Days in the Life of a Pattaya Hotel Owner

I needed some space and a chance to stand back from the Pattaya-divorce war-zone I had been pitched into. The space was already planned, although it had been planned for entirely different reasons several weeks before. The Bangkok International Book Fair was due to be held between 24th to 29th March. Mark and I had arranged to go to the Fair to learn find out more information that would hopefully assist us in setting up our proposed publishing company. Several of the major retailers were exhibiting, there were printing companies and technology businesses listed as well, so we would hopefully get answers to most of our remaining questions.

The taxi arrived at Jasmine Mansion early morning and we headed over to Mark’s apartment building to collect him and then set off to Bangkok. The plan was to stop at our chosen hotel, a sister hotel of my base in Hua Hin two months earlier, have the taxi wait for us whilst we checked in and then take us the couple of kilometers to the Queen Sirikit convention centre where the book fair was being hosted. We would tour the fair throughout the remainder of the day, retire to our hotel for an early night and spend the next day looking at various office furniture and supply show rooms. So, you see, a simple plan and as such, one that gave little room for Mr. Cock-Up to put in an appearance. There I go again…getting carried away on a wave of positivism that is just an excuse for Thailand to slap me in the face and prove that this country cannot be defined through the use of Western logic!

We arrived at our hotel and, to my relief, they had two rooms available. I had telephoned them a few days earlier to make a reservation, however, I was told that this would not be necessary, of course they would have rooms available! We then offloaded our belongings and returned to the taxi and a within 10 minutes, we arrived at the convention centre. The general area was quieter than I had imagined although I really had no idea of what to expect. Oh well, it was the first day of the fair and still only late morning, so I presumed we were merely early arrivals. I did, of course, not presume we were as early as it turned out!

We disembarked from the taxi close to the main entrance, walked up the stairs and through the main doors. Our hand baggage was checked, we walked through a scanning machine (similar to those found at airports), before entering the convention centre. There was a distinct lack of signage to go along with the distinct lack of people which went hand in hand with the distinct lack of stands, books or anything else one may expect to see at an international book fair. Perhaps the centre was such a huge space we were still only on the fringes and therefore we made our way to the main hall. The information I had gleaned from the fair’s web site suggested most exhibitors would be here. As we approached the main hall there was now significantly more signs of life. However, these signs were only adding to the prevailing concerns as the lives in question were a plethora of fitters erecting stands for an event that was most certainly not taking place this very day!

Eventually we found an information desk and a person able to communicate with us sufficiently to advise that the book fair was now not starting for three more days. I tried to explain that the web site set up for the book fair stated that the start date was today, but was met only by one of those Thai smiles that makes you desperate to blow the bearers head off its shoulders using a very powerful weapon. There was, anyway, no point arguing with anyone, the fair was not on today and that was that. We left the convention centre and hailed a taxi to take us back to our hotel. We were bereft of ideas as to what to do, although staying three days to await the start of the fair was quickly rejected by both Mark and me. Our deliberations on what course of action to take would, we decided once back at the hotel, be best served by adjourning to the very nice looking pub we had seen a few kilometers along the soi the hotel was located on. A beer or two and a new plan would soon be formed, of this we were certain.

The pub was nicely air conditioned and very well presented. There was no attention being paid to the new no smoking laws introduced a month before and two good pool tables sat unused. We had a beer and played pool. We actually managed very many beers and 25 games of pool which resulted in us drinking from midday through to 6:30PM. We had no new plan and by now were both incapable of deciding anything. We went to Nana Plaza. Drinks in bars and go-go establishments followed and a return to our hotel was made after approximately twelve hours drinking — better than going to a book fair although considerably less had been achieved than we may have hoped for earlier that day.

I had managed to make contact with a local law firm before heading off to the pub and an appointment had been set for 1:00PM the following day. I was up, checked out of the hotel and drinking my coffee when Mark returned from his late morning stroll. We returned to the local pub where he would stay whilst I went to see the lawyers and get some advice on where I stood in the event of a divorce here in Thailand. I was in a foreign country, all of my money was invested in the assets we had acquired here and I had heard so many stories of farangs losing everything to their Thai partner in such circumstances. To say I felt vulnerable would aptly describe my mood in relation to my pending divorce and, more than anything, I was hoping for some comfort.

The law firm had two senior partners, a young looking Thai man and an American male in his 40s who advised me he had been happily married to his Thai wife for 14 years — this I presumed to be a game of lawyers one-upmanship! Although the Thai lawyer spoke English clearly enough, his farang counterpart chose to translate everything said to ensure no mistakes or misunderstandings arose. I explained the full situation concerning my money, our assets, the children, our life and sat back waiting for the worst. Something along the lines of, “Okay, well the situation here is quite clear Kevin, you are screwed!” would have not sent shock waves through my being but simply confirmed the bar room gossip that had been prevalent since I arrived here in 2004. As it transpired, the lawyers were both very positive. Thai law would not discriminate against me simply on the grounds that I was a foreigner. Furthermore, so long as I was able to establish records of the money I sent here and obtain copies of the hotel and house initial contracts I had signed, things would be dealt with positively as concerns my future. I left the lawyers office buoyed by some good news actually taking a journey to meet with me and now had several alternative options on how to proceed with the divorce.

We returned to Pattaya in late afternoon and I decided it best not to blurt out to Mrs. Boss that I had been to see a lawyer in Bangkok. Mrs. Boss has long been of the opinion that all lawyers are sharks. Although the general tenet is something I agree whole heartedly with there is, on rare occasions, the need to get into the water and swim with the sharks. A few days later I suggested to Mrs. Boss that we needed to talk, to lay out some agreement on how to move forward and to do so without it turning into a screaming and shouting competition. Later that evening Mrs. Boss sat in my office and said, “Okay talk then.” I started to explain the situation as I saw it. I admitted that I did not understand in any way how we had arrived at this situation at this moment in time but nonetheless we were here and had to prepare to move matters forward. I mentioned all of our assets, the liabilities we had and the fact that the vast majority of the money put into our life in Thailand was mine and generated prior to our ever having met. Mrs. Boss immediately took a different stance — not really a surprise although rather more poking of fingers at and into me than probably necessary. She advised that I could forget about the money I had brought into Thailand as she would never agree to me getting one single Baht of that back, “It is Thai law,” she added. “Well actually it is not Thai law,” I retorted and proceeded to explain that I had a consultation with a law firm in Bangkok earlier that week. This simply inflamed her even further and the shouting was now starting to reach triple digits in decibel levels. I decided nothing further would be gained during this conversation and immediately walked away from the office.

I have no doubt that putting down the phone and walking away from the scene does nothing but further infuriate my spouse, however, I am really endeavouring to avoid a two way conflict as my temper will get the better of me eventually and I will lose some of the small advantages I hold. Another couple of days passed before any words were exchanged between Mrs. Boss and me. Eventually a momentary respite in her ill mood appeared and I quickly suggested that I would prepare a draft document for discussion and also get it translated so she would fully understand the proposals I would be putting forward. This was agreed to and I spent the next day working on a basic but comprehensive document relating to our assets and how, I believe, they should be split. Of course, I started at the top end of my desires and knew that I would be forced to take several steps back if and before any agreement was to be reached. My only concern was though that Mrs. Boss would simply disagree, shout some more and walk away thus nothing whatsoever would be achieved. The thought of having to fight for every single Baht in a court of law really did not appeal to me although if it is going to be the only way then so be it.

The document is presently with the translators and I am collecting the finished work in early April. Before this though Mark and I have arranged a day trip to Bangkok to go to the book fair which, hopefully, will be up and running this time around!