New Business
THEY COLLECTED THE KEYS and worked. At least Nick did. Before long, Kev had to nip out. He needed to meet a man interested in spending money in their direction. Someone who he'd heard wanted a shop front. They had told Kev that the Dutchman was looking to start a new venture. He needed space for a wholesale food and beverage project. He was planning not only to sell cheese but also to go up against the vast brewery, Boon Rawd. The brewers produce Singha beer, amongst other things, and he aimed to sell an imported beer! Well, you had to hope. Thais do not eat cheese and prefer Mae Kong whisky to beer. Next to whisky comes local beer. Now, we enjoy Singha; there is a newcomer, Kloster. Upmarket from Singha, you could forget a falang brew, which would come a long way down the list of alcoholic drinks. The chances of success looked slim, but that did not worry Kev. He should have been concerned.
Anyway, Mr Jan was confident he was on to a winner.
'Soon, hundreds of thousands of tourists will flock to Hua Hin.'
The Dutchman did not have the perfect business plan, but he was not the only one to think Hua Hin would soon become a tourist Mecca.
Jan was a stout man, not like his beer. His beer and some of his cheese were mild; he was far from mild. He was moody and aggressive. He had something about him that said he was the only person you should listen to, as he was always correct.
About the building, he liked the position. As always, he was correct; it was a perfect spot for what he was planning. He liked the space, and the monthly rent was affordable. So he handed over a month's rent as a deposit and a month's rent in advance. They gave him a moving-in date, which would put some pressure on Nick to get the renovations finished on time.
Kev spent his lunch break at the beach before telling Nick the news of the deal. Kevʼs favourite restaurant was in front of the Railway Hotel. The actual railway was away from the hotel. They thought it better for a hotel to be close to the sea rather than near the tracks' clattering. So, they positioned the railway hotel at the beach. The railway station was about half a mile away, towards the hills. It is placed right next to the country's first golf course. A Scotsman employed by the state railway designed and built it. Kev had fancied himself as a golfer but had yet braved the scorn of the caddies. The caddies were often better golfers than their "boss", who had paid for the round.
Kevʼs choice of beach restaurant was busy. It was one of the 20 restaurants spaced along the seafront. The restaurants are not part of the hotel. Surprisingly, they could operate on a prime site between the hotel garden and the sea. It was not a weekend, and there were few Thai customers. Westerners, or "falangs" as they knew the tourists, had taken all the best seats. There was a table, two deck chairs and an umbrella nearer to the sea. So they served a fresh lemonade and a fried egg sandwich at the seafront as a well-deserved lunch.
When the tide was out, several large rocks emerged, accompanied by pools with resident crabs performing. Further south along the beach was a headland. It boasted a monkey-clad hill with an attractive temple nestled at the summit. Palm trees swayed in unison behind the restaurants, all adding up to Kev's feel-good mood.
Two German regulars, one grossly fat and one so skinny you could post him, were getting stuck into cold beers. Another German with an ill-fitting wig sat with his Thai girlfriend. Both had a beer in hand and they, too, had their regular spot. More interesting to Kev were the two unbelievably beautiful French girls. The feel-good factor moved up a notch. The girls chose the healthy option of coconuts and chicken salad. Also, they were wearing skimpy and very fashionable swimwear. Thais are uncomfortable when confronted with a lot of bare flesh. In these girls' cases, they could make exceptions. Someone sat them in front of the bewigged German.
Life was good, thought Kev. Then he remembered poor old Nick slogging away at their office and soon to be their home.
Their new living quarters were to be upstairs above the office. The building upstairs and down was spacious, airy, and freshly painted. The basic and aged bathroom upstairs was between the two bedrooms.
Kev returned, refreshed and eager to report the good news. He started badly.
'Have you not finished yet?'
His comment was meant as a joke and failed badly.
'You can get stuffed. Some bloody Dutch guy came in complaining about the standard of the work and the time it took. He talked like he owned the place. Who the hell does he think he is?'
'Ah, yes, you met our tenant, I see. He'll take the space over there; we get that bit, plus upstairs.'
Their bit was the smaller half of downstairs.
'You must put up a wall dividing the area, with the stairs in our bit.'
Nick was sweating, so it was not a good idea to give him more work to do. He was not a person to get on the wrong side when hot.
'Kev, I'm trying to remain calm. I won't say I'm staying cool, but how about help here?'
'Already got it covered; later this afternoon, you'll see. The lad from the guest house will be over to help you. The nice guy we met at the dinner with the frogs, the amphibian type, not the race.'
Showing precisely what Kev was thinking about. Kev's miming skills would not win him any prizes.
'And what about you?'
'I have got some contacts to make.' Kev's diplomacy talent was even further down the list of trophy winners.
'How about making me some food?'
And so it went on, Kev popped out, forgetting Nick's lunch.
The French girls might still be at the beach with their coconuts - the fruit, not the other type. It turned out that not only were they at their table, but they also wanted a place to live. They were planning on staying for a year.
'I know just the place,' said Kev, thinking hard.
Kev had planned a trip to the guest house to arrange some labour help for Nick; now, he had another reason to go. Khun Daa would know of a decent place for the girls.