Dr. Mahn Myint Saing and his wife of over 30 years, Chaveewan (known by their employees as “Pa” and “Ma”), have been dishing out authentic Thai cuisine at Simply Thai in Louisville, Kentucky since 2006.
If you ask the couple who is the better cook, Dr. Saing will freely admit, "She is. She is my guru. . . . She knows every aspect of Thai cooking. The whole Thai community knows who cooks the best [Thai]. If they want to eat, they come here.”
But did you know that before Dr. Saing was a successful restauranteur, he was a physician in his native homeland of Burma (Myanmar), a country in Southeast Asia, where he treated as many as 100 patients a day and covered a service area of 50,000 people—all by himself?
Or did you know that he was a martial arts instructor?
That he was the leader of an underground army, living in the jungle for almost a decade, fighting against the unjust practices of the Burmese government?
That he cannot go back to Burma because he is still considered an enemy of the state?
Dr. Saing’s story is reminiscent of the movie Forrest Gump in which the title character’s life takes so many extraordinary leaps and turns as to almost seem fantastical. But Dr. Saing’s story is no work of fiction. Read more about this brave refugee’s story of survival and reinvention in my forthcoming book, The Kitchen Refuge.
If you ask the couple who is the better cook, Dr. Saing will freely admit, "She is. She is my guru. . . . She knows every aspect of Thai cooking. The whole Thai community knows who cooks the best [Thai]. If they want to eat, they come here.”
But did you know that before Dr. Saing was a successful restauranteur, he was a physician in his native homeland of Burma (Myanmar), a country in Southeast Asia, where he treated as many as 100 patients a day and covered a service area of 50,000 people—all by himself?
Or did you know that he was a martial arts instructor?
That he was the leader of an underground army, living in the jungle for almost a decade, fighting against the unjust practices of the Burmese government?
That he cannot go back to Burma because he is still considered an enemy of the state?
Dr. Saing’s story is reminiscent of the movie Forrest Gump in which the title character’s life takes so many extraordinary leaps and turns as to almost seem fantastical. But Dr. Saing’s story is no work of fiction. Read more about this brave refugee’s story of survival and reinvention in my forthcoming book, The Kitchen Refuge.
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