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ISSUE 2 April 2009

What’s on in Phuket- Golf

- Phuket Blues Festival

Weddings

Thai Traditions - Songkran

- Thai Fruit

Thai Traditions - Be Careful

- The Rainy Season?

Quiz

Hotel News- Doctor in the House

- Bobby

Meet a member of staff

Meet a guest9 Questions

Up and Coming- Chef Phudon

- The Heart of Cape Panwa

- Privilege Card

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The newsletter is named Otterʼs Tales after Bobby the friendly Otter who was a resident of the Cape Panwa Hotel for nearly 10 years

Welcome to Otter’s Tales – Cape Panwa’s action-packed newsletter, crammed

full with guest, local and staff news. This month we eschew the usual drugs, sex and

rock and roll stuff and focus in on, well, violence on the football pitch in Phuket, staff

tattoos, wailing the blues and just how bad Tim is at Golf – along with a whole lot

more.

Enjoy, but most of all, come back and stay as part of our family.

A Bit of Dust up on the PitchThe traditional image of the peaceful, polite

and hospitable Thai sporting gentleman

recently took a bashing when the Thai

national team faced Lebanon at Phuket’s

very own Surakul Sports Stadium. All was

going well until a Thai player drove home

a sliding tackle that all but knocked out an

opponent. Things didn’t get a lot better

after a highly disputed Thai goal but the evening

hit its nadir in the second half when the original

Thai offender’s twin brother delivered another

hammerhead tackle. Lawks, the football match

turned into a veritable pugilistic free-for-all with

the intimidated referee ending the proceedings

15 minutes early. Strangely enough, the crowds

streaming out into the steamy night were well behaved, chatty and satisfied with a

good show. One could reasonably suppose that in hot-tempered Lebanon this would

be part and parcel of the sporting evening, but in Phuket?

– 2 –– 2 2 –

Phuket Blues FestivalThis year, Phuket’s fourth Blues Festival was quite simply the best

ever. The weather was perfect, the audience enthusiastic and the

music just fantastic. But just why people take pleasure from hearing

grown men singing about crop failures, infidelity and alcoholism

in run-down bars was (once again) not sufficiently explained. This

year Eric Bibb, a blues musician from New York, headed the bill

but old-favourite Rich Harper was back to wow the crowd with his

axe-thrashing. And yes, local musicians joined in too, with an out-

of-this-world performance by the Groove Doctors and even Sam

Wilko, your newsletter editor took to the stage!

GolfThis year’s Singha golf tour was

held in March on Phuket and an

exciting affair it was. But talking

of golf, I’ll tell you what – Tim

is perhaps the world’s worst

golfer, with ‘imported’ clubs

and a tee-off that resembles an

arthritic Frisbee thrower’s swing.

Challenge this man to a game

and you’ll feel gooood about

life. Phuket boasts six world-class

courses.

Tim

Franziskat and Patric

Sam on Stage

Nikki and Lan

Cape Panwa is a great place to get married: Just look at the radiant faces of these couples tying the knot on and offshore.

Caroline and Stephen

Bernie and Lisa

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Songkran The Thai New Year – ‘Songkran’ is one of the world’s craziest, water-soaked,

and fun-filled festivals. It is for some the event of the year in Thailand’s

plethora of fun holidays, letting out the inner child in all its participants. This

year, extending from the weekend preceding and into the week of 13th to

15th of April (and for many to the next weekend), expect a water-logged week

in which youngsters will shoot at you with high-powered water guns. Road

bystanders will throw freezing H2O at you as you drive past and look forward

to a scenario in which not even the local gendarmerie is exempt from a good

dousing.

But seriously, folks…

As playful as it may seem, Song Kran has its roots in a more dignified festivity

tree. The whole affair is basically a traditional and nationwide return home to

pay respects to parents and elders. Song Kran is a typical modern-day Thai

snub at established values in that it occurs right at the end of the ‘dry’ season

when water is at its scarcest: So it means a garden-well-emptying surge of joy

and fun. Go figure that one out...

Fruit of the month:

T h a iT R A D I T I O N S

Some tips to enjoy Songkran:❀ Get yourself a water gun and a supply

of water

❀ Don’t get mad; get even. If someone

(usually a sharp-shooting roadside

teenager) picks you out, simply do the

Cool Hand Luke, twiddle your gun, calmly

walk up to him/her, say ‘Sawasdee khrap/

ka’ and let them him have it… with both

barrels. You’ll make new friends and often

‘fi ght’ alongside them into the dusk.

Claude and Tim are especially juicy

victims. You’d be surprised at how much

they enjoy being attacked with freezing

water on this day. You may, however, have

to pay penance in the shape of a drink, but

don’t expect forgiveness. No, that’d be too

much…

❀ Maybe it’s best not to ride a motorcycle

during this festival.

kran:

Cape Panwa Hotel offers an early morning visit a local Wat as well as a watery ride through Chalong to sample the whacky atmosphere of this double-edged festival.

CashewHave you ever smelt the bitter-sweet odour of the cashew fruit

squashed under the wheels of passing vehicles along the Makham

peninsula? Well, there’s more to it than that. The cashew nut,

jutting out from the lower part of this fruit, is inedible unless

cooked and then it is a welcome addition to many Thai dishes.

Check out when and where you can tour Phuket’s cashew nut

factories at the tour desk. You’ll be amazed at this local industry.

– 4 –

This is one of the biggest no-no’s in a country renowned for its ‘yes-yes’ (or

better defined ‘yes, well go ahead as long as you don’t scare the horses’)

culture. Simply put, the feet are the lowest, and the head the noblest parts

of the body in Thai Buddhist culture. Therefore, never point with your feet at

anything and, as affectionate as you want to be, please do not touch a Thai

Buddhist’s head. Sure, they’ll understand you weren’t to know about this

tradition, but why not treat your hosts as courteously as they treat you?

b b b r nr l b l r t fh d d tr r n

h h p t l f rt b n b p ph h n p

r n t n n tn r f n d r r

l t r h b lt p r b n b f

h p r pt l n l n n

F&B tl t t p P n

f nd nT p f th R fP n H

n l N n

L P ntt r B r

Th L ht HD lph n B rB b B r

Global warming? Ice caps sliding

too quickly? No matter, what really

matters in this part of the world is

that it rains enough for everyone’s

garden well to be full. The problem

is that the monsoonal southwest

breezes blew in precious little rain-

laden clouds last year, resulting in

a rather dry few months when we

should have been swimming and

wading to work. As a result we urge

visitors to be economical with their

water usage as possible. Thanks a lot.

T h a iT R A D I T I O N S

Win & Prizes: Please post or email your answers to us and we will announce the winners in our next Otter’s Tales. Prizes include T-Shirts, baseball caps and more and can be collected on your next visit or email Tim to have it posted out to you.

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Suriya works out (and with hotel guests) at the resort’s Phuket Gym

almost everyday.

He’s been training for more than 10 years and started when he was 15,

winning the South of Thailand’s ‘Strongman’ competition. So your luggage

is safe with this Herculean porter, but – be warned - don’t cross him!

Recently we couldn’t figure out why there

was such a commotion over a certain

guest. All the girls were wrig-gling,

giggling and smiling at this guy and we

were not impressed. We all shook our

heads and put it down to ‘Coconuth-

editus’ – but wait a minute, doesn’t

that happen to single males travelling

in Thailand, who lose their hearts (and

sometimes a whole lot more)to the

beautiful Thai ladies here?

‘C’est la folie de jeunesse’ we all noisily

agreed; then snuck off to look the phrase

up in a French-English dictionary before

agreeing again.

Then these silly girls all wanted a

photograph with him and began to ask

for autographs. This was taking on soap-

like dimensions; just what was going on?

After a while, an enlightened guest from

the UK pointed out that the young man

in question was the winsome ‘Abs’ from

Casualty, a TV program in the UK centred

on the lives of people who work in a

hospital. No ER George Clooney, our Abs,

but he certainly got the ladies’ attention

and Cape Panwa’s Pavinee decidedly

lusted after having her photograph taken

with him… but to no avail. Russell, who

runs the Sunset Bar in the Village, did the

honours so here it is; Abs and Russell, just

down the road.phphhototogograraphph wwitithh hihimm anandd bebegagann toto aaaskskphphp ototogogggraraphphpp w witithh hihimm anandd bebegagagg nn toto a askk

MEET A MEMBER OF

S T A F F

He’s not ‘below climbing above’ to

retrieve a junior guest’s balloon.

Suriya the porter; Recapturing a lost balloon.

Suriya fl exes his muscles.

Abs and Russell

Abs from “Casualty”

Bobby the friendly Otter

Thank you very much to all of you

who sent in the answer to our

question regarding the name of the

Otter who lived at the Cape Panwa

Hotel.

The lucky winners were put into a

hat; well not exactly - your names

were put into a lucky draw hat and

the winners will all receive a T-shirt

and Baseball Hat (and maybe more if

you’re nice) on your next visit.

The winners are:Chris and Shirley Kenyon

Gladys Stephenson

Joan Tinkler

Ian McAleese

Congratulations!

Safe as houses

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What is your name?

My name is Fonthip Chaiya nut but you can call me Aam

Are you married?

No I am not married (with a little giggle and a grin), but you are!

What is your favourite Thai food?

Som Tam (papaya salad) and shrimp pancakes.

(Well I won’t take you out for dinner!)

No you won’t - you are my boss!

What is your favourite farang food?

Oh I love some farang foods, my favourite is spaghetti in

tomato sauce.

(I can cook that) No I am not coming for dinner! (I did not

invite you!)

What do you like to do on your day off?

I like to go shopping at the local markets, sometimes with

a friend.

(Ooo)

What is your favourite movie?

(Very quickly) Tom Cruise in the Last Samurai - he is lovely.

Do you have a tattoo?

Yes I do?

Where is your tattoo and what is it?

It is not for you to see............

with Khun Fontipuestions

Distinctly Relaxing, Distinctly Secluded,

Distinctly Cape Panwa

Cape Panwa SUMMER NIGHTS PACKAGE

Make the nights last a little longer!From now until October 31st, 2009

Cape Panwa is offering a fantastic summer package including free nights.

Embodying tropical luxury in oneof the world's most desirable destinations....

Names: Chris and Shirley Kenyon

Why do you come back to stay with us at the

Cape Panwa Hotel?

It’s relatively isolated and it suits our lifestyle. We can relax,

go for a walk and a swim – whatever we would like to do

here is easy going. All the staff members are wonderful,

even the new ones; Cape Panwa hotel seems to attract

them. Sandy, Jennifer and the cook on the beach are

exceptional.

Did you do anything special this time?

We took two of the Reps out, Thip and Supak and her

baby, they were our Reps the very first time we came here

and they are still here.

What do you always do when you visit us at the

Cape Panwa Hotel?

We visit Coral Island on the Cape Panwa Boat and Chris

always manages to fall into the sea!

Chris and Shirley Kenyon

M E E T A

G U E S T

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U p & C O M I N G

You can contribute, too! Please send us your holiday photos and we’ll post them in Otter’s Tales. Please post to am@capepanwa.com

Chef Phudon

›› Guess who’s having a baby?›› Who got soaked at Songkran - and a temple visit.›› More quizzes and prizes›› Visit Big Buddha with Tim›› Snakes and tigers - the Zoo in Phuket.›› Comedians in Phuket -what is Thai humor›› Up, close and personal to Pavinee›› A week of Weddings

Chef Phudon at the Cape Panwa HotelThank you very much to all of you who sent in comments, ideas and suggestions as to

what should be included in the Social Newsletter. One comment passed was could we

print a photograph of our Chef, Khun Phudon smiling? . . . He looked so serious in the

last issue. So say CHEESE Khun Phudon!

The Heart of the Cape Panwa

Cape Panwa O N L I N E

PRIVILEGESC A R D

Guest Loyalty Program

With the introduction of our GM

cocktail parties we have also

introduced a Guest Loyalty Program

for all of you who have visited us

previously. We would like to say thank

you to the great many people who

choose to come back.

There are two cards (gold or silver)

and they have different benefits,

from a dinner at Uncle Nan’s Italian

Restaurant to a Siamese Massage at

the Spa. If you are lucky enough to

have a gold card you can visit the

Cape Lounge everyday during your

stay.

More details of this Loyalty Program

are available from the website www.

capepanwa.com

Be sure to check our blog at www.capepanwa.blogspot.com for the very latest happenings

at Cape Panwa

Chef Phudon and staff

Chef Phudon and staff

A lot of our guests tell us that the reason that

they come back to us at the Cape Panwa Hotel

is because of the staff.

Please send us your photographs of you with

our staff members and we will put them on

our Website.

Thank you very much to some of you who

have already started – watch this space!