Thailand’s Famous Gay Pink Milk Comes to Oakland

Pary served the drink to me in a tall boba glass. I was prepared for it to be sweet — anything that shade of neon pink would be — but it was so sugary that I felt a little lightheaded after a swig. Still, I loved it. The creaminess of the milk, the cold ice and the buzz of the sugar rush all sent me back to the strawberry milkshakes and lychee Calpicos of my childhood. Nom chompuu felt like one of the great South/Southeast Asian pink drinks I nostalgically love, up there with rooh afza, falooda and bandung.

Later on, I asked Wawa Maneewan — another co-owner of Dek Doi and the brains behind the menu — if the drink’s newfound subcultural popularity influenced her decision to serve it in her new cafe. Wawa said it had more to do with her background: “I’m from Chiang Mai,” she says, referring to the northern Thai city, “and I remember all the cafes that used to be…