Suay Restaurant Brings Meals to Communities Affected by Covid-19
Celebrity Chef Noi and his team of volunteers are donating home-cooked meals to those in Phuket affected by Covid-19.
A major city like Bangkok is heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown period has caused many businesses to close down for good and left individuals with less income to support their families than ever. Other cities outside of Bangkok are also feeling the effects of the crisis, especially major travel destinations that rely heavily on tourists as part of their economy. One of them is the island of Phuket, one of the top vacation destinations that hosted over 9 million tourists in 2019, second only to Bangkok.
After the government has implemented a full-scale lockdown as part of an effort to contain the virus outbreak, local businesses like restaurants, bars, and stores must close down its doors for the time being. Months into the lockdown, we're starting to see more and more people getting laid off as part of cost-cutting measures from these businesses, leaving many individuals without any income to support their families. This is where Chef Tammasak (Noi), owner of the popular Suay Restaurant that's got up to 3 locations in Phuket, decided kick start the campaign “Soul Food For Those In Need" where every 500 THB of the donation will go into feeding 20 lives in need with homemade meals prepared by Chef Noi himself.
If you’re unfamiliar with the name of Chef Noi, we’d like to share a few things about him that’ll help you understand why he’s such a popular figure in Thailand’s culinary scene. After being born and raised in Songkhla, a southern province in Thailand, Chef Noi’s family later relocated to Germany where he attended the Ueberkingen Culinary School. After graduating, Chef Noi spent five years working at the Michelin-starred restaurant Top Air in Stuttgart. He also enjoyed a stint on Queen Elisabeth II cruise liner as Demi Chef de Parie and time as Sous Chef of another Michelin-starred restaurant taku in Germany.
Furthermore, when Chef Noi returned to Thailand, he took up chef position at JW Marriot Phuket Resort & Spa before stepping up to an Executive Chef in just a short amount of time. He also took part in developing the Thai restaurant Saffron across 10 Banyan Tree properties. In 2010, he decided to open up his restaurant in Phuket's town center which he named "Suay”. He later opened up two more branches including Suay Cherngtalay in 2017 and Suay Porto de Phuket in 2019. Back in 2015, he was also named Iron Chef Thailand for European cuisine on the popular Thai television competition.
The “Soul Food For Those In Need” campaign that launched back on April 20th has been a massive success so far with an overwhelming influx of donations. Chef Noi has come out to thank everyone for their kindness and support for his campaign has said that his team was able to make a lot more meals than they anticipated at first and will be able to continue for quite a while with the amount donated.
If you want to be part of this campaign, you can make your donation directly to the Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) account of Tammasak Jindapol Chootong number 633-242-4324. Please make sure to send a copy of the transaction slip to the Facebook of Tammasak Chootong so the organizer can keep this campaign as transparent as intended. If you happen to be in Phuket, you can also volunteer to help them pack all the food. Just give them a heads up through Chef Noi’s Facebook and you should be set to join this wonderful campaign.