Domenic Barth

One of the partners in the new Casa Pascal fine dining restaurant is Domenic Barth, a young man with an infectious smile who admits that, “...in my whole life, I’ve been a lucky guy.” And when you look at his history, it is a tale which had all the potential for disaster but was changed by Lady Luck.

Domenic was born in Pusan in South Korea and spent his first two years in an orphanage. Then Lady Luck stepped in. A Swiss couple were looking for a younger brother as company for their own son who was three years old. The orphanage picked a boy aged six to join the Swiss family, only to re-read the requirements and replace the elder orphan with a younger one - the boy who was to become Domenic Barth.

Domenic’s new mother and father made no secret of the adoption process and have always explained his origins to the young boy who now settled into the Barth family with his elder “brother”. “We were brothers like all brothers. Happy times and fights, but he was a protective brother.”

Having an Asian face in a small European community was no problem for Domenic at school, though he admits that there were times when some adults showed some racial discrimination. Having a father who was by then the Lord Mayor of St. Moritz probably helped too.

The times filled with didactic education were not Domenic’s finest hours. “School was never my favourite, but I’m glad I finished it.” Sport was much more in his blood, and he became a member of the Swiss National Junior Ice Hockey team - a most unlikely pastime for a lad from Pusan!

After his formal education was over he joined the workforce, in an office. The plan was for two years work experience, but after 12 months Domenic cried enough and he remembered the good times he had as a barman on the ski slopes during his vacations and decided to go to a Hotel Management School in Switzerland, where he stayed for the next three and a half years.

In the final year before graduation he began to look at his possibilities and he decided he wanted to go to California, having been previously sent to America for a short period for English language training schools. However, no prospects were immediately available in the USA, and when a friend arranged an appointment with Kurt Rufli, the general manager of the Amari Group in Thailand, Domenic took any position that he was offered and ended up with a six month stint at the Amari Orchid Resort in Pattaya.

It was here that he met a man who was going to be a mentor - the GM of the Amari Orchid, Pierre-Andre Pelletier. It was Pierre-Andre who could see that this young man, with his excellent English language skills could be an asset to the resort and so when his contract finished assisted him into the post of executive assistant manager here.

Domenic remembered his first Xmas here in 1997. “It was my first Xmas without snow!” He survived the loss of the ski slopes and then spent the next three years with the Amari Orchid here.

Again it was during this time that Pierre-Andre had a moulding influence on his career. He advised his young executive assistant manager to make contact with the new executive chef at the Dusit Resort next door. Why? This man, Pascal Schnyder, was also Swiss, but originally a Korean orphan as well.

It was Pascal who made the first contact however, in their common language - Swiss German. Neither could converse in the native language of the country of their births. With their similar origins and childhoods they hit it off and in October last year Domenic left the Amari group to help Pascal set up their new joint venture - Casa Pascal. The two “bananas” as Pascal calls them, “Yellow on the outside and white on the inside” were ready to take the plunge. And it has been an instant “hit” which the happy faced Domenic is happy to record. “We took the risk. It has been worth it.”

For Domenic, success is, “To be happy with what you do. A high salary is not success if you don’t like what you’re doing. I am very happy here with Pascal and Kim (Pascal’s Korean wife and the 3rd partner).”

Domenic’s advice for those contemplating the restaurant business is, “Get a proper education first. Then get experience and expertise in accounting and how to deal with staff.”

When I asked him how he saw himself he was charmingly frank and direct. “I am me. The passport is Swiss. My parents have said why don’t I go to Korea and learn about the land of my birth, but I’m not interested. I have my parents. I have my brother. I was lucky with my destiny - I took the right family! I’m intelligent, I’m healthy and I’ve got some talents. I’ve had it easier than many people.”

His ambition is simple. “I just want to be happy and satisfied with what I do, and I want to do it good. I really want to bring Casa Pascal to a higher level, to be recognised in Bangkok and then in the world. I know this is a high target, but if you don’t have them (high targets) you won’t reach even the lower ones.”

Fate certainly smiled on a small, orphaned Korean boy from Pusan, who in turn will bring good fortune to his business venture here. It must be written in his stars! It was a pleasure to have lunch with you, Domenic Barth.

A golf talk with Richard Livingston

by Mike Franklin

This golf interview featured another of the golfing personalities of Pattaya, but this time a teacher and occasional player - European PGA Professional, Richard Livingston.

MF: Richard, where are you from originally, and when did you first take up golf?

RL: Originally, I’m from a town called Kidderminster, just south of Birmingham in England and first took up golf at the age of eight.

MF: Not as young as Tiger, but good enough... Are you from a family of golfers?

Richard Livingston

RL: Yes my mother and father played.

MF: Now I know you have been both a Club and Touring Professional. Which came first?

RL: Club Professional, first as an Assistant Pro. Then Club Professional when I started to play in some regional PGA tournaments, mainly in the Birmingham area at Edgebaston, Solihull and other courses.

MF: You did some tour play as well - which tours did you take part in?

RL: Mainly regional. There wasn’t a PGA School in those days so you had to enter an event through the venue and get in through a qualifying tournament. But I played the European Opens, the French, Spanish, Italian and so on.

MF: So you really had to earn your stripes to play locally.

RL: And nationally as well.

MF: You have been playing golf for more than 40 years, so you must have some outstanding memories in your career of playing with some of the big names in golf.

RL: Yes, I was fortunate to have played with the likes of Gary Player and I remember going for a practice round at one of the Opens in 1971, walked to the tee with my caddy, saw Gary Player and Mike Souchak approaching, and said to my caddy we had better step down. Oh no, he replied, you’re playing with them. So I had a most delightful round with Gary Player, and then a bit later on I had the real joy of playing an exhibition match with Lee Trevino who is just as charming on the course as off.

MF: Chatty?

RL: Yes, but he made everyone feel so comfortable

MF: I believe you played four times in The Open (sometimes referred to as the British Open, but I remember Tommy Horton, representing the European Tour at a charity pro-am prize giving I was doing at the RAC Club, being quite specific that it was THE Open). Where were those four occasions?

RL: Carnoustie in 1968; at Lytham St. Annes in 1969 when Tony Jacklin won; in 1970 at St. Andrews when Jack Nicklaus won in a playoff against Doug Sanders who missed a short putt at the 18th; and at Royal Birkdale in 1971 when Lee Trevino won.

MF: And I recall you telling me in an interview nearly a year ago about your better than average score at the infamous 17th Road Hole at St. Andrews.

RL: Well I managed in four days to get two fours and two fives, which averages 4.5 and I think the average overall is 4.6

MF: That’s something to be proud of, as it is a fascinating hole to watch being played and if you score well you must be really pleased. How long have you been in Thailand, and what brought you here?

RL: I’ve been here seven years and the way I came here is an interesting story. I was feeling a bit depressed with the British economy and a very good friend of mine, Stephen Beard one day visiting the UK from Thailand, said get yourself some spending money, come back, stay with me, play some golf and see how you like it. So I took courage in both hands, booked a flight and within two days of playing golf, decided to move here.

MF: You’re now resident in Pattaya and never far away from golf as you live at the Diana Garden Lodge in North Pattaya and are the resident PGA teaching professional at the Diana Group Driving Range there. You hold an official current European PGA card. Very important to have that as it is proof of your qualification. Tell me a bit about your work there and the type of students that you teach. I hear stories about people retiring here at the age of fifty five and taking up golf - is this right?

RL: If you retire it’s a wonderful game to play. So I start people off at any age to play within their physical capabilities to make sure they make progress and get the maximum enjoyment. We have a full facility at the Diana Range for putting, pitching and bunker play. Target greens and lovely trees, which is quite unusual for a driving range. Plus 300 yards length to take care of the long hitters.

MF: People say to me, ‘surely you’re not going to talk about young Thai lady golfers again’. Well I am, because out here we have a lot of young Thai ladies who have taken the game up and seem to have a natural talent. Richard, you teach them and you now have low handicap Thai ladies who you have taught from the start. What is it that enables these Thai women to take the game up so well?

RL: I think physically they are well suited, they are very strong and I think the thing about Asian people is that they are great mimics. They can watch somebody swing the club well and copy that. They also learn very quickly and easily pick things up. The popularity of golf is increasing so there are more and more all the time. A classic example, Mike, is your good lady Banjob who has got her handicap down to 25, is an enthusiastic competitor and knows the game.

MF: Have you ever had a hole-in-one?

RL: I’ve had eight! Unfortunately never on an occasion where I could win a car or a lot of money. I had a hole-in-one in a practice round, and had it been in the tournament itself I would have won a car.

MF: You’re a professional, you play off scratch, what is your best round ever - and where was that?

RL: It was in the Midlands in England - I shot a 61 with nine pars and nine birdies.

MF: As we know, to live here is to be in a golfers’ paradise with 19 courses to choose from, and most designed by the big name architects. Which four do you rate as the best?

RL: That’s a difficult one. Laem Chabang immediately comes to mind; Khao Kheow; Bangpra, and after that there are so many good ones to choose from.

MF: Visitors to the area for the first time, and maybe on subsequent visits, seem to have a problem playing to their home club handicap. Why is that? Given that they must play off their lowest current handicap, there is maybe some aspect to the game here that needs special attention. What aspect of the game is it most important for the average golfer to practice here, given the excellent practice facilities we have at the courses and at the driving range?

RL: It’s difficult here. The grass is strong and the courses are very different. Bump and run is rarely an option , you have to fly the ball to the green but to stop it is not easy. The short game is the most important part of the game to practice. Seventy yards in and, of course, the putting.

MF: We watch a lot of golf on television on the various channels. Speaking from the professionals’ point of view, who is your favorite TV golf commentator?

RL: Without a doubt Peter Allis. A very intelligent man and a very good golfer in his day. He had a marvelous mentor in Henry Longhurst. His commentary and comments are informative and interesting for viewers who understand golf, and those who do not.

MF: Now, if you had the opportunity to play with any golfer, past or present, who would it be?

RL: It would have to be Jack Nicklaus. Seeing him in an Open, he was hitting the ball in those days as far as Tiger Woods hits the ball today. A fantastic ball striker, a wonderful man and a nice temperament.