The Grand Opening was scratched due to bad weather and complications about transport and housing for VIP gusts and we held an employee party instead. That was great fun and everyone was very quiet at work the next morning. All departments had to participate with a little stage performance and my kitchen-team won the first price of Bth 3000. Most shows consisted of some sort of cross-dressing play and it seems in the Asian cultures such is quite ‘normal’. Classically the winning money was quickly converted into alcohol and within I realize there is an underlying problem with living on this island. The staff in general is heavy on the bottle. Some mornings I arrive in the kitchen my “quiet” chefs fumble pale and slow at the stove and the stench of cheap booze oozes through their skin from the night before (HR would revolt)! Blue Snooker-table charcoal on their fingers and groggily, red eyed they greet me with their familiar Thai smiles.After ten weeks working without a day off I’ve finally escaped to Phuket and enjoyed two days away from all the Hotel craze. I rented a little motor-bike and visited the touristy places around the island and spend a fortune shopping little presents for my staff.  A friendly Thai guide accompanied me and luckily spoke rather well English. He thought me a few of the “not so proper” Thai words and I discovered why sometimes my team smirks behind my back when I say words that have a very different meaning in Thai…  Everywhere I go in Thailand I see business opportunities. I could start five ventures at the same time. When taking the ferry back to the hotel in a monsoon storm, I found myself happy to come back to the quite island, although the thought of confronting HR terribly tempers such a height. Indeed in the morning briefing today, she complained about kitchen staff having not filed paperwork correctly. Nothing to the fact we are still understaffed or even mentioning the cook that resigned. We now are on a level of communication where she fails acknowledgment in my presents, something I find unacceptable from her position. Even by Thai traditional standards it is disrespectful not to respond to an elder person greeting. I find comfort in the fact her problems are wherever she goes and there is no need for me to participate in her own destiny. I am working on an extensive three day practice schedule to certify my chef de parties in technical knowledge of the kitchen environment. I proposed it to the office and explained I needed someone helping me with the translation. “Why don’t you use one of your chefs for computer work”…was the response from above. I wish I could explain the complexity of kitchen office work to someone, I certainly don’t have the manpower to remove a chef from the stove and make him my secretary. Very funny indeed. In general I need the long promised sous chef or missing chef positions filled, a secretary at least; since I am spending more time with office management instead of teaching cooking to my staff. Within I realize that HR’s quarrel is backfiring; She is simply preventing her “own people” from being able to learn and further their carrier and future. I have received a few questions about the “low-season” in Thailand and if there is a difference to the high season. Like today; the sun is out, it’s a fantastic beach day and the diving conditions are excellent. Tourists coming to Thailand regularly enjoy that the most expensive hotels have significant price reductions and the rain is not all that uncomfortable. Between June and July the Monsoon is in its strongest force but even within the tropical rains there are beautiful moments of sunny days on the beach front. The Andaman Sea is still warmer than most Oceans around the world and shopping is much more a bargain chance when tourism is low. Keep in mind that during this period we have  the largest fishing palate available. Lobster and Mussels that are hardly on the menu in December are now caught in masses. I find the “low-season” May to September a better choice for a visit to Thailand and encourage you to try it.

 

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