After 7 years of working for a company called STI  https://www.sti-limited.com/ and over 30 years in the contract manufacturing business, I left at the end of October 2019 and from 1^st November 2019 was the proud owner of TopCats.

What Happened?

I hate the cold weather and my ideal holiday is a nice beach, with a beach bar watching a nice sunset. We had a factory in Cebu, Philippines, and my trips there enabled me to find a heavenly place, for me, the island of Boracay. It had to close for a clean up but is back with vengeance having just been recently voted the best island in Asia.

Other than my love for the mighty Spurs, horseracing and International Rugby, I also liked to go fishing in my spare time.

I lived by the Thames for the 3 years before I came to Koh Samui so it meant that I could pop out in my garden at any time and catch some handsome bream (Matt Timms, one of my bet pals used sometimes to join me for some fishing lessons causing me to use most of my time untangling his line and showing him how to cast).

I was a very serious match fisherman in my younger days, captaining Leatherhead Angling Club to Division One Level. Having a young family curtailed this activity but I fell out of love with the game. My love was fishing running waters, but it seemed more and more to me that the summer was F1 bashing on commercial fisheries and winter was all about trying to put a single bloodworm on size 28 sitting by the Grand Union Can on an icy cold December day.

In 2018 courtesy of my Lloyds Amex, I had a free flight upgrade and rather than waste it on a trip to Spain, I wanted to go further afield but Boracay remained closed. My Aunt had been going regularly to Koh Samui. It sounded like my type of place, beautiful beaches, low cost and obligatory beach bars. In addition, I had also had just seen a TV programme called Monster Carp and they had been in Thailand fishing and catching humungous fish.  With further research there was a similar place in Koh Samui called TopCats …

I booked two days fishing and loved it. Within 4 hours had achieved my ambition of catching a 100lb + fish, I caught 22 fish in the 2 days including Siamese Carp, Alligator Gar, Amazon and Asian Redtail catfish.

The resort was also so relaxing, a comfortable fishing area, Wi-Fi and a guide to help you. The English breakfast (with proper tea) and steak sandwich made it like home from home. In the evening a Thai curry washed down with a Chang beer was the order of the day.

In May 2019, again courtesy of the annual upgrade I returned (I had the time booked off to watch Spurs in the Champions League final but couldn’t get a ticket).

Being the low season, I got an amazing beachside bungalow at a good rate. Right on Chaweng beach it was idyllic with its own swimming pool.

Again, two sessions booked at TopCats and on day one I caught my biggest ever fish, 120lbs Amazon Redtail Cat on my first cast! The day also brought 105lbs and 115lbs Carp in successive casts. This time I got talking to Shaun who for personal reasons wanted to sell after 12 years of building it up. The rest as they say is history!

TopCats had a new owner from 1^st November 2019, with 8 staff, 5-acre lake, swimming pool and 7 bungalows. I am a firm believer in the old adage,” if it’s not broke don’t fix it” so my main activity has been sales and marketing to increase sales.

Other investments have been postponed due to the dreaded Covid. Here on Koh Samui, we have been very lucky, virtually Covid-free but sadly also customer-free as the borders have now been closed for nearly a year.

I do feel that we can now see a pinprick of light at the end of the very long Covid tunnel. Now is the time to think about booking and don’t worry any monies or deposits paid are safe and fully transferable if you must cancel due Covid.

Hope to see you in Koh Samui soon.

Simon