Partygoers in Bangkok might have hardly ever heard of this guy, but DJ Sabaii Sabaii, a.k.a. DJ P, is in high demand in Germany, Switzerland, and Australia. He is usually seen on Pha Ngan Island as the resident DJ of the Black Moon party at Baan Taai. This time around, he’s coming back to his roots in Bangkok, where he’s practically a stranger. Experience the Sabaii Sabaii sound loved by hippies, partygoers, and psy-trance lovers this week at Astra.

How did you start this DJ career?
It started 20 years ago when I went to a disco called Catier. I stood wondering what’s the DJ was doing, scrubbing the vinyl. I was attracted to it and went there everyday. Fortunately, he was in need of a DJ for an early slow session, so he taught me how to play and I worked there after school. When I finished my session, I stayed to see him play, noticing that playing dance songs is much different. I kept learning more about it and practicing. I knew that office work was not meant for me. I traveled around and played at many places, from Bangkok to Had Yai to the border at Su-ngai Kolok, and then abroad.

Before you played at hotel clubs mostly?
Yes. I was a resident at Diana Club at the Oriental Hotel. Its beauty was breathtaking, more like a castle than a nightclub. It’s quite unbelievable that I left Su-ngai Kolok to be in such a gorgeous place. I even temporarily dumped my hippie look for a clean tie and nice suit. Then I moved to the Dusit Thani and Bubbles at Shangri-La. Bubbles was the talk-of-the-town as it was the first club to play hip-hop by me and DJ Chicago.

And how did you find your real love in psy-trance?
I signed a contract to play in Japan and I was there for two years playing funk and hip-hop. One day I went to an underground club called Speak Easy. Speaking of it, I still feel goose bumps. The music rocked my soul. I didn’t know what kind of music it was, but I erased the songs in my MD and instantly recorded it live then and there. I knew later that Astreal Project from Israel played that night. Then I brought my MD to a record shop and ask the owner what kind of songs these were, and he told me they were Goa. I bought every Goa CD they had available.

How do you start playing abroad?
Well, after Japan I went to Pha Ngan Island and played monthly at the full moon party. I got hundreds of farangs inviting me to play in their country, but one of them was actually serious and sent me money to buy tickets. So I flew to Germany. After the first time in 1999, he books me every summer to play at Voov Experience, which is a three-day outdoor hippie event. The venue changes every time, but it’s always in a faraway hill or forest, because they want that panoramic feel. People camp around the dance space. They dance, eat, go to bed and get back up to dance again… they do this for three days.

What is so special about psy-trance?
Psy-trance derives from psychedelic trance and psychedelic trance from Goa music. In the ‘60s, western hippies went to Goa, India to absorb the lifestyle and culture, and brought back psychedelic rock. This has evolved into psy-trance today. In Thailand, I think not so many people like this kind of music; but most who do are in Pha Ngan. If I am in Thailand, I’m always there, too. Psy-trance relates to nature—full moon, half moon, black moon, etc. It has nothing to do with clubs. Most of the psy-trance lovers don’t have much money. We can’t afford hi-so clothes, so we dress casually. We enjoy the world and the music and we have our own lifestyle. We listen to the music all day and night.

What’s your goal as a DJ?
I want Thai people to enjoy this kind of music. Once you understand psy-trance, it’s impossible return to other kinds of music. It’s about feeling and lifestyle. I’ve made farangs stamp like crazy until the Earth is many centimeters thinner. I’m Thai, so I want Thai people to have fun with my music also.

What are you working on right now?
I have two projects right now: the Magical Journey album and Tomato Music and Entertainment Company. For the album, I worked with Dodo, a Frenchman who came up with the idea of making an international album with famous artists and an oriental sound. Dodo wanted it to be emotional and spiritual, something like world music mixed with jazz. I’ve been into this project since I heard him describe it. I spent two years producing this album, traveling around the world—to places like Jamaica, US and India—to collect the music of each place and contact artists. Now everything on the music side is finished, we’re just tying up the business side.

What’s special about this album?
It’s world lounge music. And we recorded most of the instruments live. We’re lucky that we got many Grammy Award winners to sing for us, like Sharon Marley, daughter of the legendary Bob Marley; Jean Paul; and Lady Saw, the first female DJ to win a Grammy. There’s only one Thai singer, Marsha. The vice president of MTV Asia likes the album so much that he is recommending it for next year’s Grammy Awards. He also said that it should represent Asia on MTV around the world. It looks like we have a good chance at the Grammys since last year’s nominees in the world music category didn’t have very good ideas. Magical Journey is a breakthrough. It’s revolutionary.

How’s working with those famous artists?
It’s easy since they’re very professional. Once they understand what you want, they can implement it immediately.

When will it launch?
We hope to launch it overseas this September, so it’s in time for the Grammy Awards next year. Then the Thai release will come seven to eight months later.

What about your music company?
It’s a new small label. Our first album, released in February, is called Tomato Project #1. It showcases songs from our three bands that will each launch their own full albums soon. My band is one of them. We’re focusing on ease of enjoyment. And we record live.

Why do you bother to do it live when the computer is much easier?
This way it has emotions and feeling. It’s fresh and not bland. The audience might not notice whether we play it live or use a computer, but I believe they can feel it.

Do you feel stressed about the label’s first album?
Not much. We intend to produce quality work and money isn’t our first objective. We want the audience to listen to it and feel that it’s worth every baht they spend. And this is just an introduction to the bands and to our label. We have to wait and see whether it will work or not.

We love these little protein packers, but there are just too many brands on the market. So rather than judge a nut by its shell, we crack open these nutty choices.

a) Farmer Brand (B28, 140g) is like the khunying of packaged peanuts: looks expensive but out-of-date. The Farmer Brand is reminiscent of the ‘70s. The peanuts taste artificial and over-processed. It says garlic flavor, but it tastes more like naem (Northern Thai sausage) with its strong salty taste and a hint of sourness. So if you like it strong, these are for you—stale and soggy, as well.

b) Tong Garden (B9.25, 70g) is an airhead. The modern packaging looks great, and you expect its contents to be bursting with peanut pleasure. But once you open the pack, a great rush of pressurized air smacks you in the face. The peanuts, which are much smaller than on the package, resemble sick people—pale and crusty. The peanuts taste yucky and bland and have a musky smell to them. Buy them if you’re into strange things.

c) Camel (B29, 150g) is an Olympic athlete. It wins hands down in the packaging department. The peanuts are somewhat bland, with not even a bit of saltiness or sweetness, and are really hard on your teeth, but that could be because they are so natural—no additives or preservatives. If you are a health-conscious person or want to give your jaws a great workout, Camel is the one for you.

d) Double Pagoda (B18, 160g) is definitely a timeless classic. If you know this brand, you see the double pagodas every time you think peanuts. Although the look and quality of these nuts have changed, people still seem to like them. The nuts are small and old, but the taste is bigger than ever. They smell good and taste crunchy and are well-seasoned—not too salty. Double Pagoda deserves to be remembered for its great peanut reputation.

e) Koh-Kae (B18.75, 160g) is like that clown at the circus. The eye-catching red and yellow bag has a catchy logo highlighting all its greatness. And the label doesn't lie: Those nuts are big. They're also sweet and salty, but on the dry side—and not nearly as addictive as Koh-Kae's battered peanuts, which come in a variety of flavors.

f) NutCandy (B10, 70g) is like your boring cousin. There’s nothing special or outstanding about this brand. The look and taste are so-so, the peanuts look clean and the colors of the shells and nuts are inviting enough. The taste of these big nuts isn’t all that bad. Although the nuts have a burnt smell, you won’t notice it while you’re drinking.

It’s back to the classroom for all you students of the bar with majors in heavy and excessive drinking. Most people think tequila is a rough spirit that you either disguise with fruit (and lots of added sugar) in a margarita or down as a shot—as in lick salt, gulp tequila, squeeze lime, try not to gag. But in fact, there are premium tequilas that have as much character as a good whisky or gin—tasty, too. And there are more on the local market. So before your next body shot, here are some of the basics.

What is premium tequila?

Premium tequila is the crème de la crème of tequila and an unofficial ambassador of Mexico. The term “premium” refers to tequila that is made from 100% blue agave (a-ga-ve). There are 136 kinds of agave plant; all liquor from agave is called mescal, but only liquor made from blue agave is called tequila.

Take a look at the bottle. If it doesn’t say “100%,” it’s not premium, and you don’t want it (unless you don’t like your guests). If it’s less than 100% (but more than 51%) distilled from agave, the rest is made with sugar or sugar cane, which makes a pretty harsh, industrial-grade, spirit.

Tequila, like Champagne or Cognac in France, must be made in Mexico—it’s strictly controlled by the Mexican government. Their Consejo Regulador del Tequila (Tequila Regulatory Council) regulates, verifies and certifies tequila. And they have a Denomination of Origin law, which determines the regions the treasured agave plant can be grown in.

Types of premium tequila

There are three main types of tequila: blanco, reposado, and anejo. Blanco, a.k.a. silver, is bottled right after distillation. The color is clear and the smell should be crisp and clean. A reposado (“rested”) tequila has been aged in oak barrels for two to 12 months. Anejo (“aged”) is aged for 1-5 years. The colors of reposado and anejo depend on the barrels, usually pale or amber. Anejo will obviously have the strongest smell and taste of oak. In general anejo will be more expensive than reposado and blanco, but the quality all depends on the producer. There are great blanco tequilas and lousy reposados.

How to drink it

First of all, as fun as doing body shots can be, with a good tequila you don’t need the lime or the salt (or the body). You want to taste the tequila, muchacho. You wouldn’t drink a rare single malt whisky with Coke and ice, after all. Room temperature is best, though it’s OK to serve it chilled. Normally tequila is served in a caballito, a shot glass that is thinner and a bit taller than what we're used to and made exactly for this purpose.

Many people choose tequila only when they want to get drunk, but that’s the wrong approach with premium tequila. To drink, take your time. Sip it, appreciate it. To clean your palate and set your taste buds up for a heightened experience, you might want to chase the tequila with a manao soda or Sprite.

Where to find it

Italasia (Asok: G/F, 253 Sukhumvit 21, 02-261-8500; Silom: 4/F, Silom Complex, 02-231-3288; All Seasons Place: 1/F, C.R.C. Bldg., 02-685-3862) sells two brands of premium Mexican tequila, Herradusa and Casa Noble, here. The triple-distilled Casa Noble range includes Casa Noble Blanco (B2,555), Casa Noble Reposado (B2,950) and Casa Noble Anejo (B4,750). From Herradura, which is credited with revolutionizing the tequila industry in the 1980s, comes Herradura Blanco (B1,650), Herradura Reposado (B1,850) and Herradura Anejo (B2,285).

Can’t drink the whole bottle? You should be able to find smaller portions at Q Bar, Coyote’s on Convent, Grand Hyatt Erawan, Bed Supperclub, Conrad, Cascade Club and Plaza Athenee.

If you’ve had enough of Siam Paragon, where your B1,400 can only get you the cheapest shirt at Zara or Greyhound, here’s a new option. The Platinum Fashion Mall (542/21-22 Petchburi Rd., 02-656-5999, www.platinumfashionmall.com) is a mixture of Siam Paragon for its hugeness, Chatuchak for its chic and trendy fashions and Pratunam for its wholesale prices. The five-story shopping offers everything to make shopping easier: 1,500-car capacity parking, clean toilets on every floor, a colossal food hall, air-conditioning and spacious aisles. It is officially open every day from 8:30am-8pm, but don’t be surprised when shops start packing up to go home at 5:30pm.

Thai music keeps you moving through the aisles and DJs grate your nerves with incessant boasting about the many outlets. A plasma screen shows the Chic Channel so you can watch the latest trends as you shop.

This massive wholesale mall is a source for retail shops all around Bangkok, from Khao San Road to Siam Square. You’ll find many of the same brands at Chatuchak. Bargain hunters without their own clothing stores can still pay wholesale prices by purchasing a minimum of three pieces from the same shop. If you’re lucky you can pay the wholesale price for just two pieces.

Shopping at The Platinum is hardcore, so invite some friends. With more than 1,300 shops, you’ll need at least four hours to get through the mall. Save some time with our recommendations for each floor.

Ginza (basement)

Rungtiwa sells various kinds of shoes, including basics for office ladies and schoolgirls. Pick up some pumps (B259/1, B230/3). Find coats for real winter (B3,800/1, B3,500/3) at Vialli 9.

Soho (first floor)

Sensible bags (B1,590/1, B1,080/3) for career women can be found at Together. Men should check out Actor for shirts and pants suitable for work or play. Their pullover (B450/1, B350/3) is a simple and versatile closet staple.

Oxford (second floor)

Butter grooms your nails and styles your dogs. Treat your 10 fingers to a French manicure for B50. Dog coats (from B120/1, B100/3) are available in various colors and sizes to dress your beloved pooch. Botany Skin Therapy sells colorful soap (B100) and body scrubs in clean, modern packaging. Spend B500 and get a 20% discount, or B4,000 for a 40% discount. At K Girls, shopping is like a treasure hunt. Try your luck at finding a decent top in the many rows of B10 shirts.

Nathan (third floor)

There are many eye-catching trinkets at Kabahl but we love their outstanding retro rings (B100/1, B80/3). Look for Tibetan’s bohemian-chic handbags (B680/1, B400/3).

Camden (fourth floor)

Colorful is a bag addict’s paradise, offering specialty bags for almost everything, including passport bags (B190/1, B150/3) and pencil bags (B190/1, B150/3). FYI, Colorful’s ultra-pink branch is located at ByPass Siam Square. Parisian-style corsets in various colors and patterns (B390/1, B200/3) are the focus at Sara. For guys, Sup sells trendy t-shirts along with handsome jackets in both casual and formal styles (B690/1, B400/3).

Fifth Floor

Weary shoppers can revive themselves at the food hall featuring more than 30 food shops. Thai, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Islamic and vegetarian food is available for B35 and up. The spacious 1,000-seat court is clean and modern, and a glass wall on one side offers a city view. Other facilities such as banks and pharmacies are also on this floor. Check out Sun Star, the self-proclaimed biggest gift shop in Thailand.

What was the outcome of your first album?
It’s as I expected. It’s not like the album sales enable me to go inter, but they’re not so bad that I have to pack up and leave the business. I’m just doing well enough that I could afford to put out a second album. And now my name is recognized by some people.

What can we expect from your second album?
For this one the style of music is changed. The songs on Pop Trade are all in the style of ‘80s pop music. But this album doesn’t have a fixed musical style. What’s consistent is the theme: elusiveness. The album asks if you’ve ever tried to conquer love or rationalize love. If you even think about love in those ways, you’re already wrong. Love is elusive. All you can do is laugh and cry for it and let it fool you, and someday you might be lucky enough to find it for real. The songs in the album are about people who try to control love and try to capture and analyze it.

How did you come up with the title Luang Ta?
I purposely chose a Thai name. Jig Prapas Cholsaranon wrote in his book Yodmanud Lamlong that he looked at the list of nominees for the Fat Award and felt both glad and kind of hurt. He was pleased because kids today are good at making music but was disappointed because there was only one band that named its album in Thai. He wanted to tell the new generation that English might be more compact and eloquent, but finding a Thai word that is as concise and expressive is worth the challenge. When I read that, I decided to find a Thai word with no English translation.

Are you still with No More Belts Records?
Yes, I am. No More Belts stays the same—it doesn’t get bigger or smaller or work under other companies. I’m just asking Sanam Luang Records to help promote and distribute. I still do everything myself—writing, playing, recording, and producing every song. I just want my work to reach a larger audience so I decided to put the marketing in the hands of professionals.

Is it better working with big companies?
It is better. Many people are afraid of Grammy because it’s big and so corporate. They’re concerned that Grammy executives might treat them as if they were born yesterday, but I’ve never met such people there. What I do see are Grammy’s strong points. It’s a big organization with many media resources in its hands.

Mass market is not so bad then?
It’s just the young generation thinking, “I only like neaw songs.” If an artist goes to a big record company, sells more than 50,000 copies, stages a big concert, and becomes well known, these kids stop liking him. ‘Neaw or not’ isn’t all that defines music though. Those who have really learned to appreciate music can understand what makes it worth listening to.

How’d you get started in animation?
I had created an animated music video about Vincent Van Gogh that was broadcast on Manosh Puttaan’s music program. Then, with absolutely no computer experience, I was offered a job at a graphic studio. They taught me everything I needed to know.

Where did you pick up your unique international animation style?
I studied at the California Institute of Art, which is an animation school supported by Disney, under animation legends like the people who worked on Snow White and The Lion King. Since then I’ve been honing my craft and sharing my style with others as a teacher at Kattana Animation School.

What’s the key to great animation?
It’s all about “exaggeration.” We’ve got to exaggerate everything from our drawings to our imagination. We’re selling an experience—something creative and larger than life with vivid pictures that people have never seen before.

How did you get on the Khan Kluay project?
I was in the US at the time, and Kantana Animation School sent me the script. At first, it was supposed to be a series, but after a little while, a friend from CAL Art and I decided to turn it into a full feature animation. When we got great feedback from the people who saw the sample trailer, the big wigs suggested we make into a full length feature.

What was it like working on Khan Kluay?
It was like working on a Disney cartoon. It was fun but difficult, especially when the lead character is an elephant. When I worked on Ice Age, the wooly mammoth was the hardest figure to animate 'cause it was difficult to make it look expressive. And then you have Khan Klauy with its herds of elephants, gosh!

What’s the story behind the little elephant?
Khan Kluay is based on King Naresuan’s royal elephant whose back curved perfectly like a khan kluay [midrib of a banana leaf]. Khan Kluay’s the first elephant in history that was appointed to be Chao Phraya. It’s a courageous tale about how a wild elephant chooses his own destiny and goes on to play an extremely important role in our historical triumphs.

Do you hope the movie goes inter?
Originally we wanted to make a more universal film but later felt that making it more Thai would be better. It would be good if the film does go inter. It would be like a cultural ambassador for Thailand.

Was the money well spent?
Absolutely. It only cost about B150 million compared to bigger American productions that range around US$60 million. Khan Kluay took less time and less people to finish, but it’s pretty quality stuff. It’s not Disney but it sure comes close. We’re really making progress to one day be recognized as a major force in the wonderful world of animation.

There are millions of jobs out there, but some are hotter than others. What qualifies as a hot job? A hot job is one that usually pays well, has few occupational hazards and is often in an industry where there is a shortage of qualified people. A hot job is also, hopefully, fun and/or offers a lot of variety and/or a fair amount of independence. We spoke to Bangkok-based experts and came up with a sampling of five careers you might not have considered: life coach, language consultant, animator/graphic designer, human resource specialist and party planner. Sick of your seat? Read on for the new nine-to-five.

Human Resource Specialist

It hardly sounds exciting—sitting in an office dealing with tons of documents—but if you look closer, being a HR professional can be something with a forward-looking, attractive, challenging, and managerial feel to it. Now more than ever, human resources is a key driving force for any successful company—how well you screen your staff can determine your fate.

“HR managers are often like administrators, not strategic planners as should be the case. Times change and cultures change; now people don’t stay at one job for life. People are always looking for better careers. So apart from selecting the best person for a job, or identifying a true talent amid a sea of competition, HR specialists must learn and perfect the different ways of retaining great contributors in the company, which requires expert knowledge in compensation and training,” Vichien Shnatpaporn, founder and chief of Job Top Gun, explains.

Finding the right person for the job is easier said than done. That’s why big companies are willing to pay huge amounts of money to headhunters to find the perfect person.

It hasn’t happened yet, but if trends continue as expected, there is a high possibility that human resources will be the most desired position in an organization. Taking a look at Toyota’s or Esso’s extremely complex hiring procedures, you’ll understand why it’s such an arduous and time-consuming process. These companies really take care of their employees with incentives, hefty compensation and other great benefits. Companies with lower turnover tend to have better chances to grow, as they don’t have to waste time and money finding new people and training them all the time.

The current crop of HR personnel don’t possess enough real knowledge to find the right people, train them and retain them. To remedy this, universities like Sasin have created Human Resources courses. If you start now, you can soon become the kind of really skilled human resource officer that everyone wants and needs. It might not be the coolest job, but you will be in high demand, and that is pretty cool.

Gary Woollacott

Age: 42
Job: Headhunter at Opus Executive Search
He says: Five years ago, I’d have said financial marketing, human resources and sale marketing were the hottest jobs. For now, I think it’s human resource. Partly it comes from the fact that there’s not a big talent pool here in Thailand. The companies, big or small, fight over the same people with international quality who have English language skills and the attitude to take it forward, rather than go and just do their job. That’s what we do—help people and our clients to meet each other.

Money: 5/5
Fun: 4/5
Challenge: 5/5
Meeting new people: 5/5
Stress: 3/5
Progress: 5/5

Animator/Graphic Designer

Working in the animation industry is work that blends creativity with technology. In the past, very few people who studied animation in school continued on this track for their careers. Back then, the job didn’t pay very well, and you had to mainly work on your own.

“Before I left Bangkok in 1975 to study in the US, we tried to set up a computer graphic group, but there were only like 10 members. When I came back here seven years later, I was so surprised to find loads of people at the meeting,” Kompin Kemgumnird, the director of the animation flick Kan Kluay, recalls.

This industry is growing at a rapid pace here. Animation is everywhere: TV, advertisements, movies, the internet. The Channel 7 series Sudsakorn was a major breakthrough, becoming the most popular cartoon for kids. (The main character “Ja” even had his own solo concert with hundreds of kids in the audience.)

Being a graphic designer in publishing isn’t nearly as lucrative, as there is so much competition. But there are plenty of jobs for animators and program engineers. TV commercials and movies that use CG will push that demand.

“Now it’s just one-tenth or one-hundredth of what we can really achieve. We are now past the primary level, maybe now we’re waiting for the industry to peak. It may be the next five or 10 years, but it will happen,” Kompin, who also teaches at Katana Animation School, predicts.

Up until recently, big companies would go abroad if they wanted a quality animated advertisement. But now, those companies are using local animators—and even companies from abroad have come to take advantage of the domestic talent. Thai production houses are beginning to aim their sights at international targets and at bigger projects. It’s not the most fun job in the world, but it offers you a rare opportunity to challenge yourself with new things, new projects and new characters every day.

Chalermpol Chanthasartratsamee

Age: 29
Job: CG Supervisor at Blue Fairy
He says: I get to do things differently all the time. I enjoy making impossible things appear possible on screen or TV. I have good and bad working days, but I’m proud of the profession, as there’re very few people in this business. It’s a specialized career.

Money: 4/5
Fun: 4/5
Challenge: 5/5
Chances to Meet New People: 3/5
Stress: 4/5
Progress: 4/5

Life Coach

Business coaches have been around for years, but today some are morphing into “life coaches,” kind of a cross between a psychologist and a business consultant. Life coaches are very popular in the US, especially in the form of online or telephone services. In Thailand, it’s pretty new.

A life coach can help clients improve both their personal and professional lives, from age 8 to 88 (and beyond). Clients might be kids who suffer from short attention spans (ADD or ADHD), housewives who feel useless and unwanted, executive managers who want to be chief executives, smokers who want to quit or even broken-hearted souls who want to overcome their sadness.

In most cases, the ideal situation is a life coach who can meet you on any and every occasion. But many experts in the field say that over-the-phone coaching can yield the same successful results. Coaches help a client to set a goal—and then help the person accomplish it. Between sessions, clients are given “homework,” tasks that don’t require all that much time or effort but are designed to reinforce positive behavior and beliefs. Usually there aren’t any fixed courses with time limits; it all depends on the clients’ needs—it can be weeks, months or even years.

A professional life coach can earn up to B5,000 per hour. At present there aren’t any official certification or standards for life coaching, nor are there educational institutions here that offer courses, let alone degrees. It’s not even necessary to have a degree in psychology or any other discipline.

Some wannabes in Thailand attend workshops held by professionals or sign up to be their apprentices. The most important thing about being a coach is that you have to know how to ask questions—questions that can lead a client to what he wants. Now life coaches in Thailand work independently, but the life coach circle is still very small. Most of them are foreigners who target expats. So there’s plenty of room for Thai coaches.

Nisa Wichitsiri

Age: 45
Job: Life Coach
She says: This business is going to work for Thai people, because Thais are quite reserved and they don’t have to tell us anything personal or in detail. They just tell us about their goals, and we help them achieve them. And that makes things easier for me, too, as I don’t have to listen to their failures or unhappy lives. Now there are more foreign coaches, but I think the need of this service among Thais will grow—that’s why I jumped on this opportunity. Most of my clients are Thai, but I coach a few foreigners, too. I think that my job is very challenging as I never get the same tasks—all customers are different and so are their problems.

Money: 4/5
Fun: 4/5
Challenge: 5/5
Meeting new people: 5/5
Stress: 2/5
Progress: 3/5

Language Consultant

If a life coach is a mutation of a psychologist and personal development consultant, here’s another hybrid that combines a language (in this case, English) teacher and personal development consultant. Managing director of Keen English Consulting, Sranya Phaisawang has an MBA in Management Strategy, but her real job is to teach Thais how to better communicate with foreigners—through linguistics training but also cultural education.

Sranya breaks it down for her clients from a westerners’ cultural perspective. Encouraging different thought and communication processes, she helps clients gain confidence and raise standards to “level the playing field”—so the foreigners won’t necessarily have the upper hand. There’s personal and professional development for students, who include people preparing for graduate or post-graduate studies abroad or simply for people who simply have a strong passion for the English language.

For professionals, a language consultant helps develop leadership and networking skills, increase empowerment, promotes better and freer communication, effectiveness and efficiency across the board.

There are very few English consultants here, which means that qualified people like Sranya have an unlimited opportunity to work if they want it.

This job also offers you many chances to meet people in business circles, so you can widen your world or maybe even establish a new business. And money-wise, it’s great. You can get paid up to B7,000 an hour. To teach these complex skills, you have to understand both Thai and western cultures thoroughly—that marks the difference from other English teachers and institutions in the Thai educational industry. You also have to excel in both Thai and English languages, as one of the many “Thai” problems is that they are afraid to talk to non-Thai speakers, and many Thai teachers don’t understand western cultures. If your clients are going to include corporate types, you’ll also need extensive business knowledge.

Sranya Phaisawang

Age: 27
Job: Managing Director of Keen English Consulting Company
She says: We started Keen English as a cross-cultural and language consulting company. I can represent foreigners because I was born and raised in America. We don’t teach ABC English; we don’t really focus on the grammar or that boring stuff, because we believe in Thai people. They’ve studied English since they were born, and Thailand is top-three in grammar, behind Big Red and Taiwan. We teach people how to do business better, how to live better and how to think better using the English language.

Money: 5/5
Fun: 5/5
Challenge: 5/5
Meeting new people: 5/5
Stress: 3/5
Progress: 5/5

Party Planner

In today’s busy world, there is an ever-increasing need for services to simplify people’s lives. One growing industry is party planning, which includes birthday parties, class reunions, family reunions, weddings, holiday parties, company parties or product launches. Different from an event organizer, a party planner’s work relates to a more social and entertaining world. A party planner’s main skill is organization. It’s about dealing with all the people—customers, technicians and specialists like florists and catering staff.

Party planning as an occupation is nothing new here, but is still popular and still can earn you a decent living—Thai people never stop celebrating. Every day there are restaurant grand openings, product launches, bar anniversaries, weddings, birthdays and on and on.

If you are a social animal, this is the job for you. You’ve got so many great chances to meet people. New things come into your life all the time, and there’s a lot of variety. Some projects are big, some small; some take days, others can take months.

Alisara Sirichoomsang

Age: 44
Job: Party Planner of Fanfare Company
She says: There are so many event organizers, so many that I feel alarmed. Everybody now thinks that organizing events is an easy, fun and awesomely great paying job, and it is. It’s the trend now, like when everybody wanted to be DJs and singers before. But our strong point is we’re niche and small, and we can be a one-stop service for small events.

Money: 5/5
Fun: 4/5
Challenge: 4/5
Meeting new people: 4/5
Stress: 3/5
Progress: 5/5

How do you feel about coming to Bangkok next month?
We’re very excited 'cause we’ve never been there before. It’s going to be one of the first great gigs for us this year as we haven’t had a gig in about six months. I think it’s a great line-up and we’re gonna have a ball. Can’t wait, really.

What is your favorite song off Final Straw?
I think my favorite song from Final Straw was “Chocolate.” It’s a lot of fun to play live and it’s just catchy. I don’t physically know why. To me it’s one of our better songs on the album.

Why do you think it was more successful than your previous albums?
It was probably from a lot of things—there was a new line up, new label, new management. The songs were better mainly, which is kind of important. It’s kind of a mixture of everything coming together at the right time. It’s hard to place it on one thing. We were very surprised by it at the time and we had an amazing two to three years and enjoyed every bit of it. We actually just finished recording our new album just before Christmas and it will be out in April.

What’s the new album like?
It’s better. It’s a lot more rounder, bigger—the louder moments are louder, the quiet moments are quieter. I think the songwriting’s just better, which, obviously, it has to be because we were all kind of pressured to follow up Final Straw.

Have you had many chances to travel and play live?
Yeah, we have. We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve been to America, obviously the UK and Ireland. We’ve also been to countries in Europe, France, Spain, in Germany. Also Scandinavia, Japan, Australia. So we’re kind of working our way around the world at the moment. We’re left with Thailand and that’s going to be very interesting. It’s always good to get experience in different cultures and in different cities and we try to get out as much as we can when we get to go to those places cause that’s what it’s all about, really.

You’ll be pleased to know that when it comes to sex, we Thais get bragging rights for getting it on earlier and more often than our counterparts in other Asia City cities. The majority of us lose our virginity at age 16, and 13% percent of us have sex on a daily (or nightly) basis. We’re also the most likely to answer our cell phones while doing the deed and the most likely (18%) to seek out relationship counseling (16% of those seeking counseling believe it helps). We seem to be firm believers in karma, with 66% of us having cheated on someone and 66% of us believing that we’ve been cheated on. Curious to find out more? Read on…

Respondents

Male 63%
Female 37%

I consider myself:

Straight 70%
Gay 22%
Bi-sexual 6%
Trisexual (as in “will try anything...”) 0.7%

How old were you when you first had sex?

Most respondents in Bangkok lose their virginity earlier with most getting deflowered at age 16. The oldest to have lost it was age 33 and the youngest was age eight. In Hong Kong the most common age was 18, and in Singapore it was a tie between 18 and 21 years of age.

Ever interrupted sex to answer your mobile?

Apparently we in Bangkok find our mobiles so indespensible that we’re willing to answer calls even while we’re getting busy.

Do you prefer a more or less experienced partner?

Apparently more of us like being the student rather than the teacher when it comes to love-making. 67% of us wanted a more experienced partner and 31% wanted a less experienced one.

Ever used Viagra?

No 86%

Ever had a threesome/group sex?

Yes 36%

What’s the longest period you have gone without sex?

A week 12%
A month 31%
Six months 25%
One year 16%
Two years or more 16%

Ever done it in a public place?

What a bunch of exhibitionists! Not only do we like doing it but we like doing it in public. 68.8% have done it in public. But only 7.8% are members of the Mile High Club, having had sex on a plane.

How often do you usually have sex?

Masturbated at work?

Yes 43%

Ever had sex with a work colleague?

When it comes to sex with our colleagues, we and Singapore responded with a resounding “No!”

Ever owned a sex toy?

Yes 34%

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Yes 61%

Would you have sex to advance your career?

No 72%

How many people have you had sex with?

How many dates before sex?

Two 26%
One 21%
Ten 11%
Varies, depends 11%

Ever had relationship counseling?

Yes 17%
No 83%

If yes, did it work?

Yes 16%
No 11%

Have you ever met up for real-time sex with someone via the internet?

The internet is another popular place to pull potential partners at 16%. Which isn’t any wonder considering that 48% of us have had cyber sex and 37% have met up for real time sex.

Would you stay in a relationship knowing you had been cheated on?

Yes 42%
No 58%

Have you ever cheated on someone(left)? Or Have you ever been cheated on(right)?

Is a “happy ending” at a massage parlor the same as cheating?

Yes 41%
No 59%

Ever paid for sex?

Yes 44.5%
No 55.5%

Ever been paid for sex?

Yes 10%
No 90%

Ever faked an orgasm?

Yes 64%

Ever had an STD?

Yes 20%
No 80%

Virgins?

Blessing 60.9%
Curse 39.9%

Porn?

Yuk, never 12.5%
Gross, yet strangely compelling 26.6%
Consult my stash once a week or so 28.9%
It’s the folk art of the future 32%

Would it bother you if your partner had cosmetic surgery?

Ever toyed with S&M?

Yes 23%

Dirty talk?

Hell, yes 83.6%