Christmas Abroad: "It's basically just one day in Thailand" says Darren

Darren Troy left his native Tullamore over 20 years ago to go backpacking in Asia, and so impressed was he with the weather, the lifestyle and the laidback atmosphere that he decided to settle in Thailand. He is now the owner of three Irish pubs - called 'The Irish Embassy' - in Krabi province, on the shores of the Andaman sea in southern Thailand.

Krabi has some of the world's most beautiful beaches and coral reefs and is famed for its spectacular scenery, so Darren Troy admits that while he will “miss a pint in Eugene's bar” in Tullamore over Christmas he will “take the sun instead” with temperatures expected to be in the low 30s on Christmas Day.

Since Thailand is a Buddhist country, Christmas is “basically just one day”. Nevertheless, Darren will still serve up a traditional Christmas dinner, complete with all the trimmings, to his customers in the three 'Irish Embassy' pubs which he owns. “I will be spending Christmas Day feeding people who miss the taste of home,” he says.

The slogan for the three 'Irish Embassy' pubs, which also operate as restaurants and sports bars, is “a taste of home, but in the tropics' and Darren Troy says that is exactly what he does. “The tourists are starting to arrive now for Christmas, so we will be in full swing soon,” he says.

The Tullamore man has lots of great memories of Christmas at home and recalls how he spent “lots of time in The Unicorn many moons ago.”

Like most Irish emigrants, the hardest thing about being away from home at Christmas is missing family and friends, but apart from that he loves everything else about living in southern Thailand. He would like to wish a very Happy Christmas to the Hughes clan in Tullamore and Birr and also the Troys in Kilcormac.

As for his plans to ring in the New Year 2024? “I'll close the pub early and go to a beach party for the fireworks display.”