“We are working on a new record. We will probably do a greatest hits with five new tracks, and remixes of some classic songs. We can’t just put another compilation out, this will be different. We are writing the five new songs, and will do a new album without a label, so that will be interesting.

“Myself and Mikey [Culture Club bass guitarist Mikey Craig] started writing and it’s going very well. There’s a bit of dance party music in there. I think you have to be what you are – what we won’t be trying to do is make a pop record.”

The former Culture Club singer turned DJ George arrived in Phuket on Monday. He is on tour with international DJ Marc Vedo, and the pair fly to Bangkok today to perform together. After that they go on to Australia as part of their Asia/Pacific part of their worldwide tour.

Having sold over 100 million singles and 50 million albums as lead singer and songwriter of Culture Club, George has also been one of the most successful DJs since the late 1970s and continues to be in demand across the globe.

Since early 2010, George has rolled out a slew of new studio releases that include Amazing Grace, Sunshine Into My Life featuring Shalene Hector of Basement Jaxx fame, Brand New and Turn 2 Dust.

Asked whether it was hard for him to shake the hype around his Culture Club past, George said it depended on what country he was in.

“I’m going to Argentina and Mexico, it will be interesting to see if they’ve got their heads around my deejaying. I go to Italy a lot but for many years they could not accept me as a DJ. Now they don’t know me as a singer at all, but it took a long time.

“It depends on how many times I’ve been to the country since the 80s. When you’ve been as successful as I was, people hold you in a certain place. I’m not a big fan of nostalgia. I try to say to the fans if you don’t like house music don’t come to the DJ gigs because you won’t enjoy it, and you’ll piss me off, by standing there waving at me. It’s like go away, wrong decade. I try to be nice to people but if you come to a DJ gig you’ve got to dance. If I play [Culture Club] I do, but there’s no obligation.

“I’m really grateful for everything I have. I wouldn’t be here without the rest of Culture Club and what I achieved in the ’80s. I think of myself as a progressive artist. When I do the Culture Club thing next year it will be new music as well. I’m an artist, I’m not someone stuck in the past,” he told The Phuket News.

“One of the great things about dance music is that it’s kept me progressive, and I’m not going to let anyone take that away from me. I really just try to play what I like, I’m not a juke box DJ.”

George said he and Vedo arrived Monday (the pair are touring together) and have been doing “absolutely nothing except eating, relaxing and going to the gym”.

The pair are staying are Sri Panwa, which George described as “beautiful – absolutely”. “I got upgraded to this amazing room with an infinity pool, it is so lovely.”

On Friday he and Vedo (the pair are good friends and George is the godfather to Vedo’s child) went out and did some shopping, and ate in a local street food area in Phuket Town.

“I like Phuket, and I really like the Thai people. They are so chilled and so friendly.”

George said he plans to return to Phuket on holiday next year with his family.

La Tempesta tropicale Gaemi si prevede colpirà le regioni Thailandesi nord-orientali fin da Venerdì sera, portando piogge torrenziali in molte aree, e inondazioni , il Dipartimento meteorologico ha diramato l’allerta.

L’ultima volta che una tale tempesta ha colpito in maniera diretta la Thailandia è stato nel 2009, quando la tempesta tropicale Ketsana devastatò molte regioni del nord, nord-est e la pianura centrale.

“Gaemi ha la stessa grandezza di Ketsana” Somchai Baimuang, ha detto il vice direttore generale del Dipartimento meteorologici.

Ketsana causò il caos in 36 province, colpì 1,8 milioni di persone, a fine settembre-inizio ottobre 2009.

Gaemi entrerà in Vietnam venerdì mattina.

Si prevede che perderà forza, muovendosi via terra attraverso la Cambogia verso l’ Isan, ma sarà ancora pericoloso.

I rapporti dicono che probabilmente entrarà in Thailandia verso le 20:00 di Venerdì.

Somchai ha avvertito che ci potrebbero essere gravi danni nelle aree colpite direttamente della tempesta.

Il nord-est inferiore sarà direttamente colpito dalla tempesta nel tardo Venerdì e durante il fine settimana, Gaemi si muoverà verso ovest e, infine, fuori dal paese Lunedi.

Altre province nella parte inferiore della regione settentrionale, pianura centrale, Bangkok e province meridionali saranno colpite dalla tempesta.

“Le persone nelle aree a rischio dovrebbero stare attente, ci potrebbe essere maltempo in questo periodo,” ha avvisato il dipartimento metereologico.

Alle 16:00 di mercoledì, Gaemi era a 950 chilometri al largo della costa di Da Nang, Vietnam, e in movimento verso ovest.

Con Gaemi incombente, il governo e la Bangkok Metropolitan Administration hanno svuotato dell’acqua le dighe e canali in preparazione per il peggio.

Il Municipio si aspetta pioggia forte nell’ 80% delle zone della capitale e il governatore di Bangkok, Mr Sukhumbhand Paritabra, ha ordinato ai funzionari di seguire da vicino i livelli dell’ acqua in tutti i canali.

Il Municipio stà pompando acqua verso il fiume Chao Phraya e il Dipartimento di irrigazione Reale insiste sul fatto che i suoi bacini e dighe sono in grado di affrontare le previste pioggie torrenziali.

Traduzioni TS Team, tutti i diritti riservati.

Scritto da Team TS

Il superintendente Chiraphat Pochanaphan sulla scena dell’ inecndio al Tiger disco.

PHUKET, I gestori della discoteca Tiger a Phuket sono stati accusati di negligenza, omicio e lesioni colpose e mentali, così come di apertura illegale del locale fuopri dagli orari permessi.

Il sovrintendente della polizia di Patong, Chiraphat Pochanaphan, ha confermato le accuse.

L’incendio scoppiato nella discoteca, poco prima delle 04:00 il 17 agosto, mentre centinaia di avventori erano ancora all’interno del locale, ha causato la morte quattro persone, tra cui due turisti.

L’ amministratore delegato del Gruppo, Piya Isaramalai, è stato personalmente accusato di entrambi i reati, così come il gruppo della società madre, ha effetivamente confermato il Col Chiraphat.

“Abbiamo informato i sospetti delle accuse contro di loro e ora stiamo compilando le nostre prove da consegnare al pubblico ministero”, ha aggiunto.

Tra le prove da presentare ci sarà una relazione da parte degli ispettori esperti in costruzioni che citano numerose violazioni delle normative di sicurezza antincendio presso il night club.

La discoteca aveva una distribuzione impropria di estintori e le scale di uscita di emergenza difettose e ha utilizzato un schiuma altamente infiammabile per le pareti e le decorazioni del soffitto, dice il rapporto.

Nelle prove a carico sarà compresa anche sarà una relazione ufficiale redatta dagli investigatori forensi della Polizia Reale Thai che indicano che l’incendio è divampato all’interno dell’edificio.

Il sig Piya e la compgnia Sara Entertainment Co Ltd sono accusati ai sensi della sezione 291 del codice penale Tailandese, in cui si afferma: “Chiunque, perpetrando atto di negligenza e il tale atto ha causato la morte doi altre persone , può essere imprigionato non oltre i dieci anni e/o multato fino a 20.000 Baht.

Wednesday 3 October 2012, 09:05AM

Many of Germany’s most famous brands from BMW to Sennheiser, from Nivea to Jagermeister are powerhouses in their respective industries; quick, sleek, clean and powerful. All adjectives also rather interestingly reserved for the German character.

But apart from crude outdated stereotypes, what exactly is the German identity? Is it even acceptable nowadays to say there is one?

What is not up for debate however are the statistics of this super power. Europe’s second most populous country is the fifth largest economy in the world and the first in Europe. This it owes to being a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals and household equipment.

The 20th century saw Germany engaged in two devastating World Wars that resulted in the country being occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949, with the latter occupying the East and the others the West.

All four countries formally relinquished occupied control in 1991, a year after the unification of Germany and the symbolic tearing down of the Berlin Wall on October 3, and from then the date became Germany’s new national day.
For many of the 1,400 of Phuket’s German community however, national day is not necessarily seen as an occasion to celebrate. To remember yes, but perhaps not for the reason that many nationals of other countries remember their national day.

Owner of the Kokosnuss Kamala Restaurant and German bakery, Thomas Moog from Nürnberg said, “These days it usually reminds me of how Germans acted in the past and in the present what wars we are involved in and how stupid they are.”

He added though that he did think the unification of Germany was a good thing and was in itself a good reason to celebrate. But while others may feel pride on such days, Thomas most certainly will not.

“I believe one thing we can be proud of is the awareness of the wrong doing of our forefathers which doesn’t concern the young generation but it’s good for them to know what it takes to **** up a country.”

For Thomas and many Germans of a certain generation, feeling pride in one’s own country and more importantly being able to express it is fraught with ‘problems’.
German honorary consul for Phuket, Dirk Naumann, who was born in Hamburg during World War II and was 50 years old when the Berlin Wall fell, admits he has mixed emotions at such times of the year.

“I have lived most of my life coming from a divided country and rejoiced when Germany was re-united. I cannot find a rational reason for my happiness but it was so unbelievable and thus to me so emotional.”

Despite feeling this way Dirk did not celebrate the recent German National Day, but puts that down as much to his non-partying ways as anything else.

He also admits that, as a German, he feels a moral dilemma in expressing such pride. “I find national pride expressed publicly as uncalled for and unpleasant (also in Thailand, by the way). However, the generations after me seem to have a much more relaxed attitude towards national pride as evidenced during the World Cup held in Germany in 2006.”

Indeed, it is not just the younger generations of Germans who believe that as well as acknowledging the negative past, they should feel proud of the present and the future of Germany.

“Our generation is allowed to be proud to be German,” believes Bavarian-born Helga Langer, who now owns Sea Bees Diving, “It is astonishing what our fathers and grandfathers achieved after the war. We have so many good things in our country of which we can be proud of, including inventions and technologies.”

“When we hosted the World Cup, for the first in a long time, Germans raised their flags and showed their pride. Since then, most Germans own a flag.”

Production Manager for Prepress International, Rene Kropp, believes that with each passing year it is becoming less and less of a dilemma to express pride. “It is still a problem sometimes, but… [it] is getting better and better. Anyhow I think if I feel pride or not has nothing to do with my nationality.”

He believes that German National Day is not a very important holiday and is only celebrated and marketed by people of the government as a “symbol” of the reunification of Germany.

So whether celebrated with a stein of beer and a wave of the flag or not, the reunification of Germany and what it symbolises and reminds many German Phuket residents of, is as important as how it is or isn’t commemorated.

“No German will ever forget that part of our history (WW2) but it’s time to move on from the feeling of shame and guilt, our future generations should not have to feel this,” says Helga.

Wednesday 3 October 2012, 12:35PM

After four years in the crucible of Yala and Narathiwat, the General knows a thing or two about being alert.

He admits that his heart is still with the officers he worked with in the troubled deep South, but he feels that his experiences there and his empathy for his men will translate into the creation of a more effective force in Phuket.

“I want the Phuket police to be more smartly dressed and more responsive to orders. The Phuket police are not in a dangerous situation. I think of my fellow officers in Narathiwat and Yala who faced danger all the time. No one could be absent-minded or inattentive because someone would be shot or would die.

“So, moving to Phuket, I wonder what [my former colleagues] will think about me, staying in comfort here. I would like them to know that I am not just kicking back in this Phuket ‘Paradise’. As a result, I have to work harder,” he says with a laugh.

He will be applying what he learned in the South to Phuket’s security. “The security zones I set up in Yala were safe and sound. I may use the same system and apply it to Patong.

“Tourism is an important earner of income for Thailand and in Phuket there are many consulates, which means there is an international focus on tourism in the island.

“So I have to think about what processes are appropriate for keeping tourists safe from swindlers, mafia and drug problems.

“In the case of drugs, my main focus will be more on the distributors than the users.”

Gen Choti said that Phuket police, because they live in a comfortable environment without dangers such as they would face in the deep South, have become complacent, and do not work as hard as they should for the island’s citizens.

With a wicked smile, he warned, “If they don’t work harder, I can always swap them for some of my former colleagues in Yala or Narathiwat.”

BANGKOK — A Viagra-like drug will be launched by Thailand’s Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) in October in a bid to battle counterfeit products and the brand- name pill’s steep price, local media reported on Thursday.

The GPO had been given permission by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to produce Sidagra, a generic drug with a similar composition to Viagra, to help men with erectile dysfunction.

Sales of Sidagra will begin on Oct. 15 in two sizes — a 50 milligrams tablet at 0.8 U.S. dollars and a 100 milligrams pill at 1.44 U.S. dollars, the Bangkok Post reported.

In Thailand, Viagra’s retail price stands at 6.4 U.S. dollars per tablet.

Sales of the inexpensive product would help stem the outbreak of fake medicine, give hopes to people with no access to expensive remedies and address the growing needs of the aging society, said Dr. Witit Artavatkul, managing director the GPO, quoted by the local expatnewsletter.net.

Disco Fever at Taste Surin A night of charity and celebrations. Dress to D.I.S.C.O the night away to the tunes of DJ Jay Le Shark, as you swing back your free shots on arrival and dig into your very favourite BBQ buffet. All this and more for a great cause as all proceeds go to The Good Shepherd Charity. Ticket B1,200 (all tickets have to be prepaid). Venue: Taste restaurant, Surin Beach. Bar open