By Ajarn Helen Jandamit
Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
University Tips is here to help you prepare for the English exams and tests that are coming your way. It gives you practise answering questions similar to those you may have at school and also on the University Entrance Examination.
Read the following story by Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai from the Bangkok Post. Then, answer the questions that follow.
What could be hotter than walking through Chatuchak market in summer? Not much you’d think, but add spicy food to the mix and the temperature does seem to rise. Now what could be even hotter than sitting red-faced over a plate of som tam, or papaya salad, in a non-air-conditioned market stall? Try having your salad served by topless young men with Adonis-like bodies.
HOT FOOD
Som Tam Tad Arbsap is a stall in Chatuchak Plaza, near Gate 1 of the weekend market. You can find it down one of the plaza’s narrow lanes at the start of Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road.
A large crowd is drawn to the loud music and a singing som tam vendor dressed in a traditional Thai likay folk costume, replete with glitter and fake diamonds. The restaurant is hot right now, in more ways than one. But its recipe for success is not about what’s on the menu — it’s about the waiters.
SEXY SERVERS
Charoensak Prosrichai (Tony), who is originally from Roi Et, had the idea for the stall. He started by identifying the fact that women were his biggest customers. Before long, he realised that eye candy could be as appealing as the food itself, so he hired some hunky men as waiters.
But handsome men with great bodies shouldn’t stay hidden in their clothes, so Tony told his staff to go topless.
He came up with a Thai angel theme for the waiters, who wear blue and gold patterned skirts and an elaborate traditional necklace with a jewelled pendant. The look is completed by gold arm and wrist bands.
The first day Tony launched his new idea, the restaurant made 70,000 baht. He knew it had been the right move.
PHOTO OP
Pisit Setsri (Amp), 25, is one of the restaurant’s stars. He has a full-time job as a fully-clothed waiter at a Bangkok hotel and works for Tony at Som Tam Tad Arbsap at the weekends. He said that the two jobs are completely different.
“At the hotel, I have to be professional. But here I can be myself and interact more with customers,” he explained. “There are a lot of people who come here to eat, while many come here to just have their photo taken with us,” Amp said.
GOOD TASTE
Tony originally thought of attracting women, and that has worked, but a larger than expected number of customers are gay men. Daisy, an openly gay 20-year-old university student says, “I'll admit that we came to see the waiters at first. But once we tried the food, I have to say that the taste is the reason we keep coming back.”
Exercises
Section 1
Read the story and answer the following multiple-choice questions.
1. Where is the restaurant located?
a. In Chatuchak Market.
b. Near Hua Lamphong railway station.
c. Opposite the Grand Palace.
2. How old is Amp?
a. 24 years old.
b. 25 years old.
c. 26 years old.
3. How much income did the restaurant make on the first day of opening?
a. About 7,000 baht.
b. About 70,000 baht.
c. About 700,000 baht.
4. What is Charoensak Prosrichai’s nickname?
a. Toby.
b. Tina.
c. Tony.
5. Which of the following statements is NOT true about Daisy?
a. Daisy is a university student.
b. Daisy is heterosexual.
c. Daisy is 20 years old.
6. Where is Charoensak Prosrichai from?
a. Bangkok.
b. Chiang Mai.
c. Roi Et.
7. Which road is situated near the restaurant?
a. Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road.
b. Rama IV Road.
c. Sukhkumvit Road.
8. According to the author, what is likely to attract customers the most?
a. The restaurant’s menus and promotions.
b. The restaurant’s location and atmosphere.
c. The restaurant’s staff and their costumes.
Section 2
Read the story and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
9. The restaurant offers a variety of European salads and pizzas.
………………………
10. All of the restaurant’s staff members are females.
………………………
11. The restaurant was launched by Tony, who came up with a unique idea.
………………………
12. Pisit Setsri is the restaurant’s co-founder.
………………………
13. Daisy is a student who works for the restaurant to gain an extra income.
………………………
Section 3
Fill in the blanks in the following passage with the correct words from the choices given.
Hailing from Issan, Tony had tried …..14….. som tam restaurant in his …..15….. and came to the conclusion that no one in Bangkok could …..16….. som tam as good as his. He compared many kinds of som tam to see what …..17….. missing and developed …..18….. own special recipe based on his research. His restaurant is …..19….. in the heart of Bangkok. …..20….. is located near BTS and MRT stations.
14.
a. all
b. every
c. these
15.
a. neighbour
b. neighbouring
c. neighbourhood
16.
a. make
b. made
c. making
17.
a. is
b. was
c. were
18.
a. him
b. his
c. he
19.
a. situate
b. situated
c. situating
20.
a. It
b. They
c. He
Section 4
Read each of the following sentences and underline the grammatically correct words in each from the choices given.
21. He has come up with/from/against a different idea to present the restaurant.
22. What attracting/attraction/attracts people to the restaurant is obviously the dress.
23. I can be myself when worked/work/working at the restaurant.
24. He works from/through/for the restaurant as a part-time employee.
Vocabulary
- topless (adj): not wearing any clothes on the upper part of the body
Adonis (n): an extremely attractive young man
replete (v): filled with something
hunky (adj): big, strong and sexually attractive
interact (v): to communicate with somebody, especially while you work, play or spend time with them
