Satasak Torraksarn, who cuts hair at one of Siam Square’s oldest establishments, Tew’s Barber Shop, has identified at least two similarities between his current occupation and his previous profession — architect: both jobs, he says, are about providing a service and ensuring the client is satisfied with the completed work. One major difference, of course, is the length of time needed to achieve that final result.
“People’s hair grows all the time,” observes the 27-year-old who has made a drastic change of course, ditching drawing board and blueprints for comb and scissors to become a full-time barber. “In this job you can make people happy in just a brief period of time. With architecture, it takes time and there are so many elements involved, but as a barber it’s just you and the customer exchanging ideas.”
It was a rather unusual career move, to say the least, for this Lampang native who spent five years at college studying for his degree and then four more practising as an architect.
“The first year wasn’t any fun,” he says, recalling his introduction to the reality of being a junior architect. “I worked for a company that builds medium-sized offices and buildings in contemporary and modern styles. What was difficult about it is was we never learned how to deal [effectively] with the presentation process for either the customer or the building contractor.”
Even though he started to enjoy the work more after quitting that initial job to rent an office and set up a practice with friends, it was the move to a firm of architects in Bangkok that led to the most momentous career change of his life.
“It was probably because of the atmosphere here,” explains Satasak. “The traffic is bad. The living expenses are so high. And it’s difficult to find nature and inspiration. I guess I had grown used to freelance work. It’s understandable that you face pressure from people in other professions like the client companies and the building contractors, but I also got pushed by my own colleagues. You work in a little square box from 9 till 5, surrounded by the same faces every single day. It’s not good for your imagination and inspiration and this makes absolutely no sense for a career as an architect. I wasn’t very happy with how things were.”
The idea of becoming a barber came to him few years back when the barbershop revival, which started in Bangkok, spread rapidly, finally making it all the way to Chiang Mai, the nearest major city to his home town. “I’m the type who likes to party, have fun and meet lots of people,” he says. “And being a barber kind of fits in with that kind of lifestyle.”
While continuing with his day job in Bangkok, he made the first step by enrolling in a course for barbers at Suan Lum occupational training centre where he would attend tutorials on the weekends when he had free time. “There were 20 to 30 people in the class. Everyone had their own equipment — the scissors, electric clippers, combs and everything — and they provided us with textbooks and taught us how to do each task step by step.”
To obtain practical experience, the students were taken to various areas, including a slum community in Khlong Toey, where local people were invited to come and have their hair cut for free. Friends of Satasak also volunteered to act as subjects and they, of course, were not expected to pay either.
“With friends, it was so relaxing and could be such fun. They didn’t demand perfection, so a few stray hairs here or there were fine with them. I wouldn’t accept their money because I thought of them as teachers and at that point I didn’t think I was good enough yet. I just had a donation box where people could put in small amounts to pay for new razor blades and hair products.”
For many Thais it might seem unthinkable to switch from a white-collar profession to take up an occupation which, Satasak says, is generally perceived as being only suitable for old men and women or good-for-nothing teenagers. But he jumped at the opportunity when he heard that the newly renovated Tew’s Barber Shop was hiring staff.
“At the time I had received a job offer from a firm of architects in Chiang Mai and was thinking of going back up north. But I turned down that job then and there and decided to become a barber full-time so that I could really get into it. I have turned architecture into a part-time job, a hobby, something I can work on in the evenings.
“I’m lucky to have parents who understand me, maybe not completely but to a certain extent. I’m not abandoning architecture, but I just don’t want to live my life in a system of any kind. I wanted to get myself out of that situation. These days, people tend to think about appearances and the money first and I don’t think that’s right. I just want to be a barber, meeting lots of people and hanging out with friends.”
Asked what he liked most about working in a barber’s shop, Satasak identified the thoroughness of the service provided, a level of care which he says is hard to find in more upmarket hair salons.
“Back when I was dealing with architectural models, I always liked working out even the smallest of details. The appeal of the barber’s shop is the service and the thoroughness: we have to be very particular about every detail; even the slightest mistake will soon be noticed. Another thing that’s good about this kind of work is the friendliness and the conversations that go on between the barber and the customer.”
Although Satasak admits to having had some doubts above the change of career, he says he only suffered from qualms during the transition period, not later on.
“These days I’m enjoying the job very much, observing and learning from the more experienced barbers. I just want to give it a try and if it turns out that it’s not really the job for me, then I won’t have any regrets. I’m still young and I always have architecture to fall back on.”
