Young Thai Entrepreneurs Are Turning Their Ancestral Homes Into Chic Hotels and Restaurants
In Thailand, young hoteliers and restaurateurs are converting their family homes into stylish new businesses — and preserving the nation’s architecture along the way.
Kukkong Thirathomrongkiat/Courtesy of Baan Trok Tuan Ngork
Baan Trok Tuan Ngork, a pop-up cultural venue in Bangkok, was a home for four generations.Many travelers who passed through Bangkok in the early 2010s would make time for a drink at Hemingway’s, a legendary hangout in a century-old Thai house with teak floors and a gingerbread-trimmed roof. Sadly, it was demolished in 2016, an all-too-common fate for historic buildings in Thailand.
“There are thousands of heritage buildings spread across the country, and many are privately owned,” says Phacharaphorn Phanomvan, a Bangkok-based architectural scholar. “But Thailand has limited expertise in conservation and funding, and the government offers little incentive for the restoration of these monuments.”
@gastrofilm/Courtesy of THE X PROJECT Co., Ltd; @turqouisetruck/Courtesy of THE X PROJECT Co., Ltd
Potong, a five-story Bangkok restaurant, was formerly an herb shop; a cocktail at Opium Bar, located within Potong.Thankfully for history lovers, some forward-thinking hoteliers and restaurateurs are saving their families’ properties by renovating and repurposing them for the 21st century. In Chiang Mai, Rungroj Ingudananda has faithfully restored his Chinese ancestors’ general store, which opened in 1888 but had been shuttered since the 1970s. The mustard-colored building has the original woodwork — including the ceiling, flooring, staircase, and wall panels — but now lives on as Kiti Panit, a restaurant specializing in northern Thai dishes such as hung lay moo (pork curry) and nam prik num (eggplant relish).
Zupachai Laokunlak/Courtesy of Kiti Panit
The bar at Kiti PanitIn the resort town of Hua Hin, three siblings have revamped their grandmother’s beachfront vacation home. Today, Charras Bhawan is a resort with five restored villas centered around the estate’s original 1922 residence. Family heirlooms and faded photographs still line the wooden hallways, but the villas have been upgraded with modern amenities, including outdoor jacuzzis and private pools.
Kukkong Thirathomrongkiat/Courtesy of Baan Trok Tuan Ngork
The façade of Baan Trok Tuan Ngork.Young creatives have jumped in to preserve long-standing structures in Bangkok, too. At Potong, chef Pichaya Utharntharm has breathed new life into the building that housed her family’s herbal-medicine dispensary for four generations. She now serves a 20-course tasting menu in front of the family shrine and has converted the former opium room into a cocktail bar.
@gastrofilm/Courtesy of THE X PROJECT Co., Ltd
The skyline of Bangkok near PotongA few blocks away, four siblings took over their great-grandparents’ residence and turned it into Baan Trok Tuan Ngork, a cultural hub with craft markets, pop-up dinners, and rotating art exhibitions. “Our family home has stood for ancestry and heritage for the last hundred years,” says Win Assakul, one of the siblings who spearheaded the construction. “Now that it’s renovated, it stands for progress.”
A version of this story first appeared in the October 2023 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline "All In the Family."
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