Local Thai eatery Chao Baan is doing its part to bring awareness and support to Asian American communities, in light of this week’s shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women.
Beginning Tuesday, March 23, Chao Baan will donate 10% of dine-in and web orders every Tuesday to the Atlanta chapter of Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Stop AAPI Hate to support initiatives to stop hate crimes, incidents of discrimination and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
“As an Asian-owned restaurant, we thought we had a good platform, not only to raise awareness about the harassment and violence that Asian Americans are facing, but also to help materially by raising money for worthy organizations,” said owner Shayn Prapaisilp. “The work that Stop AAPI Hate and the Atlanta chapter of Asian Americans Advancing Justice is more important now than ever.”
In addition to Chao Baan, Prapaisilp and his family own and operate King & I, Oishi Sushi and Oishi Steakhouse restaurants, as well as grocery stores Global Foods Market and United Provisions.
And while he and his family feel grateful for the support of the St. Louis community over the last three decades, Prapaisilp feels Asian Americans, as a whole, continue to be marginalized.
“Asian American communities across our country have been marginalized, discriminated against, and even killed for far too long,” he said. “As members of the Asian American community in St. Louis, my family and I were shocked and grieving after the mass shooting in Atlanta on Tuesday. Too many acts of xenophobia and violence go unreported and unaddressed, and we hope to bring awareness and support through our dining out efforts at Chao Baan.”
The “Dining Out to #StopAAPIHate” program at Chao Baan is on every Tuesday evening for dinner service from 4 to 9 p.m. through April 27.
Guests are encouraged to make reservations by calling (314) 925-8250 for socially distanced, dine-in service, or place web orders for curbside or carry-out on Chao Baan’s website.
Chao Baan’s giveback series, which has also raised funds for Siteman Cancer Center, is personal for Prapaisilp, a cancer survivor and a board member of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce.
“For me, what I do ‘after work’ is just as important to me as the work I do every day for my job,” he said. “I want to support and give back to individuals and organizations that have helped me so much in so many ways.”
