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Caption: MUSEUM BUFF Rosalin Montrisuksirikul,
who owns Ayuthaya - The Royal Thai Spa, feels right
at home in Singapore. Among other things, the Thai
national is ethnic Chinese and comes from a Teochew family.
Image by: ST PHOTO - WANG HUI FEN
MS ROSALIN Montrisuksirikul remembers the day she came to Singapore for a job interview vividly. It was seven years ago and she had just finished her interview at a hotel here and was unwinding with a drink at Boat Quay. She looked across the river bank and saw the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles.
'I thought to myself then, I really want to move here,' said the 37-year-old Thai, who is single.
Singapore just felt right: Her father had spent all his teenage years studying here and had picked up some local habits, like eating toast with sliced butter instead of spreading it.
'I thought that was strange, until I moved here, had kaya toast for the first time and realised, oh gosh, that's exactly how my dad eats his toast.'
She happens to share the same birthday as Raffles too - July 6.
Today, the Singapore permanent resident, who is ethnic Chinese and comes from a Teochew family, can proudly say she enjoys Kumar's jokes, bak kut teh and museum jaunts.
When homesickness strikes, she hops on a plane and is back at her family home in Bangkok in under four hours.
The Les Roches School of Hotel Management graduate gave up her hotel management job in 2004 to pursue a lifelong dream of running her own business.
A Thai spa was an obvious choice - home massages have become her routine since she was 15.
Ayuthaya - The Royal Thai Spa now has two outlets, one at Gallery Hotel and one at Negara On Claymore hotel.
The spa offers traditional Thai massage and the Royal massage, recommended only for those with a high threshold for pain.
Q: Where do you go to nurse your homesickness in Singapore?
A: I don't intentionally seek out Thai friends. In fact, I have only one Thai friend whom I met in my third year here, but lots of very good Singaporean friends.
Having said that, when I miss Thai food, I head to this stall on the second floor of Orchard Towers run by Thais. They cater mostly to the ladies who work there in the evenings and the food is very authentic.
My favourite is chicken with basil leaves and fried egg or Gai Pad Grapow. Tom Yam Goong or hot and sour shrimp soup is good too.
Q: Truth be told, why should one pay S$100 for a one-hour massage when one can get some good kneading for S$10 at Patong beach?
A: A S$100 massage in Singapore is very reasonable. If you go to a five-star hotel in Bangkok, you pay US$150 (S$227).
It's like asking why pay S$5 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks when you can get good coffee at a neighbourhood coffeeshop for 80 Singapore cents. It's about selling a lifestyle, a service, the whole package.
Q: Singaporeans go to Bangkok for only three things: shopping, eating and massage. Surely there's much more the city has to offer?
A: What I like to do is take my car and drive to the old part of town around the Grand Palace. It might not show up on your tourist map but explore the little lanes, eat by the roadside stalls - if you have a strong stomach - and look beyond the neon signboards at the architecture. Some of the buildings are over 200 years old. Have coffee by the river and observe how the Thais live along that thoroughfare.
Q: What's the biggest misconception people have of Thai women?
A: Thais are easy-going by nature, so foreigners sometimes think Thai women are that way, too, and try to take advantage of us. I have to be very firm. I'm lucky because I can communicate in English. I don't blame them. As they say, it takes two to tango. Some Thais haven't been exposed to the world, so when they see a foreigner, they treat him like God.
We have a monarchy so we know how to be respectful. We treat foreigners as our guests. Beyond that, it's really up to the individual.
Q: Singaporeans inevitably stream to Hat Yai, Bangkok and Phuket when they want a holiday in Thailand. But tell us a little-known holiday paradise we ought to explore.
A: Trang in the south is a beautiful coastal province which is very good for diving. There's an emerald island which is shaped like a doughnut. You have to take a boat in, but once you're in there, you're confronted with immense beauty - a beach with powdery sand, slopes in the backdrop and emerald waters.
If the south is not for you, Mae Hong Son in the north is a picturesque mountainous province. You will have to get to Chiang Mai first, then take a smaller plane there.
Q: Singapore's service standards come under flak every now and then. The Thais' hospitality, by contrast, is world-renowned. What can this country's service people learn from you?
A: It has to come from within. You have to care about a person and once you do, the hospitality will come naturally.
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Ms. Rosalin is my eldest sister and I would like to congratulate her and wish her well on this little blog. So proud to have you as a sister!
Anyone visiting Singapore can visit one of her outlets - Ayuthaya - The Royal Thai Spa
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