The owners are Charles and Christopher Timm and they're passionate about creating an authentic Thai dining experience.
Charles appreciates the joy of music and has Diane Brown playing the harp on Friday nights and Dave Hallam, professional pianist, playing jazz from 6:30pm - 8:30 pm every Saturday night.
Our most senior chef is Worawit Phorasri (English name Mann) and he works with Suchart as general manager, Sombbon Khamnon as second chef, Charles in front of house and various local casual workers
The philosophy at Chang Siam is to provide genuinely authentic Thai food, good value for money and a relaxed dining experience. The owners want to offer the opportunity of eating healthy and tasty Thai food to as large a section of the community as possible by offering extremely low-priced lunches, good value takeaways and competitively priced dinners. Special events, occasional entertainment and a Thai tapas hour will provide added value. A varied vegetarian menu and a healthy menu for children completes the Thai dining experience.
Charles has been an entrepreneur all his working life and, following his time qualifying to teach English as a second language in Chang Mai, Thailand, he got a real feel for the Thai way of life and felt that the idea of healthy food and eating as a family should be on offer here in Kerikeri. With his son Christopher he has established an orchid export business and now this great Thai restaurant halfway between Waipapa and Kerikeri. Charles appreciates the joy of music and plans to bring varied entertainment to both enhance the dining experience and also establish the restaurant as a community meeting place.
Christopher, too, has the entrepreneurial bug and has established himself as a dynamic and successful business manager in Auckland and Perth. He is currently sales manager for DyFlex Solutions. His energy, enthusiasm, computing skills and commitment to customer service in all his dealings make him an invaluable team member here at Chang Siam.
Mann is from the North East of Thailand and has been cooking for 25 years. His father died when he was young and Mann worked with his mother from an early age. He used to leave very early in the morning to shop for her in the markets and then worked with her, learning many traditional Thai cooking skills. Since those early years Mann has worked extensively as a Thai and Japanese chef, including five years in the USA and finally as Head Chef for the Udonthani Rajabhat University in Thailand. He has already made a few changes to the menu and he will be adding new dishes over the next year. His work ethic is exemplary and he will be working closely with the Chang Siam team over the next year to bring excellent food and a flavour of Thailand to Kerikeri. His lovely wife, Eed, also works in front of house and his daughter has even performed Thai dancing at the restaurant. Mann and his family are committed to this business and also to being valued members of the Kerikeri community.
Suchart is now overall general manager and will be working closely with Charles and Christopher to make Chang Siam a premier destination for both tourists and locals.
Somboon Khamnon, also an experienced chef from NE Thailand, is now an established member of the team and he and is wife are now settling in Kerikeri