Voyageur Feb 2012

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A publ icat ion of the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce 02 / 2012

Corporate PartnershipPremier Sponsors

Executive Sponsors

22nd TCCCAnnual General Meeting

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel

Make YourVote Count!

(See page 3 for details)

Join us for the


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since 1951.

www.isb.ac.th


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Calendar

The Voyageur is the monthly magazine of

the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce,

covering all Thai-Canadian business, legal

and social news of interest to the members

and others who are active in expanding

Thai-Canadian bilateral trade.

Editor:

Randy Shockley, Executive Director,

Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Publisher:

Scand-Media Corp., Ltd.

4/41-2 Moo 3, Thanyakarn Village,

Ramintra Soi 14, Bangkok 10230

Tel: +66(0) 2943-7166-8 Fax: +66(0) 2943-7169

Design: Disraporn Yatprom

Email: [email protected]

Advertising Contact:

Mr. Finn Balslev, Marketing DirectorScand-Media Corp., Ltd.

Tel: +66(0) 2943-7166 ext.151 or 08-1866-2577

Email: [email protected]

Calendar of events: TCCC

CCBAUpcoming events in the region:

WHEN: Tuesday, February 7, 2012; 11:30 am 2:00 pmWHAT: Speaker Luncheon: Dr. Soonthorn Chaiyindeepum, Deputy Director - General,

Department of ASEAN Affairs will talk on the ASEAN-Canada: 35 Years of

Partnership and Friendship

WHERE: Four Seasons Hotel, BangkokPRICE: 700 baht Members; 850 baht Non Members

WHEN: Wednesday, February 15, 2012; 6:30 pm to 8:30 pmWHAT: Canuck Connections Networking Night

WHERE: Bourbon St. Restaurant, Oyster Bar & Boutique Hotel. This networking will be held atBourbon Streets new location (See event flyer for complete details)

PRICE: Members - 200 baht; Guests & Non Members 400 baht

WHEN: Wednesday, March 14, 2012; 10:30 pm to Noon & 1:45 pm to 2:00 pmWHAT: 21st TCCC Annual General Meeting (AGM)

WHERE: Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel (Asoke Rd)PRICE: No Charge (TCCC members annual business meeting)

WHEN: Wednesday, March 14, 2012; Noon 1:45 pmWHAT: AGM Speaker Luncheon: Mr. Isadore Reaud from Population & Community

Development Association (PDA) will speak on the Village Development Partnership

(VDP) and the TCCCs 2011 CY contributions to the village of Baan Nong Phai

WHERE: Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel (Asoke Rd)

PRICE: 700 baht Members; 850 baht Non Members

WHEN: Wednesday, March 21, 2012; 7:00 pm 9:00 pmWHAT: Canuck Connections - Meet the New Board Night

WHERE: Bar Su - Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit HotelPRICE: 200 baht Members; 400 baht Non Members. Beer & wine Compliments of the TCCC

(while supplies last).

China: http://www.ccbc.com

WHEN: Thursday, February 16, 2012; 4:00 pm - 9:00 pmWHAT: Shaun Rein: The end of cheap China and its implications for manufacturing sectors

WHERE: Please visit www.malaysia-canada.com for more detailsPRICE: $30 fee includes admission to webcast on Feb. 16, Shaun Rein's book "The End

of Cheap China" released in March, recording of the webcast for replay and fulltranscript & slides.

Japan: http://www.cccj.or.jp

WHEN: Friday, February 17, 2012; 6:30 pm onwardWHAT: Maple Leaf Tohoku Support GalaWHERE: The Grand Hyatt hotel in TokyoPRICE: Please register at www.cancham.com.ph

Philippines: www. cancham.com.ph

WHEN: Friday, February 22, 2012; 8:30 am - 10:00 amWHAT: CanCham Executive Management Series

WHERE: New World Hotel Makati CityPRICE: P1000 for members, P1500 for Non-members

2011/2012 TCCC Executives

Patron:His Excellency Ambassador Ron Hoffmann

President John CasellaVice President Ali Fancy

Vice President John StevensSecretary Dr. Tim CornwallTreasurer Michael Howard

Executive Board:John Casella

Sranyoo ChanateNeil Chiu

Dr. Tim CornwallAli Fancy

Michael HowardRon LivingstonGeoff McIntyre

Alan NgSukanya Rattanavadee

John StevensDerek van Pelt

Embassy Representative:Ping Kitnikone

Advisors:Raymond Bodemer

Sam CohenSurachit Chanovan

Zoltan KosaDon Lavoie

Niccolo SozziPicharn Sukparangsee

Michael WhitePeter Van Haren

Executive Director:Randy Shockley

Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce139 Pan Road, Sethiwan Tower

9th floor, Bangkok 10500Tel: +66(0) 2266-6085-6

Fax: +66(0) 2266-6087Email: [email protected]: www.tccc.or.th

AGM Agenda

10:30 Member arrival and registration11:00 Quorum reached and AGM declared open11:45 Ballot Box closed; members seated for lunch12:00 AGM Luncheon13:15 Luncheon Speaker - Mr. Isadore Reaud from

Population & Community DevelopmentAssociation (PDA) will speak on the VillageDevelopment Partnership (VDP) and theTCCCs contributions to the village of BaanNong Phai

13:45 Announcement of new Board members14:00 Meeting Adjourned

22nd TCCC Annual General Meeting

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel, 30 Sukhumvit 21 (Asoke) RoadKlongtoey Nua, Wattana Bangkok, 10110, Thailand

AGM Speaker Luncheon

700 Baht (members),850 Baht (non-members)(Corporate members can use

their 2012 luncheon vouchers)


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Chamber News

The Great Canadian

This years Great Canadian BBQ was

held on Saturday, January 28th andtook on a little of that Home Alonefeel as the Hoffmanns were not at

the official residence to share in this yearsfestivities. While Rons and Andreas travelcommitments kept then from hosting this yearsevent, wed like to personally thank them andthe Embassy staff for all of their support inhelping us to deliver a successful 2012 BBQ.In total, 140 individuals participated in thisyears event.

As in prior years, the BBQ was rootedin the spirit of the Calgary Stampede andtook place on the spacious and beautiful lawn

of the Ambassadors official residence. Thislate afternoon event offered a relaxing familyatmosphere, great Canadian comfort food,free flowing Canadian beer and wine, as wellas an impressive supply of Bloody Caesars thatwere consumed with great enthusiasm. Ourcountry and western music was provided bythe always entertaining Outlaw Brothers Band.

It almost goes without saying that nobodyleft this event hungry. A great BBQ buffet wasdelivered by our friends at the British Clubthat included a mixed green salad, Greeksalad, chicken with cranberry salad, potatoesalad, pork ribs, hamburgers, chili burgers,

sausages & hotdogs on buns, grilled chicken,beef kebabs, baked beans, chili, bakedpotatoes with fillings and dessert offerings offresh seasonal Thai fruits, apple & blackberrycrumble with custard and three flavors of icecream. We were also fortunate to have anopportunity to taste-test the very delicious YahMan Jerk Chicken provided by TCCC memberLes Walsh and the Canadian owned, PattayaPickle Company.

When it came time to select the BBQsBest Stampede Outfits in the Mens andLadies categories, the judges were certainlyoffered up two excellent groups of qualified

contestants (see event photos). However, thehands-down winner across both groups wasMrs. Julie Howard who exhibited a true senseof the Calgary Spirit with her great cowgirlattire.

This years raffle draw was also very excitingas it offered several high value prizes includingan eloquently framed reproduction of VanGoghs famous still life painting of a vase with12 sunflowers donated by Natee InternationalLaw Office Limited, a Queens Diamond Jubilee- $5 pure gold coin provided by Royal Bank ofCanada (RBC) and several top of the line skintreatments offered up Genesis Skin Care Klinic.If you missed the opportunity to participate inthis years Great Canadian BBQ, we hope youllfind time to share in the Chambers 2013 event.

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Chamber News

BBQ 2012Great Canadian BBQ 2012Sponsors:

1. Ladies competing for a 12- pack of Moosehead in the Best Dressed Cowgirl Competition

2. Socializing a major part of any BBQ

3. The Howards looking marvelous

4. The Livingston family real black belt cowboys

5. This lady was the happy raffle draw winner of the beautifully framed reproduction of Van

Goghs famous vase with 12 sunflowers donated by Natee International Law Office Limited

6. Cant have a BBQ without a game of horse shoes

7. Childrens game area sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)

8. Khun Yui & Khun Aomy welcoming the BBQ guests

9. Members of the Outlaw Brothers band

10. On this night, the Moosehead beer was free flowing and thoroughly enjoyed!

11. The Casellas attended with friends from out of town

12. Darwin Forer VP Asia, REDEV Properties with his two sons

13. No bales of hay, but plenty of Cacti

14. (R-L) Dr. Rujirat & Olivia pointing out the benefits of the Genesis Skin Klinik treatments

15. Winners of the Best Dressed Cowboy & Cowgirl competition16. - 18. Cowboys and Cowgirls embracing the Stampede Spirit

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Food & Beverage Sponsors:

Prize Sponsors:


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Feature Story

Perched at just below 1,700mIm atop one of Chiang Rai

provinces tallest mountains,Doi Chaang, at a tiny coffeeshop, sipping a latte and learn-ing about one of Thailands mostsuccessful coffee companies,Doi Chaang Coffee.

I

didnt even drink coffee beforecoming here more than 10 yearsago, explains Khun Wicha Pro-myong, President of Doi ChaangCoffee. They had about 200

acres of coffee trees at that time and I thoughtif we can grow more and better quality cof-fee life could really improve for people here.Ten years ago our coffee was selling for$0.50US/kg and now its getting as muchas $12US/kg.

It turns out the mostly Ahka hilltribepeople that live and farm coffee at this re-mote outpost didnt even drink coffee either10 years ago, finding it bitter and not reallyunderstanding why people like it. Go backjust 20 years ago and these hills were rifewith opium, people were poor, sickly, didnthave education, healthcare and prospectsof a better life were grim. The introduction ofArabica coffee has quickly changed life at DoiChaang and other mountain communities innorthern Thailand and ethnic hilltribe groupsare not only enjoying a better quality of lifebut their coffee is becoming famous on theinternational market.

Im quite sure you can grow good coffeeanywhere in Thailand above 1,000m but thereal important thing is processing. If you takethe time and care to process it properly youll

have a good cup. Most people are lazy anddont take the time to process it properly. Ittook us five years to figure this process out.Im sure in the next five years people aroundthe world will know a lot more about Thaicoffee, says Khun Wicha.

Coffee was first introduced to Thailandway back in the 1800s but it didnt really gaina footing until 1974 when when the RoyalProject for Hilltribe Development under direc-tion of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej,conducted research on highland cultivation ofArabica coffee. It was found that quality Ara-bica coffee could be grown throughout thekingdoms northern mountains, beans weredistributed, methods of production sharedand opium became a thing of the past.

Today Doi Chaang Coffee is producing2,000 tons of beans, way up from a meagerfive tons back in 2000. Part of this dramaticincrease in production is due to a Canadianbusinessman from Vancouver who invested inDoi Chaang Coffee back in 2006, gifted 50%

of the international venture to the communityand has been working hard to put their coffeeon the international map. Its now widely avail-able in a number of major Canadian grocerystores, coffee shops and can also be found inJapan and Europe. Things are looking goodfor Doi Chaang.

The Ahka farmers are originally comefrom Tibet, some of Thai citizenship whilemany dont but have lived on the mountainfor generations. They start early, just as thesun comes over the hills and get picking lush,ripe, red berries off the trees which can growto more than 1.5m in height. Picking seasonlasts from mid-October until early Februaryand it takes the plants three years to reachmaturity. Hand-woven baskets full, they carrytheir loads to the coffee processing facilitywhere the real work begins.

You have to get up early in the morning,pick the cherries, bring them to the washingstation, pre-wash them, pulp them, thendry ferment them for one day. Underwaterfermentation takes another day, then wesoak the beans with natural spring water for

another 24 hours, drain it properly and natu-rally sun-dry them for seven to eight days.All these processes take about 14 days thenyou have to store it for another six to sevenmonths, then pulp it to get the parchment offthe green bean and then you finally roast it.

Its this meticulous process that ensurescoffee tastes great by the time it hits yourcup. While starting with good quality Arabicabeans is key one must ensure they dontrush the process, use fresh water and aremeticulous each step of the way. Its adher-ing to these techniques that have seen DoiChaang Coffee score as high as 91 out of 100

at several international coffee competitions.But its not just large operations that are doingwell in the Thai coffee trade.

About 75km north is the charming townof Doi Mae Salong. Famous for its Oolongtea fields, which were introduced in the late

One for the Road


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February 2012 7

Feature Story

1970s by Kuo Ming Tan (KMT) soldiers fromChina, villagers and some intrepid entrepre-neurs are trying their hand at Arabica beans

too.Khun Wilai and Weeral Cheewinwon, both

originally from Doi Mae Salong got tired ofliving in large Thai cities and returned to theirvillage about five years ago. Here fields are atabout 1,000m, just high enough to producedecent beans and they decided to give ita go. Its been a struggle but according toKhun Wilai things are improving each year.We have about 2,500 trees which produce400kg of roasted beans per year. Its not alot, but they can fetch up to $15US/kg andsince the trees are only three years old thisis a pretty decent yield.

We stroll into their coffee fields for a lookthen continue further along small footpathsthrough small villages for a look at moreindependent farms. Mostly Ahka people arenow planting coffee trees under the shade oflarger cherry, lechee and macadamia trees,giving a boost to their lands yield. Discardedfruit from the coffee beans is all along thefootpaths, bringing to my attention that factthat with coffee the fruit is discarded and itsthe seed thats utilized. Women in full tribalheaddress work their fields, sing songs andare clearly happy to be improving their lives.

Another 40km north Im at perhaps Thai-lands most famous mountain for coffee, DoiTung. Started by His Majesty the Kings latemother in 1988, the Mae Fah Luang Foun-dation has played a major role in eradicatingopium, introducing replacement crops, pro-viding schools, clinics and weaning addictedpersons off opiums grip here. Coffee hasplayed a major role in this process.

Doi Tung now has coffee shops acrossthe country, has 1.7 million trees that arefarmed by a collective of 1,000 hilltribepeople and annually produces 200 tons of

green beans. Executive Director at Doi Tung,Khunying Rungroi explains that coffee wasa natural crop to introduce and fit with theirgoals. Our main intent was to figure out howwe can keep man and forest together so theywont be destroyed again. We did several tri-als and found that coffee worked well underthe shade of the pine trees that we plantedto reforest the mountains.

While helping to improve locals livesand reforest the mountains, introducingeco-friendly farming and growing methods isalso a key objective according to KhunyingRungroi. We say our coffee is Bird Friendly.Its a coffee term meaning that when the birdseat the coffee they dont drop dead. They canlive on the coffee as we dont use pesticidesand let it grow naturally.

Thailand is now the third largest coffeeproducer in SE Asia after Vietnam and Indo-nesia and is setting the bar high for not onlygreat coffee but bettering local communitiesat the same time.

Heres drinking to that.

Story & Photos courtesy of Scott Coates and

Smiling Albino (www.smilingalbino.com), the

region's top custom travel company

Scott Coates - Originally from Calgary,Canada, Scott moved to Thailand in1999 to follow a dream and start an in-novative travel company, Smiling Albino.Hes written for publications around theworld, published photography, consultedfor international businesses and receivedinternational recognition for his commu-nity work in the region. An avid mountain

biker, dirt biker and jogger, he thrives onexploring and discovering the next bigthing. He currently resides in Bangkokabout 50% of the time and loves a pintof Guinness (or two).


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Community News

The Bangkok Thai Stix Ball HockeyClub in conjunction with theInternational Street & Ball HockeyFederation (http://www.isbhf.com/), the International body for

the sport of ball hockey, will soon be holdingtheir 18th Annual Mekong Cup InternationalBall Hockey Tournament. This historicalannual event wil l be held on Saturday, March3, 2012 at the beautiful Centara KaronResort Phuket at Karon Beach in the tropicalparadise of Phuket, Thailand (http://www.centarahotelsresorts.com/ckr/ckr_default.asp).

The Mekong Cup is an event held annu-ally in Phuket. We anticipate the participa-tion of teams from around the world, withpast participants in this grueling competitionincluding teams from Singapore, Kuala Lum-pur, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom

Penh, Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Tokyo, Petralka(Slovakia) and of course the host team fromBangkok (the Thai Stix). This years eventlooks to attract both familiar faces and newteams from around the world. The tourna-ment is a channel to promote and develop the

The 18th Annual Mekong Cup International

Ball Hockey TournamentMarch 3, 2012 Phuket, Thailand

hospitality in the countrys biggest and mostbeautiful world-class island.

This years event will be hosted at a newvenue, the Centara Karon Resort Phuket,which we are extremely confident will providethe same outstanding standard of facilities,service and fun as we have always enjoyedat the Mekong Cup. In addition, the MekongCup supports a very worthy cause with acharity auction held at the banquet dinner,which has been able to raise more thanTHB220,000 for the Vivian Slot ScholarshipFund (http://www.unizg.hr/vivianscholarship/),named after the daughter of a Hong Kong /Singapore ball hockey player who unfortu-nately lost her life in the 2004 tsunami whilevisiting Phuket on holiday with her family.

Please make sure that you dont miss this

great tournament and an opportunity for a

fun-filled weekend in Phuket with friends.For further information, please contact

our Tournament Director, John Casella,

email address: [email protected],

telephone: +66-81-829-8954.

sport of ball hockey in Thailand, throughoutthe South-East Asia region and around theworld, and also to open doors in welcomingall Mekong Cup visitors to our renowned Thai


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Community News

In a thrilling charity hockey gameheld recently to raise money forThai flood victims Team Canadadefeated the World Team 7-5.

The game launched The Rink,a new ice skating facility locatedon the 7th floor of the CentralGrand Rama IX shopping centre.

Team Canada was composedof Canadian expats basedin Thailand, plus four visiting

Canadian MPs (Patrick Brown Barrie, Andrew Saxton - North

Vancouver, Brian Jean FortMcMurray, and Blaine Calkins- Edmonton ), and ex-TrusteeJustin Heran from Barrie. TheWorld team was a collectionof American, Czech, English,Finnish, German, Norwegianand Swedish players. It was also

boosted by the top line from theThai National Team, which wonsilver at the Asian Winter Gamesin Kazakhstan in 2011.

Team Canada Tops the World 7-5in Charity Game

John Casella, President of the TCCC,and one of the Flying Farang playerswas one of the VIPs introduced at

the beginning of the game. As wasJennifer May, Canadas Charge

daffaires, who represented the CanadianEmbassy at the event decked out in a Mon-treal Canadians jersey. TCCC board mem-bers Geoff McIntyre and Derek van Pelt alsoplayed for Team Canada.

The Canadian team fell behind 2-0 earlyin the game; then rallied with four straightgoals to take the led 4-2. MP Brown scoredon a beautiful slapshot to tie the game at 2and Kirk Nell tipped in a clearing pass to putthe Canadians in the led. The World teamrallied to within one scoring to trail only 4-3.But the Canadians seemed to draw energyfrom a skirmish in front of the World net andexploded for three goals in quick successionto take a commanding 7-3 lead. The Worldsquad later two added goals late in the gameto make the final score a respectable 7-5.

Thomas Doucet was in goal for Canadaduring the first period, Simon Halverson dur-ing the second period and Lance Parker wasin net in the third. Fifteen-year-old Halverson,the son of RCMP officer Gary Halverson, wasparticularly brilliant during stretches of thesecond frame when the World team stormed

the net trying to tie the score.

The BNH mascots were on hand deliver-ing good cheer as they worked the crowd.Everyone seemed to enjoy the show, espe-cially the Canadian MPs who were presentedwith their own personal Flying Farang jerseysbefore the game.

Organizer Scott Murray said, We were onpins and needles up until game time becausethe Zamboni was broken, but in the end it allworked out and everyone had a good time.The Flying Farangs would like to thank KhunNoi of The Rink, Sakchai Chinanuvatana andScott Whitcomb, without whose help wecould not have staged this game.

The game raised 70,990.25 baht for the

Thai Red Cross in support of flood relief.

Supporting photos were provided by NAZ Brown


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Embassy News

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A few former Ambassadors to Thailand share theirwonderful memories on the occasion of the 50th

Anniversary of Canada-Thailand bilateral relations:

Lawrence Austin Hayne Smith26-Nov-1987 to Nov-1990

I was privileged to be the Canadian Ambassador in Bangkok, 1987-1990, and am delighted to see that you are celebrating the 50thanniversary of diplomatic relations. Both my wife and I thoroughly

enjoyed our years in Bangkok and still recall nostalgically the beautyof the country, the friendliness of its people and the wonderful timeswe had there. Professionally, it was the dynamism of the economywhich made my work so fascinating. I recently came across the fare-well dispatch I had written on my departure in 1990 which pointedout that two-way trade had increased fourfold in the previous threeyears, and that investment had skyrocketed. I compared the bilateralrelationship to Leacock's horse which was taking off rapidly in alldirections at once.

I am sure this relationship is continuing to deepen and widen andI wish you great success on the occasion of this golden anniversary.

Arthur C. Perron08-Nov-1990 to 12-July-1994

It was a privilege for Nicole and me to live in theKingdom of Thailand from 1990 to 1994 andfor me to serve as the Ambassador of Canada.Our memories are as vivid today as they werefascinating and enlightening to experience atthe time. From the beauty and pageantry of the

festival of Loi Kratong in Sukothai, to the joy-ous celebrations during Songkran everywhere, to the sheer magicalspectacle of thousands of candle-lit lanterns rising in the dark nightsky during Yi Peng, Thailand is a land of tradition, of spirituality andof beauty.

During our stay in Thailand, the Canada -Thai relationship evolvedand deepened. It was a time of change, a time of seizing new oppor-tunities and a time of creating the foundations of a mature and mutu-ally beneficial partnership. We worked together in policy institutionsthat focused on economic development, technology, governance,energy and human rights in the region. It is with particular pridethat we organized a historic visit to Thailand of the Nobel PeacePrize Laureates to further human rights in Myanmar. Serving on theInternational Advisory Board of Chulalongkorn University allowed usto establish integrated programs with universities around the world,including Canada. The governments decision to bestow one of itshighest honors in recognition of our programs designed to enhancethe role and status of Thai women as leaders in society was yetanother highlight of my term.

Working with Khun Anand Panyarachun, following his appoint-ment as Prime Minister by His Majesty the King, to restore demo-cratic processes and good government was evidence of the closecollaboration between our two countries.

Nicoles leadership as President of the Diplomatic Corps RedCross Society and contribution towards initiatives to assist those inneed were recognized by civil society and Royalty.

Thailand can take its place amongst the leading Asian countries of

the world and Canada is particularly proud of the close and dynamicrelationship it enjoys with this impressive nation

Andrew McAlister20-Aug-2001 to10-Aug-2004

I was the Canadian Am-bassador to Thailand in2001-2004 and it was ahigh point of my diplo-matic career.

There were so many

wonderful moments dur-ing our time in Thailand that it is very difficult to choose just one or two.Participating in the ceremony to mark the destruction of Thailand'slast stocks of anti-personnel landmines; helping Canadian companiesenter the rapidly expanding Thai market; visiting the hill tribes; visitingCanada Fund projects across the country; but most of all meetingso many Thai friends and colleagues, with whom we remain closeeven after being away for several years-- these were just some ofthe many activities and events which made our stay so pleasant andproductive.

My wife, Bente, and I have a lifetime of memories from our all tooshort stay in Thailand, but one stands out-- the evening Royal Bargeprocession on the Chao Phraya during the APEC Summit in 2003.It was a spectacular display put on with typical Thai elegance andstyle. Just the break we needed from the stresses of managing theCanadian Trade Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Prime Ministerwho were all in Bangkok at the same time!

50th AnniversaryGreetings from Old Friends


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February 2012 13

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Voyageur14

Chamber News

KIS International School iscurrently accepting applicationsfor their coveted IB Diplomaacademic scholarships for theacademic year 2012-2013. KISscholarships are well respectedin the internat iona l schoolcommunity and are awardedin order to recognize academicexcellence and open up the worldof International Baccalaureate(IB) to deserving candidates. TheIB Diploma scholarship winnerwill be granted full tuition forthe duration of the two-year IBDiploma programme.

Super Students Eager to win

IB Diploma Scholarships atKIS International School

The IB Diploma Scholarship fromKIS International School, whichis valued at over a million Baht,opens the door to many of theworlds best universities for aca-

demically strong and committed students.Teenagers currently aged 15 or 16 years oldand in Grade 10 (or Year 11) can apply tocompete for the grant of the full IB Diploma

Programme at KIS.The scholarship is open to applicants of

all nationalities who are fluent in English. Ap-plicants should also be academically strongand well-rounded. They will be required to sitan exam and undergo an interview as partof the application process. Candidates whodo not receive the scholarships but who doperform above expectations may be eligiblefor a partial scholarship.

Please request full conditions and detailsof the scholarships from Ms. Linda [email protected]. More information about KISis at www.kis.ac.th.

Contact:

Linda BelonjeTel: 02-274-3444 ext. 4116,Email: [email protected]

KIS International School999/124 Kesinee Ville, Pracha-Utit Road,Huay Kwang, Bangkok 10320 ThailandTel: +66 (0) 2274 3444Fax: +66 (0) 2274 3452E-mail [email protected]. kis.ac.th

During our Tuesday, January 24thSpeaker Luncheon, the memberswere provided with an excellent

economic presentation by Khun PimpakaNichgaroon, Head of Research for Thana-chart Securities. Her presentation wastitled Winds of Change and highlightedsome key insights on Thailands forward

economic environment:

1. The Thai economy is cyclically peakedout with the key economic drivers ofConsumption, Private Investment,Government Investment and Exportslacking unified momentum. For CY2012, Consumption was seen as theprimary economic driver.

2. Given the outlook for peaking farmincome, weaker exports and the lossof purchasing power from the recentfloods, it is anticipated that Consump-tion will also lose some of its prior

momentum.3. Government spending packages have

change from being infrastructure ori-ented to consumption oriented-populistpackages over the last two years.

4. Runaway populism is becoming a grow-ing concern given the countrys large taxrevenue shortfalls and the fact that itsentering into a low quality public debtcycle straddled with twin deficits in 2012and 2013.

5. The Thai markets earnings growth was akey factor in driving the SETs strong per-formance over the last two years, but thiscould be coming to an end with increased

prospects for single-digit growth.

Please contact the TCCC If you would liketo acquire a full copy of Khun Pimpakasluncheon presentation

January 2012 TCCC Speaker Luncheon

Chamber President. Mr. John Casellapresenting Khun Pimpaka Nichgaroon,

Head of Research - Thanachart

Securities with a TCCC speaker gift.


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Voyageur Feb 2012

Documents

Transcript of Voyageur Feb 2012