equipment. Some of these images are almost 150 years old but they all have one characteristic in common - brilliant use of light and shadow.

Julia Margaret Cameron took the shot of historian Thomas Carlyle in 1867 using a monster camera with 11" x 9" plates. The exposure time was worked out in minutes, not split seconds, so there is some loss of sharpness in the final image - but look at the way the dramatic lighting produced such a dramatic photograph. 132 years later this is still a very powerful portrait.

Baron de Meyer took the portrait of Mrs. Irene Castle in 1919. Again the use of light and shadow to add intrigue and drama. Almost totally "back lit" with a little reflected light back into the face. De Meyer has painted his model with light and let the film record the spectacular result.

The shot of film director John Huston was taken in 1955 by British photographer Norman Parkinson. One single light was used from the top left corner of the photograph to paint the main figure, Huston. A brilliant timeless portrait that again has that powerful impact.

The final shot is one of American model Patti Hansen by Richard Avedon in 1977. Once again a portrait taken with the main lighting coming from top left of the picture. This was taken on a 10" x 8" Deardorff camera, but Avedon would have got the same result taking it on a box Brownie. Simple lighting to paint the model to get a stunning fashion shot.

So that is the message from this week’s column - if you want to take good people shots, paint the subject with light and let your camera do the rest. Sometimes all you have to do is slowly turn your subject around, looking at how the light strikes them at the angle. When you see the effect you like just pick up your camera, compose your shot by walking up to the subject and shoot. Make sure the "auto flash" is turned off or you have swamped and lost your lighting effect. Painting with light is really just looking and seeing how the light falls on your subject and recording that moment forever.

Use your eyes to see what you are going to get, rather than relying on your on-camera flash to do it all for you and you too will get timeless, powerful photographs! Happy shooting.

Modern Medicine: Herbal medicines. Do they work?

by Dr Iain Corness

Is the use of herbal medicines something new? Most definitely not! Mankind has been using herbal medicines since Neanderthal times, and that is certainly not last month! The Chinese had plant based pharmacopoeias almost 5000 years ago. The Sumerians, 4000 years ago, recorded 1000 medicinal plants on stone tablets and even Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine, listed 400 plant based remedies in his Materia Medica.

Many of our current pharmaceutical agents were originally discovered in plant form, even though they may now be formulated in a laboratory. These include Digoxin, Morphine, Codeine, Quinine, Theophylline and Pseudo-ephedrine. All of these are well documented drugs that do "work", so there is no denying that some herbal medicines are very effective. Currently there are at least 122 distinct chemical substances, derived from plants, in use as pharmaceuticals today.

Herbal medicines are often used by people suffering from ailments for which conventional medicine offers no positive cure. HIV/AIDS is an obvious example.

However, from the Western medical viewpoint, one of the problems with herbal medicines is the lack of well controlled statistical trials of some of these medications. Another problem for the western based prescriber is the lack of knowledge of the interactions between the "pharmaceutical" drugs and herbal medicines. In fact there is a huge gap in our knowledge of the toxicity levels and potential teratogenic effects with some herbal medicines as well.

This is changing, and modern scientific scrutiny is being carried out on many common herbal remedies. Amongst these is Guarana - extracted from the Paullinia cupana tree in South America. This is promoted as being a substance to give you a lift, some extra get up and go. Unfortunately it is difficult to identify the ingredient from the packaging of this compound. In actual fact, the main ingredient is caffeine. Guarana has 3-5 times more caffeine, weight for weight, than coffee beans, so no wonder it can give you a lift. It can also give you palpitations and anxiety! This herbal medicine is potent.

Another popular medication is Ginkgo, from the Ginkgo biloba tree. This is used for cerebral insufficiency as seen in the aged, leading to Dementia. Its effect is supposed to counteract this aging in the brain and the studies completed so far would appear to indicate that Ginkgo does have an effect on this condition. Now before you rush off to buy your bottle full of hope for the future please note that they have also found a nasty little side effect - brain haemorrhages!

The warning in all this is to use a little caution when deciding on a course of herbal medicines and to inform your doctor if you are considering taking some when you are already under treatment with conventional pharmaceuticals. Drug interactions are common and can be potentially fatal.

Herbal medications can be very effective, it is just important to understand there may be limitations or gaps in our knowledge. You have been warned!

Dear Hillary,

I went to have a haircut at the local barbers the other day. The barber could not speak much English but seemed to understand what I wanted. Almost finished, he suddenly pushed me forward in the chair and started to pummel my back. Then he leaned the chair back and put a hot towel over my face and massaged my scalp. Next he lifted my legs up and started massaging them with a buzzing electric machine. By now I was in fear of my life and my wallet. I escaped short back and sided, massaged and buzzed and 200 Baht lighter. How do I get an "ordinary" haircut in Pattaya?

Signed:
Crew Cut

Dear Crew Cut,

You almost had Hillary by her own short and curlies. You should be so lucky! By the time Hillary gets her golden locks coloured, curled, twirled and primped there’s about 800 Baht missing from the handbag! All you have to do is learn Thai or change your barber. The latter sounds easier, but you could try saying "Dat phom yang deoaw". That might just get you through. Let me know next month how you went.

Dear Hillary,

I am a 62 years old male from Kentucky and some of my friends of around my age have been taking the Viagra pill before going out at night. I have read articles that seem to say that this could be dangerous. I believe that there is a new herbal pill that will work just as well and also restores hair and peps you. I am told that this has been a Thai secret for many years but is going to be released on the market very soon. Will it be available in the chemist’s shops and when will it be?

Signed,
"Softie"

Dear Softie,

If you believe that you’ll believe anything. There is no such thing as a secret in Thailand. Anyone who has been here for more than five minutes knows this.

Dear Hillary:

I’ve been reading your articles (including back issues) for several months and I do commend you for your advice and wisdom. I have questions that you may help me with.

Occasionally when I do go to the bars, I overhear some bar girls calling some obviously drunk farangs "kwai." When I ask them what it means, they giggle and get defensive and refuse to answer my question. What is "kwai" and its meaning?

Seeking Answers

Dear Seeking,

Fan Mail, we are so thrilled! I cannot take credit for the back issues because that was my Sister who has recently escaped abroad. Because we are identical twins our Mum named us both Hillary to stop any confusion! Don’t worry we think alike so our words of wisdom will be identical too!

"Kwai" literally means "Buffalo" but is applied to those who have to ask it’s meaning.

GRAPEVINE

Dining Out: Pub Grub?

by Miss Terry Diner

One of the newer pubs in town is Rosie O’Gradys on Soi 7. Open for a little over a month, it has already carved a niche for itself in the volatile Pattaya market as another watering hole in which it is worth downing a pint or two.

Rosie’s, however, advertises itself as a Pub and Restaurant, so the Dining Out Team decided it should pay Rosie’s a visit and check out the nosh side of the establishment as opposed to the noggin!

The restaurant and kitchen are located on the first floor above the pub and seats around 40 diners. The tables and settings are of a high standard complete with tablecloths and good cutlery. The ambience is more of an English "hotel" than that of a street corner pub.

The menu is not extensive, but quite comprehensive. Starters include pate, shrimp cocktail and spring rolls (75 - 90 Baht) and a smoked salmon (B. 250). There is also a choice of three soups at 70 Baht for cream of chicken or mushroom or the soup of the day (otherwise known as the chef’s whim!)

There are a couple of Irish dishes - Irish Stew (B. 220) and a Guinness and Beef Pie (B. 250), but the bulk of the items are lumped together under the heading of "Family Favourites" and include all the family staples like cottage pie, mixed grills, bangers and mash and pork chops at around 170 Baht.

A fish menu includes traditional fish and chips and a shrimp salad for those watching waist-lines (B. 160) through to poached or grilled salmon at 340 Baht.

The carnivores are very well catered for with imported (N.Z.) rib eye and T bone steaks (B. 320 - 380) or you can select from the roasts - chicken, lamb, pork or beef (B. 240 - 280).

There is also a Thai favourites section of the menu which is extremely reasonably priced at 50 - 80 Baht per item.

The wine list follows the style of the menu - not large but varied enough to be comprehensive. Red and White wine can also be ordered by the glass and there are naturally all the beers available (including Singha Gold)!

We decided to miss the starters and went straight into the mains. The other side of the Team going for a medium rare rib eye steak while I ordered the roast lamb with mint sauce.

The steak arrived cooked correctly, complete with chips and vegetables and an egg on top. Madame gave it top marks both for taste and quantity. The roast was in a gravy with roast potatoes, vegetables and a Yorkshire pudding to cap it off. My roast was very good and I must admit to soaking up the last of the gravy with the Yorkshire pud and cleaning my plate.

We washed it all down with an excellent bottle of South African Cab Sav - highly recommended.

Rosie’s restaurant is unpretentious and good value. It would be wrong to call it just "pub grub" as it is of higher quality than that. The term in the menu "Family Favourites" probably sums up the restaurant best - it serves good family food in a British hotel atmosphere. We enjoyed it.

Animal Crackers: SNAKES ALIVE!

by Mirin MacCarthy

Cat owners can become blasé about the hazards that threaten our pets. We serenely allow our cats access to the great outdoors, sure that once inoculated against rabies and all sorts of nasties, the worst that can happen to puss is to be chased by a neighbor-hood dog.

One of my adventuresome cats came very close to running out of all of its nine lives last week in Jomtien. Pun came in crying and bleeding with what looked like a battered, dangling, broken paw. Applying the principles of first aid I squeezed some dettol and water over the bleeding paw, improvised a splint out of folded cardboard, immobilized the cat in a towel and bandaged the splint on. It was firmly bandaged and should have been enough to stop the bleeding, yet by the time we reached the Vet, Dr. Nop at Nakula twenty minutes later the bandage and the towel were saturated.

Fortunately Dr. Nop can speak English and showed me that Pun’s paw was not broken and could tell by the bleeding that refused to stop, that it was a snake bite. He explained that the Siamese Russell’s Viper injects venom with an anticoagulant in it to stop blood from clotting naturally. The Russell’s Viper is a very aggressive snake and will leap at people or animals if disturbed. It then returns later at night to finish off its victim now weakened by blood loss.

I became grey, the same colour as Pun, when Dr. Nop confirmed my worst fears that yes Pun could die, depending on how much venom the snake had injected into her. Dr. Nop wrote me out a prescription for antivenene that I had to rush to the Bangkok Pattaya hospital pharmacy to buy. Then back to his surgery for an intravenous injection. Half an hour later I took Pun home in the cat carrier, bandaged and decidedly subdued to bring back for further assessment in the morning. Dr Nop had to administer another dose of antivenene as the paw still hadn’t stopped bleeding and Pun, decidedly the worse for wear, had also not drunk, eaten, or peed in the last eighteen hours due to the effects of the poison in her system.

Pun lives after two antivenene injections, confinement to a cat cage for five days and numerous redressings. She and my other feline Roi are reluctantly confined indoors until I can have a snake proof cat run built outside. I am serious.

Next time your pet looks battered and the wounds won’t stop bleeding, think of snakebite and rush it off to the vet. Snakes are quick - you have to be quicker!

Auto Mania: Who is the best?

by Dr. Iain Corness

Who is, or was, the best race car driver is a question that motor racing enthusiasts have discussed for years. It is, of course, very difficult to compare the drivers from the different eras. Cars were radically different, the tracks different, tyres totally different. However, two names always crop up when you talk about "great" drivers. Ayrton Senna and Juan Manuel Fangio. On a cursory glance, Senna with 41 wins and 65 Pole positions and 614 Championship points out-rates Fangio with only 24 wins, 29 Poles and 277 points.

Remembering that there are lies, damned lies and statistics, it is still very interesting to dissect the bald data given before. If you correlate the wins, poles and points with the number of Grands Prix they raced in you get a very different story. Fangio won 47% of all the GP’s he ran in while Senna only won 25%. Fangio was on Pole for 57% of his races while Senna had the coveted slot only 40% of the time. In fact, if you look at the first and second Front Row positions, Fangio was there 94% of the time while Senna was there only 54%. If you look at Fastest Laps then Fangio set the quickest race time in 45% of his races while Senna only did this in 12% of his GP’s. Finally, Fangio scored an average of 5.44 points per race against Senna’s 3.81.

Now then, who was the better driver? Surely it has to be the guy who was almost always on the front row and won nearly half the races he competed in. Juan Manual Fangio just has to be the best Grand Prix post-war driver. I rest my case. Mind you, it would be interesting to see how the current lot stacked up against the pre-war giants like Caracciola, Rosemeyer and Nuvolari. The hard part would be getting the statistical data together to do the comparisons.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week we asked about the first side-loading, flat floored delivery van. The answer came from France and was that incredibly agricultural H series van put out by Andre Citroen. It had those flat corrugated iron sides and for a company that has made some very aerodynamic designs, these things had all the aerodynamics of your average house brick. However, with Citroen’s Traction Avant it did make it possible to have a flat floor for the payload. The tail gate was also novel with the bottom half folding down and the top split and opening sideways. Thank you Paul Davies for that information and the photographs. Paul admits to owning two of these weird beasts at the same time! Even took one to Le Mans from the UK having kitted it out like a camper van. There’s true masochism for you!

Let’s stay with Citroen for this week’s question. What was the significance of the double chevron insignia of Citroen cars? If you would like a quiet hint - I just gave it to you! The first correct answer through to the Editorial office wins the usual Automania FREE beer of the week. Overseas contestants get a "virtual" beer or can claim it when they visit Pattaya! Fax 427 596 or email [email protected].

Autotrivia

Talking about Citroen, I asked for stories about this marque and Ted Aspudd, Safety Driving Guru from the Bira Circuit called in. Ted had worked on, for a short time, a Citroen SM, the Maserati engined model. Ted reckons that the factory was so excited about the concept of having a Maserati under the bonnet that they forgot that it also needed carburettors, exhaust and electrics. These small and insignificant items were jammed in wherever they could and it was just a complete nightmare to work on. Ted rates the SM as a finalist for one of the worst cars in the world contest. I’ll add other likely contenders including the Trabant, Wartburg, XJ6 and Lightburn Zeta.

Ted was also one of those lucky Citroen owners to break a fan belt on the SM. On your average motor car this item turns the water pump and alternator and at worst you will begin to overheat. With the SM and oleo-pneumatique suspension, when you do a fan belt you no longer turn the oleo-pneumatic pump and lose suspension, power steering and brakes all at the same time. When the rotten beast sits down like the proverbial camel you cannot tow it because it has no ground clearance and no suspension movement. You cannot steer it unless you have spent three years at Thor’s Gym and you cannot pull it up because you have no brake fluid pressure!

But, after all, Citroen is very French and as such generates much enthusiasm and loyalty from its citizens. This was demonstrated the other evening when I was accosted from across a crowded room by Jean-Fernand Wasser, the GM from the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, who said, "Bastarde, ‘ow can you say zese bad things about Citroen? I am French, you know!" Yes, I know, Jean-Fernand. I know! And Citroen is still the manufacturer who always managed to find the hardest and most involved way to do anything. Trust me, I’m not French!

Malaysian Grand Prix

Talking about Jean-Fernand reminded me that it is getting close to "crunch" time for those of us contemplating going in October. J-F is a very staunch motor racing enthusiast and will definitely be going to the F1 race in Malaysia. Very soon it will be difficult to get good seats, and accommodation let alone get on a plane. We have some 100% starters with J-F, Niel Poulsen, Ted Aspudd, Nick Lynx-Lomonde and myself committed already. Can we start to compile a list of committed members of our Pattaya group? Think about it. I need to know if we are going to try and swing any "deals" for us all on travel and lodgings. Fax the Editorial office or email and I’ll contact you back. With enough of us going it will be a good fun trip and we should try to gain some advantage from the numbers.

Fitness Tips: More fat bits

by David Garred
Club Manager Dusit Resort Sports Club

G’day Pattaya,

As I mentioned last week, recently I received some interesting reports from the 8th International Congress on Obesity. These reports lend themselves to great educational reading, so over the next few weeks I’ll continue passing them along in the hope that you all get at least one thing out of them, thus justifying your time spent reading these articles.

This weeks first part is not so much of a report but a warning to the ‘quick fix’ addicts out there. The second I’ll break down for you later.

Use fad treatments at your own risk, warns expert

Fads and ‘quack’ treatments abound in the area of weight loss. So how is the consumer expected to know what is good from bad?

According to Dr. George Bray, outgoing President of the Society for the Study of Obesity, ‘fad’ treatments are usually made up of non-restricted chemical substances, such as herbs or normal foods. On the other hand, prescribed drugs have an extensive testing process and they must pass through national drug agencies before they are allowed to be sold to consumers. "Fad products fall outside the normal regulatory processes, meaning they do not have any supporting research evidence." The biggest problem with this, according to Dr. Bray, is that these products may actually turn out to be unsafe, as well as be ineffective. "For this reason, people should be aware that they take them at their own risk," he says.

Simply put - check the label: does it have the national governments health department seal of approval for the country it has been sold in? If not then it is a fad product.

Some of you may be thinking about fad diets from magazines, i.e. this movie star eats this, some supermodel eats only that etc., same story guys and girls - they - don’t - work - for - 90% - of - people - who - start - them. Not only that, but these diets are never nutritionally balanced thus you will be denying your body some of the things it requires to function normally.

Is it worth it, when the benefits of doing it the only truly effective long-term safe way out weigh the short-term gain by so much?

In case you were wondering, a well balanced eating plan and regular exercise is the only answer to this question.

Exercising the aged can make them less active

It might sound like a contradiction, but a good exercise class can make some people less active. Researchers at Maastricht University in Holland found this when they tracked the activity levels of a group of older men (average age 60) who were given a twelve-week exercise program. By strapping movement accelerometers to the men over 14 days the researchers were able to measure the amount of energy expended throughout the day. Structured exercise classes, including group aerobics and individual weight stack training, were carried out for approximately one hour 3-4 days per week. This led to an increase of strength in the training group compared to a control group who did no training.

After six weeks, accelerometer recordings showed that there was a difference in the amount of activity carried out on training days compared to non-training days. However, after twelve weeks there were no differences between training and non-training days, suggesting that spontaneous physical activity (SPA) declined after the exercise class to compensate for the energy used. As SPA makes up 5% of total energy expenditure during the day, a decrease in this will have a significant effect on total energy loss.

The lesson from this is that where an exercise class is used to help weight loss, close attention should be paid to SPA for the remainder of the day. Individuals should be made aware of the fact that this is likely to decrease and thus reduce the advantages gained from exercise. While current research has shown this with older people, there is good reason to believe the same phenomenon may occur in others, particularly women.

I found this very interesting and rather ironic, one of the main benefits of exercise is to improve the quality of the individual’s life by adding a greater degree of ease to mobility. The test group experienced all the usual benefits of starting a fitness program but apparently decided to do nothing with it!

The body will take time to adjust to the demands that you put upon it. Six to eight weeks is the usual time period. After that, obviously it is your choice, but guys and girls, please, put it to good use after you have worked so hard to earn it.

There will be more ‘Fat Bits’ next week so please stay tuned and keep yourself moving.

Carpe’ diem

Copyright 1998 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand 
Tel.66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax:66-38 427 596; e-mail: [email protected]
Created by Andy Gombaz, assisted by Chinnaporn Sangwanlek.