Our Story

Our Founders Nophai and Savay were born in Cambodia to a Thai mother and a Cambodian father. Unfortunately, they were born in the sixties, and the area was a difficult place to live at that time. When their father disappeared in the early seventies, their mother took her whole family back to Thailand to live. They were unable to find a place that would accept them for long, and became one of many refugees during that time. Worse, because their mother was their sole parent, they were looked down on even more. At 11 years old, Nophai began to work in the camp doing cooking, cleaning and washing to help her family survive. It was not an easy existence. They lost several people in their extended family.

But finally the US and other countries were allowed to take refugees from the camps. And fortune smiled on Nophai’s family, for single mother families were the first to be selected. They came to the US in 1980, and Nophai worked to learn everything she could, eventually marrying and having two children. After her divorce, she saved money and bought her first Thai restaurant in 1991. It was incredibly successful, and she sold it at a profit after less than a year. Following that, she created a string of successful restaurants.

In the late nineties, when her fourth restaurant suffered a setback, she took a break, focusing on her family and spending time with her children. But after a while, she decided it was time to start a new restaurant. In 2009, Thai Tanee Express was born in this current location. After ten years in the same location, it was time to update the restaurant from the ground up. Now with a new name, Siam Kitchen, Nophai, Savay and their family are all ready to serve their community once more.