ScandAsia Thailand - December 2014

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TSUNAMI10 years later

ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish residents in Thailand.

We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in China, Singapore and the rest of South East Asia.

Your FREEScandAsia Magazine in Thailand

Please sign up for your own FREE copy: www.scandasia.comPublisher : 211 Soi Prasert Manukitch 29Prasert Manukitch RoadChorakae Bua, Lad PraoBangkok 10230, ThailandTel. +66 2 943 7166-8, Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Mø[email protected]

Managing Editor :Thana [email protected]

Advertising : Finn Balslev [email protected]

Piyanan Kalikanon [email protected]

Nattapat [email protected]

Graphic Designer : Peerapol [email protected]

Printing : Siamprint Co., Ltd.

Daily news and features here:www.scandasia.com

Coming Events

Cover photo: Oleg Gavrilov, 123rf.com

Christmas Service in BangkokThe traditional Scandinavian Christmas service in Christ Church on the corner of North Sathorn Road and Convent Road is one of the most well attended events arranged by the Church of Sweden and Scandi-navian Society Siam for many years. The service starts at 13.00 in the church and continues afterwards on the parking space outside the church with a glass of wine or soft drink and some snack served by the SSS.

When: Wednesday 24 December 2014 13:00 – 15:00Where: Christ Church, Convent Road/ Sathorn North Road, BangkokContact: Vicar Lars Ryderstad - [email protected] +66 8 1837 4574

New Year Count Down in BangkokBangkok is known for putting a good show on every New Years Eve. This year, consider doing something new and daring. Party in RCA - Royal City Avenue – a short street with over half a dozen nightclubs and venues. The crowd here is young and fun-loving, and it could make a great party spot to end the year. If you are too old for this you can of course take the BTS to Chidlom Station and once again join the 100.000 plus people counting down in front of Central World. It is truly a spectacular event! Or you could take the shuttle boat from Taksin BTS station to Asiatique where there is also a great show. Have fun!

Christmas Service in PattayaThe Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Pattaya will celebrate a traditional Nordic Christmas on Christ-mas Eve, Wednesday 24 December 2014 starting with a Service in the Redemptorist Center on Sukhumvit and followed up by a Julemiddag at the church in Thappraya Road Soi 7 in Pattaya at 19.00 A shuttlebus will go from the Thappraya Road Soi 7 to the Redemptorist Center from 14.00. Last departure 15.00

When: Wednesday 24 December 2014 16:00 – 19:00 - 22.00Where: Redemptorist Center / Norwegian Church in PattayaSignup: [email protected]

4 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2014

The Swedish music artists José González and Little Dragon are among the hightlights of a brand new music and lifestyle festival Wonderfruit taking place nearby a golf course outside

Chonburi and Pattaya on 19-21 December. The internationally well-known acts will perform in company with Hip Hop legends De La Soul and a long list of other independent spanning multiple music genres.

International super-cool DJs, Damian Lazarus, Hot Natured frontman Jamie Jones and the ever-energetic The Gaslamp Killer will also be bringing their stalwart beats to the line-up.

The debuting festival is the first one ever to include international acts on this scale and to offer a full festival package with camping facility etc. It will include six stages, an organic structure, hundreds of acts, art in the form of outdoor instal-lations, theatre, film, talks and debates (hosted by Dr Gino Yu - Director of Digital Entertainment and Game Development at PolyU, Hong Kong).

For José González this will be the first con-cert on his new world tour, connecting to his next album Vestiges & Claws, to be released in

February 2015. Bringing a neofolk and acoustic edge to the

line up José González performs music that has a dark and funky undercurrent, with stark, worldly grooves and drone-haunted synths.

In recent years, José González has been a highly regarded name among ar tists and col-leagues in the music world. 2006 was the year in which he took the step from cult status to star status. His success with the single Heartbeat and the album Veneer made him one of Europe’s most fêted and hyped debut acts.

An indie folk singer-songwriter and guitarist, he won the Swedish Government’s Music Export Prize in 2006.

“With his personal expression, José González is not only unique in his role as representative of the new music of Sweden. He is one of a kind in the whole international music scene,” Sweden’s government motivated.

Little Dragon, meanwhile, a progressive elec-tro pop quartet (formed in 2006) is on tour since the release of their latest (fourth) album Nabuma Rubberband in May this year. Little Dragon is fre-quently touring Europe and festivals. Their music

includes many styles such as trip hop, downtempo, synth pop and neo soul!

Having progressed from being the under-ground music scene’s best kept secret to interna-tional acclaim, their energetic performances and dreamy liquid pop contrasted with dark melodies, will be sure to delight the crowd.

Aside non-stop music, the festival will include workshops that cover cooking, fruit carving, jewel-lery making and outdoor pursuits including horse riding, cycling and yoga. For the foodies, there will be mountain top banquets, hosted by Michelin starred chef David Thompson.

Sustainability plays a key role at Wonderfruit. With a focus on the environment, health and well-being, this festival promises to offer a truly unique experience of ‘barefoot luxury’ - perfect for that December getaway.

“We want Wonderfruit to be like no other Asian festival experience and think the festival will be a perfect add-on to anyone thinking about, or taking a holiday to Thailand this year,” says organis-ing Secret Productions.

Swedish acts lead the pack at new outdoor festivalBy Joakim Persson

131219 TVI Ad 2014 A4 Scandasia Jan_14 outline.indd 1 20.12.13 08:30


News Brief

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You can stay at Nyborg Gymnasium’s boarding school.Contact us for more information about the programme and the boarding school. Deadline for applications: 15th of March

International Baccalaureate- an alternative to the Danish ‘Studentereksamen’

Nyborg Gymnasium & KostskoleSkolebakken 13, DK-5800 Nyborg, tlf +45 65 31 02 [email protected], www.nyborg-gym.dk

Bangkok’s first Danish hotdog stand

Thai Consulate in Hvide Sande has closed

After the Consul-General Ib Thomsen passed away in October the Thai Em-bassy in Denmark has decided to close

down the consulate in Hvide Sande.This makes the Thai Embassy located in Hel-

lerup just north of Copenhagen the only place to get Thai visas in Denmark. The decision was released in an official announcement from the Royal Thai Embassy in Denmark.

Late Honorary Genereal-Consul Ib Thom-sen passed away the 21st October after 25 years of service to the Thai Embassy.

A hotdog stand selling Danish hotdogs opened on the parking lot in front of J Avenue on Thonglor Soi in Bangkok

on Friday the 7th November. A ScandAsia test revealed that it is the real deal with sausages, remoulade and roasted onions imported from Denmark.

The woman behind the initiative is Duangka-mol “Prae” Vephula Waagensen who is married to the Danish businessman Peter Waagensen. She also runs her own online cooking show Prae’s Kitchen that has over 50.000 likes on Facebook.

“I love hotdogs and the Danish hotdog offers something different with its crispy skin, remoulade, chopped or fried onions. We want

to offer a unique food experience and I think we offer the best quality hotdog in town,” Prae says.

The traditional Danish hotdog consists of bun, pork sausage, chopped onions, roasted onions, pickled cucumber, ketchup, mustard and remoulade, a Danish variant of mayonnaise that contains small chunks of pickled vegetables. Foodstop has opted for the Graasten Remou-lade, a smooth tasting brand that is one of the most popular Denmark.

On Thursday 20 November the hotdog stand was inspected by Danish Ambassador Mi-kael Hemniti Winther and Commercial Counsel-lor Asbjorn Overgaard Christiansen who could testify that the taste was indeed genuine Danish.

Khun Prae with Ambassador Mikal H. Winther.

December 2014 • ScandAsia.Thailand 7

News Brief

New Finland’s visa centre opens for business in Bangkok

Ms Liisa Uschanov-Eskelinen is making sure that all is in order before the operation begins at the Visa Centre. Photo: Pilvi Auvinen, Embassy of Finland in Bangkok.

VFS Global started receiving visa applications for persons travelling to Finland at the Visa Centre, located in the Alma Link building near Chidlom BTS Station on 14 November 2014

Visa applications can be submitted with or without an appointment at the Visa Centre. Groups with four or more applicants must book a time for submitting their visa applications. Appointments are booked on the Visa Centre website or by telephone (+66 2 118 7009, open Monday–Friday, 8.00–12.00 and 13.00–16.00). The Visa Centre and its telephone lines serve customers in English and Thai. The Visa Centre opening hours and its precise location are found here: http://www.vfsglobal.com/Finland/Thailand/

Visa applications can still be submitted at the Embassy by appointment only on Tuesday and Thursday, 8.00–11.00. The availability of appointments is limited. The processing time for applications submitted to the Embassy is 15 days from submission of the application.

An appointment for submitting a visa application can be booked through the Visa Centre website or telephone service. Telephone queries concerning visas are answered by the Visa Department on Monday, Tuesday and Thurs-day, 15.00–15.30; the number is +66 2 207 8700. An appointment for the submission of applications cannot be made through the Visa Department’s telephone number. The email address for visa-related queries is [email protected].

Visa-related telephone queries are answered at the Embassy on Mon-days, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 15.00–15.30, tel. +66 2 207 8700. Queries can also be sent by email, [email protected]. We recommend the use of email especially from March to June, when the lines are congested due to the peak season. The Visa Centre telephone service is available Monday–Friday, 8.00–12.00 and 13.00–16.00, tel. +66 2 118 7009.

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News Brief

Nu kan du se dina favoritprogram när du vill med vår nya catch up-tjänst.

SVT World är är tv-kanalen med det bästa från Sveriges Television för dig som bor utomlands.

Fråga efter SVT World på ditt hotell och fyll i enkäten på vår hemsida och få en gåva som tack.

Läs mer på svt.se/svtworld och följ oss på facebook.com/svtworldTeckna abonnemang på www.connova.se eller +46 (0) 141-20 39 10

Se svensk tv i Asien!

Alpine Saleforce located in Hua Hin, Thai-land, has opened an affiliated company in Aarhus, Denmark, under the name Rama

Group with longtime staff member Magnus Nybo Andersen as head of operations.

Rama Group will among others recruit staff for the Thai company, making it possible for new employees to try out telemarketing in Denmark before moving to Thailand.

Magnus Nybo Andersen has a long story in Alpine. He started working as a telemarket-ing salesman at one of Rasmus Møllers former companies in Copenhagen 5 years ago. When he started selling he had no experience and was as an exceptionally bad salesman.

“When I started I had to sell 65 cellphone subscriptions in 5 weeks. Within 3 weeks I had managed to sell only 2 subscriptions. But eventu-

Alpine Sale expands in DenmarkCurrently, Alpine Saleforce in Hua Hin is chal-

lenging ambitious Danish and Swedish talents in telemarketing to attend Alpine´s “Boot Camp” in Thailand. The start date will be 20th January and 20th February 2015.

“There are still a few places left for the Janu-ary camp and ten for the one starting in February. Applicants should present their reason for want-ing to be part of our team,” says Hamid Ijazm, Sales Manager at Alpine Sale in Thailand.

“Currently, with 35 people and growing, we are selling the cloud-based product Trustbox witch is sold ind Denmark and Sweden, Mod-strøm is Denmark’s first independent climate-friendly energy company,” Hamid explains.

Hamid is in Denmark up until 18 January 2015 on a mission is to handpick the best talents among those who feel challenged. Those who are selected will be paid salaries during the educa-tion period.

Minimum age for applicants is 21 years.“We give them two months, where they have

to show their skills and are paid meanwhile. But the main reason anyone should join is for the education,” Hamid Ijazm points out.

“We want to change the general perception of telemarketing, which is often misunderstood, by empowering our employees with education. We want the quality we are giving to customers to shine through when our people call out to B2B and B2C customers. We have a whole qual-ity department, making quality checks to secure a high level of sale.”

ally I learned the skill and after 5 weeks I had sold 67 subscriptions,” Magnus says.

The breakthrough gave him a feeling of suc-cess. Teaching new employees how to sell and being able to give them similar experiences of accomplishment is one of the things that motivate Magnus the most.

“Everyone can learn how to sell if they want to, all they need is ambition. It might be difficult for some, but others are naturally gifted. One of our new employees just earned around 10.000 kroner in commission during his first 4 days,” Magnus says.

The benefit of the link between Rama Group and Alpine Sale is to make it easier to change between the locations so the employees in Den-mark can take a couple of months in Thailand and vice versa.


News Brief

Invest in your familyin one of Thailand’s most attractive areas

Please feel free to contact us for more details. Mr.Nakkarin NgernyuangE-mail: [email protected] : chayon 62Tel : +66 (0) 9 8015 4618 : +855 (0) 9 7449 9776

Own your private Beach house, 2 or 3 bedrooms on the long, beautiful Sang Arun beach. It is very cosy and peaceful. Good if you have a busy life and need to take a deep breath to refresh your soul and recharge your energy. Sang Arun Beach is next to Hauy Yang Beach and it is only 40 minutes drive from Hua Hin.

On the second day of the meeting the participants went on an excursion to the Klongkhone Man-grove Conservation Centre where Khun Saranya, Manager of the centre, presented the work and answered questions from the participants. Photo: Elin Lindman

Sweden’s international development agency, Sida, hosted on 10-12 November a Global Network Meeting for all national pro-

gramme officers, programme managers, policy advisors and policy specialists working with Environment and Climate Change issues, at the Embassies and Sida Head Quarters.

The purpose of the meeting was to gain an over view of where Sida is heading regarding En-vironment and Climate Change issues, to share experiences and information, and to discuss and strategize how Environment and Climate Change issues can be further strengthened in Sida’s future work.

The network meeting was inaugurated with welcoming remarks by the Ambassador, Klas Molin, and the head of the Development Co-operation section, Anne-Charlotte Malm, and continued with interesting sessions of discus-sions and sharing of ongoing work.

During the second day, all participants went on a field visit to Klongkhone Mangrove Conser-vation Centre. As part of the learning from part-ners, Eric-Kemp Benedict, Asia Centre Director of Stockholm Environment Institute, was invited to present some of their work. The network meeting closed on Wednesday by a summing up

Sida hosts global networking on climate change in Bangkok

on the past days.Some of the expected results of the net-

work meeting is that the participants will have a common platform of understanding, better knowledge and network contacts for operation-alization and improved results regarding Envi-ronment and Climate Change.


The deadline for the submission of ten-ders to supply Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) with a new fleet of 3,183 buses, was finally scheduled for January. 2015. Conspicuously absent

from the race to secure the orders worth about THB28.9 billion to deliver natural gas-fueled pub-lic transport vehicles will be two major Swedish bus manufacturers, Scania and Volvo.

Lack of transparency in the drafting of the project’s terms of reference and multiple subse-quent revisions by the BMTA did not bode well for the Scandinavian manufacturers of high-quality bus chassis and their bus assembly partners. The on-again, off-again procurement project had been dragged on for over eight years.

Politicians, who had supervisory control over the financially-ailing Bangkok city bus agency, did not seem to be able to agree on the simple task of drawing up a coherent and clear-cut TOR to ensure a fair bidding process. A process that would produce winners capable of delivering brand new city buses which are cost-effective to operate, meet high environmental standards and provide comfort to passengers.

Not to mention the fact that dubious changes made during the drafting and subsequent mul-tiple revisions made to the TOR also gave rise to widely-publicized allegations that the whole procurement process has been rigged in favour of certain manufacturers.

Senior executives of both Scania and Volvo, in separate interviews with ScandAsia, stopped short of pointing an accusing finger at anyone. But both Scania Siam and Volvo Truck & Bus Co., Ltd. gave a number of compelling reasons why they have decided to opt out.

Mr. Phuriwat Rak-Intr, General Manager of Scania Siam Co., Ltd., said Scania Siam had been invited to a series of public hearings and pres-ent Scania bus products that met all the basic requirements, such as NGV-fueled powerhouses, low-floor bus chassis.

“We had full confidence in our products,” the Scania Siam executive said, adding that at that time the draft TOR was still more than a bit hazy.

Scania had held several meetings with the BMTA with the Swedish Embassy acting as a facilitator, following an official visit to Sweden by then-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra in August 2013.

“When the TOR came out following a series of public hearings, we found ourselves facing insurmountable barriers. We could not go on,” Phuriwat said.

The TOR, among other things, requires bid-ders to have prior experience in Thailand, mean-ing having their products in use in this country on commercial basis, while at the same also having prior experience providing repair and mainte-nance services on the said products, the Scania Siam general manager said.

In a file photo from 2013, Swedish Ambassador to Thailand Klas Molin (the tallest person) took part in the opening ceremony of the project “Ethanol ED95 Public Bus Line” at King Monkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT).

Bangkok city bus procurement:

Why Scania,Volvo opt outBy Thana PoopatPhoto by Pichai Tinsuntisook


“Scania never had NGV product in the Thai market before. But we have had our high qual-ity city bus products, including those with NGV-fueled engines elsewhere, in Europe, for instance. Apparently that doesn’t qualify us to participate in this bidding process,” he said.

Phuriwat also said the median prices speci-fied by the BMTA at THB4.5 million for air-con-ditioned, low-floor bus and THB3.8 million for regular, non-air-conditioned bus, are way too low for Scania Siam, which offers high quality bus products, to participate.

The Scania Siam executive lamented the fact that the BMTA clearly does not put enough emphasis on environmental standards or quality and reliability issues. The TOR does not specifically require quantifiable up-time and reliability, nor does it refer to high environmental standards as key criteria, he said.

“To appreciate the kind of value that Scania bus products have to offer, we challenge BMTA to look at total life cycle cost, which is the purchasing price plus fuel cost and maintenance cost over, say 10 or 15 years,” Phuriwat said. “The price of our finished city bus products that meet interna-tional emission standards, high fuel-efficiency, high up-time and durability would be in the tune of THB6.5 million.”

Scania city bus products, which meet the highest environmental standards, fuel-efficiency, reliability and durability, are popular among bus operators all over the world. In Asia, Singapore and Malaysia, city bus operators have purchase big fleets of Scania buses.

“Another thing we would like to tell the Thai public is: we have on offer cutting-edge technolo-gies, including a diesel engine Scania bus running on ED95 (95% sugarcane or cassava ethanol plus an ignition improver).

“This could hugely benefit Thailand, which has great potential as producer of ethanol, which is a more environmentally friendly than diesel and more economical and sustainable than imported natural gas,” Phuriwat said, “If only Thailand had a more coherent national energy policy.”

Scania had been so hopeful of its fighting chance to supply the BMTA with its bus run-ning on ED95 as alternative to natural gas that it sponsored a pilot projects in June and July 2011 and in mid-2013 to demonstrate the viability of its products in Bangkok together with King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, the Energy Ministry, Industry Ministry and PTT. But its hope was dashed when BMTA insisted in the TOR that initial purchase price of buses is to be the overriding factor.

A sales manager of Volvo Group’s Truck and Bus (Thailand) Co., Ltd., who is familiar with the BMTA bidding process, echoed Phuriwat’s senti-ments, saying the specified low median prices were a major factor that prevented Volvo from competing.

“The TOR that the BMTA came up with made it impossible for high quality European manufac-turers to participate. We simply cannot compete at those price points.”

Besides, the sales manager said Volvo had very few natural gas-fueled bus products as the com-pany has concentrated its efforts in developing mainly diesel-fueled bus products that conform to the highest environmental credentials, from Euro 4, 5 and 6 emission standards and diesel/electric hybrid models or fully electric ones.

“Volvo Truck and Bus is not familiar with the bidding process that makes us feels like we have to compete with others to offer lower prices in order to get the contract. We would prefer sub-mitting sealed bid and then to negotiate specifica-tions with the prospective buyer,” he said.

B A G S VÆ R D K O S T S K O L E G Y M N A S I U M

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• En dansk uddannelse med et internationalt præg• Grundskole, 10. klasse, studentereksamen (STX)• Valget mellem to femårige forløb, GLOBAL og BIOTEK,

fra 8. klasse till studentereksamen• Sport- og talentklasse fra 7. klasse• Mulighed for morgentræning tirsdage og torsdage•• Lektiehjælp hver dag

Aldershvilevej 138 • DK-2880 • Bagsværd • Telefon: +45 44980065 • E-mail: [email protected]

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Agneta’sWorld

First of all, I have to admit I am very happy to have this opportunity to share some of my favorite things with you. I have, since young age, always had an itching to write and now I have my chance.

As we begin to countdown to Christmas, I would like to introduce you to my favorite choco-late store that has opened at Central Embassy, Bangkok’s latest shopping mall.

This chocolate maker was my number one choice during all the years I had lived in Zurich. As you understand I am talking about Swiss choco-late and Swiss quality.

The shop has existed for very long time in Switzerland and carried its owner and founder’s name TEUSCHER. Teuscher is, for chocolate lov-ers, the non plus ultra. Their Truffes melt in your mouth. If you choose the Champagne Truffes, the Jasmine Truffes or the Caramel Dark Truffes, it doesn’t matter, they taste all absolutely delicious and these are just to mention a few.

Here in Bangkok, Mr. Saneh Madan is the owner and he decided to open the store after having tried many different chocolate brands, and by suggestion from a good friend, he got in contact with Mr. Teuscher and went to meet with him in Zurich. He was immediately impressed by the taste of the chocolate and now he is proud of introducing it to the Thai market.

It’s not only the taste of the chocolate that is so fantastic, it’s also the unique wrapping. The chocolate boxes are all pure artworks. The boxes are covered with bows, flowers, beads, you name it, and the colors change with the seasons. For Halloween, the boxes were decorated with or-ange and typical Halloween characters, and now for Christmas, you will see the most beautiful boxes in the typical Christmas colors.

Pay a visit to this beautiful, little “SWISS COR-NER”, sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee and a piece of cake while you make up you mind which Truffes you want to go for. It’s a lovely “give away” when you are invited. The motto of this store and brand is: “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” So very true.

Please visit www.teuscherthailand.com be-cause you are worth it…

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Teuscherfor chocolate lovers


Thomas Rognstad is a 49 year old Norwegian who moved to Roi Et Thailand with his wife in the

beginning of 2013. After living 12 years in Norway, the couple and their two young boys moved to Thailand where Thomas runs a company that trades eucalyptus for the paper industry and sawmills. Furthermore, the company recycles 20 ton plastic and has a pro-duction of 400 kilos of mushrooms every month.

I moved to Thailand because...my wife was sick and I thought warmer climate would make her better. I was happy to go be-cause I hate parking enforcement officers and snow shoveling. Doing business in Thailand has taught me...to be patient. Everybody says tomorrow. But this does not mean tomorrow. It only means not today, maybe next week. Nobody wants to pay. So you have to wait and call and call and call. Everybody is paid daily so they want everything to go slowly. The best thing about doing business in Thailand...is that I am my own boss and can work at home with the family. The largest obstacle when doing business in Thailand...is that nobody wants to pay for the things they buy. Usually customers pay just before they place their next order. The biggest day-to-day struggle in Thai-land is...that nothing can be planned in advance. Or-dering in Thailand is not the same as ordering in Europe. Something comes right away while other things come after 3 days. You never know. It is unpredictable suddenly rain comes or maybe tambun (making merits) or geo kao (harvesting) or damm na (rice planting). Living outside of Scandinavia has made me realize...that Scandinavians are spoiled. They don’t know what it means to work. Their welfare

My next favorite place is all about India. It’s a big step from Switzer-land to India, but as we all travel easily these days and are used to switching to different flavors and

atmospheres, I think you will be glad to find out about Maya….no, it’s not a woman I’m going to write about…Maya means “illusion” in the Hindu mythology.

Maya Restaurant & Bar is located on the 29th floor of the relatively new Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit (Soi 22). It’s a lovely restaurant where Chef Hardip Bhatia from India, is in charge of preparing the exquisite food. The most fantastic, exotic smell welcomes you and the view over-looking the Sukhumvit area is breathtaking, espe-cially at night as the restaurant is only opened for dinner. Here you can choose to sit at the huge bar and sip a glass of well-chilled Prosecco, listening to live music, or you can sit down at the round- or square-shaped tables and enjoy a light Indian inspired snack or a full Indian dinner.

Wednesday evenings, you will find plenty of women at Maya, as it has become a well known and fun place for “Ladies Night Out”. I have spent lovely evenings there with both IWC (In-ternational Women’s Club) and SWEA (Swedish Women’s Educational Association). If you are a member of SWEA, you can just drop by any Wednesday evening after 7 pm, as it is our place to meet and gossip, over not just one glass of Prosecco, but quite a few and have fun. Usually, most of us, sit down for a spicy or not-so-spicy Indian dish.

Very often you will be greeted by Ramneek Singh himself, who is the F&B Director, and there is also a big chance that you will run into Bart Callens, the General Manager of the Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit, who looks after his guests in the most warm and caring manner.

ENJOY and have fun.

ThomasRognstad

MayaRestaurant & Bar

Reader porfile of the monthQ&A

services are too good and too many people are without a job but walk around with full payment. I want to keep living in Thailand because...of the warmth and freedom. The country is not very regulated and it suits me fine. I feel free. But at the same time everybody can do crazy things, like parking 3 cars besides one another or driving in the wrong direction. Nobody cares if I pay taxes or build a house with a swimming pool, bungalows and office. So there are pros and cons, but for me it is mostly good. Since i became an expat traditions, like Christmas, has become...unimportant to us. We celebrate Thai festivals now. When i miss the family at home...I call them on Skype

Unfortunately Thomas Rognstads wife’s health has not benefited from the warmer climate and the family is planning to move back to Norway. This means that the company including factory, 3 houses for mushroom pro-duction, swimming pool and household is up for sale.

Thomas Rognstad (to the right) with his friend “The Noodle King of Roi Et”.


Agneta’sWorld

Mie and Björnon a 2 year mission to Thailand


The other day, I had a meeting with Mie and Björn Wennerström, a Swedish couple who just arrived a few months ago to Thailand, for a 2 years important mission.

Mie, or Maria which is her given name, was born in Blomstermåla, a place in Sweden between Kalmar and Oskar-shamn. She went to school in Blomstermåla, until she started at the gymnasium in Kalmar. After having graduated she started to work as an export secretary for a company exporting toys. During her childhood she was part of the church community.

Björn was born in Mariannelund, north of Småland. He started school in Mariannelund, but went later to a music gymnasium in Jönköping. After his graduation, he worked during a couple of years as a musician. He plays trombon and tuba. Like Mie, Björn was also from young age, familiar with the church. Both Mie and Björn went to ”Söndags skolan”, at that time. Most children went for a few hours to Söndags skolan to learn about christianity and play with like-minded children.

In 1989 they married and the wedding took place in Ålens church, north of Kalmar. In 1991 they decided to go to the big apple, New York, on a mission for the Swedish church. It was a great experience Mie says. They visited a lot of ships with Swedish crew and one night they invited the crew from one of the ships to a dinner at their home, but to what kind of dinner? Both Mie and Björn laugh when they remember that evening. They had planned to serve something very Swedish, like Surströmming. They hadn’t been eating that before and had no idea how it would taste and probably they didn’t know the smell. Surströmming is a kind of rotten fish that you eat with Almond potatoes and Tunnbröd (a special thin bread from the north or Sweden). To this dish the real Surströmming lovers drink milk. I suppose these bad smelling fishes are easily eaten with cold milk……

Mie and Björn have many fun memories from New York where they stayed for 2 years. But in 1993 it was time to go to London, where similar work tasks were waiting. Eventually after 2 interesting years in London, they moved back to Sweden.

In 1994 their first daughter, Emma, saw the daylight and in1996, her sister Annie was born. Today, Emma studies to become a nurse and she lives in Kalmar and takes care of Mie and Björns apartment. As for Annie, she attends a gymnasium, called ”Riksin-nebandy Gymnasium” in the city of Umeå, north of Sweden. We do have many kind of universities in Sweden where you can focus on your interests, might it be bandy, horses, dance or whatever.

Now, Mie and Björn have been for a few months in Thailand. I had to ask what made them chose to come here? Both answered, that there was a post to be filled for 2 years and so interesting and challenging so they just had to go for it. They had not been to Asia before, so they were excited.

They are here on an investigating mission, a lay worker job for a 2 years period.

I, of course, had to ask what that kind of job means and they explained to me that the counsular department of the Swedish embassy here in Bangkok is overloaded with work and needs help. The Swedish church abroad, decided to give a helping hand.

I had no idea that we have so many Swedes living in Thai-land and having so many different problems. It might be people who are sick and can’t afford paying for hospital or doctor fees, it might be people with addiction to alcohol or drugs, persons who have been abused in one or another way or persons who are just very lonesome. Believe it or not, but there are more people than you think, who are suffering from these problems, no matter if you are wealthy or poor. There are also many very rich people around us with huge problems, that often leads to depression and diseases.

Mie and Björn’s task is to locate all these people and try to find out how big their needs really are and what can be done?

This job will take them around Thailand and already within this short period, they have been to Hua Hin, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Chang Rai and other places and more are to come. In the near future they will be visiting Mäh Phim, Surin and Phuket.

Björn just explained that Mie, who is educated math teacher and have helped children with special needs and that her sense for figures, was a great help to them a while ago when they met with a Swede, feeling very anxious about his economic situation. You can feel how proud Björn is by Mie’s knowledge and he points out that her sense for figures and her pedalogical way is clear as a bell.

Mie is educated lay worker from the St. Johannes community in Kalmar and Björn has been a director for ”Stadsmissionen” in Kalmar during 10 years and he has also worked at a treatment home for alcohol and drug addicted people. He was organizing group therapy and with his cool way of beeing, I think he must have been very successful. Last, but not least, he has also worked for the Seamen church in Norrköping.

This will be their first Christmas in Bangkok and both are looking forward to welcoming Annie to Bangkok to celebrate the festivity with them. They are a bit sad that Emma can’t join. She has to prepare for her exams in January.

I finish our interesting talk by wishing them both good luck. I am sure, they will fullfill their mission to the very best. Now I know a lot more about things I haven’t thought about before and if you want to meet with Mie and Björn, they can be find at Stable Lodge, the Danish restaurant on Sukhumvit Soi 8, Tuesdays between 11 am and 2 pm.

If you want to email or call Mie and Björn, you can reach them on Email: [email protected] or Mobile 081 809 7562

They are very interested to listen to your experiences and knowledge about Thailand and you are most welcome to see them.

mission to Thailand

I had no idea that we have so many Swedes living in Thailand and having so many different problems.

Photos Daniel Herron


A taste for Danish ultra-luxury homeentertainment Dynamic duo to relaunch Denmark’s iconic audiovisual electronics brand, Bang & Olufsen, in Thailand

By Thana Poopat

A penchant for mixing business with pleasure brought Danish business-men Kenneth Hovmoller and Pe-ter Waagensen to a Scandinavian golf tournament in Thailand three

years ago. Back then, Hovmoller, at the peak of his luxury car importing business to Thailand and other Southeast Asia countries, was in the mar-ket for accounting and financial services.

Around that time, Waagensen was juggling between a trading company, SME investment firm, consulting outfit and Mermaids Dive Cen-ter outlets in Pattaya and Bangkok . Waagensen, an astute investor/trader and expert in struc-tured finance, ended up making a new friend and taking care of all of Hovmoller’s business accounting as well as providing financial advice.

That chance meeting turned out to be the beginning of a symbiotic partnership down the road.

Flamboyant Hovmoller, 50, possesses all the attributes that have made him a successful par-allel importer of luxury cars. Waagensen, 42, an economist by training, describes himself as being more comfortable in analytical and structural modes. Both men share a taste for finer things in life, are avid social networkers and natural multitaskers.

One day in April 2014, Hovmoller men-tioned to Waagensen that an exclusive dis-tributorship in Thailand for iconic Danish home entertainment electronics, Bang & Olufsen, was up for grab. It didn’t take long for both to put their heads together to develop a business plan that quickly turned into an exciting new venture under the name HW Trading Co., Ltd.

“The first time we discussed this opportu-nity was in April 2014 and initially we looked at the potential as well as challenges involved, and it was and is a very exciting opportunity off course. We looked at financial aspects as well as structural needs involved,” Waagensen said.

Hovmoller, has had experience market-ing the Bang & Olufsen before - in Vietnam. A Vietnam-based company he co-owned had exclusive rights to distribute the high-end Danish electronics products in that emerging country. A few years previously he sold off his ma-jority shareholding in that company in order to consolidate his business interests, including luxury vehicle imports and a modeling agency, in Thailand, which now serves as his base to reach other Asian markets.

pict.

BeoVision AvantPhoto: Bang & Olufsen


A fresh opportunity to market Bang & Oluf-sen, this time, in Thailand, fills Hovmoller with enthusiasm.

“Thailand is a more mature market com-pared to Vietnam,” said Hovmoller. “Many con-sumers here have been aware of B&O products for decades.”

Awareness of and appreciation for the B&O products, the embodiment of distinctive aesthet-ics, cutting-edge technologies and uncompro-mising quality, are certainly the key. The starting price of the latest B&O television, BeoVision Avant, is about the same as a subcompact car – not that the typical B&O customer will ever need a low-cost personal transport.

For Waagensen, making a business out of promoting and marketing Bang & Olufsen as a top-tier Danish brand with a global reach, is a source of national pride and no small amount of personal satisfaction. “B&O is a prime brand that we want to uphold,” he said.

“Bang & Olufsen has been represented for more than 15 years in Thailand and as a brand has a lot of followers and potential for a lot more. Doing this is off course not an easy step and in doing so we need to fulfil a lot of things,” Waagensen said. “But it has its rewards, not only financially but personally when we meet people

that we have helped in getting their systems to work optimally. That was also part of our deci-sion to take on this project from the beginning.”

“We both have experience in distribution as well as solid social networks. That makes this business easier to run, which was also a deciding factor in considering the opportunity in the first place,” Waagensen said.

HW Trading Co., Ltd. is scheduled to open a brand new flagship store at Gaysorn Plaza before the yearend.

“After Shanghai and New York City, our B&O store in Thailand will be the third in the world to feature Beoplay as part of the concept store,” Hovmoller said. “We are combining B&O main line of home entertainment systems with lifestyle products.”

Beoplay products are positioned at lower- to mid-market as an entry point for new gen-erations of younger people to familiarize them-selves with well-designed, high-quality products that are pleasing to look at.

Even before the opening of the concept store, HW Trading has been busy getting to know existing B&O customers by offering free on-site assessment and optimization to ensure their audiovisual systems continue to operate at their full potential. “Right now, it’s service,

service and service. This is to restore customer confidence,” Hovmoller said. “There’ll be no sales without putting the best services in place. B&O customers need to feel secure for their investment.”

B&O has no direct competitors as far as its segmentation goes. Aesthetically-pleasing audio-visual electronics products that deliver high-end performance. Part of HW Trading’s marketing strategy apart from marketing to high net worth customers with B&O home entertainment sys-tems and Beoplay line to fashion-conscious younger crowds. “We also work closely with architects, interior designers, hospitality estab-lishments and property developers,” Hovmoller said.

“Thailand is a great place location-wise. Do-ing business as foreigners has many challenges but these can be overcome very easily, with the right attitude and connections. As a country Thailand offers a lot of good things and oppor-tunities and living in Bangkok gives one a lot of choice in terms of entertainment and lifestyle, off course we can miss Denmark, but overall it is a good life here,” said Waagensen.


Tsunami survivor 10 years later

there, maybe I didn’t think much, or maybe you just forget things like that.”

Waiting for another waveAt the hilltop Leif and his girlfriend met a Dan-ish honeymoon couple who had a satellite phone. Since the cellular network was down, this phone became their only contact to the world. Through the phone they kept hearing that CNN reported a new wave was coming, so they kept waiting even though Leif really wanted to collect the plastic cards and valuables he had left in the apartment.

When it was about to get dark and there were still no signs of another wave, Leif and his girlfriend decided to go to the apartment. When they came down from the hill the streets were empty and it looked like a bomb had hit Patong Beach.

“Cars were on their on their roofs. People had been running like they were crazy, and they

Leif Steensen survived the tsunami by clinging to a concrete pillar, a man he was trying to rescue died in his arms and he helped identifying corpses in Khao Lak. Even though the Tsunami is

something Leif just wants to forget, he never will, but at least the nightmares are gone and the way he talks about the Tsunami has changed.

At Christmas 2004 Leif Steensen had just moved in to his new 3rd floor apartment with his girlfriend. The 25th December there was a big Danish Christmas lunch, so when he woke up on the 26th Leif was a bit hung-over. As a smoker first thing in the morning was a cigarette on the balcony, this day was not an exception. Leif was standing back against Patong Beach and the ocean while lighting up a cigarette. The sky was clear and blue when the wind wound up and shook the palm trees.

“It just said, splash, and then the wave hit me. I didn’t see it coming and the only thing I had time for was grabbing the pillar, the wave smashed the windows to the apar tment and suddenly it was gone again.”

Leif clung to a concrete pillar on his balcony while the wave blasted by. Barely woken and feeling the aftereffects from yesterday’s drinking, he did not know what was going on, so he ran down the stairs to beach-level to see what had happened.

“A British man came running, screaming: ‘get the fuck out of here a new one is coming’ –a new what? ‘-a new wave you idiot’, then I real-ized what had happened. I ran up to my girlfriend who was still in our bedroom, she had not even woken up, so I shook her up and forced some clothes on her,” Leif says.

Lucky for the couple they lived at a steep hillside and Leif ’s motorcycle was parked high enough to avoid being flushed away.

Escaping the seaLeif and his girlfriend drove like hell to a hilltop hotel, where people were gathering. At the hill a few people were badly injured. Being trained in first aid, Leif wanted to help, and was quickly directed to a young man who sat in a tuktuk covered by a blanket. Leif got him out of the vehicle and removed the blanket.

The young man had been smashed into

“You never know how you react in a situation like this,” says one survivor of the Tsunami.

some rocks and was ripped open from col-larbone to navel. He was losing a lot of blood. One of his lungs was hanging out and a stone had pierced one of his legs. Leif ’s training as a diving instructor and from his time in the military serving the Royal Danish Life Guards kicked in.

“You never know how you react in a situa-tion like this, but here 10 years later it is com-forting to know that I won’t freeze in this kind of situation,” Leif says.

He removed the rock, stopped the bleeding from the leg and put the man on his collapsed lung to prevent blood from running into the healthy one.

“I am no doctor, but I could see that I couldn’t do much, just keep him warm and hope he didn’t go into shock,“ Leif says, “Just as we could hear the ambulance coming, he started shaking and then he died in my arms. I knew it was bad, and I knew he would die if he didn’t get treatment quickly. I can’t remember what I thought right

By Lasse Henriksen


“Cars were on their on their roofs. People had been running like they were crazy, and they still thought a new wave was coming.,” says Leif Steensen, who admits that he can’t help getting emotional. asked to retell his experience in the aftermath of the disaster.

Tsunami survivor 10 years later

still thought a new wave was coming. There were only few people from the police and military,” Leif says.

After a quick visit to the apartment, the couple drove towards the Danish guesthouse were they had their Christmas lunch the night before. The place was located a little further off the beach and the place was constructed solid as a Viking castle. The road to the guesthouse was full of grim sights but one is more vivid than the others.

“There was a young girl pierced through her stomach by a bended street sign. I thought I saw her arm move so I stopped the motorbike and went over to check on her, meanwhile my girl-friend was screaming like a harmed animal, but I had to see if she was alive. Of course she wasn’t, the wind or maybe some water had made it look like she was moving, or maybe I was just seeing things,” Leif says.

Several times in the years after the tsunami Leif has woken up, bathed in sweat after dream-ing of this girl, even though the dreams are gone now, obviously, this is not something he will ever forget.

Drunk but aliveAt the Danish guesthouse and restaurant 30-40 Danish expats had gathered. Everybody went up there because it seemed like a secure place and the obvious meeting point. People were talking and drinking, trying to figure out if everyone was okay and telling their tsunami stories, some had felt the earthquake and most of them had escaped serious injuries.

At this time the Danes had no information on what happened, they just knew a wave had hit and had not really grasped the severity of the situation yet. The drinking got intense and the humor turned morbid. Few weeks in advance a group had sent a box of t-shirts they had made for a festive trip to Phuket. The shirts were black with white letters and read “Vi er stive , men vi er i live” which is a Danish pun that roughly trans-lates into “We are drunk, but we are alive”. The original meaning of feeling alive because you are drunk suddenly changed with the horrid context.

As the number of casualties grew and as the Danes got news of entire villages being swal-lowed by the ocean, they began to realize just

how big of a disaster this was. While heavy drink-ing can seem like a rather brute way to react to a catastrophe, a psychologist send to Phuket from Denmark later told Leif that drinking and especially talking it all out, like the group did, was probably one of the best things they could have done from a psychological perspective.

Trying to helpThe day after the disaster Leif went to the beach to offer his help. He got turned down. At this point it was only corpses, and Leif ’s CPR would not be a help. A few days later Red Cross was seeking interpreters at Khao Lak in Phang Na, the Thai region with the most tsunami victims. Leif went up there, ignoring his doctor’s recom-mendation and the risk of exposing himself to a long range of diseases.

“It was all dead people. There were a lot more casualties up there, than in Patong. My job was to identify people, so I had to look at dead persons all day and the worst was this little Swedish girl who had lost both of her parents. She was immediately drawn towards me, prob-ably because I could speak a language similar to hers. It was hard because she was sweet and mis-erable and cried, and followed me around while I had to identify corpses. I was there two days, and then I couldn’t take it anymore,” Leif says.

For Leif the work of identifying corpses was hard, it was too late to save anyone. Not at all like the hilltop, where he clicked into another mental mode trying to save the man with the collapsed lung. The work in Khao Lak was mentally tiring and just very nauseating. After this, Leif went for a 3 day trip to Singapore to get away from the disaster area.

House full of spiritsLeif was not the only one that needed to get away. His girlfriend was feeling a mental pressure too. Just few days after the tsunami, their apart-ment was ready to move into again. Everyone living on the floors below them had perished.

“I took my girlfriend back to the apartment, but she was shaking. She was afraid of the spirits of everyone that had died in that house,” Leif says.

From the apartment they could see bodies wash up on the beach. First they went back to

There was a young girl pierced through her stomach by a bended street sign. I thought I saw her arm move so I stopped the motorbike and went over to check on her, meanwhile my girlfriend was screaming like a harmed animal.


the Danish guesthouse and later when Leif was about to return to work, his girlfriend went to stay her family for a while.

Back to normalLeif was impressed with how fast the Thai’s rebuild Patong Beach and got over the tsunami. Already before he left 5th January, it just looked like a construction site with green nets every-where. When he came back from his work trip, he had to look for traces of the tsunami.

“It almost looked like itself, there were still a few construction sites, but the life and every-thing else was like 3 months earlier before the Tsunami,” Leif says.

None of the Danish expats considered leav-ing some of them talked about the risk of a new tsunami, but knew it was microscopic. Leif never

considered leaving Phuket. Patong had become his first real hometown in many years.

“When you live away from Denmark you gradually lose all of your acquaintances, so I only had my sister and a few friends back there, all my close friends and girlfriend were in Thailand,” Leif says.

Since his girlfriend was worried about the spirits in the apartment, Leif knew he had to find a new home, if he wanted to keep her. Leif himself did not mind that people had died in the building, because people die everywhere.

“It was impossible to argue with her. She saw the spirits and talked with them, and when I asked her why I could not see the spirits, she told me that I could not see them because I’m farang,” Leif says.

The new house is located a little higher up

than the old apartment. But this was not crucial for the decision to move there, even though Leif considered that it would make his girlfriend feel a little safer, he mainly chose it because he liked it.

Absurd storiesNow when Leif meets with the other expats that witnessed the tsunami, they rarely talk a lot about the disaster. But when asked to retell his story he can’t help getting emotional. According to him this is probably one of the reasons why he and his friends avoid talking about it.

When Leif and his friends talk about the tsunami, the subjects have changed over the years. While they started out discussing the hor-rible scenes they witnessed, now they can have a laugh of some of the absurdities that came with the wave. Like when a naked man came walking in to the Danish Guesthouse on the evening of the disaster.

“We were sitting and drinking when a com-pletely naked man arrived at the bar. He woke up when his window broke and water crashed into his hotel room, furniture was blocking the door and window and he was trapped until the third wave came and sucked everything out of the room. He came in butt naked and said ‘I can’t pay, but I promise to send some money when I get home’,” Leif says.

Not the sort of thing you forgetLeif have been to some of the memorials. For instance he went to one at the stadium in Phuket City. Even though he did not understand the monks, the mood and the lanterns made it a beautiful experience. Leif mainly goes to memo-rials, to honor the Thais and the victims.

“I think that it is mostly expats with Thai spouses that go to the events, to show their re-spect to the local community. The ones that are here alone seems to be more likely to mark the day with candlelight in private,” Leif says.

Leif believes that his life was spared due to a row of coincidences before and on that fatal December morning in 2004.

“I have never been religious, after so many years in Thailand I feel more like a Buddhist, and I just think I was lucky. It wasn’t my turn; my number wasn’t drawn that day. ”

The worst was this little Swedish girl who had lost both of her parents. It was hard because she was sweet and miserable and cried and followed me around while I had to identify corpses. I was there two days, and then I couldn’t take it anymore



Læs mere på sommerskole.herlufsholm.dk

2 FANTASTISKE UGER PÅ

SOMMERSKOLE

HERLUFSHOLM SOMMERSKOLED. 17. JULI - 31. JULI 2015

Tilbring 2 sjove og spændende uger i sommerferien på Danmarks ældste kostskole i selskab med 13-15 årige fra hele verden.

Programmet byder på niveauinddelt danskundervisning, sportslige og kreative aktiviteter samt ekskursioner og oplevelser. Lær om Danmark, mød nye venner og nyd de enestående, historiske og smukke rammer som Herlufs-holm Skole kan tilbyde.

In memory of the 2004 Tsunami that was re-sponsible for around 8000 lives in Thailand, several commemorations are being held in the Phuket and Phang Nga provinces.

The official memorial will be held in Phang Nga, the province that suffered the greatest loss, at the Tor 813 boat monument on the 26th from 16:30 to 19:00. There will be speeches, poetry and multi religious ceremonies. The intention of the event is to remember the casualties and honor the ones who stepped up and helped in a time of chaos. It is organized by the Thai Government and on the 27th there will be visits to local commu-nities that have survived the tsunami and have been rebuilt.

Norwegians Seamen’s Church will host a simple event on a beach in Khao Lak. The

Remembering the 2004

location was yet to be confirmed when this magazine was printed. It will feature a small candle ceremony and the priest will be speaking.

Swedish Embassy and the Swedish Church are organizing their own memorial event as well. At the time of printing neither location nor schedule could be confirmed. Information will be posted at the Swedish embassy’s website.

On Phuket events are to be held between 26th and 28th December.

In Patong there will be a candlelight ceremo-ny held on Patong Beach that according to Thai officials will stretch more than one kilometer on the night of Dec 26.

There will be one minute of silence, speech-es by local officials and multi religious ceremo-nies at Mai Khao cemetery in Thalang on the 26th from 8:30-9:30 AM.

By Lasse Henriksen


At the Sun Wing Resort at Kamala Beach the 26th 10:00 to 14:30 there will be Buddhist rituals, the Japanese ambassador will be speak-ing, lunch will be served and a 10 minute movie about the warning system that has been built after the disaster will be shown.

On Patong Beach there will be a 3 day Chris-tian gospel with 17 bands from nine countries, the event is hosted by missionary Heidi Baker under the rather suspicious headline “Spiritual Tsunami Wave”.

ScandAsia have been in contact with several larger Scandinavian travel agencies. A couple of them have no plans at all, others are in the pro-cess of making their own small commemorations while some agencies consider sending parts of their management down to pay their respects at the official events.


With his long hair, prominent mustache and visible tat-toos Erik Stenberg-Roos does not look like the av-erage protestant preacher.

But do not let the look fool you, what resembles Russian letters on his left forearm is actually a bible quote written in ancient Greek. It roughly translates into; in the beginning was the word. Erik got it because that it is a good thing when people talk to one another.

Erik and his wife Anna Stenberg are both 52 and have worked with the underprivileged. Anna left her job as a social worker to be the priest assistant and bookkeeper in Phuket and for 13 years Erik worked as a priest in a rough Go-thenburg neighborhood infamous for its crime rate and gang activities. He didn’t hesitate when asked what his main focus in Phuket will be.

“The most impor tant thing to me is not being afraid of meeting people. Here we meet the extremely rich but also the poor, hungry and wet. Sometimes I think it is a hard job, but it is also very meaningful. Some of the people who contact us feel so much better after just an hour of talking,” Erik says.

Priest on the roadErik and Anna cover all of Southern Thailand. Often they also have to fly to Bangkok and this combination mounts up to a lot of travel time. As a mobile church that comes to people when they need help or services, they can try to plan, but often need to adjust to sudden changes.

“It is a good thing that we are out moving, if we had a fixed locality we would risk just sitting there. But now we are out there and people can recognize us, when we come in our uniforms. We actually discussed that maybe it would be good with a place where people could come to, it would save us a lot of travel time, depending on traffic sometimes it can take two hours just getting off Phuket,” Anna says.

At the moment the couple uses their house near Kata Beach for smaller ceremonies. Apart from masses, marriage blessings and baptisms Erik and Anna is also visiting Swedish prison-ers and people who are going through tough times and just needs a talk. Having two children each, all in their twenties, have made the couple consider to go to the Full Moon Party at Koh Phangnan, to hand out water and be ready to talk with young Swedes for whom all the party-ing has become too much.

Church on wheelsErik Steenberg-Roos the new Swedish priest based in Phuket is a former welder, a lover of rock’n’roll and he knows how it feels to lose faith. Erik and his wife Anna Stenberg’s biggest hope is that everyone will feel welcome to use the mobile Swedish church of Southern Thailand.

Text and Photos: Lasse Henriksen


Church on wheelsTiming and Thailand Anna and Erik have been in Thailand since Sep-tember and the timing has been perfect for them. Anna needed change after being boss the same place for 9 years, the last child was about to leave the apartment and Erik had been chang-ing back and forth between jobs. The couple was ready to travel to a several different places, but Thailand seemed warm and exiting in compari-son to Gothenburg.

“I don’t think we could have done it in Nor-way or Denmark. It had to be further away. For me at least the change of culture was very im-portant,” Erik says and adds that culture change is important because the couple is curious to learn more about other people’s lifestyles and to live in a country where things aren’t as safe and comfortable as Sweden. In order to understand a country the couple believes that they have to live there.

Everyone should feel welcomeAfter experiencing a very strict approach to Christianity in his youth Erik felt like a sinner and lost his faith. Erik travelled a lot in his early twenties and became a welder but realized that the older welders were worn down retired early.

Erik has always been curious about religion and in the age of 25 he met a priest, that didn’t tell him what to believe, but instead inspired him to think for himself and welcomed Erik’s doubts as a natural thing. The former approach to Christianity had made felt like I wasn’t good enough, but now he realized that he was just a human and as good as anyone.

The prospects of a physically wearing job, in-terest in religion and his new found faith inspired Erik to start studying religion at the age of 30. In the beginning he did not know if he wanted to become a priest or a teacher, but after a talk with his bishop, he chose to become a priest, went to priest preparation courses and got ordained when he was 36 years old. Erik’s approach to his priesthood is very inspired by the open ap-proach that restored his faith.

“To me it is very impor tant to say that everyone is welcome. Your doubt, your good sides and bad sides, your thoughts, your educa-tion or lack of education, everyone should feel welcome,” he says.

The limits have already been tested The couple has not been too worried about the challenges of suddenly working together half

way around the planet. They have visited Phuket once and felt they had a good idea about what they could expect and after years of sharing an apartment with 4 children the couple is confi-dent that they know each other well enough to avoid any grim surprises.

“We were not afraid of moving down here. It wasn’t easy when we moved together in an apartment with my two children and Erik’s two children, in that process we had to negotiate a lot and find each other’s limits,” Anna says.

3 years at a timeErik and Anna have signed a 3 year contract and have not yet decided if they are going to stay 3 more. According to Anna they will reconsider it when their contract is about to run out.

“We don’t think that long, the contract is 3 years, and when it runs out we will see how we are feeling about it,” Erik cuts in “And it is also about our moms to be honest, they are healthy now but actually 76 and 79 years old now and they are not growing younger and we don’t know, maybe we will get grandchildren, so we will see in 3 years.”

It is a good thing that we are out moving, if we had a fixed locality we would risk just sitting there. But now we are out there and people can recognize us, when we come in our uniforms.


Denmark is well known for its dair y products, ‘Smørrebrød’ (open sandwich with toppings), and bread and pastries such as, in particular the ‘Danish’ (a soft

Viennese bread), served on hotel breakfast buf-fets worldwide.

So, not surprisingly the Danish is the sec-ond most popular pastry, after the croissant, among the breakfast choices at Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort, where the Danish pastry chef Anders Olesen is in charge of the resort’s bakery.

Anders lets us know that he is surprised about the unbelievable quantities of bread the guests on this resort consume for breakfast. And the explanation to that he believes is this holiday property enjoying a much larger percentage of western guest clientele, compared to other ho-tels he has previously worked in.

So there is a lot of bread-baking to do in the mornings in Laguna Phuket for Anders and his team of bakers, especially as they bake the bread and pastries also for the sister property Outrig-ger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas, also within the integrated resort area.

By Joakim Persson

Danish bakerin Phuket


Good then that Denmark is very strong in its bread culture, and where sourdough is his specialty among dough-based favourites - where he follows traditional artisan techniques.

Anders, who had gained three years’ of five-star hotel experience in Asia before this move to Outrigger on Phuket, learned his profession at Tønder baking school. This education takes four years as every student has to take an apprentice-ship, mixed with attending school for 40 weeks.

It was clear for Anders from an early age the he wanted to become a baker.

“I started in a bakery when I was 14 years old, working next to the school during week-ends helping out in the bakery shop,” he recalls over coffee at the Peranakan-inspired The Club (an exclusive lounge for clubroom guests built overlooking a seaside lagoon beside the resort.

A chef can choose between two alternatives; cooking food or baking the bread/pastries, and both alternatives have a side effect: the working hours (either starting very early in the morning or working late into the night.)

For Anders the choice was clear and what actually also made him choose baking: ‘I’m a morning person. A normal chef will work at night time and bakery chefs always work in the morn-ing. That’s actually the reason. I don’t like to work to eleven, twelve o’clock in the night.”

Then, the Dane has also lived outside Den-mark for the past fourteen years of which he has spent the past five in Asia. He came over here for opportunities due to one particular reason: the weather.

“Back in Denmark it’s not that good.”Before Asia, he had worked in small bakery

shops in Denmark, as well as in Norway where he lived for seven years.

Then paradise awaited him in the form of the Maldives. This also prompts the question if being a pastry chef is a good career path to choose if one wants to see the world.

“I think the demand for pastry chefs interna-tionally is quite high, so it’s not too hard to find a new job if you’re good at it.”

Travelling around to different hotel assign-ments and countries is very much possible as a contract is usually two years at one place.

Anders was previously employed by another hotel in Pattaya but now has an open contract with Outrigger on Phuket and plans to stay on.

He prefers his new employer and being on the island, which he finds relaxing.

“It’s the best job I’ve had in Asia so far ; they take very good care of their staff. And I feel here it’s easy for me to get new equipment etc. for our bakery kitchen. There is more support from the owner, in comparison.”

Home made chocolate is another specialty of Anders, and such temptations are more exclu-sive at Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort, served at The Club.

Yes we have chocolate fondue as part of the buffet desserts, but not home made pralines etc. This is time-consuming to make so it is not feasible to have on the buffets.

The 255-key absolute beachfront holiday resort offers four dining outlets, plus the Club lounge, that all require bread and pastries of dif-ferent kinds; for instance bread for hot dogs that

are served poolside is part of what Anders and his bakery chef team needs to produce.

He says that they have a bread schedule and alternate between different kinds of loaves and rolls daily; from German and Scandinavian to French and Italian bread.

European nationalities, including Scandina-vians, are also part of the guest mix, in particular during high season.

“Yes, we have guests from Denmark, Norway and Sweden It’s a good mix from all over Europe actually.”

Peak season is here and Anders and his team are very busy. When visiting the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort you stand a good chance of seeing Anders bringing out the freshly baked bread to the buffet spreads in the various restaurants. Then you will know that this guy is a Dane.


When the Danish Hotel Manager, Michael Gaarde-Nielsen at Centara Grand Beach Resor t Phuket on Karon beach told ScandA-

sia that all of the beaches on the tourist island - including Karon - were completely cleared from sunbeds, umbrellas and vendors, it just had to be witnessed. Up until recently what has seemed almost impossible to imagine had become reality! Not just a quick make-over, shifting some sort of control on how much anyone can utilze a public beach for commercial purposes - no, everything had been cleared!

Surin beach had become one of the worst with local media complaining about the uncon-trolled activities that had grown out of propor-tions, to the extent that the entire beach was occupied: beach clubs, buildings and sunbeds all the way down to the shoreline.

An early November vissit confirmed the new situation: below the tiny road along the beach separating the sandy area from the land it was all gone – except the trees and a few removable massage beds! Completely cleared. Catch Beach Club was busy finalising their new allocated area with bar and DJ booth, now above the road in-stead. Guests were lying down on the sand under the shade of real trees.

Over at Kamala beach, Johan Magnusson at Sunprime, Tour operator Ving’s adult hotel, confirmed that the situation was the same. As he brought ScandAsia down to the beach he imme-diately got into conversation on the beach topic with some of the hotel’s guest from Sweden, just as the high-season weather had finally returned to the island after a couple of very rainy months.

“We did not receive any specific instructions or notifications regarding the stricter implemen-tation of the already existing Beach rules and regulations. Big noticeboards with info text in Thai was posted by the government on several places near and along the beach, in order to inform tour-ists and business operators of the change,” Johan told ScandAsia.

Fortunately for Sunprime/Sunwing - although being beachfront - the resorts had not invested in setting up their own beach clubs.

“Several hotels had to remove and close down their beach clubs. Sunwing Kamala Beach didn’t use to have any sunbeds on the beach at all. Sunwing guests either stayed around the many pools or rented sunbeds from the local vendors on the beach. Sunprime Kamala Beach used to have a few big double Sunbeds (only five in the low season and fifteen in the high season), in front of the hotel. Most Sunprime guests however, also

used to stay around the pools or rented sunbeds from the locals on the beach.”

No operators are allowed to offer sunbeds and umbrellas on the beach anymore.

“We have received quite a few mails and phone calls from overseas guests enquiring about the beach situation. Some are worried not only for the sunbeds but also that all restaurants, long-tail boats and shops will also be gone.”

“It is still too early to fully say something about the guests’ response regarding the new situation. We’re only in the very beginning of the high season and so far we are getting mixed comments; many think the beaches look serene, relaxed and beautiful, with a pristine and cool atmosphere - others are more negative, missing the possibility to have a sunbed and especially the shadow and protection from the sun that a parasol gives.”

“Of course both hotels now can see an increased demand for sunbeds around our pool areas. To cope with the situation extra sunbeds are added, not only around the pools but also on grass areas that have never been used before.”

The resort also has a rule that its guests can-not pre-occupy sunbeds before 9.30 am, while having breakfast, so that everyone can have a fair chance at the most popular spots.

The big question is, of course, if the current new situation will remain? Or will some kind of organised sunbed/parasol rentals be allowed where badly needed, as on Karon beach? That is another story that only the future can tell…

Phuket’s beaches free of vendorsBy Joakim Persson

Johan Magnusson, Sunprime/Sunwing, is OK with the new vendor-free beaches.


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In the mid-90s, a visually impaired Swede had worked as a volunteer at a school for blind children in Thailand. When he passed away, his family learned that he, in his will, declared that more than 800 000 baht should be donated

to the school. A family friend visited Thailand in October to make preparations for the donation.

The work with fulfilling the wish of the de-ceased man has taken many years. The reason is that the widow in Sweden has had difficulty getting in touch with the school, and she has also been very secretive about it, refusing to reach out for help.

Recently, however, she turned to some close friends whose son lives in Thailand part time of the year.

That person, Swede Tomas Skoglund, was

then asked to visit the school, which is located in Khon Kaen, to ascertain that it is still operational and providing education for blind children, and also to make arrangement for transferring the money.

In the beginning of October, Tomas Skoglund visited to school. Part of the mission was to see if the school would be able to use the money according to the deceased man’s will. It stated clearly in the will that the money should be used for the school’s multimedia education.

Tomas Skoglund says he was impressed with what he saw at the school.

“Yes, I must say so. It seems the school is doing a very good job. It’s well run, and the staff are mak-ing an effort to do the utmost for these children,” Tomas Skoglund says.


The school in Khon Kaen has around 100 visually impaired children. At seven other locations in Thailand, the school also provides education to another 600 children.

Swede Tomas Skoglund, the son of friends of the widow in Sweden, visited the school and talked to head-master Chalermchai Jittayasotorn in the beginning of October.

Dead Swede donated small fortune


The school, School for The Blind, is owned by a private foundation, and was started in the mid 80s. Today, there are some 100 children at the school in Khon Kaen, and another 600 at seven other schools around Thailand. The children range in age from four to 18.

“We give them basic education all the way through high school,” says Chalermchai Jittayasot-orn, the school’s headmaster, to ScandAsia.

He explains that the gifted ones among blind students are encouraged and being prepared to continue their studies at university level, while the others are being trained for vocational training, anything from therapeutic massage to agriculture and handicraft.

Winit Moonwicha is the school’s deputy headmaster. Being visually impaired himself, he

too is an alumni from one of the first graduating classes. Now he is working hard to reach out to private companies to persuade them to consider employing his school’s children.

“Visually impaired people are still stigmatized in Thailand,” he explains.

“It’s difficult to help them gain a foothold in the labor-market.”

Recently, he says, the school set up a call center operation in collaboration with one of Thailand’s major telecom companies. The opera-tion was designed specifically for visually impaired workers. Now they are trying to expand the op-eration by trying to get other telecom companies to introduce similar operation.

Khon Kaen School for the Blind has a yearly budget of some 70 million baht. 80 percent are

from private donations. The rest comes from the state.

No one working at the school today has been there long enough to remember the visually impaired man from Sweden who worked there as a volunteer in the mid-90s. But the staff are very grateful for the donation.

“This means we can enrol more children, and develop our education model in the field of multimedia to equip our children with even better tools to prepare them for work as the Swedish man wanted,” explains Winit Moonwicha.

According to Tomas Skoglund, the widow in Sweden, in the northern town of Örnsköldsvik, has asked for her and her deceased husband’s name to be withheld, for privacy reason. Nor does she want to comment on the donation.

Text & Photo: Michael Töpffer

to blind children in Thailand


Some children are given vocational training, like agriculture. Volunteers are still involved in the teaching. Children are being taught English by a volunteer from Germany.

Dead Swede donated small fortune


มุมภาษาไทย l mum pha:să: thai l Thai Language Corner

For a Westerner, the Thais’ use of personal pronouns – I, you, she, he, we, they and so on – tend to be somewhat confusing. As with clas-sifiers last month, the trick is to start with a few safe and universal and then gradually extend ones command of more words from there. This may be done by experimenting and carefully noting the

reaction. The safest bets are:

ดิฉัน / dìchán / ~ I (female speaker),ผม / phŏm / ~ I (male speaker),คุณ / khun / ~ you,เขา / kháo / ~ she, he, her, him,เรา / rao / ~ we, us,พวกเขา / phûak kháo / ~ they, them.

A polite form of addressing a Thai is thus using คุณ / khun /, and, if known, followed by the name, or nickname, thereby adding a little bit further to the courtesy, e.g.:คุณวณิชย์สบายดีไหม / khun wánít sàba:i di: mái / ~ how are you? (speaking to Wanich).

Going a little beyond, you will often hear the Thais addressing each other according to age with one of the following pronouns:หนู / nŭ: / ~ you (speaking to children, actually means ’mouse’),น้อง / nór:ng / ~ you (speaking to young people, someone who could be your younger sibling, the actual meaning of the word),พี่ / phî: / ~ you (speaking to someone older than yourself, someone who could be your older sibling, the actual meaning of the word),ป้า / pâ: / ~ you (speaking to a woman older than yourself, someone who could be your aunt, the actual meaning of the word),ลุง / lung / ~ you (speaking to a man older than yourself, someone who could be your uncle, the actual meaning of the word).

The use of these pronouns, which are actually family terms, often re-quires some degree of intimacy, informality or wish for that. There are several more family terms used as personal pronouns with people not strictly your family and they almost always gives a good feeling of proximity and being one big family.

*****

One big Familyand Recommended ReadingsBy Klavs Johansen ([email protected])

pâ:dìchán

lung

In our first column, a year ago, we described the Thai language as the path that will take you the longest way towards understanding of, and participa-tion in, Thai society and culture. We hope that the subsequent columns in the past year has inspired and encouraged your walk down that path. A year ago, we also pointed out that participating in work, sports or music together with the Thais, are possible shortcuts which each will take you further, faster. Another shortcut we would like to recommend in ending this year is reading Thai fiction. Enough English language translations are today available to fill any Christmas holiday and here we shall list but a few examples:

A Child of the Northeast by Kampoon Boontawee is childhood memo-ries from the 1930’s rural north eastern Thailand and as such strikes me as a Thai counterpart to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Little House book series. The novel is still a great way to learn about rural Thailand and the background out of which comes the north eastern Thai, and hence many of the Thais you will meet as migrant workers in Bangkok and other developed centres. A thorough treatment of north eastern Thai food is also provided over the pages of this touching book.

For a good glimpse into the background of urban Thailand, in particular the Chinese immigrants, who played a major role in creating it, read the novel Letters from Thailand by Botan, a penname for Supa Sirising.

Both A Child of Northeast and Letters from Thailand are excellently translated into English by Susan Fulop Kepner.

Another great translator of Thai fiction is Marcel Barang, who, in addition to publishing anthologies with English language excerpts of weighty Thai nov-els and short stories, also is behind complete English versions of novels like Chart Korbjitti’s Mad Dogs & Co. and The Path of the Tiger by Sila Khoamchai.

Finally, for school age children and grownups alike, Ngarmpun Vejjajiva’s The happiness of Kati is highly recommended. The novel about eight-year-old Kati coping with losing her mother to ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is, despite its subject, truly life-affirming and won the South East Asian Writers Award in 2006. English translation by Prudence Borthwick.

I believe the titles mentioned here are readily available in most major bookstores in Bangkok, however, if you have trouble finding any of them, feel free to send us an email and we will try to respond with a helpful link. Enjoy your reading and …

สุขสันต์วันคริสมาสต์ / sùksăn wan khrítsàmâ:t / ~ Merry Christmas!


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ScandAsia Thailand - December 2014