Family Money: Guaranteeing Your Pension Part 1

By Leslie Wright

Your planned retirement date is fast approaching, and you’re wondering what options are available to you to safeguard your pension throughout your retirement.

Well, there are several, depending on your needs and circumstances.

Onshore pensions

If you’d started up a personal pension plan in the U.K., you’re probably already aware that you couldn’t (legally) carry on contributing into this whilst living or working overseas, due to U.K. Inland Revenue regulations which grant tax relief to such onshore contributory pension plans.

Some clients have asked me about unravelling these plans and bringing them offshore, where they might grow faster and without having tax deducted at source.

While this is theoretically possible, in practice it is extremely difficult, inasmuch as Inland Revenue permission has to be obtained to do so, and they require assurances that if such permission were granted, the proceeds would be invested into a comparable offshore pension plan with a reputable provider.

In this regard, as some readers will already have discovered, the IRD would need rather more definitive assurances that this would be done than a simple declaration from you - even if this were sworn on a stack of bibles.

In fact, they have quite an exhaustive (and exhausting) vetting procedure which has to be complied with, and this process can take at least several months to complete.

My advice to clients with onshore personal pension plans, generally speaking, is to leave them alone, and draw down the benefits as and when they come due.

The procedure for transferring them offshore is simply too bothersome in relation to the comparatively small potential advantages.

However, there are options open to you as to what you can do with the proceeds - about which more shortly.

Corporate pensions

Many expatriates are entitled to a pension from former employers, but plan to remain offshore.

If you’re one of these fortunate people, more practical options are available to you than those who are holding onshore personal pensions on which they’d claimed tax relief on their contributions.

In many cases, you may take a substantial portion of your accumulated pension rights as a tax-free lump-sum in cash.

This capital sum can be transferred by the pension provider into your bank account (onshore or offshore), and could be reinvested into one or several suitable offshore investment vehicle(s), which of course grow free of tax.

I say "suitable" because there are a wide variety of such investment vehicles available nowadays, and selecting an appropriate one for your particular needs and circumstances should be undertaken neither lightly nor whimsically, but only after careful consideration and, preferably, with the professional guidance of an objective financial advisor.

Some such alternatives will be discussed in this and the next fortnight’s articles.

But which investment vehicle might be suitable for your particular circumstances would depend partly on the amount in question, and partly on your draw down requirements - both of which factors will vary tremendously between one individual and the next.

Your age and family history will also have a bearing on how long you may expect to draw down your pension.

How much of the capital (if any) you might wish to leave to your heirs (if any) will also need to be considered; and appropriate estate planning then has to be considered as well.

The remainder

Even those corporate pension schemes that permit you to withdraw a cash lump-sum usually retain a portion which would have to be paid out to you on a regular basis, starting either immediately or at some specific date in the future; and again, options are available to you on what to do with that.

For example, you may need it to support your family and/or your own lifestyle. In that case, simply having it remitted to your bank account (either ‘back home’ or out here) is the simplest solution.

Alternatively, you may have other sources of income sufficient to maintain your lifestyle, and not need to draw on this pension, despite its being paid out to you. What do you do?

You could simply leave it to accumulate in the bank; but at the moment this would earn a rather pathetic rate of interest.

One solution is to reinvest it into a flexible offshore savings plan which, despite the charges that would inevitably apply to such plans, would have the potential to achieve a better net growth rate over time than simple bank deposits, and grow tax free.

But this option should only be considered if you can take a reasonably long-term view - i.e., you are pretty sure you won’t need to access this accumulating capital for, say, at least five years. (Otherwise, the inherent charges and potential for volatility in the underlying investment funds might make this a losing rather than gaining proposition, compared with, for instance, an offshore bank deposit.)

Then, if and when you do eventually require additional income, you could simply stop contributing into this savings plan and start drawing down on the new capital that’s built up in it.

But whatever you choose to do, most retirees’ primary concern is that their pension is going to be assured, and will last them throughout their lifetimes.

If you haven’t built up sufficient capital either through a corporate pension scheme or by amassing capital either in a personal pension plan or other forms of saving, there’s little that can be done, and you have very few options.

But assuming you have built up some capital, what options are available to you?

Annuities

Most people are familiar with the concept of an annuity - even if they aren’t too familiar with how these operate.

Various types of annuities exist, but all of them operate on the same principle.

Putting it simply, you buy an annuity with a lump sum of capital, and this then regularly pays out a guaranteed amount - a pension, if you will - for a specified period of time.

This period may be a fixed term, such as 10 or 15 years; or it may be for the rest of your life, however long (or short) that might be.

The amount and pay out period depend on; a) the type of annuity you’ve bought; and b) the amount of capital you’ve paid for it.

Most of the large U.K.-based insurance companies offer annuities, and a few of the offshore ones do too.

The way these institutions calculate how much they will pay out from a certain capital sum depends on two factors.

First, the period they will have to continue the guaranteed pay-out - or pension, if you will. This is determined a) by the term of the annuity (if it is for a fixed term); or b) if the term is until the death of the annuity-holder, or his spouse, by actuarial tables which estimate average longevity, and hence the likely period the institution will have to continue paying out the guaranteed amount.

The second factor is prevailing bank and fixed-interest securities’ rates (or bond yields, in other words.)

When interest rates and/or bond dividends are low (as they are currently), the amount that can be expected to be yielded from an annuity will also be low.

Why? Because the insurance companies who issue annuities make the money they regularly pay out to you by investing your capital into a basket of high-interest bank deposits and low-risk bonds, from which a regular income stream is derived. When interest rates are low, this income stream is also low.

At current levels, therefore, the pay out you can expect from an annuity will be hardly more than from a bank deposit.

The main advantage of a lifetime annuity is that it guarantees you a fixed income stream for the whole of your lifetime.

So if you depart this veil of tears rather sooner than the actuary tables indicate, your family, heirs & beneficiaries will probably receive nothing more - unless you’d bought an annuity that ran for not only you but also your spouse’s lifetime. And this latter type of annuity would typically pay out less each month than if it were on your life only.

If, on the other hand, you live longer than ‘average’ (and your family & health history will tend to indicate this), it may be a very good deal indeed.

(to be continued next week)

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 GHA: Below is a copy of an e-mail I have sent to Loxinfo, I believe it is self-explanatory. "Once again your service is very bad, your server is not working and your so called (staff) are not helpful. I have tried for 15 phone calls to connect to your service. Now I finally connect at 7200 bps. This is not acceptable. And as soon as I can find a better ISP I will cancel my 2 year account with you. Your service is truly poor. Why can you not respond to your customer’s problems?

Computer Doctor replies: As well as receiving a number of complaints regarding poor service by Loxinfo, I get many about the lack of assistance they provide when things do go wrong. There is generally a feeling of helplessness, which is understandable. Although you have given little information for me to go on, i.e. your location, hardware and software set-up, I would suggest you test an account with another ISP. Personally we use Internet East and find them generally to be above par. You can purchase an account from us to test, the cost is a modest 500 Baht for 10 hours. Let me know how you get on.

For those of you who like something a little different…

Why not jazz up your browser with Neoplanet. This is basically a new interface for Internet Explorer and works with version 3.02 or greater. It is free and downloadable from www.neoplanet.com.

Amongst its many features, it offers; A default set of channels giving you the best of the Web in three clicks or less. Customisation tools, which allow you to edit channels, change skins, play sounds, etc. Integrated e-mail that’s simple, robust, and integrated into your Internet environment. A modem speed booster – to optimise the speed of your Internet connection. A targeted search function that puts the wealth of the Web at your fingertips. Enhanced browsing features that can get you to the site you need even if you don’t know the URL.

Some people like using their keyboards more than their mouse, whist others are the opposite. Neoplanet toolbars can be changed into several configurations, depending on what you want to see, from full function for ease of use, to a minimal setting for maximising your screen real estate.

With extras like the address book and integrated browser functions you gain additional functionality, and since it’s part of NeoPlanet’s interface, it doesn’t hog a lot of system resources.

Give it a try.

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: Jack Firth

by Mirin MacCarthy

Jack Firth is an engineer and a filtration consultant for Sithiporn Associates here. He fell in love with Thailand during the three years he spent here with the British Army Engineers in the mid 60s when he helped construct Long Nok Tan airfield in N.E. Thailand and many low budget roads linking local villages.

Jack was born in the U.K., moved from Scotland at age 8 and went to school in London. "I liked to create, make and design things. I focussed on tech drawing as I thoroughly enjoyed that, in fact, still do."

He then joined the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham at age 15. "Basically a military engineering apprenticeship and you go back to school." The career choice suited him. "I spent fifteen years in the army. Much of it in bomb disposals."

However, Thailand was the highlight of his career. "A formative part of my life. Working here teaches you to be versatile and self reliant. You can be a very good engineer but imagination is all. One of the biggest thrills an engineer can have is to imagine something, design it and then make it work." Thailand gave him that opportunity.

Jack returned to the U.K. in ’68 and spent some time as an instructor for the Royal School of Military Engineering.

After that, he was in the Bomb Disposal Unit, digging up unexploded German bombs all over the U.K. "The most dangerous job we did was when we were called to an old lady’s house who had made some potent ginger beer. There were showers of glass coming through the side of the fridge!" Jack is always the joker!

In 1977 he left the Army and joined an American heavy equipment outfit as district sales manager for 2 years. After that there was a series of engineering posts and even three months in Outback Australia.

Jack came back to Thailand in 1995 as an engineer for S.E Asia in a Heavy Lift Operations company, then as Hydraulic Supervisor assisting in building the Nakon Thai Steel Strip Mill.

Ever the globe trotter, he went back to the U.K in ’97 and took a six months break to write a book. A departure from civil engineering, this book is an aviation crime thriller, "Pulse" which is to be published in September.

He then went back to work in the U.K. but found he missed Thailand. With a view to returning, Jack approached P.T.I. Technologies, a U.K manufacturer of filtration and purification equipment, and asked if they wanted to expand into Asia. When the answer was in the affirmative, he arranged the introduction to the highly reputable Thai company, Sithiporn. Jack was instrumental in Sithiporn being awarded the distributorship of P.T.I. equipment and is now affiliated with them as a filtration consultant.

His hobbies are writing and scale model engineering. His interest in this began years ago when his son wanted a model boat built. "It was 60 inches long and I was aghast when I found the kit came packed flat! I had to buy a saw and develop carpentry skills. Actually, I get a buzz out of model engineering now and designing something so small." His talents in this area are such that he was approached by 20th Century Fox to produce hydraulically operated special effects for an film shot in London.

Jack’s most important values are, "Health and success, not money. As an engineer, I strive like everyone else to be better than most, but as good as a few. I like to work, I work hard but play hard too."

He says that, "Success is judged by your peers, not yourself. You can be judged to be successful at solving a problem and I am always flattered when people seek my advice."

His guidance for businessmen here is, "One, learn the language and two, never forget you are a guest here." His own future plans are Thailand based. "I love Thailand and the people, that’s the attraction. My son is now 14 years old and I would like to bring him out here when he is older."

Jack the Bomb Disposal expert, Civil Engineer, writer and scale modeller will undoubtedly find a niche for himself in this country.

Snap Shots: How Long?

by Harry Flashman

One of the questions professional photographers often get asked is, "What lens would you use to shoot a (insert the subject)?" However, the lens a pro selects depends upon many factors, and the subject being shot is the least important one!

If that sounds confusing, do not worry, it will become more clear as you read on. You see, you can get a shot of your pet subject using any old bit of glass on the front end of your camera. In some instances, you can almost get the identical looking shot of the subject with a 28 mm lens, a 50 mm or a 135 mm. By now you are saying, why have all these different lenses if the shots look all the same? The essential word here was "almost" the same. There will be tell-tale differences and it is these differences that make or break your photographs. By using the differences you can manipulate the shot to produce the effects you want.

Right then, let’s get down to some examples. You are on a tropical beach, Wong Amat will do, and you want the blue skies over the sea type of picture. Unfortunately, the sky is only pale blue. What to do? The lens to use to increase the blue colour of the sky is the widest angle lens you have got in the bag. How does this work? Simple, you are taking an enormous area of sky with the wide angle and compressing it into the small 35 mm negative. Compressing all that sky increases the depth of the colour and makes it more blue than it really was!

Another example, you have just bought a car and want to send a photo of it to your relatives at home. You want them to be jealous. You want it to appear as imposing as possible. What to do? Leave the wide angle lens on and get down low and close to the car. Look through the viewfinder and the car suddenly looms large and powerful above you. The closer you get, the more it looms above you. Click! It is in the bag and on its way to impress the rellies.

This time you want to take a photograph of your house. Unfortunately, there is a rubbish dump at the back, and no matter what angle you take it from there are piles of rubbish in the background. This one is even easier. Use a long lens (135 mm and upwards) and take the shot. With the short depth of field available with the longer lenses, the rubbish dump will turn into a nice blurry, soft, out of focus background, and no one will ever know you are living in Soi Rubbish Dump.

What about a nice close up of your favourite painting you bought? Another "genuine" Sunflowers by Van Gogh. Will you use a close-up lens, the wide angle setting on the zoom lens? No, you should use the telephoto long lens and stand back. If you go in close with the wide angle you will get distortions at the edges and strange shadows across the canvas because you physically get in the way of the light. With the long lens there is less distortion and the light will fall evenly across the picture.

Mind you, there are times when the subject being shot does dictate the lens you would use. Let me assure you that when photographing man-eating tigers I would use the longest lens in the world. A close up lens to photograph its dental work would not be my idea of fun!

So there you are, think about the effect you want, rather than the subject matter when deciding what lens to choose.

Modern Medicine: “What’s a nice joint like you doing in a girl like this?”

by Dr Iain Corness

The heading of this week’s article is a hoary old Orthopaedic surgeon’s joke, however our joints certainly give us lots of problems, especially as we get older.

The joints to give us the most worries are knees, ankles, fingers, shoulders and hips in around that order. All of them are joints you use and need frequently.

For many of the joints it is a simple case of wearing them out. This is especially so with the weight bearing joints as the knees, ankles and hips. In the perfect body scenario, your joints are designed to last you about 80 years, hold your bottom off the ground for 80 years and move smoothly for 80 years. Overload these joints and they wear out quicker. Consequently, if they have become knackered by the time you are 55 then you have another 25 years of aching joints to look forward to. Of course, the quickest way to wear out your poor old joints is to be overweight. Marathon runners also have some problems in this area, or even "fitness" fanatics jogging on the roads with inappropriate footwear.

There is also the problem of "Arthritis". This condition is an inflammation ("-itis") of the articular surfaces of the joint. It looks as though there is an Arthritis gene that your parents have willed to you so that you become more likely to get this type of joint aggravation. There are also several types of Arthritis, but they all produce joint problems. The most common types are Rheumatoid and Osteo arthritis.

The simplest way to think about Arthritis (both Rheumatoid or Osteo) is an early or accelerated wearing out process. The Rheumatoid variety is characterised by intense inflammation while the Osteo type is more just aches and pains. With both of them you get deformities in the joints, but the Rheumatoid Arthritis is much worse. The small joints in the knuckles become very large and deformed, to the point where the unfortunate sufferers cannot use their fingers.

Like all medical conditions, there are new and improved modes of treatment and medications becoming available, but many of these have severe side effects. Quite honestly, take paracetamol as the first defence with aching joints, and if that does not settle it - go and see your doctor. Good treatment now could stop years of discomfort later!

Dear Hillary,

I am an American wife of an engineer who works for a big company in Laem Chabang. We have a several years contract and have lived here for eighteen months so far. We have a beautiful apartment and the children are happy in an International School. My problem is that although we come from Texas and are used to the heat, I can’t adjust to the more humid climate here. Around May, June and July I feel sick and especially miserable. I sweat so much and every time I go outside day or night I am wringing wet in a few minutes. What is worse I get a heat rash all over me which is really bad in my armpits and bikini line and it drives me crazy. I am a mess, it is so bad I feel like leaving for these three months but need to stay for the children, what can I do?

Misery

Dear Misery,

You have my sympathy. What may be of some comfort to you is that the acclimatization becomes easier every year. What you can do while you are waiting to become a native, if you are not already doing so, is to wear only 100% cotton or linen clothes and underwear. No synthetics or synthetic mixes at all because they trap in the sweat leaving you wet and soggy, not allowing it to evaporate off naturally. Turn the air-conditioning to cool and leave it running day and night. Spend as much time as possible in the cool indoors, even shops and restaurants are air-conditioned these days.

Give up outdoor activities like tennis, golf or open-air market shopping, during the hottest months. Take three cool showers a day, or better yet baths. Dust bikini line with ordinary baby powder, not prickly heat powder because it has camphor in it and it burns. Prickly heat rash is a symptom of blocked sweat glands. That is why it can become worse in armpits and such. Drink plenty of water and do not use deodorant with antiperspirants in them as they only help block the sweat glands more.

As a natural remedy, essential oils that are perspirants and so do not cause blocked sweat glands can be used in baths, splashes or sprays. Lavender, basil, melissa and rosemary are the ones, geranium and lavender inhibit odour-causing bacteria, too. Here is Hillary’s cool secret splash recipe to keep in the fridge. Mix twenty-four drops of lavender, 6 drops rosemary and 6 drops geranium essential oils in 5 mls - one teaspoon of vinegar, add 250 mls rosewater or bottled water. Makes for a heavenly spray. I wouldn’t be without mine but mind you I have to get my friends to send me supplies from Bangkok because they are simply not available here. Take heart, the cooler months will be upon us soon.

GRAPEVINE

Dining Out: The Roray Vintner’s Experience!

by Miss Terry Diner

It is always pleasing to report that in Pattaya we have something of world standard. It is even more pleasing to be in the position to personally enjoy it! Such was the case last weekend at the Vintner’s Dinner at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort. Executive V. P. Jean-Fernand Wasser hosted a wine tasting and dinner with famous French wine grower Pascal Jolivet at the Benjarong restaurant in the Royal Wing.

Even just walking into the Royal Wing is an experience. You are met as if you really were royalty. Commissionaires at the entrance and someone to receive your baggage (in our case a camera bag) while escorting you to meet the evening’s host.

Wine producer and end user, Pascal (right) and Jean-Fernand!

Jean-Fernand introduced us to the other diners, which included Khun Bichit, the Governor of Bangkok and his advisor Khun Chavalit. Star of the evening was, however, Pascal Jolivet himself. A 42 year old vintner and self confessed epicurean. As we mingled we drank his Pascal Jolivet Sauvignon de Touraine, while the omnipresent waiters brought yet another glass for us to sample.

At the signal, Jean-Fernand expansively ushered us down to the Benjarong. Pink be-suited waiters in tails escorted us to our table. Unseen hands slipped chairs under our bottoms and noiselessly filled our glasses. One large one of iced water and two long stemmed glasses for the first brace of our wines for tasting.

The format of the evening was for us to try two vintages of each type. The younger one was in the outside glass, so there would be no mix up. The initial ones were Pascal Jolivet Pouilly Fume 1996 and 1998. For my taste the younger was too sharp, but the ’96 was smooth with a delightful "earthy" back palate. Pascal assured us that this wine would be excellent with mango and ginger and he was correct, the first course being river prawns on a mango and ginger coulix. That dish and wine combination getting ten out of ten in my book.

The next course was red snapper fillet with clams, served with a dill and asparagus risotto. Pascal introduced his Sancerre range of wines for this one, again a 1996 and a ’98, the latter which he said was very young, being only one month in the bottle. Slightly sweet to offset the bitterness of the asparagus, was the epicurean’s words and this time it was the younger vintage that impressed. The snapper fillet was magnificently done, without one bone to spoil it.

The next wines were ones of which Pascal was obviously very proud. These were from his La Grande Cuvee range. A ’94 Sancerre and a ’96 Pouilly Fume. These are made from the first crush of the grapes from 60 year old vines so show less acidity than younger vines or second crush. Only 12,000 bottles of these are made each year. The Pouilly Fume was sensational, being much sweeter than the Sancerre. This we consumed with a plate of marinated feta cheese on a bed of tomato slices. The presentation was just superb, and on reviewing my notes I had written, "Brilliant presentation. A shame to eat it." But eat it we did!

From there we slid to the dessert of chocolate coated crème brulee, complete with chocolate violin and finished with home-made pralines and coffee.

This had been a banquet. Eating and drinking in the "grand manner". A "royal" evening. As we left, the comissionaires retrieved the camera bag, an umbrella was held over my head on the escorted trip to the car park, and we were graciously bid "Good night". Nights like these make you appreciate the finer things in life. You owe it to yourself to try it, at least once. Vintner’s Dinners are not cheap, but the experience is priceless, without peer. Thank you Jean-Fernand and Pascal!

Animal Crackers

by Mirin MacCarthy

Readers tale: "Dummy Bunny"

I read your article Animal Crackers on the Internet and I have a story for you. I am working as a veterinary nurse in Cambridgeshire in the U.K. It is winter here now and very cold. We had a pet rabbit come in last week. Apparently the owner had found it literally frozen to the ground in the morning. She said that it was stuck solid to the ground. He spent about a week in surgery thawing out, unfortunately he had caught pneumonia and didn’t end up making a full recovery so went up to bunny heaven. We all found it so unusual. You would think that before he got to the point of being that cold he would have gone into his hutch.

Lisa Johnston, Cambridge, U.K.

Readers query: "Cat Napping"

We have two semi feral cats that we have inherited. They must have been abandoned by previous owners because they immediately adopted our garden when we moved in a year ago. They were initially very shy and looked as though they were sick and starving. We put out food and over the past year they have become more approachable even to coming inside occasionally and allowing the odd pat and one memorable trip to the vet. They have become part of the family now. We will be moving house next month, although not very far away. I would like to know what you recommend to make the relocation take.
Sue Doust, Jomtien, Thailand

Dear Sue,

I have heard the old wives tale of putting butter on cats paws to stop them from straying from their new houses. I do not endorse this rather ridiculous and messy idea.

You should know that cats especially will nose out that a change is in the air and may possibly take off for the hills. I suggest you spent the next week or two trying to induce the cats to use litter trays just outside if you do not already do so. Being a veteran of many house moves with animals the almost foolproof method is to buy, borrow or rent cat carrying cages of the moulded plastic variety, or improvise them out of sturdy cardboard boxes with ventilation holes. On the morning of the move immediately after breakfast imprison the cat in its cage with newspaper and a dish of water. Transport it to the new house and leave it inside its cage all day until the dust settles and the shifting is over. Then close all the doors and windows, open cat cages and let the pusses explore the entire house. Keep them shut in for a week with the litter trays inside the house. The first day you allow them outside, time it early in the morning before breakfast. They usually come back, especially if you are in the habit of calling them for food. Lots of luck.

Readers Comment,

I feel I must correct your last quotation in Animal Crackers. "Tiger, Tiger, burning bright ..." was written by William Blake in 1794, and not by Rudyard Kipling.
Jack Levy, Pattaya.

Dear Jack,

Thank you and apologies. You are indeed so right and compliments on your memory.

Auto Mania: Dems is the brakes

by Dr. Iain Corness

With the heavy rains recently we have had our fair share of wet and slippery roads. The sealed sections of Beach Road being classic examples, with mud being strewn all over the place. (The unsealed sections have pot holes so deep there is Chinese music coming out of some of them, but that’s another story.)

These slippery conditions have caught out a few drivers and tail-enders have become rather common place. When braking in these kind of conditions you should remember that as soon as the front wheels lock up you have lost all decent retardation and all steering correction. A sliding wheel does not respond to the influences of directional forces and is only under the straight line effect of momentum. You can twirl the steering wheel as much as you like, you just go straight on.

The answer is to take your foot off the brake pedal to unlock the brakes then progressively pump the brake pedal up to the point of locking up then release and repeat the sequence. This is called cadence braking and is what ABS systems do for you if your car is fitted with it. Practice on a bit of dirt one day and it might just save you some trouble and expense in the future when you can steer your way out of trouble.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked what car the Maserati brothers made in the 40’s and 50’s. No, it was not Maserati, even though cars carrying their name were (and still are) produced at Modena. The Maserati brothers moved on and produced the OSCA marque. Well engineered performance cars, but underfunded and eventually they withered away. This marque should also not be confused with a rare make from "Down Under" called the "AUSCA" which made some interesting sports/racing coupes.

This week let’s go back to France and ask what is the connection between Bugatti and the Indy 500. What we are talking about here is engineering, not whether a Bug ever ran at the Indy (I don’t think one ever did). First in with the correct answer to [email protected] or fax to 427 596 wins the FREE beer of the week.

The Europeans, of course, have done fairly well at Indy over the years, which no doubt galled the local American racing fraternity. The Maserati that ran at Indy as the Boyle Special in the 40’s won on a couple of occasions and was still doing well several years down the track. Much later, Jim Clark in the Lotus blew them all away and delivered the death knell for the front engine American roadsters. Nice trivia!

Missin’ a Nissan?

Poor old Nissan seems to be in a bit of financial bother in various regions of the world. This is a shame because they do make some well built motor cars. Last week I mentioned the GTR, a sensational sports coupe. Nissan also produces some good solid passenger cars as well. The new Cefiro is one of those. For around one million, the 2 litre model represents excellent value. Anyone who owns one seems to be very pleased with it and the trips I have done recently in one have shown it to be exceptionally quiet and nimble, despite the small engine. The larger engine 3 litre version, whilst having more ultimate grunt, becomes too expensive at one and a half million compared to the smaller variant. Most of this extra cost comes from the application of a "luxury" tax.

The standard of finish in the locally assembled car is good, and the appointments sensible. There appears to be a minimum of gimmickry and the air-conditioning is one of the most efficient I have experienced. You will do a lot worse than look at this Nissan if you are in the market for a new car.

Drivers Awards

I knew that the item claiming that Juan Manuel Fangio was the best driver, ever, would bring different opinions out of the woodwork, and it certainly did. Even all the way from Seoul, Korea, with David Crawford saying "What about King Richard?" As any NASCAR fan will tell you, "King" Richard Petty was one of the winningest drivers ever - in that category. This is what I pointed out to David. While RP was "king" he did not compete in international events in different categories.

In America, I would rate Mario Andretti (the less said about Michael, the better) well above Petty because he did compete overseas with distinction and in the US categories as well. In fact I would even put AJ Foyt in there too. AJ was a master of bitumen, concrete and dirt. And what about Mel Kenyon? That guy was fantastic with his one hand and a hook. I have seen both AJ and Mel Kenyon in competition and in their day, they were head and shoulders above the rest.

Watching the Spanish GP

The Spanish GP from Barcelona (or Barthelona if you thpeak like the Thpanish) is on this weekend. McLaren will have had Ron Dennis wielding a very large whip over designer Adrian Newey, and an even larger cat-o-nine tails over the two drivers, Coulthard in particular. The race should be very interesting.

My favourite haunt to watch the GP’s this year is from the Havana Club at the Weekender Hotel (next to Alcazar on Pattaya 2 Road). Mine host Ken runs a little "pick the leader" for a free beer at several points in the race, and a free dinner for two if you can get the podium in correct order. So far, he’s had to cough up for a few beers, but has avoided losing the dinner. Come and join the Automania crew as we cheer on our respective favourites. You can eat there as well if you need nourishment if you’ve come straight from work. Here’s my pick for the podium - Michael Schumacher, Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barichello. Let’s see how we go. Check the starting time but I expect it to be 7.00 p.m. as usual on the Sunday evening, with the annoying Chinese commentary ceasing just before the start.

Fitness Tips: Big Questions Answered

by Dvid Garred,
Club Manager,
Dusit Resort Sports Club

G’day Pattaya,

This week in fitness tips I want to answer a few commonly asked questions by using some recent studies.

Why is a safe, effective weight control drug so hard to find?

With huge advantages in molecular biology in recent times, you may be excused for thinking that an effective solution to weight loss should be a proverbial piece of cake. So what is the problem?

Dr David York is from Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, with an interest in peptides involved in appetite and feeding behavior. He sees the possibilities in drug treatment, but also the difficulties. The main problem in his opinion is that the brain is a complex system with built in redundancies. If one section fails, another will take over it’s function and this has important implications for survival.

Dr. York sees, for the long-term, failure of drug therapy in weight control. "Many drugs will work for a time, but because the brain is adaptable, the effects generally wear off after a short period – perhaps two to three months."

A further problem, according to Dr. York, is the principal on which weight control drugs is founded: "The ideal drug would make food and particularly fatty food aversive or unpleasant," he says. "Unfortunately, this would obviously work against survival and therefore be unlikely to be acceptable to the body."

To overcome these problems, drug combinations are often used by humans. However, York sees this as increasing the prospects of side effects. This has already been seen recently in the problems associated with Phen-Fen.

Finally, most drugs are tested on animals before they are released to be used by humans. Unfortunately there is a large flaw with this line of testing: the neural pathways affected by various drugs are different between animals, between animals and humans and even between humans. For this reason, not only would a drug which is effective in animals not necessarily be effective in humans, but one effective in some humans may not be effective in others. It is unlikely, therefore, that a magic pill will ever be found. Even if it is, it more than likely will not work for everybody.

What constitutes enough exercise?

Steps may be the answer. If exercise is healthy, and this means normal daily physical activity such as walking, how far does one have to walk to get the benefits?

Japanese researchers at the National Institute for Longevity Sciences in Obu, Japan studied the effects of different amounts of walking on internal body fat. Internal, ‘visceral’ fat, is now regarded as the most dangerous type of fat. It surrounds organs of the viscera, or the trunk, such as the liver, kidneys or the stomach and can only be detected and measured using expensive imaging machines.

These researchers measured the visceral fat of 88 females who were asked to wear a digital pedometer to measure the amount of walking carried out each day. The number of steps walked was then correlated with the amount of visceral fat and other body fat measures.

There were differences in measures of both subcutaneous (external) fat and visceral (internal) fat with distance walked. A cutoff of around 7,500 steps per day differentiated between those with high and low visceral fat levels, suggesting that at least this distance should be covered for optimal health benefits.

Walking this distance need not come from an extra exercise program, however, but it can be part of the spontaneous activity normally carried out in day to day living.

Who loses best?

Among the myriad of treatments for weight loss, what is best? According to a survey conducted by Slimming Magazine in the U.K., most weight is lost by people who participate weight reduction programs in health clubs. Although this is not the most popular technique; unfortunately calorie counting still takes that title. Health club programs appear to be the most effective (at least among women, in whom the survey was taken).

Methods of weight loss tried Health Club Programs Calorie counting Doctors advice/diet Very low calorie diet Fad diets Gimmicks

% tried 35 % 43 % 41 % 26 % 15 % 6 %

Average Max weight loss 18.3 Kg 14.2 Kg 10.4 Kg 9.0 Kg 9.6 Kg 4.6 Kg

In case you are wondering why the percentage figures add up to more than 100% of the women surveyed, it is incredibly common for people looking for the easy way out to get themselves in a cycle from gimmick to gimmick to fad diet to calorie counting in short periods of time. Going from one quick fix to another during the duration of the study to try to get the best results for themselves is what has occurred here.

Don’t be a statistic, be good to yourself and until next week,

Carpe’ diem

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