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Winning photos from last year's competition are on display through February.

Amateur and professional photographers submitted more than 5,000 images from across the region, including Thailand, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Mongolia. Judges selected winners in four categories: Spot News, Feature Photography, Migrants and Refugees (a category sponsored by the International Organization for Migration for photos about the plight of refugees) and Photo Essay. In addition, the judges selected a Photographer of the Year, the contest’s top prize -- with a $2000 cash award.
Winning photos are on display now at the FCCT Clubhouse and can also be viewed at www.fccthai.com.

The FCCT and OnAsia are proud to announce this year’s winners:

Photographer of the Year: Androniki Christodoulou

Spot News
First Place: Lino “Linus” Guardian Escandor (Tropical Storm Ketsana mudslide)
Second Place: Kittinun Rodsupan (solar eclipse in Thailand)
Third Place: Dannyboy Pata (protest in Manila)
Honorable Mention: Thiti Wannamontha (fire at Santika nightclub in Bangkok)
Honorable Mention - John Javellana (Tropical Storm Ketsana floods)

Feature Photography
First Place: Graham Crouch (malnourished Indian child)
Second Place: Sudipto Das (Bengal tiger released into the wild in India)
Third Place: Ritesh Uttamchandani (amputee bodybuilder in India)
Honorable Mention: Nicolas Asfouri (transvestite beauty contest in Pattaya)
Honorable Mention: Sandipan Majumdar (village boys and geese in India)

Refugees and Migrants:
First Place: Andrew Biraj (religious migration in Bangladesh)
Second Place: Orit Drori (stateless Rohingyas in Burma’s Arakan state)
Third Place – James Mackay (Burmese political prisoners)

Photo Essay
First Place: Brent Lewin (urban elephants in Bangkok)
Second Place: Afriadi Hikmal (disabled children in Indonesia)
Third Place: Susetta Bozzi (India’s rising middle class)
Honorable Mention: Richard Humphries (southern Thailand violence)
Honorable Mention: Gerhard Jörén (living with the dead in a Manila cemetery)

The contest would not have been possible without the generous support of FCCT’s many sponsors, who provided the prizes and other assistance for this year’s event:

OnAsia, which provided administrative and logistical support through its extensive network of photographers across Asia.
Star Alliance, which provided round-trip plane tickets in Asia. Star Alliance’s many members include Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines and other airlines that serve the region.
Bloom Digital Photo Lab, which provided high-quality prints of the winning images for exhibition at the FCCT clubhouse.
International Organization for Migration (IOM), which provided financial support for cash prizes to contest winners.
Total Quality Public Relations (TQPR), which provided additional financial support for cash prizes to contest winners.
Anantara Resorts, which provided vouchers for a complimentary stay at the Anantara Rajprasong serviced suites in Bangkok. Anantara’s other properties include resorts in Hua Hin, Koh Samui and northern Thailand.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which provided complimentary dining at its famous restaurants, including the China House and Riverside Terrace.
The Peninsula Hotel, which provided vouchers for dining at the hotel’s famous River Cafe & Terrace.

This year’s awards are also made possible by the acclaimed photographers who served as judges for the contest:
Roland Neveu - a French photographer who is perhaps best known for his photographs of the Khmer Rouge when they took over Cambodia in April 1975. He went on to cover stories in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Africa.
Olivier Nilsson – a well-known Bangkok-based photo editor with 18 years of experience at the Associated Press. He graduated from the Ecole Superieure de Journalisme in 1986.
Patrick de Noirmont – a veteran photographer based in Bangkok and Paris with more than 30 years experience with various wire services including AFP, Associated Press and Reuters.

The FCCT will continue to display the winning photos at its clubhouse during a two-month-long exhibition through January. The exhibition will be open to the public and anyone interested in photography is encouraged to attend:

FCCT Photo Contest Winners Exhibition
Dates: Dec. 4 – Jan. 29
Location: FCCT Clubhouse, Penthouse floor, Maneeya Center Building, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Bangkok 10330 (connected to the BTS Skytrain Chitlom station)
Hours of operation: Open Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. Closed Saturday, Sunday, and holidays
Tel: 02-652-0580-1
E-mail: info@fccthai.com
Web Site: http://www.fccthai.com

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Nicolas Asfouri is a photographer for Agence France Presse.
Andrew Biraj was born in Bangladesh and studied in the U.K.. Currently a photographer for Reuters, his work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Observer Magazine, The Times, the Christian Science Monitor and other publications. His work has been featured at Visa Pour l'Image, Perpignan, France; the Angkor photo festival in Cambodia; the Yangon Photo Festival in Myanmar, the International Photography Biennial of the Islamic World in Iran; and the National Art Gallery in Malaysia, among other places. He was selected for the World Press Photo JoopSwart Masterclass grant in 2008. He has also received numerous prizes including 1st prize, “Environmental Picture Story” category of “Best of Photojournalism” by NPPA, 2008; and 2nd Prize, Photojournalism category of the Venice International Photo Contest, 2007.

Susetta Bozzi is a freelance photographer based in Beijing, China represented by OnAsia. After working as a graphic designer she turned to photography in 2003. Her photographs have appeared in publications including Capital, Elle, Gente Viaggi, Io Donna, L'Espresso, The Observer, Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal. Her work has been featured at the Angkor Photo Festival in Cambodia. Three of her stories received an Honorable Mention at the International Photography Awards 2009.

Androniki Christodoulou was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1968 and has been based in Tokyo since the end of 2004. She studied photography and photojournalism in Greece and the UK and has worked for Greek and international magazines and newspapers since 1997 as a freelance photojournalist. She has had several exhibitions of her work in Greece, London, Tokyo and New York. From 2005 until the middle of 2009 she was represented by the New York-based photo agency World Picture News and she is a member of SHA-DȎ, a Tokyo based photographers’ collective.

Graham Crouch is an Australian photographer based in New Delhi represented by OnAsia. He worked for The Australian for 24 years, specializing in sports photography and covering many events such as the Olympics, Formula One car racing, international cricket and football. He also covered news, business, features and arts, before traveling to India. He works for The Australian, The Times in London and The National in Abu Dhabi.

Sudipto Das is a self-taught photographer now working as a senior photojournalist for The Times of India. He has also worked for the Associated Press, the European Press Photo Agency, BBC News online, SPAN and India Today magazine. He has covered a number of national and international assignments and received several international awards, including grand prize winner, Intrepid Photography Competition 2008, Australia; 1st in the portrait category of the Olympus Photo Contest 2008, Spain; Environmental Photographer of the Year 2007, U.K.; 1st prize in WHO International photo contest 2007, Switzerland; National Geographic Rising Star award, USA. His work has been shown in group exhibitions in Washington DC, Singapore, Amsterdam, London and elsewhere.

Orit Drori is an Israeli-born photographer from Rome who now lives in Chiang Mai. After studying in Rome, Drori worked with Gruppo Editoriale La Republica L’espresso Editorial Group and has shown work in a number of solo and group shows in Rome, Jerusalem, Vienna and elsewhere. Much of Drori’s work focuses on Burma.

Lino “Linus” Guardian Escandor II is a photojournalist for The Manila Bulletin in the Philippines. He won second place, spot news in the Asia Media Awards 2008 and was recognized in the FCCT Photojournalism Contests in 2007 and 2008. He has won numerous other awards, including Photographer of the Year, US-Philipipine Military Exercises Photo Contest, 2009. He was among 100 photographers chosen to attend the Eddie Adams/Barnstorm XXll 2009 workshop in Jeffersonville, N.Y. in Oct. 2009.

Afriadi Hikmal is an Indonesian who took up photography as a stringer in 1996. He worked at BIAS, then several tabloids in the late 90s before becoming bureau chief at Nurani (Jawa Pos Grup) from 2000 to 2005. He then worked four years as chief photographer at ‘Behind The Screen’ magazine, before joining the Jakarta Globe in August last year. His pictures have won numerous awards in various photo competitions in his country.

Richard Humphries is an award-winning British born freelance photojournalist. He has completed assignments for Time, Newsweek International, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times and The Guardian to name a few. Since 2004 he has been represented by New York-based photo agency Polaris Images. He is particularly interested in social issues, especially those that stem from ethnic and racial tension, conflict and dispute over borders, as well as issues relating to the environment. He has been living and working in Southeast Asia for over 13 years.

John Javellana is a Filipino photojournalist based in Manila, Philippines. He has covered significant newsworthy events in the country ever since he started as a professional in 2007. He currently works as a stringer for Reuters News Agency in Manila.

Gerhard Jörén is a Swedish photographer represented by OnAsia, who worked first in advertising in New York before shooting for Scandinavian dailies Aftonbladet and Dagbladet. He moved to Hong Kong in 1987, which he used as a base for wide-ranging travels and freelance assignments for many magazines. For the past seven years he has been working on a black-and-white book exploring the weird and sometimes sad and scary faces of sexual relations.

Brent Lewin is a documentary photographer, who splits his time between Toronto and Bangkok. His work mainly focuses on the plight of the Asian elephant in Thailand and has received awards from Pictures of the Year International, Photo District News, the International Photo Awards and Prix de la Photographie Paris. His work has been featured in National Geographic, GEO and American Photo among others. He is represented by Redux Pictures and OnAsia.

James Mackay was born and raised in the U.K. His work has been published in The Independent, The Irrawaddy Magazine, the Democratic Voice of Burma, and elsewhere. He was short-listed as one of the Young Photographers of the Year 2007 in SHOTS magazine and recognized by Prix de la Photographie de Paris in 2007 and 2009, when his project “Even Though I’m Free I Am Not” was awarded runner-up in the Political Photojournalism category. His work revolves mainly around Burma.

Sandipan Majumdar, a Kolkata-based photographer, has been recognized in a number of international contests including the Muslim International Photo contest, 2008; Epoch Time’s International photo contest, 2008; India Shots International photo contest; and the Washington Post International Photo contest, 2009. He also won the B.D. Bangur Loan award in 2008 for his project “People and Culture of West Bengal,” in India.

Dannyboy Pata is a photo correspondent for GMANews.TV and a photojournalism teacher at a state-owned university in Manila, Philippines.

Kittinun Rodsupan has been working as a photographer with the Nation Multimedia Group for 15 years. His photographs are published in The Nation, Bangkokbiznews and Kom Chad Luek.

Ritesh Uttamchandani works as a Senior Photographer for Open Media Network in Mumbai, India and is represented by OnAsia.

Thiti Wannamontha is a photographer for The Bangkok Post.

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The FCCT invites you to "Happy Friday", the club's new weekly promotion with happy prices for happy people from 6pm till closing every Friday.

Come along and enjoy the fun with sublime jazz sounds supplied by our in-house band.

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The climate change summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, brought the world no closer to curbing climate change and global warming in a unified and equitable manner.

As world leaders, negotiators and, even lately, scientists argue, threats triggered by a warming planet continue to rise.

People living in low-lying coastal regions will be among the most vulnerable over the next 40 years, to sea level rise, extreme weather events, and land subsidence – or a combination of all three.

Studies have placed Bangkok in the company of Mumbai, Kolkata, Dhaka, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Shanghai, and Yangon as at high risk from climate change-associated phenomena – a combined population of almost 100 million people.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 warned “the megadeltas of Asia are vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise that could increase the frequency and level of inundation … due to storm surges and floods from river drainage putting communities, biodiversity and infrastructure at risk of being damaged.’’

‘’This impact could be more pronounced in megacities located in mega deltas where natural ground subsidence is enhanced by human activities, such as in Bangkok.”

Bangkok was once mostly wetland. Much of the city is at or below sea level. Will nature one day reclaim it?

The FCCT is proud to host two speakers on this most urgent of issues :

- Professor Cor Dijkgraaf is an architect/urban planner with more than 40 years of international experience. An expert in the field of climate change and global warming, he has worked for 19 years as the director for the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is also Chairman of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Shared Built Heritage, a board member and the president elect (2004) of the Pacific Rim Council on Urban Development (PRCUD), and Senior Advisor to the Urban and Regional Development Institute in Jakarta.

In the course of projects and teaching assignments in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific, Professor Dijkgraaf has lectured specifically on the impact of the threats to Bangkok and will share his perspective at this event

- Dr Anond Snidvongs is one of the region’s foremost marine scientists and a leading scientific authority on the effects both current and projected, of climate change and global warming. Dr Anond is Director of the Southeast Asia START Regional Center; has authored or co-authored a rich body of papers on marine science and global warming-related subjects; lectures at Chulalongkorn University; and advises the government on climate change.

Dr Anond will speak of Thailand's national capacity to respond to climate threats, and the role of collective or joint adaptation and regional cooperation in the face of the threats.


Join us for an evening on an issue both of increasing relevance and urgency, and increasingly close to home.

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The BRC is different because it is a proactive way to network with other businesses. Instead of the usual one to one networking style in a social setting or speed-networking, the format is one to group. BRC is appropriate for business owners, sales and marketing professionals. The meeting is two hours and conducted during lunch time and includes a meal.

The meeting is open to females, males, BNOW member, and non-members. Early bird offer, book and prepay for your seat and get a 10% discount on event fee. Non-member special, book and prepay for two seats pay membership price.

E-mail us now to find out how to take advantage of the offer, bnow@bnow.org

*This program is a paid event. Responsibility for programme content is solely that of the event organizer.

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Notice of Annual General Meeting & Election of Officers
Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand
Friday, February 5, 2010, at 7:00 pm
in the FCCT Clubhouse
518/5 Ploenchit Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok


In accordance with Article 8 of the Constitution and Section XV of the By-Laws, the Executive Committee of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) hereby provides notice to all members that the 2010 Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers will be held on Friday, February 5, 2010 in the FCCT Clubhouse, commencing at 7:00 pm.

An agenda for the meeting and minutes of the 2009 Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers is available in the FCCT office for perusal by any member in good standing during regular business hours.

Nomination forms for election of officers to serve on the Executive Committee are also available in the FCCT office. In accordance with the By-Laws, nominations must reach the Executive Committee, in writing, at least seven days prior to the meeting, provided that nominations may also be made during the meeting from the floor with the consent of the nominee.

Read More

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Amnesty International's first major report on Myanmar since 2008 and involving two years of research in four countries, this report details the Myanmar government's repression of ethnic minority activists during the pre-election period.

More information: Contact Benjamin Zawacki, Benjamin.Zawacki@amnesty.org

*This program is a paid event. Responsibility for programme content is solely that of the event organizer.

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Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia magazine, the regional edition of the world's biggest travel magazine, is seeking a project manager to assist with a one- to two-month project helping to develop its website.

This temporary, freelance job would suit someone with extensive experience in migrating print content to an online environment, together with editing for online, a knowledge of PDF format and Acrobat Pro, a positive attitude, and any other significant editorial/online skills. This is a job that could largely be done at home, although significant in-office time will be required.

Interested applicants should contact Matt Leppard, editor-in-chief, with full CV and freelance day rate quotes: matt@mediatransasia.com.

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A Singaporean publisher is seeking a freelance Thai-to-English translator for an upcoming book project.

Applicants must be native English speakers and have extensive experience which should ideally include translating fiction/nonfiction works for publication.

Please send a cover letter, full CV with references and rates to Greg Lowe (thegreglowe@me.com) by Feb 8, 2010,

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The FCCT's successful publishing project, The King of Thailand in World Focus, a 280-page collation of articles and photographs covering the life and reign of HM King Bhumibol Adjuladej, Rama IX, is back in the shops after selling out last year.

The third edition is more than a reprint, and includes 20 extra pages covering the king's 80th birthday celebrations, the death of his older sister, HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, some of the recent political turmoil, and an extended profile of the Crown Property Bureau. There is also a transcript of the remarkable comments made at last years launch at The Oriental by former prime minister Anand Panyarchun regarding the past, present and future of the Thai monarchy.

The King of Thailand in World Focus is the only comprehensive reference work on the current reign as reported over the years by correspondents, journalists and photographers working for the overseas media.

Although the latest edition is better and larger, the price remains the same. It is available from Asiabooks, Kinokuniya, B2S, Chulalongkorn University's Chulabooks at only 1,450 baht.

Club members can do even better and buy up to three copies each for 1,200 baht apiece from the FCCT office. There are also special discounts for bulk purchases of over 25 copies. Hurry while stocks last.

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The FCCT gratefully acknowledges the generosity and support of our sponsors. Please support our sponsors when you can, as they support us!


Major Sponsors - Thanks for their generous contributions to the Club's programs and activities

* Coca-Cola Company and Thainamthip Ltd., authorized bottler for products including Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Sprite
* Maneeya Realty
* Pfizer (Thailand) Limited
* Diageo Moet Hennessy (Thailand) Ltd., distributor of Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky
* Star Alliance for air tickets which make it possible to bring exceptional guest speakers to the FCCT and for our Wi-Fi Internet Service
* Unilever Thailand


Sponsors
* Nation Multimedia Group, for daily delivery of The Nation
* NewspaperDirect, for daily delivery of a wide variety of leading international newspapers
* Post Publishing Co., Ltd., for daily delivery of the Bangkok Post
* True Visions Public Company Limited, for providing TrueVisions cable television access
* Heineken Thailand

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The Bulletin is published weekly by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. President: Marwaan Macan-Markar. First vice-president: Jonathan Head. Second vice-president: Patrick Barta. Treasurer: Dominic Faulder. Clubhouse manager: Thanutra Teerasuphaset. Office telephone: 02 652-0580-1; fax: 02 652-0582. Clubhouse telephone: 02 254-8165. E-mail: info@fccthai.com. Web site: www.fccthai.com. Opinions expressed may be entirely those of an individual writer or organization, and do not necessarily represent the policies, positions or opinions of the FCCT, nor does the FCCT, by virtue of publication in The Bulletin, assume any liability therefor. While all reasonable efforts are employed to ensure accuracy of announcements appearing in The Bulletin, including but not limited to dates, times and cover charges, the FCCT is not bound by those announcements and occasional errors or omissions may appear; we apologize for any inconvenience. Copyright © 2009, Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand and others. All rights reserved.

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For five decades, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand has played a vanguard role as Southeast Asia's most active press club. The club advocates press freedom as a cornerstone of civil society in emerging democracies and is a vital venue for an open exchange of information. Our speakers range from heads of state to local activists to international advocates, many of whom address issues that might not get a full hearing without the support of the FCCT.

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