A LITTLE KORNER OF THAI LOVE
A FAMILY-owned restaurant has been voted the best Thai on the Gold Coast after a social media frenzy helped them get the win.
Thai Korner in Pimpama was shocked and grateful to hear locals voted for them in the Bulletin’s Best of Gold Coast series.
Thai Korner owner Anothai Khempila and her brother Taradol never imagined their business would get this far and said “the staff were so excited all day to hear the news”.
Ms Khempila said she shared the voting poll on Facebook and saw a couple of her locals comment, with nine people sharing the original Gold Coast Bulletin post.
“We put the post to social media a week before the voting closed,” Ms Khempila said.
“I would have been happy with one nomination.
“We didn’t expect anything like this. We started it off with the kids coming back from school and doing the dishes, it was normal family life.”
She said they prided themselves on the service and the quality of their food.
“If the food is good and the service is bad no one is going to come back,” Ms Khempila said.
“We are family-orientated and the freshness of the food is top priority.”
Thai Korner started in Coomera five years ago, with the Pimpama City store opening two years later.
“Since the first day we opened at Coomera it’s been big,” Ms Khemplia said.
“When Pimpama City opened they gave us an opportunity to open in their centre.”
The COVID pandemic proved to be beneficial in some ways for Thai Korner, with sales increasing by 40 per cent.
“It was extremely hard at first, (but) it was the support of the locals (that helped),” she said.