Britain worried about Thai beer

First Liverpool FC came out with words of sympathy, then its players Rio Ferdinand and, on TV there, Jamie Carragher. Then came Man U manager Sir Alex Ferguson. 

“We send best wishes to all of the people and hope Thailand will be through this crisis as soon as possible,” he said on a specially taped video alongside four members of his squad. Watch it here: http://youtu.be/EF-xc4lvgSc. 

The flood crisis is garnering attention around the world, and of course the football clubs have a vested interest. Singha is one of Man United’s main sponsors and also supports Chelsea, and Beer Chang backs Everton.

 

Pop at the top

Varavut “Pop” laohapong-chana had a government job and then he was communications manager at Christian Dior, but his big goal was to be a news anchorman, he said on Channel 3’s “Ratree Samosorn” this week.

To that end, he kept well groomed, had his teeth fixed, went on a diet and got an announcer’s licence from the Public Relations Department. “The next step was to tell everyone that I was dreaming of becoming a news anchor.” 

It worked. A Channel 3 executive gave Pop a chance to do a trial broadcast. He was told to arrange a celebrity interview. 

So Pop got one of the top stylists to do his hair and makeup and showed up at Channel 3 for the tryout all sleek and shiny and with none other than Ann Thongprasom ready and willing for an interview. 

She’s the station’s A-list actress. They had to be impressed with that.

And, of course, Pop got the job. He’s the go-to news guy for entertainment and lifestyle stories and is now also handling international news.

“My trick,” says Pop, “is to do more than just translate the news. You have to understand it thoroughly so that you can communicate it well.”