Local cuisine, global appeal
Pichaya "Pam" Soontornyanakij
After becoming the first Asian and Thai female chef to be named World's Best Female Chef last year and becoming Asia's Best Female Chef in 2024, chef Pichaya "Pam" Soontornyanakij has been chosen as one of the Bangkok Post’s Women Of The Year 2026.
Chef Pam is chef-patron of the Michelin-starred Potong, which is No.13 on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list and No.57 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024 list.
"As a Thai, I feel proud that I'm able to bring the words of Thai food, the words of Thailand and Thai cuisine, to the world stage, and hopefully to take true Thai flavours around the world with me, and not just the common dishes. I want to show the world that Thai cuisine has so many sub-cuisines and we have a deep culinary history. Even our produce is amazing all year round,” chef Pam told the Bangkok Post.
Chef Pam spent her formative years in Bangkok, refining her skills at the Culinary Institute of America and a stint at New York's Jean-Georges restaurant. When she returned to Thailand, she established The Table, a private dining experience that gained recognition from local and regional gourmands. When Potong opened in 2021, chef Pam returned to her roots bringing her Chinese-Thai heritage to the forefront.
The restaurant housed in a five-storey traditional shophouse in Yaowarat will close in April and May for renovations, but will retain its 1910 Sino-Portuguese architecture.
Last year, chef Pam opened her newest restaurant, Khao San Sek, a five-minute walk from Potong. The restaurant is a contemporary celebration of sacred Thai ingredients.
"I wanted to open a Thai restaurant because Potong serves Thai-Chinese cuisine. The head chef at Khao San Sek is my former sous chef at Potong, Grace. The name is every meaningful and is catchy, in a way. It means 'sacred milled rice'. It is the rice that falls on the floor during the milling process, which is collected to be blessed by the monks. This in Thai culture is called 'lucky rice' and is used to ward off evil spirits," chef Pam said.
"The food we serve is not defined by region, but focuses on the scared ingredients that we have defined. Khao San Sek reinterprets Thai cuisine by focusing on five sacred ingredients: rice, chilli, coconut, fish sauce and palm sugar. Each ingredient is seen as embodying core characteristics of Thai flavours: rice as sustenance, chilli for intensity, coconut for versatility, fish sauce for depth and palm sugar for balance."
Chef Pam also opened Ra-u, a reimagined Thai grill house that continues her mission of honouring heritage through modern expression, in Siam Paragon in July last year.
"Ra-u means heat, whether it is the heat of the fire or the heat of the spices. The concept will be that of a Thai grill house where we want to serve grilled food with Thai condiments around it. It's similar to eating Korean barbecue except that nothing is grilled at the table. It is grilled in the kitchen and brought to the table,” says the chef.
Ra-u is different from her Smoked brand, which is a multi-outlet restaurant that combines the smoky essence of traditional American Texas BBQ with the Thai reverence for beef.
Apart from the restaurants, chef Pam and her husband have co-founded The X Project, a hospitality group driven by a shared passion to create bold, unique dining concepts that continually push boundaries and bring something new to the industry.
The group has expanded to include 10 restaurants and bars across Bangkok, including Tora Izakaya and Opium Bar, an immersive cocktail experience, which is ranked No.73 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2024.
Beyond her restaurants, chef Pam serves as judge on Top Chef Thailand and continues to gain recognition through her judging roles on global culinary shows such as Top Chef Arab World, The World Cook, The Maverick Academy, Iron Chef and The Restaurant War Thailand, where she showcases her voice as a leader in modern gastronomy.
Deeply committed to supporting the next generation, she also launched the WFW (Women For Women) Scholarship and Internship Programme last year, a platform designed to empower young female chefs in Thailand by providing them with mentorship, professional opportunities and access to education in the culinary arts.
