Family Money: Stages of Life - Part 2

By Leslie Wright

Pre- & Post-Retirement Needs

Last week we looked at the significant financial planning issues that arise in the earlier stages of life.

As many expatriate residents of Pattaya are already past these stages, they may feel those issues are not relevant to their current needs and circumstances. So this week we’ll look at the issues that affect us more mature folk.

First let’s address the situation of those who have reached middle age but are still working.

The children have finally grown up, completed their education and become financially independent. The need to protect them against the financial consequences of parental death disappears and the cost of life assurance for this purpose ends.

This is, however, also the last opportunity for most people to ensure they will have adequate income to preserve their standard of living in retirement.

People in this pre-retirement period need to maximise investment into a retirement fund or pension plan. They may also need to take out non-pension forms of investment to supplement their pension income and make provision for any substantial capital expenditures in retirement - such as a condominium for example (since farangs cannot at present buy a house in their own name in Thailand.)

The main objective of their investment programme will be to maximise income in retirement without using up their capital, except for the purposes of pension provision. They now have money to invest and should be most concerned to obtain the right kinds of investments to meet their needs.

Although protection against the financial consequences of death are now of secondary importance, there are still protection requirements to be met. Income from employment still needs protection against accident or illness. Ageing also increases the possibility of long periods of sickness, the onset of an incurable disease, or even sudden death.

On the life assurance side, one or both partners may still need financial protection against the effect of the other’s death; and this protection may well be needed for the rest of their lives.

However, people working overseas nowadays are more likely to be on a short-term contract than a long-term one. Typically, short-term employment terms provide greater immediate earning power, but traditional fringe benefits like pension plans and children’s educational allowances are less or non-existent. These aspects may have to be considered in your overall financial planning.

On the other hand, people who took out 10- or 20-year investment plans when they were younger will now have capital sums available either to spend or invest. They may also have received substantial gratuities at the end of a long-term employment contract.

This capital should be invested wisely, not frittered away on flights of fancy. The temptation all too often is to use it to buy a beer bar or other such venture which takes their (or their latest girlfriend’s) fancy.

How many times have you heard the tales of disaster wrought upon them by local girls (or boys) whom they set up in a business bought with their life savings, only to find their capital disappearing like the Cheshire Cat - leaving behind only The Smile - and themselves abandoned soon after?

In my experience, the only people who make money from such ventures in Pattaya are those with several years’ prior experience in the hospitality industry, an ample supply of start-up as well as operating capital, and a very shrewd head for that business. Otherwise, why are there always so many bars, restaurants and hotels for sale here?

It is amazing how many farangs who settle here, often after a successful career elsewhere, seem to stop thinking with what’s between their ears and thinking instead only with what’s between their legs.

Estate Planning

Equally, if nothing has been done earlier, this is the time for arranging the disposal of your assets at death.

If you have assets in a country that imposes death duties or estate tax, tax planning to lessen the effects of inheritance tax should be undertaken, or existing arrangements for this purpose reviewed.

Since such planning may well require the use of life assurance policies, it is wise to complete such planning before premium costs rise too high or your health starts to deteriorate.

A Comfortable Retirement

Most people would like to maintain the same standard of living in retirement as they did when they worked.

Experts tell us that to achieve this standard of living, people need an annual retirement income equal to two-thirds of their final year’s income from employment. Unfortunately, they also tell us that only a very small percentage of retired people enjoy such incomes and that many retired people have retirement incomes of 20% or less of their pre-retirement earnings. After retirement, the value of these incomes is often further reduced by inflation.

By the time people reach retirement they fall into one of three categories. They have either:

* low pension income and little capital with which to supplement it;
* relatively low pension income plus some accumulated capital;
* sufficient pension income plus substantial assets and capital.

Each of these categories has different financial planning needs.

There is very little a financial adviser can do to help ageing pensioners who have a low income and very little capital. These unfortunate people may be able to seek help from family, friends, charities or the State - or keep working for as long as their health permits. Unless support is forthcoming from outside sources, such pensioners are doomed to poverty in old age.

People with a small pension and some accumulated capital need to invest their capital to produce additional income. They need the largest amount of income possible from that capital but they need to be careful - they cannot afford to take investment risks with their capital; it has to support them for the rest of their lives.

A traditional way of doing this is through the purchase of an annuity. An annuity is a lump-sum investment product issued by large insurance companies. It will provide an income for life but the capital spent to buy one is not returnable.

Unfortunately, in the current climate of low interest rates, annuities are paying out a pitifully small return on even substantial amounts of capital investment. Thus in most cases, alternatives have to be considered.

Investment products offering exceptionally high income typically do so at the expense of the investor’s capital. Thus, the pensioner can receive a good income supplement for a few years and then discover that there is less capital to invest for the future. Great care is needed in selecting the right product to continue producing income for the lifetime of both partners.

People with sufficient income and substantial investments are much more fortunate. Their main need is to preserve the real value of their investments and the income they produce against the effects of inflation. And despite some critics’ response that inflation is very low nowadays, no-one can say with any certainty how long it will remain at current levels. It therefore has to be considered in all long-term strategic financial planning.

Relatively well-off people may also seek to increase their wealth through skilful investment. They therefore need sound investment advice on such things as the appropriate proportions of their capital that should be devoted to low-, medium- and higher-risk investments; and the extent to which they must preserve capital for themselves and their heirs or children.

Since these comparatively affluent people will almost certainly have assets to pass on to future generations, they also need to plan the disposal of their estates at death. They may also need to put comprehensive plans into operation to minimise the impact of taxation, or to update any tax-planning arrangements they have already made.

Summing Up

The typical life-cycle model outlined in this and last week’s article shows that people have protection and investment needs throughout their lives. Also, that these needs change throughout life as a person’s family status changes through young adulthood, to marriage and parenthood before the children ultimately leave home and retirement arrives.

Sound financial planning to address these changing needs is essential if the money is going to be there when it’s most needed. And this means identifying, quantifying and prioritising each of those needs, and making adequate provision for them within the limits of available resources.

Income protection and short-term savings are likely to be the highest priority for single people hoping to set up a home in the near future.

For young married people, the first priority will be setting up their home, possibly including financing a loan for house purchase, and income protection against sickness or accident. As a secondary consideration, they may need to provide life cover for each other, particularly if one partner stays at home with no paid employment.

As soon as the children arrive, the needs priority moves heavily towards financial protection of the family. The investment needs for the future are still there but they may have to wait, in whole or part, until more money is available to pay for them.

As the children grow up and leave home, the need for life assurance for their financial protection decreases and disappears. Investment for retirement and other personal savings goals become the priority need, in addition to a continuing income-protection need.

Finally, in retirement, the greatest priority by far is to ensure that existing capital is wisely invested to ensure an adequate income supply until both partners are dead. Only if resources are adequate can money be devoted to plans to protect the inheritance they leave to their children against any tax it may incur.

Constraints & Restrictions

Inevitably there are several constraints on people’s ability to implement the necessary financial plans - in particular, age-related financial considerations.

Most people have several different needs at the same time and, particularly when they are young and have children, they cannot afford all the protection and investment they really need.

They therefore have to make choices. Will they spend all their available resources on the need that concerns them most or will they split their contribution among several different needs so that they will only be making partial provision for each?

It is a difficult choice and one that a skilful adviser can often make easier by providing objective best advice in helping you to identify, quantify and prioritise those needs, and then finding the most suitable and cost-effective vehicles to meet those needs.

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].

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

Over the past two to three months, I have received many requests both via this column and in my office to advise on the requirements and advantages of installing a network.

Networks have for some time now been a cost effective medium, since they allow for a reduction in hardware costs as resources can be shared amongst many users and PC’s. It is no longer necessary for every PC to have, for instance, a printer and modem. As well as this advantage there are many others, the most obvious is that files can be shared allowing greater corroboration, increased productivity and more often than not reduced down-time due to system outages.

Many users typically think a network is too hard to accomplish and the project never gets off the ground. In practice a small network is relatively simple to install and configure providing you have a reasonable working knowledge of the Windows operating platform. For a modest network of up to five PC’s it should be achievable with this knowledge. The problems only arise when things don’t go as planned and this is where the expert, with his experience, would have in all probability seen before and know the solution. You on the other hand may take considerably longer to accomplish the task. Do not be put off by this, help is normally available but it would be wrong for me to say things don’t always go as planned, after all we live in the real world! However, I recommend that larger networks and Wide Area Networks are left to the experts.

The simplest and least complicated is a peer-to-peer network in which individual users of PC’s determine what access other clients may have to their files and other resources. This is the ideal solution for up to 10 PC’s where either Windows95 or 98 is pre-installed. The only extra requirement will be network cards for the PC’s, cabling and a hub/s.

The next step up, and to a certain extent the perception most people have of a network, is the client/server network, which, as the term suggests, comprises a server where shared information, applications and hardware reside, with clients accessing this information. The server has specific operating system software and my personal choice would be Microsoft Windows NT. This is stable, flexible and secure. Users are granted various rights and permissions, which determine the applications, files and peripheral devices they may use. Others may prefer Novell Netware, this again offers the same overall features as NT but is in my view more difficult to manage. Both Windows NT and Novell NetWare require a considerable amount of technical knowledge and expertise both to install and manage and is best left to the experts. The server needs to be robust and I always recommend duplicating the data drives thereby providing a mirror image in the event that one drive should fail.

These days, the most appropriate and affordable cabling system is known as structured cabling based on CAT5 (UTP) cable. Next is the choice of network card. The choice now comes down in favour of 10BaseT on a combo card with RJ45 jack. These now are almost exclusively PCI and of course for the Laptop, PCMCIA. I recommend taking a brand name rather than a cheap generic one. Also one that is Plug and Play would be a simpler choice from an installation viewpoint.

The PC’s are connected together by way cables connecting to a hub; these are normally found in 8 and 16 port versions. When purchasing one of these it is wise to look for a cascade port, which, should your environment grow, will allow another hub to be connected. The maximum permissible cable length is 185 metres although this can normally be stretched a bit.

The network allows most resources to be shared, but if Internet access is also required then i.Share from Artisoft would be a good choice. Now in version 3.5 it includes a local cache which speeds up access to frequently used pages. It requires a single modem, a Dial-up Account and one PC, although not necessarily dedicated, to act as a server. This allows clients to use their browser, e-mail or other Internet application package as if they were directly connected to the Internet. It also allows concurrent access for up to 32 users. It is an extremely cost effective solution since it cuts down the number of modems required and also the cost of telephone and Internet time. Prices for a 3 user licence are around 8,900 Baht.

Another interesting product from Artisoft is ModemShare32, which as the name suggests shares a modem between many PC’s. This allows other applications like fax software to be used, so as well as allowing the Internet to be accessed other applications can also use the modem. However, unlike i.Share, only one user can use the modem at a time. In common with i.Share one PC, once again not necessarily dedicated, will act as a modem server. The cost for a single modem licence is around 11,000 Baht. Both ModemShare32 and i.Share will happily co-exist so it is possible to get the best of both worlds. In practice, though, 2 modems will be required, although both can be on a single PC.

On the subject of faxing, the latest product from Artisoft is BizFax and this is the slickest network faxing solution I have seen. It shares a modem on a server within its own right and therefore eliminates the need for a specific modem sharing application like ModemShare32. As with ModemShare32 it will coexist happily with i.Share, so one PC with 2 modems can be the server for both applications. It allows faxes to be routed by various methods and incorporates many reporting and automated printing routines. It is priced at around 24,000 Baht for a 10 user licence.

It is possible to download trial versions of this software from www.artisoft.com/download.nsf/download?OpenForm.

These are software solutions but in the case of the Internet there are also many hardware solutions available from manufactures like Intel and D-Link. Intel’s Internet Station is available at around 24,000 Baht. This can be connected to the hub and to an external modem. Configuration is carried out over the network using a standard web browser. D-Link’s solution is available for around 13,000 Baht and works similarly to Intel’s offering.

Hopefully this article will have given you an insight to the possibilities and benefits a network can bring to your environment.

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]

Successfully Yours: Felix Grieder

by Mirin MacCarthy

Felix Grieder, the ever smiling Resident Manager of the Royal Wing in the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, is only 37 years old. Polished and multi-lingual he looks as if he belongs to that cosmopolitan, international breed of hoteliers who have lived in so many places in the world, they lose track of their own national identity. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Felix was born in Lausanne, in the French speaking region of Switzerland, the only child of a coffee importer. “By the time I was 20 years old I had moved twenty times.” Whilst Pere Grieder may have been peripatetic, there was one spin-off for son Felix - he learned at first hand, all the different languages spoken in his home country. Fluent in French, German and Italian and he even became proficient in the little known Latin derived language Romantsch.

With his linguistic flair, he went to the UK, gaining his Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in three months.

He was unsure of his true direction at that stage, but it was of little importance, because, as a Swiss citizen, his next move was into the army for a two year stint in National Service.

After finishing with boots and battle-dress Felix decided that perhaps the hospitality industry was for him, so he applied to enter the Hotel School in Lausanne. He was told there was a three year waiting list and he was advised he should, “Go and work in the lowest level in a hotel. You will do the menial work, you will clean the toilets, you will get your hands dirty. In this business you will need to know and understand these things.”

With those words in his ears he got a job as a waiter in a ski resort in Zermatt, but was fortunate that a place became available at the school and he began his training.

This took four years covering Kitchen, Service, Administration, Marketing and Sales and was six months theory followed by six months secondment for practical training on every subject.

By the time he finished he received an offer from Suvretta House, an exclusive 5 star hotel in St. Moritz. There he began as a cashier but within six months was carrying out the duties of the F&B manager.

However, the urge to travel was strong and Felix took a position with a South African Hotel chain, carrying out different functions in Johannesburg, Durban and Capetown.

After two years and noting the increasingly aggressive mood of the people he went back home to Switzerland to work in Zermatt again, as Assistant to the General Manager. Felix found that in the off season he had time to travel, spending holidays in the Maldives, Kenya, Mauritius and Thailand. Like so many vacationers, this country made a huge impression on him. “The friendliness of the people, after the aggression in Africa, and such a wonderful climate.”

As Felix is interested in all aspects of his profession, “I like to learn something new all the time,” he took a position in Chur in Switzerland as a restaurant manager. This was a famous outlet for the premier bakery in the area. “In three hours we would serve over 1000 croissants!”

But with this hankering for Thailand, he met the late Louis Fassbind, Executive Vice-President of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort who was in Zurich on business. Fassbind was impressed with the 30 year old and offered him a position, saying, “Let’s go now!” Felix was immediately torn between the chance of a lifetime and his obligations in Chur. “I am sorry, I cannot go immediately. It would be most unprofessional,” he replied, perhaps losing the opportunity forever.

But fate was smiling on Felix. Two years later, one of Louis’ associates found him working in Fribourg and again offered him the position of Resident Manager of the Royal Wing. This time he was not contractually bound and he started here in September 1996.

While he really enjoys his life in Thailand, he yet misses Switzerland, the skiing especially. He knows that he will return to his birthplace and his family, and his future plans are to open his own hotel there within the next five years. Felix Grieder, a man of worldly experience, is proud to be a Swiss hotelier. Knowing this young man and the way he operates, Hotel Felix will undoubtedly be an asset for Switzerland as well.

Snap Shots: What's it mean?

by Harry Flashman

This week’s column is designed for all the weekend warriors who have a nice camera, but really are unsure of what all the controls, winking lights, strange icons mean, and when they should bring these functions into play.

The first aspect to be considered is why do we need all these optional modes and settings? Today’s very sophisticated cameras will take passable pictures in the everyday point and shoot mode, so why bother?

That one is easy to explain. It all hangs on the word “passable”. The automatic brain in your camera is pre-set to give you “average” values and you get the same result - “average”. If you want a little more, or a little better, then you have to look at taking some more control of the camera by inputting data that you want, not what it thinks you want!

Let’s take the one that Harry Flashman uses most - the Aperture Priority setting. On most cameras this will be an “A” or “AV” and purely means that you set the aperture and the camera will work out the shutter speed for you. Clever little camera isn’t it! Now when would you use this setting or function? Generally it is when you want to control the areas of any photograph that will be in sharp focus, which is called Depth of Field. The aperture is measured in “f stops” and with most cameras ranges from f2.8 through to f22. Now the easiest way to work out which f stop to use is by remembering Harry’s dictum - if you want BIG depth of field (everything in focus) then use BIG f numbers (e.g. f22) but if you want SMALL depth of field, then use SMALL f numbers (like 2.8). So if you are going to take a landscape you use the “A” setting and select f22. Likewise if it is a portrait of someone use “A” and f4.

The next most popular setting is the “S” mode, otherwise known as “Shutter Priority”. Similar to the “A” setting, but this time you set the shutter speed and the camera will work out the appropriate aperture for you. Shutter speeds range from a slow 1 second through to a fast 1/2000th of a second, though some cameras are even faster. Now when do you want this feature? You need to set the shutter speed when you want to control movement of your subject. The dictum here is also similar - if you want to stop a FAST object (like a moving car) then you use a FAST shutter speed, but if you want to show SLOW movement use a SLOW shutter speed.

Now experience will tell you whether you use the extremes of Aperture or Shutter speed, but generally if Harry wants to stop movement he will use 1/1000th of a second and if some blurring is wanted to show motion, use 1/15th of a second. For landscapes always try and get f22 and for portraits with the background out of focus no higher than f5.6, but f4 is probably best.

After you have practised manually choosing your own settings, then you will be ready for the next big step - selecting “M” on the camera. “M” is for Manual and here you dictate both shutter speed and aperture. This allows you to select “different” exposures to produce different effects. When on “A” or “S” or “Auto” the camera will give you an “average” exposure. But if, for example, you want a moody dark photograph at sunset then you need to manually set both the shutter speed and the aperture.

So this weekend, be brave and tell your camera who is boss!

Modern Medicine: Another stinking cold!

by Dr Iain Corness

As usual, whenever there is a change of season, the cold virus bobs up again. Colds, or Coryza as we call it, have been around forever. While you may be feeling miserable today, pity the poor old ancient civilisations in the era before handkerchiefs and Kleenex tissues. By the way, did you know that the reason we have buttons on the sleeves of jackets was to stop the wearer wiping his nose with his sleeves! True!

When you get a cold it is important to remember that it is just that - a cold. Do not start making for your closest pharmacy and begin swallowing expensive antibiotics. The cold virus is untouched by the antibiotic therapy and all you are doing is helping to produce drug resistant strains of itinerant bacteria.

Mind you, if you do not have a supply of paracetamol at home (which you should have) then that is what you get at the pharmacy. Take two 500 mg tablets four times a day, keep your fluids up, prop yourself up in front of the telly and make the most of your enforced 24 hour holiday.

Staying away from other people in the office or wherever is an important factor too. The Cold virus is very contagious and hangs around in the air every time you sneeze. When you release millions of virus bodies in the moisture droplets in your sneeze, they have the potential to go and infect the next person who inhales them. Or even groups of people. This is why Colds run in epidemics - so don’t get too close, please!

Of course, there are times when the cold appears to progress into something else. The misery of the sniffles turns into a sore throat, you start to cough up green or yellow coloured phlegm and you begin to run a fever. What has happened here is that another infecting organism has come along and hit you while you are down. This is particularly likely if you are a smoker, because the oxides of nitrogen in cigarette smoke depress your ability to shift mucous and funnily enough lowers your resistance too. Just another of the three million nine hundred and ninety seven good reasons to give up the noxious weed!

If this is the case, then it may be time for some timely antibiotics - but please, let your doctor decide on the appropriate type. It is much better than selecting a handful of orange pills at the pharmacy!

Dear Hillary,

We have recently arrived from America, where we are very conscious about refuse and separate it into biodegradable or otherwise. I notice the big yellow refuse trucks come up our street twice a week, but on the other days there is a motorcycle and sidecar collector. I pay 40 Baht a month for the refuse collections, does this cover the motorcycle man as well? It all seems too cheap for me.

Cheap Charlotte

Dear Charlotte,

As the big collectors found in the United States, there’s money to be made from refuse. It is no different here, other than the fact you have refuse entrepreneurs with their carts or motorcycles who sort out your refuse for you. Not into biodegradable or otherwise, but into what can be exchanged for money or otherwise. Try leaving a cardboard box outside your house. It will be gone in under one hour. Not that Thais are really conscious of the environment, it is just that cardboard equates with cash. And, no. Your 40 Baht is for the yellow truck only.

Dear Hillary,

I am a newbie to Thailand and I am fascinated by the little street vendors who sell all sorts of food. They always seem to be very well patronised and I would dearly love to try some of the soups they have. What I need to know, is it safe? Also, what do I ask for?

Street Eat

Dear Street Eat,

Of course the little vendor’s places are well patronised. They sell good food and when you get over your fright you’ll find they are incredibly cheap too. Is it safe for you to eat at the stall? It’s more dangerous crossing the road to get there! So you want some soup, ask for “kwiteo nam moo dang sen lek” and you will get a delicious bowl of boiling hot soup with thin noodles, some bean sprouts and slices of pork. You eat this with a spoon and chopsticks which will be in a long rectangular container on the table. You will also be given a 4 pot container that will have dried chilli, vinegar, sugar and fish sauce. Give the dried chilli a swerve unless you have an asbestos lined mouth. When you have finished, say “Aroy” and you have made the vendor’s day. You should pay around 20-25 Baht only. That is less than one American dollar! Enjoy!

Dear Hillary,

The lads in the pub all tell me that AIDS is not a problem and using a condom isn’t necessary any longer. Is this true?

Willy

Dear Willy,

Willy, I don’t care if you’re longer or shorter. The truth of the matter is that AIDS exists all over the world, we haven’t got a monopoly on it. Safe sex demands a condom, and so should your girlfriends. Stop listening to the medical advice of the boys in the pub who undoubtedly will also be experts in legal matters, visa matters, work permit matters and home ownership. Listen to Hillary darling and wear a condom like a good boy, or you’ll find you have something else that matters!

Dear Hillary:

I have been an admirer of your column from afar (U.S.: Internet) and as an avid reader of the Pattaya Mail during my 2 month holiday here. I particularly enjoy your knack of deflating preconceptions on the part of foreign visitors. So now I hope you can set me straight on one baffling detail of a farang’s life here - the necessity of avoiding drinking tap water and of keeping your mouth closed when showering. During my first trip in 1988, I wasn’t careful enough and enjoyed 3 days of hopping from one hong nam to another.

Is it that Thai water purification is just not good enough to remove dangerous bacteria? Or is it that in fact all bacteria dangerous to Thais are eliminated, but visitors just aren’t immune to what is allowed to remain? Would a Thai visiting - say - New York have to drink bottled water because bacteria to which Americans are immune is left in the New York water? Enquiring minds want to know! Thanks for your attention.

Orin Hood

Dear Orin,

An admirer for Hillary! You make me blush, Orin. But back to your question - it was your compatriot, the satirist Tom Lehrer who composed this song, “When you visit American city, You will find it very pretty, Only two things while you’re there, Don’t drink the water and don’t breathe the air!” So every country’s got problems, and the local water situation is not a plot to sell more loo paper to the farang population - even the Thais drink bottled water. You can use tap water to clean your teeth, though, like many things in life, Orin, it’s sometimes better not to swallow.

GRAPEVINE

Dining Out: Captain Corner Throw another Prawn on the Barbie

by Miss Terry Diner

This weekend the Captains Corner on Thappraya Road will be two years old. Like any two year old it is also growing. Having purchased the block next door, Ib and Kannika Ottesen are expanding the restaurant with the addition of a children’s corner to make it even more of a family venue.

The restaurant is in two sections. The outside garden setting or the wood panelled, nautical d้cor of the air-conditioned area. On the evening the Dining Out Team paid our visit it looked a little like rain, so we chose the indoor section.

There is also a choice in the menu itself. There is the Grand Texan BBQ, all you can eat for 250 Baht, or you can also eat a la carte with a large menu to choose from. The menu includes a description of the BBQ procedures and then details the wine list (which includes my favourite Singha Gold). After that comes Snacks (70-120 Baht) including hamburgers, steak sandwiches and omelettes, three soups at 85 Baht, starters covering shrimps in garlic butter and salads (95-135 Baht) and then into the mains. The choice here is extensive (170-350 Baht) and covers all the steaks, NZ lamb chops, chicken tarragon, grilled salmon and even chicken fajitas. There is also a kids’ menu (95-110 Baht) and a Thai favourites at around 95 Baht. Finally, there is a Scandinavian section of mains (steak and pork) at around 220 Baht.

To fully experience this restaurant one of us went for the BBQ, while I went a la carte.

Taking the BBQ first, there is a very good choice with New York cut steak, beef burgers, pork tenderloin, spare ribs, chicken drumsticks, prawn, squid, home made sausage and sausage wrapped in bacon. To go with your choice there is a seasonal vegetables salad bar with baked potato and bread.

After you choose your meal items you take a number to your table and the waitress will bring the BBQ food to you after it is cooked. Now one of the biggest problems with BBQ steak is getting the correct cooking instructions through to the chef. We had no problems here with the very pleasant young staff members being totally bilingual, and understanding the meaning of rare, medium and well done! Some ribs were selected to go along with a steak and squid to make an all round meal.

We began with a shrimp in garlic. A beautiful flavoursome dish full of firm prawns and definitely not the “rubbery” variety as these can sometimes be. To help digest the food we drank a very pleasant and relatively inexpensive Australian Kingston Estate 1994 Shiraz. Worthwhile trying if they have any bottles left.

It was then into the mains. My partner’s ribs were given top marks and the steak was cooked to the order. My chosen pepper steak was cooked at the table and was really one of the best steaks I have had for some time. The pepper sauce was not too overpowering and it was a magnificent piece of tender bull. Another highly recommended item.

After letting the mains settle we decided on a coffee. They have some very imaginative after-dinner coffees - try these: 1st Mate’s (Pernod and Cointreau), Boatswain’s (Thai whiskey and Kahlua) or Captain’s (Tequila and Brandy) as well as the more usual Irish coffees. Being a little partial to Pernod I went for the 1st Mate’s variety and the aromatic blend takes your breath away! Fabulous!

We judged the Captain’s Corner to have great food and to be excellent value. It is a place you can safely take the whole family, or visitors from overseas. You will not be disappointed.

Animal Crackers: Tarantulas

by Mirin MacCarthy

Many people do keep spiders as pets, not that they are the sort of cuddly pets you take to bed with you! In fact, arachnophobia (the fear of spiders) is one of the most common fears that people have.

One local species of tarantula is the Haplopelma lividum, otherwise known as the Cobalt Blue. This brilliant blue spider grows to around 12 cms in size and is a native to Thailand, although there are also some in Burma and Malaysia.

Cobalt Blue Tarantula

Haplopelma is a terrestrial spider, living in the ground where it will make burrows or nests. It is also a very aggressive tarantula, so breeders of these spiders have to beware as they will attack and can inflict a rather nasty bite.

Most tarantulas are actually quite easy to keep, as all you need is a decent sized box, big enough for the tarantula to move around in, around 30 cms square. In the bottom of the box you will need 10-12 cms of substrate which can be potting mixture or peat or even coconut fibre mixed with soil. Peat can retain moisture very well, though too much promotes fungi. Throw in some natural habitat items like a rock or half a coconut shell and you now have your ideal Haplopelma house! A shallow water bowl is also recommended as tarantulas do like humidity.

The tarantulas have a hard outside “shell” and to grow they have to successively moult to then develop a new bigger coat. If you see a spider lying on its back, do not fear the worst, it is more likely that it is moulting, and will grow appreciably each time.

Unfortunately, tarantulas are rather partial to live food, so if you are a little bit squeamish, once again spiders are not your choice of pets! The standard tarantula tucker is crickets, and they prefer these when they are about half the size of the spider’s body. However, fully grown tarantulas are happy to eat any insect they can overpower. Since crickets are not all that easy to supply every day, your tarantula will also be happy to eat meal worms. These you can generally buy in pet shops, and if you really must, then you can actually grow the meal worms yourself.

Although live food is preferred by your 8 legged pet, you can give a tarantula dead food. The best way is to fool the tarantula into thinking that its dinner is still alive. With a Haplopelma, make small balls of meat and dangle the food on a piece of thread, moving it gently. Being aggressive little critters they will pounce at the movement and presume it is live prey.

Auto Mania: The Top Ten

by Dr. Iain Corness

Probably the most aggressive marketing force in the world right now is Ford. FoMoCo have the muscle, the money and the means to become number one in world terms, a position just narrowly held by General Motors at this time. Last year it went very close, with GM just edging out Ford with 8.1 million units as against 7.8 million. Since then, Ford have gobbled up Volvo to add to the number of makes hiding behind the blue oval.

Make no mistake, Ford are good at marketing and decision making. Note the speed with which they bought out Jackie Stewart from his F1 race team and within a few months it was decided it should be renamed Jaguar and will come out in dark green livery next year. Over the years, Ford have made very good use of their involvement in motor racing at all levels. When Ford wanted to win Le Mans, they built the GT40 and did just that. OK, so it took a couple of goes, but they had the guts to persevere. The Ford Cosworth DFV was also one of the most successful race engines ever built.

Dual Headlights

But back in the real world of production cars, see if you can guess the top ten. They are, in order from last year, GM (8.1), Ford (7.8), Toyota (5.3), Renault-Nissan (4.8), Volkswagen (4.8), Mercedes-Chrysler (4.5), Fiat (2.7), Honda (2.3), Peugeot-Citroen (2.2) and Mitsubishi (1.4).

In the first quarter of this year GM produced 2.95 million and Ford 2.88 million. Would you like to wager whether there will be big incentive bonuses going out to the Ford dealerships for the last quarter of this millennium? Ford would dearly love to be the leader going into Y2K.

Speed Kills

It doesn’t actually, it’s the sudden stop that does. However, one of the commonest questions I get asked relates to what it is like to drive something really fast. To be honest, driving a well set up and properly prepared motor car at high speed is probably not as exciting as driving some beat-up old banger at 80 MPH where you are hanging on for dear life, fighting the motor car every inch of the way - and we’ve all been there, done that and got the T shirt, haven’t we?

But getting back to really nailing the exaggerator pedal to the floor - the quickest I have ever been is 186 MPH which is a poofteenth short of 300 clicks. This was in a Formula 5000 Lola, Australian F1 race car on the straight at Calder Raceway in Victoria. A car like that will run as straight as an arrow and the only real impression of your true velocity is that the edges of the track are rushing past too quick to focus on anything and the corner at the end of the straight is coming up one helluva fast!

The quickest I have ever done in a road car is 155 MPH or 250 KPH in the continental money. This was in a Lamborghini Diablo and was at the old Brisbane Airport on the main runway. How we got to be running motor cars on that bit of bitumen is another story, but as you could imagine, there was plenty of run-off area at either end of the measured quarter mile! With the very wide runway, you did not get the impression of speed from the grass verges and apart from the howl in the cockpit we could have been doing only the ton. What did make it appear super fast, however, was when we put a Porsche Carrera on the same runway with the Lambo. Now Carreras are no slouches either and will also do 150 MPH, but take much longer to get there than the Diablo. We could let the Porsche get half the length of the runway ahead and still beat it to the far end. The V12 Lambo engine is a most impressive unit. The rest of the Diablo is a joke. Probably one of the most disappointing cars I have ever driven. It was also probably the last Lambo I will get to sit in, as Messrs Lamborghini were less than enthralled with my frank write-up.

Autotrivia Quiz

For all our American friends, last week we asked about the opening of the world’s first Drive-In bank. A bit hard I suppose, but it was in Los Angeles, California in 1937. Shows just how important the motor car has been to American life. Unfortunately, the motor car has also given rise to society scourges like Road Rage, Ram Raid and Drive by Killings.

So to this week’s quiz question and the idea came from good ol’ Yankee boy, Terry Hawkins. Terry asked what was the first year for dual headlights in American cars? Now I don’t know if Terry realises this - but it was a world first, not just American iron. So for this week’s FREE beer - what year did dual headlights first come out - and in which cars? There were two brands that came out that year with the dual headlight configuration. First correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected] wins the prize.

More Trivia

Over the years, we have certainly tried all sorts of options with headlights. The “Cyclops” central eye on the old Rover 75’s in the 50’s was well and truly done before with the American Garford of 1913 sporting one.

The Americans, too, were the first with retractable headlights. These came out on the 1936 Cord, a magnificent Gordon Buehrig design with huge pontoon style front wings. The headlights had to be wound up and down manually, with two small handles on the dashboard for this purpose.

Headlights that were faired into the guards were another piece of Americana, with Pierce-Arrow having them as early as 1913. The Brits didn’t come out with this design till the E series Morris Eight of 1939.

Swivelling headlights we have covered in this column before, with the Tatra in the 1930’s being the first that I can find, many years before the Tucker Torpedo. Citroen also had a fling with them on the 1967 DS series, but abandoned the concept shortly after.

Copyright 1999 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]
Updated by Boonsiri Suansuk.