by Ariyada

Marion Vogt of Germany.
Husband: Michael, GM at Thai Garden Resort.
Children: One daughter: Desiree (Daisy) will be thirteen in October.
Present address: Thai Garden Resort, North Pattaya.
Occupation: Guest Relations Manager at Thai Garden Resort. Has worked for 19 years in the hotel industry, so far in every department already. In-between she had a boutique in Germany for three years before moving to Africa. Stopped working for two years to be with her daughter after she was born.
Hobbies: Most important hobby is her family life. She likes to spend quality time with Daisy and Michael. Loves to listen to music and reads a lot of books in her spare time. Likes to stroll around the markets - always looking for a bargain (one can say this is her favorite hobby).
Sports: Snow skiing - although even if she lived in Germany she would (probably) still prefer swimming.
Loves to do more active sports, like aerobics or working out in a gym, but that would take too much time away that she can spend with her family.
Stay in Pattaya: Since 1990 and hopes to stay here for a long, long time to come.
Plans for future traveling: Would like to visit Hawaii to watch the waves and the surfers, or to go to a tropical paradise like Mystique or the Virgin Islands just to relax, but before that she’d like to go travel around Australia in a big motor-home - drive around and stay for a while wherever and however long she likes.
What she likes about Pattaya: The incredible speed in which Pattaya develops. When she arrived seven years ago she had to go to Bangkok to buy decent clothes and cosmetics - now one gets everything. Staying near the beach and still having the choice of a big city in terms of choosing restaurants which are many times better than in Europe; going shopping or looking for some other entertainment like one of the many movie theaters; the big choice of pubs - mostly happy to have a very nice one in their hotel. The friendliness of the Thai people. All her very good friends she’s made over the years and that many of them are Thai people. The way how these friends accept her and consider her to be family, even though she’s a Farang. To be able to get Thai food at any place and at any time. The weather - even though it’s still sometimes too cold for her. The many cats and birds she’s got in the hotel. Her Volkswagen Beetle - her very first ‘own’ car ever.
What she doesn’t like about Pattaya: Sometimes the slow way things get done. The sex-trade - but she would condemn it in every town. Otherwise no complaints. She used to stay in Africa for a few years - Pattaya is, according to her, a paradise in comparison.
What she thinks about life in general in Pattaya: I love the life here. I love Pattaya. I chose to live here, nobody made me do it. Not even my husband, since he wouldn’t have accepted his job if I wouldn’t have liked it. Many people complain about the lack of ‘cultural life’, but Bangkok is not far away. In the evenings you don’t need more than two hours to get there. That’s exactly the time I would need in Europe to go anywhere. Also in Europe not many people have a Convention Center or a Music House next door. All in all, I do accept my life and the life-style here and I chose it for the different life-style. It’s certainly not as stuck up as in Europe. Thais think more positive about life than any European nationality I can think of. Thais are not as prejudiced as other nations. Nobody here cares if one is Buddhist, Muslim, Christian or from Timbuktu, they take people the way they are, even those who come to Thailand and expect everything to be the same as in ‘good ol’ Europe’. I do enjoy living here and I truly hope it will be for a long time.