From hairdresser to consul in Pattaya: a Swiss expat’s unlikely journey

Esther Kaufmann's travel agency in Pattaya is also home to the Swiss honorary consulate. It has become the central point of contact for many Swiss nationals. zVg

Series The Swiss honorary consuls, Episode 4:

In the coastal city of Pattaya in Thailand, Esther Kaufmann has become a trusted figure for many Swiss expatriates and retirees. After decades of volunteering, her commitment became official two years ago when she became Switzerland’s honorary consul on Thailand’s eastern seaboard.

When Esther Kaufmann opens the doors to her travel agency in Pattaya on Monday mornings, there are often people queuing outside. Many are older Swiss citizens, seasonal residents or long-stay expats. They come for help with paperwork, ask for assistance in dealing with the embassy or simply want someone willing to listen. Kaufmann makes time whenever she can.

Since 2023, the 66-year-old has served as Switzerland’s honorary consul in Pattaya. It is a role she never pursued but one that grew naturally out of decades of community engagement.

There is more to Pattaya than people think

Some 10,700 Swiss nationals live in Thailand, nearly two-thirds of them men. A large share of Swiss Abroad have settled along the country’s eastern seaboard around Pattaya.

For outsiders, the city is associated with long-standing clichés of nightlife, the sex industry, and Western men hoping for a fresh start.

Kaufmann believes the city has more to offer than its reputation suggests. “If you want bustle and nightlife, you will find it, but Pattaya also offers relaxation, nature, and clean air,” she says. For her, it is this mix, the sea on your doorstep and good local services, that makes the area appealing.

In her free time, Esther Kaufmann enjoys playing golf. zVg

From community work to public office

Kaufmann moved to Thailand in 1990 and settled in Pattaya in 2009. A hairdresser by training, she made a life for herself and set up a business here, and over the years became a key contact for Swiss nationals in the area. Her informal role as a community figure became official two years ago, when she was appointed Switzerland’s honorary consul.

“I was very honoured to be asked,” she says. The Swiss mission in Bangkok had apparently been aware for some time of the support she was providing to the Swiss in the region.

The road to becoming honorary consul was far from straightforward. There was a written application, a background check, Covid-era bureaucracy – and, ultimately, the signature of the Thai king. From the initial request in 2020 to her official appointment, the process took three years.

That a woman holds this role in a male-dominated city does not surprise Kaufmann. “There are many expat women here,” she says, and many turn to her for advice. “Just recently someone asked what would happen if she were to die alone at home,” Kaufmann recalls.

Dealing with death as a Swiss Abroad

Death looms large in Thailand, which has the world’s oldest community of Swiss citizens living abroad. There are many matters that need sorting out. “There are wills, advance directives for medical care, pension or widow’s pension claims. I try to raise awareness of these things whenever I can,” she says.

Herself a widow, Kaufmann recalls that in 2012, after already having lived for many years in Thailand with her husband, she “had to decide whether to stay or return and start over”. It quickly became clear that she would stay. “I have built up a network here, and with my travel agency, I have a purpose,” she says.

Thailand feels like home, “but I am and will always be Swiss,” she says.  She votes in federal elections whenever possible, “when the documents arrive in time”. She notes that Thailand’s postal service is unreliable.

Her daughter, who has a Thai passport, now lives in Switzerland with her children. At the moment, they would be the only reason Kaufmann might return. “If my daughter needed more help, I would think about moving back,” Kaufmann says. Otherwise, her future is in Pattaya. “Life is good here,” she says.

Even before she became Switzerland’s official representative, Kaufmann was visiting prisons, sometimes as often as once a week. “In the 1990s we once had as many as 44 German-speaking inmates in the Bangkok area,” she recalls.

Prison sentences were “extremely long” in those days, she says. As part of a local women’s group, she brought food, spoke with inmates and, on more than one occasion, likely helped save a life. She remembers a Swiss man with schizophrenia who finally received the medication he needed thanks to her help.

Pattaya is considered by many to be the epitome of Thai clichés: a party scene, a red-light district and Western men looking for a new way of life. EPA-EFE/NARONG SANGNAK

Since taking on the honorary consul role, she has stopped making these visits herself. “The Swiss mission in Thailand generally takes care of that now,” she says.

What is especially important to her is being present at funerals – mainly as a private person rather than in her capacity as honorary consul. “All administrative matters after death are handled by the embassy,” she says. All she can do is direct people to the right place. Still, she attends funerals whenever she can, “just so someone from Switzerland is there,” she adds.

Dedication that goes beyond normal office hours

Kaufmann devotes considerable time to her honorary consul duties, which are unpaid. In the busy months between October and April, so many Swiss visitors come to see her that she often only gets around to answering emails in the evenings. “As I live alone, it does not inconvenience anyone else,” she says. She is simply glad to be able to help.

What Kaufmann finds challenging are the expectations some people bring with them. She often has to explain that an honorary consulate is not an official office of the embassy. “At times I have wished I had a plexiglass barrier, like at an embassy counter,” she notes. But aside from some demanding inquiries, most visitors are appreciative.

When asked about the negative headlines involving Swiss nationals in Thailand in recent years, Kaufmann puts it plainly: “Yes, a few have behaved badly.” But overall, she says, Swiss citizens here are not usually the ones creating problems.

The Swiss Abroad in Thailand are a diverse group. “Some people live on as little as CHF1,200 ($1,500) a month,” Kaufmann says. Others are multimillionaires. Setting up a Swiss club which brings this mix together would be nearly impossible, which is why none has ever been established in Pattaya. The wide socioeconomic gap is a reminder of the importance of Kaufmann’s work at every stage of life.

Edited by Balz Rigendinger; adapted from German by David Kaufher/sb

Series The Swiss honorary consuls

• Episode 1: 1. Switzerland expands voluntary honorary consul network
• Episode 2: 2. Inside the unpaid mission of Switzerland’s consul in Morocco
• Episode 3: 3. The Swiss honorary consul in New Zealand on broadening his horizons 
• Episode 4: 4. From hairdresser to consul in Pattaya: a Swiss expat’s unlikely journey