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Sweetie Cup Thai Cafe founder will publish a book about her life growing up in refugee camps, bouncing between Thailand and China.

VALLEY PARK, MO (StLouisRestaurantReview) Saengchan Inthichak, the founder of Sweetie Cup Thai Cafe, was born in Laos during the Vietnam War.

We met Inthichak in February 2023, have grown to know her well, and consider her a close friend. Our love and respect for her come from a deep empathy for her personal challenges and the shocking story about how her life began.

After listening to her stories for several months, we concluded that she should write a book explaining the impact of war from a victim’s perspective. There have been times when listening to her stories, it was difficult to hold back the tears while watching and listening to her smile, tears running down her face as she explained her life challenges, not only as a child but challenges that will likely last a lifetime.

When the United States began bombing Laos, her mother was pregnant with her. Villagers had to flee to caves to protect themselves and their families. For many weeks, they were stuck in the caves and would leave at night to find food in the forest for the family, which included insects.

While hiding in the cave, Saeng’s mother gave birth to her without a point of reference in time. To this date, she and her mother are still attempting to figure out Saengs’ exact date of birth. Thus far, no luck!

Saeng and her family arrived in the United States on July 5, 1991, when she was 14 years old. However, after her birth, she grew up in refugee camps in Thailand and China, being bounced around like a soccer ball with no place to call home. Six refugee camps were her home for the first fourteen years of her life without any schooling and many times without food. Food was given to the refugees, but it was not sufficient to feed all of the refugees.

Her book will go into the details of horrifying events and sights witnessed by Saeng during this period.

Her attitude is incredibly optimistic and encouraging as you talk to her. She is nice, friendly, and helpful without any attitude. She does not feel like the world owes her because of her terrible beginning. We consider her inspirational. If I feel as if I am having a bad day, all I have to do is visit with her, and then I thank God for my life and ask for prayers for her.

We are assisting her with research and information that we are providing to the writers and publishing team.

As a child, I took for granted the love and security provided by my parents. I could have never imagined that another child close to my age was experiencing these events on the other side of the world when I was being told that the US was liberating people and doing a good deed. Not true!