Rafael Hirsch
by Dr. Iain Corness
Do the French really say “Oo
La La!” at any opportune moment? I rang Rafael Hirsch, the resident
manager of the Nova Lodge Hotel to ask him to be this week’s local
personality and the reply was “Oo La La”! From that alone, I knew he was
French, even overlooking the accent!
Rafael does come from France, near the German border, which goes a long
way towards explaining his Germanic surname, though Rafael himself is
second generation French. His parents were both hairdressers, and it
would be difficult to think of a career further removed from hotel
management. In fact, that comparison was one reason that sent him
towards the hospitality industry. When he finished school, his father
said, “Do you want to cut hair, or to travel?” Since the only way the
young Rafael could see to travel was through hotel management, the die
was cast. He became a student; not in France, but in Switzerland. He had
already started thinking of his future. “If you want to progress
quickly, you have to have a Swiss Hotel Management diploma.” That took
up the next two and a half years.
However, during this time he also became more aware of Thailand, and not
for the usual reasons young men become attracted to this country. Rafael
was a Muay Thai fighter, and he visited Thailand to prove himself to the
Muay Thai exponents in Europe, there being some obvious cachet to be
able to say you had fought in the country of origin of the sport. As
proof, he showed me the scars on his elbow and scalp! After a few of
these visits he decided that he wanted to come back to Thailand and work
here, citing the mentality of the Thai people, the food, the welcoming
nature – and the Muay Thai.
After receiving his diploma, he did indeed come to Thailand looking for
work, but there was nothing being offered to the new graduate. Staying
in Asia, he found a position in Bali where he was then centered for the
next eight months. During that time he learned Indonesian, to add to his
native French and his German and English. As an aside, he did admit that
French people have an unfortunate concept that French is the ‘lingua
franca’ of the world, which it is not!
However, after the balmy climes of Bali he was to receive his call-up
papers for the French military service and he returned to France. This
first month was “one month of hell” according to Rafael, where he was
taught everything about weapons training, but after that, for the next
nine months he was made a Mess Officer where he ran a small hotel for
visiting top brass.
Having completed his national service responsibilities he began to look
to see where he could make some better wages, the French military not
being the most generous of employers. He wanted to travel (the reason
why he was not a hairdresser like his father) and so he moved to
Switzerland again. This was not because he wanted to play an alphorn,
but rather because wages in Switzerland were three times those in
France. For the next 14 months he worked as a night shift manager in a
hotel. “I never saw the daylight for all that time, but it was the way
to make some money.” He then secured work as a front office manager, but
since his visa only allowed him to stay in Switzerland for 18 months, it
was time to move on again. “I decided to pick up my bag and move to
Thailand.”
He arrived with his packed bag and high hopes of securing work, only to
be met with, “You are too young. You are not well enough experienced.”
After six months, it was apparent that there was nothing for him in
Bangkok, yet again.
But by now he knew some people in the industry and he was offered a
position in Phuket as an F&B coordinator. He worked there for eight
months, returning to Bangkok to look for the elusive positions there.
Still no luck, but he did make contact with the French ACCOR group and
was offered an executive assistant manager’s position on Koh Samui. This
did give him some valuable networking opportunities, and in the three
years he was there, he worked under three different general managers.
However, no matter how blissful life may be for the holidaymaker on a
tropical island, for a worker it was different. “It was hell,” said
Rafael. Difficult and expensive to leave the island, no supermarkets and
a feeling of being hemmed in, eventually drove him out of the tropical
paradise.
He joined the Novotel in Rayong, working for the next 18 months under
Dominic Barth (himself a ‘local personality’ subject some years ago when
he was working in Pattaya).
The next step in his life was momentous. Rony Fineman, the director of
the Nova Group, advertised for a resident manager for the Nova Lodge. He
needed an enthusiastic young man with experience, able to speak English
and German. It almost described Rafael to a ‘T’ and they met up in
Bangkok. “We had a good feeling together,” said Rafael. “It was being in
the right place at the right time. With Rony, he gave me a chance. This
has been the best chance in my life so far.”
Rafael sees the growth in Pattaya mirrored by the growth of the Nova
Group, and will be happy to grow himself, as the group expands.
Rafael Hirsch comes across as a young man very much at ease with himself
and content with his niche in life here in Pattaya. In many ways he has
probably fallen on his feet, or as he said, “Being in the right place at
the right time.” The Nova Group looks like being the right place for
many years to come. And the Muay Thai? Unfortunately, there’s not enough
time, and now he is a spectator.
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