by Dr. Iain
Corness
They
say Pattaya has its fair share of movers and shakers. Kim Fletcher has to
be one of them - having come from almost seven years at Shenanigans to now
open Jameson’s, the new Irish pub on Soi AR, next to Nova Park.
Kim, the gregarious landlord, is well known to almost
everyone who has read a Pattaya Mail (and that is everyone in
Pattaya), or who has been known to enjoy a drink (and that is ‘almost’
everyone in Pattaya), but a brief recap on his history (as far as he
allows us to know it) is in order.
Kim Fletcher’s parents were publicans, and Kim was
actually born in their pub in Kent in the UK. On the 24th of July 1956,
his mother (AKA Edna, the Queen of Maidstone) got everything ready for the
lunch trade and then ten minutes before closing time had Kim. To celebrate
the event, his father gave out free drinks for those ten minutes, being
thankful that Edna hadn’t dropped him ten minutes after opening!
His early leanings were towards cooking and he went off
to become a chef. During his time in college he saw many new graduates
going into the hotel industry, instead of the kitchens. “I decided to
stay in the kitchen, rather than become a dogsbody in a hotel,” said
Kim. He believes this decision worked out well for him later. “If you
can run a kitchen, you can run anything. Producing the goods on a mass
scale - and on time.”
The kitchen discipline that he learned from his tutors
is something that Kim stresses, “It’s the ‘mis-en-place’
principle.” It is this fact of getting everything ready (put in its
place), that allows Kim to appear relaxed in the evenings (he’s not, by
the way) when holding court at the bar. “If everything’s not ready,
that’s when it becomes hard work!” says Kim.
Kim’s entry into the Pattaya scene was around ten
years ago, after some hilarious antics in the Middle East (let him tell
you himself one day) and a certain notorious soi in Bangkok, but he firmly
believes Pattaya is where he will stay, and Jameson’s will be his final
resting place. “I’ve grown old in Pattaya,” says Kim, while in the
next breath saying, “This is a fresh challenge for me. I’m a 50
percent shareholder in Jameson’s, so you won’t get me out of here with
a stick of dynamite. I was born in a pub and I’ll die in a pub,” said
Kim with an air of finality.
But will that pub really be Jameson’s, I asked him.
Will there be another one? “There never will be a Jameson’s II,”
said Kim emphatically. “I like running pubs, and I can only be in one
pub at a time.” All very logical, if there is such a thing as logic in
this man’s busy life.
And he certainly is busy. We all tend to work longer
hours in Thailand than we did in our home countries, and for Kim Fletcher
this is the same, but even more so. Previously he (conservatively)
estimated he did 72 hours a week, but that work included split shifts and
getting home at around 3 a.m. every morning after the pub shuts. Of those
72 hours, roughly four hours a day are spent on administrative duties.
That was before the final countdown to the opening of Jameson’s
‘official’ opening on Friday 21. In this frantic time he is working
night and day, and even during the hour of the interview he was also
fielding several telephone calls, shelling out money for equipment being
delivered, deflecting salesmen, correcting the menu and answering staff
queries.
I suggested to Kim the work load was now really too
much, but he disagreed. “The work load? You have to bathe in it! There
are millions of people all over the world who want a job like mine. You
don’t have to go and see the world, because the world comes to you when
you’ve got a pub!”
Have you then ever wondered just how Landlord Kim
manages to remember everyone’s drinks? Here is his secret revealed. “I
give people nicknames that incorporates their drink. Like Heineken Phil or
Gin and Tonic Terry.” So there you are, Margarita Marjorie, claim your
drinks now.
However, since he is now 48 years old, I asked him how
long he thought he could keep going. “I can’t see why it should ever
end. Right now it’s frantic, but after you’re established it should
just roll along. I don’t think landlords ever retire, they just fade
away.”
Nevertheless, he does admit to some ‘pre-opening’
nerves. “This is the first opening of a pub that I’ve done. It
terrifies the life out of me. It’s like sitting at home having organized
your own birthday bash, ordered the food, bought the drinks - but will
anyone turn up?” He continued, “What I need is some ‘lucky dust’
to sprinkle over everything to make sure it goes OK.”
When the frantic nature of his life settles somewhat,
he is looking forward to playing golf again, this time with his own
pub’s golf society (JIGS - I’ll let you work out what it means).
“This means I get to play every second week,” said Kim. He also enjoys
playing cricket, which came as a surprise. “I play with the Jameson’s
Malakas - annually. That’s how long it takes me to bowl an over!” said
Kim, showing that he was not too serious about his prowess with either bat
or ball.
As this item was written before the official opening of Kim’s new
venture, I personally hope that the beer was delivered on time, along with
the spirits, the tables and chairs, the woks, the TV sets, the glasses and
plates and cutlery, and the cash registers, none of which seemed to be
there when we did the interview together! And perhaps even more
importantly, a large bag of ‘lucky dust’! I reckon Kim deserves it.
