Advertisement

Hongkongers’ son brings American-style Chinese food to Bangkok

  • James Au never thought he’d follow in his parents’ footsteps and open a restaurant. Then he noticed the Thai capital’s lack of Chinese-American food
  • The result was Lazy Panda, an eatery that builds on Au’s family history – with culinary roots stretching back to Hong Kong, via Minneapolis and Alaska

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
James Au of the Lazy Panda restaurant in Bangkok. Photo: Vincent Vichit-Vadakan
James Au used to tell his parents he would never work in the catering industry. But now the 31-year-old son of first-generation Hong Kong emigrants to the US operates an American-style Chinese restaurant in Bangkok.
Advertisement

His journey to the Thai capital began in Minneapolis, where his family had worked its way up to owning a chain of seven Chinese-American restaurants.

Au, however, got his start in software. Before turning 20, he had already sold his first start-up – an online community for video-game betting – for US$100,000, which he invested in buying, renovating and flipping properties following the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, after which he turned his attention to rental properties.

By the time he was 25, he had a small portfolio of rental properties and was looking to try something different. A short stint of consulting work in Hong Kong set Au’s sights on Asia – though he opted to move to Bangkok rather than stay in the city of his parents after visiting the Thai capital in 2017 and finding it to be “way more chill”.
Au says he found Bangkok ‘way more chill’ than his parents’ native Hong Kong. Photo: AP
Au says he found Bangkok ‘way more chill’ than his parents’ native Hong Kong. Photo: AP
Advertisement

For a while, he worked in digital marketing, but the “crazy drama” he experienced at the company – combined with a visit from his mother Lorna – would soon see him change career paths. By this time, Au’s parents had already sold their restaurant business to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Noting the absence of American-style Chinese food in Bangkok, mother and son discussed the possibility of filling the gap in the market.

Advertisement