Val was born in Bangkok over 60 years ago, yet her first experience of Hua Hin was a mere three years ago on a holiday from the UK. As a youngster, her family mainly chose to holiday on the other side of the Gulf of Thailand in places such as Jomtien, though Val recalls one holiday in Cha-am. At the time, Hua Hin was an even more prestigious destination because of its royal connection, and consequently a more expensive place to stay, so Thai families often chose elsewhere. Val was the third and youngest child in the family, with a sister eight years older and a brother two years her senior. Her parents separated when Val was still a toddler and so Val’s mother became the sole bread-winner for the family. Her mother remains the person Val most admires due to her strength, determination and resilience. Although facing a number of health challenges as she ages, Val’s mum, who herself had a colourful life, is still full of enthusiasm, enjoying each new day. Val closed down her restaurant in the UK to come to Thailand in 2024, causing her poor mother to worry what she would then do with her time since she would no longer be required to be the business’ satay-making queen.

When Val was little, her mother worked as housekeeper and manager of household staff for the Managing Director of Shell in Thailand. When the MD and his family relocated back to the UK at the end of his overseas contract, Val’s mother had the opportunity to go with them, a lucrative offer too good for the single mother of three to refuse. So, from the age of three, until she was twelve, Val was in the care of her maternal grandmother, a situation quite normal within Thai society. Val was never lonely within the fold of her extended family and believes this experience was important in shaping the person she is today. Val learnt to respect her elders and take her part in the family’s daily chores. Still an early riser even now, Val was required to accompany her grandmother at dawn to the local wet market to buy the fresh ingredients to make the day’s meals from scratch, as well as on the weekly jolting bus trip to the fish market. Val’s grandmother played a very significant role in shaping the young Val’s outlook on life as well as her character. Val’s father was a less-steady presence in her childhood as he had a new family, but she enjoyed the occasional ride to school or back on his scooter, even though he rarely, if ever, made financial contributions to her welfare.

Summer holidays were amongst the young Val’s favourite times. She vividly recalls one summer break in Phetchaburi with her aunt and her cousins, learning lots about the more rural lifestyle. She learnt how to tap, collect and process the sap from palm trees until it became palm sugar to be enjoyed in the family’s collective meals. She reveled in crossing the little river to the home on stilts on a little bamboo raft, jumping off midstream for a quick, refreshing dip. She found out how fish can be collected in the rice paddy fields. Even the time her brother was bitten by a snake (he survived!) has become a treasured memory. Having no toys and just relying on their own imaginations made it a magical time for the children is Val’s extended family.

When Val was approaching her teens, she moved to the UK to live with her mother. For Val, it was not the easiest of transitions. In the UK in the 1970’s her initial lack of facility with the English language was not addressed and she very much found herself in a “sink or swim” situation, uncomfortable with the feeling that she was floundering. History and geography lessons were a nightmare, Val only truly enjoying more manual subjects such as cooking and textiles where her limited English was not such a critical issue. She was naturally a timid girl but her discomfort led to her becoming more rebellious and bunking off lessons during the day, only returning to school at day’s end to be collected by her mother at the school gates. Val came close to giving up on several occasions but eventually left school at 16 with her GSCEs. She then completed first a business studies course at college, then one in textiles and fashion design. Val would have loved to pursue her interest in fashion with further studies in the industry in London but she didn’t have the heart to ask her mother to fund yet more education, so she got a job instead.

Her job was quite a prestigious one, in a Laura Ashley boutique on Fulham Road in the trendy area of London. Val divulged that her true claim to fame is that she served Lady Diana Spencer on more than one occasion in the boutique as she shopped in the presence of her bodyguard, her relationship with the then Prince Charles having become public knowledge. Val worked for 18 months for Laura Ashley before moving on to another fashion company then taking an administrative office-based job for two years to put her business qualifications to good use. It taught her that she actually was not cut out for the office environment as she found it incredibly boring.

Val considers her well-trained palate one of her most valuable assets. Val was dating a Jewish man and a friend of a friend, hearing of Val’s Thai cooking skills, asked her to cater his Shabbat meal one Friday evening. He asked for something more interesting than the traditional chicken as protein, Val gave him mouth-watering roast duck instead, word got around and the beginning of Val’s culinary career took off. By coincidence she was made redundant soon after, so was lucky to have a clear path in front of her. Val has worked as a private chef, in a restaurant and as chef in her own restaurant and undertook further training in other cuisines including British, Italian and French, capitalizing on her natural palate. Val’s younger son Luke seems to have inherited his mother’s genes when it comes to food, currently working as chef on a super yacht.

Val’s Jewish boyfriend became her husband six years into their relationship when she married him at the age of 28, but not before her religious conversion so she and her partner could be married in the synagogue. It will likely surprise even those who have known Val since her arrival in Hua Hin in January 2026 that she is a Thai/British Jewish/Buddhist, but that is indeed the case. Whereas Judaism is a religion, Buddhism is a collection of spiritual beliefs and practices and the two are not mutually exclusive. Val’s Jewish first husband is the father of her two cherished sons, Olly (Oliver), an academically talented child who now works for a hedge fund, and Luke, the aforementioned super yacht chef. Val’s marriage ended in 2004, not at her instigation.

In 2008, Val met her now-husband Richard and they began their relationship. Though committed to each other, both having previous failed marriages meant they were in no rush. The pair eventually married in 2018, with Richard already firmly established as a father-figure, particularly to Luke. Around six years ago, Val and Richard decided that Val would open her own restaurant, in a pub. During the Covid pandemic, Val’s cooking from home had been in high demand in the local community. Val had been working in a film studio prior to Covid but the lockdowns brought that to a standstill, although Richard was able to continue his work in IT from home. The pair could see a future in the food industry so Val’s Thai was born and flourished.

The folk of Hua Hin owe a debt of gratitude to Richard since his was the impetus that led to the pairs’ move back to Thailand. Richard is a bit older than Val and he retired but she was still working long hours with the restaurant, which, although it was doing well, meant they had no real life together as a couple. With some trepidation but no real regret, the decision was taken in October 2024 and Val’s Thai closed its doors for the final time that December. January 2025 saw the pair arrive in Thailand on three-month tourist visas with the intention of finding their forever-home. Other Thai destinations might have whiter beaches or more majestic scenery, but it was Hua Hin which grew on Val, it being in her Goldilocks zone of having a bit of everything and in addition being close to her extended family still in Petchaburi.

Val also felt an emotional connection to Hua Hin as her maternal grandfather worked for a time as the station doctor at the historic Hua Hin station. Seeing if archival records reveal more information about his life and work in Hua Hin is definitely on Val’s to-do list, and the home construction on land purchased in July this year is progressing well. To ice the cake, Val’s mother only recently divulged that Val was indeed conceived in Hua Hin, the last piece of Val’s foundation in Hua Hin. After just a few months in Thailand, with Hua Hin the preferred location, Val and Richard were headed back to the UK to sell up and embark on their new life in Thailand.

A new house is not the only thing that needed to be built. Val needed to officially re-establish her Thai identity, something that can be easier said than done. A visit with a friend to municipal offices in the particular area where Val was born, sorting through piles of documents that particular shade of yellowish-brown that comes with age, yielded the prize of her birth certificate. However, the issue faced further complication since the birth details were registered without a first name, presumably because the final decision about the baby’s name had not been made. The moment Val finally had her official Thai identity card in her hand was tinged with both pride and relief, because it means she can legally work and own land and property, making her life in Thailand so much easier.

Although at the moment Val is no-longer engaged in full-time employment, it would be a mistake to think that she is retired. Another door is being flung open, and emerging is Val the Thai entrepreneur. Val plans to capitalise on her talents and skills in two separate yet associated ways. Her aunt and a group of friends are keen to stay healthy by learning how to cook Thai food using clean, natural ingredients, so Val is making plans for cooking classes for both Thais and foreigners. This concept has arisen out of Val’s own food requirements. Like 90% of Thais, she is lactose intolerant and is just glad she doesn’t seem to have a problem with goat’s cheese, which she adores. Val is also intolerant of MSG and is aware that the tastiest Thai dishes are often prepared with too much sugar and/or unhealthy oils.  This understanding has prompted Val to start making her own sauces, curry pastes, pickles, preserves and jams as well as herbal teas and drinks, using ingredients such as lotus root, ginger, butterfly pea, matcha and pandan. She has found a ready string of customers already among friends and acquaintances and, with the assistance of a colleague is now researching the possibility of larger-scale production based on her recipes. It is accurate to say that Val is even surprising herself. The more new challenges, the better for Val. As she will say, “What your mind believes, your body achieves”. Val has a habit of thinking big.

Her two boys are Val’s greatest gift and she admires the young men they have become immensely. She is as proud of their achievements as she is of her own. Val views her own greatest achievement is being able to return to Thailand half a century later and reconnect with her Thai heritage with such relative ease, even with reading and writing Thai language. This creative, funny and positive woman is both a force of nature and a breath of fresh air. Val is thankful for the unique and blessed upbringing she had which equipped her so well for the new life she is building, piece by piece, for herself in Hua Hin, Thailand. Her sole bucket-list item is to eventually get all her family gathered together under the one roof. For Val, that will be enough to live happily ever-after.