Family Money: The Forex Scam

By Leslie Wright

Trading in foreign exchange is, for some, a way to make big money quickly.

More often than not, though, it’s the forex traders who make the money, and the investor who loses.

Falling interest rates and an uncertain stock market have made some investors easy pickings for a growing number of illegal foreign-exchange dealers promising big, quick returns.

In fact, many companies claiming to operate foreign-exchange trading services are simply running a confidence game that’s been around for years.

Greed blinds prudence

In Hong Kong, for example, starting in the mid 80s and continuing on well into the 90s, imprudent but greedy investors seemed ever eager to throw money at these forex traders, who were only too eager to accept it.

The typical starting figure was relatively modest - HK$100,000 or around half-a-million baht - and the returns promised were very enticing - typically 100% p.a. or more.

Once these guys had made enough, or some clients who’d lost money were starting to get suspicious, they’d close their doors and depart for greener pastures. Very few have ever been prosecuted, despite Hong Kong’s quite stringent regulatory structure.

One of those greener pastures is apparently Thailand.

After so many closures of local securities & finance firms here, you’d think that investors would be a bit more wary of enticing offers from local investment houses. But no. As you may have read before in this column, "Greed blinds prudence," and the forex boys know this all too well.

The fact that foreign exchange trading is illegal here doesn’t seem to phase them one bit.

But since most of these firms don’t actually carry out any overseas trades, there’s no paper to hang on them.

And because some of the bigger ones have connections to some ‘poi’ (which in this context, are not a species of decorative Japanese fish, but the acronym for a far more dangerous local variety of big fish known as "persons of influence"), they are able not only to get away with their nefarious activities, but even to threaten victims who carp (if you’ll pardon the awful pun) to the authorities about having been ripped off.

"Some of these companies have strong backing from influential figures in uniform," one central banker has been reported as saying. "Anyone who dares file a lawsuit against them could be threatened, hurt or even killed."

How the game is played

Here’s how the scam works.

The typical approach is by phone with the question: "Do you want to invest in foreign exchange dealings which will give you a return of 100% or more?"

The caller says that his firm is dealing in major currencies and all you need to start with is a 200,000 baht down payment - a relatively modest amount these days.

This will allow you to trade up to four currencies - Yen, Pounds, Deutschmarks and Francs against the US dollar. "We are able," they tell you, "to leverage up your investment to 600,000 baht on foreign currencies."

Each currency represents a separate contract, valued at $12.5 million. The investor can decide how many contracts he wants to invest in.

The firm calculates returns on each contract, citing formulas used by the foreign financial institutions to which it claims to transfer trading orders.

A popular sales pitch involves using a table based on Reuters data, showing the movements of various currencies and the points at which the investor will earn a profit.

But the table does not contain real-time data that reflects how rapidly currency fluctuations can occur.

The salesman then shows off some impressive figures. For example, if the yen is bought at 115 per dollar and it weakens and is sold at 117, the profit on the $12.5 million contract is $1,858 or 68,750 baht.

The investor is told that this sum is all his, even if he has invested just 200,000 baht as a margin.

At first the dealers will let you enjoy some profit-taking, even paying you part of your profit by cheque after the first one or two trades.

But it will strongly advise you to put the rest of the profit back into the account, and eventually ask you to invest even more to increase your chances of even larger profits.

For a while, the firm will continue to show the account as profitable, but sooner or later you will be told there has been a market reversal, resulting in a loss, and that you need to prop up your deposit.

Then one day, the company may disappear. And you’ll have little or no chance of recovering your investment.

How they get away with it

In this kind of business you won’t get a certificate evidencing your investment. All you ever see is a trading report on certain currency markets.

In fact, no transfers of currency purchase orders to foreign countries ever took place.

Money from one client was simply given to others in order to create an illusion of profit and lure more victims.

According to one central bank official, "A client’s chances of recovering money are almost non-existent." He added, "In all the years I’ve seen these operations, I’ve seen only one customer reclaim 100,000 baht after investing around 500,000 and being told he had lost it. This customer had to alert a police officer who was a relative in order to recover the money."

Most potential investors do not realise that what these operators are doing is illegal.

The traders might counter that they are doing nothing wrong. But ask to see their license to deal in foreign exchange, and you’ll get a stony silence.

Only the Bank of Thailand has the power to grant such licenses, and they do so only to commercial banks.

Powers of redress

Over the first nine months of last year, police laid 40 charges of illegal forex trading - double the total for all of 1997. The damages involved ranged from 200,000 baht to several million baht per case.

The 56-year-old Foreign Exchange Control Act is weak, and the maximum fine is 20,000 baht. The law calls for jail terms of three to six months, almost always suspended.

Most of the accused are content to accept the penalties as a cost of doing business.

A case reported last year, in which a senior adviser to the Prime Minister was approached by a forex operator, illustrates how difficult it is to make charges stick.

According to the report, an executive of a firm with offices in a prestigious Bangkok office tower, telephoned the adviser about investing in foreign-exchange contracts.

The adviser contacted the Bank of Thailand, suggesting that it alert the Economic Crime Investigation Division (ECID).

However, central bankers advised that an ECID investigation would be time-consuming, requiring a court order before a search could be made.

And generally, news of an impending search leaks to forex traders (surprise, surprise!), who are able to cover their tracks quickly.

The central bank suggested instead that the adviser contact the 191 police unit, which can move more speedily.

After the unit staged a successful raid, the Bank of Thailand and the police filed charges of breaching the Foreign Exchange Control Act.

But the prosecutor’s office threw out the case. Why? Because, it said, there was no proof of trade in currency, because there were no records of purchase orders to foreign countries.

Proof of the scam to you and me, perhaps - but no proof of the law having been broken...

The other flaw in the case was that with no evidence of trades there was no proof of financial damage to an individual investor.

Individual investors who suffer damage from illegal forex trading cannot say precisely what they have been investing in. All most people can say with certainty is that they were promised high returns.

Getting individual investors to come forward is also difficult when they know they could be threatened, hurt or even killed if they file suit against firms which are backed by ‘poi’.

Another case of TIT ("This Is Thailand"), as Bernard Trink would say.

Meanwhile, the firm in question fought back. It filed suit against the head of the central bank’s special operations and the deputy director of the office of the governor. The suit accused them of encroachment onto property, detention and damage to the company’s assets.

The prosecutor forwarded the case to the court, where a hearing was still pending, according to the last published report on this case.

In the interim, the firm changed the name on the sign outside its office and posted security guards outside the entrance to prevent further intrusions.

After the ECID discussed the matter with the central bank, it was apparently agreed that the law needs to be amended. "But the process is time-consuming," an EICD official was quoted as saying. "And the government has a great deal of more urgent and important issues to tend to."

Yes, we know.

Play safe

So if you have been approached by one of these forex dealers, and are considering investing, the wise move would be not to.

If you’ve already invested with one, it would be prudent to get your money out.

However, if you insist that you’re making excellent returns on your money, according to the reports you’ve received, and want to keep playing, the sensible play would be at least to withdraw your initial capital plus a reasonable profit for the period you’ve been invested.

That way, only your windfall profits are still in play, and your capital is safe.

If these continue to make money (according to the reports you receive), withdraw the profits regularly. Because sooner or later, the tide will turn and you’ll receive a loss report and be asked for more money, or the firm will disappear overnight, as has happened so many times in the past.

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

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

The computer doctor

By Richard Bunch

From Samuel Onions, Jomtien: My Operating System is Windows 98 and I have recently installed the Internet Explorer 5 Update from Microsoft. I am generally very pleased with overall look and feel of it but since doing this upgrade I cannot use the Task Scheduler, can you help?

Computer Doctor Replies: Firstly, we have to remember that Internet Explorer 5 is still a Beta release and as such some bugs will manifest themselves. The problem you have identified is quite common and is recognised by Microsoft. In the meantime, you can use a program like ClockWise from RJ software, which is downloadable from their website www.rjsoftware.com. I hope that helps.

From Robert Murphy, Ban Chang: I work in a small export company in Ban Chang and we rely heavily on e-mail as a source of income. At the moment all our sales staff, as well as the management, have separate Internet connections and ISP accounts. In these cost conscious days, I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was possible to use the a single Internet connection. Can you confirm this is possible?

Computer Doctor Replies; The short answer is yes, which I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know. These connectivity tools are designed to minimise the investment needed in order for a small business and indeed home users to connect many PC’s and users to the Internet, whether it is for e-mail access, ftp download or to browse information on the Web.

When the connection to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is first established that connection is ready for use and can also be shared. We have all subconsciously shared our Internet connection, possibly without even realising it. How often have we become impatient and opened multiple windows in our browsers, so that whilst one screen is building up the images from a Web site, another is refreshing information from another web site - and maybe your email is also transferring messages in the background.

The TCP/IP (Internet Protocol) allows for multiple sessions over a single dial-up connection. This makes it fairly straightforward to share the connection to an ISP - as long as you have the right tools and the sharing is not prohibited by your contract with the ISP.

The solutions come as both hardware and software. Both these routes provide the ability to connect to the Internet with a single ISP dial-up account, then to share this connection over the Local Area Network (LAN) so that several people can have simultaneous access to the Internet. These afford a very cost efficient solution, since only one ISP account, and one telephone line is required, thereby reducing the monthly revenue expenses.

The hardware solution from Intel is called Internet Station and costs around 17,500 Baht. It supports both standard dial-up telephone connections to the Internet and ISDN connections, the software bundled with it makes set up and access a breeze.

The software solution comes from Artisoft and is called i.Share 3.0. This works with Microsoft, Novell or Artisoft networks. This software is priced from 8,500 Baht and allows up to 32 persons to use a single ISP account at the same time, whether it be for e-mail, browsing or ftp. As well as cutting down expenses the single IP address acts as a "firewall" on the server, safeguarding the network from intruders. The administrator can block access to unwanted Web sites, thereby ensuring staff keep their minds on the job they are being paid for.

Remember that this is your column and the PC Doctor welcomes you questions.

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

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

Richard Bunch is Managing Director of Action Computer Technologies, the One Stop Shop for all your computer and Information Technology needs.

Successfully Yours: James Giombi

by Mirin MacCarthy

James (Jim) Giombi, the superintendent of the International School of the Eastern Seaboard (I.S.E.), is so enthusiastic about "his school" that he insists you make the forty minute trip to see him out there on campus. Totally undaunted when told, "The story is about you, not the school," he replied, "The school is me."

He was correct to insist, enthusiasm just bubbles out of him as he proudly conducts a tour of the complete complex. Nothing is missed out, the sports grounds, kindergarten, classrooms, language, science and computer labs, libraries, junior and high school, a complete band, even buildings in progress. It is difficult not to be caught up in Jim’s enthusiasm.

Jim himself would be the first to acknowledge his upbeat attitude. "If you enjoy your job you never have to work another day in your life. If you don’t have enthusiasm then the entire school takes on your attitude. I am excited by the learning process and I have wonderful kids, great teachers and supportive parents. We follow an American model here, it gives the teachers more autonomy and flexibility." The words just flow in an unchecked torrent.

Jim is American, born into a large family of six brothers and one sister, all of whom are back in Wisconsin, with the exception of one brother here also teaching at I.S.E. Jim is actually "Dr. James" and has certainly done the hard yards, spending over ten years at University. He took an undergraduate degree in psychology but shifted gears into finishing a Masters in Education. "I suspect my interest in teaching started by living in a big family, with all those children around me. I am energized by working with kids, it just builds on your enthusiasm."

After his stint of tertiary education he joined the Peace Corps and taught in Western Samoa for three years. "I had a bit of wanderlust and I was young and idealistic and wanted to make a contribution. I found that part of the world fascinating, it was a marvelous experience."

Still fascinated by the educational process, Jim then took a fellowship to Claremont Graduate School, completing a Doctorate in International and Comparative Education.

It was there he met his Thai wife Chantana, who was doing her MBA. They moved in, and then on to Thailand in 1985 where Jim accepted a position teaching at the International School in Bangkok for four years. From there it was through to Administrative Assistant and then Principal of the Elementary School.

His next move was to the Eastern Seaboard, at the invitation of the I.S.E., and he has been down here since its inception, loving it. As well as adopting the school, the Giombis have one adopted Thai son who is now 22, studying in Bangkok, plus one son and a daughter, 10 and 12, who attend the I.S.E. too.

Jim Giombi has made education and learning his life, so naturally has a multitude of views. "These days we are not teaching for conformity in a mass production society. We need to teach children how to collaborate and develop their skills of analyzing and interpreting data and finding multiple solutions to problems. It is vitally important to teach children how to be independent learners and develop an appreciation of learning and inquiry as a life long process."

Jim’s advice to students of today is, "Learn, stay curious, don’t be complacent. Be prepared to work for what you want out of life and have fun."

For anyone contemplating a career in education, "First examine your motives. If you are attracted just by the hours and the holidays, then don’t go into it. If you are really interested in and want to promote learning and enjoy working with children, and are positive about the potential that kids bring to the future, then that is ideal."

Jim’s own plans for the future are, "I want to see my family thrive and to see this school through difficult economic times. Strengthen it as an institution and develop a curriculum that keeps pace with both technology and the environment." With his capability and infectious enthusiasm I am sure he will do it all very easily.

Snap Shots: Correct Exposure

by Harry Flashman

There is a tendency these days to think that the camera can do all the thinking for you and all you have to do is find your subject and pop the shutter. Hey presto! The world’s best photograph is yours. Unfortunately, the blurb sheet that came with your camera will also give this impression, no matter how incorrect it is!

You see, every camera, irrespective of how clever, how advanced its electronics or its auto-programmed multi-phasic metering, is still, in the end, just a machine that lets light fall on unexposed film. A fancy black shoe box with a lens.

There are always times when the camera will get it all wrong. This is because it is a machine, so it can’t think. Even more, it cannot mind-read so it has absolutely no idea what is the most important subject in the clutter of objects in the shot you are taking. It is worthwhile, if you have an SLR, taking more frames with what you think to be the correct exposure, rather than just relying on the camera’s inbuilt electronic gizmos.

It works like this - taking a shot of your favourite girlfriend on the beach, for example (or your wife if the girlfriend is indisposed) - the camera takes a reading from the blue sky, the blue sea, the yellow sand, the red beach umbrella and finally from your subject’s face. It puts the whole lot together, adds them up and divides by the number of readings and gets the average and applies that figure to the f stop and shutter speed. Even blind Freddie can see that if the background is exceptionally bright, the camera will be influenced by this and come up with the wrong exposure for the subject’s face - the reason for taking the shot in the first place. Remember, it cannot read your mind.

In these types of situations (and in Thailand with the bright sun, these situations often occur) the trick is to take the meter reading from the subject and forget the rest of the items in the shot. In our example of the girl on the beach, walk in close and take the exposure reading directly from her face. With some cameras you can "lock" that exposure in - you should look for the AE-L facility, or just twiddle your dials manually till you get the correct aperture and shutter speed. Now go back and compose the shot, leaving the same aperture and shutter speed settings. Do not be alarmed that the camera will try and tell you that the exposure levels are wrong. It is "averaging" everything out, remember. You know the settings are correct for your subject - you checked it yourself!

For an interesting experiment this weekend, try taking the shot above. Set the camera on Auto or Programme or whatever your model and make call it. Take the shots. Now go and do it the "manual" way and see what differences you get. Setting things up the way YOU want will produce a better exposed photograph (for the important subject) than just relying on the camera manufacturer’s ideas on what you should have.

With the increasing complexity of modern cameras there is a tendency not to properly read through the instruction manuals. How many of you can honestly say you’ve read yours all the way through? Recently? Perhaps as another interesting experiment, you should firstly FIND the book, and secondly, spend some time reading it and understanding the camera’s functions (and limitations). Harry Flashman has two copies of the instruction manual for the Nikons. One stays at home as reference and the other stays in the camera bag. Sure it’s getting dog-eared these days, but it is always there if I need it.

Modern Medicine: Piles!

by Dr Iain Corness

The medical name for this very common, and often embarrassing condition, is "Haemorrhoids". As you can see, the common name "Piles" is much easier to say and a lot easier to spell!

These are best imagined as Varicose Veins of the anus. The normal arterio-venous channels become dilated and come away from the tissue lining the terminal rectum and anus. They begin to form sac like polypoid structures that can eventually protrude through the anus itself, like a bunch of grapes.

The biggest problem with Haemorrhoids is acute bleeding. Embarrassing as mentioned before, but can actually be such as to run you out of iron and you end up anaemic. Other symptoms include local soiling, discomfort and prolapse. You can also get a thrombosis in one of these protruding piles that can be very painful indeed.

There are lots of theories as to why we get haemorrhoids. Many women feel that they are the result of pregnancy, but since men get them as well would appear to shoot that one down in flames. A lack of dietary fibre has also been given the nod as a cause, but personally I do not believe it, as many people with great fibre diets still get these haemorrhoids. Constipation and straining at toilet does appear to have a bearing on it, but I honestly feel that the reason relates very simply to our stage of development in the history of mankind.

My theory is as follows - we were designed to walk on all fours, like all the other quadrupeds. Look at our first cousins, the monkeys, and they are still wandering around with knuckles in the dirt. However, many, many eons ago we decided we looked better standing on our hind legs, so learned to walk standing in an erect position. This was fine, other than the fact that the valves in the veins in our legs and ano-rectal region were not up to the additional strain of this column of blood exerting pressure from the heart, now a metre or so higher than the valves. Now add in the constipation, the bearing down in childbirth, maybe the lousy diet and you have today’s classic piles.

Fortunately, haemorrhoids are relatively simple to fix, and the common rubber-banding technique will be successful for most. The only real danger in this condition is in ignoring the bleeding, thinking "It’s only piles." As mentioned before, this bleeding can lead to anaemia, but even more sinister is the fact that rectal bleeding might just be a symptom of cancer, and not haemorrhoids. It is possible to have both complaints.

The answer is to never ignore bleeding (from any cause) and get your doctor to check. It may be embarrassing - but it could be life saving. Think about it.

Dear Hillary,

I live in Pattaya. I know it is a resort town but no one has any fun. I feel so boring. Everyone here has so much to talk about. When I did my undergraduate degree in ‘The Social Effects of Male Bonding in Australian Society’ and my Master’s in ‘The Social Effects on Females of Male Bonding in Australian Society’, I was the toast of Alice Springs.

Everyone told me that I should go worldwide with my knowledge. I did go. Everyone seemed very happy for me. They had a huge going away party and told me that the only place to find success would be in the world of the academic.

I then went to Oxford and read history. My Doctoral Thesis was ‘The Effect of the Siberian-Alaskan Land Bridge Being Inundated and Ramifications on the Seasonal Drowning of Lemmings as Opposed to It Being an Ordinary Migration’.

Hillary, when I decided that I should bring my knowledge to those less fortunate, i.e. the people of Pattaya, I was so excited! But when I got here, I was amazed at how people knew everything already. I don’t know what to talk about at parties and don’t know how to keep up with the scintillating conversation, which flows like lava at these functions.

People are so up on things here. While I had my head buried in books on the ‘Works of Thomas Aquinas’ and other such useless things, everyone else was learning useful information.

It’s awful being a ‘dinosaur’.

And speaking of that, I did do a lot of research with the Leaky family on archaeology and do know a lot about palaeontology. I thought people might be interested in this but most of them had already seen ‘Jurassic Park’ and it was all old hat to them. I quickly see people’s eyes glass over if I bring it up.

Hillary, the only people I can talk to are my students at the university. They seem to be interested in many arcane matters and don’t think I’m boring. But I’m really tired of going out with 20 year olds. This is all such a problem for me. Are there any courses in how to make ordinary conversation? I’ve tried and tried and I can’t seem to think of any subject about which everyone wants to talk.

I hope I haven’t bored you with this.

I’m really,
Desperate

Dear Desperate,

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...Oh! Uh, I must have dozed off for a moment. Let’s see, what did your letter say? No, better not read it again.

I think you are a so desperate that you’re not seeing the problem in proper perspective. One of your problems here is that you’re a college lecturer. This guarantees you will be shunned by those with shaky degrees in this and that, which were acquired 20 years ago merely to have the diploma.

What you need to do is ‘observe’ and then ‘not’ react. If you look at Pattaya carefully, you’re not boring, just in the minority.

The next time you go to a party, look around you and most of all, listen! What are the people talking about? In most cases, nothing! Problem solved.

All you have to do at parties in Pattaya is to get drunk and be obnoxious and you won’t remember what happened. Or just keep quiet. That will guarantee you a reputation of being ‘mysterious’.

I cannot advise you on how to talk about ‘nothing’. It is an art that must be acquired while very young. If you have any friends in the corporate world, they may well be able to help you. Of course, I think this should actually be a ‘true academic discipline’ as it is done so often.

Don’t worry about liking to talk about things. Save that for people who want to listen. And don’t feel you have to ‘be entertaining’. No one else really is, so why should you be?

In conclusion, I would suggest you spend your time around knowledge hungry 20-year-olds. It’s good to catch them at this age. Maybe you can help keep their hunger for knowledge alive.

I warn you that this is a losing proposition in the main. Even the most enquiring minds usually end up ‘dumbing down’ like the people you speak of meeting at parties.

GRAPEVINE

Animal Crackers: Gorillas

by Mirin MacCarthy

Our Ancestors

Gorillas are the largest primates, the closest of our relations and are found only in Western and Central Africa. There are two distinct groups, the lowland gorillas inhabiting the hot equatorial forests and the mountain gorillas found in the misty rainforests and the slopes of the volcanic region.

Home on the Range

Gorillas, like some humans, live in small families with a single male, several females and their young. Each family has it’s own small home range in which it forages for its strictly vegetarian food. Intelligent and fearless, this normally peaceful, gentle giant is not usually savage. It is not wise to venture too close, however, as they can be very frightening if attacked or threatened and may charge, inflicting frightful wounds. Males encountering each other indulge in mock shows of aggression beating their chests and roaring to deter their competitors, preferably without a fight.

Large males grow to a height of about 170 cm and weigh in between 160 and 205 kg. They have broad muscular chests and powerful arms and shoulders, making swinging through the trees a breeze.

Knuckle Dusters

Unlike man who is well adapted to walking tall and erect, the gorilla is capable of only a shuffling, half-crouching gait. A monkey walks on all fours with the palms of its hands flat on the ground. The gorilla, though, with its long arms and elongated fingers, walks in a half-upright position supported by the middle joint of its fingers, a gait called ‘knuckle walking.’

They have silky, grayish brown to jet black fur with the backs of some males silvery. All visible skin is black.

Rumble in the Jungle

Gorillas rarely move more than 1800 m a day when feeding. They may forage for several hours eating huge quantities of plants, vegetables and sometimes fruit. Afterwards they rest for a couple of hours to digest the coarse fiber. The rumbling of their stomachs can be heard several meters away. They build temporary nests with branches for sleeping in that are abandoned next day.

Ape Kindy

There is no defined mating season, which explains why a male will have several females to his harem. Young are born after a gestation of eight and a half months. In the first five weeks the young are uncoordinated and helpless. Around seven weeks they progress quickly to riding on mother’s back. Weaned at about three months, young gorillas develop quickly, becoming extremely playful and boisterous. However, they stay with their mothers until three years old. Lucky mum.

Auto Mania: The Corvette Autotrivia Quiz

By Dr. Iain Corness

A couple of weeks back I was asked by Autotrivia quizzer, Del Schloemer, just who was to the Corvette, what Lee Iacocca was to the Ford Mustang. I had to admit that I did not know, so I threw the question back to the readers.

Now while I had been waiting for the replies, I managed to get Del on one side at Delaney’s Irish Pub and insisted he tell me the answer. Many beers later Del uttered the one word "Duntov" and went back to his Kilkenny.

The very next day I received an email from another regular competitor, Peter Cabrey in Hawaii. "Harley Earl" wrote Peter in his email. Peter also went so far as to claim he had researched the subject and even included the URL for me to check.

Chevrolet Corvette.

With Duntov and now Earl, who was right? I began my own trip down Corvette memory lane. Duntov and Earl both featured very strongly, and undoubtedly, both have their place in the Corvette Hall of History. Who was right, Del or Peter? With the knowledge I now have, plus the wisdom of Solomon, I’m going to give them half a beer each. There would have been no Corvette without Earl, but it would not have become such a long lasting famous icon in automotive history without Duntov.

The tale is interesting enough to expand upon, so let’s deal with Harley Earl first. By the time the Corvettes hit the streets, our Harley was no spring chicken being by then 60 years old. He had been working for General Motors since 1927 as a designer, and had been head of the Design Team for many years. He was a big man with a large personality, fastidious in detail, both personally and in his work. He established the Design Department at GM and he was the one who convinced the General after WWII that the American public was ready for sports cars. That car was the 1953 Corvette.

So we come to Duntov, or rather Zora Arkus-Duntov, a man who joined GM because he thought the 1953 Corvette was such a stunning looking motor car, but with such pedestrian mechanicals.

Of Russian extraction, Zora Arkus-Duntov was a racer, an engineer, an enthusiast and a visionary. He was talented, winning class victories at Le Mans in 1954 and 1955 in Porsches. His engineering was also forward thinking, he and his brother making OHV cylinder heads for flat-head Ford V8’s, called "Ardun" heads (derived from ARkus-DUNtov).

It was Zora who transformed Chevrolet from being conservative car company into a high performance, youth oriented market leader. His love for motor sport came through and many high performance items for the Corvette’s came from his drawing board. The special Duntov Hi-Lift cams being just one of them.

In the mind of America, Zora Arkus-Duntov was Corvette. Its successes and the high performance alloy Chevrolet V8 engines were his. He was prepared to push the performance items through the company, no-matter who was at the helm or whatever company policy was at that time. He deserves his place in Corvette history.

So was the father of the ‘vette Harley Earl or was it Zora Arkus-Duntov? They both had their parts to play. Earl perhaps deserves the tile of "father" most, but Duntov must surely then be the Godfather!

Anyone got an old Trumpy?

One of my KR drinking mates has asked me to publish this item. Seems that a friend of his ("It’s not for me, it’s for a mate") is a Triumph motorcycle freak and he is looking for one in any condition to do up. I don’t expect to be knocked over in the rush... But if you do happen to have an old Trumpy gathering gecko gunge out the back, fax the Pattaya Mail Editorial office (427 596) or email and leave your contact details and I’ll pass them on.

Mind you, I can understand how people feel about old motorcycles. My first was a Matchless 350, complete with rigid rear end. An ex-army bike, I paid 5 pounds for it in 1960 and used it regularly to go to Medical School. Stepped off awkwardly on a couple of occasions but it always came up for more. Eventually sold it to another Uni student many years later for 5 quid again. How much would it be worth today?

While up in Chiang Mai I actually came across an old Beezer, another ex-Army Despatch rider’s motorcycle. The guy trying to flog it told me it came out of Burma, which would make sense. It was still in Army green and seemed complete. He wanted too much for it so I resisted the temptation!

My favourite motorcycle was the Honda CR250 Elsinore. I purchased one of the first two into Australia in 1972. The initial ones were no compromise moto-X’rs, chrome-moly frames, magnesium engine casings and foot-pegs, all alloy tanks and wheels. Weighed in at under 200 kg and developed 33 HP from 250 cc’s. It had so much compression that it was an absolute swine to kick over. No decompression lever, being a 2-Stroke and you soon learned to stand beside the bike to kick it over, not astride. In that position it only threw your leg around when it kicked - standing astride it threw all of you over the handlebars!

They really were fearsome machines - give it a wristful in 1st gear and you were off the back instantly. My mate (with the other one) and I put bigger front sprockets on them to try and "tame" them. Certainly made them more "rideable" and gave a top speed (on dirt) of around 140 KPH, which was far faster than my capabilities or bravado.

I only sold it three years ago, no earthly value to me, but it was just nice to have in the shed. Old motorcyclists will know what I mean!

Autotrivia Quiz

My old mate, Phil McDonald, took me to task the other day for omitting the quiz in the column - so just for you, Phil - in 1955 the OHV Customlines were released. They made a 2 door variant which was called... what? Clue: falling water!

Fitness Tips: Fat Facts

by David Garred
Club Manager Dusit Resort Sports Club

G’day readers, I hope you all are well and the exercise programs are coming along nicely. Be patient, you should already be feeling them but you will be seeing the results you want soon.

I want to go over a couple of eating issues this week.

Focussing on Salt is not enough. The pendulum of evidence is slowly swinging away from salt as being the critical dietary factor in the onset and control of hypertension (high blood pressure). It now seems that what you keep in your diet may be more important.

A review in one of the worlds top science journals, Science, has argued that the emphasis on sodium restriction has been misplaced and could even conceivably have done more harm in the fight to lower blood pressure. The author, Dr. David McCarron of the Oregon Health Sciences University, quoted that he believed to be the largest, best conducted trials of using dietary changes to reduce blood pressure. They have found that restricting salt has a very small effect on blood pressure, whereas having good Calcium, Fruit and Vegetable intake seems far more effective. This is true of people of relatively normal blood pressure, too. The implication is that mineral intake is a critical factor.

The blood pressure-reducing effect of calcium, as well as fruit and vegetables, is greatest in those who are not consuming much in the way of dairy and unprocessed low fat foods or who have high blood pressure. In one of those trials (plenty of dairy, fruit & vegetables and low fat), the extent of blood pressure lowering was as much as the best anti-hypertensive drugs.

Dr. McCarron claims that sodium restriction does little good, whereas the more effective diet has other benefits in terms of coronary and osteoporosis prevention. He and others want a major shift in the focus of public health authorities to combat the hypertension pandemic.

Mediterranean diet wins again

If someone has ever recommended to you that you follow the eating style of people of the Mediterranean for the sake of your health now you have another reason to add to the list of benefits. This style of eating recently has been shown to protect against the development of cancer. French researchers conducted a four-year trial as part of the Lyon Diet Heart Study, in 605 subjects with coronary heart disease. The subjects were randomised to follow either a Mediterranean diet consisting of more cereals and legumes, fish, fresh fruit and vegetables; as well as less delicatessen food, meat (beef and pork), butter and cream (replaced with canola and olive oil).

The control diet was very similar to Step 1 American Heart Association prudent diet (30% of energy from fat), a diet that has been proven to be good and has been accepted as the benchmark for the Health & Fitness industry. The main differences in nutritional status in the Mediterranean diet subjects (compared with the controls) included: Higher intakes of fibre, Vitamin C, oleic acid and omega-3 fatty acids as well as lower intakes of cholesterol, saturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Researchers concluded that the protection against cancer came from the combinations of fat intake (saturation, cholesterol and omega 3:6 ratios), fibre and anti-oxidant nutrients.

Are you seeing the common thread of these reports?

Healthy eating reduces the risk of premature death and will prolong a higher quality of life.

Isn’t that what we are all looking for !

Carpe’ diem

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