Busy guy: Bjorn Turmann.

Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bjorn Turmann is one of a handful of authors in the world to simultaneously release a novel and a book of non-fiction on the same day. In his case, this was on February 10, when he launched both his novel, The Last Tobacco Shop in the World, and his work on making speeches, Speaking Energy: Public Speaking for Humans…Finally!

Last Tobacco Shop, set in the year 2040 on a fictitious island in the Andaman Sea near Phuket, has been described by CNN senior correspondent Robert Vito as “Powerful and unforgettable … a riveting, clever plot.”

Speaking Energy has already received endorsements from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Speakers Bureau in Chicago. Books previously published are Good Daughter and The Karaoke World of Cortous Haire.

The man has dozens of credits. He is a globally authorized Microsoft communications coach with a long list of Fortune 500 clients. He has also been a regular guest lecturer at Chulalongkorn University’s film department, speaking about the other love of his life, making movies.

His independent movies include Benevolent Bodysnatchers, and 30-minute documentary about the work of the Poh Teck Tung Foundation in Bangkok; Tracks, a 23-minute doc about people living along the train tracks in Klong Teui; a 19-minute fictional movie, Postcards from Pattaya; and his most recent – and the shortest at just 5 minutes – Gai Yaang, a fried chicken murder mystery. Both fiction works were accepted for screening at the Melbourne

And in case that’s not enough, Turmann is the writer and co-creator of a “futuristic television sitcom” set in the year 3000 and scheduled to go into pre-production in late 2010. Oh yes, and he is also a founding partner of the award-winning Vancouver based studio, The Embassy Visual Effects, one of the creative teams behind the Oscar-nominated films District 9 and Iron Man.

The writers’ night starts at 7pm. All are welcome, and entry is free. For more information email Boathouse PR manager Lisa Sol.

Chef Lumineau - the only Maitre Cuisinier in Thailand.

Jean-Noel Lumineau presented his first French food festival at Mom Tri’s Boathouse in Kata nine years ago – two weeks of the very best French food in the world.

He came back every year to do the same thing and, in September 2008, made the big jump, moving to Phuket as Chef Consultant for Mom Tri’s four restaurants – the Boathouse, the Oasis next door, Mom Tri’s Kitchen (all in Kata) and, the most recent addition, Mom Tri’s Regatta at the Royal Phuket Marina.

This was really quite a catch for Mom Tri; Lumineau has won Michelin stars for restaurants in France, and toques from Gault-Millau. He is one of just 300 or so Maîtres-Cuisiniers de France – the crème de la crème – and he’s the only one working in Thailand.

So getting fed by this man is really rather special. But you’ll need to be quick; this year’s Boathouse French festival lasts just two weeks, ending on March 21.

There are three menus, the “Les Châteaux” and the “Les Vignes” version, each of three courses chosen from a total of six, and a degustation version, four courses with a glass of carefully matched wine to go with each.

So you can imagine how delighted Phuket Observer was to be invited to sit down to the Châteaux menu on the terrace at the Boathouse, with a fine sunset and cool breeze ordered up specially.

Chef Lumineau explains that he finds many of the local ingredients, especially the sea food, fresh and tasty, though certain ingredients still have to be imported for authenticity – the truffles for example, and the cèpe (or porcini) mushrooms.

The choice of appetisers is between a crab salad with fresh tarragon and Orleans white wine vinegar sauce with aspargus, or duck liver with stewed pears. My vote goes to the duck liver, smooth and rich. More toast please. My partner, however, likes the crab better, and I can’t disagree, especially when the shell is nowhere in sight (one of my pet peeves: battling through a crab shell is, frankly,  too much work for too little reward).

This loin is really, really tender.

The next choice: Sautéed fillet of seabass with virgin sauce or Grilled Angus beef tenderloin, with black truffle slices, cèpe mushrooms, garlic and parsley. Neither of us being virgins, we both order the steak.

Oh yes. The real thing. This loin is supremely tender, and is deliciously offset by the truffle slices and the textures of the mushrooms.

Finally, dessert. My grandmother used to say, “Life is short, so eat the dessert first.” But I’m glad I waited. The choice here is between Millefeuille with caramel mousse and mocha coulis, or Cremet d’Anjou, a soft white cheese, with red forest fruit sauce.

We get one of each. At the time I can’t make up my mind which is better. I still can’t. I may have to go back again.

For all three menus, see here. For bookings, email or call +66 (0) 76 330 015.

Mom Tri's Boathouse sits right next to Kata Beach.

Mom Tris’ Boathouse hotel has long been a centre for literature in Phuket, starting more than  a decade ago with its Chao Phraya Literary Club.

Okay, so far no Pulitzer or Booker winners have appeared at the hotel’s regular literary evenings, but the evenings do feature a variety of Thailand-based novelists, columnists, poets, editors and assorted scribblers, and attract a good crowd of people who have realised there is life outside Patong. (The most recent speaker was former Hollywood producer Ed Vaughan; see here for our story on him).

The hotel, which is a step away from the sands of Kata Beach, also runs an annual writing contest, the Boathouse Short Fiction Competition. This year’s will be the third, with separate awards for adults and for 15-to-18-year-olds.

The competition has very simple rules: Entries must be original fiction, and must contain the words “Boathouse”, “Oasis” and “Regatta” (the latter two being the names of the group’s restaurants in Kata and at the Royal Phuket Marina).

Adult entries must be between 1,500 and 2,000 words, while students’ efforts must be between 800 and 1,200. The deadline for entries is Monday, May 25.

It’s open to anyone from anywhere, and the prizes are all for stays at the Boathouse, so if you’ve been thinking of taking a break in Phuket, this would be a fine prize to win. The winner of the open category will get a three-night stay with breakfast at the hotel, a dinner for two plus a bottle of wine at Mom Tri’s Boathouse Regatta restaurant plus a set dinner for two at Mom Tri’s Kitchen.

In the youngsters’ category the top prize is a voucher for a complimentary two-night stay with breakfast and a  dinner for two at the Regatta restaurant. A second room for parents or guardian is available at a special rate.

For more details of the competition, click here.

Ed Vaughan met Marlon Brando. Big deal? Yeah? Well I bet you never did.

Years ago, before Hilton, Marriott and all the other giant chains arrived, at a time when the fanciest homes (sorry, “villas”) on the island cost 10 million baht, not six million bucks, The Boathouse in Kata was the nearest Phuket had to a centre of culture and other good things for foreigners.

For example, The Boathouse (now called Mom Tri’s Boathouse) pretty much started people drinking wine. Until then, the choice was Singha or Sangsom-Coke. The taxes on wine amounted to about 300%, so it was expensive, but The Boathouse became very creative at finding good wines from places like Chile and Australia at low prices, then almost gave the wine away in order to get people hooked on it.

It is the only place in Thailand to have won the Wine Spectator‘s highest accolade, the “Best of Award of Excellence” in 2006, 2007 and 2008, for its excellent cellar.

It also had the first art gallery on the island, which had regular shows, mostly of Thai or Thailand-based artists. It still does.

He played and taught Flamenco guitar...

And it had the Chaophraya Literary Society, at which a succession of writers, novelists, journalists and other scribblers were trotted out to explain why they did what they did, and the huge amounts of money they earned from it.  Or not.

The CLS suffered a hiatus for a couple of years, but was revived last year (under the rather more mundane “Boathouse Evening” moniker) and usually attracts a couple of dozen interested local expats.

Adding to the attraction of the intellectual pyrotechnics are the special bar prices, which acknowledge that fact that scribblers generally have thirsts that far outreach their wallets.

The next speaker to bare all will be Ed Vaughan, who spent 25 years in Hollywood, then 20 more escaping from Tinsel Town by sailing round the world.

He will talk about the art and science of writing, marketing and selling a feature film screenplay in today’s market; the difference between screenwriting and the writing of novels or short stories, and the importance of structure and character development in screenwriting – and how both can be easily identified and understood.

He will look at the reasons for the success of specific motion pictures such as the Clint Eastwood movie Unforgiven, written by David Peoples and talk about the ways marketing movie work have changed with the advent of the Internet; how to get your script read by the right people by using the Net; how to protect yourself from intellectual theft. And he will, of course, answer questions.

...and he went surfing in a tux. Why? We have no idea. Ask him yourself.

Ed’s a been-there-done-that kinda guy. He worked for 25 years in TV production, starting at age 23 as producer on a Los Angeles surfing show called Surf City on KTTV Channel 11 (making him Hollywood’s youngest producer at the time). He later worked on such classics of TV as Ironside, Dragnet, McCloud and Knots Landing, among many others. Finally, in 1996, he produced a successful feature film titled The Spitfire Grill. (His full credits can be seen here.)

He then bought a 13-meter sailboat and sailed it around the world 1½ times, engaging in a new pursuit: underwater photography. His work has been published in The Costeau Calender and the Audubon Society Book Of Marine Wildlife, as well as Scuba magazines around the world. His sailing took him to more than 50 countries over 22 years before finally ending in Phuket, where he now lives.

The evening will start at 7pm on April 23,  lasting roughly two hours. It is open to all. For more information, contact Lisa Sol, PR Manager of the Boathouse, by email to pr@boathousephuket.com