Once a small and sleepy port city famous for its seafood and beaches, Yeosu in South Korea’s South Jeolla province blossomed during its two-year preparations for Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea, which kicked off last Saturday and continues through August 12.

Not to be confused with the larger world fairs that are held in years ending in 0 or 05, like Shanghai’s in 2010, smaller expos like Yeosu’s take place every four years and celebrate local life for three months.

With their peninsula surrounded by 317 islands and girded by a beautiful coastline, the citizens of Yeosu City are sensitive to the importance of the harmony between man and ocean. Hence the theme of the exposition, “The Living Ocean and Coast”, which aims to help shape a brighter future for humankind by showcasing old traditions and new ideas. The site stretches alongside the sea with promenades and exhibit spaces extending all the way to the island of Odong-do and the seawalls.

The expo has brought prosperity and modernisation to this port in the form of high buildings, pavilions for exhibitors, hotels, new expressways, as well as new rail links connecting Yeosu to other major cities.

Close to the expo site is the famed Odong-do Island, which gets its name from the Odong (paulownia) tree. It’s believed the island was once covered by a lush paulownia forest, though little evidence of it can be seen today.

Legend has it that in the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392AD) under the reign of King Gongmin, a government official named Shindon feared a new king would appear on Odong-do, because the phoenix, a symbol of royalty, always visited Odong-do to eat the fruits of the paulownia trees. Fearing an uprising against the current king, Shindon ordered his men to cut down all paulownia trees to prevent the bird from coming to the island.

The island is connected to Yeosu Port by a 768-metre-long breakwater, allowing visitors the choice between a stroll along the breakwater and a lazy cruise on the ferry.

The cool sea breeze and friendly company to chat shortens our long walk to the island but with no shade, a bottle of water and a hat are vital.

Looking down from the breakwater, we see several women shouting, laughing and digging something out of the rocks on the shore. They all wear long-sleeved shirts, gloves and hats to protect themselves from the strong sun. At their feet are buckets and baskets filled with something.

“Those women are catching oysters. They will sell their catch on the street. Sometimes you might find sea cucumber and abalone too,” explains Julie, our guide.

Odong-do island is famous for its camellia blooms, a symbol of Yeosu city and its people. Koreans also associate Yeosu with General Yi Sun-sin, who defeated the 16th-century Japanese invaders with his innovative “turtle ships”.

“The camellias here begin to bloom in November and they cover the island in a scarlet veil until April. The island looks like a giant camellia blossom. People here believe that the flowers symbolise chastity. This idea comes from a legend that the red camellias bloomed on the grave of a fisherman’s wife after she jumped off the cliff to preserve her chastity from a thief who invaded her home while her husband was out at sea,” Julie explains.

The hill on Odong-do is home to a pleasant walking trail. It is not very steep and the shady trees are a perfect shield against the strong sunlight. The city is planning to turn the island into a botanical conservation site.

Julie also takes us on a 40-minute drive from Yeosu city to Suncheon Bay Ecological Park in Suncheon city. This vast wetland on both sides of the Dongcheon and Isacheon Rivers provides a habitat for various marine species and migrating birds and is also one of the world’s five top coastal wetlands.

Suncheon Bay is a great place to visit no matter the time of year, as the atmosphere and mood change according to the season. Spring visitors will see the mudskippers jump, summer tourists will hear the crabs clapping their claws under the green reeds while autumn turns the fields of reeds a deep gold, and winter blankets the glades in snow.

An hour further on, in Gokseong county, is Gokseong train village, an absolute must for rail lovers and families with kids.

Here an exact replica of the steam locomotive that used to run in the region chugs the 10km between the old Gokseong and Gajeong stations, though rail “bikes” are also available for those who want some exercise.

The piercing engine whistle and billows of steam gave off a romance that modern-day trains simply do not have. The steady chug of the engine lulls me into a peaceful trance, drawing me back in time and making me think of how my parents must have travelled.

All too soon, the whistle blows and we reach our destination. Perhaps that’s why they say “time is too short for those who rejoice”.

_ The writer travelled as a guest of Asiana Airlines and the Korea Tourism Organisation.

If you go

<< Asiana Airlines flies daily from Bangkok to Incheon Airport in Seoul. Domestic flights leave from Seoul’s Gimpo Airport to Yeosu or you can travel by express train on KoRail to the city.

<< For information on the expo, visit www.WorldExpo2012.com.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/travel/Yeosu-makes-an-exhibition-of-itself-30182056.html

Hot interest in Facebook stock reportedly prompted the company to bump the opening price range to $34 to $38 for its shares, which would value the firm at between $93 billion and $104 billion.

The Menlo Park, California-company will nail down the initial public offering (IPO) share price before it begins trading as a public company.

The IPO is expected to happen Friday although the timetable has not been confirmed.

Facebook watchers said users of the social network should expect changes — though not overnight.

“The only reason a company goes public is to raise cash to expand,” said Creative Strategies principal analyst Tim Bajarin.

“So, the general public at least knows the IPO means Facebook will be able to do more things.

“Facebook is not extremely specific on what they will do with the money; they say they want to be creative, expand, and do new things.”

Facebook will keep the lion’s share of the potentially $14.7 billion raised by selling stock. The rest of the cash is to stuff pockets of company founders and investors including rock star Bono.

Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook eight years ago from his Harvard dorm room, will retain 57.3 percent of the voting power of the shares and the IPO was structured to allow him to retain a firm grip on the company.

“He really wants to create an open social network,” Bajarin said of Zuckerberg, who turned 28 on Monday. “One that allows Facebook to get more aggressive in the way they connect and provide services to people.”

Some analysts predicted Facebook’s stock price will jump quickly to $44 a share and climb much higher in the long term.

At the heart of the debate about the wisdom of owning a piece of Facebook is how much revenue it takes in.

Revenue vaulted to $1.06 billion in the quarter which ended March 31 — an improvement year-over-year, but down about six percent from the previous quarter. Eighty-five percent of the total came from ad sales.

As one analyst noted, however, Facebook only bills a scant half-percent of the $600 billion spent each year on all kinds of advertising — even though at least one of every seven minutes spent online around the world is at Facebook.

There is wide margin for improvement, seeing as Facebook has more than 900 million users and membership is expanding.

The leading social network is unabashedly working to follow members onto smartphones and tablet computers, and the IPO windfall would provide plenty of cash to partner with a hardware maker on a long-rumored “Facebook phone.”

Morningstar analysts concluded that optimism regarding Facebook’s prospects was warranted and considered its popularity on mobile devices “impressive.”

“Although the company has not actively developed its mobile advertising capabilities, we expect a substantial bulk of mobile advertising dollars to flow to Facebook within the next couple of years,” Morningstar said.

Recent Facebook moves have included letting people store digital files in the Internet “cloud” and allowing Microsoft to weave social network feedback into results of Bing-powered searches.

“We’ve rarely seen a company borrow from its competition as quickly or as well as Facebook,” Forrester analysts Nate Elliott and Melissa Parrish said in a blog post on Monday. “And that focus on better serving end users has seen Facebook grow quickly over the years, even in the face of consistent privacy concerns.

“But as good as Facebook has been at evolving to serve consumers, that’s how bad it’s been at serving marketers.”

Facebook has “lurched” from one advertising model to another during the past five years, according to the analysts.

A report over the weekend indicated that Facebook was dabbling with a scheme where advertisers would pay to promote posts at the service in a manner similar to a Twitter model of charging to give “tweets” high profiles.

“We wish we could predict this IPO would serve as a new beginning for Facebook’s marketing offering, and that a new focus on becoming a grown-up business would inspire the company to put even half the energy into serving advertisers that it does into serving users,” Elliott and Parrish said.

“But we doubt Zuckerberg’s going to wake up any day soon having acquired a taste for advertising, or even a proper understanding of it.”

Still, there will be no shortage of people snapping up Facebook shares. Even Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has gone public saying he plans to invest.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/293396/facebook-boosts-ipo-share-price-amid-hot-demand

As of Monday websites for Amnesty International Hong Kong, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Center for Defense Information (CDI) remained rigged to slip “hostile” code onto visitors’ computers, according to Shadowserver Foundation devoted to tracking and reporting Internet threats.

“These attackers are not spreading malware through strategically compromised websites to make friends,” Shadowserver researchers Steven Adair and Ned Moran warned in a blog post.

“They are aiming to expand their access and steal data.”

Data typically sought included messages, intellectual property, research, and business intelligence such as contracts and negotiations, according to security specialists.

“The CDI website is currently serving up a malicious Flash exploit that ties back to attackers known to engage in cyber espionage,” the researchers said.

“This threat group appears to be interested in targets with a tie to foreign policy and defense activities.”

In recent weeks, Shadowserver has seen an array of “strategic Web compromises” taking advantage of flaws in Oracle Java and Adobe Flash programs.

The tactic is referred to as a “drive-by” attack by computer security specialists because people’s computers are secretly infected simply by visiting a reputable website unaware that it has been booby-trapped by hackers.

A website for the International Institute of Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, was listed among those compromised by hackers.

Shadowserver said that it began looking into the hacks after researchers at Websense reported last week that the main page of Amnesty International United Kingdom had been rigged with drive-by malware.

There are indications that a website for the American Research Center in Egypt was briefly compromised last week in a manner similar to the CDI page hack, according to Shadowserver.

Earlier this month the Centre for European Policy Studies website at ceps.eu was similarly compromised, according to the volunteer-based Internet security group.

Shadowserver referred to the hacks as “advance persistent threats,” a term used in the industry to refer to cyber espionage by groups such as governments.

“Many of these attackers are quite skilled at moving laterally within an organization and will take advantage of any entry point they have into a network,” the researchers said.

“Cyber espionage attacks are not a fabricated issue and are not going away any time soon.”

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/293560/hackers-booby-trap-foreign-policy-group-websites

The ruling Pheu Thai Party’s plan to revamp its structure is a move to deal with the return to politics of the 111 former Thai Rak Thai executives after their political ban expires on May 30.

The restructuring, in which the country’s five regions will be divided into 19 zones, comes two weeks before veteran politicians who worked with Thaksin Shinawatra in the now disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party return to politics after serving bans for electoral fraud.

Pheu Thai leader and Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit said yesterday the changes will help party MPs to serve the people and develop closer relations with them.

Mr Yongyuth said zone meetings will replace regional meetings and the positions of regional chiefs will be cancelled.

But a Pheu Thai source said the real aim of the revamp was to prepare for the return of the 111 former TRT executives and to strengthen the current members of Pheu Thai.

There have been fears that some of the 111 politicians will create their own factions inside the party.

Under the restructuring plan, each minister will be assigned to oversee the zones to prevent major financiers buying their way to control the party or to bargain for quotas of ministerial posts. Cabinet members from Pheu Thai will work closely with party MPs in the zones to ensure consistency in work between the party and the government.

The source said that under the new zoning system, cabinet seats will be allotted according to the number of House seats won in each zone.

Additional cabinet seats will also be given to any zones winning House seats exceeding their target.

The end of the ban has led to the possibility of another cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to clear the way for some returning politicians to become ministers.

Pheu Thai members who hold key national administrative positions now are seen as substitutes after other top members working with Thaksin were banned. Another group of Thaksin loyalists are serving a ban after the disbandment of the People Power Party for election fraud. Pheu Thai sources expect that up to five returnees will take cabinet seats in the coalition government.

The next cabinet reshuffle will not take place immediately after May 30, to avoid criticism it was being done only to please members of the so-called House No.111, sources said. It should be delayed to either July or August.

The expected reshuffle means current cabinet members will have to sacrifice their seats or will be forced to go.

“The politicians to be freed from their ban did not plan a hostile takeover of cabinet positions but would like to join the government smoothly,” said Wichit Plangsrisakul, secretary-general of the 111 Thai Rak Thai Foundation.

According to sources, those with potential to return to the cabinet include Pongthep Thepkanchana, who used to be Thaksin’s spokesman and legal adviser. He could be a deputy prime minister or work at the Justice Ministry.

Another is Pongsak Raktapongpaisan, who is close to Thaksin and is always trusted to prepare substitute parties to cope with disbandment. He can handle economic issues and was the minister of industry and transport. Dr Prommin Lertsuridej also has potential to be in the cabinet as a strategist. Phumtham Wechayachai, a strategist for TRT, should suit the interior portfolio.

Others could hold the positions of advisers to the prime minister.

Politicians in House No.111 are divided into four groups.

The first group comprises loyal members including the four who continue to work closely with Thaksin.

The second group, who have helped Thaksin and Pheu Thai in recent years, includes Varathep Ratanakorn, Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan and Suranand Vejjajiva.

The third group, who have played reconciliation roles, include Jaturon Chaisaeng and Surakiart Sathirathai.

The fourth group comprises red shirt leaders such as Veera Musikapong, Suporn Atthawong and Adisorn Piangket.

Some House No.111 members likely to back Pheu Thai this time include Somsak Thepsuthin and Sora-at Klinprathum, who are key figures of the Bhumjaithai Party.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/293470/pheu-thai-set-to-welcome-111

The 30-year contract is worth about Bt190 billion. Also named in the complaint were Deputy Bangkok Governor Thirachon Manomaipiboon, Krungthep Thanakhom Co Ltd (KT) chairman Praphanpong Vejjajiva and KT president Amorn Kitchawengkul.

They were included because the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) awarded the contract to the operator, BTSC, via KT, which is the BMA’s legal investment arm.

“They deliberately tried to evade four laws including the Public-Private Partnerships Act,” Pheu Thai Bangkok MP Jirayu Huangsap said.

Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit showed up at the NACC headquarters alongside Jirayu.

“We want the NACC to look into this contract,” he said.

Prompong said the BMA-arranged contract is clearly suspicious, because the BTSC – which won the 30-year concession to operate the original 23.5-km Skytrain network – cannot be granted a contract extension without prior approval from a minister. But the BMA managed to evade laws and rules by preparing the contract via KT. Under the recently granted contract, BTSC will continue to provide operations and maintenance services on the original network for an additional 13 years after its 30-year concession expires in 2030.

The new contract covers three Skytrain extension routes in which the BMA itself invested. Their combined length is about 12.75 kilometres. All these newer routes are and will be operated and maintained by the BTSC, according to the contract, for the next three decades.

NACC assistant secretary-general Wittaya Arkompitak yesterday accepted the complaint from the Pheu Thai MPs.

Last week, the Pheu Thai MPs asked the Department of Special Investigation to probe the case.

Today, they will also call on the House anti-corruption committee to take action.

“[Tomorrow]On Thursday, we will ask the interior minister to look into the alleged irregularities too,” Prompong said.

Jirayu believed Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva should look into the alleged irregularities.

Sukhumbhand, who leads the BMA, is a prominent member of the Democrat Party. Praphanpong is a relative of Abhisit.

Jirayu believed the amount of money promised to the BTSC via the contract was too high for the services.

“If the BMA really thinks the contract will benefit Bangkokians, why doesn’t it lower the Skytrain-ride fare now?” the Pheu Thai MP said.

Though on the average the contract will require the BMA, via KT, to pay about Bt6.33 billion to BTSC each year for the next three decades, the BMA maintains that the contract will deliver long-term benefits including efficient integration of the mass-transport system in the capital.

The goal of this 30-year contract, the BMA has said, is to lower the operating costs of mass-transport services in the capital.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Sukhumbhand-three-others-named-in-complaints-30182104.html

The government will use the handling of the southern insurgency as a criterion for assessing the performance of security-related ministries, says Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa.

The Defence Ministry will today hold a meeting to establish missions for each security ministry to carry out in tackling the southern insurgency. The various ministries’ performance will be closely watched and graded, he said.

“Once they are granted budgets, we will evaluate them every three months. If they do not use money, we will take it back,” Gen Yutthasak said.

Any success or failure of a minister in the anti-insurgency effort will be reflected in the grading.

Gen Yutthasak said some state agencies were not coordinating policies and efforts, which impeded efforts to stamp out the insurgency. Changes of governments also caused work discontinuity.

“If a ministry cannot work under the strategies laid out for it, we will report this to the prime minister,” Gen Yutthasak said. “It will be considered the minister’s inadequacy.”

In other southern news, yesterday in Sai Buri district of Pattani, Maaduran Jelong, 35, an assistant villager in tambon Kadunong, was shot dead while in a tea shop.

The attack took place after two men parked a motorcycle in front of the shop and shot him with a pistol.

In Nong Chik district, Sommart Kesaro, 63, was killed in a drive-by shooting as he rode his motorcycle home on Pattani-Narathiwat road.

He was attacked by two men on a motorcycle.

Meanwhile, about 30 primary school teachers in Muang Yala district of Yala province have been transferred to schools near their homes to reduce the burden on security authorities.

Prasit Nookung, director of the primary education office in Yala, said teachers had sought transfers to schools near their homes for their own safety.

He approved the transfers as they could also relieve the burden of security officers who guard the teachers.

Many teachers live far from the schools at which they teach and security escort officers must travel a long distance with them, exposing them to attacks.

Mr Prasit said security authorities have worked out measures to protect teachers in Yala for the new school term, which started this week, and that the most danger-prone schools were in Krong Pinang and Raman districts.

In Narathiwat, Saki Sama-ae, principal of Ban Ta Ngo School in Cho Airong district, is seeking donations to buy new teaching equipment lost in a fire, a suspected arson attack, on April 18.

As most schools re-opened for the new term yesterday, Ban Ta Ngo School held class in tents near school buildings that had burned to the ground.

Meanwhile, in Pattani, Malawee Adae, a 24-year-old paramilitary ranger, turned himself in to police in Yarang district yesterday to fight charges that he shot and injured Roha Yeereng, deputy village head in the district, on April 25.

He was charged with premeditated attempted murder and illegally carrying a firearm and ammunition.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/293482/ministries-to-be-graded-on-insurgency-efforts

The police officers did not just suffer from the foul odour, which drove many to seek a transfer or settle for an early retirement, but were also exposed to four key carcinogenic substances, Deputy Public Health Minister Surawit Khonsomboon said.

He explained that exposure to these four substances caused a combination of nausea, vomiting, sore throat, dizziness and irritation to the respiratory system, while some people became extremely weak and also sustained damage to the central nervous system. People living nearby have also complained about health problems and the stench.

The location near the garbage site has taken a toll on many police officers, including Pol Senior Sgt-Major Suphachai Narksuk, 53, who had to retire after developing Parkinson’s Disease.

According to doctors, he had contracted the disease prematurely and it developed at an alarming rate due to his exposure to the garbage.

The non-commissioned officer said he felt better now that he has retired, adding that he suffered every time he visited the station to meet his friends. “My eyes and nostrils burn every time I go back there,” he said.

The temporary Chalong Krung police station will occupy 550-square metres in the Lat Krabang industrial estate. This office, to be completed in two weeks, will be located at the estate for six months before the location of a permanent office is designated. However, the Chalong Krung police station’s jurisdiction remains the same.

Senior police officer Lt-Colonel Atthaphan Watcharapantree said he was concerned about the long-term welfare of the residents in the area because no measures had been put in place to contain the leaks and the odour.

Meanwhile, Surawit and officials from related agencies visited the police station and the garbage disposal site on Monday. A Bangkok Metropolitan Administration concessionaire operates the 300-rai wide and 100m deep site, and the odour is the strongest after rain, when the humidity is high and allows the particles of toxic substances linger in the air.

Despite being a landfill site, the odour stemming from biological and chemical combustion can be unbearable. In addition, occasional fires break out either from combustion or are set off by scavengers who burn power chords for copper.

Surawit said the site would soon be fenced off to keep away scavengers and the site would be covered with gravel to minimise the stench and stop combustion-caused fires. BMA mobile air-quality monitoring units will also be monitoring the area constantly, he added.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Police-station-to-be-relocated-as-BMA-plans-to-blo-30182101.html

Sutthi Atchasai, the chief of the Stop Global Warming Association who led the gathering, called for a government-commissioned management of future chemical leaks and an immediate imposition of industrial safety regulations, which he said have been lax. He also demanded that the areas near the factory be rehabilitated.

Sutthi, who was behind the petition against the lack of a mandatory environmental study at the industrial estate, which later resulted in most projects being put on hold to this day, said the fire should be used as a precedent in establishing comprehensive industrial hazard prevention and management. He added that it should also set a precedent in fair and quick compensation under government supervision and declaration of storage locations where chemical or toxic materials are housed.

The group, which comprises 20 activists, also called for the scrapping of investment in petrochemical plants both inside and outside the industrial compound or a review of projects that have been approved.

The protesters submitted their demands to the prime minister through a representative before heading to the National Human Rights Commission, where they submitted their written petition. The group had earlier submitted their demands to the Senate committee on natural resources and environment.

Senate committee chairman Senator Surachai Liangbunlertchai said he and other members of the panel would visit the factory on Wednesday and seek advice from Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra directly on how to solve residents’ grievances.

Deputy panel chairman Sujarit Cheeravej said Yingluck’s recent visit to the estate in her capacity as head of the National Public Disaster Relief and Prevention Commission had made little progress and yielded few solutions.

“Rayong’s gross domestic product is the highest in the country, but people live in hellish conditions because the central and local authorities have paid very little attention to their welfare, while regulatory agencies are more concerned about investment output rather than residents being affected by industrial operations,” Sujarit added

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Map-Ta-Phut-residents-rally-for-govts-assistance-30182099.html

The village pavilion of a new red-shirt village in Songkhla province was burnt down early yesterday, hours after its opening by red-shirt leaders and supporters in the South.

On Monday evening red-shirt leader Thida Tavornset Tojirakarn and supporters held an opening ceremony for a red-shirt village near the now-burnt-down pavilion in tambon Bangkae, in Songkhla’s Jana district.

The police speculated that the incident took place around 2am. There were no eyewitnesses and the arsonist is not yet known.

Currently, police suspect the arson attack was done by political rivals, who were not happy with constant attempts by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) to set up red-shirt villages in the South.

Thida said people believed the arson attack was an attempt to oppose the setting up of the red-shirt village, following a failed effort to organise a rally to oppose the opening ceremony on Monday.

She said police and locals saw Democrat MPs Thaworn Senneam and Pol Maj-General Surin Palare lead the rally.

The UDD had tried to set up several red-shirt villages in the South, long regarded as the Democrat Party’s stronghold. The group has been to Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Narathiwat and Phuket since the end of last year.

Red-shirt leaders say rallies were organised to promote democracy, oppose drugs and military coups, as well as to set up red-shirt villages in the provinces.

Last Saturday the group failed to stage a rally in Phuket, after red shirts were driven out by locals. So, the group went back to Songkhla, their first destination in the South, to open more red-shirt villages. There were now 10 such villages in the province.

Meanwhile, Songkhla Democrat MP Sirichok Sopha expressed concern about the setting up of red-shirt villages in the South, which he felt would only cause more conflicts in society.

The MP said the government used the villages for political purposes, which contradicted its policy of reconciliation.

He said the government should stop supporting the UDD. The group rallied for the government, using state funds and cooperative state systems under the pretext of fighting for democracy and opposing drugs, he said.

Sirichok also noted that state officials were involved in red-shirt activities, such as Pol Colonel Tawee Sodsong, director of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC), while others were asking officials to stop supporting the red-shirts and concentrate on their work.

He demanded the government and the prime minister provide evidence about the funds used to set up red-shirt villages, and affirm their political stance and stop the division in society.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Red-shirt-pavilion-burnt-down-in-Songkhla-30182110.html

The Thai racer, who just turned 17 years old the week before the race, had set himself a goal of competing in the top 10 group this season and seemed to be well on track for this goal. Then came a double-qualifying session on Friday afternoon, and April rain, and even hail came down just as the cars excited for the qualifying run. After a difficult first session, the young racer was one of the first drivers to finish the session, with everyone just setting faster and faster times on the drying track. In the end he slid all the way down to 22nd. In the second qualifying, for the second race, he managed to qualify for 13th place, but was disappointed with having had to overtake slower cars on both his fast laps.
Then came Saturday noon and the first race start of the season. The Thai driver had a very good start from 22nd place and was up to 18th after the first lap, only to get pushed wide in the Hockenheim hairpin and lose several positions. Stuvik continued fighting back and was soon up to 14th, when a 3 car pile-up saw the safety car deployed in the middle of the race. The restart opened up opportunities for the Thai racer and in the remaining few laps he managed to climb further up to 10th place by the checkered flag. He then secured 11 points for the 2012 Championship.

The second race of the weekend started late Sunday morning, in cold but sunny weather at Hockenheim. Stuvik had qualified to 13th start position and quickly made up several places in the first corner, only to lose them again at the Hockenheim hairpin corner. The Thai driver is racing for championship position and did not want to take any foolish chances on the opening lap. By the end of the first lap he had regained the two positions he lost in the hairpin, and on the next 2 laps he gained one position each lap to start the 4th lap in 11th. He was then in the lead group of cars and on lap 8 overtook another car for 10th position. The young Thai driver proved that he could race with Europe’s best young racers and hold his ground.  On lap 13 the 25 minute race saw the checkered flag, with Sandy securing another 10th place, the second in two races and another 11 points added to the tally.
Two hours later the 3rd and final race for the weekend got under way, with grey and heavy clouds looming over the circuit. Again Sandy Stuvik enjoyed a good start from 10th on the grid and went up to 8th and then on the 3rd lap up to 7th clearly faster than the cars ahead, when suddenly the car lost all power and the Thai driver had to pull the car off track in the famous Sachs curve at Hockenheim. Just as his car came to a standstill on the side of the track, heavy rain opened up. Sandy was distraught not to have been able to continue fighting in the wet. Later, the main electrical engine connector was found to have come loose and robbed him of most likely a very good placing. The Thai driver had though set a faster lap time in the race then the race winner, a clear statement to the fact that Sandy is improving in strides.
Sandy Stuvik currently is in 10th place in the 2012 Formula Renault Championship standing and is eagerly looking forward to the next race at Nürburgring in June.

Formula Renault Northern European Cup 2012