Paulo Bairan went from teaching French pastry in Ekkamai to running product development for a Bangkok bakery supplier. Here’s how he got the job, what his days look like, and what pastry chefs earn in Thailand.
The following post is a chapter from our book, Working in Thailand: How to Ditch the Desk, Board the Flight, and Land the Job, written by Patrick Taylor and Karsten Aichholz.
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Key Takeaways
- Thailand’s dessert café boom has created steady demand for skilled pastry chefs, especially in Bangkok.
- Experience counts for more than paper qualifications, and the big hotels typically want five to seven years.
- A diploma or apprenticeship in culinary arts helps, but it won’t replace time in a real kitchen.
- Paulo Bairan got his job through a former student, so the people you teach and work with can become your next employer.
- His top advice for newcomers is to find the right boss or mentor before chasing the right company.
- Some Thai goes a long way when you’re training kitchen staff with limited English.
- Entry-level pay starts around THB25,000 a month, while an executive pastry chef at a large hotel can earn around THB200,000.
The Pastry Chef
All quotes by Paulo Bairan, chef instructor and product development head.
Desserts are big business in 21st century Thailand.
Dainty, filigree cafes and bakeries have proliferated through the plazas and shopping centers of the kingdom, peddling a dazzlingly sickly range of cakes, ice creams, and cupcakes. Instagram accounts like @afteryoudessertcafe‘s are littered with tastefully lit pictures of elaborately constructed honey toasts and rainbow-colored macarons.
It seems as though anyone who is anyone wants to be seen smiling above an artery-hardening, diabetes-inducing confection.
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