Pattaya Panthers missed out by hair’s breadth

It will go down in history that the Pattaya Panthers missed out by hair’s breadth last weekend in Bangkok.

The occasion was an informal round-robin tens tournament between the Bangkok Japanese, the British Club, the Southerners and the Pattaya Panthers held at NIST on Soi 15. All of the clubs were looking for a final preparatory hit out before the fabled Pattaya International 10’s tournament coming up on the 22nd and 23rd of April. Each team was to play each other once in matches of two 7-minute halves; a similar format to the Pattaya Tournament but 10-minute halves will be used in for international rules.

Pattaya Panthers

The tournament began at 4:00pm in sweltering heat. The first game was between a fired up Pattaya Panthers team playing away for the first time since their famous victorious (and riotous) outing to Phuket and who were literally chomping at the bit at the prospect of a big weekend in Bangkok, and a British Club team who, just due to their size, looked very imposing.

The Panthers were fantastic. Their forwards were always first to the breakdown, they rucked ferociously and provided good, quick ball for their backs - who did not disappoint. The handling was superb and the try count mounted against the British Club. This was champagne rugby. The final score was 31-0 in favor of the totally dominant Panthers.

The next game was a tight affair between two well-matched sides: the Bangkok Japanese and the Southerners. It finished with a converted try a-piece. It was clear that these two teams would both form formidable obstacles for the Panthers.

And then the Panthers were back on against the Southerners. This was a different ballgame to the British Club. The Southerners were a big, well-drilled unit who ran well with the ball in hand. The Panthers found themselves under pressure from the kick-off. However, the Panther’s defence was heroic. The Panthers play would have brought a tear to the eye of the director of “Shaka Zulu”. Twice they repelled long drawn out attacks on the Panthers’ line. The last was on the verge of full time and Adrian “Ball’s gone” Sparrow along with Ralph “Oyster” Clim both put their lives literally on the line to save the day. The game ended in a physical 0-0 draw after the Panthers discovered that it is difficult to win when the opposition are not good enough to spend any time with the ball in your possession.

The next game featured the Bangkok Japanese beating the British Club by 17-7. Again the Bangkok Japanese played the expansive game for which they are known. This game was then followed by the Southerners against the British Club. Here we saw the British Club raise their game and the Southerners, at one point, found themselves under some pressure. However, their superior strength and skill showed through to win 10-5.

All this meant that the final game between the Bangkok Japanese and the Pattaya Panthers was the decider. Winner takes all, loser goes home grumpy.

It was always going to be close. The Panthers were facing a few injury problems following the grueling game against the Southerners. Piers ‘the Tongue in the scrum’ Puntan was hobbling on the sidelines and Andy ‘the Judge’ Southgate was not much better on the pitch - not to mention Oyster and Ball’s Gone still struggling to recover from the concussion they inflicted on each other as part of their revolutionary new defensive techniques.

The Bangkok Japanese came at full speed. Their handling and recycling of the ball was excellent and even though the Panthers’ tackling, which is rapidly becoming legendary, was terrific, the Bangkok Japanese found a gap in the Panther defensive line during the first half to score the first try. This was subsequently converted from a tight angle.

The Panthers had to battle hard and finally Brian Reid broke through the defense to score a superb try aided by the injured Ralph Oyster Clim to score in the corner.

And now we come to the tragic bit, a rum titty tum titty tum titty tum. The Panthers missed the conversion.

The final whistle blew at 7-5 to the Bangkok Japanese.

The Panthers were rightly heartbroken - they had finished third rather than first. But, by this time the Southerners and the British Club were already tucking into the beer and the Panthers were able to drown their sorrows.

All in all, it was a great day and all the teams involved performed tremendously. It was a tribute to Rugby and expat Rugby in particular and should be done more often.

The evening’s entertainment for all four clubs went according to plan at Delaney’s Bangkok, so not all was lost!

The next fixture for your local team is a big one and not to be missed. The Thailand 10’s International Tournament has been relocated to ISR. So your local team, the Delaney’s Pattaya Panthers will be hosting the international tournament. Dates are 22nd and 23rd of April 2000. Come out to ISR and see teams and players from all over the globe battle in the inaugural Pattaya Tournament. 10’s Rugby and Touch football are the main attractions with no cover charge, come along in your local club’s colours of Bottle Green and Black to show your support. No cover charge other than a loud cheer for fine play.

Royal Garden to sponsor Festival Yacht Race

The Path of Supreme Strength and Conflict Resolution

by Patrick Stahl,
NRG Center

The martial arts in China are like baseball in America, a national pastime. The roots of the martial arts are not particularly martial. Early systematized exercise traditions were developed in the monastic communities as techniques for the cultivation of health and personal development, often with the goal of longevity or immortality. The great styles of the movement or exercise arts emerged from natural philosophy and spiritual pursuit. Pa Qua and Hsing-I are steeped in spirituality and the animal forms honour and mirror animal gestures as a pathway to harmony and balance with the forces of nature. All of these styles and forms lend themselves to martial application and during certain periods of China’s history, especially the Boxer Rebellion, the arts of personal cultivation tended to become primarily martial.

It is Chi Gong in the martial arts that supplies the abundance of Chi that makes the practitioner seem to fly, absorb tremendous blows and knock down opponents with what look like minor punches. Chi Gong in the martial arts is the source of what is called the “soft styles and inner strength”. Chi Gong in the martial arts engenders the strategy wherein the great is defeated by the small. Chi Gong in the martial arts suggests that through supreme development of the Chi the victor is a warrior who overcomes without needing to strike. This is the greatest, most subtle victory where the opponent’s force is neutralized by a natural, non-violent resolution that occurs through an ultimate understanding of the Chi.

Through Chi Gong practice the martial arts practitioner develops the Wei Chi protective energy and the surface tissue of the body into an “iron shirt” which is impenetrable and can absorb the opponent’s attack. With a special understanding of the Chi the practitioner can combine a state of extreme lightness with extreme flexibility to achieve extraordinary leaping ability that has earned some of the great practitioners nicknames like “leaping butterfly master” and “dancing dragon flying”.

Tugh, rough and slick

Sattahip North & West

PSC Pattaya Golf Society from The Bunker

The Bunker Boys played the two toughest nines at Sattahip. Only two players out of 34 could break par, Joe Sparey & Wilf Latham. It’s good to see Joe concentrating on golf again and playing true to form. Wilf seems to have hit a purple patch and is in the frame almost every week. The handicap committee will soon bring him down to earth. Norman Brooks & Ken Lill came joint 3rd with + 1. Well played.

Remy, the only non-Brit, and Danny Greer came in joint 1st in B Division with +2 followed by Les Winch with +3.

A Flight

Joe ‘The Buggy’ Sparey, - 4
Wilf ‘Hey Up’ Latham, - 2
Norman ‘Isn’t It’ Brooks, +1
Ken ‘Baggy Pants’ Lill, + 1

B Flight

Burt ‘Remy’ Guy, +2
Danny ‘Fireman’ Greer, +2
Les ‘Pull it’ Winch, +3
Near pins: Wilf ‘Hey Up’ Latham, Danny ‘fireman’ Greer, Garry ‘100 mph’ Hammil.

Welcome back ‘Jens’ from your 7 month trip on the China Sea.

Speedy recovery from you operation Colin, hope to see you on the golf tee soon.

Last week, great golf was played at Siam Country Club when the Pattaya Golf Society met for their weekly tournament on Thursday, 28 March. In A Flight, Wilf Latham came in with a 4 under par and 40 Stableford points, but was denied the outright win by Paul “Houdini” Butler with a great chip in to make birdie at the 18th for the same 40 points.

Norman, Barry and Bruce came in joint 3rd with par 36 points.

B Flight winner John Preddy just managed to fend off Neil Griffin’s 39 point round. Les Winch took third place with par 36 points.

Well done Anton Powell with his best ever score of 33, +3 on handicap.

A Flight

Joint 1st: Wilf “Hey Up” Latham and Paul “Houdini Butler, 40 points
Joint 3rd: Norman Brooks, Barry Barnes and Bruce “Mosses” Laurence, 36 points

B Flight

1st: John Preddy, 40 points
2nd: Neil Griffin, 39 points
3rd: Les Winch, 36 points

Near pins: Chris John, John Preddy, Bill “Abdul” Carter, and Garry “100 mph” Carter.

The monthly Bunker Bonus was won by Neil Griffin with 3 over for the month.

PSC Local Rules For Courses

Fitness Tips: Weight or Health?

G’Day Pattaya,

Up until today I have been one of the strongest proponents of the adage that the only things that will reduce an individual’s body fat were healthy eating habits with correct balance of Carbohydrate (50%-60%), Protein (30%) and Fat (10-20%) in conjunction with regular aerobic based activity.

Today, I still believe that this is and will remain to be the case.

However, recent research has shown that there now could be some semblance of a ‘magic pill’.

Xenocal is the next weight loss drug to be released. Will it work better on the complications of obesity rather than weight excess itself?

Orlistat (Xenocal) is one of two new weight control preparations soon to be released in Australia. Xenocal, which is a gastric lipase inhibitor, reduces the absorption of fats into the bloodstream from fats in foods by blocking an enzyme involved in this, thus forcing fats to pass through the body undigested.

Trials of the substance have now been published to allay some of the fears about the detrimental effects of Xenocal on the ‘leaching’ of fat-soluble vitamins and minerals from the diet. These trials have shown that only 30% of fat eaten is blocked from absorption. Hence the remainder should be sufficient to maintain a healthy nutrient intake. Whether this is sufficient to guarantee big weight losses on the other hand is questionable.

Weight loss and effects of weight loss

In trials from Malmo in Sweden, Xenocal was found to reduce body weight over 12 months by around 6%. Although this may sound adequate, other patients were given a placebo in the same trial as a control group. This control group had a loss of around 4.5% meaning the real weight loss from the drug was only 1.5 %.

This may not be good news for those interested in large weight loss. The good news, however, is that other ‘invisible’ health factors such as blood pressure, blood cholesterol and blood sugars (leading to diabetes) are improved significantly by Xenocal. Another important point is that there appears to be no side effects as with other weight loss drugs.

According to Dr. Susan Jebb, Head of Nutrition at Cambridge University, Xenocal also has the effect of improving the main factor that causes obesity - an errant lifestyle. Eating too much fatty food can cause anal leakage and soft stools, which may give gastro-intestinal discomfort, and hence discourage the patient from eating this type of food. Yes, I did intentionally go for two of the nastiest examples, for shock value. I want you to sit up and pay attention. Also, unlike other weight loss drugs, it can be taken over a long period without adverse effects.

Jebb goes on to point out that the drug only works under certain conditions; in particular a patient has to be motivated, be severely obese and have failed on other lifestyle-based treatments.

In language I can understand this would be like saying the user of the drug must be very, very big in the first place, must honestly want more than anything to reduce body weight and was not able to start exercising because of body disability, injury or malfunction.

Given these positive benefits, it may be more appropriate for Xenocal to be sold as a metabolic corrector drug with a side effect of weight loss. This is likely to reduce any potential abuse by individuals with only small amounts of weight to lose for aesthetic / superficial purposes.

Take home message... You will soon be hearing about a new wonder drug, well, Xenocal offers some promise for those with serious weight problems, it may be even better as a metabolic drug with weight loss side effects. It still does not measure up to regular activity and good eating.

Carpe’ diem

Auto Mania: Local Motorsport

by Dr. Iain Corness

The 2nd Round of the All Thailand Touring Car Championship 2000 will be held at the Bira International Circuit this weekend. Following the first round win by “Pete” (the film star) in the Toyota Corolla Altis (which was on display at the Bangkok International Motor Show) the Honda brigade have spent some time and baht to try and improve the competitiveness of their entries.

World’s Slowest concept car?

Toyota Team Thailand have not been sitting on their hands either, following the demise last meeting of their lead Corolla in the hands of star driver Natavud (one of the best steerers in Thailand, in my opinion). The flywheel drama has been attended to and expect to see another stunning performance by this driver this weekend.

Thoughts from the Bangkok Motor Show

It was certainly a “bigger and better” show this year, with more cars and more exhibitors. The majority built imaginative booths, the Japanese manufacturers in particular; however, the most imaginative exhibitor had to be Paul Markham from Ecolux. Who’s Ecolux I hear you say? Paul’s Ecolux company builds, in Thailand, a range of electric bicycles and while he was relegated to a tent in the grounds outside, there were Ecolux bikes just everywhere inside the main BITEC building, with an ever-smiling Paul suggesting you get on and try one. If you were an “important person” then he had a camera there as well! Ecolux have a factory in Chiang Rai and now one in Bangkok, too. After I get some more details on his electric rockets I’ll publish them, but the prices were around 18,000 baht for a machine that can travel 60 kilometres before requiring a recharge.

Mercedes Benz SLA concept roadster

Most uninspired displays had to be Jaguar and Brabus, both in another hall other than the main one, and damn difficult to find. If they got anyone there who actually found them they would have been lucky. Jaguar did have the XJ 220 on show, but whilst this is a sensational looking car, it is now 8 years old, having been originally shown at the British International Motor Show in Birmingham in 1992. Last year, the Jaguar stand was superb. This year, I think they could have tried harder.

Brabus showed their idea of what a Mercedes Benz should look like, but it appeared as if all they did was nick the three pointed star off the bonnet and give you a button with “B” on it as a replacement. Left me totally underwhelmed.

Jaguar XJ220

Aussie journalists were very well represented at the Show this year, with Ric Williams from the Bush Driver publication down under making the trek up, as well as award winner John Weinthal from Brisbane and myself. All three of us were appalled at the rapaciousness of the local “media” who descended on each stand on the press preview day looking for “goodies” after each manufacturer’s presentation. We were also interested to see the number of Thai press motoring journalists - about 300 at last count, with 50% being young girls of around 20 years of age. I must admit I didn’t know that “Dolly” magazine and the like were interested in motor cars! I must be getting old and cynical!

Paul Markham and his Ecolux electric bicycle

As usual, English language press kits were as rare rocking horse poop, but I can’t really complain too much, we are, after all, in Thailand and as I said before, there were 300 of them and 3 of us!

More on the motor show next week.

World’s Slowest Concept Car

Mercedes Benz scored another ‘first” at the Motor Show with their SLA concept roadster, but not a “first” that they wanted you to hear about. In the opening minutes of the press day we went to MB’s stand to see the much vaunted SLA. This had come from the German Show and was certainly a futuristic looking device, even if highly unlikely as a production exercise. However, there on display were the specifications of the car, including stated performance figures of 0-10 kph in 7.9 “secounds”! Since I can run faster than that, we began falling about laughing about the less than staggering performance figures, never mind the mis-spelling. This brought the MB staff over immediately and when the snail-like figures were pointed out, the spec board was quickly spirited away to come back minutes later with the correction 0-100 kph in the 7.9 seconds.

MB no doubt thought they had corrected this gaffe in time, but they hadn’t, had they?

Nelson Mandela

The following is a “true” story about Nelson Mandela, the famous South African leader (would I lie to you?). After being released from jail, Nelson was sleeping at his home when there came a loud knocking at the door. On opening it, instead of a policeman, he saw a small Chinese delivery man who waved a docket under his nose and said, “You sign, you sign.” Nelson asked what for, and was shown a large truck full of bumper bars sitting outside. Saying that these were definitely not for him he closed the door. For the next two mornings the same scenario occurred, with the Chinaman bringing engines and then windscreens. When Nelson finally lost his patience and shouted that these deliveries were not for him, the Chinaman also lost his cool, pointing to the delivery docket and shouting, “These are for you. You Nissan Main Dealer aren’t you!” Thank you Philip Mordue for the best motoring joke I’ve ever heard! Mind you, I’ve driven a few motoring jokes in my time, including the Lamborghini Diablo, the best looking least practical car in the world.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked about names again. Where did the Swedish Volvo company get its name from? And why? This was really easy. This name was directly from the Latin, volvo, meaning “I roll”. That’s along the ground, not “over”!

So to this week. In my mind, the best looking car at the 2000 Motor Show was the Maserati 3200 coupe. Simply a sensational body styling exercise over some fabulous mechanicals. So the question for this issue is, what Maserati models did the Maserati brothers produce in 1950? That should be easy enough. For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first to fax 427 596 or email [email protected] with the correct answer.

Copyright 2000  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 Chinnaporn Sangwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.