Over 25 years selling fish soup, Boonnak Panthong has seen good times and bad in Pattaya. But she’s still there, selling her popular dish 100 times a day.
Boonnak was in her tent next to the Prachumkongka Temple football field in north Pattaya June 30, offering a bowl of fish and noodles for 20 baht. She has only two tables, but about 100 customers a day file through.
Her “Jay Eungsri Fish Rice Soup” shop uses boiled fish, shredded vegetables, fried shallots and noodles that doesn’t require extra seasoning. It’s been popular for 25 years and still sells at only 20 baht a bowl.
“Jay” Eungsri originally was located at the Rong Po intersection, but she lost her lease. So, she moved to an industrial estate where a factory owner asked her to sell her soup for 20 baht a bowl to help the minimum-wage workers. When the factory closed during the pandemic, she moved to the temple.
Now her customers are students and low-wage workers, so she doesn’t plan to raise prices, even though her profit margin is small. But Boonnak said she makes enough to get by on, so she is content.
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