,'1

i." \01 \ c \ Z 1 \ I: () F T 1/ E B H 1 r 1 S He I. l Il , B \ \ (; 1\ 0 1\

.,,r\

I

). MAY 1994 Rhone-Poulenc, one of the world's leading chemical companies, operates in 140 countries. It has been established in Thailand since 1952. To serve you, Rhone-Poulenc has a workforce of 90,000 employees worldwide, includiL,g 9,000 research specialists. Rhone-Poulenc Chemicals (Thailand) Ltd. , 51 Sukhumvit 26 (Soi Aree), Bangkok 10 110, Thailand Tel. 259-0073-8, 259-0270-4, Pax: 259-0562, 259-8542 CONTENTS

Regular Features

5 From the Editor 6 From the Vlanagcr 7 Managcment Notices 10 New Membcrs 42 Childrens Corncr 46 Final Countdown

Special

4 Days of the Raj THE BumsH CLUB 36 No Talcnt Night 189 Surawong Road Bangkok 10500 , Sports Sections Tel: 2340247, 234 2592 , Fax: 235 1560 .' 13 Coif The contents of the ", CONTlllBlITlONS 16 Snooker magazine are not neces­ If you would like to contribute to Outpost 18 Football sarily the opinion of the Contact Bea Grunwell 1 23 Badminton Editor or General " on 2589509. All pho­ Committee tographs articles 25 Tennis should be received by Bea on 1st of each 28 Tcnnis Club Championships month. 30 Bangkok Intcr Ladics Tcnnis ,, ADVERTISING Tournament

33 Cricket/Squash Please contact Bea Grunwell on Features Tel/Fax 258 9509

8 Cctting to know the Staff 14 Living in Thailand 38 Lettcr to the Editor If you would like to 40 Food and Bevcrage advertise in Outpost 44 Photo page

3 The British Club proudly presents

"12 DAYS OF THE RAJ" with special Raj style Indian cuisine featured for lunch and dinner in the Club House from 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday 24 May to 11.00 p.m. on Saturday 4 June. There will be a variety of bar snacks and a delicious ' a la carte' menu in the dining room, all prepared by master Indian chefs from the renowned "Tandoor" Restaurant at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza. To reserve your table for this gas­ tronomic delight please tel­ ephone 234-0247 or 234-2592, alternatively fax to 235-1560

fur the Essence of India

::: ~ ~ CROWfC P\.AlAO IW '\,I.t lt. 981 Silom Road Tel . 238-4300, Ext. 1364

/ -- ;.-: :~ . ,AI;'i.\.", '.... .:.: ) ;~ 1~ . ------,--.. ------" FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Readers, mit your articles to Bea Grunwell, Outpost, British Club. Deadlines are still 1st of the m onth preceding publication, o you sometimes wonder please use my fax number or leave if anyone reads your them at the BC We welcome any D memos, letters, notes etc. contributions from Members!! I ha ve this feeling that only a few Next month I am hoping to get of my friends read my bJabbering­ myself together arid interview ons in the Outpost. David was som e of the n ew committee shocked to find out some people members, maybe when you have still did not know about the new , ~ . seen their pretty pictures and a bit chit system, please read the man­ \ I~ift of a write up, you can actually agement notes every month, you approach them and tell them what \. could be missing au ton importan t you think is right ... or wrong with information and end up phoning maybe even the BWG's Jumble Sale the Club! the club because you did not re­ date. The general rule is that if If Outpost is late this month, cei ve your over-weigh t BC bill this there is enough copy to cover all my apologies, what with Easter month! pages of Outpost and there is no and Songkran in o n e month Indian month this month, as room for extra curricular events, deadlines were very hard to keep! Mr. Viccars so eloquently put it these non-British Club events will Have a good read and hope­ "12 Days of the Raj", with food have to wait until next month, or if fully next month I can publish some from colonial times inIndia. Ihave the info would be out of date, not more letters to the Editor, some not had the pleasure of a food go in at all. Anyone who is a more contributions from Members . tasting but have visited the res- Member of the British Club and and add some more pages to your taurant in the Holiday Inn several ha s an interest like birdwatching, own OUTPOST. times and always come away gemstones, shopping, eating, thinking "Tha t was a very nice anything at all is very welcome to Indian, that was!" submit articles on their hobbies or I would like to preach a bit this even businesses. If these articles Bea Gnmwell month, some articles in Outpost are blatant advertisements, like for Editor are actually in there because they example an article on gemstones have been for years and because solely written for the purpose of for some reason or another either finding new clients, we will have the Ed i tor or the General Commi t­ to charge you for advertising. If an tee have decided that they are article is for information of the worth putting in. Either groups Members, we will be happy (more are sponsored by Members and than happy) to publish it. Please need acknowledgement for these do not forget there is such a thing sponsors and their onl y way of as live and let live .... thanking them is by placing their This month Outpost seems to article in our fine Outpost maga­ be full of tennis, tennis, tennis and . zine or we think it is for your in­ badminton, golf, tennis, cricket, formation to, say, put in the times football, snooker and the No Tal­ of church services or opening times ent Night. ... so if you are not inter­ of the Neilson Hayes library, or ested in these events, please sub- gltOWl t~e uUO&1ogelt

\. FROM THE MANAGER

here are two particularly nota­ The Staff awards for this quarter ble events to look forward to will also be selected in May for pres­ T in May. Firstly the "12 Days entation in June. To recap, the scheme of the Raj" promotion being held in is to select two members of staff who Lord dining room from 24 May to 4 have done particularly well in the June (hence the "12 days"), and sec­ period and to reward them with a ondly the first of the quarterly selec­ cash prize, the first award being Bl,500 tions made to reward members of staff and the second for B 500. The criteria for particularly notable service will for selection may be a consistent level happen in May, for presentation in of excellence or relate to a singular June. event, selection will be made on sug­ With the help of the Tandoor res­ gestions from Members and manage­ taurant staff of the Holiday Inn ment with the Committee having the Crowne Plaza we have come up with final say. Only full time employees, what we hope will be a superb choice Churchill Bar throughout the period beneath SupeLvisor grades, and who of "Raj style" dishes for serving in the there will be an additional 'a la carte' have passed their probation period Churchill Bar and Lords from dinner menu of Indian dishes, all of which will be eligible for consideration. on the public holiday on Tuesday 24 will be very favourably priced. Our Please do complete the slip in this May and ending with dinner on Sat­ thanks must go to the General Man­ magazine if you wish to recommend urday 4 June. The dishes have been ager and all the staff at the Holiday any particular member of Staff, or chosen to reflect the British presence Irul Crowne Plaza for making this alternatively just mention the name in India and were popular in the days special promotion possible. We hope of the member of Staff and the inci­ before Indianindependence. Certainly that this will be the first of a regular dent to me. Thank you for your as­ at the various testings we ha,'e had series of promotions in Lords so please sistance. we feel the menu should delight all do book a table or (even better!) tables palates!! Although the normal bar and come and relive the days of the David Viccars snack menu will continue to run in the Raj! General Manager

STAFF INCENTIVE SCHEME

If you find any member of staff particularly helpful, please fill in the form below and send to Mr. David Viccars, to recommend this staff member for the quarterly staff incentive bonus. Line managers are not eligible for this bonus as they will be helping the Manager balancing the votes from the membership.

I WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING STAFF MEMBER FOR THE STAFF INCENTIVE SCHEME

STAFF MEMBER ......

DEPARTMENT ......

REASON ......

CLUB MEMBER ......

CLUB NUMBER ......

6 uUoVlogel'l'leVlt uVoHceg

.f MANAGEMENT NOTICES

WATER from 24 May to 4 June is cov­ Champenhasrequested thathe ered elsewhere in the magazine, is paid B150 per hour from 1 the meals chosen are all very, May. This would seem to be Members who use the Club of­ very good, they will be prepared fair! Read elsewhere in this is­ ten will be pleased to know that by the Holiday Inn chefs using sue about the Khun Champen there is no longer a supply their own imported ingredients story. problem with water for the with the dishes being prepared Poolside facilities. We have put in our kitchens. Having tested in a new pipe to bypass the old all the dishes to be served, a metal pipe which was corroded treat is guaranteed! Both the Bar MEMBERS and partially blocked. The result (as well as the normal bar snack is that we will not run out of menu) and Lords will be serv­ ACCOUNTS '/ water Poolside again, nor do ing Indian cuisine from dinner we have to buy any more water on the public holiday on Tues­ May will be the first month in by the truckload from the Fire day 24 May to dinner on Satur­ which members' monthly ac­ Service, hence we are saving day4June ..... do come and try it counts will not include copies well over B 4,000 every week. out, and do please book if you of chits signed in the previous The only downside to all this is wish to use the Restaurant. The month. Instead, please study the that the Fire Service is highly plan is to make this the first of a chit summary for a record of aggrieved because their "nice series of similar international your expenditure. Any queries little earner" has come to an promotions at the Club, so . can be resolved in the office end! There is a separate prob­ please come and make it a suc­ where we hold all the origi­ lem with the pressure of water cess. nals chits. in the showers Poolside which is not always high enough to have a totally satisfactory shower, but that is a different STAFF AWARDS issue, now the supply problem has been solved we can inves­ Maywill be the month in which tigate the pressure difficul­ we make the selections for the ties. quarterly staff awards, if you have any suggestions to make please fill in the slip in this "12 DAYS OF magazine and return it to the THE RAJ" General Manager. in Lords from May 24 to June 4. MASSAGE

Although the Indian (Raj style) After 6 years of charging BI00 promotion in the Club House for a one hour massage, Khun

7 MASSAGE AT THE BHITISH CLUB

OW many of our Members will know go to touch and press the spot for a massage. The the story behind Khun Champen, our finger pressure or accupressure is only a system­ / H blind masseur? Well, in brief he came aticandsophisticated way to do it. The underlying to us about 6 years ago, he was blinded in a theory is in fact that external points of the body shooting accidentw hen he was 17 and was taught have direct connections with internal organs and how to be a masseur by the Foundation for the so by stimulating the external points we can Blind in Thailand. Khun Champen travels 2 hours effectively influence the internal organs too. The morning and night to get to and from the Club, ancient theory states that there are 11 important and he lives with his sister who looks after him at organs in our body. All these different organs home. Khun Champen is saving to get married, have connecting veins and nerves; whenever , , and as his charge for one hours excellent massage there is a disfunction on the nerves through , has remained unchanged at B100 for 6 years it accupressure we are able to ease the problem. , seems fair to increase the price to B1S0 from 1 It manifests itself on the nerve first. So the May. Members may like to know more about the right pressure on the right spot can relieve pain Skills Development Centre, which trained Khun and start the curative process to eliminate the Champen in the art of authentic Thai massage. illness. Among the various subjects that the Skills The blind trained at the Skills Development Development Centre for the Blind offers to the Centre undergo a long and careful training in trainees is also the Thai traditional massage. It is order to be both competent and efficient. Their already six full years now since our blind mas­ training is constantly monitored by one of the seur started giving massages to our first custom­ best Thai traditional massage practitioners and ers at the completion of the training. Since then the satisfaction and the praise of our many cus­ the ever increasing popularity of our massage tomers give credit to it. The best way to judge a hall gives faith to the professionality of our blind good massage is to have one! masseurs. During the renovatjon of Squash Court 3, What is then the authentic Thai massage? It which is the normal venue for the massage, the can in short be defined as ACCUPRESSURE. service is operating in the children's changing Accupressure is the stimulation of appropriate room, by the children's pool. All you have to do points of the body in order to soothe away ten­ to book a massage is to go along and put your sion, improve blood supply, unblock the func­ name on the booking board by the entrance to the tions of nerve impulses and cure certain types of children's changing room. illnesses. All this is done by finger-pressure. 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. (but Khun Champ en Pain and illness is relieved in certain places will stay longer if there are consecutive book­ on the body are pressed. ings), every day except Monday which is his day Each one of us instinctively already uses a off. kind of accupressure when, for example, after a The cost for one hour's traditional and more than hearty meal we 'massage' our stom­ excellent massage is only Baht 150 to be paid in ach or when we feel pain somewhere, our hands cash at the time to Khun Champen. Pension Planning r----_For Business Gypsies_----.

ithout a corporate structure to rely on, today's business gypsy often has to initiate his or her W own personal pension scheme. This is not as straightforward as it looks. One trap for first-time players is the assumption that advice from your friendly insurance salesperson comes gratis.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. In most pension schemes, commission comes off the first year's contributions and can amount to as much as 60 to 100% of your initial payment. Okay, so the guy has to earn a living like you. But think it through. · . How long do you think it takes for your second and subsequent years' payments to recover from the significant reduction of that first year's invest­ ment and begin earning? Depending on the scheme, it usually takes many years.

Don't worry - help is at hand. One highly reputable U.K. insurance pension company pays out no commissions at all- on flexible pension plans with no penalties. Thus ensuring the lowest operating expense ratio of any insurance company in Britain and the highest reputa­ tion for responsible financial management. , Those who represent that company ask only a realistic one-time fee which is dramatically lower than the usual commissions deducted. Which means your first year's investment begins working' immediately.

If you'd like more details about how World Portfolio W~LD can organise an individual pension scheme for you PORTFOLIO In d ependent F inanc i al Adv ice at absolutely no obligation - with no unsolicited 8th Fl., Maneeya Center Bldg., phone calls or unexpected visits - simply fax your 518/5 Ploenchit Road, business card to 652 0733. Or call Peter Downs on Bangkok 10330. Thailand. 652 0730/1/2 for more details. An awesome task awaited Suzanne Partridge at the British Club New Members Night on 4 April. Bea does pick her times to be ill, 27 new members were invited to come and meet the General Committee. Lucky for Suzanne not all of them turned up and she did a great job talking to everybody there.

Y(lllri Ivanov, Oll r first Russiiln p rospective Member, was surrounded by " circle of helpful infonmlllts who told me he is on the run from foreign ,'gl'nls

Peter Roebuck is here with Collingwoods and hC'ls been in Hilngkok for 8 wecks. He has managed, however, to play 4 gilmes of cricket ,1S for 14 year. At night he likes 10 cudd le up un the settee with it good book.

I3ri

Kasper and Angel" Jackobscn have been in Bangkok for 1 month. Kasper works for Lever Brothers. They ilrc O(lnish

Marion Free-Roberts and Cameron Roberts have been here nearly a yeilr. Marion works for the AustraliCln Embassy and is a System Administrator. They have 2 children at PatanCl School. Marion enjoys cross stitching and Ca meron likes a good drink, he is planning on bolstering sflles in the BC b,lL

.... Alan Neil is the M not a lot of that going on in Bangkok. He phumed to join the Be the fir!>! week hcwas herc, but you know how it goes, time fl ies when you are enjoying yourself.

)

10 f

Dieter Luewe, the General Manager of the Monarch Lee Gardens Hotel Dr. Kannika Suttisrichart is a dentist at the Bangkok Nursing Home. She has been here for 5 months. He spent 12 years in Hong Kong and 9 in fixed up Bryan Baldwin's teeth and he talked herintojoining thcClub.She Singapore, so with his track record a long term member for the BC He hopes she will be able to use the Club a lot as it is very convenient for her decided to join because he enjoys playing tennis and heard about the and her family. active tennis section. He has a3 year old son and says he (Dieter) w il l enjoy using the facilities of the Club.

Ka ye and Da vid Swallow have been here for 5 years, finally got fed up Pakom Thavisin, the Chairman of the Thai Danu Bank, who was de­ with the Polo Club and decided to join Be for some proper Club ahnos· scribed by Bryan Baldwin as a b .... good bloke. Pakorn plays squash and phere. David is Marketing Manager for Colgate· Palmolive. They have 2 recently had his first SCUBA lesson. He hopes to be able to use the children. David likes triathlons and Kaye swims and plays tennis. fa cilities a lot. He is also a keen boatsman. Stuart and Anne Bowman, this couple had to leave early are in the photograph with Kaye & David Swallow, but assured me they arc a fun loving lot and like to eat, drink and be merry. Hope to catch up with them later for further details.

Alfred So has been a resident of Thailand (or 20 years. He has joined the BC beca use he is a keen tennis players and he thinks he will enjoy the BC tennis bunch. He is already a member of tile Sports Club and one of their better players. So watch out BC Tennis Section. He is a golf player too but only took this up 6 t08 months ago, very keen though! He says he has too Andrew Marshall has been here for 4 weeks and says it is very diffe rent many children who all go to ISB; the family wi!! move out nearer to the from Colchester. He is here for Transpo and has come to join Derek schco)1 soon to stop the long travelling time for their children. Cheyne. His wife Lisa will be arriving in\May ~ Hesees the Club as a place where hecan maintain his sanity and we wish him luck. He has joined the fitness centre and is thinking of taking up squash.

}

11 ./ f I \ H 1 \ David Birtwistle (what a lovely name) is the Product Development Roger and Judy Fitzgerald have been here for 3 months. Roger has been Manager at Lever Brothers and has becnhere for 3 months. 'Th is is his first a QS for 30 years and loves to play tem\is, golf and is an avid rugby posting overseas and he hopes to be here for 3 years. He is single, a keen follower. He plans to take the Be by storm. Judy used to play tennis but bridge player rmd does not consider himself to be much of a sportsman, now enjoys aerobics. She has her own property company in UK. TIley but does like propping up against the bar. lived in Spain for 4 years.

Marianne Blazkevizc an Executive Officer of the Danish Embassy has Alan and Lise Dean have been il' Bangkok for a year. He is the Resident been here for 8 months and was a member of the British Club whilst at Manager for A/S Betonmast. They are surrounded by Scandinavian other postings. She enjoys the club atmosphere. She plays tennis, goes people as they both work for Scandinavian companies and decided itwas swimming a lot, she hopes to join the fitness centre and take up squash. time for a change and go "British" and join the Club. Alan and Lise, who is Norwegian, play tennis and have two sons aged 1 and 4.

I

Valerie and Ralph Robert (he is Senior Project Coordinator for Christiani Nielsen) get the Keen Be New Members Award of the year. They walkcd Damien andJelUlifer HertsJet are on their.first posting from Australia and all the way from Sukhumvit Soi 23 because of the bad traffic. Ralph has have becf' here for 2 months. Damien is here with Lend Lease.and is their been here for 3 months but Va lerie only arrived 3 days ago and is still Project Manager He enjoys playing football and cricket, Jennifer likes suffering from culture shock and holds a firm believe Bangkok has no aerobics and watersports, reading and history and Ihey both hope to usc taxis. Ralph plays squash, tennis, golf and snooker and enjoys the bar. the club a lot. Valerie concentrates on the bar and food.

)

12 ST ANDREW GOLF

he Bangkok SI. Andrews Society held its annual golf outing at Muang Ake on 5th T March where 28 members and guests com­ peted with each other and the course for various trophies. Still smarting from defeat in the Inter-So­ cieties Golf Tournament the week before, the players wreaked vengeance on a forgiving source and many scores were returned. indeed some were so low that they transcended the fa ntastic and bordered on the 'bandit' level. You all thought Dick Turpin was English. Anyway, a great time was had by all and Donald McNeil, the overall winner, in true Scotiish tradition un- capped the top of his litre bottle of Black Label which , was part of his prize and threw it away (the top that is). Fear of evaporation of the 'water of life' in these tropical climes lead to a speedy consumption and so the pattern was set for the post game pleasantries. No event can take place without organisation and commitment and the committee and players would like to than out golf convener Paul Nears for his sterling work not only in organising this event but for his service on the Inter­ Societies Golf Group. Thanks also to Dugal Forrest for his computer­ like score keeping on the day. t It would be a dereliction of duty if we failed to St. Andrew's thank our princi­ Leonowens Trophy (Low Gross) C. Skinner pal sponsors GERSON & Gerson Table (Low Nett) D. McNeil COMPANY, FLEMING Gibson Pu tter (Best St'ford) R. Selwyn KINNAIRD, DUNLOP and NES­ Ladies Cup (Low Nett) .P. Daniels TLE for some excellent prizes. The event was also sponsored by ROYAL GARDEN RESORTS RIVER­ Open Section: SIDE HOTEL, UNOCAL, DUSIT THANI HOTEL, Nestle Basket Best St'ford) J. Neizner CATERING ASSOCIATES, HONGKONG & Runner Up M. Davidson SHANGHAI BANK and thanks to one and all.

For the record the principal wilmer were: 'Scoop

) .} BIG RESTAUHANT/ENTEHTAINiVIlWr LIVING IN THAILAND ... PLACE OF PETCIIBUIU ROAD the Mai pen rai attitude I asked my secretary: "Please ask the waiter when m y Tom Yam Khung will arrive". The waiter answers, very politely/'on his knees: J.B. IIOTEL HAT YAI "Soll y Sir, wait a moment, cooks are fighting .... "

Entering the Lobby Ba r. SECHETARY OF Mit TERRY E. ON THE PHONE Waitress: "Do you want a d rink Sir?" "Yes please" Hello Sir, I have to say sorry! W: " Do YOll want a beer Sir" Why do you have to say sorry to me? "Yes, a beer is fine" Sorry, Sir I have to say sorry to you ... W: " Do you want a Kloster beer Sir" Does this mean Mr. Terry is not joining the trip to B.? "Yes please give me a Kloster" Sorry Sir, Mr. Terry only told me to say sorry to you. W: "You want a big one Sir" Can you take a message for Mr. Terry? "Yes please a big one is o.k." Yes Sir. W: "No have Sir ...... " Please tell Mr. Terry I am sorry too. Sorry Sir, can you spell that for me? Yes my dear, S-O-R-R-y' Thank you Sir ... .. , .'

COMMUNICATIONS From: Deputy Department Head To: Superintendent

"By order of the general manager, at 5 p.m. on Friday, the The foll owing article was sent to OUTPOST by laap van phenomenal Halley's Comet will appear in the canteen. In Gelder and we thank "The Rotarian" magazine of Rotary case of rain in the area outside the building, the general International. manager will give another order, something which occurs once every 76 years."

R.I Director ANTONIO M. SERRANO of Bed fo rdview,South Africa, offers this humorous example of how office communi­ From: Superintendent cations ca n become garbled in transmission. To: Foreman

From: General Manager "On Friday at 5 p.m. the general manager will appear in the To: Department Heads canteen with Halo's Comet, something which happens every 76 years. If it rains, the general manager will order the comet "On Friday evening at approximately 5 p.m. Halley's Comet into the area outside the building." will be visible in this area, an event which occurs only once every 76 years. Please have the employees assem ble in the park area outside the building and I will explain this rare From: Foreman phenomenon to them. In case of rain, we will notbeable to see To: Team Leader anything, so assemble the employees int he ca nteen and I will show them a film of it." "When it rains on Friday at 5 p.m., the phenomenal 76-year­ old Bill Haley, accompanied by his Comets, will drive the From: Department Head general manager through the area outside the building to the To: Deputy Department Head ca nteen."

"By order of the general manager, on Friday at5 p.m., Halley's Comet will appear above the area outside the building. If it rains please assemble the employees and proceed to the canteen, where this rare phenomenon will take place, some­ thing which only occurs every 76 years." )

14 ~, Fully integrated services to meet the demands of all businesses

Security services Carpet cleaning Upholstery care

Eradication of mosquitoes Termite control in the house and on construction sites and other insects

Cleaning offices department stores and factories

Interior and Exterior window cleaning With over 25 years' experience

Tel. 255- 5436 - 39 Fax. 253- 9l72

> Always A Force to be Reckoned with Stuart lip there all the winl1er's Rostrul1l agnin.

SUNDA Y 13TH MARCH

This was the first of our Quarterly Medal competitions for 1994 and was played over the relatively new venue of Royal Country Club at Lard Krabang.

Inchcape CalbeckIMacGregor/Dimple have once again agreed to sponsor this event this year and Roy Barrett of !nchcape was on hand to give out the prizes. Their con­ tinuing support of the Section with this event is greatly appreciated.

Results were:

FlighlA Winner Eric Hudson (69) 2nd Peter Ingram (70) 3rd Dugal Forrest (72) Roy Barrett presents 1st Prize Flight "A" to Eric Huds on

Fight B Winner James T-Glover (68) Eric, as is only fitting perhaps on his first outing since 2nd Ron Sparks (70) becoming our Captain, took Flight A in magnificent 3rd Neil Buttery (71) form and new member James snuck in on his first outing with us to win Flight B. The least·said about Robbie the Fight C better!! Seriously, though, Robbie has been taking lessons Winner Rob Selwyn (61) and they sure have paid off. Well done to all three and no 2nd Graham Hunt (70) doubt they will all be subjected to very close scrutiny 3rd Nev Bayliss (73) by handicapper Dugal!

)

16 \

TI/j' :' lII il!' tIll /l It' Jilcr' t ~r the riser! Hobbit' colleds hi:, it'll/lIi IlX:' .11'0111 !\I1'l l'( IIlICl" /{/II/t' ::; TJ/(ll//soll -Cloper Flight "B" first Prize Wi, l lier Roy

SUNDAY 27'1'11 MARCil

Thi s was a Club outing held at Muang Ka ew. 29 Aspirants turned lip on a warm, but windy day for a bogey competi ­ ti on (plusses and minusses). Sponsor for the day was Sahasin-QBE Insurance through the good offices of Ron Sparks.

Results were:-

Flight A Winner Peter Tngram (+1) 2nd Ron Sparks ( 0) 3rd Norbet Staub (-) )

Flight B W inner tuart Da vy (-1 ) 2nd Alexi Hughes (-2) 3rd Mike Baker (-2)

Tn addition to the above competition, th e Ca ptain gave each playing group an orange ball with which each player in the group had to take turns to complete a hole. The object was to be still in possession of the orange ball at the end of the round. The result 01 this little event was that not one group managed to keep their ball through to the end of the STOP PHESS!!! round - and we call ourselves golfers!' On Sunday 3rd April the Section took on the ladies of A good day was enjoyed by all and our thanks go tn the I3CLG in the annual battle for th e Inaugural Trophy Sahasin-Q13 E for their generous support - thank you Ron . kindly sponsored by l~h on e - Poulen c . The result was Sadly the Section had to say farewell to Peter and Di xie a very narrow win for the Section by 338 points to 334. Ingram at thi s outing. They are returning to Oz after Well done NCGS and thank you to BCLG for a very several years with the Club; Peter,ofcourse, as Captain last close run and, as usual , enjoyable match. Mo re of this next year. "Bon Voyage" to you both and don't forget to come month. back a nd see liS.

17 'r

On the 3rd of March, the Secretary of the Section was cordially invited to attend a press conference at the Imperial Queens Park Hotel. The invitation came from the President of the Snooker Association of Thailand, Khun Sindhu Pulsirivong. The press conference was held to welcome the thirty two top snooker players of the world to the KLOSTER THAILAND OPEN SNOOKER tournament.

rixie was introduced Trairatanapradit, one of the 'Wild to Steve Davis, Dennis Cards'. You may remember in my ,0. T Taylor, Stephen Hendry, last report, I mentioned this young Terry Griffiths and many more top man had recently turned profes­ players. It was also very interest­ sional, so was an almost unknown ing talking to one time world player, but not anymore!! When champion billiards player, Ray he goes to Blackpool in June peo­ Edmunds. And the famous referee, ple there will bewatchinghim very Ron Ganley, who happily man­ carefully. It took the steady hand game of snooker between Steve aged to appear at the british Club and nerves of Darren Morgan from Davis and Tony Knowles. The to enjoy a plate of steak and kidney Wales to eventually knock standard of safety play was really pie! Chuchart out of the Kloster Thai superb, then both players relaxed The first shock of the tourna­ Open, by winning 5-4. a little to give the audience a really ment came when the world's I took Adam to one of the first thrilling performance of world number one player, Stephen round matches, along with Doug class snooker. Steve took the first Hendry, was toppled byChuchart and Val Mather. It was a super two frames, Tony the next two. A )

18 ) funny thing happened during the break of 10 minutes. I got the cups of tea, Val went to the 100, Val drank her tea, Trixie went to the 100, the first person I met in the 100 was .. TONY KNOWLES (what was he doing in the ladies loo?? Ed) ... cleaning his cue! We chatted for a while, he had to get back, by the time I got back to the snooker room the doors had been locked, and I missed the fifth frame, THANKS TONY!! The end result Steve Davis 5 Tony Knowles 4.Needless to say we all had a very enjoyable evening. Other British Club members were given free tickets to go along ; and watch world class snooker were, Ken Ross, Graham Wain­ wright, Jaap and Leanne van Gelder, Brian Griffin and Mike O'Connor. Mike Brann and Ken Ross were the lucky pair who went to the final between Steve Davis and Wattana, the eventual winner in case you didn't know was the Thai champion player Wattana Phu-ob-orm. I hope that all you snooker fans out there enjoyed the tourna­ ment as much as we did. I feel very proud to have been invited to share the excitement of the world of snooker, and would ( like to take this opportunity to which is still classed as illegal in Some telephone numbers for say a big, THANK YOU!!, to our Thailand, will be recognised for the ladder: friendKhun Sindhu Pulsirivongse, what it is; a very respectable for making it possible for some sport. Mike Brann 3858794 members of the British Club to As a foot-note I'd also like to Trixie Brann 3858794 go along and enjoy, REAL add that I was very impressed to Mike O'Connor 2340247 SNOOKER. have witnessed so many smartly Doug Mather 286 5384/3%1715 Some very exciting news just dressed young men, who con­ Ken Ross 2677856/ received from the UK is that our ducted themselves throughout the 231 3412 ex 204 friendKhun SindhuPulsirivongse ' tournament, like perfect gentle­ Jaap van Gelder 2352775 has been duly elected to serve on men, certainly a tribute to the sport Graham Wainwright 3926166 the board of 'WORLD PROFES­ of snooker. LesMouat. 2361205 SIONAL BILLIARDS AND Brian Griffin 5611130 SNOOKER ASSOCIATION Bryan Baldwin 3857229 9WPBSA),. Atlast,maybe the game Trixie Brann . Joe Fletcher 2549913

19 CJootbaQQ

HI GANG

As the football season reaches its climax in the UK with the Scottish Cup Final, and with the World Cup less than 2 months away, we still have no conclusion to the local Farang League competition which has gone, on later than usual this year. Unseasonal rains have caused programme disruptions including the cancellation of our top of the table clash with the Royal Bangkok Sports Club. Unfortunately, the raindrops were signs of tears from heaven for us when we played the third placed Italians as you will see from the match report.

MATCH REPORT unstoppable shot that went in off the COMPANY. A natty all white post to put us on level terms. We affair with yellow and maroon facing Onl y two senior games were continued to press and the Italians we at least look like a football tearn played during the month as a resultof were on the rack when disaster struck. and against the Indians played like the vagaries of the fixture list which A long punt by the Italian centre half one, left us with two blank weeks plus the seemed to be carrying though to the cancellation of the RBSC game. Per­ 18 yard box but held up. 111e writer's CASUALS COHNEIl haps the League Computer needs re­ momentary hesitation was enough to \ booting. Anyway, we lined up against allow their pacy centre forward to The wee team had four games the third placed Italians for a real four gain possession and force himself last month including one against a pointer in the first of these. It seems around me for a 'tap-in' goal. Mama touring Hong Kong side which ended tha t every game these days as we chase mia, arrivederci Breetish Club. Yes, in a six four defeat. Apparently the elusive League title is in the make the Italians put up the shutters after temporary captain John Shehan or break category and we could ill that and were content to defend and did not get the blend of experience afford a slip-up on this one. kick the ball vigorously into touch and mediocrity quite right at the The first blow was struck before a with a degree of trajectory that would start of the second half which lead ball wa,s kicked as goalkeeper Neil have had a NASA scientist green with to the visitor's rattling in three Torrance failed to appear due to a mix envy. The final score was 2-1 and we quick goals. The record of our scorers upon dates and without regularstand­ slipped to four points behind the RBSC was lost in the post match cocoa in Norman Bright, who had been per­ with three games to play. Fortunately session but 'Scud' Rodgers reliably forming well when called upon, Cap­ RBSC have to play both us and the informs me that he scored the goal of tain Carruthers had to re-shuffle the Italians and so all is not yet lost but in the match. side putting yours truly in goal and degrees of difficulty we have gone The second match was against bringing Ritchie Crooks in at (for him) from needing to climb Mount old rivals Asia Fumigation which re­ the very unfamiliar left back position. Kinabalu to Mount Everest. Lets not sulted in a three one win for the Ter­ From the kick off it was obvious the take anything away from the Halians minators. Match three was anin-house Italians were determined to reserve however as on the day they performed seven-a-side affa ir whilst the last game the World War II result and their tac­ very well and conceivably they also saw the Casuals take on an Anglo­ tics were a bit different from then as could win the title. Gennan tea mc61nprisingsomeofolll' they kept coming forward instead of Game two was a much better af­ first team and some German All Stars retreating. We took time to settle in fair however. Missing Greg Watkins, in a celebration of Vaughan Elias' and it was no suriJrise when follow­ Chris Davin, Frank Hough and your fortieth birthday. Stalwarth Vaughan ing a catalogue of defensive errors in own 'Scoop', the reshuffled side did duly obliged the crowd by scoring the attempting to clear the ball, the pasta not bat an eyelid and stroll ed to a six goal of a lifetime. Mark Adams re­ punters opened the scoring. This one win against the Indian Cougars. ceived the ball on the wing and seemed to wake us up and we enjoyed A spectacular hat-trick from Captain Vaughan sprinted 40 years from deep our best spell of the game either side William Carruthers was the corner inside his (lwn half to get on the end of of half time. Steve Casteldine gave us stone of the victory with other goals Mark'ssquarepass. The sprightly Elias the greatest possible start to the second from SteveCasteldine, Ron Aston and took two strides on the ball and rifled half when he scored another of the Richard Crooks -who was playing his a 40 yard shot at 40 mph past a spectacular goals that have become last competitive game. All of a sudden dumbstruck Anglo-German goalie. It his hallmark this season. spirits are high again and it was a was not enough to save the Team Latching onto the ball twenty great way to christen the new football from a five-three defeat but was a goal five yards out he unleashed an kit provided by RICHARD ELLIS to savour. )

:w CC100tbaQQ

'oJ POST SCRIPTS addition of a new section member in I don't know how you do it, the shape of Katherine (Ka tel, a lovely he said with tearful eyes, Well that wraps up a shorter than fi rst daughter for Chris andJulie Davin It's getting rather painful, usual article. At the time of writing it (a nd we thought Julie had swallowed it must be quite a size Ritchie and Jan Crooks return to the a football) . Congratulations to bothof Now calm yourself darling, UK is definite and the section will you. It's only small and thin, miss Ritchie both on and off the field. That's the news on views for just open slightly wider Ritchie, as said last month, is the quiet this month but as always. S o I can get it in. man of the section but his dependabil­ . How can you tell an Irishman has Suddenly with a startled jump, ity and unassuming character have been using your PC she gave a bitter shout won him many friends in both the There's tippex on the screen Only a little blood was shed football and rugby sections. Haste ye and then he pulled it out back. It is likelywe will lose Chairman As you have been listening, Ron Aston and Club mainstay Steve it's a dentist as you find Castel dine in the summer so things Now listen very carefully It wasn't what you thought it was are not looking so good. Vaughan Elias It's as simple as can be, It's just your dirty mind reached the big four-O this moth and The game is getting in and out, we wish him well. Ex memberTommy The players he and she, On that poetic note I'\l end for Keenan returned from Hong Kong for She whispers: Will it hurt me? this month the event and it was great to see him . Of course not, whispers he and wife Nong again. It's quite a simple process, c u. Scoop The real new this month was the just rely on me )

SQUASH

ednesday March 30th - Mike Ja ckson (6) been postponed until court 3 is com­ Squash Section AGM Peter Campbell (7) pleted . More news in the next issue of W night, saw the horrors of Alan Payne (8) Outpost. Silom Road traffic strike once again. Jakob Horsen (9) While on the subject of Marvyn, The most popular participatory sport Ross Horwood (10) apologies are owing to him, as Bryan in the club was stricken at its AGM Christian Rosmussen (12) Dodd was erroneously credited with with a situation "in which committee being this year's rwrner-up to Howard members outnumbered civilians by a and particular congratulations to Randall in the Para Handy Plate ratio of approximately 2 to 1. None­ Graciela Haube for winning League competition. This considerable acco­ theless, the stalwarts of the section 13 - a mere 10 months after taking up lade was, in fact, Marvyn's - the error successfully concl uded all business in the game of squash. obviously occurred because all the hand, ably assisted by the resolute There's bad news about the re­ aforementioned super-competitive proposing and seconding of Messrs. pairs to court 3. True to the p recedents squashies are persons of Welsh de­ Campbell and Platt. set by such previous Bangkok devel­ scent! Our sincere thanks go to I.CI. for opments as the "Sky train" and the Last and perhaps least - a note their Sponsorship of the January 1994 "Elevated Expressway" the repairs to about the wonderfully named "Doc­ League and to their gracious and pa­ court 3 are going to take longer and tor Ra cquet". Yes folks, this is the tient Managing Director - Jerry Fisher cost a little more than first envisioned. place for fast, reliable repairs to all - who presented the winners shields The good news is that Marvyn Lewis your racquets (even poor cousins of at theAGM. - something of an expert on court squash, such as tennis and badminton The January winners were: construction - has joined the commit­ racquets). Located off Soi 49 between tee and will oversee future develop­ Samitivej Hospital and Soi Thonglor­ David Bryant (1) ments. In addition, there are rumours the good Doctor is your man. Marvyn Lewis (2) that we may strike oil! See you on court. Mike Rickard (3) One upshot of this delay is that lain Young (4) the Inter-Societies competition has Ba rry Daniel

21 YOU'VE SEEN THIS GUlBEFORE, You have to move, you call a big name mover and the next agement knows each of our packing crews personally and thihg you know he's at your door. And he 's unforgettable in insists they pass various staff"train ing programs and daily the worst sort of way. He th inks yo ur lampshades look better performance reviews. At JVK, organisation procedures are with dents. He confuses your Ming vase with your basketball. standardised and detailed, down to individually wrapping - And he leaves his mark, usually with his dirty boots on your and addressing - each item. In short, your valuables are as Persian carpet. important to us as they are to you. ;­ I If th is disturbs you , call JVK. We guarantee the kind of '" custom care and professional serviceyou pay for but seldom get. That's because we don 't subcontract. Period. Our man- IIIfJIf& REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES )

Bangkok: (6621375-2921 , Regional Offices - Hanoi: (844) 260-334(0) , Ho Chi Minh: (848) 295-448, Rangoon: (095) 1-22622, Singapore: (65) 221-7971, Vientiane: 2658/2066/2799, Phnom Penh: (855) 232·7511 . () Now if this magazine was slap bang on time this month. I could safely say that our loyal band of Badmintonians were at this very moment defending our honour in Jomtien in the revenge, sorry, return match against the Pattaya Players!!

up, near the end of March the gauntlet was thrown down by our ex-chairpeople, Peter Yand Pauline Dalton who broke ranks last year and absconded to Pattaya, that we face up to the challenge and herd a team down to the coast once again for a match! How could we refuse? The weekend picked was this first one in May - the bank holiday weekend - and one which conveniently coincided with the Tennis Section also going down to the Blackpool of the East. The idea was that we arrange the badminton match on the Sunday morn­ ing so that those of us who are able to play both sports, could join in the tennis tourney in the afternoon, fitness permitting. Sounds good, but you'll have to wait for next month to see if it actually happened like this. Next month I'll be able to report on the April Racquet Tournament, that event which we won in such amazing style last year. At least the pressure is on the other sections (Tennis and Squash) to perform after their dismal failure against us champs last year. Henry wearil1g another hat - the Tennis Umpire! Indeed, we might just as well relax about it and let them bust the bloodvessels! We've already proved our point!! for the Tennis Section on Finals Day! Glad to say he In March we received a letter from Tom and did a grand job! Nong, that cheerful couple who moved to Hong Kong Finally, I note that Andrew Barr has made an­ C) about six months ago, who wrote to tell us that they other of his brief appearances, mostly at Soi Klang! may be paying us a visit about Easter time. They said Unfortunately, he ain't sticking around long enough they haven't managed to found a Badminton Section to help us out for the Racquet Day, bad planning if in the Hong Kong Football Club in order to invite us you ask me. over, but maybe when the new club opens in early 1995 ... ! Cheers! By the by apologies for late appearance of the Lek Farang database I heralded in the last issue, the workload of XXX the relevant commi ttee members skyrocketed during March, grizzle, gripe. However, mad March work schedules aside, we're hoping the database will be GAYNOR GUIDE TO BADMINTON with you this month! See the photo of Henry on this page somewhere This is the recipe for the month, as supplied by our in a less common mode of employment - as an umpire Home and Garden correspondent, Henry!

23 Steaming youI' tubes

Advised for all new tubes of feather shuttles bought, this procedure should be carried out on the tube as soon as you buy / open them, and need never be re­ peated. The procedure is as follows:

1. Open the tube of shuttlecocks and empty out all the shuttles.

2. Replace one end of the tube.

3. Pour in some fairly warm water and replace the ., lid on the other end of the tube.

4. Do the 'Cocktail Mixer' shake motion on the tube for 3-5 seconds.

5. Remove both ends and pour out all the water.

· r . I 6. Hold the tube (open end, of course) over the spout of a boiling kettle for about 30 seconds. Children should ask an adult to help them with th is, as the steam from a kettle ca n scald hands, and what the heck, why scald your hands, kids, when you can get an adult to make just as much of a mess of it? _. I. ( ._. __1 'I · /" . ~r'>. 1 /

. ~ ) 7. Finally, replace all the shuttles in the tube. procedure when you first open your tubes, then in theory you need never be seen comm itting the shuttle blow-job as reported in the March issue. A point YOUR SHUTTLES ARE NOW NOT ONLY READY worthy of consideration indeed. FOR ACTION, BUT THEY SHOULD LAST MUCH LONGER, TOO!! P.S. This recipe is available in a neatly-typed-on-pelfumed­ paper version from Really Useful Scams Ltd, c/o the This procedure ensures a higher degree of mois­ Badminton Pigeonhole, Reception, The British Clllb, ture in the storage area of your shuttles, which should Bnllgkok. Please l1Iake crossed cheques for Baht 3,800 maintain more flexibility in the glue and hence, should payable to Gaynor. last oodles longer. This activity is for the more organ­ ised person, because if you can manage this si mple Thank you. )

24 · )

The drunks alld has beells nt the Polo Club

Click, click ... squeak, squeak .. yes, it's that Rounding off May, there is also the postponed match against the Nordics, and there will be a mixed league, 1 am time of year again, when the zimmer frames, assured, on the proviso that the April League isn't extended wheelchairs and creaky bones come out in due to a severe outbreak of apathy that has hit both the force for the elderlies, sorry, veterans cham­ December and February leagues. An that's just this month! Here's to Mad events ofMareh: pionships, which start this month. At the other end of the scale, there is the Juniors CLUBCIIAMPIONSIIIPS FINALS FAY AND PRIZE GIVING DINNER -13'1'11 AND 19TH MAIICH Round Robin on Sunday May 8th from 9- 11am, an event held on the first Sunday Well, what clinches ca n be used about this day that hasn' t already been covered by the pi ctorial report that should be morning of each month. This is a newie included in this issue A superb day of tennis, with some (started last month) and it's only Baht 25 per spectators' bums remaining moulded to the plastic slats of the sprag, simply turn up complete with racquet. sala chairs for much of the action. The 'real' fin als were played on centre court with the same respective plate finals being For details contact Shelagh Weekes on 258 played Simultaneously on Court One, which gave spectators 5107. and familial supporters a chance to watch two good games at once ... quality programming, that's us. Stu·in and Chalatip stole the day for the most part starring in 4 out of 5 finals and ACHTUNG!! Sunday 8th May brings the greatest event winning all of them, yet again displaying a high standard of on the section calendar - the Annual General Meeting, consistent tennis. yeeehaah! Absolutely unmissable, you have just enough time The prize-giving dinner the following Sa turday was a to pile up a plateful of corking buffet following on from the superbly supported affair. There must have been over 80 American tournament fr om 2-6pm, before this feat of mem­ people there, several of whom received the 'alternative' prizes bership participation gets underway. Be there or be forced to as well as the legit cups for court excellence (or nearly). The read Outpost in July to find out who the new committee is! evening was rounded offby a British-style Sing-along around Right at the startof the month, indeed as we speak if this the piano with Andy Hunter expertly tinkling the ivories. rag is delivered on time, one merry group will be spending this first bank holiday weekend at ye, Royal Cliff in Pattaya, BEGINNERS/INTEHMEDIATES MATCH VS POLO playing both a match against the Pattaya Players on Sunday CLUB MONDA Y 14HI MAHCH 1st and an internal tourney on the Saturday afternoon, with the pOSSibility of a game of 'badders' on the Sunday morning This report submitted by David Henton, a participant if they got their act together in time. A good place to end the and a new scribe for the section! summer season; report, pies etc. soon. Into the valley of the Polo Club strode the 18-strong

25 !

Maurice 'Scarface' presenting Paul Dwight We, the sensible, at the Prize-giving di1lner J • with the JlInior Champs Clip

"Dream Team" shoulders heavy with the knowledge of pre­ vious club defeats. Our team was carefully handpicked from the cream of the Club's beginners, intermediates, drunks and has-beens following extensive trials. Father of the Year with a The evening started with mild confusion when both dri1lking impediment ... teams were asked to form a long line opposite each other, 3 1,2,3 Aaaah!! metres apart. Was this going to be a· dance, a pie-hurling. session or a sing-song? Neither, this was the formal IS-player rearranging washed out matches as we approach the rainy hand-shake ... confusion abounded. Fina lly, names were pulled season? Any other commentslsuggestions, please contact out of a hat and the pairs commenced competition! Eileen Cook. The result, I am delighted to report, was a 7-5 victory for Gor blimey, strike a light!! Remember I asked for some­ the British Club Improvers! Those partaking, who were not one to tell mewhat happened at Club Aldiana? Well, blow me ashamed to be classified as drunks etc. were: Joan Adams, down, if David Henton didn't up and produce his ~ John Bueno, Charlotte, Robert Campbell, Rita Dunford, Marie contribution to this worthy column for me, bless his little Goode, David and Tom Henton, Guy and Karen Hollis, Jaree cotton socks, so here goes: Lee, Marie-Jose Moor, James Thomson Glover, Gisi van Walbeek, Uta Walker, Angela White and Carol and Owen CLUB ALDIANA - JANUARY Williams. A thoroughly enjoyable weekend, this, with great food, There was an excellent buffet after the match, with lost of tennis, company, sailing and plenty oftazing. The five coaches photocalls, and exchange of plaques/ pennants and speeches. almost outnumbered the holidaymakers, so there were a The Polo Club gave certificates and free tennis shirts to all their couple of good coaching sessions. There was also a Round players! The whole event was friendly if ultra organised, a bit Robin which was won by Bee, the coach, but it says here that like being back at school again, and perhaps not the greatest David Henton won the title of top farang (This would have of social interaction evenings but I think everyone enjoyed nothing to do with mm writing this report - G); a floor show themselves. There were some problems in getting hold of on the Saturday night with the full contingent participating in alcohol (hell! - G) but we cracked that eventually and things the Club song - hands waving, feet kicking, etc. Pichet was looked up. seen doing this the next day in the swimming pool along with I! has to be said that this event was very organised by the German redcoats. And yes, there was sailing, after several coach Khun Rangsam for his school! The standard was about practice sessions, the Hobie Cat regatta followed lunch on , right, though, as you can tell from the close score, although I Sunday. The Brits, Kiwis and Germans were all set, the latter am sure their team will be stronger next time. The challenge kitted out in wet suits, sailing gloves, El Kapitan hats, the full was issued for a return home match, which said coach was Monty, while the rest of us were in somewhat more casual pushing for October /November. Well done, all players' attire. Unfortunately, the semi-finals were not the greatest March saw thestartof another Paradise Coaching course, hour in British maritime history, wi"th Chris .. Archie and David the last until June. I have tpapologisetoouresteemed chairman, halfway to Cambodia before a successful tack could be ac­ Maurice Lamb, coz he wasn't doing this course as reported in complished, but Carol and Owen saved fa ce fo r the Com­ the March ish. The man himself was, however, espied monwealth and sailed (! -G) into the final. However, after a headbutting the back fenCi ng, whether out of joy of winning gallant performance.. success did Hot grace them. Next time! the February league (Div 5) or attempting a little DIY demo­ (Anyone actually play much tennis? - G) lition we know not, hence the donning of trendy plasters on Onto the bit where Surin gets top billing every month, the his beaten brow at the Prize-giving dindins. Plonker. Wonder February extended-in to-March league results: if Christine could believe it when Maurice went home on leave last month?! 1st Surin Dunnvatanachit - still no challenges??! And lastly, March rounded off another Pennant Ladies 15th Mel Leddy League session, although at time of writing I have absolutely 30th Mark Schatten no idea how we Brits have donei.more next ish after the results 45th Uta Walker have been announced. POSSibly some rethinking required re 60th Marie Moor (Most Improved Female!!) )

26 As for the over-running of this league, I do have to say Tvoiced concern at the time about the advisability of holding a league during the Champ i­ onshjps,especially with relation to time constraints and court booking difficul­ ties (having experienced this with Pen­ nant matches which also continued thru' Feb /March), but this is not to say there isn't a horrendous epidemic of 1994 apathy going about. I don't want to see the April league extended, so get or­ ganising matches, you la zy lot! Joy Masood, popularly voted onto the Club Committee, becoming the first woman ever, was allowed to celebrate a tad more by winning the lucky Baht 500 draw! Next month there will be reports on April's Racquet Tournament on the 24th and perhaps even the results of a match against the RBSC. Most Im proved Female Marie sporting Sillg - A - LOllg - A - Hllllte/' her prize vizor

SECTION NEWS 6. Anyone noticed thatsubtle and delicately-hued British Airways backdrop on the hard courts? No? 1. WE HAVE A TENNIS KIT!! Yes, at long last these 7. ARMCHAIR COMPETITION TIME much-sought-after items of clothing can now be purchased in One amusing suggestion arisi ng out of the seething mass the gym. These include not only mens and ladies shirts but of your Committee was to somehow personalise the plastic also skirts, kamikaze headbands, towels and' badges. There water cups. Now I'm going to pose thisas a challenge, with a are still a few measly aertex shirts le.ft going for a song fit a drink bought for the most ingenious solution: If anyone, feeble Baht 50 each. Now you too can look truly Bri tish Club' anywhere, has any idea whfltsoatall as to how the logistics of Ms Sensible here has now requested wristbands 'n'all, so this one could be worked out - like, where these cups would you'll be able to complete the 'look'. be stored, how they would be cleaned, how we could remind 2. THE MONDAY EVENING MEN'S PRACTICE has all plfl yers to take their placcie mug before stepping on court, been sort of extended such that anyone who: not to mention picking them LIp again when they leave etc, etc, Plays for the team, - please come forward!! The grand prize of a drink awaits! Is among the top 20 men on the ladder, or A quick gander into the crystal ball for June; the Juniors Is among the top 10 ~ Round Robin kicks off the month on the 5th at9am; that racial is eligible to come and practise. I'd like to put in a plug for this battle erupts again in June with the Team Tournament on the thing, coz it was noted by the previous men's captain, Simon, 12th, just tu rn LIp at 2pm as usual; there's a match against the that during a certain match the improved play of some of our Thai Roya l Navy Club; the moustachioed Dutchman Matthijs shower was mainly due to regular Monday night attendance, will be back once again (sign up at the sa la), and last but not such that the partners were used to playing with each other ... least, we are hoping to have several dozen nurses on imme­ not in the biblical sense, ofcoul'se. You know what I mean. See diate standby during the finals of the geriatrics on the 26th. any of the Committee for details. There's also talkof an away match against a Club inAyutthaya 3. Same foes fo r the MONDAY LADIES TENNIS whereby we could li se the coach-boat trip,a very pleasant way MORNING - practice makes perfect, or as neflr as dflmmit! to spend a Sunday if you ask me. The ladies play 8-lOam every Monday, and the play is graded to your standard. If you wish to play please contact Eileen Ciao! Cook (2873606) by the previous Friday if possible. All stand­ Me ards welcome except for complete begilUlers. XX 4. Hope you all noticed that that old rogue light on Centre court isnow FIXED. However, there are 1'l1moul'S that another STOP PRESS has gone elsewhere ." 'ere we go again. 5. There word on the grapevine that the RACQUETBALL ADULT 'IMPROYEHS' COACI-IING HAS BEEN CANCELLED due toa lack of anyonewith enough time to organise it. Come back, Stella, all is forgiven!! Look ye Spaces are now available on the Saturday morning adult not too downtrodden, however, there are plans for a similar coaching course, 10-12am,just turn up with your racquet. but scaled down collaborative social bash for later in the year, Coaching is by Khun Pichai and his assistants and cost Baht and tomake the ba ll bielUlial (that's every other year; save you 200 per session, payable on the day. looking it up in the dic). More as I hear of it. For further info ca ll Shelagh Weekes on 2585107.

27 , \ SPECIAL REPORT - TENNIS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

Finals Day dawned bright bllt not too hot on Sunday 13th Match Witll,1O breeze to speak of, and while some of liS were still siumberiug, tlte Mixed Doubles finalists s,tepped o"tOIl COllytta kick offa tremendolls day of tem,is. Ti,e day was organised stich tlwt tile finals took place ou Ce"tre Court, while the eqllivaleut Plate final was played on COllrt One, and there was even enough time to playa short mix-it! dllring the ",ad­ dog heat of the day as waiting finalists lJmclled in the shade. Maintaining an impeccabl!" record throughout the year, Surin and Ch

MIXED DOUIILES \ From what competitors and spectators remember of this sawn combat, Pat and Megan put up a brave fight, but Surin and ... Khun Dusadee, Win tier Chalatip continued to dominate this event. Men 's Double Plate witli Kamal LADIES DOUBLES Again, some sketchy memories on this one, but it was thought that Chalatip playing on top fOlm tipped the scales in this match Alessandra Tilby, sltoeJess for a comfortable victory wit Eileen over Joy wonder, winner l.JIdies and Vanessa. Sillgles Plate ~ MENS DOUBLES I was awake and present for this, so i -6-4 in the final set-and still held the crowd's can confirm that this was a good balanced attention long after the men's final on Centre match going to three sets, altho' I thought the Court had finished. first was best. Bernie Adams, making a Now a quick word on theJuniorCham­ welcome return to Bangkok from Pattaya, pionships, the finals of which were played and partner James Young overcoming the on the following Saturday (the morning of established partnership of Pat and Brurio. the prize-giving dinner). Twelve entrants were eventually whittled down to the two LADIIlS SINGLES (and two plate finalists), with the two ex­ A comfortabfe victory forChalatip here, ceptionally talented finalists displaying some ,f altho' the score line does not reflect the at­ developed tennis skills in an exciting game. tacking play of Joy. Paul Dwight eventually overcame Tom Henton in the main finals, with Alex Stamp MENS SINGLES taking the plate championship away from A closer score here, wi th the stead y and Simon Chisholm in the plate final. The consistent play from Surin eventually won standard of play is nothing less than encour­ the day, in a repeat final from last year. aging, let's hope they keep it up. Congratulations to Roy and Tharntip And lastly here come the thanks: Cowie (mixed), Yupin and Somjai Reiss (La­ Firstly, I would like to thank all the dies), Kamol and Dusadee (Mens), sponsors for proViding so many wonderful Alessandra (Ladies Singles) and Steve Goode prizes, of which I won none, and for adding (Mens), for winning the plate events. Special to the glam of the occasion. A full list of al143 mention for Allessandra, who in one point sponsors is available on request. Second, I lost her shoe after returning Grace's serve, would like to thank the umpires in order of but battled on bravely with just one shoe and court appearance: Robyn Brook and went on to win the point. The amazing thing Megan McBain, HendryCherdrumphai and was that she even tried to pick up the errant Malcolm Moor, Eileen Cook and David shoe while at the net, still playing the point!! Henton, and Bnmo Straub and Clive Tilby. (I The match between Steve and Henry is also know that only adds up to four sets of finals, Ladies Fillalists Chalatip alld Joy, willI ) wo~thy of mention, it being a real cliffhanger noone was up early enough to umpire the umpire Eileen

28 Men's Fillalists Pat and Surill, with umpire Bntno Men's Doubles Champs Be;l1ie and lames Say Cheese, Birthday girls Marie a1ld Linda

Rulebreaker of the Year John Sands, winning a c1ip~on ashtray, not that we should encourage smoking on court Romance of the Year Chris and Carol, wiruling a tartaned horseshoe Action Photo of the Year Diana Lamb, wimling the photo of her and the sausage Decoration of the Year Bruno Straub for.tllill earring, winning another one Thdll of the Yellr "The Lads" Slicer Alldy with prize implemel1t ArdueCookforhisexploitswithOuistine Lamb and the long baUoon at Ouishnas Hairstyle of the Year mixl!d doubles at 9am). Third, the unsung 'alternative' prize ~ giving, to certain charac­ Karen Hollis, winning a kamikaze heroes of the day, who put on the greatest ters within the Section, mature lot that we headband sweat for no reward other than to get a are. These prize-winners in no particular Mother of the Year courtside view of some great tennis, and order were: Annr:.lngham winning a pair of bootees they are the ba Ilboys and girls, namely: Sarah Slicer of the Year Father of the Year Henton, David Lindsay, Loughlan McBain, Andy Hunter, taking over this coveted Norman Bright, winning for himself a Teuila Reid and Julia Nottingham. Hope I pan slice from Andrew Francis, although dummy haven't missed anybody out. And of course, Andy's forte is more lobbing. Most Imprpved Man last but not least, to Maurice for yet another SWlbathing Poser of the Year Robert Campbell feat of organisation to put on a good pro ~ Sunbathing Poser of the Year Most Improved Woman gramme of tennis and stiU find time for a David Ingham, as pictured in the Club Marie Moor mix-in between matches! Aldiana brochure There was also a cake brought upstairs Policeman of the Vear as it was the birthdays of both Marie Goode TIlE PRIZE GIVING DINNER and Linda Young that very day, Hippy Birdie ) Pol.Col. (hope that's right) Dusadee, Held on Saturday following the Finals winning a pea less whistle to the two of them! The next few hours was for the second year nmning by popular re~ Committee Member of the Year happilyspentwithseveralmemberscrooning quest, this event was well~attended by over Joy Masood, first woman Club Com ~ around the piano as Andy 'Bobby Crush' 80 telmis folk and compered by Maurice mittee Member, winning something to slap Hunter played his little heart out, and strains 'Just Call Me Scarface' Lamb. Following a the men into order with of 'Streets of London' and the like were grand meal including lemon chick~n sur~ Contortionist of the Year audible from the ladies 100 downstairs, I can prise (there was no lemon), Maurice an~ Steve Goode, for being ambidextrous, tell you that for a fa ct! Definitely to become nounced and his lady-helper Ei leen pre­ winning another (mini) racquet so he didn't an institution, this dinner! sented the 'real' prizes, the cups, pewter have·to keep changing hands The result of all the finals is as follows: plates, cocktail shaker and monstrosity (the MensDoublesTrophy). Unfortunately,Surin had chosen this week to become a monk in WINNER RUNNER~UP PLATE WINNER PLATE RlU Chiang Mai, and Chalatip whisked herself Mens Singles Surin Dunn. Pat Dean Sieve Goode Henry Cherdrumphai up North to pay him a visit, so the major ladles Singles Chalatip Dunn. Joy Massod Allessandra Tilby Graciela Haube prize winners were not present to receive Mens Doubles Bernie Adams Pat Dean & Khun Dusadee John Sands & their prizes, so two of the best 'extra' prizes & James Young Bruno Straub & Kamal Brian Walker ladles Doubles Chalatip Dunn. Joy Masood & Yupin McConnell Jaree Lee & were put aside for them: the 14" telly donated & Eileen Cook Vanessa B·Johnson & Somchai Reiss Kaye Stannard by Loxley for Surin and the fabulous hilltribe Mixed Doubles Surin & Pat Dean & Roy & Tharntip Owen & Carol jacket donated by TIle Golden Triangle, River Chaiatip Dunn Megan McBain Cowie Williams )1 City. Deserved winners. There was also an Juniors Paul Dwight Tom Henton Alex Stamp Simon Chisholm

29 BANGKOK INTER CLUB LADIES TENNIS TOURNAMENT 1994

The presentation of flowe rs by Bfodwyll "Tlte daw ll Imtion nl allthelll temll parade." This grandly-titled event is held at O1te of the pa"ticipatil1g clubs each premo" Cook, Bernadette Bueno, Robyn year, and this yea,' was our turl1 to host the olympics of ladies te,l1l1is il1 Brooke, Phyl Xumsai, Thamtip Cowie, Bal1gkok, Six clubs submitted teams, al1d tlte format was a Round Robill Ca rol Young, Joy Masood and Vanessa Barrington-Johnson w ho perhaps TOllrnamellt played il1 two g"OllpS, In a rathe,' complicated twist, the \ wi,mers of ol1e grollp were to play the YIl'1I1ers-lIp il1 the othe,', al1d the weren't given the opportunity to playas , two bottom-placed clubs were to play each other for the dubious hOl1our well as we know they can, of discoveril1g the ultimate loser, Thel1 on the SlIllday, the wil1l1ers of the The results of the first days play two 'semi-fil1als' were to play to decide the overall wil1l1er, The 'A' were that the RBSC as wilmers of Group Group comprised: Silom Club, Polo Club al1d the Royal Ballgkok Sports A played Bangkok Bank, rurmers-up in Club, al1d the 'B' Group comprised: Japal1ese Associatioll, Bal1gkok Group B, and the Japanese Association Bal1k and ourselves, al1d the.categories beil1g fought for were Over 30's as winner of Group B played the Silom (two lots), Over 35's, Over 40's alld all Opel1 categoYlj, Club, runners-up in Group A. Confused yet? This is where the play got pretty Not long after the scheduled 7.30am and nearly asked her whether she had serious, and RBSC and the Silom Club (yawn) time, with all the teams lined up done a khlong tour yet! emerged as wilU1ers although the result on the front lawn behind th eir respec­ And then play began: It does have of each match had been 3-2, it was all ti ve plague-bearer, t1H~ opening cer­ to be said that tennis of this quality, very close. emony commenced, with an in troduc­ consistency and accuracy is rarely seen Then cam the moment of unglory tion given by Chairman Mall foll owed in such quantities at the British Club, for the British Club, the Sunday morn­ by the opening speech and the official and I hope that the spectators as well as ing, when we played against the Polo cutting of the ribbon across the courts th e players learnt a thing or two from Club. Of course, it was hastily added by Pauline Adams, wi fe of H.E, Chris­ watching these matches. Newcomers afterwards that we were simply being tian Adams, the British Ambassador. Clare Mann and Anke Wibling excelled polite in, urn. 'throwing' our match 4-1 , Balloons were released into the gentle when pla ying together, in a team that in that it is quite rude to let somebody clutches of the trees above, which were also included Eileen "organiser Su- lose on your premises, which explains a ha stily retrieved and re-released in the only slow Illotion howler of the event. Chuckle of the day came from one ob­ server who shall remain nameless who tho ught that Pauline was Kaye Stannard 's mUlTI over here on holiday,

) Mr & Mrs Orga ll ising Helps" "A ll appreciative crowd watchillg a nai/-bitil1g jillaJ"

30 h/jjl&:4 I ~~ . , "Thai ladies mid food - a will n illg cOlllbination!" "TIle Cholllps!"

lot .. . J think. 1 . Following a group mugshot of the -q . • ~t fina lists, the finals began between RI3SC l fi and the Silom Club. It couldn't have "Jt .~, V been closer, with some outstanding play bringing the score to a level 2-2. The only match remaining on court after this was an Over 30's match, which every­ one flocked to watch. The match was hanging on it, and the excitement was almost tangible. Most of us joined it at one set all, and compared to the other four games, which had all been two­ setters, this was a nailbiter to be sure! Even the RBSC Captain was often seen at the table at end-changes talking tohis team (which I'm not sure is wholly legit, didn't Boris Becker get fined for 'com­ municating with' Ion Tiriac during a Wimbledon final once? However, the "TIlt' Willllillg side: The 5il01l1 C/lli," Silom Club managed to hold onto the break of serve and won the final set 6-4. The presentation of the magnifi­ cently light trophy and all the pewter plates was made by Eileen (with help from Carol) after a sumptuous buffet ) which was considerably dented by our Thai guests, good to see' such appetites, and was followed by the predicable photo-session on the front lawn with everyone squinting in the midday sun. A tremendous event, with a vote of thanks owed to: Eileen for her patience, diplomacy, organisational abilities and energy, Maurice for allhis support, Surin "Sollie of tile for fathoming out the system and get­ rlll/llers-lIp: ting the order of matches worked out; David Viccars for ensuring the Club RBSC!" facilities were in working order (in­ cluding the gadget for retrieving bal­ sponsors Thai Interna tional Moving and down to watch, given that the courts loons stuck in trees), a special and enor­ Storage, and to all the other companies were booked for ol1e and a half days but mous thank you to all those unseen and hotels who generously sponsored came anyway. Here's hoping that itwas ballboys and girls who worked so hard us and to whom we are very grateful, as interesting and educational for them for two days in the heat; to the main and lastly to themany people who came as it was for me. l'

31 Chesterton Thai Property Consultants Ltd

The full service International Property Consultants for all your commercial and residential needs-

• Residential sales and letting • Commercial sales and letting • Investment . Acquisitions • Development Consultancy & Proj ect Co-ordination • Valuation and Feasibility Study • Property Market Research • Property Management

The combination of local knowledge and International expertise ensures a highly professional service.

For any and all your property advice, please contact-

21/F Thaniya Plaza Building , ) Chesterton 52 Silom Road Thai Bangkok 10500

I }5.ucmS

BRITAIN WITH BITE. EVERY WEEK. The International Express, Britain's premier newspaper, is now available in Thailand. The Best From Britain Every Week 1

Mall order form to: SUBSCRIPTION DEPT. CJ 1 YEAR Baht 3,510.- DISTRI-THAI LTD. _ 60 Naphasap Yaek 5, Sukhumvit 36 CJ 6 MONTHS Baht 1,795.- Phrakanong, Bangkok 10110 Tel: 261-6732-3, 259-7956-7 Please deliver to Name: ______Address: ______Tel: Fax: Method of Payment: Credit card: Cl Amex Cl Visa U Mastercard Card No.: ______----"E"' x"'p"'lry{'d"'a"'te... : _ ___ _ ---"'Signature: Cheque: Cl Enclosed .. Chq. No.: _ -"'Ba""n"'k....,n""am.!£e!< ______Q Bill me- Total ____ Baht Remark: ** I understand an invoice will be included with my first issue and is due on receipt. CRICKET

Well, it has been an up and down season - mainly dpwn but hey, we are the British Club and we have tried this year to keep in line with our English counterparts even to the extent of nearly matching the paltry and pathetic 46 runs that the English team compiled in the West Indies during the recent Test Series. (The third Test for those who cannot remember.)

ince late February the British was a long trip home. AIT v BC 9/252 The one that got awCly! Club has had fi ve 50 Over fi x­ to 129. The weatl,er was warming up by Stures - one washout, one wine now and the cricket on this Sunday and one close loss. The other two 4/;\- HC VEilSUS RHSe­ was pretty hot also. The game was games were thrashing and were right !)() OVERS reduced to 45 overs due to a late start up there with the flogging we took and the BC began with only 9 men - no from ABAC when bowled out for 66 O.K., the local grudge match. It's Dr. White and fhe first of Andre in January. always a close one against the Ravi Tissera's "No-Show" double act! For Maybe the troops are having Sehga J's RBSC. The Skip - as usuallost the first time since cricket was in­ trouble understanding the Aussie the toss. What's new and luckily Ravi vented, i'. Young actually won the Captain's accent or just his very dif­ decided to bat. The RBSC battled toss - heartening stuff indeed, and ferent field placings! reasonably on a wicket that was giv­ elected to bat. Anyway, here are the results of ing the bowler some assistance. They A slow, but steady start saw the the latter part of the season. did only turn up with 9 layers and BC 31/1 after 10 overs and a slight therefore only 8 wickets needed to be hicc up broughtCaro and Boudville to 27/2 - HC VERSUS AI'!'­ took. the crease again - the previous game's !)() OVERS Pick of the bowlers again, Mr. match winner. Once again these boys Tissera, who again received his fax so produced the goods with an 88 run A long and disappointing trip to was present to play, 0/27 off 10 was partnership in about 20 overs. Dr. AIT, just near Chiang Mai I think. fine bowling and Andre was very White eventually showed and was in The "Skip" lost the toss as usual and unlucky not to coll ect a wicket or two. time to knock a quickfire 26 not out in we toiled for a long 3 hours in the sun Jack Dunford snared 3 wickets only 16 ba lls to raise the Be's total to to restrict? the home side to 9/252. and Adam Caro ch ipped in with 2, as 7/205 off 45 overs - a good total to Their opener was "Wasi Acrim", 1 did new boy Samir. It should be re­ defend. think his name was made 126 and was ported that P. Young got hit around a The Scribblers, J'lOwever, are a the obvious mainstay of the innings. little for super figures of 0/41 off 5, tough side to dismiss with one or two . We didn't bowl too badly sur­ well bowled?! big guns who don't mind hitting the prisingly enough. Dr. White was ex­ So the BC had 200 to get off 50 odd ce ntury' pensive with 1/52, Dunford took some overs, a gimme if wickets remained in The BC did everything right, just ) stick with 1/45 off 6 and I hate to say hand! B. Diamond and P. Roebuck about. After 20 overs the opposition it but Tissera who uncustomarily opened well w ith 42 runs in the first 9 were 2/55 still requiring some 150 showed up, was the pick of our overs and then things slowed a little runs. Thejr opener Zubair was prov­ bowlers with 1/36 off 10 over. P. and after 20 over the BC were 2/70. A ing the biggest obstacle and was Young took some lucky wickets and middle order collapse brought on a making the most of several dropped fini shed with over flattering fi gures bit of anxiety as the BC slumped to 6/ catches - on~ a classic-hit high back of 4/43 off 9. Our batting was disap­ 117. In the 30th over, however,Adam over the bowler;s head (Peter YOtU'g) pointing with only 2 players exceed­ Caro and Charles Boudville steered in the middle of mid on and mid off, ing 20 and the team compiling a mis­ us home w ith a superb 55 run part­ Adam Caro and Peter Roebuck - Caro erable 129 total. nership in only 8 overs. Adam hit 4 called: Yours Peter!! Greatball Adam!! That superstar of world cricket fours and 2 six's in his quick fire in­ As Peter the bowler was also t\1rning Joe Barker-Bennett who, you may re­ nings of only half a dozen balls or so. in pursuit of the catch. member, bowled 7 wides on debut in The BC made ithomewith 7 overs Anyway, you guesses it, the op­ January, followed up in this game to spare, a very good victory'! position snatched victory. With 8 with what we had expected - a first wickets in hand and 4 balls td spare. ball duck - Bad luck Joe, your trueskill . · 1:\/:\- He VEHSUS Definitely one that slipped through will shine through soon! Anyway it SCRIBHLERS -!)() OVERS the fingers.

33 LET US MAKE YOUR NEXT MOVE

r--{ --, SC HEN KE R CALL: KHUN RAWI } ~ )~ I N T ERN A T ION A L SCHENKER (THAI) LTD. A MEMBER OF THE SCHENKER· RHENUS GROUP OF COMPANIES OR KHUN YUPAYAO

3683 RAMA IV ROAD, DIRECT: 259-7658 KLONG TOEY TEL: 259·7640-51 PRAKANONG, FAX: 259-7652 BANGKOK 10110 (HOUSEHOLD & OFFICE REMOVALS DIVISION) TLX: TH 82517

THAILAND . TTS. TOURIST SERVICE

SEE TIlE BEST OF THAIlAND; TIlE ORlENf AND BEYOND-THROUGH I THAILAND TOURIST SERVICE

It SPECIAL AIRFARES WORUJWIOE It GOlF TOURS RUN BY GOUERS .. DISCOUIIffD HOTEl. RATES • TOURS TO VIETNAM - lAOS " TOURS AND EXCUNSIOIIS CAMBOOIA- MYANMA (BURMA)

It ADVEJI1VRE & TREKKING TOURS NEPAL-INE HOLY lAND (ISRAEL) .. EUPHANT ROUND-UP IN SORIN • COMPLETE IllAVEL ARRANQEMENTS

WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO.. IT'S TIME TO CAll..•

THAILAND TOURIST SERVICE: 21/2 NANATAI SOl 4 SUKHUMVIT ROAD, BANGKOK THAILANO TEL2S2-6577.252-2769,2SS-7943-4 TLXB1056 TTS TRAV TH.

34 'r 3/4 - BC VEHSES ICC - pie play each weekend with coaching junior Section. Under the watchful tiO OVERS opportunities during the week. eye of professional coach, Bharat, the For a modest beginning last Oc­ 9-12 year aids practice in preparation Again alate start saw this reduced tober when former BC runs mega 10- for games played Sunday afternoons to 40 overs as both sides only had 8 maniac Geoff Cooper led thecoaching at the Military Academy on Wireless players to begin with! based on an extension of that well Road . The TCL is also making avail­ The briefer the report here the known Australian game 2 up - in this able Bharat's services at schools in better' ICC batted first and were all case it involved 1, 2, 3 as the basis of Bangkok, inc! uding two lunch sessions out for 135 in 33 overs. Good bowling the solid forward defensive shot. The each week at BangkokPatana. Mostof from Rob Nottingham 3/24 and Nick benefits of Geoff's early training are these boys have now played 3 games White 2/ 17 saw us in with a good now showing up in the Junior League with runs and wickets being well chance. joe Barker-Bennett also performances. The BC is providing spread amongst the players. BC chipped in with his debut wicket, a the facilities and organisation for the members make up about40% of the 35 ca tch and his now customary 8 or 10 Mini Cricket which uses plastic kit players in this grade. wide deli veries. joe also showed us and is commonly known as Kanga, The Colts competition is based at how to bowl a dead straight deli very KiwiorLord Ted's Saviours. Theback the Polo Club with a further 3 teams by swinging it both ways at the same lawn of the BC on Sunday mornings is following a similar schedule to the time - Joe you are a legend! a heaving match of catches, bowling juniors. The BC Section is less active in We required 136 to win, Nick of va riable line and length, and bat­ this Grade at present but it does give White a 6 off the first ball and it looked ting ranging from Boycott like de­ the older players a competition to aim a sinch. 59 Balls later we were all oui fence and disdain for the quick single for. In addition to these activities , 1 for 49. Only 3 higher than England to Sobers like fla shing boundaries. members of the BC Cricket Section are had scored against the West Indies a The enthusiasm of the dozen or so working with Patana School towards few days before - now that is a tough regulars sustains the occasionally the establishment of facilities there, pill to swallow! heave headed spectators who deliver which will provide opportunities for Nick White scored 29 of the 49 the players for 9 o'clock Sunday more children to be involved in this and also a blow to the head from their morning. marvelous game/ distraction/addic­ demon pace bowler. It didn:t help Whilst the Mini Cricket is in full tion that so many share. that once again we were short, by 3 cryan the lawn the nets are also being players on this occasion. used by the non-playing team of the Dave Rendall Anyway, that's all from ihis sec­ tion now for some junior Cricket from the not so jlmior Dave Rendall.

Catch Ya Soon

Richie B. THIS SPACE COULD HAVE BEEN

"Yea - and the young shall inherit the ) playing fields and play with more YOURS vigour and hopefully more skill than thei r fading kinfolk" Evidence of this famous old proverb (Quote -Mike Atherton, Sept. FOR ADVERTISING 1993, famous last words!!!) is on dis­ PLEASE CALL play most Sundays both at the BC, the new Academy Ground on Wireless BEA2589509 Road and at the Polo Club. The BC Cricket Section has been an active supporter of the recently established Thai Cricket League junior Section. FOR RATES AND FURTHER Cricket playing and coaching oppor­ tunities are now available on an or­ INFORMATION ganised basis for ages 5 to 17. Divided into three sections (8 and under, 9 to ). 12 and 13 to 17) about 80 young peo- )

The Be temll with Mr. Sandy Flockhart frolll HOl1gkong & SlumgiJai B(lIlk, the major sponsors for the 199410111' Surprise, surprise this time a report from a well established writer Mrs Delia Oakins but before I let her take center stage, the Rugby Section would like to thank the following for their continuous support, without you we would not have a Rugby Section.

ongkong Bank for sponsoring the team to go to Hong Kong, H kitted out, bagged out, thank you very much. Cathay Pacific for let­ ting Joe win two tickets to Hong Kong, I promise it was not rigged. Jean-Louis Graindorge from Le Due de Praslin, for delivering the most wonderful hand made chocolates as prizes and will also deliver to your house, just ring him on 381 6690/91. Wines by Berli Jucker, champagne donated by Vince Swift, a television and ghetto blastEr by your Bnllgkok }Jatta/la teacllers like )foll've lIever seell Ihelll before own generous as always Rugby Section and last, but most definetely not least wine and receiving the wrong wine back, Carlsberg for keeping 140 people in beer oops slipped up. there, excuzes moi, all night long, much to the chagrin of Cyrit it will not happen again! David Viccars who had his bar all set up Shame about the downer of the for major sales. Sorry David, we'll make evening, someone actually STOLE half it up to you. Also of course, to the staff o(our much coveted doorprize, will the of the British Club competently led by Champagne Guzzling Snatcher stand Oris3, who was warned of bad tem­ up NOW! II pered farang women (SuzaIU1€ and I), Let's not forget Mr. Jon Prichard who coped marvelously well with 140 who got totally carried away oi1Ce again bodies squashed into the Suriwong collecting fines and fining innocent by­ Room. The Fish & Chips were delicious, standers and who did and excellent compliments to the chef. Thanks also to job of compering the evening, and Hagemeyer, for delivering excellent pneumonious Suzanne, who managed ) Cnrol & Stephen

36 Beefsteak in tile shower

Kimberley was the star of the show after MC Jon unintentionally, on purpose, revealed how the young lady chose her lingerie. Later in the audience participation game called "The Elephant Act", which Miss /{osy McGregor nlld Miss Petra stood four on chairs, a lucky lunatic Simpso l1 pillSgllES t (Alan Lovell) leapt upon the defenceless M.e. JOI1 Prichard lass and brought her bodily down on to turn up and count the money being stage. He was rucky because I expected Free beer courtesy of Carlsberg, free the only sober person around. Keith at least one of the huge men available to wine courtesy of the Rugby Section and Rowley who did an excellent job w ith pick him off and hurl him to the far end freedom of expression courtesy of the the accounts, we hope. of the hall. Well, I live in another era demons that lurk in the minds of rabid All of you who joined in the fun watching too m"Uch House of Elliot. sports folk. and either turned up to watch or actu­ Maybe everyone was too squashed in MC jon Prichard was precise, "Do ally participated, every year [ am sur­ to help poor Kimberley and the perpe­ not write your name on the King's head prised how the BC manages to come up trator pleaded total amnesia the next on the 100 Baht bill, which w ill serve as with these amazingly talented people. day. Hopefully, Kimberley did too. The your raffle ticket as it is extremely disre­ The photographs and Delias article MC did the right thing and gave her a speak for themselves. Thank you all. spectful. Write your last name first, good bottle of vintage champagne do­ followed by your first name" He elabo­ We raised copious amounts of nated by Vince Swift. rated by way of a warning wh~t he money which will be given away to Then there was the Auction which though of those in the audience who charity, but we are having a hard ti me was easily worth twice the entry fee trying to buy the goods. Anyone knows failed to follow his instructions last year. alone, presided over by Peter Simpson of any heart monitors up for sa le?? But, this year, with the exception of and Roy McGregor dressed up in tight a few of us, it was the same crowd as last fitting sheets belonging to teenaged Bea year and most were too overcome by the daughters. They were hilarious and free booze to listen to the instructions. tre audience were delirio us w ith OK, over now to Delia ... :. All were happily fined, duly acknowl­ generousity and generated thousands edged and too snozzled to ca re. . of Baht for the unfortunate children I was at Mrs. Balbir's "restaurant The show began. Who can remem­ who fortunately were not around to se~ reflecting on the curry just eaten when ber in what order. All [know is that the just how the money was being raised to jim Howard raced in, picked up bun- turban found its way to the heads of Joe pay for their schooling. i' dies of turbans and stopped by. "Don't Grunwell and Mark Pa rtridge in a terri­ And speaking of school, many of miss the rugby show tomorrow" he said. ble sketch where he threw up over his the attendees were teachers who also Being the sort of person with no affec­ partner; Big Jim and other huge men participated in the sexy to Sir with Love tion for sport and even less for those sans tu rban and indeed sans everything sketch. Great fun! who play it, I would have given it no else were "h ula-jng" in enormous The whole thing lasted till 3am be­ more thought if the sight of those tur­ bathsheets in time to super music and ca use Bea was unsuccessful in hauling bans hadn't flashed intermittently in choreography; then came Bea Grunwell Jon off the stage. But laden with lucky my mind tluoughout the day. and Jane Prichard all slut-like massag­ prizes we did go home happy. Bea did a As [ do with all things that bother ing British Germans (Keith Rowley and superhuman job stage directing and for me, I brought it to the attention of my Kevin Chapman) at a bar while Carol her efforts Joe won her a trip to Hong questionable better half. No dummy, McGregor played a Caledonian hair­ Kong, the night's grand prize gener­ they don't play rugby with turbans. It is curlered wife nagging her husband ously donated by Cathay Pacific. the "No Talent Night" at the British (Stephen Rees) at the breakfast table. A last word to the mental deficient Club organised by the Rugby Section Two hours too late, a truly decent fo lk w ho threw tennis balls at random in the and it is squeezing foam only. band came on but by then everyone hall and hit me on the cheek. Next year, Well we did squeeze in and what a sitting upright was poised to throw I hope you sit next to Frank Hough and ni ght it was! The club was a school bread rolls aimed atKimberley's breasts. he eats your face. dinner hall serving piping hot tomato Who was Kimberley? For those of soup and off-the-news fi sh and chips. the unattended and hence w1informed, Seen and heard by Delia Oakins

37 ;;£etteh to the 8ditoh

12 March 1994 agemellt ofthe club are hoping to make we have all paid mightily for ,. t the secu rity at the club and the billing membership, was used by non­ system more efficient. members. Was this invitation made Dear Madam. if you have not received one of public knowledge to all female these cards, please call David Viccars members of the British Club? I A recent circular from the Club and he will sort this alit for you. certainly did not hear about it, and reported tha t every effort was be­ I personally know of some lady ing made "to get Members their Bea golf members (who are not m em­ Iblue' cards". bers of the BCLG) who also defi­ Whatisa 'blue' card, please? If nitely did not hear about it. it is anything like the 'pink ticket' Even if there were no other mentioned in Chapter VllI (page LETTER TO EDITOH members of this Club eligible to 82)of"Louisand the KingofSiam" qualify for this particular compe­ by Dr. WS Bristowe, we may This month a letter from Ms. tition (having a handicap of 16 or well be in trouble with our wives Gaynor de Wit, an active member under), and I would certainly like when they find these cards in our in both Tennis and Badminton to know if there are, the principle wallets. Sections, a busy lady ... I did not of whether non-members should "Louis and the King of Siam" realise she has now taken up Golf be allowed to make use of a was published by Chatto & as well. member-specific facility under Wind us, London, 1976. So WAR such false pretences has to be I Wood, CMG, CIE, a letter from looked at seriously. Because it whom was printed in a recentissue Dear Editor, would be the British Club, not the of OUTPOST, never had the op­ BCLG, w ho would get a bad name portunity to read this sympathetic I am writing to express my annoy­ if the afore-mentioned golf tour­ and well researched biography of ance at the Bangkok Cosmopoli­ nament officials decided to check his old friend before his death on tan Ladies Golf Club (BCLG). In on the Club membership status of 21 January 1970, aged 91. But Dr. the March issue of Outpost, there the competitors, wouldn't it? Bristowe consulted him when he was a trumpeting announcement This of course opens the can of was writing it. regarding the play~rs invited to worms abou t whether an organi­ There must be a copy of this play at the Ladies Open Amateur sation whichhasnothingtodowith bookin the NeilsonHayes Library. Golf Championship of Hong Kong the British Club is allowed to make Recommended reading for all ex­ - a great honour indeed. the same use of Club facilities as patriates with an interest in local However, on re-reading this Club members. In the case of the history, or indeed fo r anybod ywho article, I noticed that it was the BCLG, this refers to the inclusion enjoys an interesting story, well British Club, Bangkok who had of their articles in the Outpost. told. been proffered the invitation, NOT the BCLG. And yet, a simple check Yours, etc. , J Yours fa ithfully, in the latestdirectory revealed that two out of th ~ four players sent to GAYNOR DE WIT OJ Gibsol1 Hong Kong are not members of (0126) (GI3) th e British Club, namely Wi! Agerbeek and Kitty Stor. The w ri ter of the article, Denr MI'. Gibsol1, Barbara Wehlre (a lso a non mem­ ber), obviously has no problem The above letter was passed on to No the blue cards or 110t the same as with this. However, I find it par­ the General Committee and the the pink tickets you were mentioning. ticularly grating to read that an relevant group BCLG for their re­ These blue cards are membership cards, invitation that was directed spe­ plies. M,·s. Lavita Hughes, both a which happen to be blue, with a pho­ cifically at the British Club - a name member of the BCLG and BCGS tographand members numberol1 them. which still carries some weight replies: By presenting these thestaffand man- around these parts, and for which

:38 ~eH:eft to the 8ditoft , I Dear Bea, will join this section as [ have not had the pleasure of meeting her. THE LADIES OPEN AMATEUR Ms. de Wit is more than welcome GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP OF to join BCLG too should she wish. HONG KONG (LOAGCH) Meantime, for her informa­ tion, BCLG hold the following Wearing my two hats, BCLG matches every year against the and BCGS, I feel a reply to Ms. G. British Club Golf Section- de Wit's letter ref. the above is required in order to put the record Kitchen Sink - February (since 1970s) straight. Inaugural Cup - April A letter was received from Cathay Cup - September LOAGCH in December last year addressed to the Lady Captain, and some long standing members of the British Club sponsor the British Club Ladies Golf by Mr. following matches: Paul Nears, the then Secretary of the British Club Golf Section. Ob- Castrol Cup - Bryan Baldwin (BI2) viously,as Bangkok Cosmopolitan Gestetner Cup - Trevor Whalley (W69) Golf was once called the British Dundee Cup - Dave Stewart (SI58) Club Ladies Golf, this letter was Cumbria Cup - Graham Hunt (HI89) passed on to me for forwarding to XL-Ectic - Joanie Jurgens 0006) the Lady Captain BCLG. Lipton Cup - Lever Brothers However, I personally con- tacted the 2 lady members of the I think you will agree that it is British Club Golf Section with good to give the above sponsors Handicaps of 16 and under and publicity in Outpost in recogni­ invited them to join BCLG if they tion of their generosity. so wished. Ms. de Wit might like to know A letter was then sent accept- that there is another major compe­ ing the invitation on behalf of tition scheduled in May in Jakarta BCLG and a reply addressed to whereby players can attend if they BCLG was received. Under no cir- belong to ANY Ladies Group cumstances did we go under the TALGA, RBSC, LIGIT etc .. . name of "British Club". All book- I hope the above has cleared ings were made in the name of the picture, BANGKOK COSMOPOLITAN LADIES GOLF GROUP. I enclose three letters which are self ex- Lnvitn Hughes planatory. (These letters are in my H93 possession and can be viewed by BCLG - Handicap Secretary anyone interested -Bea). Mrs. Joyce BCGS - Secretary Green, Chairman, and Mrs. Sandra Thrift, Secretary of the LadiesOpen Amateur Golf Championship of Hong Kong and the hotel where we stayed received us as members of BCLG. As you know, the British Club Golf Section welcomes all golfers at a paltry sum of B250 per mem- ber per year. I hope Ms. de Wit )

39 good and CGeveftage

In October 1993 the Food & Beverage Committee conducted a survey among 117 members of the British Club. Being a new F & B Committee(eg. Joy Masood, Suzanne Partridge, .Eileen Cook, Carol Young, Kathy Haworth, Bea Grunwell) we were passed on the files. Some of the comments in this file were quite constructive and we hope to do something with them. Don't forget, if you have any complaints, suggestions, what to do with the dining room etc. please let any of us know. We just thought, we had to let you have a look at how the typist interpreted the BC Members' comments ......

II Th e dinning room is cur­ rently a waste of space lousy atmosphere poor . decot (despite the money spent). Change it in to a larger bar and turn the churchill bar into a couninental style bar bistro. Then you can have brunch" "Pre-p!aned parties should not be held in the 'public' room. It is really ) unfa ir on the m wm bers using the bar have their normal social occasions "taken over" by teh rugby secti on, for example two teams & supporters equals about 50 peoples and they should among to members at enjoy the bar in place" "Salads - more on the lies of greek salad in the bar - delicious perhaps same more asventrous lettuce types: "Deformalised the dining room to encourage to use go it by children if not them tnake the room more per­ sonal" "The should be looked at closely and improved. The whole club can someti mes be over-run by kids, rugby I tea ms, various groups. The dinning· ( rooms is the only slighl y. Formalised ../ place and should be kept that way. A , j more varied menu, and a survey . should be organised to try and attact more people to use it. This will prob­ ably be a hard fask, as most membersude the club for biusiness lunches and diners and levels a cer­ tain British ambience to the whole club." "Every couple of month. I try the feel happy with the club as it is" manage the dining room in a noise dini n g room an d all usually "Outride catering has been excel­ profressional manner it should be dissapointed with quality verser price. lent value good service, but a wider subcontracted to one of the Hotels" 1 could eat at the Hilton hotel coffee selection of menu would mean! would "It is nice to have a dinning room, shTP for about the same price with use it for catering parties. Everyone but over the years it has never been a bener quality and service" recognises a BC catered do by one big draw. Eatingin thecheerchill "Bar" : . "1 am not a very demandiry a glance as the buffer tusk." isconvemientand more so the dinning critical 'type, and generally enjoy and If the Club cannot being itself to room could be put to other uses, if so

40 \ good and cgevewge I ~------, ) repuired but should remain as the "The dining room is very poor, questionaire id a sensible more dinning room if not being used for we would use this facility more often consistant high standards should be other functions" for business if it were to improve" the aim." I "Might try adding some French "[ have been ... by guests refusing Dinning rooms is good but more or German ishes to the bar menu. You to stay and out in a deep freeze. al­ imaeinative usewuld increase the level have to try to do something better most every dish is very sweet, please of interest" with the "Lords" Dinning room it has sliminaye the vast quantity of sugar "BC Club should follow British a "Chip with everything" feel to it - added" lisensing laws and allow children of justly eserved too. [ would never "Only because of the size and the 14 yrs. and over into the bar if accom­ dream of taking" member of people the staff are serv­ panied by parents or by an adult over "Bar meals, not always hot. ing.It would be appreicated by many 18 yrs. when our two children of 15 Sometimes very graeasy. Sometimes members if there ewas a comfortable yrs. and 19yrs. anr here 3 of us can look like ... been sitting round for a room with a bar in which chidren enter the bar,whilst one very mature while either before being heated up or would be welcomes" 15 yr old cannot result - we don't use after. [ get bored with the many more "Tell the staff to go easy on the the club. It must be more family ori­ daily or weekly specials would be garden especially lettuce" ented," appreated ever if that meat the basic " After 4 yrs. the mono tory of the "According to the thai Thai food menu selection had to be smaller to menu isoverwhelmin why do we even is not well cooked andis not tasty. cape with the changes" look at it? We know if off by weart. Portions are for then, typicall y too "I think that it is generally ac­ There has been no obuions change or la rge- suggest a big plates, small plate cepted that the standard of food is improvement since the new chef sur­ offering." law" prise in the bar food would be won­ "The dining room should provide "Try to change the decoustion of derful" food equipment to or better than these the dinning room to something less "Corcerned a hygenic storage of examples and serve generous por­ 'Homely"" food. Policy on recheabing" tions" "My experience with BBQs at "Who can I talk to concerning the squash functions is that the meat is showers in the pool changing rooms. cooked well background and tastes Sometimes fley do dot work and when deepful by the tince it is scened. Some they do work the pressure is weak" of the pool staff are good and some "Having striggled to the club, 1 quite sunley. They also seem to be usually eat in the bar. The dinning quite lisorganised when they have room is off putting because it is like extra staff on weekends." eating in a magve. Nice children egg "Certainly there is problem here" no room for ca m­ "With so many good a ltertu re to placercy and this the accessible bt to trasge the dinning room is a problem - it is m \ not good enough. To justing visiting." "I beleive the dinning room co uld be better stilised. Con­ version to a wine bar / bistrd with a high quality and im­ formal atmosphere "may" provide the impetus for rnore members to use the facility."

PS . Tilis is not to be tnken seriously.

Benr

41 Dinosaur Checkers Allosaurus was a dagger-toothed killer - one of the terrors of the dinosaur world. Ankylosaurus was a bit like a walking armored tank. To enter battle­ between them you will need: thin pieces of cardboard, scissors, tracing paper, felt tip pens or paints. Trace the circular game pieces shown on these pages onto the cardboard­ make 12 of each. Cut them out and color them in - use a different color for the Allosaurus pieces and the Ankylosaurus pieces/-,. '"--" ___

Allosaurus Q':) ·", . ;,/" .. .•-_ . -" <) " . )

I ------.S--"'-~___i ;(' To play: One player has 12 ~ Anky/osaurus game pieces, the other has 12 Allosaurus game pieces. Sit at opposite sides of the board, and place your dinosaurs on the black squares of the fi rst th ree rows. Ta ke tu rns to move diagonally backward and forward, one square at a time. To capture an opponent's piece, you leap over it into an empty square on the other side (1). If you can then jump .another piece, you can dothis in the same move (2) - and so on . The winner is the one who first captures all mthe other.1 .player's2 game pieces . CPhoto page

' . .\ Be PHOTO PAGE

~. .

l,

The early rainy season of last month left the Club rather water logged,

Photo impression by G, de Wit In Conjunction with the Holiday Inn Crownc Plaza "TandoOl'"" Restaurant ., FROM THE CHAIRMAN

others doing everything they can to avoid it. And talking of fun, I notice that new members nights are starting to a ttract some people again. tha t' s good for the Club but no fun for me as I am one of those who do not particularly enjoy going around introdUCing my­ self to 20 total strangers in an everling. I can never seem to think of a sensible question, and particularly after a few gin and tonics the replies don't make much sense to me either. With the advent of the new me­ dia "super highway" just around the corner, perhaps I should suggest fu­ ture new members nights be done on . \ a video conferencing basis. Then I could avd> id any future silly conversa­ tions with people who would also , rather be somewhere else. I don't ell, I am back again as reins at the time of next year's A.G.M. mean it really, but sometimes I do Chairman for my second so for now it will be fun observing the wish the new information highway W year. Recent tradition jockeying for position of the many would hurry up and arrive. dictates a minimum of a two-year capable people on this year's commit­ term but like my predecessor, Bryan tee. Some keenly pursuing the pos­ Baldwin, I intend to hand over the Sibility for taking on the job and Nigel Oakin s

COMMITTEE

c; ,t Cha inllnn Dugal Forrest Maurice Lamb Nigel Oakins 398 3807 (0) 272 4530 (0) 240 3700 (0) 399 1564 (F) 277 9003 (F) 240 3679 (F) 312 5656 (H) 272 4538 (H) 258 8228 (H) Mike O'Connor Doug Whittaker 235 1560 Vice Chairtllan 399 0513 (0) Joe Grunwell 398 9821 (F) Ron Thomson 271 2574 (0) 321 4667 (H) 251 1521 (0) 271 2225 (F) 256 6008 (F) 258 9509 (H) Joy Masood 238 4300 x 2144 Treasurer Jack Dunford 238 4909 (F) Des Keane 236 0211 (0) 233 1455 (H) 256 7474 (0) 236 7000 (F) 256 7473 (F) 286 1356 (F)

. )

46 . The Fine Art t ; of p~cI

,\ A MOVING EXPERIEN If yo u've decided it's time for a change of environ­ ment, yo u'll want to make sure your possessions arc in good hands when you move. And when it comes to handling precious property ' YO ll can count on Thai illterllatiollai Movillg & SlOrage for sound advice and professional service to or fr l'l m al l corn ers of the World. Starting with th e packing, and finishing with .'l.,'lU-~~ JI delivery to your new home, we attend to every detail along th e way. We'll even take care of your plants and your pets! So whet her you1re moving across town, or across continents you can rely on Thai illtematiollai Movillg & Storage to make the experience a pleasure! , When you're contemplating your next move w hy not give us a call? Ask Mike, Marc, or Peter to ~~~~~~~~ adv ise yo u on how to make your move easier.