René Wittwer: a sporty globetrotter

The former ice hockey player from Langnau in the Emmental is retired and lives in Thailand. The lifestyle is not new to René Wittwer because he already had a Thai-Swiss family in Switzerland. With his current Thai partner, he has now settled in the south of Thailand for good.  When asked why her father emigrated to Thailand almost six years ago, Wittwer’s 24-year-old daughter says laconically: “He was fed up”. Looking a bit closer, the answer sounds a bit different.  Originally a bricklayer and later dispatcher of construction material, Wittwer was a passionate ice hockey player when he was young. Thanks to his talent and hard work, he rose to become one of the most highly sought-after players in the ice hockey town of Langnau. The village ice hockey team in the Emmental, canton Bern, was set up in 1946 and has mostly competed in Switzerland’s first division.  However, the now 63-year-old was never able to make a living playing ice hockey. In the 1970s, only very few people ...