Son Takes Over Famous Bangkok Food Stand after Father Dies of COVID-19

Son Takes Over Famous Bangkok Food Stand after Father Dies of COVID-19

The son of a famous street food seller¹ in Bangkok, Thailand, has taken over the stand of his father, who died of COVID-19.

Every morning, Adulwitch Tangsupmanee places a picture of his father, Chanchai, at the front of the food stand, or stall². It is in the Chinatown area of Bangkok under an old movie theater.

His father was famous for preparing a kind of rolled rice noodles called "Guay Jub." His food was even recognized in recent years by the highly³ respected Michelin Guide to worldwide restaurants.

Jirintat, and Adulwitch Tangsupmanee, 42, son and daughter of Chanchai Tangsupmanee, who died at age 73 of the coronavirus disease⁴ in July, works⁵ at their late father's food stall in Bangkok's Chinatown, Thailand, October 6, 2021. (REUTERS)

Jirintat, and Adulwitch Tangsupmanee, 42, son and daughter of Chanchai Tangsupmanee, who died at age 73 of the coronavirus disease in July, works at their late father's food stall in Bangkok's Chinatown, Thailand, October 6, 2021. (REUTERS)

"I prepared the broth⁶ for my father when he was here, and I still do it when he's gone," the 42-year-old Adulwitch told Reuters. "I feel he's still around."

His father had been operating the food stall for nearly 50 years until he died of COVID-19 in July. He was 73 years old. "The shop is what my father loved the most and I love him most," Adulwitch said. "I have to keep it going no matter what."

He added: "We never saw this disease coming into the world...and we never thought it would take so many lives or that it would happen to our family."

Chanchai was one of at least seven well-known food sellers⁷ in Bangkok to die of COVID-19 in recent months, Reuters reports.

Now, other family members have taken the responsibility to keep serving the same tasty, high-quality offerings the street chefs created.

Even before the pandemic, many street food sellers in Bangkok were feeling financial pressures. They had faced removal⁸ orders and bans in recent years as part of city efforts to clean up the streets. As this happened, many nicer, traditional restaurants opened up across the city.

But Adulwitch still has many loyal⁹ customers. One of them recently told Reuters that many people seek out the famous stall. "When they come over to Chinatown, they know that they have to come and eat rolled rice noodle under the old cinema building. It's made the Chinatown street famous."

While Chanchai's children were immediately ready to take over his stall when he passed, the children of Ladda Saetang were not so sure. At first, they debated whether to continue the family's duck stand after their mother died in May.

Ladda was a 66-year-old cook with a kind smile. She was known as "Grandma Si." She ran a stall just 650 meters away from Chanchai's. After thinking it over, her daughter Sarisa decided¹⁰ to keep the business open and learn everything she could about preparing duck. She thought it would be a good way to honor¹¹ her mother's memory.

"I don't want the recipe to disappear. This was her whole life," Sarisa said. "I'll be overjoyed if customers say our ducks still taste like my mother's." She added: "Some tell me to not quit, because they can't find food like this anywhere else."

Words in This Story

broth – n. a soup that is often made with meat

chef – n. someone who cooks food in a restaurant

customer – n. someone who buys goods or services from a business

cinema – n. a building where people watch movies

recipe – n. a list of foods and a set of instructions that tell you how to cook something

1 seller   

n.售货者，畅销品

参考例句：

• I hope for this book to become a best seller.我希望这本书会成为一本畅销书。
• She drove a hard bargain with the seller.她狠杀卖主的价。

2 stall   

n.摊位，铺子，售货亭

参考例句：

• She sells fruits at a market stall.她在市场的货摊上卖水果。
• He has a stall that sells designer ripoffs.他开了个铺子卖仿冒设计师品牌衣服。

3 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

4 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

5 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

6 broth   

n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等)

参考例句：

• Every cook praises his own broth.厨子总是称赞自己做的汤。
• Just a bit of a mouse's dropping will spoil a whole saucepan of broth.一粒老鼠屎败坏一锅汤。

7 sellers   

n.卖者( seller的名词复数 )；卖方；销售者；销售商

参考例句：

• buyers and sellers transacting business 进行交易的买方和卖方
• All manner of hawkers and street sellers were plying their trade. 形形色色的沿街小贩都在做着自己的买卖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 removal   

n.去除，消除；挪走，移走，搬迁

参考例句：

• After the removal of the soup,fish was served.汤撤去后，鱼就上来了。
• The factory announced its removal to another town.这家工厂宣布迁往另一座城镇。

9 loyal   

adj.忠诚的，忠心的

参考例句：

• He is a loyal friend.他是一位忠诚的朋友。
• I judge him to be loyal.我认为他很忠诚。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。