Thai Time owner thankful for support after restaurant majorly damaged in car crash
Jay Pomanee prepped the kitchen at Thai Time on Sunday even though the restaurant is always closed that day. He wanted to change out the cooking oil to prepare for the coming week.
A couple of hours after he left April 21, he received a notification that his security cameras caught unusual movement at the restaurant on Chapman Highway. He assumed it was someone trying to break in.
He could have never imagined what he actually saw: Someone crashed their car right into Thai Time's kitchen.
"We thought someone threw the potted plant outside and tried to rob us or something. But then we got here and it was like 20 police cars and firefighters, and of course the car inside the store. We were just blown away that that actually happened," Pomanee said.
A Knox County Sheriff's Office deputy chased a driver after an attempted traffic stop over a suspended driver's license. The driver lost control, hit a fire hydrant and crashed into the front of Thai Time.
Police arrested the driver, who was hospitalized. A passenger was not hurt, though police say they found drugs in the car.
Now Pomanee is figuring out what he has to do to reopen his restaurant at 6200 Chapman Highway. He thinks the cost to repair windows, the front wall, support beams, shelving units, kitchen supplies and flooring will be $20,000 and $50,000 depending on how bad the damage is after everything is assessed.
The Knox County Sheriff's Office estimated the damage to be up to $75,000 worth.
Pomanee is hoping to reopen in a limited capacity in a couple of weeks serving only to-go and delivery orders, but he'll need to finish cleaning and fixing the restaurant first.
Thai Time opened in 2022 in South Knoxville. Pomanee's parents, Srichan (Gina) and Samarn (Sam) Chakpuang, previously operated Jai Dee Thai Kitchen at 823 Melrose Place before selling it.
Thai Time serves Thai food including thom khaa soup, pad thai noodles and panang curry, along with desserts and bubble tea.
What Thai Time needs to do to reopen
Some of the kitchen equipment might be salvageable, Pomanee said, but he won't know for sure until the restaurant is cleaned and cleared. Soup and sauces spilled and started seeping into the floor.
Electrical wiring, gas lines and water lines will need to be replaced.
He'll need to throw out all of the food from the kitchen and order new ingredients.
Pomanee might even install barriers in front of the building to prevent future crashes.
Outpouring of support from South Knoxville
Kern's Food Hall commented on the Facebook post about the crash, offering a food truck spot for Thai Time, but Pomanee doesn't have a food truck or even the supplies to operate a stall right now.
"We greatly appreciate it, but unfortunately we won't be able to do anything until further notice," he told Knox News.
To help with costs, Pomanee started a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $10,000. The campaign reached over $7,500 by the afternoon April 23, less than a day after its launch.
"I'm just so surprised at the support because we're still relatively new. A lot of people knew us from the previous store and my family and I, and so it's just amazing how quickly they reached out and offered help and aid," Pomanee said.
"Be careful in the area, because you never know what's going to happen. Expect the unexpected," he said.
Keenan Thomas reports for the Knox News business growth and development team. You can reach him by email at keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Thai Time in Knoxville will rebuild after car crashes through window
