Sek was a sporty young man, but unlike many young Thais who are captivated by football, Sek’s interest lay in basketball, although he was not personally able to afford all the proper equipment.  He did, however, play with a group of school friends, and made many great memories doing so.  Indeed, his school team went on to become the champions of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, and even more importantly, were invited to play demonstration games at Hua Hin’s Silesian school at Christmas time, in Sek’s last year of school, at the age of 18.

This was when Sek first fell in love with Hua Hin.  Unlike Thap Sakae, where everyone was indoors by 9pm, Hua Hin had an active nightlife, which was like a drug to a young man.  After school, Sek went to Phuket to find a job, staying with his sister for a year. Two years in Koh Samui followed, with Sek working two jobs in a hotel, a gardener by day and a barbeque chef on the beach in the evening. The shifts were long and the pay wasn’t great, but the benefit of the job was that Sek had the opportunity to converse with the guests, and he took every chance he was given to interact with them, thereby improving his command of English, which he instinctively knew was going to be instrumental in securing his future.

When Sek finally arrived in Hua Hin at the age of 22, his first job was selling knock-off watch copies at the Night Market. Sek then secured an entry level position at the Dusit Thani, as a bus-boy.  During the seven or so years he worked for the hotel, Sek advanced to be a waiter and then the captain of the waiters.  Sek proudly recalls working at the birthday party of King Rama IX, an event which didn’t conclude until after 3am, when he was due back on shift at 6am. A good friend moved on from the hotel and took a job on a cruise ship, and a year later, on seeing the success his friend had made from the career transition, Sek decided that the benefits outweighed the sacrifices that such a move would entail, for himself, his young wife Pu, and their infant son, not yet aged 1.

Sek took his first contract with the Princess Cruise Line, which saw him away from his family for a full ten months. Being separated from his child, who at that age was learning new things and changing on an almost daily basis, was a huge emotional challenge for Sek, and in effect it left Pu as a single mother to meet the daily needs of her child alone. But the money to be made was too good an opportunity to miss.  Sek had a single goal in mind, and that was to buy his own home.  His parents had always rented their homes, and financial security for his growing family was forefront in Sek’s mind. Four years later, Pu and Sek had their second son, but this addition to the family only firmed Sek and Pu’s resolve for him to keep working on the cruise ships. So, for 9 years in total, Sek chose to renew his annual contract, living on a cruise ship for 8 to 10 months at a time, while the family remained based in Hua Hin, a place they found just right, and a place where Sek would be able to use the skills and experience he was gaining on the ships to eventually develop his own business. He encountered cruise staff of 36 different nationalities during this time, and still maintains friendships with American, Canadian, Mexican, Hungarian, Polish and Filipino colleagues, many of whom are still employed in the cruise industry.

Working on the ships taught Sek some valuable life lessons. He had to sort out his priorities and steadily work towards the target he and his wife had set themselves.  Sek was playing the long game, and skilfully too.  He was canny with his money, making sure the vast bulk of money left over after living expenses for the family went into savings. Although Sek admits to an initial splurge on a sound system, he generally eschews brand-name purchases.  That knock-off watch purchased at the Night Market can tell the time as well as a genuine Rolex. Another thing Sek learnt was how to exploit free opportunities at every port of call.  Public spaces, and particularly gardens became his places of refuge from the built, enclosed, air-conditioned environment that is almost a virtual prison to cruise boat staff, who have no access to the luxury of the upper decks outside their shift hours.  Sek quickly came to appreciate how important nature was to him, and this is today reflected in the magnificent garden he has created around his home, which is also the location of his business, the Tree House Café. Yet another learning was how important the open air is in maintaining health, something that Sek has put into practice using natural airflow in his eco-friendly home, which does not require air conditioning, given its position amongst the copious foliage of the garden.

Sek always made sure to take in some cultural opportunities at each port of call, and actively sought out museums and galleries he could visit for free, all the while engaging with locals to work on his English if possible. 

Tree House Café offers a menu of Italian fusion-style dishes and a wide variety of canned craft beers in numerous styles.  Sek’s guilty pleasure is drinking too much alcohol, even though he might justify it as “research”!  While working in Food and Beverage on cruise ships, it certainly paid to have an interest in, and considerable knowledge about, alcoholic beverages.  Although now many of the cruise lines have moved to beverage-inclusive packages, at the time Sek was working aboard, all alcohol was paid, and Sek’s ability easily chat with the patrons and make knowledgeable recommendations to them was a distinct advantage. Sek recalls a time when his drink of choice was wine, but now it is beer, and he is still regularly involved in self-education about new craft beers.  After all it is always beer o’clock somewhere! 

Running his business isn’t necessarily turning him into a multi-millionaire, but he has enough.  Sek measures this by being able to do what he wants, eat what he wants to eat, and drink what he wants to drink.  He has enough, especially as his family are by his side on a daily basis.  Sek sees that the sacrifices and hardships of the past have bought him to his very comfortable present. Following his own advice, Sek never gave up until he achieved his goal of owning his own home, while he cites building a strong, happy family unit as his greatest achievement. Being told he has a lovely home is a heart-warming compliment.

And a magnificent home it is, though from the street it is a bit secluded, encased in its own garden.  Sek is clearly proud of the homey, inviting, natural environment he has created, for his customers and local wildlife alike.  Sek and Pu are both proud of the pictures on their phones of an endangered hornbill who came to share their garden for a time, and even had the audacity to spy on them through their second-storey bedroom window. Insects and small reptiles and amphibians abound in the garden, though not too many snakes, courtesy of 3 active cats who belong to the family.

As a young man, Sek could never have imagined he would ever travel so extensively or visit so many of the world’s countries. He confided that he is still searching for opportunity to take Pu to Alaska. He was inspired to build his home by the houses he saw on the coastline from Seattle up into Alaska, impressed by the way that they seemed to sit so well in their created environments. On one of his cruises, Sek recalls admiring a Chinese couple who had travelled all the way to Canada with the sole intention of visiting the Butchart Gardens, a now 119-year-old, a 22-hectare display garden in British Colombia.  Although it is now designated a National Historic Site, it is still owned and operated by the family of its founder, Jennie Butchart, and is famous worldwide for its beauty.  Of course, when Sek ticks off the bucket-list item of taking Pu to Alaska, a side-trip to the Butchart Gardens will be on the ticket.

Sek’s great hope for the future is that his children will also be able to do whatever it is that makes them happiest.  He doesn’t have expectations for his sons other than that they will embrace their chosen fields of endeavour open-mindedly, and will give their full-effort to whatever they do, and “do it properly”.  Any half-heartedness will not sit favourably with Sek.

You can take a man out of Thailand and show him the world, but you can’t take the Thai soul from this man.  His favourite food, the one he would choose for his last meal, is still phat kaphrao, with the fried egg, of course! He can’t live without his family, his garden and his friends, but in that order. Having beer left in the fridge will make him instantly happy, while plants that seem to refuse to grow will raise his displeasure. Sek has exactly enough.