Kaz Phonesak Patafta, (born 25 October 1988 in Canberra) is an Australian football (soccer) attacking midfielder who currently plays for the Newcastle Jets. He attended Radford College in Canberra and received a football scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 2004. He is of Croatian and Laotian descent.
Lao National TV covered the story of Kaz
Until that date, he had been ignored by Australia's A-League squads but soon, two European giants, PSV Eindhoven (whose interest was due to the recommendation of then Australian national team manager, Guus Hiddink) and SL Benfica, expressed interest in signing him [1]. The Portuguese side won the race for the Australian youngster but his move overseas was initially blocked by Football Federation Australia because he was under the age of 18. He eventually joined Benfica's B-Squad in January 2006. His first game for the Benfica first team was against CF Estrela da Amadora in a pre-season game on 15 August 2006.
Kaz Interview
Patafta joined Australian A-League champions Melbourne Victory on loan for the 2007/08 season. He played his first game for Melbourne Victory in a pre-season match against Sydney FC, to which they lost 1-0. He has mostly made appearances off the bench in the 2007/08 A-League season, amid suggestions he is not physical enough, or even big enough for the league. His first goal in the A-League, a left foot shot from a tight angle, came in the round 20 encounter against Wellington Phoenix.
Watch his interview in World sport
In May 2008, Patafta secured a release from the remainder of his contract with Benfica with the assistance of the Australian Professional Footballers' Association. On 2 June 2008, Patafta signed a 1 year deal with the Newcastle Jets.[
International career Patafta gained attention when he captained the Australian Under-17 football team, the "Joeys", during the 2005 World Championships in Peru.[4]
"In a team where most of the players show good skills with the ball, Kaz Patafta has ensured his spot and has no replacement as a midfielder. A good reader of the game and the centre of command, this boy naturally became the captain of the Aussies".
Patafta was included as part of Australia's "train-on" squad before the 2006 FIFA World Cup, along with fellow promising young Australian players Kristian Sarkies and Neil Kilkenny. Unlike these players, he was not given a senior cap in the team's three pre-World Cup friendly matches.
Hmong fashion show unveils new talent A 16-year-old beauty, Ms Yer Vang, won first prize at a Hmong fashion show held in Xaythany district in Vientiane over the weekend.
The well presented and intelligent Ms Yer is a member of the well- known performance group Nasala, which explains her excellent singing, dancing and stage presence.
Audience members were captivated by her beautiful voice when she sang the traditional song Khubthoum , bestowing praises on government leaders in her mother tongue...more info and photos >>
Ms Yer also won the popular vote from the audience in addition to being awarded first place by the judges.
Over two nights, audiences flocked to enjoy the spectacular fashion show and performances of traditional Hmong dancing and singing.
Thirty-one participants from the district were selected to take part in the show by showcasing traditional Hmong clothing and culture, while competing for prizes.
Ms Chua Her, a 17-year-old participant taking a course in environmental studies at the National University of Laos, said after a month of rehearsals and preparation she had learnt how to live alongside different people and express and share ideas and feelings.
She decided to take part in the show because she wanted to entertain people with her singing and dancing skills.
“I felt so excited about performing on stage with friends in front of a crowd. I believe the show has helped build up my confidence and ability,” Ms Chua Her said.
A highlight of the event was a group dance involving all participants dressed in traditional Hmong costumes that originated from Luang Prabang, Xieng Khuang and Huaphan provinces.
Various community groups from Xaythany district were invited to entertain audiences with singing and dancing performances during the event.
Xaythany District Governor Bounthong Phommachan said the fashion show was held to coincide with the Hmong New Year which occurs next month, and aimed to promote tourism in the district.
“We spent a lot of effort and resources to organise this show because we want to preserve and encourage Hmong culture, so people in Laos and foreign countries can learn more about Hmong people and their customs and traditions,” he said.
“Their performances on stage will provide much pride for Hmong people and encourage them to preserve and promote their cultural identity.” Mr Bounthong hoped the success of the event would encourage other ethnic groups to organise similar shows to preserve their cultures.
Organisers hope the event will became an annual affair.
PUTRAJAYA: Direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Vientiane in Laos will resume from July after nearly a decade of hiatus. Budget carrier AirAsia will be operating between the two cities, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar announced yesterday.
This was agreed upon by both governments at the third joint commission meeting for bilateral co-operation here.
The decision to resume direct air links was made as part of steps to increase co-operation in tourism and to boost trade and investment, he said after the two-day meeting.
Syed Hamid led the Malaysian delegation, while Laos Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Thongloun Sisoulith led the Laos delegation. Malaysia Airlines had mounted flights into Vientiane beginning in 1996 but ceased operations since 1998 due to the Asian financial crisis...more
Syed Hamid said resumption of direct flights was mutually beneficial as Laos was keen to have more Malaysians invest there.
Malaysia is the ninth largest investor there, with interests in hotels and hydropower facilities.
Trade with Laos is now worth US$58 million (RM197.7 million).
Both countries also discussed plans to exchange plots of land in Putrajaya and Vientiane for the building of their respective embassies and ambassadors’ residences.
Other areas of co-operation such as capacity-building to help develop Laos’ economy were discussed, including plans for the country to explore rubber planting.
Laos has also extended an invitation to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to visit the country.
The next bilateral meeting will be held in Vientiane in 2009.
The thai TV dramma entitled "Mon Ruk Rim Fang Kong" was finally on air last month on Thai TV channel 7, after many editions to make the story not to affect the relationship between the people of the two countries: Laos and Thailand. Follow are feedback from Lao people via Kaosan Pathetlao...more in lao language, click here
(KPL) A new edition of modified Lao dictionary was just officially approved by Ministry of Education, to respond social demand after lacking an officially Lao dictionary for years.
The new Lao dictionary for 2549 B.C (Buddhist Calendar) has been published more than 10,000 copies for public use officially.
The dictionary was displayed at an exhibition for celebrating this new publishing at the Public Library at the end of April, which was the third issue, pioneered by Maha Sila Viravong... read more
This dictionary consists of 10,000 words and grammar, which was collected and composed by Maha Sila Viravong. Most of vocabularies are collected from philosophies, religious and literature and some mistakes have been adjusted and were copied from the original copy.
The special character of this book was to maintain old style spelling based on religious, Bali and Sanskrit languages.
In 1951, the Ministry of Education has appointed the Literature Committee to do a Lao dictionary to serve education work and then the Committee assigned Maha Sila Viravong to edit and collect words. The collection of Maha Sila Viravong has been conduct till 1954 to 1959, his mission seeing that has had enough words considerably and then the first master dictionary of Laos was issued.
In order to be a reference for this dictionary since 1951, he also composed grammar consists of four chapters, which had had completed by 1961. The new copies are now being availed at libraries for research and study and distribute for people who interested to learn Lao language.
It is a great honor for Samakomlao website to have Miss Malisa Saysavath, 18, Miss Foremost Lao 2006, as our special guest of the month. Follows are her interview with samakomlao website
Vientiane police are considering whether to close the riverside Fangum Road to traffic from April 13 to 16, allowing pedestrian access only, while Setthathirath Road has temporarily reopened to traffic, a senior official said yesterday.
According to the Head of Vientiane Traffic Police of the Ministry of Public Security, Police Lieutenant Colonel Khamsone Luangnor, the closure of Fangum Road would allow local residents easy access to the river and Don Chan island for various recreational activities... more info
But if the road remained open, vehicles would also have access to the beach, as in past years, he said.
“We will allow the public to play or swim within certain areas and we will have policemen on duty to ensure safety. The public may convey their good wishes and pour a little water on officials, but this should be done with restraint and in accordance with accepted traditions,” he said.
Setthathirath Road is currently being upgraded as part of the Road No 1 reconstruction project, and reopened yesterday to allow local residents easy access to temples during the Lao New Year.
This street is home to several of Vientiane 's oldest and most important temples and, during the New Year festivities, devotees and visitors will visit them to perform traditional ceremonies.
“Today, we are clearing away some of the obstacles and machinery that has been blocking the road because of construction work. We'll open the road so that vehicles can have easy access to the temples,” said the Head of the road building project, Mr Dethsongkham Thammavong.
He said local residents and visitors would be able to use the road over the three-day holiday, and it would be cleared as much as possible to avoid congestion.
Meanwhile, he would fill in potholes with soil and install temporary signs warning the public to take care, to reduce the risk of accidents.
“We'll be opening a 3-km stretch from Vat Inpeng to Simeuang village, from now until April 16. Then we'll close it again to resume work,” he said.
Settharirath Road is one of the city's oldest streets and the revered temples of Inpeng, Ong Teu, Xiengnheun, Mixay, Sisaket and Simeuang, as well as the Hor Pra Keo , are found here .
“From now until the end of the New Year, policemen and Young Pioneers will be on the streets to control traffic. They will pay particular attention to speeding, drink driving, and the wearing of helmets,” said the Deputy Director General of the Transport Department, Mr Bounsoum Somsihakhom.
He said at a press conference in Vientiane yesterday that checks would be carried out on Roads No 13 north and south, at the Nongbeuk junction, and on Thadeua, Fangum, T2, T4, Dongnasok, Dongnathong and Dongdok roads, among others.
“Road accidents cause damage to property, as well as serious injuries and fatalities. They also affect the country's socio-economic development, with around 470 billion kip in losses each year,” he said.
This year, he said, the police and the authorities would be stricter in their attempts to prevent accidents on the roads over the New Year.
“We urge the public to cooperate with officials – they alone cannot reduce the number of accidents. If everyone drives more carefully, there will be far fewer accidents.”
“Our actions serve to protect your property and your life. You should understand this and obey the traffic regulations,” he said.
From April 12 to 18 last year, there were 301 accidents nationwide, causing injuries to 359 people, and 32 fatalities. In Vientiane there were 81 accidents, 175 injured people, and three fatalities.
(KPL) The Embassy of Japan in Laos held a send-off reception at the Embassy on 30 March for 26 Lao students, who have won scholarships from the Government of Japan under the annual Monbukagakusho scholarship scheme. The students will leave for Japan between 2- 3 April... more
The 26 students will study in different subjects and levels, including two students tol do Philosophy Doctorate in finance, management geological and environment, five master degrees in studying Japanese language, finance, economy, trade, international commerce law, a bachelor scholarship and 15 higher education scholarships. All students have passed hard selection exam. The Japanese Government provides scholarships to good Lao students to study in Japan, which aims to help Laos in human resource development and boosts relation and co-operation between Laos and Japan.
The function was attended by Dr. Ponemek Dalaloy, Minister of Public Heath who is also President of the Laos-Japan Friendship Association, Mr. Litou Bouabao, Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Kazuhiro FUJIMURA Charge d’Affaires a.i. of Japan and guests.
LUANG PRABANG, Laos : World heritage status has turned the former Lao capital from a ghost town into a tourism hub, but too much of a good thing could soon prove the kiss of death, say experts and residents.
In recent years a trickle of backpackers has turned into a flood of tourists coming to the sleepy town of glistening Buddhist temples and palm shaded French colonial mansions sitting pretty on a Mekong river peninsula.
Camera-toting visitors now follow saffron-robed monks on their morning alms rounds and foreigners are transforming quiet neighbourhoods into rows of cafes and hotels, say those who worry about the town's fragile beauty.
"People are surprised at the pace of change," said Francis Engelmann, a former UNESCO advisor and current resident of Luang Prabang. "There are more cars, there is more noise. Behind my house three new guesthouses are going up." ... more info
The 700-year-old town, seen as the jewel of ancient Lao heritage, threatens to turn into "a mono-industry where everything depends on tourism," he warned.
By the standards of many Asian tourist sites, Luang Prabang retains much of the tranquil charm that led the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation to list it as a world heritage site in 1995.
Nestled below lush hills between the Mekong and Khan rivers, it was once the capital of the Lan Xang kingdom, the Land of One Million Elephants, and remained the spiritual and religious centre of Laos in the centuries since.
The town's fortunes took a dive during the Vietnam War, when US forces fought communist troops in Laos, and in the post-war years from 1975 when the new socialist regime shuttered most of the country's Buddhist temples.
From the late 1980s a few hundred intrepid travellers per year returned to Luang Prabang as Laos re-opened to the outside world, but the years of neglect had taken a heavy toll on Luang Prabang's former royal beauty.
"When I first came here in 1988-89, it was a ghost town," said Engelmann.
"There were only old people and it was a sad place, like a town after an epidemic. Everything was closed and roofs were caving in. The young people were all in Vientiane. Now they have all come back."
World heritage status has placed Luang Prabang firmly on Indochina's tourism map alongside UNESCO-listed sites such as the Angkor Wat temples of Cambodia and the karst islands of Halong Bay in Vietnam.
The UN body imposed strict preservation guidelines, which banned demolitions within the heritage zone and mandated the use of local materials for repairs, overseen by the local Heritage House foundation.
In 2000 UNESCO launched the Monk Project, in which elder craftsmen passed on skills such as wood-carving, mural painting and lacquerwork to young Buddhist monks to maintain the authenticity of temples here and across Laos.
By 2003, the tourism boom was bringing 600,000 visitors a year, says UNESCO, as guesthouses, riverside restaurants and handicraft shops mushroomed, increasing the strain on the town's electricity, water, sewage and garbage services.
The UN cultural agency warned in a 2004 report that development pressure had placed "critical stress on both the environment and the historic cultural resources of Luang Prabang and threatens to overwhelm them".
It warned of a future where "billboards dominate the landscape, where the sound of tour buses drowns out the soft temple prayers, and where the town's residents are reduced to the roles of bit-players in a cultural theme park".
"Today business is good," said Gilles Vautrin, a seven-year resident and owner of several restaurants here. "But the quality of life is not so nice anymore. It's faster and faster and there is more noise."
Vautrin said tourists wearing shorts now crowd out many of the 34 temples that are the core of the town's spiritual heritage and which have always been financed by the Lao residents, some of whom are now leaving town.
"It's become a falang city," he said, using the Lao word for foreigner.
"Many falangs rent houses for 30 years, but who's going to give food to the monks now? The alms-giving round is more like a show, like theatre. The Lao people don't say anything, but I think they don't like it."
He added: "Now the problem is the mass tourism. We're worried about the impact of large Chinese tour groups coming down the Mekong River.
"I think one day the monks will disappear to another retreat, and then we'll lose a lot. The spirit of the town will disappear."
Engelmann agreed that tourism has been a double-edged sword here.
"If you ask businessmen, they'll say it's fuelling business," he said.
"If you ask environmentalists, they'll say it's destructive. If you ask locals, they may say it's bringing jobs, but also driving up prices."
UNESCO listing, he said, "has been good for the 'hardware' - the architecture - but not the 'software' - the people, the monks, the rituals." - AFP/ch
The government will raise the base salaries of officials, particularly those who work in remote areas, it announced last week.
This was one of the outcomes of the government's three-day monthly meeting, from March 20-22.
At the meeting, officials reported on plans to improve salaries and social welfare payments for staff...more
The meeting evaluated the events of the past month, noting that several targets had been reached, especially those relating to dry season production, including the cultivation of rice and other crops for market sale.
The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh evaluated that implementation of investment projects of both private and state sectors had gone smoothly. National security and defence work, as well as village development at the grass-roots level, had also gone according to plan.
The prevention and control of bird flu in the capital, as well as in Vientiane , Savannakhet and Champassak provinces, had been successful thanks to theparticipation of all sectors concerned and the support of international organisations and friendly countries.
The meeting approved the focus of the work plan for April, which will boost national security and defence activities as well as efforts to reduce anti-social behaviour, along with rural development to alleviate poverty.
The plan for April will strengthen efforts to resolve issues related to migration, as well as the control and surveillance of areas affected by bird flu, the implementation of the socio-economic development plan, and the state budget plan to reach targets and resolve debts.
The meeting also discussed preparations for dealing with natural disasters.The government will continue to focus its attention on the management of foreign currencies and pricing of goods by preventing illegal trade.
The government will implement the Prime Minister's order No 31, along with the decisions made at the nationwide forestry meeting held in February.
Government officials will endeavour to solve various issues related to land management and the reform of education, and will continue to boost investment and cooperation plans with overseas countries for better results.
The meeting advised the promotion of Pi Mai Lao (Lao New Year) next month, to attract more visitors.
During the meeting, officials reported on strategic plans for small and mediumenterprise (SME) development, and emphasised that SMEs played an important role in socio-economic development and national growth to alleviate poverty.
The meeting agreed to continue enhancing SMEs through systematic measures so that the sector could develop by forging links overseas.
Officials also reported on the vocational education development plan, and skills training from now until 2010, and from 2010 to 2020, and advised on how to improve the plan. The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the sectors concerned, is responsible for improving the vocational education plan based on the guidelines of the 8 th Party Congress on human resource development.
The plan is to boost the numbers of qualified labourers for better economicgrowth, which is why training strategies need to be finely honed in terms of both quantity and quality.
The meeting also advised sectors to devise essential policy on the building of human resources in mountainous areas, for ethnic people, women and disabled people.
The meeting discussed policies to promote investment from various sectors for vocational training development.
Officials reported on improvements to the draft Prime Ministerial decree on implementing policy for outstanding officials in the revolutionary mission, as well as on salaries for retired officials, policy related to funeral ceremonies for retiredofficials, and the construction of the Unknown Soldier monument.
Officials reported on a draft decree for the movement of people in and out of the country, and for those requesting permanent Lao residency, and approved the decree in principle.
Finally, the meeting reported on the situation of monitoring and evaluating various mining investment projects, as well as the preparation of five draft laws to be proposed to the National Assembly.
