To get some bench-space in the kitchen of Thai cooking teacher Saiyuud Diwong, affectionately known as Poo, you’ll need to book at least a month in advance. Teaching a daily rotation of Thai classics, including green curry, larb, and, of course, pad Thai, as well as hosting a market tour to source fresh ingredients before class, learning to cook Thai food with Poo has been at the top of travellers’ bucket lists since her Bangkok school, Cooking with Poo, opened in 2009.
But before the success of her school began, Poo was looking at a much dimmer future: fighting to make a living in Bangkok’s poorest slum, Khlong Toey.
It was Poo’s Australian neighbour, Anji Barker, who convinced her to start a cooking school after moving to the slum and becoming a regular at Poo’s food stall. “Our house [in Khlong Toey] was one room, the size of four double beds. There was no kitchen, so you just bought food from street vendors,” says Anji. “Poo sold food from the front of her house, just 10 meters from our door. We had many visitors over the years who had stayed in five-star resorts before flying out to see us in the slum. Without exception they all commented on how amazing Poo’s food was – the best they had eaten in Thailand.”
Barker, originally from Springvale, Melbourne, along with her husband, Ash, and five-year-old daughter, Amy, moved to Khlong Toey in 2002. “As Christian community workers we felt that we should move to live among some of the world’s poorest people, and see if we could help make a difference in their lives,” says Anji. The Barkers lived in the slum for 12 years, and had their second child, Aiden, there a year after moving. Renting their apartment from a gang member, and living next to drug users, prostitutes and the sick and dying, the family were completely immersed in the life of the slum and wanted to help the community as much as they could.
After the Thai government pledged a rice subsidy in 2011, buying 18 million tonnes of Thai rice, the price of the grain doubled overnight and Poo could no longer make a profit cooking food for locals of the slum. Anji suggested she start a Thai cooking school for foreigners. “She said ‘no’ three times because she couldn’t speak English,” says Anji, who helped translate initially and helped Poo attend English classes. “I loved to cook, so when there was a chance for me to open the cooking school I thought it was a great opportunity for me,” Poo, who was making about 200 baht (AUD $7.50) for a 12-hour day at her food stall, tells SBS.
Saiyuud “Poo” Diwong takes a simple and fresh approach to cooking her country's cuisine Source: Cooking with Poo & Friends
In 1993 in Melbourne, Anji and Ash set up Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH), a group that aims to support disadvantage communities by immersing themselves in the neighbourhood and creating change from the ground up. “Urban Neighbours of Hope was instrumental in helping find a donor to support the setup costs,” says Anji. “Poo [has since] repaid that money into a UNOH project called Helping Hands, which then used it to help others start small businesses in Bangkok, guided and mentored by Poo.”
Her simple and fresh approach to cooking Thai food has even taken Poo abroad, undertaking a cooking tour across the UK in 2014 where she had the chance to cook with Jamie Oliver for his FoodTube channel. “Jamie loves Massaman curry with beef, after we cooked it together, he saved some for his family, too!” says Poo.
Poo still lives in Khlong Toey. Her daily classes are booked out well in advance, aided by the success of her cookbook, Cooking with Poo. “Many of my customers tell me when they use my cookbook for a party or special event at home with their family,” Poo says. “This makes me very proud and happy!”
Images: Cooking with Poo & Friends
