Marcel: “We met in the city, while going out, in the late nineties.”
Paitoon: “I had already been in the Netherlands for a few years. At first I was with another man, but that was over.”
Marcel: “Paitoon [spreek uit: Paitoen] lived with friends around the corner, in Amsterdam. So that’s where he had to go. I asked: can I give you a ride? On the back of the bicycle. Of course he never visited his friends!”
Paitoon: “Those were the last wild years in Amsterdam. I went everywhere. Roxy, It, Exit. The Cockring in the Warmoesstraat. Dirty Dick. That’s where it happened. Disco, darkroom. That’s where the action was.”
Marcel: “Paitoon was the wilder of the two. I was never that wild.”
Paitoon: “When I met Marcel, I didn’t think he was Dutch. British or something. Then it turned out he was Dutch.”
Marcel: “Paitoon had to leave the country. He only had three or four weeks left. We didn’t know each other at all. Then we started the procedure. First a tourist visa for three months. And then the real procedure, which took six or eight months.”
Paitoon: “I had to go back to Thailand and wait until it was arranged. But Marcel came to visit me there.”
Marcel: “I was welcomed almost like a son by his family in a suburb of Bangkok. They even built an extra bedroom for us.”
Paitoon: “We fell in love. And we are still in love, 27 years later. We got married in 2010.”
Marcel: “In 1999 he came to live with me, here in the Hoofddorppleinbuurt.”
Paitoon: “I then worked as a chef at Thai snack bar Bird on the Zeedijk.”
Marcel: “I went to hotel school and always worked in restaurants. In London, the South of France, South Africa, on Bonaire. I worked everywhere, from Michelin restaurant to station restaurant and party boat. But I wanted to open my own place and once I went with Toon, it of course became a Thai restaurant.”
Around two or three o’clock in the morning I eat Thai food from the restaurant. And then I go back to bed
Lucky letter
Paitoon: “Then, after some searching, we found this place in the Jordan and we immediately knew: this is it. I shouted: oh, my god, this is my place! I then chose the name Ko Chang.”
Marcel: “Toon said: the name must start with a K – because that is his lucky letter.”
Paitoon: “Ko Chang is an island in Thailand. It means Elephant Island.”
Marcel: “I had heard of it, but we had never been there. Then we went. It is beautiful.”
Paitoon: “When we opened, everyone brought a stuffed elephant, big and small.”
Marcel: “But those little ones took people with them. Now we only have the big elephants.”
Paitoon: “We decorated it like a living room.”
Marcel: “I think it is very important to have a chat with customers. And also fun.”
Paitoon: “He used to do that even more. Now I see him sitting quietly more often.”
Marcel: “Yes, I’m getting older, aren’t I.”
Paitoon: “He used to be a bit more hyperactive.”
Marcel: “My sister runs the restaurant when we are not there. For example, when we are in Thailand. We have had a house there since 2009. We go twice a year for two or three weeks. Always in November, and then again in March or August, for example. I like everything there. The weather, the food, the people, the prices, the service. It is gay friendlywhich is probably related to Buddhism. People respect each other and live together peacefully.”
Toon likes CSI-like shit and I watch it too
Paitoon: “Every afternoon around three o’clock we go to the restaurant. We open at half past five. The kitchen is open until half past nine.”
Marcel: “Then we drink a glass of wine before we go home. Then we discuss the day. Did you see that crazy customer at that table over there? That kind of thing. Then we go home and watch TV for another hour, with a glass of wine. Toon likes CSI-like shit and I watch it too. We go to bed around half past one, an hour.”
Paitoon: “Marcel sometimes a little later. Yesterday he came to bed at half past one.”
Marcel: “We get up around ten o’clock. Yes, we are night people. Toon always gets up in the middle of the night to eat. Around two or three o’clock.”
Paitoon: “Then I eat Thai food from the restaurant. And then I go back to bed.”
Marcel: “We don’t do sports. We like to go for walks to the park.”
Paitoon: “We also walk a lot when we are on holiday. And the work in the kitchen is very physically demanding, so that is also a kind of sport.”
Marcel: “We have no other hobbies. The restaurant is our love and our hobby.”
Paitoon: “But we are going to stop.”
Marcel: “It’s getting too hard. We’re both around 65.”
Paitoon: “I am 67, Marcel 64.”
Marcel: “Do we look younger? That’s because we have each other. You should do things you like. We like to travel, making love [het interview is in het Engels omdat dat makkelijker is voor Paitoon]enjoy life.”
Paitoon: “And sitting on the street, people watching – we both love that.”
All expats
Marcel: “Our restaurant feels to us like a local bar in the Jordaan. We have a lot of contact with neighbors. They come by to say hi, to drink a glass of wine, often not even to eat. You have more of that conviviality in the Jordaan than here in the Hoofddorppleinbuurt. Here they are all expats. I have been living in this neighborhood since 1968. I came to live here when I was seven, with my mother, in the same building even, but on a lower floor. floor. You knew everyone in the street. Now I don’t know my neighbors. New expats move in every three or four months. There is no interaction, no cohesion, nothing. But it is still a wonderful neighborhood to live in.
Paitoon: “I love the Isaan cuisine from Northeast Thailand, near Laos, the most. No curries, more salads. And even spicier. The papaya salad is my favorite.”
Marcel: “We are now talking to a real estate agent. We have no idea what will come here. Maybe a coffee shop, because there aren’t any yet, right? Except on every street corner. With gluten-free croissants. Yes, that makes us sad.”
Paitoon: “Customers say: we don’t want you to leave!”
Marcel: “Whether we are not afraid of falling into a black hole? We will see. It will certainly be different. We will first go to Thailand, for three months or so. On the beach with a mai tai. Let’s see how it is to be in Thailand for a longer period of time. I want to learn more about AI, I love cooking. I don’t think I will get bored.”
Paitoon: “I’m not going to do anything, just relax and travel. Vietnam, Indonesia. Maybe I’ll do volunteer work. Help people. Or send things from Thailand.”
Marcel: “We will manage to find something to do.”
In short
Marcel Busser (64) and Paitoon Tonswai (67) live in Amsterdam and have a Thai restaurant in the Jordaan. They have been together for 27 years, married since 2010 and have a house in Thailand. They love to travel, eat and drink. They will soon close their restaurant because it is becoming too heavy. Together they earn twice the average.
What is your last Tikkie sent?
Marcel: “I hardly send Tikkies. I believe the last one was for a dinner with friends.”
Weekly shopping or going to the supermarket every day?
Paitoon: “Every day, sometimes twice a day. Then I have already been and Marcel goes again for something else that I have forgotten.
What’s your last biggest expense?
Marcel: “Tickets to Thailand in November.”
Second-hand or rather new?
Paitoon: “New – I don’t like it when someone has already used it. We want to be the first.”
How often do you clean the house?
“Two days a week,” says Paitoon. “I do everything in the household. Marcel doesn’t do anything. Just the paperwork, the administration. I do the rest. Cleaning. The laundry. Marcel doesn’t do it the way I want. Then I look at it and say: never mind, I’ll do it. Otherwise I’ll have to do it all over again.”
Marcel: “But he still loves me.”
Paitoon: “That’s right.”
What was really a bad buy?
“A Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner. The battery was broken after two months.”
Who decides what you will eat?
Paitoon: “Marcel what he eats and me what I eat. We both cook separately. I always eat Thai.”
Marcel: “I mainly like other things. When we are in the restaurant, I often get something from the supermarket. A stew, lasagna, a sandwich.”
Paitoon: “He can’t handle the spicy stuff.”
Marcel: “I only eat Thai twice a week and not so spicy indeed. Cashew chicken or something.”
What do you feel guilty about spending money on?
Marcel: “Nothing.”
What are you saving for?
Marcel: “Traveling and eating out.”
Paitoon: “But I don’t like fancy restaurants. I don’t feel comfortable there. They are so on your lip, that irritates me. We like good food – cozy, not fancy.”
Best tip for household or finances?
Marcel: “Enjoy your life! At least, if you can afford it. We have a good life and don’t have to turn over every cent. So for us it’s easy to say: enjoy life! For many people that is more difficult.”
