Best Deal Ever!

Really, it does not get any better than this!

We have never offered a better deal and I doubt we ever will again. Certificates are only on sale for a short time so act now. Whether you use it yourself or give it as a gift, $75 gift certificates for only $50 is the best deal you'll find anywhere! Buy now and use whenever you like.

Chosen by diners everywhere!

Thank you to the readers of Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine for picking True Thai Restaurant to be their 2013 Diners Choice Best Thai Restaurant.

Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine has been a good friend to True Thai over the years. Their critics and readers alike have been some of our biggest fans and we are grateful for their support.

Closed for the Fourth of July

True Thai Restaurant will be closed Thursday, July 4th. We will be open regular hours Wednesday, July 3, and Friday July 5.

Yes, we have a 4th of July in Thailand, except we call it July 4th, and no, we do not celebrate it. No fireworks or firecrackers.

Our July holidays are Asalha Puja (วันอาสาฬหบูชา) and Vassa (วันเข้าพรรษา), which are the Buddhist observance of the Buddha's first discourse (the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta), and Buddhist "Lent." These are lunar holidays, so they are celebrated on different days each year.

When I was little, sometimes we would try to say Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta three times really fast, but you did not want to stand in front of someone when they did this.

Best of voting open

Vita.mn is taking votes for Best Spa, Best Live Bands, Best Radio Stations, Best Place to Get a Tattoo and Best Thai.

I think you know what to do.

Father's Day is this Sunday!

Father's Day is Sunday, June 16, this year. 

Have you made your reservations yet?

Closed Memorial Day

True Thai will be closed on Memorial Day, May 27, in honor of those who gave their lives in service to others. We will be open Saturday and Sunday, and will re-open at 11 a.m., Tuesday, May 28.

Enjoy your time with friends and family, and have a safe weekend.

Raised on Rainwater

NOTE: I have been holding this post since late February. I wanted to post this on a rainy day, but instead we kept getting snow! I think spring is finally here and now is the time to share this post with you.

---

A friend told me that Thailand is promoting Rainwater Jar Culture. This is an old tradition in Thailand that had started to fade away, then was revived about the time I came to the United States. Rainwater is pure water, and that's a good thing since much of the water in Thailand is not safe to drink.

My friend was surprised to learn that I grew up drinking nothing but rainwater. Chanthaburi is by the ocean, and by the time river water reached us it wasn't fit to drink so every family had at least a dozen rainwater jars for collecting rainwater. You could tell how many kids were in a family by how many rainwater jars they had. The Prasomphol house had two dozen jars like these.

Rainwater is good for you but if you drink rainwater it is important to use fluoride toothpaste because there is no fluoride in rainwater. Also no arsenic, animal waste or other contaminants.

Rainwater jars are a very old tradition in Southeast Asia, but I do not think they would work so well here in Minnesota because they work best where there's lots of rain.

Update: My apologies. I thought I had waited long enough but I was wrong. Parts of Minnesota south of the Twin Cities got up to eight inches of snow yesterday. I do not think rainwater barrels would work very well for Minnesotans.

Deliveries are back!

I took time off from the restaurant in February and March and only recently came back. I was surprised to find out they had stopped making deliveries while I was gone!

If you live or work within five miles of True Thai and order $25 worth of food, we will deliver it to you. Just call 612 375-9942 to place your order.

And thank you to everyone who's been coming in recently. Seeing a crowded restaurant was the best welcome back gift I could have ever hoped for.

Thank you!

Another year, another City Pages' Readers' Choice award for Best Thai Restaurant in the Twin Cities. Thank you to all our loyal customers for voting for us again.

True Thai doesn't spend money on advertising or marketing, so I keep thinking each award will be our last since so much of the "Best of" phenomena is tied in with how much you advertise and where. That does not seem to be the case in Minnesota. We have won so many awards from publications we don't advertise in, and so much of that is driven by you, our customers.

Thank you for choosing True Thai, again and again.

Songkran

I wrote a special post about rainwater for this year's Songkran post, but since all the rain in Minnesota is still frozen, I am saving it for later.

Instead, check out Bob Collins' post and photos on this year's Songkran here.

Student Unrest?

I made a rare trip to south Minneapolis yesterday and when I drove by Washburn High School, I doublechecked my watch. It was after 1 p.m., but hundreds of students were walking around, many leaving the campus.

Today, in the Star Tribune, I read that the students were protesting the school district's investigation of their athletic director. I think those students must really like their athletic director.

When I was young, there was a very big student protest against the government of Thailand. All my classmates and I cut classes and took a six-hour bus ride to Bangkok for a big rally at a stadium. We had barely arrived at the stadium when the Army came in and announced that they were giving us five minutes to disperse or they'd release thousands of cobras into the stadium. Five minutes later we were all back on the bus heading back to Chanthaburi.

The Army officer who made up the cobra threat was promoted, the government was preserved and I moved to the United States as fast as I could. I do not know who will win this fight between Washburn students and the school district, but I do know that years from now each of those students will remember this walk out long after the school district has forgotten all about it.

I just wish I'd known what was going on. Probably not, but I like to think I might have parked my car and marched with the students for a while. At least until the cobras showed up.

--

Update!

Closed Easter

True Thai Restaurant will be closed Easter Sunday, March 31. We will resume regular hours Monday, April 1.

Have a happy Easter!