The road home?

16 December 2011

The return of Thaksin to Thailand has moved a step closer. And it will create turmoil back home. He is loved or hated. There is little in between.

Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul Friday confirmed that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been removed from the blacklist of the Foreign Ministry as the ministry has canceled former foreign minister Kasit's order to revoke Thaksin's passport.

Mr Shinawatra was ousted in a coup in 2006 and has been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid jail for what he says is a questionable conflict-of-interest conviction.

He was banned from holding a Thai passport in 2009 and became a citizen of Montenegro in order to continue travelling.

The foreign ministry says Thaksin poses no security risk.

"This normal passport has nothing to do with extradition or whether he's innocent, but only his nationality," foreign ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said.

"No government agency, including the police - judiciary and interior ministry - opposed the re-issue of Thaksin's passport."

He still cannot return to Thailand unless he receives a pardon or is given an amnesty, both vehemently opposed by his critics.

Yingluck Shinawatra won a resounding election victory earlier this year in the wake of mass opposition protests in 2010 by his "Red Shirt" supporters which ended with a bloody army crackdown.

But political tension remains in the capital where a number of small explosive devices have recently been found and defused by police.

The airline with a little bit extra

15 December 2011

Thai airline PC Air carried out its first proving flight from Bangkok to Surat Thani province today with four transsexual flight attendants on board.

PC is not an acronym for politically correct - it is the initials of Peter Chan - the airline's president.

The picture has Mr Chan with his four ladyboy crew members - not the guy in the middle. I am a bit confused why one of the crew appears to have a sock on one foot and a stocking on the other. Very strange.

PC Air president Peter Chan said the airline set out to hire only male and female flight attendants but they had a change of heart when they received more than 100 applications from transvestites, transsexuals, as well as men who had changed their gender.

The carrier ended up recruiting four transsexuals, as well as 19 women and seven men, as their cabin crew. PC Air said the qualifications were the same as that required of female flight attendants, which include femininity and attractiveness.

The airline has just one airplane at present, pictured above in its dreadful colour scheme.

PC Air's four transsexual flight attendants are 24-year-olds Ms Chayathisa Nakmai, Ms Dissanai Chitpraphachin and Ms Phuntakarn Sringern, and Ms Nathatai Sukkaset, 26. They are believed to be the world's first transgender flight attendants

The airline invited about 100 Civil Aviation officials and journalists on its inaugural flight from Bangkok to Surat Thani, 530 kilometres south, and back again.

"Today, we are ready to embark on the new journey and we would like to introduce our four transsexual angels," PC Air president Peter Can told the passengers before take off.

The cynic in me thinks that this is all a publicity stunt to get some much needed publicity for a shoe-string airline.

The optimist in me says that Chan is doing this for all the right reasons and creating real and well intentioned employment opportunities.

Thailand has a relatively high rate and social acceptance of male-to-female transsexuals, but rights campaigners have pointed to discrimination and intolerance from institutions and employers.

The UK's Daily Mail particularly enjoyed the story with the great headline - Come fly with he/she! There are also lots of pictures - which sadly suggest an old airplane and miserable food!

PC Air is to specialize in charter flights. The airplane is Airbus A310-222 c/n 419 which first flew in Aprli1986. It was previously registered as B-2303, LZ-JXB, B-2303, XY-AGD (Air Bagan) and RDPL-34181. It was registered on 12-Oct-11 to PC Air Co. Ltd. - the airplane has been registered in China, Bulgaria, Burma and Laos.

The airline website is here.

A window on China

What an offshore gambling mecca reveals about business in China

15 December 2011 The Economist

"Not far from China’s coast, Macau’s casinos buzz with the energy and abandon of the wildly wealthy. Marble columns, gold decor and money are everywhere. But behind the glittering facades there are signs of something darker.

Macau’s success is not built purely on the Chinese love of gambling. It is also fuelled by a stampede of nervous money fleeing the mainland. A look behind the scenes at Macau reveals a lot about Chinese corruption, and also about how scared many Chinese businessfolk are about the political climate back home.

Since 2004 when American casino operators first opened there, Macau has grown faster than a dealer sorts chips. Gaming revenues in the first 11 months of the year were 44% higher than in 2010; Macau is now four times bigger than Las Vegas. The former Portuguese colony, a “special administrative region” of China since 1999, is now the world’s gambling capital.

High-flyers who gamble with borrowed money in private rooms, known as VIPs, contributed around 72% of Macau’s $23.5 billion in revenues last year (see chart). Because gambling is illegal in mainland China, Macau is their destination of choice. The island’s idiosyncratic “junket” system helps to bring rich Chinese to Macau. Junkets are middlemen who lend high-rollers money, arrange accommodation and are paid around 40% of the casinos’ take in return. (In Las Vegas casinos carry out background checks on gamblers and lend to them directly.)

But it is not just a passion for cards that brought more than 13.2m mainlanders to Macau in the first ten months of this year. Many come to elude China’s strict limits on the amount of yuan people can take out of the country. A government official who has embezzled state funds, for example, may arrange to gamble in Macau through a junket. When he arrives, his chips are waiting for him. When he cashes out, his winnings are paid in Hong Kong dollars, which he can stash in a bank in Hong Kong or take farther afield.

“There are many ways to launder money, more than we can think of,” says Davis Fong, an associate business professor at the University of Macau. Some bypass junkets and instead use pawnshops and other stores, where they buy an item with yuan and promptly sell it back for Macanese pataca or Hong Kong dollars—less, of course, a generous cut for the shopkeeper. No one can quantify how much money is laundered in Macau, but it’s “such an obscene amount of money you would die”, one resident avows.

Mainland China offers scant legal protection for private property. The rich, many of whom cut corners to get that way, know they could lose it all suddenly. Many also fear losing their political patrons next autumn, when China’s Communist Party will anoint a new generation of leaders. Small wonder they are seeking havens for their money and their families.

According to the Hurun Report, a wealth researcher, some 14% of rich Chinese say they have already left the country or are filling out paperwork to obtain a foreign passport. Another 46% are considering one of these steps. A recent report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch warned about the destabilising effects of “hot money” speeding out of China this year.

The flow of money through Macau has caught the eye of the government in Beijing and may explain a temporary crackdown in 2008 on the number of Macau visas given to mainland Chinese. According to cables made public by WikiLeaks, an online troublemaker, others are also watching. A memo sent in December 2009 from the American consulate in Hong Kong to the secretary of state said that “[Macau’s] phenomenal success is based on a formula that facilitates if not encourages money laundering.” In a cable in 2008 Joseph Donovan, then the American consul-general in Hong Kong, wrote that “some of these mainlanders are betting with embezzled state money or proceeds from official corruption, and substantial portions of these funds are flowing on to organised crime groups in mainland China, if not Macau itself.”

Many have also started to worry about the junkets’ health, partly out of concern about the stability of China’s “shadow lending” system. If rich Chinese saw their businesses collapse or property investments plunge, as some fret could happen if the mainland’s economy slows, the 200 or so junkets that operate in Macau could have trouble getting their money back from gamblers. At best there would be less money to lend. But junkets that could not collect debts might implode, leaving the casinos that had extended credit to them with big losses. Many casino executives do not seem to know how much money they have lent to junkets, which makes it hard to assess the possible extent of defaults.

Casino operators, like their customers, remain sanguine about future winnings. According to analysts, no big junket has reported any issues with bad loans so far. A casino executive said recently that he worried less about a junket going under than he did about the implication of a Macanese official in a corruption scandal or a murder at a casino. Any big crime would probably encourage China to intervene more heavily in Macau’s affairs and specifically in the gaming industry.

You can bet that the casinos want to avoid that. They are trying to attract more “mass-market” customers, who actually want to gamble for fun. Such people do not need loans to play and offer better margins, because casinos do not need to pay junkets a cut. A high-speed railway being built from Guangzhou to Macau will make it easier to lure them. Some casinos are also building venues with less floor space for blackjack and more for shops, theatres and restaurants.

This may help placate the government in Beijing, which would rather see its citizens shop for jewellery than for a different currency. But as long as money feels nervous in China, it will seek a way out, and Macau is awfully convenient."

Misguided lawyers

15 December 2011

The Bangkok Post reports today that the Lawyers Council of Thailand has asked Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung to strengthen the crackdown on websites with content deemed offensive to the monarchy.

Oh dear. There is a battle in Thailand for who can make the most outrageous statements in support of the already well protected royals. Any statement that is not in fulsome praise of the Thai royal family is not seen to be a threat to the nation.

It would be nice to think that Thai lawyers would encourage justice and fairness. That they would call for transparency. That they would encourage debate and discussion. T

In statement to handed to Mr Chalerm by council chairman Sak Korsaengruang on Wednesday, the lawyers suggested the police and the Information and Communication Technology Ministry (ICT) jointly form a “special agency” to better trace and tackle on-line information with content insulting to the royal family.

Aren't there enough special agencies and committees already. Chalerm already chairs a committee set up to deal with allegedly unlawful information, including websites with lese majeste content.

Mr Sak said more inappropriate websites were being found, partly because police and ICT officials “do not step up action” against offenders.

Now the lawyers have made their statement expect something similar from other professional groups - dentists drilling against lese majeste; chiropractors breaking the bacl of LM; opticians saying the LM is short sighted; plumbers that want to wash away LM. This will not stop now.

The fact that it is Chalerm who has become the spokesperson and it would appear the de facto leader of this government speaks is perhaps the saddest outcome of the country#s 2011 elections and the biggest failing of the Thaksin family government.

EK announces double daily to Venice

13 December 2011

The Italian recession cannot be hitting so hard. People still want to travel there. And Emirates' flights to all of its Italian destinations are always full. Rome and Milan already get two flights a day. Now Venice gets a second flight: Emirates’ flights to Venice will go double daily from 25th March next year. The airline started flying to Venice in July 2007.

The second daily flight, EK 137, will leave Dubai at 1545hrs and arrive in Venice at 2000hrs. The return flight, EK 138, will leave Venice Marco Polo Airport at 2150hrs, landing in Dubai at 0535hrs the next day. This fits nicely into the less crowded afternoon departure bank. See EK's European network planning - below.

A 267-seat Airbus 340-300 will operate the route in a three class configuration; first, business and economy.

“Since launching our third gateway into Italy four years ago, Venice has gone from strength, both on the passenger and cargo side,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ senior vice president, Europe and Russian Federation. “There is clearly a need for another daily service and we will help to satisfy that demand.”

News of the extra daily flight comes just two weeks after Emirates made a major commitment to Italy by placing a 489-seat A380 on one of its twice daily Rome flights. This enables passengers on the Rome route to travel all the way from Italy to Australia on the popular A380, as well as other key markets served by the double decker, such as China and Thailand.

After starting flights to Italy in 1992, Emirates now operates 35 flights per week to Venice, Rome and Milan, contributing to a US$4.6 billion trade relationship between Italy and the UAE

Cameron and Europe: the English outpatient

Instead of putting Britain first, the prime minister prioritised the Conservative party

11 December 2011 The Guardian

"To stand alone against the world can sometimes be an act of heroic defiance. At other times, however, it can merely be proof of tragic foolishness. David Cameron spent much of yesterday basking in the approval of the previously hostile rightwing press and his party's Eurosceptics after he vetoed an EU-wide treaty to rescue the single currency. But the prime minister's action in Brussels marks a moment of profound and long-gestating British failure. Mr Cameron has left an empty chair that could define Britain's place in the world for years to come.

None of this is to pretend that Mr Cameron missed the chance to get aboard a voyage to the stars this week. For Europe as a whole, the latest Brussels summit marked a moment when the partners finally recognised one of the things they failed to see at Maastricht 20 years ago, that monetary union requires constraints of fiscal co-ordination that some nations might not welcome. That recognition is still too little and too late, and has been reached in the most adverse of circumstances. It comes at a moment of extreme inequality between the eurozone members of the north and the south, while the actions now foisted on the eurozone 17 by Germany and France are insufficient and too cautious to stop the bond markets – as initial market reaction yesterday seemed to indicate. There is no guarantee that the plans which Mr Cameron vetoed for the Europe of 27 will work for the Europe of 17 either.

What exactly has Mr Cameron's veto prevented? Not much. The City of London may not be most people's idea of an ecology in need of special protection – quite the opposite. Yet even if it were, the City is not actually better protected by Mr Cameron's empty chair than it would be if he sat up at the table as he should. Nor are British interests in the European single market more strongly safeguarded by his absence than his presence. If the latest Brussels summit fails to stem the disintegration of the eurozone, Britain will not be better able to help manage the crisis through an isolation that is shortsighted, not splendid. Not even Margaret Thatcher made that mistake. She may have been destructively wrong about Europe, but she always believed in sitting at the top table.

Mr Cameron's veto was an act of domestic politics, not an act of international statesmanship. It was a pseudo-Churchillian, pseudo-Thatcherite gesture to appease his anti-European backbenchers. It prevented a shock to the Conservative party, not a shock to the British economy. It followed irresistibly from his decision to take the Tory party out of the mainstream of European centre-right politics back at the start of his leadership rather than to concentrate on building up alliances. But instead of putting Britain first, Mr Cameron prioritised the Tory party and bounced the once so admirably pro-European Liberal Democrats into allowing him to do it. Rear-view mirror driver hits wall shock.

Yet this is ultimately not the failure of one politician but of a culture and a system. Britain's true national interest has become the prisoner of three inexorable forces. The first is the failure of the misconceived euro project, which put the politics of European Union ahead of the economics, and which might perhaps have been better constructed if Britain had had the instinct to engage. The second is the dominance of the financial sector within the British polity, and the destruction of so much manufacturing, which have resulted in the obscenity of a prime minister being compelled to represent the finance interest as the national interest. And the third is the destructive Europhobia of the past 35 years, which – fed by the rightwing press, the financial sector and political parties that were terrified of offending either of them – has fanned a mood of contempt towards everything about a European project with which Britain should be fully engaged rather than sneering uselessly on the sidelines."

Thai laws on insulting royals having chilling effect on freedom of expression

9 December 2011 United Nations news centre

"The United Nations human rights office today called on Thai authorities to reform laws that jail people convicted of insulting senior members of the country’s royal family, saying they were having a chilling effect on freedom of expression.

A spokesperson for Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told journalists in Geneva that the UN human rights office (OHCHR) was concerned about Thailand’s laws of lèse majesté – where anyone deemed to have defamed, insulted or threatened the King and several other senior royals can be jailed for up to 15 years.

“Such harsh criminal sanctions are neither necessary nor proportionate and violate the country’s international human rights obligations,” said Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson.In addition to the disproportionate prison sentences being handed down by the courts, we are also concerned about the extended periods that accused persons are being held in pre-trial detention.

She said that in the meantime, Thai authorities should issue guidelines to police and prosecutors to stop arresting and charging people “under these vaguely worded laws. In addition to the disproportionate prison sentences being handed down by the courts, we are also concerned about the extended periods that accused persons are being held in pre-trial detention.”

In October, Frank La Rue, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, also spoke out over the lèse majesté laws, saying their vagueness breached international treaties.

Earlier this month, according to media reports, a man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sending four text messages to a government aide that were deemed to be insulting to the Thai queen."

It really is time for the Thai authorities to take notice of the international community.

Europe's great divorce

9 December 2011 - The Economist

"We journalists are probably too bleary-eyed after a sleepless night to understand the full significance of what has just happened in Brussels. What is clear is that after a long, hard and rancorous negotiation, at about 5am this morning the European Union split in a fundamental way.

In an effort to stabilise the euro zone, France, Germany and 21 other countries have decided to draft their own treaty to impose more central control over national budgets. Britain and three others have decided to stay out. In the coming weeks, Britain may find itself even more isolated. Sweden, the Czech Republic and Hungary want time to consult their parliaments and political parties before deciding on whether to join the new union-within-the-union.

So two decades to the day after the Maastricht Treaty was concluded, launching the process towards the single European currency, the EU's tectonic plates have slipped momentously along same the fault line that has always divided it—the English Channel.

Confronted by the financial crisis, the euro zone is having to integrate more deeply, with a consequent loss of national sovereignty to the EU (or some other central co-ordinating body); Britain, which had secured a formal opt-out from the euro, has decided to let them go their way.

Whether the agreement does anything to stabilise the euro is moot. The agreement is heavily tilted towards budget discipline and austerity. It does little to generate money in the short term to arrest the run on sovereigns, nor does it provide a longer-term perspective of jointly-issued bonds. Much will depend on how the European Central Bank responds in the coming days and weeks.

Some doubt remains over whether and how the "euro-plus" zone will have access to EU institutions—such as the European Commission, which conducts economic assessments and recommends action, and the European Court of Justice, which Germany hopes will ensure countries adopt proper balanced-budget rules—over Britain's objections.

But especially for France, on the brink of losing its AAA credit rating and now the junior partner to Germany, this is a famous political victory. President Nicolas Sarkozy had long favoured the creation of a smaller, "core" euro zone, without the awkward British, Scandinavians and eastern Europeans that generally pursue more liberal, market-oriented policies. And he has wanted the core run on an inter-governmental basis, ie by leaders rather than by supranational European institutions. This would allow France, and Mr Sarkozy in particular, to maximise its impact.

Mr Sarkozy made substantial progress on both fronts. The president tried not to gloat when he emerged at 5am to explain that an agreement endorsed by all 27 members of the EU had proved impossible because of British obstruction. “You cannot have an opt-out and then ask to participate in all the discussion about the euro that you did not want to have, and which you also criticised,” declared the French president.

With the entry next year of Croatia, which will sign its accession treaty today, the EU is still growing, said Mr Sarkozy. “The bigger Europe is, the less integrated it can be. That is an obvious truth.”

For Britain the benefit of the bargain in Brussels is far from clear. It took a good half-hour after the end of Mr Sarkozy's appearance for Mr Cameron to emerge and explain his action. The prime minister claimed he had taken a “tough decision but the right one” for British interests—particularly for its financial-services industry. In return for his agreement to change the EU treaties, Mr Cameron had wanted a number of safeguards for Britain. When he did not get them, he used his veto.

After much studied vagueness on his part about Britain's objectives, Mr Cameron's demand came down to a protocol that would ensure Britain would be given a veto on financial-services regulation (see PDF copy here). The British government has become convinced that the European Commission, usually a bastion of liberalism in Europe, has been issuing regulations hostile to the City of London under the influence of its French single-market commissioner, Michel Barnier. And yet strangely, given the accusation that Brussels was taking aim at the heart of the British economy, almost all of the new rules issued so far have been passed with British approval (albeit after much bitter backroom fighting). Tactically, too, it seemed odd to make a stand in defence of the financiers that politicians, both in Britain and across the rest of European, prefer to denounce.

Mr Cameron said he is “relaxed” about the separation. The EU has always been about multiple speeds; he was glad Britain had stayed out of the euro and out of the passport-free Schengen area. He said that life in the EU, particularly the single market, will continue as normal. “We wish them well as we want the euro zone to sort out its problems, to achieve stability and growth that all of Europe needs.” The drawn faces of senior officials seemed to say otherwise.

The 23 members of the new pact, if they act as a block, can outvote Britain. They are divided among themselves, of course. But their habit of working together and cutting deals will, inevitably, begin to weigh against Britain over time.

Mr Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, have given notice of their desire for the euro zone to act in all the domains that would normally be the remit of all 27 members—for example, labour-market regulations and the corporate-tax base.

Britain may assume it will benefit from extra business for the City, should the euro zone ever pass a financial-transaction tax. But what if the new club starts imposing financial regulations among the 17 euro-zone members, or the 23 members of the euro-plus pact? That could begin to force euro-denominated transactions into the euro zone, say Paris or Frankfurt. Britain would, surely, have had more influence had the countries of the euro zone remained under an EU-wide system.

It says much about the dire state of the debate on Europe within Britain's Conservative party that, as Mr Cameron set out to Brussels, another Tory MP portentously invoked the memory of Neville Chamberlain, who infamously came back from Munich with empty assurances from Adolf Hitler. Mr Cameron may have made a grievous mistake with regard to Britain's long-term interest. But at least nobody can accuse him of returning from Brussels with a piece of paper in his hand."

The night Europe changed

9 December 2011

David Cameron dramatically vetoed a European Union Treaty change last night, risking political isolation and forcing the most far-reaching shake-up in Europe for decades. In one of the most significant developments in Britain's 38-year membership of the EU, the British prime minister said he could not allow a "treaty within a treaty" that would undermine the UK's position in the single market.

Arguably in the long hours of a bitter Brussels night Europe changed more than at any time since the last european war.

On the one hand a major step was taken towards closer integration. This is not the result of popular demand by Europe's people. It is because Europe's leaders believe their project has "never been in such danger".

Last night most of Europe's governments gave up a crucial element of their sovereignty. In the future, tax and spending plans will be shown to European officials before national governments.

There will be automatic sanctions against those countries that overspend. Countries can be refered to the European Court of Justice. Monetary union has moved towards being also a fiscal union.

As a result of the late-night negotiations, there is now a two-speed Europe. French President Nicolas Sarkozy accepted that. He said it was "the responsibility of those who opted out of the single currency". He means it was their fault not their repsonsibility.

But that implies that the Euro has been a huge success; not a bomb.

Europe will now have two categories of membership as Europe's leaders failed to agree changes to the existing EU treaties.

The main obstacle to treaty change was Britain. Never has the UK been more isolated in Europe and PM Cameron has angered many European leaders. In their view he used his veto at a time of Europe's hour of need.

If there was to be a treaty change, the Prime Minister wanted exemptions from some financial regulations but Germany and France would not budge.

Cameron had demanded that:

• Any transfer of power from a national regulator to an EU regulator on financial services would be subject to a veto.

• Banks should face a higher capital requirement.

• The European Banking Authority should remain in London. There were suggestions that it might be consolidated in the European Security and Markets Authority in Paris.

• The European Central Bank be rebuffed in its attempts to rule that euro-denominated transactions take place within the eurozone.

French PM Sarkovsky rejected the demands outright; basically leaving Cameron no where to go.

Cameron appears to be protecting the very bankers that due to their lack of regulation created the financial crisis in the first place. The UK needs financial regulation. But it does not want the EU's regulations and oversight. It wants to do it in its own way.

The arguments are not yet over. Without a full EU agreement changes will have to be agreed by inter-governmental treaties.  The UK will demand a seat at the table for any EU implemented changes. Messy.

Almost more worryingly the EU seems to be ignoring debt issues, the absence of growth in Europe, and the widening gap between European economies.

Will a commitment to budgetary discipline frees up the European Central Bank to act more aggressively in the markets and so lower the borrowing costs of troubled countries like Italy and Spain. The ECB has never been fleet of foot.

So what next:

Well, if the eurozone collapses Britain may find others rallying to its vision.

In the UK there are already many who argue that if Britain is so marginalised it might as well go further and decide whether it wants to stay in the European Union. The cry for a fundamental re-think of Britain's relationship with Europe will not be stifled.

A good walk spoiled

9 December 2011

This week is the so called Dubai World Championship. It is a golf tournament. For the sixty leading players on the European Golf Tour. Not the Asian tour, the Japanese Tour or the USA tour. The 60 golfers include 49 Europeans, 8 South Africans and one each from Chile, Australia and Korea - except that the Korean withdrew after five holes with a bad neck!

So the Dubai World Championship is to Golf what the World Series is to Baseball.

As for the golfers, what a bunch of spoiled prima donnas they are. They happen to be lucky enough to possess the talent and have had the opportunity to make a pastime into a career.

They are doing what many of us would love to be able to do.

Jetting from country to country, top hotels, chauffeur driven, even a servant to carry and clean their clubs, tell them where to hit the ball and to take the abuse when it all goes wrong.

Find any other sport where the professional players each have a Mr. Hudson to do the grunt work for them?

Golf tournaments pay out huge amounts of money as prizes; many pay ridiculous sums in appearance money. Yet they must still be profitable for the sponsors and hosts.

Yesterday I followed Paul Casey and Rafael Cabrera-Bello for all 18 holes. Only about 6 people followed all 18 holes and a couple of them were probably family and friends. Casey's caddy must have the most sensitive ears since Colin Montgomerie and can hear a sneeze at 400 yards. On one tee there is a guy standing behind the tee with a small camera. Put the camera away says the caddy. The spectator (and good for him) said "Its not turned on." Mr. Casey turned to him and threatened "He said, put the camera away, mate." Now there was nothing matey about that exchange. Aggressive and unnecessary.

Casey threw his clubs twice; my Dad refused to play with me ever again when I did that once at 14 years old.

Casey in particular was a misery for all 18 holes. Grumpy, surly, reacting to the slightest sound. Bizarrely the main noise culprits were the guys carrying the scoreboard with that group and the teams updating the fixed scoreboards that are around the course.

I always enjoy people who look like they are enjoying their work. It can be a flight attendant on Emirates, a school teacher, a golfer. If you show that you are enjoying your work it creates a positive feeling for everyone around you. This message has not got to the ranks of the world's professional golfers who seem to have decided that they are better and more important than the rest of us.

Then there are the marshalls. Stand still they yell, long before the golfer has even reached his ball let alone taken the usual array of practice swings. Unnecessarily officious.

Worse is the golf course. It is simply not spectator friendly. It is ok if you pick one place on the course and decide that you want to stay there for the day. But to walk around 18 holes is torture. The course is long enough from tee to green at 7,800 yards. But spectators do not walk from tee to green. We walk on the edges of the course; sinking with each step into the sand and the bark mulch; in and out of trees and bushes. The course was simply not designed for tournament golf or with spectators in mind.

Add to that the yomp from the car park to the course. The usual shambolic access to and from the course through the building site and the unfinished roads around the Jumairah Golf Estate and frankly the whole game is better watched on TV.

The Ladies are in Dubai next week. The Emirates course is accessible via the metro and the course is much more walker friendly.

Thais test taboos as war on royal slurs heats up

8 December 2011 Reuters

From a windowless room in a Bangkok suburb, computer technicians scour thousands of websites, Facebook pages and tweets night and day. Their mission: to suppress what is regarded as one of Thailand's most heinous crimes -- insulting the monarchy.

The government calls this its "war room", part of a zero-tolerance campaign that uses the world's most draconian lese-majeste laws to stamp out even the faintest criticism of 84-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch.

Critics call it a "witch hunt" and few are spared if they fall foul of the process. Sixty-one-year-old cancer sufferer Amphon Tangnoppaku, dubbed "Uncle SMS", was jailed for 20 years last month for sending text messages deemed to have disparaged Queen Sirikit.

The ruling prompted outrage. On Saturday, Human Rights Watch criticised the "shocking" severity of recent penalties for lese-majeste and urged Thailand to amend the law.

The offence is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, possibly more if there is violation of the 2007 Computer Crimes Act, which has been used to block more than 70,000 websites, many for lese-majeste, others for pornography or cyber fraud.

Washington-based pro-democracy group Freedom House says the two laws give Thai authorities "carte blanche to clamp down on any form of expression".

Some Thais had hoped Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose party members are among those accused of lese-majeste, would reform the law. But she is treading carefully, aware her opponents in the military and royalist establishment could seize on any hint of disloyalty to the monarchy to bring her down.

Independent analysts say the use of lese-majeste could undermine those it was designed to protect if the backlash against the law grows.

The tough-sounding Cyber Security Operation Centre remains focused, however.

"We don't have any impressive equipment to track suspicious Internet activity," said Nut Payongsri, an official in the vast government complex. "In most cases, we hear about misuse via calls to our hotline. We check each case and report them to the police."

The king is in poor health and has spent the past two years in hospital. He made a rare public appearance in a wheelchair on Monday at celebrations to mark his birthday.

His health and the succession are sensitive topics. Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn has yet to command the same respect as his father, who is seen as almost divine in the majority Buddhist country.

Lese-majeste shields the king, queen, crown prince or regent from criticism.

In the latest case, the exact content of the messages Amphon was accused of sending is unclear -- disclosing it could also mean prison. He denied the charges and wept in court.

Undeterred by the outcry, Information and Communications Technology ICT.L Minister Anudit Nakorntab warned Thais they could face similar punishment if they clicked "like" or "share" next to Facebook postings about the case that were considered offensive to the throne.

An ICT Ministry official told Reuters that Thais who received anti-monarchy messages by email or on their personal Facebook walls and failed to delete them were also in violation.

"We would take them to court and prosecute them," said the official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak to the media. "It is against the law to do such a thing and as a result, they will be fined and jailed."

The ICT Ministry said it was in talks with Facebook to block pages hosted outside Thailand carrying offensive content its cyber police were powerless to block. The U.S.-based social networking site did not respond to questions from Reuters.

Some cases are overtly political, others just bizarre, such as that of a Swiss man jailed for spray-painting a portrait of the king because he could not buy alcohol on the monarch's birthday under Thai law. He was pardoned and deported after a short prison stint.

Lese-majeste complaints can be made by any citizen and, because of the sensitivity of the allegations, police usually feel compelled to probe them.

The army filed charges of lese-majeste in May against academic Somsack Jeamteerasakul for comments he allegedly made in a web posting about the king's youngest daughter, Princess Chulabhorn Walailak, who is not protected by the laws.

Chiranuch Premchaiporn, director of online newspaper Prachatai, is accused of failing to delete anti-monarchy postings fast enough. Political activist Chotisak Onsoong is accused of insulting the monarchy by refusing to stand during the royal anthem that precedes movie screenings in Thailand.

Thai-born American Lerpong Wichaikhamma, also known as Joe Gordon, pleaded guilty to lese-majeste in October after being arrested during a visit to Thailand for having posted a web link to a Thai translation of a banned book about the king. (See more details on his case below).

Critics of lese-majeste say it is being used as a political weapon to stifle opponents, pointing to the huge jump in cases since the 2006 coup that overthrew former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother, and triggered a polarising political crisis.

Thailand's lese-majeste laws date from the start of the 20th century. Other countries with constitutional monarchies, such as Spain and the Netherlands, have such laws but cases are nowadays extremely rare.

David Streckfuss, a scholar who monitors lese-majeste laws, said 478 known cases had been submitted to the Thai Criminal Court since the coup, and the 397 cases between 2006 and 2009 compared with an average four or five a year in the preceding 15 years.

The conviction rate, Streckfuss says, is currently 94 percent.

Thailand's military, which sees protecting the crown as its top priority, is behind a number of complaints, particularly those against members of the pro-Thaksin "red shirt" movement, which fought troops in the street in 2009 and 2010.

Thaksin and the red shirts have been accused of republican leanings, charges they deny. But some take issue with the punishment handed down for lese-majeste.

"In the time of absolute monarchy, the highest punishment was three years, so how is it that now, with our constitutional monarchy, the punishment has been increased to up to 15 years?" said Weng Tojirakarn, a red shirt leader and parliamentarian.

The police and judiciary feel obliged to follow up accusations of lese-majeste -- for fear of being accused of disrespect themselves -- and so the charge has become an easy weapon for political groups to use against each other.

In the case of Thaksin, allegations against him of lese-majeste were used by the royalist "yellow shirts" to draw supporters to huge street rallies that helped undermine his government, and the claims were cited by the military as one reason for the 2006 coup.

The Santiprachatham Network, a group of academics and social activists, started a campaign against a "flawed judicial system" in the wake of Amphon's 20-year sentence.

Some newspapers that for years were reluctant to carry stories on lese-majeste now call for a review of the law.

"The idea that discussion of the lese-majeste law is somehow disloyal to the monarchy is emotionally loaded but empty. The law cannot affect love of the monarch," the Bangkok Post said in an editorial, describing the cyber war as "futile and self-defeating".

Anand Panyarachun, a former premier and senior statesman, last week rebuked those who had politicised the law and said ordinary citizens should not be allowed to file complaints that undermined rather than strengthened the monarchy.

"The harshness of the penalty should be reviewed," Anand said. "Many Thais try to protect him, try to defend him. In actual fact the consequence is we ourselves are doing a lot of damage to the monarchy or even to the king himself."

Joe Gordon jailed in Thailand

8 December 2011

The sentencing of American citizen Joe Gordon is now making international news. It received extended coverage on BBC World News on Thursday.

The news pictures of Joe Gordon being taken to jail in shackles and chains were desperately sad. Joe Gordon is a Colorado car salesman. He is not a security threat; he is not a terrorist; he has committed no heinous crime.

Gordon was jailed for two and a half years after he admitted posting web links to a banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Joe Gordon, a used car salesman from Colorado who was born in Thailand, admitted lese-majeste, or insulting the king, at an earlier hearing. Admitting guilt gives him he opportunity to apply for a royal pardon.

He was sentenced to five years in jail, but the judges halved the term because of his guilty plea.

The US consul general in Thailand said the sentence was "severe".

"He was given the sentence for his right of expression," Elizabeth Pratt told reporters. Not that Pratt is the consul general. The Ambassador, Kristie Kenney, has been silent on this issue.

"We continue to respect the Thai monarchy but we also support the right of expression which is internationally recognised as a human right," said Pratt.

Activists say the lese-majeste law has become increasingly politicised, and is used as a tool of repression rather than as a way of protecting the monarchy.

Gordon, 55, reportedly translated parts of the widely available biography, The King Never Smiles by Paul Handley, several years ago and posted them on a blog while he was living in the US. Note that he did this in the USA where the Handley book was both written and published, by Yale University Press.

He was arrested in May when he visited Thailand for medical treatment.

He initially denied the charges, but said he changed his plea to guilty after being repeatedly refused bail. Jail conditions in Thailand are notoriously unpleasant.

Prosecutions under the law have increased dramatically in recent years, amid chronic political instability. The authorities have also passed a new law, the Computer Crimes Act, that increases their powers to tackle any perceived insults to the monarchy on the internet or through mobile phones.

Last month a 61-year-old man was jailed for 20 years for sending four text messages that were deemed offensive to the Thai queen.

Many Thais feel great respect for the king, but there is increasing concern over whether restrictions on freedom of speech are damaging the monarchy rather than protecting it.

Under the current laws there cannot be any open national debate about the monarchy. Thais are afraid to express their views openly.

The book Gordon translated is The King Never Smiles, written by U.S. journalist Paul Handley and published by Yale University Press. It is one of the few publications that attempts a critical but academic look at the Thai monarchy.

Recently, the authorities have focused on social media, especially Facebook, as it has become the main discussion forum for Thais who oppose the lese majeste law.

The ministry of Information and Communication Technology has set up a hotline for those who want to report "cyber crimes" against the monarchy. The ICT says that it has suspended more than 60,000 websites between October and November and urged people to not click "share" or "like" on Facebook posts that criticize the monarchy.

The big risk for the future of the Thai monarchy is that instead of protecting the palace, the new atmosphere of fear and repression may have the opposite effect.

EK's European network planning

7 December 2011

With its announcement of a third daily flight to Paris Emirates Airline has made clear that it continues to expand its core DXB - Europe sectors.

The Paris flight is being added to the airline's growing third European departure bank around 3am at DXB. The exact schedule of the new flight is as follows:

EK071 DXB CDG 0355 0905 B77W (4 weekly increasing to 5)
EK072 CDG DXB 1110 1940 B77W (4 weekly increasing to 5)

The addition of the new Paris flight in the third European departure bank comes after the addition of flights to Frankfurt and Manchester in that same departure bank. LGW and LHR both have departures between 2am and 3am so the number of Europe departures within this small bank is now up to 5 daily:

It is now likely that EK will add further destinations to this departure bank. Any city that is already served by two daily EK flights can expect a third to be added at a future date. Obvious candidates for such flights include FCO, MXP, ZRH, BHX, DME and MUC.

To feed this European departure bank EK has been building connections from Asia and Africa that arrive within the airline's main 11pm to 1am arrivals bank. All of these flights connect reasonably well to 3am flights to Europe as well as the main Asian departure bank at the same time.

The 3am European flights typically leave Europe at breakfast time in the morning and result in an evening arrival at DXB in the 7 - 8pm window. This arrival bank has traditionally allowed for little more than some regional connectivity. But EK is now providing additional connection options, eg EK 374 to Bangkok. 

The development of Emirates' European network has rigorous and continuous. Within the last year, the airline announced the following additional flights within its Europe network:

Manchester - addition of 3rd daily flight
Frankfurt - addition of 3rd daily flight
Hamburg - additional of 2nd daily flight
Paris - addition of 3rd daily flight (from March 2012)
Geneva - new destination
Vienna - addition of 2nd daily flight
Amsterdam - second daily flight from 1 July 2012.
St Petersburg - new destination
Copenhagen - new destination
Dublin - new destination

Madrid and Venice are also likely to upgrade to a second daily flight. Other additions are in the pipeline.

By the start of the Summer 2012 season, Emirates will operate up to 50 daily departures to Europe, spread over 3 different departure banks as follows:

* morning departure bank with midnight return - 29 flights
LHR (2), LGW, MAN, GLA, NCL, BHX, FRA, MUC, DUS, HAM, CDG, NCE, ZRH, GVA, MXP, FCO, ATH, LCA-MLA, IST, VIE, DME, VCE, PRG, MAD, AMS, LED, CPH, DUB

* afternoon departure bank with morning return - 16 flights
LHR (2), LGW, MAN, , BHX, FRA, MUC, DUS, HAM, CDG, ZRH, MXP, FCO, IST, VIE, DME

* 3am departure with evening return - 5 flights
LHR, LGW, MAN, FRA, CDG

Over the next two years we can expect:

the addition of new flights in the primary morning departure banks; destinations could include - Stockholm, Brussels, Barcelona and a number of Scandinavian and Eastern European cities are all candidates for Emirates service

the addition of secondary flights to existing destinations currently served by just one daily flight - Amsterdam and Madrid seem the obvious candidates for such reinforced frequencies, with a departure in the airline's afternoon departure banks

the additional of a third flight in the 3 am departure banks as mentioned above - Rome, Milan, Zurich, Birmingham, Moscow and Munich are candidates

Emirates service updates

7 December 2011

Emirates Summer 2012 operational changes as announced to date. Expect additional changes and new routes to be announced throughout the winter months.

Dubai – Athens eff 01AUG12 Boeing 777-300 replaces A330-200
Dubai – Beijing eff 01MAY12 EK308/309 Boeing 777-300ER with Suites replaces A340-500
Dubai – Copenhagen eff 01OCT12 Boeing 777-300ER with Suites replaces -200
Dubai – Dusseldorf eff 01JUN12 EK057/058 Boeing 777-300ER with Suites replaces A340-300
Dubai – Frankfurt eff 01OCT12 EK043/044 Boeing 777-300ER with Suites replaces A330-200
Dubai – Hong Kong 25MAR12 – 30SEP12 EK382/383 Increases from 5 weekly to 6 weekly, A330-200 operating and 01OCT12 – 27OCT12 EK382/383 Increases from 6 weekly to Daily. Boeing 777-300ER with Suites replaces A330-200
Dubai – Larnaca – Malta eff 01OCT12 Boeing 777-200 replaces A330-200
Dubai – Manchester eff 01JUN12 EK021/022 Boeing 777-300ER with Suites replaces A330-200
Dubai – Mauritius eff 25MAR12 EK3705/3706 Day 25 operates with Boeing 777-300ER with Suites, replacing A330-200
Dubai – Munich eff 25MAR12 EK051/052 Boeing 777-300 replaces A340-300
Dubai – Paris CDG Overall service increases from 14 to 18 weekly effective 25th March 2012:
Schedule: EK071 DXB-CDG 0355-0905 B77W
               EK072 CDG-DXB 1110-1940 B77W
               Days of operation: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday
Dubai – Sana’a effective 26MAR12 Planned Increase from 4 to 6 weekly, new flights not available for reservation
Dubai – Seychelles effective 25MAR12 Increases from 11 to 13 weekly. EK707/708 operates 6 weekly, increases from 4
Dubai – Singapore 02JUL12 – 27OCT12 EK354/355 operates with Boeing 777-300ER with Suites on Daily basis
Dubai – Tunis eff 25MAR12 Increases from 5 weekly to Daily
Dubai – Vienna eff 25MAR12 Planned Increase from 13 to 14 weekly, new flight not available for reservation
Dubai - Amsterdam effective 01Jul12: second daily flight:
            EK149 DXB-AMS 14.55-20.00 77W
            EK150 AMS-DXB 2200-06.30+1 77W

Emirates is not as green as it pretends to be

6 December 2011

In a very dubious press release Emirates Airline has claimed that a a flight to South Africa is part of its ongoing commitment towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This is simple public relations puff. The reality is rather different.

Emirates flew the UAE Delegation to the 2011 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) in South Africa, which is taking place from 28 November – 9 December 2011.

Emirates stated that through close coordination with air navigation providers in seven countries between the UAE and South Africa, the airline was able to use techniques in-air and on the ground to reduce flight emissions and save over 5 tonnes of CO2 compared to the same aircraft flying a normal flight plan.

The airline's press release advises that "this was the first flight over the African continent for the Indian Ocean Strategic Partnership to Reduce Emissions (INSPIRE) programme, which brings airlines, airports and air navigation service providers together to implement a range of best practice operational procedures to allow a ‘perfect flight.’

These flights incorporate techniques to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, such as flying the most direct and optimum route between departure and destination. It also includes using ground power (instead of the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit, which burns jet fuel), minimising on-ground delays, utilising expedient taxi and preferential runways, conducting uninterrupted climb and descent paths."

"It was a privilege to have arrived in Durban for COP 17 on the Emirates airline test flight which emitted less greenhouse gases by using efficient flight paths and other techniques. UAE carriers and aerospace entities have taken the lead in the industry by conducting such test flights under the INSPIRE programme,” said Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change and Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.

“Although the aviation industry is only responsible for approximately 2% of global GHG emissions, these types of initiatives remain important to curbing climate change. UAE airlines are undertaking various programmes in this effort, in addition to Emirates, Etihad Airways chairs the IATA Environment Committee and is supporting R&D with the Masdar Institute in developing aerospace biofuels using feed stock harvested in Abu Dhabi. It is the efforts of carriers such as Emirates and Etihad, along with organizations across the UAE, that will make a long-term positive change in international aviation’s environmental record,” he added.

The aircraft used for the INSPIRE flight from Dubai to Durban was a Boeing 777-300ER, one of the most fuel efficient aircraft types in Emirates’ fleet.

The idea that "Emirates inspires" with one green flight to South Africa is silly. If Emirates has any commitment to the environment it needs to sort out the late night arrivals into Dubai. Almost every flight arriving between 11pm and 12.30am is now kept in a holding pattern, some for up to 45 minutes - it is not unknown to be held over the gulf, then sent out over the northern emirates to hold again over Fujairah before commencing an approach to 30L.

Meanwhile there are almost no departures at this time and the right (second) runway is unused. Assume say 60 flights arrive at this time and on average each has a 20 minute hold - simplistically that is the equivalent of a single 20 hour flight. Any savings on the SA flight are clearly not enough to compensate for the excess holding fuel that is burned.
Part of the problem is EK's own making - because of the network hub EK keeps adding new flights to this busy period. Part of the problem appears to be a Dubai Airport/ATC issue - why not use both runways for arrivals. If landing to the west on runway 30L and 30R use the L runway for arrivals from the Far East and Africa and the right runway from flights from Europe which come in over Sharjah and turn over Mirdiff.

Emirates hailing its green initiatives have absolutely no credibility until arrival holds are eliminated except in extreme weather.

When Hillary met Suu Kyi

4 December 2011

With so much focus on the economic mess it was easy to overlook a remarkable meeting this week.

Last week the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton,  embraced of Aung San Suu Kyi during her historic visit to Myanmar. Even just a year ago this would have been unthinkable.

But how much has really changed. Myanmar is still run by an ex-general, Thein Sein, who likely still answers to another general, Than Shwe, the officially retired senior junta leader. Last year's "election" was an election in name only. The result was pre-determined.

But it is clear that Suu Kyi, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her brave stand, has moved the line from where she started, when she demanded the regime give up power and restore her party's place after it won an overwhelming electoral victory in 1990.

But the military need Suu Kyi. She is the key to a gradual lifting of US sanctions on Burma's isolated and impoverished economy. So for now Suu Kyi will be working with herex- captors rather than defying them.

And the US meanwhile sees Myanmar as a country where it can exercise influence in moderating Chinese regional power. The US government may be a little too eager to usher in a new era of amity with Burma. Despite this being the same Burmese regime that has arrested thousands of dissidents; and killed many, Clinton still announced an initial $1.2 million in aid (in the global scheme of things this is peanuts).

As for Suu Kyi maybe she has accepted the need for some compromise and the west will follow her lead; she has endured so much for so long, including the absence of her children and the death of her husband, Michael Aris, while she was under house arrest. Her popularity terrified the military regime; her demands gave them only one course of action; her silence.

Ne Win, who took over in a 1962 coup, drove the economy into the ground with his isolationist "Burmese Way to Socialism," touching off student protests that led to troops shooting hundreds, possibly thousands, dead in 1988. Suu Kyi denounced Ne Win and in response she was placed under house arrest on July 20, 1989, and her telephones and visitors were cut off.

While the Generals hide behind suits, uniforms and tanks Clinton and Suu Kyi are both seen as charismatic, intellectually brilliant and highly pragmatic people. Maybe change has to come by degrees rather than by revolution. And the generals may accept slower change with economic gain.

"Releasing all of the prisoners, setting a date for the elections, and ensuring that they are free, fair, and credible, having a really comprehensive, well-designed effort to resolve the ethnic conflicts - those are three very big steps that we think have to be taken before we can further engage on a range of issues that we'd be willing to discuss," Clinton told NPR.

Suu Kyi, for her part, spoke frankly of using U.S. leverage to get what she wants. "If we go forward together, I am confident that there will be no turning back from the road towards democracy," she said at a news conference with Clinton. "We are not on that road yet, but we hope to get there as soon as possible with the help and understanding of our friends."

This may be something of a pact with the devil but it is Myanmar's best hope.

EK incident at Male

3 December 2011

An Emirates Boeing 777-300, registration A6-EMR performing flight EK-653 from Colombo (Sri Lanka) to Male (Maldives), burst a number of tyres upon landing on Male’s runway 36 and got disabled on the runway.

The airport is currently closed due to the disabled aircraft on the runway. There had been maintenance work on the runway two days previously.

Long delays expected at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (formerly known as Male’ Int. Airport). Departing tourists are stranded at the airport. The airport was shut down for around 5 hours. Transport Ministry officials have announced to call airport before leaving the hotel. This is first incident of this magnitude in this airport.

Relevant NOTAM:
A0157/11 - RWY18/36 CLSD DUE DISABLED ACFT. 02 DEC 18:34 2011 UNTIL 02 DEC 23:20 2011 ESTIMATED. CREATED: 02 DEC 18:34 2011

Still rich but no longer so calm

2 December 2011 The Economist

"The notion that the Gulf is a haven of serenity while the rest of the Arab world burns—or goes to the polls—is beginning to seem less plausible. In Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and even the placid United Arab Emirates (UAE), people opposing the ruling families are giving voice to dissent. The region’s rulers have long relied on their oil wealth as a way to keep their citizens quiet but as ripples of unrest spread, this may not work for ever.

Kuwait’s prime minister, Sheikh Nasser al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, had to step down on November 28th over allegations of corruption. Earlier that month opposition politicians and protesters stormed parliament, one of the few bodies in the Gulf elected on a universal franchise, to demand his resignation.

Anger may grow again in Bahrain thanks to the government’s so far tepid response to a report by an independent commission that examined a crackdown earlier this year on pro-democracy protests. No one has had to resign, despite the report’s conclusion that torture had been routine. King Hamad replaced the head of the National Security Agency but then made him a personal adviser. Unless the king enacts real reforms, protests are likely to resume.

Saudi Arabia, the Gulf’s giant, has not been immune to unrest. Between November 20th and 23rd, four men were killed in protests in the eastern, Shia-populated city of Qatif. Footage on YouTube showed several hundred marching protesters, a rare sight in the kingdom.

Even Abu Dhabi, the richest of the seven statelets making up the UAE, has had to silence the voice of dissent. On November 27th five cheeky pro-democracy bloggers who had been in prison since April charged with “insulting” the country’s royal rulers were sentenced to terms varying from two to three years. A day later they were pardoned by Sheikh Khalifa al-Nahyan, the UAE’s president.

But their original demand, which so incensed the authorities, that parliament be directly elected and given legislative power, will not be forgotten in a hurry. Billows of the Arab spring have reached even the Gulf."

Glocer out - rejoice!

2 December 2011

Tom Glocer has been fired as chief executive of Thomson Reuters; he will be replaced on January 1 by Jim Smith, chief operating officer, in another round of management upheaval at the financial and professional information business.

The choice of Mr Smith, a Thomson veteran who ran its legal and other professional units before being promoted this July, was seen by some insiders as evidence that Woodbridge, the Thomson family holding company that owns more than 55 per cent of the stock, is tightening its hold on its largest asset.

Smith is focused on operations; he has neither the experience or imagination to grow any significant part of the business, so it will be the usual rounds of cost-cutting, headcount reductions and toilet paper sheet rationing.

The consensus is that David Thomson, chairman, and Geoffrey Beattie, the family consigliere who runs Woodbridge, have been frustrated with the Thomson Reuters share price, which has fallen from more than $41 to $27.22 this year.

The company indicated that the latest restructuring would incur “one-time charges”, but gave no details, saying that its guidance for 2011 was otherwise unchanged. Investor fears about the impact of market turmoil on headcount at the group’s financial services clients have contributed to pressure on the stock.

Woodbridge and Mr Glocer led a sudden shake-up of Thomson Reuters Markets in July, sweeping out several executives, including Devin Wenig, the division’s chief executive and a long-time ally of Mr Glocer. In September, Mr Glocer told the Financial Times: “I’m not planning to go anywhere.”

For the most part it is now executives associated with the former Thomson Corp, including Mr Smith, that run the group. And the editorial operations appear to have been taken over by new hires from within Wall Street making the news file predominantly American.

Mr Glocer became chief executive of Reuters in 2001 and negotiated its sale to the owner of Thomson Financial shortly before the global financial crisis.

The official version of Glocer's departure was announced by David Thomson as follows:

Tom will be remembered as the individual who turned around Reuters ten years ago, led the company to growth and guided its sale to form Thomson Reuters,” said David Thomson, chairman of Thomson Reuters. “Over the past four years, Tom successfully directed an extensive integration, expanded our business internationally, revitalized the Reuters news organization and championed talent across the entire business.

The unofficial version: which I subscribe to:

"Tom will be remembered as the individual who destroyed the Reuters brand and organisation after 150 years of undisputed leadership in international news & financial information, led the company to ruin, and sold it off cheaply to Thomson while rewarding himself handsomely with stock options and generous bonuses” said former executives of the organisation that was once a household name with an enviable reputation for innovation, integrity, and independence."

The restructuring will leave the group’s financial and risk operations reporting to David Craig; the legal business under Mike Suchsland; Chris Kibarian running intellectual property and science; tax and accounting reporting to Brian Peccarelli; and the global growth organisation led by Shanker Ramamurthy.

“Thomson Reuters has been losing the bake-off,” said Douglas B. Taylor, the managing director of Burton-Taylor International Consulting, a company that tracks the financial information business. Not only have Bloomberg and, to a smaller degree, other firms been taking customers away from Thomson Reuters, Mr. Taylor said, but the company has also been largely unsuccessful in attracting new clients.

Turning 40

2 December 2011

Today was the 40th birthday of the United Arab Emirates. The date is a bit misleading; this is the fortieth anniversary of the UAE becoming a nation. But as a people they have been in the gulf for centuries.

But for the day - here is a quick summary of how the UAE came into being:

The UAE is a federation of seven emirates (equivalent to principalities), each governed by a hereditary emir, with a single national president. The constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. The capital is Abu Dhabi, which is also the state's center of political, industrial, and cultural activities.

Prior to independence in 1971, the UAE was known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a 19th-century truce between the local sheikhs, hereditary rulers of the territories, and the United Kingdom. The term Pirate Coast was also used by some to refer to the emirates from the 18th to the early 20th century, owing to the preponderance of pirates operating from emirati ports.

The UAE's political system, is based on its 1971 Constitution, which is composed of several intricately connected governing bodies. As a federation of seven monarchies, whose rulers retain absolute power within their emirates, but with a UAE president, it is neither a constitutional monarchy nor a republic. The emirs choose one of their members to be the president of the federation, but this does not alter the monarchical character of the government of the individual emirates.

The UAE gained its independence after discovering that the country had oil reserves that are ranked as the world's sixth-largest. In the early 1960s, oil was discovered in Abu Dhabi, an event that led to quick unification calls made by UAE sheikdoms. Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan became ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966 and the British started losing their oil investments and contracts to U.S. oil companies. The British had earlier started a development office that helped in some small developments in the emirates. The sheikhs of the emirates then decided to form a council to coordinate matters between them and took over the development office.

In 1968, the United Kingdom announced its decision, reaffirmed in March 1971, to end the treaty relationships with the seven Trucial Sheikhdoms which had been, together with Bahrain and Qatar, under British protection. The nine attempted to form a union of Arab emirates, but by mid-1971 they were still unable to agree on terms of union, even though the British treaty relationship was to expire in December of that year.

Bahrain became independent in August, and Qatar in September 1971. When the British-Trucial Sheikhdoms treaty expired on December 1, 1971, they became fully independent. The rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai decided to form a union between their two emirates independently, prepare a constitution, then call the rulers of the other five emirates to a meeting and offer them the opportunity to join. It was also agreed between the two that the constitution be written by December 2, 1971. On that date, at the Dubai Guesthouse Palace, four other emirates agreed to enter into a union called the United Arab Emirates. Ras al-Khaimah joined later, in early 1972.

On 2 November 2004, the UAE's first president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, died. His eldest son, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, succeeded as Emir of Abu Dhabi. In accordance with the constitution, the UAE's Supreme Council of Rulers elected Khalifa as president. Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan succeeded Khalifa as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. In January 2006, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the prime minister of the UAE and the ruler of Dubai, died, and the crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum assumed both roles

In 2010, the UAE's population was estimated at 8,264,070, of which less than 20% were UAE nationals or Emiratis. The majority of the population are expatriates; they have no citizenship status and remain in the UAE on short work/residence visas. The country's net migration rate stands at 21.71, the world's highest.

23% of the population are non-Emirati Arabs and Iranians and the majority of the population, about 50%, is from India. Approximately 1.75 million Indian nationals reside in the UAE, making them the single largest expatriate community in the country. However, by 2020 emiratis are projected to form just 10% of the population. There is also a growing presence of Europeans especially in multi-cultural cities such as Dubai. Those from other parts of Asia (including the Philippines, Iran or Sri Lanka) comprised up to 1 million people. The rest of the population were from other Arab states.

Dubai airport expansion delayed to 2013

1 December 2011

The Gulf News happily reports that construction workers at Dubai International Airport are scrambling to provide the airport infrastructure necessary to support Emirates' relentless expansion.

The paper says that by 2013, Emirates should have the world's first terminal concourse used exclusively for getting passengers on and off A380 superjumbos.

The trouble is that the building was originally scheduled for a 2012 opening - the Gulf News neither questions or explains the delay.

Emirates has 162 aircraft, and a further 239 on order, and its president Tim Clark says that one of his main challenges is trying to ensure that the airport's hub infrastructure can cope with the airline's fleet expansion.

"The logistical pressures we face at the hub, that's quite a big problem for us to manage," Clark said.

The timetable for completion of Dubai World Central — which will supposedly be the world's largest passenger airport — has been pushed back from early in the next decade to 2030....this is also a date the seems to slip on a regular basis.

Dubai World Central — which opened to cargo carriers last year — will be developed with cash generated from Dubai International airport's operations.

Emirates was originally meant to move from Dubai International to Dubai World Central by 2017, but this is now not expected to happen until 2025 or later says the Gulf News. If the airport is not open until 2013 assume that is the when the moving date will be.

All of which means Emirates' fleet could be capped at 260 until 2025, because that is the maximum number of aircraft Clark thinks an expanded Dubai International can support.

He sees a business case for Emirates having 400 aircraft, but says this is only likely to be possible at Dubai World Central.

At the Dubai Airshow this month, it also became apparent that Emirates is facing constraints in its choice of aircraft.

Emirates unveiled plans to buy 50 Boeing 777-300 ER long-haul aircraft, with deliveries starting in 2015. But this was largely to fill in fleet gaps as the launch of Airbus' planned A350-1000 — has been delayed until 2017.