Jacqueline Van der Laan

A woman of contrasts

There is much more to Jacqueline than you might suspect.  She is chatty yet quite private, courteous but direct as well, strong yet vulnerable at the same time, all these things, with no pretence or guile.  Jacqueline has a strength of character and purpose it is very easy to admire.

I had met Jacqueline on several occasions on my last trip to Hua Hin and we had had some good chats over a glass or two of wine, but it was a real pleasure to catch up with her for the People of Hua Hin series.  I knew instinctively that there was a lot more to her than I had seen, and the two- hour long video call from my home in Sydney to her restaurant in Hin Lek Fai crystalised that impression.

Born in Groningen, a small village in the northern region of The Netherlands, Jacky is the youngest of 4 children and the “lucky” sister of 3 older brothers.  She jokingly told me of having 4 “fathers” as a teenager, as she recalled introducing her first boyfriend to a line-up of not-so-friendly male family members, while she nearly died of embarrassment and the poor boy of intimidation.  In retrospect, she now values the lessons she learnt at the hands of her brothers, who taught her to stand up for herself in all situations. She credits the person she is now to the values and attitudes she learnt from her family, key among them honesty, respect, diligence and resilience.  

As she did, Jacky embraced the culture, and started embracing a young Thai man at the same time.  Jacky met her husband Joe on her very first holiday to Hua Hin. They share the same birthday, 15th April, and a love of horses. She was keen on horse riding and he brought his horse to the beach in the famous Hua Hin tradition.  There was immediately a spark between the pair but a second horse-riding session the following day was abandoned when Joe turned up several hours late.  When an alternate arrangement was made, Jacky made her displeasure patently clear by making him wait the same length of time for her arrival. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. 

It was a few years before they declared their true feelings for each other, after Joe spent a gruelling 12- hour trip in the cargo compartment of a bus, travelling back from Phuket after hearing from friends that his girl had returned to Hua Hin. A novel way to the heart of a farang women, but a very potent statement of his affection, and a pivotal point in their developing and enduring love story. Like every couple, they have their ups and downs, but have worked together to raise two children from a previous relationship of Joe’s, not an easy task in an inter-cultural partnership. 

Jacky is a whole-heartedly optimistic person who nearly always takes the “glass half-full” view of the world, though she has been known to shake her head in amazement at the lack of tolerance and respect of others she sometimes encounters in today’s world.  These were values imbued in her from a young age. If she were offered an opportunity to give some good advice to her teenage self, Jacky would probably decline.  She strongly believes life is a learning process and each of us must follow their own path, making their own mistakes.  She might, however, just tell herself not to ever do anything you don’t want to do.

Jacky’s Garden is like no other restaurant in Hua Hin.  A seasonal, 3 course menu with 2 options for each course changes every day, based on what is best and freshest at the markets or on the farm.  It allows Jacqueline the chef to showcase her favourite European dishes whilst using premium produce and building lasting partnerships with local food producers.  She initiated her series of events to promote the breadth of the Hua Hin food scene and they have been a resounding success.  Using Facebook has been an essential means for patrons to be tempted by the new menu Jacky creates with care 6 days a week. 

Arguably, the key to Jacqueline’s success is her understanding of what is important in life, and what is not.  Paramount for Jacky is being happy, and all her efforts and decisions are made towards this goal.  She recounted the “stupid question” she was asked at 21 years of age at a job interview for a Japanese hotel in Amsterdam.  The interviewer wanted to know here she saw herself in 5 years’ time, and was perplexed by Jacky’s response of “being happy”.  That was one question which promptly got struck from my interview list!  I couldn’t ask Jacky that old chestnut, which I sadly admit to using at times.  Although she is polite, I couldn’t risk Jacky taking me to task.  Like all of us, Jacky likes nice things, but isn’t materialistic in the least.  One of her brothers had his eyes opened to the beauty of a simpler, less stressful lifestyle when he first visited Jacky in Thailand.