Oral history interview with Nong Poonsukwattana, 2019 August 12

This oral history interview with Nong Poonsukwattana was conducted by Monica Salazar on August 12, 2019. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. Poonsukwattana's landlord was also briefly present.

In this interview, Poonsukwattana discusses her family background and early life in Bangkok, Thailand, and talks about experiencing child abuse. She talks about immigrating to the United States after marrying an American citizen in 2003; about adjusting to life in Portland, Oregon, including learning English; and about working as a waitress in Thai restaurants in Portland, including Pok Pok. She discusses developing recipes, opening Nong's Khao Man Gai, a food cart in downtown Portland, in 2009, and then a restaurant of the same name in 2011. She then describes opening a second location for her restaurant in 2018. She closes the interview by sharing her plans for the future, by talking about managing her restaurant staff, and by discussing her experience with the immigration process.