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Family Money: Know Thy Client
By Leslie
Wright,
Managing director of Westminster Portfolio Services (Thailand) Ltd.
Each investor is an individual, and no two are ever
quite the same. That’s one of the factors that make the financial
services industry so fascinating.
Fundamentally, the financial services business is
founded upon relationships. Even those investors who do it all themselves
may still have to deal with a disembodied voice on the telephone 10,000
miles away, or someone on the other end of a computer network.
Many investors prefer the personal approach, and want
to deal with a personal financial adviser, or portfolio manager. But
before that client will do business with him, the adviser will have had to
establish a certain level of trust and rapport with the client.
Get-rich-quick merchants
Sadly, many financial advisers are concerned not with
giving their clients “best advice”, but only how much money they can
make for themselves in the immediate short term. Also, many financial
advisers try to sell ‘one-size-fits-all’ investments, which may be
inappropriate to that particular client’s needs & circumstances.
Similarly, few IFA’s are prepared to put in the time
and effort necessary to building a long-term relationship with their
clients once the initial sale is made, and provide the level of service
required to keep a client “loyal”.
In the initial stages, and in order to provide ongoing
best advice, a financial adviser has to understand as much as he can about
his clients’ circumstances and financial aspirations. So a detailed
fact-find should be conducted in their first meeting, from which the
adviser should formulate appropriate recommendations.
These would typically be presented to the client in a
second meeting, rather than pulling out a glossy brochure and
“selling” the client during the first meeting what might turn out to
be an inappropriate investment. All too often in such instances the client
has not understood the investment product and how it works, the charges
that will be levied, and any penalties that will be applied should he stop
it early. He is sold the benefits without being made aware of the
downside.
The newly affluent
In the financial trade press there has been much
discussion of the opportunity the mass affluent represent to the IFA
community, but most IFA’s are poorly prepared to address those
opportunities.
When a new kind of client emerges, they often do not
fit neatly into the IFA’s existing business model. Not so long ago,
affluence was primarily a function of birth: the baby-boomer generation
changed all that. Having redefined what growing up was all about in the
60s, they then moved on to begin a revolution in the workplace in the 70s.
The importance of intellectual property meant they could demand a link
between their value to their employers and the remuneration they received
for it. In the 80s, the UK was awash with ‘yuppies’ and Mrs.
Thatcher’s ‘trickle-down’ theory accelerated the distribution of
relative wealth.
So the mass affluent have typically made their money
themselves and usually through employment. And that is why they won’t
adapt themselves to supplier behaviour. The more successful they are, the
more confident they become, and as their confidence grows they are
increasingly demanding of good value products and high quality service.
They share another characteristic: they are
promiscuous. Their loyalty to any particular financial adviser is directly
related to the value that IFA delivers. And if the IFA fails them,
they’ll leave.
The reason any of this matters is that there is little
point in recognising the mass affluent as an important market if we in the
financial services industry aren’t able to woo you and keep you
satisfied. We have to invest time in understanding how our clients behave
and what drives that behaviour.
Research into a number of focus groups, supported by
quantitative input from the MORI Financial Services continuous tracking
survey, uncovered three key factors:
Understanding: If consumers have a grasp of the
products available to solve a given financial requirement then it’s
easier for them to act.
Interest: Interested consumers will invest time and
effort in keeping on top of their finances.
Organisation: Consumers who are poorly organised will
procrastinate.
By allocating high or low scores to each of these we
find several different types.
A person who scores high on all three will display
particular and predictable behavioural characteristics as a result. High
organisation will force him to get things done, high understanding will
give him the confidence to do it, and high interest will mean he knows how
to go about it. This person reads the personal finance press or uses the
internet. He is likely to buy direct, believing that if he had the time he
could do as well as any professional. He expects high performance and
plenty of contact.
Alternatively, someone who scores low on both
understanding and interest but high on organisation requires completely
different handling. His bewilderment makes him unsure and slow to commit
to any investment program, but he’s driven by the need to get things
done. In the discussion stage the IFA will need to earn his trust. After
the program is up and running he will be content if his IFA’s
administration is efficient and he’s given a call every six months.
Between these extremes we might consider the group who,
though high on understanding and organisation, score low on interest. They
can’t be bothered to deal with it themselves because it doesn’t
interest them – although, being organised, they recognise the need to
deal with it; but the confidence they derive from understanding means
they’re delighted to give their financial adviser the problem.
This research reveals that the mass affluent represent
many different segments, rather than just one group. The research explains
not just how these segments behave but gives an insight into why.
It’s not enough simply to announce one’s interest
in the mass affluent and expect them to form a queue. Success is reserved
for those financial advisers who are prepared to take the time to segment
them into smaller groups and understand how each behaves and why. And then
find them the investment vehicle that most closely matches their
particular needs, aspirations, and investor profile.
Snap Shots: Cartophily for amateurs, or collecting naughty postcards!
 by Harry Flashman
Little Egypt
The new social order is upon us, and there are
mutterings that nipples are going to be a no-no in the go-go chrome pole
palaces. That made me think of cartophiles. A new perversion? Of course it
was! After the Victorian era, Prince Edward VII took the throne of England
in 1901 and a new age of permissiveness took hold in the photographic
industry, and the naughty postcard was born.
One could have easily predicted the new lewd, or
perhaps that should have been the lewd nude, was coming, as towards the
end of the 1800’s relaxing of the previously strict laws regarding the
showing of female anatomy was becoming evident. Take for example, the
Chicago Fair of 1893. Photographs and reports of Fahreda Mahzar
Spyropolos’s naked navel still exist today. In fact, her anatomical bit
managed to change the fair from downright flop to financial success. She
was the famous “Little Egypt” who did her belly dance in front of
amazed (and outraged) clerics, whose reports of the lewd behaviour brought
the crowds in their thousands flocking to the fair. Ms Spyropolos
certainly knew that sex sells, even if it were only a belly button.
The newspaper business also knew that a bit of female
anatomy helped an otherwise staid selection of newsprint to become wanted
items. This was not something that Rupert Murdoch and his page 3 girls
started, no matter how much the Murdoch publicity machine would have you
think. The New York Police Gazette (now there’s a catchy title for a
paper - sorry about the pun!) began publishing illustrated supplements of
actresses and dancers in the 1890’s and even offered “cabinet-sized
finished photographs” described as the snappiest of all girl pictures.
And then there was “Photo Bits” - an English
magazine started in 1898, which became Photo Fun in 1908 to run double
page pin-ups, copies of which could be purchased for nine pence (including
postage) and were advertised as being suitable for billiard or smoking
rooms.
However, it was the “feelthy postcards” that really
brought the pin-up to pride of place on the locker room wall. Once again
it was the French who did all the running. Seeing the success of postcard
pictures of the Eiffel Tower, enterprising photographers began in earnest
that most noble of artistic pursuits - persuading young ladies to pose in
their pink one-buttons.
They were successful too. In 1910, more than 100
million were printed in France alone, and by that stage the rest of the
world was producing theirs as well. The cartophiles were being very well
catered for!
The large postcard had only one problem - it was
difficult to carry around. Enter the cigarette card. These so-called
“stiffeners” of soft cigarette packets very quickly realized the
collectible value of continental actresses and others eager to return to
nature in return for cash that could allow themselves to purchase
expensive dresses to cover up again.
But beauty lay in the eye of the beholder, and the
Edwardian cartophile beholders were fleshy (fleshly?) fat persons, who
consumed large dinners and showed their wealth through an excess of
avoirdupois. Their ideal female was then the same - big hunks of women
with large bellies and legs that looked as if they would hold up billiard
tables. However, although the modesty was starting to disappear, the neck
to knee flesh coloured “tights” were still de rigeur for anything
other than the true ‘nude study’ which was paraded under the title of
‘art’. A bit of chiffon and a rose was all that was needed to elevate
the naughty nude to an artistic study, incidentally, both being props
still in use today!
It did not stop there, of course, and post WWII, the
photographic industry pushed the boundaries even further and the bits of
chiffon and the appropriately placed rose were also discarded by many. A
quick glance at a Pirelli calendar will show you that.
However, the wheel may now be going full circle. Stock
up on chiffon and scoop the market!
Modern Medicine: Dangerous Liaisons! Lots of them!
by Dr Iain Corness, Consultant
Well, that got your interest up, didn’t it? There are
(have been) plenty of dangerous liaisons in the world, and we’ve
probably all had one (or two)? However, the liaisons I want to discuss
today are the interactions between various drugs and how to avoid a fairly
explosive situation in the way some drugs can interact with you. This is a
topic I discussed a year or so ago, but is still one of the big problem
areas in the pharmaceutical world.
What is the commonest drug taken by human beings in the
western world? Hands up all of you who said alcohol. Yes, our old friend
ethanol, AKA booze, is really a drug. It is a depressant, it dilates
arteries and does all kinds of neat things to the body (and the brain).
One of the big problems though, is that alcohol can heighten the effects
of other drugs. In other words, it is not a simple 1+1 additive effect -
the combination multiplies the effects of both the alcohol and the other
drug too. For example, the anti-anxiety drug Valium (which I used to call
the “Health Food of the Nation” in my younger and more cynical days)
plus alcohol make a very nasty cocktail. This combination produces
“space” travel without having to go to Cape Canaveral. A most
dangerous way to be bombed out of your brain.
Simple cough medicines are another group of drugs that
do not combine well with alcohol. A couple of beers and a shot of
something for your cough can combine to produce a lethal combination.
Lethal in the fact that the interaction can make you fall asleep at the
wheel.
Let’s imagine that you have now found out that you
have high blood pressure and have gone on a type of medication called Beta
Blockers. They do work well at reducing blood pressure. They also stop
trembling hands, and many people take them for this - even concert
pianists. There are some drawbacks, though. One it can exacerbate asthma,
and two, it can make Willy the Wonder Wand not work like it used to. A
dangerous way to draw a halt to dangerous liaisons!
Some of you will be on medication to reduce your blood
sugar, a condition we sometimes called NIDDM (Non Insulin Dependent
Diabetes Mellitus). You may also get indigestion. There is a particularly
nasty interaction between certain sugar reducers and some antacids, which
can make you go into a hypoglycaemic coma. Again, not the best way to
spend a Saturday afternoon!
Now here’s one for all the people who have had a
stroke, or a heart attack or a deep vein thrombosis and have been put on a
blood thinner, such as warfarin (also known as “rat poison”). Got a
headache today? Taken a common old aspirin for it? You have just set the
scene for a haemorrhage, as the effects of these two are again multiplied.
So just what is the message I am putting across this
week? Well, it is simple. Whilst it is great that you can just wander into
a pharmacy and buy all the cheap drugs you want and self-medicate with
whatever you think you need, there can be a downside to all this. And it
can be a big downside. Letting your doctor prescribe is much safer than
doing it yourself. After all, the doctor has been trained to look for the
dangerous liaisons!
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
This is a very quick note to you explaining where the word spam as used in
e-mail jargon comes from. It is from a Monty Python sketch about a cafe serving
everything as long as it had spam in it. Monty Python was a great comedy series
on the BBC in England. If you didn’t get to see it, you missed some really
good TV.
George
Dear George,
A delightful, but not quite accurate, explanation of the origin of the term “spam”.
SPAM (capitals) is a type of corned meat which was famous in the UK during the
war years and immediately post war. It is still available on the shelves, both
here as well as in the UK, George, and made by Hormel Foods. While “spam”
(all lower case) refers to Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE). The following I
gleaned from the SPAM people themselves: “Use of the term “spam” was
adopted as a result of the Monty Python skit in which our SPAM meat product was
featured. In this skit, a group of Vikings sang a chorus of “spam, spam, spam...”
in an increasing crescendo, drowning out other conversation. Hence, the analogy
applied because UCE was drowning out normal discourse on the Internet.
We do not object to use of this slang term to describe UCE, although we do
object to the use of the word “spam” as a trademark and to the use of our
product image in association with that term. Also, if the term is to be used,
it should be used in all lower-case letters to distinguish it from our
trademark SPAM, which should be used with all uppercase letters.
Today’s teens and young adults are more computer savvy than ever, and the
next generations will be even more so. Children will be exposed to the slang
term “spam” to describe UCE well before being exposed to our famous product
SPAM. Ultimately, we are trying to avoid the day when the consuming public
asks, “Why would Hormel Foods name its product after junk e-mail?”
Unfortunately, Mr. Hormel, I think that day is here already!
Dear Hillary,
Can YOU tell me whether my girlfriend has to go back to her village to get her
driver license, or can she do the license testing anywhere else? Everyone we
ask seems to have a different idea. She can drive, but I have told her that it
is important that she gets a license as well. Do you have a license? Can you
help?
Motorman
Dear Motorman,
What do you think I am running here? The motor vehicle licensing column? Do I
have a license? Petal, I have a chauffeur, I wouldn’t dream of driving myself
around. After all, when arriving at Hi-So do’s you can’t really ask the man
with the red carpet to wait a bit while you park the pickup, now can you? If I
can’t get a chauffeur, then I don’t go. Why don’t YOU go to the licensing
place and ask there? Or is that too obvious? One thing I do know is that if she
has no license then your insurance is also null and void.
Dear Hillary,
A very good friend that I have known for a long time and who works out of the
capital is going through a bad patch. He doesn’t know whether he should give
up his job and move away, or stay where he is, but where he is not happy. I
have told him he would have no trouble getting another job, but he seems
reluctant to let go of this one that he has got. What can I do to get him to
move up to Bangkok? I would be able to take care of him better if he lived in
Bangkok. How do I get him to see what is best for him? Even his friends say it
would be better for him to move. What suggestions do you have, Hillary. We all
want the best for him, so it is sometimes so frustrating when he does not see
what to do himself. Probably can’t see the way out of the wood for the trees
I suppose. Anyway if you could answer this quickly it would be good as then I
can show it to him and get him to come to his senses.
Mima
Dear Mima,
There is one person who has not been consulted here. That person is your
“very good friend”. Don’t you think that he should have some say in all
this? You and his friends (according to you) have decided it is better for him
to relocate. Have you stopped to think why does he not think the same way? He
is the one with the “bad patch” you tell me - so let him work out what he
is happy at doing. All you have to do is be there for him if he needs support
with his decisions. That is support, my Petal, not telling him what to do.
Unsolicited advice is never appreciated.
A Slice of Thai History: The Dutch presence in Thailand
Part Five: Fluctuating Fortunes 1717-1758
by Duncan steam
In 1717, King Phumintharacha launched a two-pronged
invasion of Cambodia in support of Prea Srey Thomea, the ruler who had
been ousted three years earlier by his uncle, Keo Fa. The latter,
supported by Vietnam, defeated the southern Thai thrust, but the northern
division were victorious over the combined Cambodian-Vietnamese forces and
reached Udong, the usurper’s capital. Keo Fa offered his allegiance to
Thailand, was accepted, and Prea Srey Thomea’s claims were abandoned.
The Thais had the good grace to allow the latter to go into splendid exile
in Ayutthaya where he accompanied Phumintharacha on fishing trips and
elephant hunts.
Phumintharacha, his debts to the VOC still unpaid, died
in 1732, initiating a tussle for the succession. His eldest son had
entered a monastery in 1716 and showed no interest in the succession.
After defeating a number of claimants, Borommakot assumed the throne in
January 1733.
Borommakot appointed Chamnan Borirak, the descendant of
an Indian Brahmin family, as his minister of foreign affairs and trade
after the latter had played a crucial role in capturing the royal palace
where the son’s of the late king were ensconced. For the next 20 years,
Chamnan Borirak was the most powerful official at court.
Borommakot’s first major crisis came in 1734 when 300
Chinese residents stormed the royal palace while Borommakot was away on a
hunting expedition. Loyal troops defeated the Chinese and a large number
were later executed.
Relations between the king and the VOC deteriorated to
such an extent that the Dutch decided to close their factory in 1741.
Borommakot had refused to pay his bills or ratify the treaties Thailand
had signed with the VOC, virtually forcing the Dutch to close down. Some
1,400 people (VOC employees, their wives and children) were affected by
the decision.
In 1744, the Burmese kingdom of Ava sent a mission to
Ayutthaya, thereby establishing the first diplomatic relations between the
two regions for more than a century. The rapprochement was destined to
last for just 25 years.
By 1747, the VOC had once again decided to resume doing
business with Ayutthaya, sending the future local director Nicolaas Bang
to purchase merchandise for sale to Japan. Bang, who had been in Ayutthaya
since 1723, became VOC director in 1748 and was killed by the Burmese in
1760, leaving behind a Thai wife, five children and four slaves.
The factory in Nakhon Si Thammarat re-opened in 1752,
and in 1754 a new treaty was drawn up between Ayutthaya and the VOC by
Nicolaas Bang, the first since 1709.
Just a year later, the tin trade collapsed and the VOC
deemed it expedient to close down the Nakhon Si Thammarat factory and move
operations into the Indonesian archipelago.
A royal crisis arose in 1755 when it was discovered
that Prince Senaphithak, the heir to the throne, had been having a secret
affair with one of Borommakot’s queens. The king had three queens, two
of whom were sisters, but the elder had died in 1737. The third was a
granddaughter of King Petraja. The adulterous pair were ceremoniously
clubbed to death after the royal fashion.
Borommakot died on 13 April 1758, aged about 75,
leaving no less than 126 children, 15 by his three queens and 108 by
concubines. He was succeeded by a son, Uthumphon, whose first act was to
execute three of his half-brothers. Less than a month later, Uthumphon was
persuaded to abdicate in favour of his older brother, Ekkathat (also known
as Suriyamarin). He was the 35th ruler of Ayutthaya, and was destined to
be the last.
Personal Directions: The Great Secret: Organization
by Christina Dodd
Normally when we hear the term “organization” we
think of something rather ordinary and mundane. However, if we look a
little closer, we will find that organization is one of the great secrets
of life.
We all know that we can organize our lives in better
ways; such as by keeping an accurate and up to date to-do list, or keeping
up on our bookkeeping, or ordering our priorities in life. When we take
such actions we are in essence organizing our consciousness.
There are a number of ways we can organize our
consciousness, our being; e.g. by a greater degree of direction in life,
through higher skills and knowledge, greater energy, greater strength,
more goodness toward others, by implementing personal values in our lives,
through positive attitudes, and in many other ways. As we organize our
consciousness, we grow and evolve; we achieve and succeed, we find
happiness and joy in life.
Organization is not of course just limited to the
individual. A business for example can also organize itself. When a
company organizes such components as its job positions, activities,
systems, and focuses its direction, goals, and values, it is organizing
itself to a higher level, which inevitably results in greater revenues,
profitability, energy, satisfaction, and success.
Higher organization is also available for any social
entity, institution, community, nation, as well as the world itself. Like
a business any social entity can evaluate itself and rise to higher levels
of organization. What is particularly interesting is that not only can it
organize itself internally but it can also learn to organize itself
externally, through higher levels of cooperation, coordination, and
integration with other related social entities.
Surely the world would be a better place if there was
more of such cooperation and integration among the nations of the world.
For example, when there is a dearth of food in impoverished nations, it is
not because there is not enough food in the world, it is because of lack
of cooperation, coordination, and integration - i.e. organization -
amongst the nations.
Consider this dictum: “all problems in life are
essentially problems of harmony.”
When an individual organizes himself he is creating
greater internal harmony. For example, when a social entity organizes
itself with other social entities, it creates greater external harmony. In
either case, higher organization results in higher harmony, unity, and
oneness of purpose. In such an atmosphere, there is an enormous energy
built up that inevitably will lead to great achievement, success, and joy
in life.
If we examine the world we will see that everywhere
there is a movement toward greater, ever-accelerating organization. The
Internet is only the latest example. It is the ultimate, dense,
multi-system organization; and it is shared by all the world. Such
developments of organization in the world are a reflection of the emerging
power of the human mind in the world. That power is accelerating in the
last several decades, reflecting the evolutionary movement of humanity up
from a physical and vital-based consciousness to a more mental based
consciousness.
That power of mind in the world is in fact the power of
organization. The Internet has come about because of the further emergence
of this power of mind in humanity. Whereas the human body gives substance
to our being; it is the physical part of us; and the vital is the
energizing force in us, mind is the ordering mechanism of life; it serves
the purpose of ordering and organizing the world we live in for us.
As we know the mind organizes life around us through
the functioning of our senses. It also has the capacity to think
independent of the senses, as when we think logically or
self-conceptualize the world. In either case it is organizing data,
information and ideas. The physical brain itself is a vast amalgam of
neurons and other parts that organizes pulses as data, and develops them
into stored knowledge, and formulates them as ideas. This is interestingly
not so different from a company which organizes its activities, or the
Internet organizing information and knowledge, or social entities, such as
nations, coordinating and integrating with one another, and so forth.
Perhaps we can even say that the universe itself is a
vast and complex organization, with its processes and functions that are
organized, coordinated, and integrated.
We can also see that higher organization inevitably
means higher progress; such as personal growth for the individual, or more
development for the business or the social entity. So higher organization
is higher growth and development. Perhaps we can also say that higher
organization is higher consciousness, because whenever we develop further
we are increasing our level of consciousness.
Finally, beyond the powers of mind to organize, there
are powers of spirit itself to organize. As we learn to tap into the
powers of the spiritual mind we can really learn to organize our
consciousness, enabling the greatest power and efficiencies of life. As we
organize ourselves as spiritual beings, we open to the infinite
potentials, possibilities, and powers of life.
So we are left to ask these questions. What then will
we do today to raise our level of organization - for ourselves as
individuals, for our companies, or the institutions and social entities we
partake of?
If you wish to talk further on matters of personal and
self development, or on matters that concern your business, the
effectiveness and needs of your staff, then please contact me directly at
Asia Training Associates – email: christina. [email protected]
For details on our programs and Asia Training
Associates, please visit our website: www.asiatrainingassociates.com
Until next time … Have a Great Week!
Social Commentary by Khai Khem: The social order campaign was
not created to annoy tourists
Every civilized society needs social order. Without
laws, guidelines and a standard of ethics and rules to follow the
resulting effect is chaos. Most people in every society desire and indeed,
rely on, a structure which regulates human behavior in the community.
Thailand has long been a traditional society with its own culture and
age-old customs. There is now great pressure on its people to walk the
‘middle path’ as they try to adapt to the changing world around them
and still retain the essence of what it means to be ‘Thai’.
Rapid modernization and industrialization have always
caught traditional societies off guard. Dramatic change with little time
to adjust creates confusion and people often aren’t sure exactly where
they fit into the new pattern of life. It’s the human condition. What
nation can we point to that is wholly unaffected by our current
globalization?
The campaign introduced by our central government is an
attempt to address some social issues that have been neglected for a long
time. It was designed to reeducate the local populace on law and order and
civic duty. Some of the new regulations currently in effect are aimed at
raising the moral ethics of our people. The closing down of entertainment
establishments which allow bawdy entertainment and earlier closing hours
of bars and nightclubs has annoyed many visitors who have come to Thailand
to partake in the very thing for which our nation has rightly earned - a
tawdry reputation for sleaze and sex and corruption. The fact that all of
this is readily available in many cities of the world makes me think that
perhaps there can be some compromise in the making.
Pattaya City is pushing for special dispensations which
would allow it to legally provide ‘adult entertainment’ because it is
a very famous international tourist city that provides such diversity that
the business community feels there is room for this particular form of
amusement to be included. The argument has merit. I do have a feeling that
there are going to be some very tough hurdles to overcome before we EARN
the dispensations.
The petty crime rate perpetrated by young locals in
Pattaya has now risen to scandalous proportions. There is a world-wide
‘whispering campaign’ going on that Pattaya is not a safe place to
live in or visit anymore. Whether or not there are hundreds of other
places in the world that are definitely more dangerous begs the point.
Like prostitution, sleaze and corruption, once our city has been tarred
with the ‘crime-brush’ it will take a real cleanup to get our name off
the blacklist.
Traffic and noise are equally revolting to visitors and
residents. What profits a visitor or elderly retiree to come to a city
that is so snarled with traffic and polluted with ear-splitting noise that
all the rest of its endearing qualities are blotted out by these negative
and dangerous downsides?
To Pattaya’s credit, our city is multifaceted, and we
can accommodate a wide range of visitors, from all walks of life, incomes
and interests. Some tourists will surely come for our famous nightlife
scene, and so they should. Lewd entertainment and “play for pay” was
not invented in Pattaya and if venues are properly zoned, we could
eventually have a corridor which accommodates this target group. The area
should be tightly controlled, diligently monitored by law enforcement and
safe! Even tourists who legally patronize bawdy stage shows and are
charmed by women or men who earn their living by selling sexual favors are
entitled to do so without endangering their lives or being robbed of their
valuables.
What it may all boil down to in the end is if Pattaya
can get its act together and prove that the city can fulfill its promise
of a truly worthy international playground - in every respect - we have a
chance to acquire a great many things we have only dreamed about. We might
get a gambling casino, a first-class horse racing facility, a legal
red-light district, later closing hours for bars and nightclubs,
permission for strip clubs to operate, and much more.
One thing we must remember is that Pattaya is no longer
solely a tourist trap. We have an ambitious business community that serves
hundreds of thousands of residents with a wide range of goods, services
and enterprises that contribute to an established international city.
Social order is vital for our existence and is fully supported by those of
us who have made a real commitment here. Without it we are lost.
Instead of fighting against the rules and regulations,
we would be much better off joining hands to help our officials make our
city a cleaner, safer place to live. As I once said in another column, if
Pattaya were to become a nicer place to live, it would also be a great
place to visit.
I agree that ‘Fun City’ should retain some of its
color and individuality. I’m not suggesting we eliminate Pattaya’s
unique personality and its vibrant essence and replace it with a sterile
shadow of the very spirit that makes it such a popular resort town.
That’s not going to happen. We do enlist the forbearance of visitors who
come here and ask that they understand that our city is a ‘work in
progress’. Most of the progress is aimed at enhancing the enjoyment of a
holiday in Pattaya, as well as improving the quality of life for all who
live here. Well, that’s the idea, anyway.
Woman's World:
I want to look like I used to - Part 1
by Lesley Warner
While in England I watched a documentary called “Make Overs
from Hell”. This program included cosmetic surgery that had gone wrong.
It was quite horrible and some of the so-called ‘most simple’
procedures had totally destroyed lives ... even something as simple as an
ear piercing, tattoo, or a perm. It certainly made me think, and I shall
be far more choosy where I go for anything that uses chemicals or changes
my body in any way.
 Don’t
rely on advice from one source - do a comprehensive investigation.
For some reason the urge for plastic surgery is
becoming a mania world wide in both males and females. All too often we
are informed that it is a simple procedure, just a tuck here or there, a
couple of weeks hiding away and you will be 10 years younger. Well, this
is a word of warning, while I am sure hundreds of cosmetic surgery
patients have a straightforward operation, there are hundreds that do not!
 Try
to get yourself well informed.
Eyelid surgery is supposedly one of the so-called
simplest procedures, and uses only a local anesthetic. I asked a friend
who I knew had been through this procedure what she could tell me. She
said the doctor didn’t ask her any questions regarding medication that
she might be taking, smoking or her past health history. But she felt
confident that he was a professional and wasn’t aware that there could
be any problems, after all it was a simple procedure, he told her. The
operation took only 40 minutes; she was told to lie down and rest for 15
minutes and then drove home alone with a packet of painkillers and
antibiotics. Shortly after arriving home one side of her face started to
bleed profusely and she was rushed to the emergency room. The bleeding was
stopped after the eye doctor was called to ascertain that her sight was
unimpaired as she could not see properly and she returned home.
The next day she returned to the cosmetic surgeon who
informed her that there was no problem, not to be concerned. In fact she
said she felt rather silly as if she was making a fuss over nothing. As
the days went on the side with the problem did not heal and developed an
infection. She returned once again to the surgeon and was given more
antibiotics. Eventually the infection cleared but it was obvious that it
would not heal without a scar.
When questioned, the surgeon said you always have scars
when you have plastic surgery. My friend said yes, but surely one expects
an improved appearance not a worse one. He shrugged and suggested she come
back after a couple of months. It was sorted out in the end but will
always leave a scar, and she said everyone thinks she’s had a fight and
was left with the scar.
I shall give you some more tips next week on cosmetic
surgery, the ups and the downs, but these are a couple of books that are
worth reading:
Cosmetic Surgery Without Fear by Patricia Burgess, or
Welcome to your facelift By Helen Bransford
These books are in understandable language, and explain
surgical options, emerging technology, and how to select a physician.
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