At 101-year-old Ek Teng Phu Ki, Thai-Chinese elders now mingle with cafe-hoppers, as the family-run business adapts to keep up with the times – and its doors open for generations to come.
Like clockwork, Ek Teng Phu Ki has opened for business every day for over 101 years. It served its customers in times of war, and it continued serving them after the coffee shop, arguably Bangkok’s oldest, moved around the corner 50 years ago from Yaowa Phanit Road to Soi Phat. Unsurprisingly, it stayed open last year, too — not only during the pandemic, but also while its fourth-generation owners spent half the year transforming it into an Instagram hotspot, one that wouldn’t be out of place in nearby Soi Nana.
The formerly no-frills cafe, a magnet for elderly members of the Thai-Chinese community, now boasts with jade-hued tiles, a showpiece wooden menu board and…
