Netizens chime in after Gen Z Thai food hawkers' online appeal for support amid slow business

As the year end approaches, businesses in Singapore may be experiencing a noticeable slowdown in customer traffic because of the holiday season.

For one particular Gen Z hawker, it is no exception.

But business has gotten so bad that Amita Eng, owner of a Thai food stall in Clementi, took to the Facebook group Hawkers United - Dabao 2020 last Friday (Nov 10) to air her concerns and to seek support amid a noticeable dip in customers. 

In her post, the 22-year-old hawker wrote that even though they usually have a steady flow of customers, business at the stall has been rather quiet lately, citing the holiday season as a possible factor.

Despite her efforts to bring in more customers to through regular social-media posts and the introduction of special deals, like the Family Feasts package, she was frustrated at the ineffectiveness of her marketing strategies for the stall.

She also revealed that some marketing agencies have offered to send influencers down to promote her stall, provided she can afford their fees. However, due to her limited budget, it wasn't even an option for her.

Her post has garnered plenty of comments from netizens, with many agreeing with her sentiments regarding the business slowdown during the holiday period.

Some netizens shared their positive experiences with the stall, while there were a few who offered valuable advice to help Amita tide through the slow business season, such as sharing strategies for targeted marketing or offering discounts.

Nakin Thai food

Amita Eng runs her hawker stall Nakin Thai together with her husband, Palmy Chanontree. 

They both have Thai heritage, though Amita (who has a Singaporean-Chinese father and Thai mother) is a Singapore citizen, while Palmy is a Thai national on a long-term work visa.

Inspired by Palmy's exceptional cooking skills and his passion for Thai cuisine, the couple opened Nakin Thai Food earlier this year, marking the start of their hawker journey.

According to 8Days, Palmy's culinary expertise comes from working in a Thai restaurant during his time studying in Australia to his current mission of bringing authentic Thai flavours to Singapore. Not surprisingly,  Amita shared that Palmy only ever eats Thai food.

As for Amita, she dropped out of ITE after realising that studying wasn't for her. In order to prepare herself to become a hawker, she took on multiple retail and F&B jobs according to an interview with HungryGoWhere.

Amita and Palmy met each other at a Thai food eatery they were previously working at, where Amita was a waitress and Palmy was the sous chef, reported 8Days.

The couple fell in love and tied the knot, despite initial concerns from Amita's mother.

They named their stall Nakin as it means "looks yummy" in Thai.

Reviews and recognition

On FoodAdvisor, Nakin Thai Food has garnered a rating of 4.1 stars from 19 reviews.

Among the variety of dishes offered by the stall, many customers seem to find the basil minced pork ($8) a noteworthy dish because of its generous portion.

On Burpple, a customer praised their beef noodles ($7) as being worth it despite being on the pricier side as it had an excellent texture and beef.

Satisfied customers who enjoyed their Thai food have gone so far as to call it "one of the better ones" that they have tried, and encourage others to check Nakin Thai out if in the neighbourhood. 

Address: Blk 722 Clementi West St 2 #01-150, Singapore 120722
Opening hours: Friday to Wednesday, 10am-3pm, 5pm-9pm; closed on Thursday

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yanning.soh@asiaone.com