ScandAsia Thailand - September 2016

SEP 2016
Nicklas Moberg:
the Swede in Chinatown
ScandAsia.dk ScandAsia.fi ScandAsia.no ScandAsia.se

SEP 2016
Coming Events
DTCC Nordic Networking event
Where: Admiral’s Pub & Restaurant, Sukhumvit Soi 24
When: 18:30 - 21:00
Nicklas Moberg:
the Swede in Chinatown
ScandAsia.dk ScandAsia.fi ScandAsia.no ScandAsia.se
Your FREE
ScandAsia
Magazine
in Thailand
The Danish-Thai Chamber of
Commerce invites everyone
in for a night of networking.
The event will take place
at The Admiral’s Pub and
Restaurant in Sukhumvit. It
will be free for members to
attend the event, and the fee
for non-members will be 400
BHT.
ScandAsia is the only magazine
that covers all the Danish, Finnish,
Norwegian and Swedish residents
in Thailand.
Scandinavian Society Siam:
Crayfish Party 2016
We also publish a ScandAsia magazine
in China, Singapore and the rest of
South East Asia.
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Where: Rembrandt Hotel, Sukhumvit road soi 18
When: 24 September, 18:00 - 22:00
It is with great pleasure the Organizing Committee of the Scandinavian Society Siam invites you to
our traditional SSS Crayfish Party 2016 at the Grand Ballroom of the Rembrandt Hotel.
The evening offers everything that you have come to expect from a Scandinavian Society Siam
Crayfish Party! Welcome drink, plenty of beer, wine and even a bottle of snaps per table is included
with lots of crayfish, salmon, desserts and midnight snacks. Plus dancing the night away with Unicorn
band!
Member tickets are 2.900 THB until 12 September., Member at Door 3,200 THB.
Svenska Kyrkan i Thailand: Samtalsgrupp
med frukost!
Where: Prästbostaden på Kata Top View, Phuket
When: 30 September, 11:30 - 15:00
Vi samtalar kring olika ämnen över en kopp kaffe och smörgås.
En gång i månaden mellan september och april samlas vi i prästbostaden på Kata Top View. Vi
äter frukost tillsammans och avslutar med en samtalsgrupp. Församlingen föreslår olika ämnen som är
aktuella. Vi har bland annat diskuterat kring kyrkoåret, döden, vad är en människa mm.
För att vi skall kunna beräkna maten vill vi att du anmäler att du vill komma. Mejla tillphuket@
svenskakyrkan.se eller ring till Anna +66 (0) 87 381 4830 senast klockan 15 dagen innan.

September 2016 • ScandAsia.Thailand 3

News Brief
Thailand festivals in Scandinavia 2016
Kungsträdgården, Stockholm
During 29-30 July 2016, the Royal Thai
Embassy in Stockholm, in cooperation
with Ministry of Culture of Thailand,
the Thai offices, as well as Thai communities
in Sweden, held the Thai Festival “Thailand @
Kungsträdgården 2016” in Stockholm. The festival
has been consecutively organized for the third
year since 2014.
The festival attracted over 100,000 visitors
during two days. On this occasion, H.E. Mr.
Apichart Chinwanno, Permanent Secretary for
Foreign Affairs of Thailand, delivered welcoming
remarks followed by the remarks by H.E. Mr.
Kiattikhun Chartprasert, Thai Ambassador to
Sweden. This highlighted the objective of the
festival which is to promote the image of Thailand
in different areas such as culture, trade, economy,
tourism and people-to-people ties between
Thailand and Sweden.
The activities were organized by the Royal
Thai Embassy and consisted of mobile exhibitions
on Sufficiency Economy and the relations
between Thailand and Sweden, Thai food cooking
demonstration, Thai Salong fabric in a modern
style, and selling of Thai products.
As part of the event, the Thai Airways
International Office in Stockholm organized a
reception on 29 July’s evening to celebrate 30th
year Anniversary of Thai Airways in Stockholm.
Special price tickets to Thailand were also on sale
during the event. In addition, the visitors could
also join lucky draw for a chance to win roundtrip
air tickets to Thailand with accommodation by
scanning QR code created by a group of Thai
students in Sweden.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand had
organized a workshop of handicraft from the
Northern part of Thailand such as umbrella
painting as well as showing Phi Ta Khon, a typical
Thai mask used in celebration of Buddhist merit
making in Thailand.
There were over 10 Thai food stalls from Thai
restaurants in Sweden, Thai massage, real estate
representatives from Thailand, and several stalls
selling different kinds of Thai products such as
fruit, vegetables, and Thai seasoning.
Apart from the exhibition and Thai food stalls,
there were stage performance shows such as
Thai Traditional performances sponsored by the
Ministry of Culture of Thailand, live music from
Thailand, the demonstration of Muay Thai, Thai
traditional performance, as well as Thai country
music performed by Thai communities in Sweden,
and many more.
This year the Embassy had invited a Thai
innovator who brought with him his own
innovation, a robot designed for taking care of
elderly people named ‘Dinsow’ to the festival.
This was attracted by many visitors especially
the children. The Swedish children learned how
to greet in a Thai way or ‘Wai’ from this robot’s
movement.
Source: The Royal Thai Embassy in Stockholm
Thai Festival
in Copenhagen
On 13 August 2016, the Royal Thai
Embassy in Copenhagen and the Thai
Community in Denmark organized a
Thai Festival at Havneparken, Islands Brygge
in Copenhagen. Twenty-six Thai shops and
restaurants in Denmark participated selling variety
of Thai products, including food, desserts and
snacks, fresh and dried tropical fruits, beverages,
clothes and textile among others.
Approximately 10,000 participants enjoyed
various delicious Thai food and Thai cultural
performances from members of the Thai
Community in Denmark as well as performances
from professional dancers and musicians from
Bunditpatanasilpa Institute, Ministry of Culture
of Thailand.
In addition, there was an exhibition of arts
and crafts from the Foundation of the Promotion
of Supplementary Occupations and Related
Techniques of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of
Thailand. Lucky draw winners won round-trip
tickets from Copenhagen to Bangkok sponsored
by Thai Airways International and gift vouchers
from Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Source: The Royal Thai Embassy in Denmark
4 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2016

Jørgen Schmidt passed away
Jørgen Schmidt, the founder of the dz
group of companies, passed away in the
early hours of Thursday 11 August 2016.
Jørgen Schmidt founded the dz group
of companies in Denmark in 1971. He was
already a successful businessman within
security printing and plastic card production in
Denmark when in 1983 he opened a factory
in Thailand. A few years later, he decided
to move to Thailand and focus entirely on
this product line and consequently sold his
company back in Denmark.
Jørgen Schmidt was exceptionelly good
at following with the developments in the market. When credit cards started
having electronic circuits embedded, he was quick to offer that too and he
was at the forefront of companies offering SIM cards for mobile phones
when that market exploded.
His success earned him on several occasions the attention of the Danish
Royal family. In 1997, Crown Prince Frederik cut the ribbon for the second
expansion of dz’s factory in Bang Plee east of Bangkok. In 2008, Crown
Prince Frederik visited the dz group again, this time to cut the ribbon to the
fourth expansion and at the same time participate in the 25 year anniversary
celebration of the company.
As the Crown Prince had already seen the factory Jørgen Schmidt in
2008 instead showed him his collection of paintings and other art pieces
before hosting a lunch for the entire delegation.
Jørgen Schmidt died from a progressing cancer which eventually
developed an incurable tumor in his brain. He leaves behind his wife and
two daughters from his current marriage and his children from his previous
marriages who are all in different ways active in the family business.
New Finnish Ambassador
to Bangkok
News Brief
The Finnish government has appointed Satu Suikkari-Kleven as the
new ambassador in Bangkok, Thailand. With this new title, Ms.
Suikkari-Kleven will be the new Ambassador to both Thailand,
Cambodia and Myanmar.
Currently Satu Suikkari-Kleven works at the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs which she entered in 1998. She has previously worked at the
Finnish Embassy in Oslo and the Permanent Mission of Finland to the
UN in New York.
Furthermore, the
upcoming ambassador
has worked at the Office
of the Council of Europe
Commissioner for Human
Rights in Strasbourg and at
the headquarters of UN
Refugee Agency UNHCR
in Geneve and its office in
Afghanistan.
Satu Suikkari-Kleven
take up her new post in
September 2016 and will
thereby be replacing Kirsti
Westphalen.
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Singapore Branch or any of its affiliates do not have the necessary licence. Published by Nordea Bank S.A., R.C.S. Luxembourg No. B 14.157 on behalf of Nordea Bank S.A. Singapore Branch, 138 Market Street #09-03, CapitaGreen
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September 2016 • ScandAsia.Thailand 5

Swede Mats Öberg
caught in a Thai hospital
for three weeks
By Maria Jønsson
In late July 2016, 55-year-old Mats Öberg
from the little town Swedish town Eslöv
travelled to Bangkok. His past travels have
always been with his family or friends, but
this time he decided to go by himself. Before
leaving Sweden, Mr Öbert went to the doctor
because he had been coughing and feeling a little
feverish. The doctor gave him some antibiotics
for a light pneumonia but did not warn him from
travelling. Yet, the moment Mr Öberg arrived
in Bangkok he started coughing blood and
collapsed. At first, he was taken care of at the
airport before he was taken to a local hospital
in Bangkok.
Back in Sweden his three children were
waiting for their father to tell them that he
was in Bangkok, safe and sound. But they heard
nothing. It was not until the next day that the
hospital staff got in touch with the children
through their father’s phone. The children were
met with broken English on the other line, but
luckily, the daughter along with her mother and
Mr Öberg’s ex-wife are nurses in Sweden, so
they understood most of the medical terms they
were presented.
The family immediately contacted his
insurance company, Trygg-Hansa, in the hope that
they would help them out. But to the family’s
disappointment, Trygg-Hansa was not willing to
pay for the health or travel expenses. Their reason
was that Mr Öberg already was ill when he left
Sweden. The family also tried contacting the
Foreign Ministry, the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok,
SOS International.
6 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2016
“For two days we were in constant contact
with all four instances, and they all just referred
to each other and none of them wanted to take
any responsibility whatsoever,” says the oldest son,
Rasmus Öberg.
Håkan Franzen, insurance expert from Trygg-
Hansa explains that the insurance company has
a thorough and comprehensive picture of Mr
Öberg’s medical conditions on departure on
which they based their decision.
“Basically, the insurance does not apply if you
are ill and have a need for care even before the
journey begins,” says Håkan Franzen.
Travelled to Bangkok
The family, consisting of the three children,
Rasmus, Ida and Jonathan and their mother,
Birgitta, decided to get the first flight to Bangkok
to help and be with their critically ill father. When
they got to the Thai capital, they immediately got
him transferred to Bumrungrad International
Hospital, the most expensive private hospital in
all of Thailand, knowing that they would not be
able to pay the bill.
“It was terrible, but we just did what we had
to do,” says Rasmus. He explains that they kept
hoping that the insurance company would realise
that they had made a mistake and change their
decision. But as the days went by, so did their
hope, and they started looking for loans to apply
for. Apart from the hospital bill, the family also had
to pay for the medical transportation Mats Öberg
needed to get home safely along with their own
transportation.
Help from the Swedish Church
During their time in the Thai capital, the family got
help from the Swedish Church in Bangkok.
The Swedish Church cannot help families like
the Öbergs economically, but they can contribute
to being a socially and psychologically important
support for the family during their time of crisis.
The church helped the Öbergs by sending
a volunteer to help the family figuring out what
to do and how to do it. This volunteer has been
living with her family in Thailand for five years and
therefore, she could also work as an interpreter.
She is used to dealing with this and has experience
in law and has been involved in the groups that
before have visited Swedes who have ended up
in a Thai hospital due to illnesses and accidents
in Thailand.
More and more complications
In all his time in Bangkok, Mr Öberg was in need of
a respirator to breathe. Since he got to Thailand,
he has had a stroke and a number of blood clots
in his legs. Furthermore, his heart started to beat
out of rhythm which resulted in him receiving
heart medicine. That is only some of the battles
the father of three fought in the Thai hospital.
“It has been excruciating. We did not know
anything. We did not know what was happening,
and we did not know how long he would survive,”
says Rasmus.
Fundraising through Facebook
Without help from the insurance company Mr
Öberg could not afford to get home or pay

Photo text: The Öbergs on a trip to
Paris in the spring. Mats Öberg is
sitting to the right in the photo with
his children Ida (left), Rasmus and
Jonathan Oberg. Photo: Private.
the hospital bills. In the Swede’s condition, he
needed to be transported back to Sweden with
air ambulance, while the hospital bill was rising by
the day due to his condition deteriorating.
Some of the family’s friends had started
talking about raising money to help them, but
the Öbergs wanted to do it themselves. After a
couple of days, the family started a fundraising
through Facebook updates reaching out to all
their friends. This turned out to be more helpful
than the family had ever dared to hope. Friends
and family started sending them money, and all
of a sudden, the family also received money from
people they did not know.
Also local Swedish businesses started helping
the family raising money. Among others the table
tennis club, where Mr Öberg is a member, was
trying to raise money to help him. Therefore,
Sunday 7 August 2016, the club made an event
to raise more money. They made a table tennis
show and made around 60,000 SEK. All the
profit from the fundraising was donated directly
to the family.
Back home
For three weeks the family was stuck in Bangkok
not knowing what to do, or what was going to
happen. They had no idea if their fundraisings
would be enough to get their father home. Then
one day, their luck changed. In mid August the
family had managed to raise the significant amout
of 800,000 SEK which was almost enough to pay
the hospital bill and the ambulance flight for their
father. The family now only had to pay around
100,000 SEK themselves.
In mid August, the entire family was on their
way home to Sweden. For three weeks they had
been living in constant fear and uncertainty. As the
family sat on their flight home, they still did not
know whether or not Mr Öberg would make it,
since transporting him home was very risky due
to his condition.
Getting better
Mr Öberg landed in Copenhagen on 17 August
2016 and from there he was transported by
ambulance directly to a hospital in Lund in Sweden.
Already after a couple of days he could breathe
without the help from his respirator which he
had been breathing through ever since he was
embedded in Bangkok.
On 30 August 2016, Mats Öberg wrote on
Facebook that he had been released from the
hospital and that it seems he is going to be alright.
He writes that medically speaking, everything
looks to be going in the right direction, but that
there are some tests to be done during his rehab
period. He is very grateful for all the help he has
received and wants to thank both his family for
helping him through this and all the people who
have donated money to the family.
The next step for the family is to make an
appeal for the insurance company to reopen
the case and pay the hospital bill as well as the
medical transportation he needed to get home
to Sweden.
September 2016 • ScandAsia.Thailand 7

Peter Sand:
new Trade Counsellor
Danish Embassy Thailand
By Anders Bo Andersen
From Beijing to New Dehli, then home
to Denmark for six years and now
back again; the region of Asia is not an
unfamiliar place to Peter Sand, the new
Trade Counsellor and Deputy Head
of Mission to the Danish Embassy in Thailand.
Starting in the private sector, he moved to the
Danish Foreign Ministry in 2002, where he have
served on a number of prominent positions,
among other things as the personal assistant to
Uffe Elleman.
Now, he is ready to carry out a new position
abroad, this time in Thailand.
“I have now come to an easier part of Asia,
if you can say so. But I really like it out here, so I
was very happy when I was offered this position
and the opportunity to return to Asia,” Peter says,
when ScandAsia talked with him in his office at
the Danish Embassy in Bangkok.
“You can say that I am an ‘Asia-freak’,” he adds
with a smile.
Peter’s career in the Danish Foreign Ministry
started in Beijing, where he set out as sector
expert within energy and environment. Unlike his
colleagues in the Foreign Ministry, Peter was not
the poster boy for a job in the there because he
came in from the private sector.
“I was an untraditional candidate for a position
in the Foreign Ministry because of my background
in mainly private companies. However, at that
point I had been to China on several occasions
and found China a super interesting place, so I
applied for a job at the Embassy in Beijing and
got it,” he explains.
8 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2016
Peter was in Beijing for five years and a part
of the Danish Foreign Ministry, which allowed him
to transfer to a position at the Danish Embassy
in New Dehli. After three years in India, he
returned to Denmark for six years, where he
mostly worked for the Danish Trade Council in
Copenhagen.
In 2011, he became the personal assistant to
the former Danish Foreign Minister, Uffe Elleman,
who at that point served as Export Ambassador
to India. However, Peter’s job did not last long,
because the Export Ambassador initiative was
abolished four months after it commenced.
“The Export Ambassadors existed from June
to November 2011. I remember, because Uffe
Elleman was fired on his 70 years birthday,” Peter
says.
“But I had some intense few, but super
interesting and exciting months with Uffe,” he
adds.
In his new position in Thailand, Peter functions
both as Trade Counsellor and Deputy Head of
Mission at the Danish Embassy in Bangkok. The
two former separate posts have merged and
is now under his jurisdiction. However, as Peter
underlines, trade and commerce come first.
“I have an economic and commercial profile,
so commercial matters have first priority to me,”
he says.
An increasing number of businesses are
setting up in Cambodia instead of Thailand,
because of the extensive requirements and
bureaucracy in Thailand, which is a problem
Peter intends to solve in his new position.
“We are teaming up with the authorities
here in Thailand, such as the Board of Investment
(BoI) and the Ministry of Commerce, to make it
easier for Danish companies to set up businesses
out here,” Peter says.
“At the moment we are, together with the
Thai authorities, offering service packages that
include tax reliefs, help with work permits and
additional paper work, especially for applications
for BoI support,” he explains.
Peter is also aware that the high price the
Trade Council charge for its services is a problem.
With a cost of DKK 935 per hour, some business
might tail off, but Peter argues that the Council is
flexible and ready to come up with an offer.
“We are aware that we are a little expensive,
but we offer package deals and the price depends
on the hours used. In case of fewer hours, we pay
back our customers.”
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is also
a priority for Peter, who, among other things, have
been responsible for the SME activities of the
Danish Trade Council in Copenhagen.
“We have come to a point, where
an increasing number of the bigger Danish
companies are getting active in Thailand. As the
number of big and medium-sized businesses
gradually dries up, we need to start doing more
for the small businesses also, when they are
ready to engage with Thailand” Peter says.
As a part of this new focus on SMEs, Peter
hopes a Danish company in Thailand will get
enrolled in the Vitus programme, a project
established by the Danish The Trade Council that
provides support for small and medium-sized
Danish companies with an international growth
potential.
“We will do a lot for a Danish company out
here to get accepted for the Vitus programme,
and as I know, in all modesty, a lot about SMEs and
the program, I think it could be very interesting,”
Peter says.
“That is one of my main ambitions,” he adds.
Peter’s family has not moved with him to
Thailand. His wife works for the International
Office at Aalborg University’s branch in
Copenhagen, but will come live with him in
Thailand next summer. His two sons, who are
18 and 21 years old, will not move to Thailand,
but plan to do an internship or travel to the
country.
Peter will serve as Trade Counsellor and
Deputy Head of Mission for the next four years.

News Brief
Mr. Fredrik Härén
Sweden gears up for its first SEA business summit in Singapore
By Joakim Persson
As the first ever, and very timely ‘Sweden–
Southeast Asia Business Summit’ is around
the corner (21–22 of September 2016), Team
Sweden presents the details for the two days
in Singapore include an exciting and relevant
programme, and key political and high-level
business representatives from Sweden, such as
Mr Mikael Damberg, Minister for Enterprise and
Innovation; Mrs. Ylva Berg, CEO, Business Sweden;
and Mr Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of the
Board, SEB, SAAB Group & Foundation Asset
Management.
Forecasted as a strong growth market
onwards, Southeast Asia requires business
leaders and entrepreneurs to have a clear
understanding of the developments in the region.
The Sweden–Southeast Asia Business Summit
provides an excellent opportunity to get insights
from industry peers and policy experts and to
meet with potential partners.
On Day 1 Mr Marcus Wallenberg and Mr.
Piyush Gupta, Chief Executive Officer and
Director of DBS Group will hold keynote
speeches, followed by the first session, kicking off
the summit with a heavy-weight topic to paint
the picture of the region’s forecast and potential
for the near future: ‘Economic and Political
Outlook on Southeast Asia - Brief introductory
remarks’ followed by a panel discussion based
on the themes:
• Southeast Asia – Asia’s new growth engine
• The regional free trade agenda and greater
regional economic integration including the
ASEAN Economic Community – what’s in it
for business?
• Southeast Asia - stepping out of China’s
shadow?
• The US, China and Southeast Asia – new geopolitical
realities
In session 2 the summit looks ahead to
‘Southeast Asia in 2020 – key factors for
businesses to consider’.
Mr Christian Ihre, for instance, presents
insights to ‘Who is the Southeast Asian consumer?’
in a panel discussion.
Christian Ihre is Co-founder & CEO of
LynxEye Management Consultants, an awardwinning
Brand Agency in the Nordic Region. He
set up a Singapore office in 2012 and has since
led the Asia operations.
In a second panel discussion Mr Andreas Ehn
and Ms Lisa Enckell will bring forward the topic
‘The future of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
in Southeast Asia’, while Mr Dušan Stojanovic,
Founder and Director of True Global Ventures
will present: ‘Enabling financial inclusion through
Fintech – opportunities in Southeast Asia’.
Andreas Ehn and Lisa Enckell are angel
investors and consultants based in Singapore
who decided to explore ten different countries
during the course of five years. In every market
they work with local start/ups and investors and
look for potential start/ups to invest in. They both
have a background in founding and working for
technology companies in Stockholm and San
Francisco. Andreas was Spotify’s first employee
and chief technology officer (CTO).
Dušan is described as a ‘citizen of the world’
with a Swedish passport. He was awarded
the prize Business Angel of the Year in Europe
in 2013 by EBAN (European Business Angel
Network) after having three positive exits within
a week. He was announced as among ‘Fintech
Asia 100 Leaders’ In Asian Fintech in 2016 after
moving to Asia in 2014.
As promised the summit will also present
‘Success stories – perspectives from the
ground’, where Swedish companies share their
experience of doing business in Southeast Asia.
Representatives from Axis Communications,
Ericsson, Scania, Stora Enso and Volvo Trucks will
present their insights.
The first day closes with a Gala Dinner,
hosted by Mikael Damberg, Minister for
Enterprise and Innovation and Mrs. Ylva Berg,
CEO of Business Sweden. Mr Fredrik Härén, the
author of nine books, including ‘The Idea Book’
will be its ‘inspirational speaker’.
Fredrik informed ScandAsia that he will be
speaking on “the need for innovation and about
why Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia are so
good at it, and also about why the idea of Sweden
as an innovative country should not exist ;)”
“I will also talk about the opposite, what
Sweden can learn about innovation from
Southeast Asia.”
Day 2 continues with a topic of most
importance to the Swedish Government:
‘Sustainable business in Southeast Asia.
Challenging perceptions and contribute to
change – what Swedish companies can bring to
the table’.
Mikael Damberg, Minister for Enterprise and
Innovation will give his introductory remarks
on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a
competitive advantage’, followed by a moderated
panel discussion and Q&A ,where representatives
of among others H&M and IKEA will attend.
Why it is important? Sustainable business
represents values which the Swedish Government
and Swedish society seek to safeguard and
promote. Companies with long-term, sustainable
business models are more likely to survive in the
long run, and so on.
Sustainable business strengthens both longterm
value creation and our competitiveness, and
contributes to the achievement of societal goals.
Swedish enterprises that enjoy good relations
with their stakeholders and the world at large
strengthen their risk management processes
and are more attractive to business partners at
international level.
September 2016 • ScandAsia.Thailand 9

Nicklas Moberg:
the Swede in Chinatown
Text and photos: Joakim Persson
As a Swede in Bangkok’s Chinatown
Hotelier Nicklas Moberg has
jumped on an undertaking that
places him in a truly unique setting,
and not just that; but in charge of its
main street’s most prominent and only modern
four-star hotel!
This is the kind of undertaking where Nicklas
thrives, when there is truly a challenge.
“I appreciated that it was new and fresh but
in an old setting, so I could foresee guests who
would appreciate this: something comfortable
and modern while at the same time offering the
culture shock one encounters out on the street.
It was clearly a case,” he had evaluated the hotel
when deciding to accept the offer of managing it.
Previously called White Orchid, the renamed
and entirely refurbished Hotel Royal Bangkok @
Chinatown is now as good as new, and something
of a fresh addition in this otherwise conservative
district.
And how on earth did Nicklas end up as
General Manager there? Coincidences and
connections typically played out. Nicklas had
already decided to make Bangkok his new home
since a few years back, having left behind a long
10 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2016
stint mainly as restaurateur in the family business
back in his home town Örebro in Sweden. He had
in fact come to Thailand for a classic thai-m out.
And here he still is…
Encountering hotel environs at
young age
Going back first to where his career started,
the local hotel caught his eye at early age. This
“famous old hotel” is a neighbour with his
weekend job had back then in 1988 at an auction
house (Nicklas has an interest in antique things).
In that hotel Nicklas encountered an
environment that he felt he wanted to work with.
“The hotel’s manager thought I was too
young but if I was so ambitious he would find
me something. So I started with cleaning toilets
– doing the less funny part. Then I climbed to
working in the bar.”
And that was how Nicklas’ food & beverage
career started. Soon enough he quit at the auction
firm to focus on the hotel job.
“The hotel manager also owned a nightclub
so after a few years I started combining with
working also there, so one could gain different
insights while still handling guests; still striving to
offer a level of service above expectations.”
And already here it becomes clear that
Nicklas is very focused on guest satisfaction in
order build returning guests – which we will
come back to.
After a few years working in the nightclub
Nicklas bought and ran it together with the chef.
He gradually got more offers to work within
hotels and to buy other restaurants, based on his
successful performance.
Nicklas ended up buying another restaurant
that was very unique: a converted pornographic
cinema from the 1950s. There, he successfully
continued a previous collaboration with a jazz club
and turned it into an incredible venue for live jazz.
“Nothing of its kind had been open on the
scene previously and with this partnership we
managed to have a large number of jazz musicians
from the whole world that came to perform
there.”
The years as restaurateur within the Örebro
scene peaked when Nicklas’ family business
bought what was then the largest restaurant in
town, where he found himself with something
pretty “alien” in the form of Swedish dance band
entertainment instead of pumping music and jazz.

The hotel manager also
owned a nightclub so
after a few years I started
combining with working
also there, so one could gain
different insights while still
handling guests; still striving
to offer a level of service
above expectations.
Valuable retail insights
As the family sold off in 2007 Nicklas went back
into the hotel business.
“I had then worked in the family business for
15 years, combining work in hotels with running
restaurants and pubs during most of those years.
It had been very demanding to both run own
restaurants while at the same time being able to
do perform well.”
And, as a typical example of coincidences, his
international career started when a hotel guest
at Grand Hotel in Stockholm (where Nicklas also
worked) offered him a job in the French Alps,
when the guest learned that he was not keen on
skiing. General Managers in the Alps tend to break
their legs, Nicklas was told, and took on the offer
for a job, indeed replacing a Dane that had just
broken his leg.
Aside Grand Hotel Nicklas also helped a
friend with a tax-free business at Arlanda airport,
where he got to learn valuable things about retail.
He also studied this as part of his education.
“I brought that with me into the hotel industry
in order to see if it would do the trick for us as
well; to use the environment of retail within a
hotel setting. And this is something fundamental
that one must work on; that there are so much
more to sell to the hotel customer.”
Once Nicklas started discovering these new
opportunities in how to work, he himself also got
so much more knowledgeable and skilful, he says.
“I thought I was performing well but then
got even stronger in my skills with what I could
implement within the hotel industry.”
At the end of the day this is about gaining
more revenue to the hotel, but also to meet the
guest’s level of needs; to be a bit on top there,
says the hotelier.
“During my years in the hotel industry I have
seen that the guests get much happier if I am
prepared for their visit, without them knowing
that, than if being asked about needs upon arrival.”
I travel frequently myself and look at how I
want to plan for my stay to be very good, and
then apply that on how the guest sees him
or herself. And just because we get a booking
to the hotel it does not mean that we know
everything about the guest. One must put an
effort into obtaining information about this guest
that enables getting as much as possible out of
the guest’s stay and that equally the guest gets as
much as possible out of it.”
“When you gather this information your
starting point will be much better how to address
and serve a guest.”
As Nicklas elaborates on this topic, which
all of a sudden seems so fundamental, it soon
becomes clear how he right he was: “Nowadays
many hotel operational programmes have
these elements included, but back then in the
early 2000s we did not have this thinking within
hotels concerning upselling, cross-selling and
re-selling.”
“The hotels have been in their comfort zone;
being happy just when the guest has paid and
checked in. The hotels have entered something
late that others have been using much longer. And
many have woken up only in the last 2-3 years
by creating their Facebook page, somebody has
been put in charge to manage this and publish
content,” he continues.
Guest expectation insights
A consequence for the Swede is that he is today
much more of a sales person than in the beginning.
“We have a lot of guest interaction all the
time, which is where we establish contact and
build a hopefully long-term relationship between
September 2016 • ScandAsia.Thailand 11

the guest and the hotel – the product we are
selling.”
And that is where Nicklas, as a foreign
manager, can best contribute: in showing his
experience from Europe in the guest service
management.
“I can see that we can be good complement
for the Thai hotel and tourism industry precisely
because we are sitting on information and
experience on non-Asians’ expectations on their
vacations; what they want to get out of their stay
and everything that comes with it – both as a
business traveller and as tourist.”
“We invite guests who have a higher standard
of living about everything about them. And in
Asia one must work much harder to educate
the associates about this, which is training that
requires a long-term effort.”
Different than Bangkok
Also in focus is looking at how Hotel Royal
Bangkok @ Chinatown can better be seen and
heard.
“That is especially important for a hotel of
this kind that is smack in the middle of a really
unique place in Bangkok to where many guests to
Bangkok would like to visit and stay without really
knowing how to get here. One does not know
what is on offer here and when things are open,
so one wants some info.”
Giving information to guests prior to and
during a stay is therefore key.
“I want to meet people, such as groups,
companies wanting to make business here in
Chinatown or to just come here for one reason
or the other and tell them what’s available here;
what Chinatown as a product has on offer, and
which does not equal the same product as
Bangkok. And I am trying to market this area
completely differently from if I would be in hotel
somewhere else in Bangkok in a city hotel were
I might not have an own product to tell about.”
The benchmarking against the competition
also looks good: “Our hotel is better, nicer and
comes with higher level of service.”
The fact that there is a Swede in the hotel is
also paying off.
“During the short period I have been here so
far we have seen a strong overall increase in the
number of Scandinavian guests. That comes from
word-of-mouth. And it’s about talking to guests
and knowing that social media is powerful. I work
a lot on this, talking to the guests and trying to
make them convert that into direct bookings,
which we make more revenue from.”
A Swedish guest, recalls Nicklas, booked to
stay at Hotel Royal Bangkok, based on noting a
name in reply to guest feedback on Tripadvisor;
a Swedish-sounding name, belonging to Nicklas
Moberg – the Swede in Chinatown.
12 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2016

Danish artist awarded
Rotary Peace Fellowship
By Maria Jønsson
Among her in the
classroom an FBI
agent, a few teachers
and an Indian police
officer are sitting. But
no artists have ever entered this
room. And nor have any Danish
people. Stine Marie Jacobsen is the
first person of her kind to attend the
Rotary Peace Fellowship education
in Bangkok.
Stine Marie Jacobsen is a Danish
artist that now lives in Berlin in
Germany. She started painting when
she was 16 years old and stopped
again at 26 because she felt she had
learned what there was to learn.
Since then she has tried out a lot of
different kinds of art, but has now
ended in the political field.
Two months ago, in June 2016,
Stine decided to move all the way
across the globe. During the past
two months she has been studying
peacebuilding and conflict resolution
at the Centre for Peace and Conflict
Studies at Chulalongkorn University
in the centre of Bangkok.
It was just a normal day for Stine
when she received the email from
the Rotary. She was in her home in
Berlin when she checked her inbox
that day. But it was not just the regular
emails she found there. Among
them was also an invitation to start
an education in peacebuilding and
conflict resolution in Bangkok. She
had just gotten another invitation
to move to New York, which she
eventually had to turn down. Her
friend told her; ‘do what no one else
does.’ And on that note Stine packed
her bags and went to study at the
centre in the capital of Thailand.
“I was like: Where am I going?
What am I doing?” Stine says with
a big smile on her face and explains
how she felt exultant and told all
her friends about her upcoming
adventure.
“You can always come back to
Denmark or Berlin, but how often
do you get the chance to study
peacebuilding and conflict resolution
on the other side of the planet?”
she says.
The Rotary Peace Fellowship
is a form of professionalization.
The students have been admitted
to the course because the Rotary
foundation already thought that they
were doing something for peace and
conflict resolution in the world.
Stine Marie Jacobsen thinks
that art can be used as a healing
and conflict resolving tool and as a
response to negative stories because
it is more complex. Therefore, she
has decided to make political art
that at the same time is educational.
Since 2012 she has been making
an educational programme called
‘Direct Approach’. It is a project
based on conversations about
violence in film and reality. These
conversations are then exhibited
in interviews, film posters and
video. With the use of film as a
conversational tool, Stine, along
with a Danish language psychologist,
created ‘Direct Approach’ to engage
people from different public spaces
and institutions in dialogues about
violence, taboos and ethics. The
participants are told to reflect
upon violence they have seen in
films and how the violence reflects
society today. By systematically and
carefully investigating these themes,
the participants then position
themselves within the landscapes of
ethics, morality, injustice, occupation
and desire.
Stine’s goal is to get the ‘Direct
Approach’-model out to schools,
lawyers, social workers and refugees
for it to become a genuine form of
education about our society.
When she is home in Berlin
she also works with young refugees.
That started as an art project called
‘German for newcomers’ where
the newcomers teach each other
German and out of that Stine makes
a dictionary for other people to use.
But it turned out to be more
than an art project. While Stine
makes her art, the newcomers
become better German speakers
while they get integrated in the
German society by meeting and
engaging with other people.
Stine is certain that the Rotary
Peace Fellowship will help her in
her political work. She already has
a foot inside the art world, and
now she wants one in the political
world as well. Her hope is that this
fellowship will help her become
more professional in her work. She
experiences that she can be a little
abstract in her language, and this
fellowship has helped her translating
herself so she can reach out to
more people. By that she hopes to
become better at negotiating more
collaborations between the art
scene and organisations in the hope
of spreading her political education
around the world.
September 2016 • ScandAsia.Thailand 13

Scandinavian entrepreneurs
at Techsauce in Bangkok
Text and photos: Joakim Persson
14 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2016
Thailand’s ‘start-up scene’ for
entrepreneurs, investors, and tech
enthusiasts, has in 2016 gone from
what at least in media seemed as
close to nothing into high gear; where
especially Bangkok for has become very vibrant all
of a sudden, with an inaugural start-up trade show
and big buzz in media.
So it felt very timely when the first ‘Techsauce
Summit’ took place during the weekend of 23-
24 July, gathering thousands of enthusiasts and
stakeholders to a meetings of the minds, where
CEOs and corporate leaders mingled with young
Thais keen on building their first start-ups. In the
programme were also two entrepreneurs from
Scandinavia sharing insights into different fields;
Internet of Things and games respectively.
Techsauce, which was previously called
Start It Up Techsauce Summit, was branded
as “Asia’s hottest tech conference”, and the
vibe undoubtedly there are as some 3,000
attendants gathered to be shared with thoughtprovoking
sessions and partake in conversations.
The summit dived into the Thai start-up ecosystem,
ideas were presented at the Start-up
Pitching Stage, accelerators by big corporations
in Thailand presented their opportunities (such
as the Telenor-related DTAC Accelerator), and
tech-moguls share their experiences.
From Sweden founder and CEO of Narrative,
Mr Martin Källström, held a keynote presentation
on ‘How to Launch and Market Successful IOT
Projects on Crowdfunding Platform’, based on
that this start-up obtained its first funding via
Kickstarter, a global crowdfunding intending to
bring creative ideas to life.
Narrative is an IoT device in the form of a
wearable HD camera and an intelligent image
analysis solution which has up to now received
$12M in investment, including venture capital
from Khosla Ventures and True Ventures.
“Sweden is Hot!” Martin highlighted as he
portrayed the start-up and innovation climate in
his home country.
“In terms of the number of unicorns Sweden
ranks second in the world per capita, Ericsson is a
big player in IOT worldwide, and we have worldclass
engineering,” were some of the examples
he brought up. A unicorn is a start-up company
valued at over $1 billion.

Mr Martin Källström
Jakob Lykkegard Pedersen
“And we have global mind-set; you know from
day on that Sweden is not your main market,” he
continued. “Sweden’s Government is working on
making IT the nation’s identity.
Narrative started out in 2012 with the U.S.
as home market. A main reason he said was that
when you do marketing and PR there it trickles
to the whole world.
And now Asia is increasingly in focus: “We
realised that Asia is a very promising market for
Narrative. We believe in Asean and Japan and are
working on setting up new Asian headquarters.”
Imaging IOT can “solve big problems” and
Narrative is in particular suitable for surveillance
and security purposes, while how it came to be
is something much more personal: “Both my
parents died in cancer, and then photos from
the time spent with them become so much
more important. And you capture the beautiful
moments. So I started thinking about how you
can catch any moment. You don’t take photos
of ordinary moments,” Martin explained and
continued: “In many moments when you take out
the camera, you sort of take yourself out of the
moment, and then people will behave differently.
With Narrative you will see for instance your kids
behaving natural on the photos.”
From Denmark, Bangkok-based Jakob
Lykkegard Pedersen, Co-Founder and CEO,
Pocket PlayLab held a keynote titled ‘Playlab
story: how to build Thailand gaming company and
raise series B’.
Jakob is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, angel
investor and mentor in mobile and social media.
He is now building up Pocket PlayLab to be the
biggest and best mobile game studio in the region.
Founded in 2012 Playlab is a leading game
developer and publisher with production studios
in Bangkok as well as Manila that has grown from
a handful of passionate gamers to a group of 100
and more enthusiasts striving to create the best
games for iOS and Android devices along with
Facebook.
Their games were mainly built for the U.S
market as they have the best online payment
penetration, informed Jakob, and while they are
still competing on the western market they have
decided to go after Southeast Asia.
“There is not really any player in SEA and
that’s the market we want to grab, that has been
neglected so long that you cannot even pinpoint
any specific market here now.”
Playlab raised $5M to go into the markets in
this region and also acquired one games company
in the Philippines.
“We need to have more locally grown
successes coming out of Thailand as well. The
successful games on the market here now, are
built in China. There is no need to have success
overseas in order to have success in SEA, but
you can take a global success and optimise it for
Thailand.”
Commenting on the quality of Thai game
makers compared to in Europe the Dane said:
“I definitely think Thailand has great design talent.
What it is lacking is more data science design, to
be able to handle millions of users. The knowledge
is not there yet and you cannot really find on the
local market because they did not really exist up
to now.”
“Thailand has a great opportunity to become
successful within gaming but we need more
studios to breed game design talent.”
September 2016 • ScandAsia.Thailand 15

Photographer: Daniel Herron
Agneta’s
World
South to North…
Amazing Scandinavia!
I
have returned to Bangkok after almost two
months in Scandinavia. This year, fine weather
followed me from beginning to end. The sun
shone, the sky was azure blue with crisp
white clouds and the sea sparkled. The cool,
fresh air in Scandinavia is a shock to the lungs after
living in the heat and humidity of Bangkok.
Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital has a
continental flair and the Danes are certainly
among the happiest people in the world. Surely
this is, in large part, due to their high consumption
of beer witnessed by the fact that Carlsberg is
delivered to pubs in large tanker trucks vs barrels
and kegs.
When you reach Skåne, the southern part
of Sweden, a visit to the small villages Skanör/
Falsterbo is a must. These quaint little seaside
villages with their period houses and beach
cottages are pleasing to the eye. The houses and
cottages are painted in a pastel palette of blue,
yellow, and pink colours and planted with the
beautiful “Stock” roses, a tall flowering rose, typical
to Southern Sweden.
Here in Skanor you will find the little Inn
“Gästgivaregården”, a treasure designed for a
romantic summer stays. I return to Skanör every
summer to visit with friends and to watch the
flocks of geese being tended to by the local
“Gåsapog and Gåsatös”. They were sadly missing
Walking thru Copenhagen visiting the old
stock exchange, the Royal castle and myriad
churches, is inspiring. I visited the small Naval
chapel which is a repository for fine ship’s models
which hang in the naves.
I began my journey in Copenhagen during the
first week of July, driving from Gothenburg, across
the beautiful Öresundsbron (the bridge between
Malmö and Copenhagen) listening to summer
songs on the radio. What a feeling….
I arrived at a small boutique hotel not far from
the famous Tivoli and within walking distance
of Ströget, the best known shopping street and
Nyhavn with its cozy restaurants and canals filled
with houseboats and visiting yachts from near
and far.
Nyhavn is a popular destination for both
locals and visitors. The charming restaurants that
line the canals offer genuine Danish food and, if
you are as lucky as I was, a wandering minstrel
to entertain you through the cool early evening.
Nyhavn is the best location in Copenhagen for
people watching.
this year as they had been dining on the village
garden beds and were in “detention” until next
year. While visiting Skanör, have a wander through
the local St. Olof church with its manicured
gardens and views out over the Öresund sea. This
church is popular for summer weddings.
16 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2016
The architecture in Copenhagen reminded
me of the “Old Town” areas of Stockholm.
The Danish are well known for their furniture,
fabric and household product design. It’s worth
paying a visit to Illum (the department store) and
Magasin du Nord. Both houses offer everything
imaginable from well-known Danish designers.
Before you leave Copenhagen, have a glass of
Champagne in the bar at Hotel d’Angleterre. This
classic property is elegant, comfortable and will
leave you feeling content and prosperous as your
visit nears its end.
From Copenhagen I drove back across
the bridge towards Skåne and was, once again,
intrigued by this structure and with the operating
wind vanes anchored miles from the shoreline.
Every summer the famous Falsterbo Horse
show takes place with riders from all over the
world. During these 8 days, it’s impossible to secure
an accommodation in and around Falsterbo/
Skanör..so book well in advance. Falsterbohus
was, once upon a time, a summer retreat for
the nobility and high society from Scandinavia.
I believe, Falsterbohus has been converted to
private apartments. There’s never a dull moment
in Skanör/Falsterbo during the summer with
garden parties, art exhibitions, concerts etc. (see
www.visitskane.com).

From Skåne I travelled to Gothenburg. Here
I went to school and graduated from university.
Gothenburg hasn’t changed much since my days
there but the city has a new face and a young
student population which lends the city vitality. My
favorite hotel in Gothenburg is The Dorsia. This
unique boutique hotel is decorated with furniture,
art and antiquities from all over Europe which
lend the public areas and rooms a cozy ambience.
The terraced dining area is a spacious roof piazza
which reminded me of Sienna. The menu is a
mixture of Mediterranean and Scandinavian. The
staff is efficient and friendly. Well worth a visit.
Next stop… our amazing capital city.
Stockholm delivers on its promises. The city of
Stockholm is an archipelago of several small islands
that reminds one of Venice. The waterways that
wind through the city are connected by beautiful
bridges and ferries. Old steamboats and wooden
sailing yachts line the quais and leave for the
outer islands daily. Numerous yachts are available
for charter. Stroll through the Old Town with its
narrow alleys, enjoy a luncheon in one of the
waterfront restaurants, and walk through The
Palace, the churches and museums. Two points of
interest are the “Vasa”, the largest warship of its
time. The Vasa was built in 1627 and capsized upon
its launching in 1628. This magnificent vessel was
raised, intact, 333 years later and is on display in
its own museum. The other interesting stop is the
amusement park Gröna Lund also on Djurgården
island which hosts a ride called “ Insanity”… It was!
I spent much of my time in Stockholm on
Djurgården. This island is a quiet oasis away from
the city but just a ten minute walk from central
Stockholm. I stayed at Villa Källhagen, a small
property on the harbor with a private marina and
open air dining on cool sunny days. On several
occasions I biked from the Villa to the city ..a
great way to experience Stockholm at street level.
Villa Källhagen is a perfect stay with exemplary
service and friendly staff… The best breakfasts in
Stockholm.
I could write columns on this beautiful city and
it was with a heavy heart I left it for another year.
In thinking back on this visit the song “Stockholm
in my heart” comes to mind.
order to fully enjoy the Finmark experience..It’s a
bit sleepy up north. That said I enjoyed surprisingly
mild weather, no need for gloves or a hat. All in all,
quite an adventure.
I returned to Stockholm via Tromsö and had
the good fortune to spend another four sunny
days with friends there before flying back to
Bangkok on Finnair. Flying Finnair was absolutely
fantastic… A new Airbus, efficient and friendly
staff, excellent food and wines and a glimpse over
Helsinki as I flew out.
I spent a lovely day on the island of Marstrand.
This small isle is a short drive from the city and
reachable only by a three minute ferry. Marstrand
offers visitors an old fortress, small boutiques,
galleries and fine seafood. The small harbor bustles
with ships and yachts. I saw the 12 meter “VIM”
Quai side. This lovely sloop sailed in the 1939
America’s Cup. It’s a pleasant adventure to walk
round the island and sit for a light lunch or dessert.
From Stockholm I took a long flight to the
northernmost district in Norway, Finmark. I
wanted to capture the sights and “White Nights”
of Norway during summer when the ice has
melted and the hills turn green. I flew into the small
airstrip at Lakselv and was greeted upon arrival
by friends who drove me to their homestead
in the small fishing village of Viendnes.. This was
Norway at its primal best with fishing as the only
occupation. This village of 35 families was set
amongst rocky crags with the only provisioning
being from a small store in the town center that
was open from 10am to 12pm. This is a hiker and
fisherman’s paradise. The natives I was staying
with fished for Atlantic salmon and Halibut and
met with some success. Northern Norway offers
the traveler a unique experience with its rugged
landscape and hardy Finfolk. Here Norway is all
mountains, rivers and the sea with “White Nights”
throughout the summer months. It would help if
you were conversant with the local sheep or had
a working knowledge of long lining for Cod in
I’m happy being back in the City of Angels,
ready for new challenges. I hope you all had a good
vacation wherever you decided to spend it and
remember, be proud of Scandinavia, I am.
Your Vivacious Viking,
Agneta
September 2016 • ScandAsia.Thailand 17

มุมภาษาไทย l mum pha:să: thai l Thai
Corner
อุต๊ะ
OMG!
ชิวชิว
to chill
ยิ้มแรง
smile broadly
Speak like a Teen
By Klavs Johansen (thai@snakthai.dk)
In recent months, at this place, we have
strolled on the fringes of the Thai language,
sampling the rapidly growing pool of English
loanwords in Thai in the July issue and, in
last month’s issue, peaking into the intricate
world of Thai royal language. This month, I thought
we would have a look at another phenomenon
outside the sphere of standard Thai and yet
encountered by anyone trying to make her
or his way just beyond the default phrases of
a beginner’s textbook. I am talking about the
language of Thai youth, sometimes referred to as
ภาษาวัยรุ่น / pha:să: wai rûn /, which you may
hear wherever young people assemble in schools,
ice cream parlors, shopping malls, etc., or read,
if you read Thai, on social media like Facebook,
Line or whatever is the latest cyber venue for
interaction between Thai teens. In its own terms,
the language is known as ภาษาแอ๊บแบ๊ว / pha:să:
áe:p báe:o / ~ teen speak, where แอ๊บแบ๊ว / áe:p
báe:o / is slang for making a cute face, making
yourself look cute.
As someone who has spent a considerable
amount of time reaching my current level of Thai,
it is, on the one hand, somewhat unsettling to
see Facebook posts and comments by my Thai
nieces and nephews with their blatant disregard
for official Thai spelling conventions, which I
have struggled so hard to learn, not to mention
their use of a vocabulary, still missing from any
standard Thai dictionary. On the other hand, this
development is common to any living language,
and social media just seem to have accelerated
it. Some of the new words are disappearing
again, while others may enter mainstream Thai.
Regardless of the views of the older generation
and language purists, the words and expression
18 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2016
can actually be quite amusing, even charming,
and we shall go through some of them in the
following, and, whenever possible, also state their
standard Thai equivalents. Using the words may
serve to show how cool you are, or, as is more
likely at least in case of this middle-aged columnist,
make you look ridiculous. Indeed, the mere fact
that the words are listed here, may well suggest
that they are no longer part of cutting edge teen
speak and probably hopelessly outdated in some
circles. We just have to live with that and, anyway,
the words are good fun and may bring you a little
closer to understanding your Thai teens, if not vice
versa. Do ask them to give you examples using
the words that follow.
Most of the new words are distortions
of existing words. Consonants or vowels are
replaced or omitted. Have a look at the following
examples:
อาราย / a:ra:i / ~ อะไร / àrai / ~ what?
ทามาย / tha:ma:i / ~ ทำาไม / tham mai / ~
why?
ชิมิ / chímí / ~ ใช่ไหม / châi mái / ~ right?
เตง / te:ng / ~ ตัวเอง / tua e:ng / ~ you,
yourself, where even the standard version is only
used among close friends,
น่าร็อค / nâ: rórk / ~ น่ารัก / nâ: rák / ~ cute,
lovely,
จุงเบย / jung boe:i / ~ จังเลย / jang loe:i /
~ really, so,
ฝุด ๆ / fùt fùt / ~ สุดๆ / sùt / ~ extremely,
บ่องตง / bòrng tong / ~ บอกตรง ๆ / bòr:k
trong trong / ~ frankly speaking,
อุต๊ะ / ùtá› / ~ อุ๊ยตาย / úi ta:i / ~ OMG! (Oh,
my God!), as in English primarily used by feminine
speakers.
Combining a few of these, we might say
บ่องตง เตงน่าร็อคจุงเบย / bòrng tong, te:ng
nâ: rórk jung boe:i / ~ frankly speaking, you are
really cute!
Though some may find such remark
น่ามคานฝุดๆ / nâ:m kha:n fùt fùt / ~ น่ารำา
คาญสุดๆ / nâ: ramkha:n sùt sùt / ~ extremely
annoying.
Some of the new words appear to be
invented:
เกิร์ป / kòe:p / ~ โง่ / ngô: / ~ stupid and
แกสบี้ / káe:t bî: / ~ very old (person).
Other words get a slightly twisted meaning,
though still true to their root, like the word แรง
/ rae:ng / ~ strongly in the following examples:
ยิ้มแรง / yím rae:ng / ~ smile broadly, and
มองแรง / mor:ng rae:ng / ~ to stare at.
Other words yet, are wholly redefined. For
instance, we find an actual code based on fruit
names where
ส้ม / sôm / ~ orange refers to uncalled-for
interference,
แตงโม / dae:ng mo: / ~ water melon means
to be fat,
กล้วย / klûai / ~ banana means easy, and
เงาะ / ngór› / ~ rambutan means confused.
Finally, as we saw in July’s column, some new
words are borrowed from English:
อิน / in / ~ to be really into something,
อิม / im / ~ first syllable of ‘impossible’,
ชิวชิว / chio chio / ~ to chill (out).
Feeling a bit old by now, I will go and do just
that! บุย บุย / bui bui / ~ บ๊าย บาย / bá:i ba:i / and
see you same place next time or, in between, at
the Thai Language Corner on Facebook.

September 2016 • ScandAsia.Thailand 19

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