Rambutan-Phnom Penh

Menu

Doung Sok Vichet

( F & B Manager )

Doung Sok Vichet has worked at Rambutan for almost four years. As a bartender, he is a familiar face to many guests. He loves chatting with guests from around the world, learning about different cultures, and mixing up delicious and innovative cocktails.

Where are you from?

I come from Takao province. There is a lot of farming in that province, mostly rice. There are also many women who work in factories that make clothing and there are taxi shuttles that take people from Takao to Phnom Penh each morning and evening. Education is low and when I was younger there were not many opportunities to study. The older generation didn’t have much knowledge, which is why so many people work in factory, where they sew and cut and clean.But now young people are studying more.

When I was young, my family had a rice farm and my father made palm sugar. We were very poor. My oldest brother did not finish high school, but when he was old enough he went to work in Phnom Penh and sent money back to the family, which helped. When I finished high school, my brother sent me to Phnom Penh, but I didn’t have the money to study and i didn’t have a job, so I studied Korean. When I could not pass the Korean exam, I started to study at the New Khmer Institute.

I live with my husband in Phnom Penh. I start the day with 15 minutes of meditation, then shower, go to the market, make breakfast and eat with my husband. Sometimes I cook and sometimes he cooks. He is a moto driver, so after breakfast he leaves for work. He comes back for lunch, then he leaves again and I go to Savan Market to do an electric chair massage (for my health) before going to work. I like working here. Sometimes it’s busy, but I like to be busy. On my day off, I go to my village to look after my mother and my sons. I have two sons and they live in the village with my mother and study there. I have four brother and two sisters. My first brother is now a general manager of a restaurant in Phnom Penh, another brother works at Sathapana Bank, and another brother in Takao province at ABA bank. My older sister doesn’t work, but has a child in preschool, and my younger sister is studying in Phnom Penh to be a nurse. So now only one of my brothers is in Takao and the rest of us are in Phnom Penh.

Now I live in Phnom Penh with my sisters and brothers. I am single. I live here and just finished up my studies at the New Khmer Institute, where I majored in tourism. On a normal day, I wake up around 6:30 a.m. and take my 12-year old nephew to school. He’s very smart and he studies english and khmer-language- he’s the top of his class. Then I come back home or sometimes I go to the gym. At 11:00 a.m. I pick up my nephew and make him lunch. He goes to study again at 1:00 p.m., so I drop him off and then come to work. On my day off I stay home and read, listen to music, and play guitar. I watch Youtube videos and teach myself. I like to play melodies, more Cambodian style.

I studied tourism and hospitality, so at first I came to improve my English and talk with guests. I stayed because I like the boss. He’s very kind. He pays for a staff house that is about five minutes away from the resort. Anyone who can’t afford to live on their own can live there. Right now there are six people who live there. He helped pay for my school, though I also had a government scholarship. I enjoy working here because I meet so many people. Every day I make new friends, meet new guests, learn about cultures of other countries by asking questions. I also learn about the process of restaurant management.

I would like to have a good wife and family. I would like to travel around Cambodia and around the world. I want tourists to know more about Cambodia and to donate to NGOs for orphans, like ChildSafe. And I would like to have my own business, like a small restaurant.