Phuket Post :: Article

Seven years ago, Sue Ultmann decided it was time to retire.

Asia was in fact where her husband Tom and Sue had always wanted to live.

�And so we came to Asia.�

She was no stranger to the continent, as her high-profile media job with the number one travel publication in Australia- TravelWeek, sent her trotting frequently around the asian region.

As the advertising and marketing face of the company, she was constantly visiting city after city, making contacts, establishing relations, and by default, gradually familiarizing herself to a life in this neck of the woods.

After she shifted base here, Sue continued to work for an Australian publication for a number of years, until the company was sold, and then went on to work with other publications based in the region.

After stints in Malaysia and the Philipnes, Sue worked in Bangkok for about a year, where she helped launch the publication 'Big Chilli'.

�We came here about seven years ago, to retire and play golf, and go to the gym, and do all those sort of things,� says Sue, wryly.

�Then I was offered a job with the Baan Rim Pa group, to manage their advertising...this I thought, would be for about three months.�

Seven years on, retirement has faded into a pipe-dream, and Sue is very much at the helm of the Public Relations operations at the Baan Rim Pa group, (�the job has grown,�) and actively involved with all endeavours undertaken by the group.

Although Sue does manage to get to the gym and play some golf after all.

Baan Rim Pa's restaurants: Joe's Downstairs, the Da Maurizio, Joe's Karon and Baan Rim Pa- the restaurant, have enjoyed stupendous success over the years, and have become symbols for fine dining in Phuket.

After the success of the four restaurants, the group is poised to open their fifth on the island. The latest retaurant will boast a unique concept, just as the each of the others do. Jazz will be the mantra for this new one, with plans to bring in bands and artists from around the globe, to perform live at the venue.

�Here in Patong?� I enquire.

�Kalim,� says Sue, firmly, displaying the determined attitude towards her work that she is well-known for. �We consider ourselves to be in Kalim. We're very keen to distance ourselves from what goes on in Patong,� she explains.

�It's all happening now, the restaurant is coming together, it'll be on the absolute sea-front, with only the road separating it from the sea, a fantastic location, and we're hoping to have everything ready by December this year.�

No surprise there. The Baan Rim Pa group has a knack for finding spectacular locations for all their restaurants, no doubt a key reason for their continued success.

As we sip our drinks, we gaze over the stunning vistas from Joe's Downstairs where we're meeting with Sue. It's an overcast day, and huge mint green waves crash onto rocks.

I ask Sue what she would consider the other factors behind the success of the Baan Rim Pa restaurants.

�Great management, great food and consistent levels of quality service,� Sue enumerates. �These are key factors for the success of any restaurant anywhere.

�Restaurants are a very tough business.

�A lot of people are attracted by the glamorous side to the business, and how many times do you hear things like 'I'm opening a restaurant because my wife's a good cook, or my daughter's a good cook'. People learn very quickly that this is simply not enough. You have to know what you're doing.�

Sue credits Tom McNamara, owner of the Baan Rim Pa group for coming up with the concepts for the restaurants.

�Tom has all the ideas,� she says. �He has experience of running restaurants all over the world. He puts good people around him, always knows what's needed, and also knows when it's time to change things.�

Sue handles advertising, promotions, public relations and �whatever else no one else wants to do,� she quips. �I'm the proverbial jack of all trades and master of none.�

There's no doubting Sue's loyalty or commitment. She takes her work very seriously and expects the same professionalism from those she comes in contact with, having scant respect for incompetency or inefficiency.

�I'm very passionate about what I do,� she says. �No work is just a job for me, I'm in it all the way, and I drive a hard bargain for my organisation. This often leads to people thinking I'm hard or too tough.�

�Right through my experience of working with the media, I've been out there in a man's world, doing a man's job and doing it well...which is why the owners have had enough faith in me to put me there.�

Sue is heavily involved with her organisation's charity venture, the Phuket Has Been Good To Us foundation.

Her fastidious and sustained work in raising support and funds for the foundation's projects, reveal the soft, compassionate side to Sue. Her generosity and compassion for the underprivilidged is evident in her efforts to genuinely understand problems and help solve them.

�The foundation and its work mean a lot to me,� she confirms. �This is something I'm very passionate about as I believe all children should have the opportunity for a good future. My aim is to make both wealthier foreigners as well as Thais realize that they should consider their fortunate positions and put something back into the community, give to those less fortunate.

�The best way is to start with the children�

We're imppressed when she informs us that in between everything else she has on her plate, she actually finds time to take golfing lessons, and train in boxing at the gym.

�Fitness to me is fun,� she says. �I look at it as something I enjoy, rather than a regimen I have to follow.�

Other than the gym, the stylish lady- (�stylish, me?!�)- enjoys spending time with her husband, watching T.V. shows, �that he likes, he's definitely the king of the T.V.,� she smiles indulgently. �I'm usually happy to watch whatever's on.

�We also enjoy spending time with our friends, it's a big group of great people from many countries and backgrounds.�

Protestations nothwithstanding, Sue definitely has a superb personal style, is always impeccably dressed, and carries herself with grace.

Are all her friends as stylish, we probe.

�Well, if you think I'm stylish,� pat comes the reply, �then yes, I would say my friends are stylish too.�

So how would she describe her style, we persist in riling her playfully. If she were to compare herself to a flower, for example....

�A cactus,� she replies, without the slightest hesitation.

There's no catching Sue off-guard, and fittingly, she's had the last word on the interview. There cannot be a better analogy for this strong, capable, generous and kind woman.

Beautiful, delicate flowers belie sharp prickles all, on the same bough.

Flowers for beauty, prickles for protection.

Strong on the outside and soft on the inside. Sue, like her chosen flora is a survivor.