A flooded restaurant in Thailand brings delight with swimming fish among diners

NAKHON PATHOM Thailand AP A restaurant in central Thailand was bursting with a stream of customers coming for a unique dining experience Enjoying a meal while sitting in flood waters surrounded by live fish they bring into the establishment Since an adjacent river breached its banks days ago the flooded riverside restaurant has become an internet sensation drawing customers keen to pose in the lapping brown water or toss fish food to photograph the feeding frenzy Families enjoyed lunch at Pa Jit restaurant in Nakhon Pathom province about kilometers miles from Bangkok with enthralled toddlers gawping at the river fish flapping around their thighs Wait staff in waders gingerly carried bowls of fish soup or chicken noodles from table to table Pa Jit has been a riverside fixture for more than years commented owner Pornkamol Prangprempree When the restaurant was flooded the first time around four years ago her heart sank I thought there would be no customer for sure she declared But then there was a customer who posted online showing that there were fish Then a lot of people flocked here to eat She commented floods have boosted her business with her profits doubling from around baht to around baht per day Chomphunuth Khantaniti a -year-old who lives in the same province was there with her husband and son She announced when she heard she couldn t resist I think it s good because we can bring the children here When the children see the fish they become less fussy she mentioned I think in Thailand there s only this place where you can see fish coming up like this Bella Windy came to the restaurant because she longed to feel the fish nibbling on her feet Normally if the water is very high the fish will come here The nature experience here is the highlight of this restaurant and it attracts people Pa Jit can expect another sparse weeks of inundation as high tides and the tail-end of the monsoon season keep water levels up Though the flooding has brought an atypical boon to Pa Jit it has devastated countless other areas of Thailand Since late July people were killed and two went missing due to flooding according to evidence from the Department of Accident Prevention and mitigation On Friday it published that more than people in provinces particularly in the north and the central were affected by floods Source