Seangchanh Inthichak is the founder of Sweetie Cup Thai Café in Kirkwood, Missouri, that grew up in refugee camps during the Vietnam War.
In our business, we meet many interesting people and some not so interesting.
Business owners are generally interesting people driven by a motivation most outsiders can’t understand.
Seangchanh Inthichak is one of the most interesting people I have met. Her childhood story is unimaginable to a guy who grew up in the countryside of southwest Missouri, where safety was taken for granted. But, as a child, I could have never imagined what others worldwide had to endure to survive.
This page is dedicated to information obtained from Seangchanh in what hopes to be a series of interviews to hear her childhood story, which needs to be written as a book. That might happen if she is up to the task.
Today, she lives in the St. Louis region and founded Sweetie Cup Thai Cafe. However, her childhood was significantly different.
She was born in a cave in Laos during the Vietnam War when the United States began bombing her country. Her family lived in the cave for a period of time to keep the family safe from the bombing. Therefore, her parents are unsure of her birthdate because they had no access to any information. However, they think it was November or December of 1975 to 1977.
Her parents had to bounce around between three refugee camps in Thailand and one village in China for security. She even had to walk from China back to the refugee camp in Thailand, which took three months.
Her father was part of the Secret Military created and funded by the United States and Thailand to curb communism within Laos. Therefore, returning to Lao was not an option because the Lao government viewed him as a trader since he was a soldier in the “secret army” that was funded by the Thai and US governments.
Her family was brought to the United States in 1991 as the U.S. Government helped an estimated 250,000 refugees settle for a new life here.
References:
- Laotians Waiting in Thai Camps for Chance to Fight Again – The Washington Post – March 26, 1979
- Wikipedia – Laos
- Seangchanh Inthichak – Personal Interviews