The Thai island’s holiday in Gen X turned into a new life that runs a restaurant

Within 18 years since he moved to Koh Samui Island in Thailand, Martin Silby told me that he only returned home to the United Kingdom twice.

It is a quiet morning, and we are sitting at Foxtrot Bistro, Selby Restaurant that offers modern European fare with Asian effects. The place has not been opened for today, so we have everything for ourselves. He says the new breakfast list is on the way, and it may be at the time that this story is going.

The Foundation overlooks the Baysak Bay on the northern Samui beach, and it was not lying about the scene.

Outside the balcony, the water extends to the horizon in shades of blue and green. Not far, a wooden berth comes out to the Gulf, where it is embodied in a handful of small fishing boats. In the evening, he says, it is the ideal place to arrest the sunset.

Originally from Grantham, a town about 100 miles to the north from London, Selby has never thought that he would end up building a life for himself in Samui. Work began in kitchens when he was 16 years old, but he always dreamed of traveling abroad. When he was 25 years old and became a mite chef, he decided that time had come.

“I thought, well, if I don’t go and do that now, I may not do it at all, and it will end up working forever and forever,” Silby, 43, said.

However, he was on a one -year trip via Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Samawi was one of his oldest stations in Thailand, and while his trips were overturned, he decided automatically to return to the island.

“I had three months before the return journey, and I was like, it was cooled here now,” he said. “After about a month of cold, I was like, what if I could get a job here?”

He printed his CV in the Internet cafe, went from door to door in local hotels, and soon got a job as a chef. As his career grows, as well as his personal life: he got married and became a father.

“It was all very motivated for a moment,” he added.

From chef to the owner of the restaurant

Sufficiently enough, when Silby first arrived in 2007, Samawi did not leave a good impression of him.

“When I got here, it seemed a little messy,” he said. “You start from a bus or phrase, and you will get people who describe your work and things like that.”

But as soon as he adapts to the life of the island, Samawi soon began to feel like at home. Over the years, Silby has worked in many restaurants and hotels throughout the island before it finally comes out alone.

In addition to Foxtrot, he also participated in the founding of the Blind Tiger Kitchen and cocktails, which is just three minutes by car, with a commercial partner. While Silby runs the kitchen, his partner oversees the bar.

But operating his restaurants was not always the ultimate goal.

It was not something that could be retreating in the United Kingdom. “I don’t think it was until I got here somewhat I could open my own place.”

These days, he begins a typical morning with breakfast with his teenage son in a nearby café run by his wife.

Then it goes to Foxtrot Bistro to deal with paperwork and register access with its manager before the opening for this day. Late in the afternoon, the blindness stopped to do the same, and usually ends around at 8 pm

All his local employees. Thank God, it is not very difficult to find experienced employees on the island, which has a prosperous F&B scene and hospitality scene.

He said that employment rotation is not very bad when employees are taken care of. In his restaurants, there are 10 % service fees, and every cent goes to his team.

“I just saw that all hotels were doing this, and they were getting amazing employees,” he added.

Selby uses a mixture of locally imported and imported ingredients and says he is trying to change some of the menu elements seasonally to keep new things.

But achieving a balance between different tastes can be a challenge. “I sat with a group of friends on the last day and told them that I started a new list of the restaurant. Literally, each of them said a different dish I cannot take off,” he said.

Food Business Management Challenges

It is not easy to run a restaurant as people think. Silby said the competition is harsh on the island and added the cost of running a restaurant quickly.

“People believe that prices should be cheap because they are Thailand, but this does not stand up when Shoresu is used from Spain or cheese from France,” he said.

He learned over time that running a restaurant includes much more than just serving food. There is the aspect of operations, such as employment and schedule, and the financing aspect, such as maintaining a fixed cash flow.

Accounting takes most of its time these days. “Caring for mite chefs for kitchens and only look at them, overlook the numbers, make sure to pay bills, and make sure that we can pay the employees.”

One of the biggest challenges is the management of peak and peak tourism seasons, each of which lasts about six months. Silby added that there is a big difference between both: “You can go to a third of your revenues.”

He said that it is necessary to make an accurate financial planning to ensure that the restaurant is broken at least even in the low season.

Despite the responsibility, being a business owner comes with a certain freedom – such as the ability to spend a vacation in a short notice with the family or attend a wedding.

“I have seen something on Instagram saying, if you are a slave to your restaurant that you have opened, you don’t do it correctly. I believe in that,” he said. “If they need me all the time, I do not do it correctly.”

Building a life in Samawi

Nearly two decades, Silby rooted himself in Samawi. Thai speaks, married to a Thai woman, and his 15 -year -old son attends an international school on the island.

He said that returning to the United Kingdom is not possible.

If something is missing from the United Kingdom, then this will be the different seasons – however, this is one of the reasons that were pushed in the first place.

Silby said: “It is crazy, isn’t it? “This is the same with me and England.”

Do you have a story to share it on moving to a new country and managing a business? Call this reporter in ago.