ERIN ROTH: Okay, today is June the--
SUMKUN KRONGNYUT: June--
ROTH: Tenth? Tenth. Nineteen--yeah, I'm pretty sure it's the tenth. Nineteen
ninety eight. There we go, where's the--Wednesday, the tenth, nineteen ninety eight. And I am in the store of--it's called Jake's Oriental--KRONGNYUT: Grocery.
ROTH: Grocery. And, um, my name is Erin Roth, and I'm interviewing Sumkun
Krongnyut. And we're in his office. So, we can just ignore the tape recorder now. Let me make sure I've got the level right. Do--what happened to me pen? Or is it--KRONGNYUT: Oh, yeah, yeah.
ROTH: Oh here, thanks. Okay, first, I wanted to ask you, how you came to Bowling
Green and when you came? Or when did you come first to the United States? Or how 1:00did you end up--KRONGNYUT: Nineteen ninety four. I came visit my daughter. My daughter living
here before. And came to visit my daughter, my grand baby. (laughs) And I liked this town. (indeterminable)ROTH: Mhmm. Your daughter was living here in Bowling Green?
KRONGNYUT: Yes.
ROTH: How did--
KRONGNYUT: Yeah. Yes my daughter living here. I come visit her. Came here to
visit her and then I liked this town. It's a more quiet town.ROTH: Where did you come from? Where is it--Where, where were you, where did you
move from?KRONGNYUT: Chicago. We lived in big city, Chicago (laughs). Too big city. Too
many travel. I traveled. We used to have store with the--in town, in town 2:00(indeterminable) Chicago. In (indeterminable) was okay.ROTH: Where were you living? Were you living down--Where were you living in Chicago?
KRONGNYUT: Uh, suburb of Chicago. It was a nice neighborhood, too, but we had to
work at the downtown, the city. We had store in the city. That's why too many people. No quiet. Noise, too noisy. Not like here.ROTH: Your store in Chicago, what did you, what did you sell? Or--
KRONGNYUT: Oh, we sell uh, fast food. Like hamburger, cheeseburger. We had to
sell in city. That's why, too many people there. Too many travel with their kid. 3:00The kid line up, you know? (laughs)ROTH: Who, your kids or other people's--
KRONGNYUT: No, the kid come to buy! Not like here. Nice, here, nice. I mean the
kid come to buy. Come to eat. Come to buy food to eat. Some boy. I the city, some boy they travel. (laughs) Seven year...later, ten year later. (indeterminable) Ten year later (indeterminable), and then I quit.ROTH: They, they hit you?
KRONGNYUT: No, no hit. Just uh...noisy, or...
ROTH: Oh, I see.
KRONGNYUT: Lousy, or something like that.
ROTH: Did anybody try to rob your store? Or...anything?
KRONGNYUT: Oh, many people there, they get a lot stole...and broken. But not me.
Okay. For me okay. Neighbor, okay. No problem. Noisy or talking or...Being 4:00upside down (laughs) and try to move somewhere. And then...came here and like it over here, you know.ROTH: Why did your daughter move here?
KRONGNYUT: I don't know. After she married. After she married and...anywhere, I
don't know why she don't stay with, they don't stay with us. After marry.ROTH: So your daughter got married to somebody that lives here?
KRONGNYUT: Mhmm. I--ROTH: Or...
KRONGNYUT: Yes. Mhmm. It's nice over here. Live in big city and you know, like
5:00you...got a ticket. Like a police ticket. (00:05:07) You have to go to the court. Maybe take me one hour--one day. To do that. Nothing. Over here, you got a ticket, five minutes. Come back. Ten minutes. That's one day. You have to go to the court...morning. After that, one day. Make you do that. But traffic...when you drive on highway, sometime highway...(indeterminable)...or accident. Many, many cars. (laughs) I spend time maybe, sometimes two hours, one and a half hours....to go to downtown. One and a half hours to go to downtown. 6:00Yeah. That's too many, too much time. That's why...I don't know how to say it. (laughs) You have to help me how to say it. (laughs)ROTH: Well, it's calmer. It's a quieter life here. It's quieter here.
(voice in the background)
KRONGNYUT: Yeah, quiet....nice, nice people.
ROTH: I hear your wife said people are nice.
KRONGNYUT: Yeah. Nice, yeah. I never seen before. Because 18 years Chicago, and
I never see like that over here. Nice, talk nice, or...When you drive in...the big city, (indeterminable). 7:00ROTH: You mean they'll yell at you and...
KRONGNYUT: Very, you have to drive, be careful. I mean, with the driver's stick.
You have to be careful. You drive drunk, be careful. Maybe you drive the wrong way or you make a right turn with somebody. (indeterminable) (laughs) But over here is nice.ROTH: Mhmm. So you came to Chicago. In what, what year did you come to Chicago?
KRONGNYUT: We came to Chicago...1978.
ROTH: '78? From...Thailand?
KRONGNYUT: Thailand. I never came here before. Never. I mean in United States before.
8:00ROTH: Why did, why did you come? Why did you leave, why did you leave Thailand?
KRONGNYUT: My sister, she a nurse. She came here before anybody. And then my
son. And then my daughter, my....my brother came here. Before me, two years. I said, okay over here, okay. And then I turned in application. My sister make application at the...what do you call it? The city.ROTH: The immigration?
KRONGNYUT: Yes, immigration. Do everything for me. Because...city sent in. If
you applications you can...take father, sister...brother, sister mother. The same mother, same father. Brother, sister, same brother. Through application at immigration. And then she did for me. And then I come here. And...ROTH: What was it like in Thailand when you left? Was it right after...the
Vietnam War? Were there lots of concentratio=n...camps? Refugee camps?KRONGNYUT: I used to work in uh...American army, too. American air force. We
used to work five years over there. American air force. At my country. I used to work over there, too. After, after the Vietnam War ended, Americans go back home. And then get another job. (laughs) After that, try to come here. I think 19, 19...my son born 30 years ago. I think 1969. I worked five years over there. I am, maybe 21, 20-years-old. Me.(00:10:37)
ROTH: Pardon?
KRONGNYUT: Me. Me, 21, 20-year-old.
ROTH: When you came here?
KRONGNYUT: No.
ROTH: Oh.
KRONGNYUT: When I used to work with American air force. When I came here I 30,
33. Thirty three.ROTH: How many children did you have then?
KRONGNYUT: Two.
ROTH: Two.
KRONGNYUT: And my son (indeterminable). (laughs) And my daughter. They are
(indeterminable). They got family already.ROTH: What is hard to adjust to Chicago? Or, I mean to the United States, you know?
KRONGNYUT: Hard?
ROTH: Hard to, hard to adjust and get used to...
KRONGNYUT: Hard, you mean hard to come here? Or...
ROTH: Yeah. And learn the new language and you...
KRONGNYUT: Oh, yes. Yeah, Yeah. I don't know English before. I just...sound.
It's different. We used to learn English at school, too. But the Thai English before. Now too many Americans over there to, to learn how to talk. Family (indeterminable) teacher. At the college. Now you, American teacher. Before I learn, no American teacher. Sound different.ROTH: You had a Thai teacher teaching you English? Is that it?
KRONGNYUT: Over there.
ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: But now it's, now it's not the same before. Now they got American
teacher...in Thailand. A lot. In back home. (laughs) So...Nice over here.ROTH: Is your sister still living in Chicago then?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah.
ROTH: And your other family, too?
KRONGNYUT: Yes, my...my sister no, she went back to Thailand. For the
(indeterminable). Go back work to over there. Work uh, work for the...government. And then she follow now. Maybe (indeterminable). I don't know. You know. He called me yesterday. He come here, he came here now. My brother-in-law. He's in Chicago. He called me yesterday. He got a nice job. He in engineering. That's why he tell me everything over here. After work. (laughs)ROTH: What?
KRONGNYUT: He tell me everything when he came here. He teach me everything. How
to...how to be American. How to help yourself, work yourself, everything by yourself. (laughs) That's American way. That's my people say that.ROTH: And that's different from the Thai way?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah. Like American way, basically. We call American way. Everything
do yourself, do yourself. (laughs)ROTH: Is that hard to get used, that hard to get used to?
KRONGNYUT: That is good. We learned that. That's good. To learn that. How to
help yourself. How to...do yourself.ROTH: What was it like in Thailand? You relied on each other?KRONGNYUT: Sorry?
ROTH: In Thailand then you, you helped each other? Like your family helped each
other or...Or how is it different?KRONGNYUT: (laughs) Yeah. They help each other. (laughs) They help each other
too much. Over here...ROTH: Did you say they help each other too much in Thailand?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah.
ROTH: Is that what you said?
KRONGNYUT: Mhmm. (indeterminable) You have family. You got the children. You
have to take care of it. You have to take care of your children. (indeterminable) I mean, got (indeterminable). (00:15:07) Over here, (indeterminable). You can work with self (indeterminable). Get money, spend money yourself. And yourself. That's my brother-in-law tell me that. That's American way. After school, you have to go to work, part-time. Help yourself. That's my brother-in-law say that. But in Thailand, after school you go home. (laughs) Nothing to do. Out here you...(indeterminable). And then you work and then help yourself. That's mean. That's what I mean.ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: It's some boy. I live in Chicago, I see some boy. Ride a bicycle. And
newspaper. Come to my house. Woo-woo-woo. Oh, that's my (indeterminable).ROTH: Your son was a newspaper?KRONGNYUT: No, I mean the boy. The boy. American
boy. Ride bicycle. Working. Part-time job.ROTH: So, when did you open up (bell rings) this store? (talking in the background)
KRONGNYUT: Pardon me?ROTH: I said when did you open up this store?KRONGNYUT: Oh,
when I came here. When I came here in 1994. And we sleep here and then whatever you do. (laughs) Think, "What I got to do?" Work. Have to work, right? (laughs) Well I move here. I think about what I have to do? Think myself. Do something. Have to do something. What I'm going do? Think about (indeterminable). I used to have a (indeterminable) in Chicago.ROTH: You had a what?KRONGNYUT: (indeterminable). Like my son.
ROTH: Oh, a restaurant. Uh-huh.
KRONGNYUT: Uh-huh. My self. I cannot, I cannot speak really good. (laughs)
ROTH: No, no that's good. I didn't, I...
KRONGNYUT: You didn't have (indeterminable). I used to have over there. But I
cannot now, but it's old. Get old.ROTH: It's too much work? Running a restaurant?KRONGNYUT: Yeah. Yeah. Too much
work. It can do no good for my...ROTH: Knees.
KRONGNYUT: Back and--yeah. Because I'm old. I think what it has to do with. Do
something. I think about grocery. And then I got it. And then open here. Think about grocery.ROTH: How, how did--
KRONGNYUT: (coughs) Sorry. I get cold today.
ROTH: Oh, that's okay. How did you know if the city wanted a grocery store like
this? If you could make a business? Was it--KRONGNYUT: I can't hear.ROTH: How did you, how did you know that...that the--that you would be able to
make a good business here with a store like this? 'Cause you sell mainly, mostly Asian things. And, I wondered how, how--did you talk to people? Or did you know other...KRONGNYUT: Yeah. I talked to some Asians over here. We talked. We got some
Asians over here. We got some country over there. We talked. Same my language. (indeterminable) Because they are refugees.ROTH: They are what?KRONGNYUT: Refugees.
ROTH: Oh refugees. Uh-huh.
KRONGNYUT: Some family over here. We can talk each other.
ROTH: Do you speak, you speak Thai with them? Or...or...
KRONGNYUT: I can speak both.
ROTH: Thai and...
KRONGNYUT: Thai and Lao.
ROTH: Lao.
KRONGNYUT: Yeah. I can speak Lao, too. And I speak Thai. And then some family
Lao, and I talk to them, ask them about--not too many, not enough for that. Not too many family.ROTH: Not too many Lao families?
KRONGNYUT: Yes. Not too many Asian family, or...
ROTH: So, before you opened the store there wasn't a place in the city for
people to go? And get Asian foods?KRONGNYUT: Before they have really, two or three or four (bell rings) here
before coming.ROTH: Here in Bowling Green?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah.
ROTH: Oh yeah?
KRONGNYUT: Before me. Three.
ROTH: Wow.
KRONGNYUT: But they quit. Me the fourth. The fourth.
ROTH: Do you know why they quit?
(00:20:02)
KRONGNYUT: No business. (laughs) I think. (bell rings) That's why. Not too many.
It's up to you, you know. You have to know how to do it. (laughs) You don't know how to do something, fix something, you cannot...One guy I think, two Lao and one Cambodian. Working over here. They cannot hold it.ROTH: They could not what?KRONGNYUT: Cannot hold that. (indeterminable) They
quit. They cannot hold that. I live in Chicago and they said hold. Can you say hold?ROTH: Own? Hone?
KRONGNYUT: Like that.
ROTH: Oh, hold it. They couldn't hold onto it.
KRONGNYUT: Oh.
ROTH: Hold onto the business?KRONGNYUT: Yeah, yeah. (sounds of cash register)
Three. (sounds of cash register)ROTH: So has, has business been better then for you? Are you...
KRONGNYUT: Uh, so-so. Like so-so. Not too good, not too bad. Not too good and
not too bad. Because (bell rings) small city.ROTH: Because what?
KRONGNYUT: Because too small city.
ROTH: It's too small of a city?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah. Not like Nashville. Maybe 1,000 family...Asia. Over here, maybe 30.
ROTH: Thirty families?
KRONGNYUT: Mhmm. Not like Nashville. That's good that...almost 2,000...
ROTH: (indeterminable)
KRONGNYUT: Over there. They told me that, but I don't know.
ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: Asia. Chicago a lot, but I don't know how many families. Too big.
Bigger than Nashville. You live, you ever go to Chicago before?ROTH: Yeah, I've been to Chicago. Yeah, there's...I think there's a lot of
Asians there when I was there.KRONGNYUT: Yeah, a lot of people. A lot of Asians. (laughs) A lot, a lot of people.
ROTH: So, the people, the people that come here to shop, they mostly be those
Asian families that live here in Bowling Green?KRONGNYUT: That's I need Asia. (indeterminable) from Asia. American they don't,
they don't...need too much. And then...they don't know much, American. Some they need to. Like over there. They don't know how to cook. They don't know how to cook. Some they know how to cook, but it's sometimes. Not everyday. Maybe once a month. (laughs) But...you ever eat uh...Thai (indeterminable)ROTH: Eat what?KRONGNYUT: Ever eat over there?ROTH: Oh yeah. Oh it's very good.
So what kinds of things do you put in your store? What kinds of things do you...order?KRONGNYUT: What kind?
ROTH: Yeah like...I saw you have some fresh...vegetables...
KRONGNYUT: Oh yes. Vegetable, we have to take Asian vegetables. Not American
vegetables. But we have no English to call it something. Some American they don't know what's that. (laughs)ROTH: Where do you order them from?KRONGNYUT: Chicago.
ROTH: Chicago.
KRONGNYUT: Chicago. Maybe, pick up, sometime pick up at airport. Nashville.
(bell rings)ROTH: And...is your store...you, your family cooks Thai food. (bell rings) But,
the other families cook a little differently. Lao...Cambodian...KRONGNYUT: We cook the same.
ROTH: Cook about the same?KRONGNYUT: Yes. The same. For the neighbor Lao,
Thailand, Cambodia. Thailand lucky. (laughs) Vietnam...ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: Community. Lao community. Cambodia community. Thailand community.
Thailand (indeterminable) (laughs)ROTH: (laughs)
(00:25:05)
KRONGNYUT: (indeterminable)
ROTH: Because of what?
KRONGNYUT: (indeterminable)
ROTH: It's...Sorry.
KRONGNYUT: Uh, understand now?ROTH: Uh...
KRONGNYUT: (indeterminable)
ROTH: Oh, okay.
KRONGNYUT: (laughs)
ROTH: Gotcha.
KRONGNYUT: A nice man. Some nice man help me sometimes. From Thailand. That's, I
read the newspaper. (laughs)ROTH: Uh-huh.
KRONGNYUT: Yes. You don't have a--maybe we become community. And you have (indeterminable).
ROTH: Pardon?
KRONGNYUT: You have (indeterminable). And then you can be community.
ROTH: A community?
KRONGNYUT: Community. Like a (indeterminable) (sounds of cash register)
ROTH: Uh-huh. Oh yeah, yeah how many Thai, Thai families are here in Bowling Green?
KRONGNYUT: Few.
ROTH: Few.
KRONGNYUT: I know one guy who uh...he's teacher. Maybe you know him.
ROTH: Oh, Dr. Boonsong.
KRONGNYUT: Yes! He from Thailand!
ROTH: Yeah, yeah. He's been here a long time.
KRONGNYUT: Long time. Before me. (bell rings) That's why I talk to him. That's
why I talk to him. How many family here? Sometime he told me that...You know Boonsong?ROTH: I haven't met him yet, but I know he teaches at the Eleventh Street...KRONGNYUT: Oh.
ROTH: That school.
KRONGNYUT: That's, I talked to him before I came here. He helped. He helped me
sometimes. Or...he sometimes helped me before.ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: He from Thailand. One, and me. That's it.
ROTH: That's it?
KRONGNYUT: Mhmm. And maybe some (indeterminable) over there. Like in Glasgow.
ROTH: Glasgow?
KRONGNYUT: Glasgow--why?
ROTH: Thai, Thai families live in Glasgow?KRONGNYUT: Mhmm. Only two. (laughs)
And Boonesborough and the other. Franklin.ROTH: Boonesborough and Franklin--where?
KRONGNYUT: A few.
ROTH: A few.
KRONGNYUT: Families, or so. Not too much--not too many.
ROTH: I wanted to ask you um...I, I know of this, the Southeast Asian community
in DeMoines, Iowa. I, I grew up in Iowa. And they have a Buddhist monastery in the city. And I wondered if you have a--not a monastery here, but is there a place where you are--I don't know if you are Buddhist or not, but if there is a place that you worship...together? Or that you have like...you know what I'm asking? (laughs)KRONGNYUT: Monster?
ROTH: Not um...what do they call it? (indeterminable) It was a Lao monastery.
KRONGNYUT: Hmm, I don't know about that.
ROTH: Well, but...
KRONGNYUT: I don't know about that. Monster? Like uh...
ROTH: No, no, no. Yeah, no. (laughs) No um, where the Buddhist monks...stay.
KRONGNYUT: Yeah monks would, mhmm.
ROTH: Is the closest one probably in Nashville.
KRONGNYUT: I don't follow you.
ROTH: Okay, sorry. I don't know how to say it. Buddhist, Buddhist monks...
KRONGNYUT: Hmong is Hmong. Buddhist is Buddhist. Different.
ROTH: Okay. No, not Hmong.
KRONGNYUT: The Hmong is the people.
ROTH: Yeah, no not--the, the priests. The, you know the, the men that are...
KRONGNYUT: The man and woman.
ROTH: Yeah, I don't know how to say it...differently. Oh, that's okay. Forget
it. I...what I want to ask...I wanted to ask--I noticed that you have on your shelf. There's a little shelf with a--KRONGNYUT: Yeah.
ROTH: With a Buddha.
KRONGNYUT: Mhmm.
ROTH: And with writing and...
KRONGNYUT: Mhmm.
ROTH: Can you tell me what it means? What some of it means for--why you have it there?
KRONGNYUT: Oh. (clears throat) That's from thousand, thousand years ago. You
don't know. You have to learn, you have to be the monk and, you know...have to be, have to...you have to be the monk and, you know, (indeterminable). We don't know. Because that's thousand, thousand years ago. We don't know that.ROTH: Why do you, why do you have it in your store? Is it for...good luck, or?
KRONGNYUT: Uh, it's (indeterminable)
ROTH: Pardon?
KRONGNYUT: (indeterminable) Protect my self or heal myself or...For lucky or
something like that. Now I move back home.(00:30:06)
ROTH: Pardon?
KRONGNYUT: Now I move back home.
ROTH: Now you?
KRONGNYUT: Move.
ROTH: Move?
KRONGNYUT: Move to my home now. Yesterday. Last week, I moved to my home.
ROTH: What, what moved to your home?
KRONGNYUT: The...Buddha.
ROTH: Oh, oh yeah?
KRONGNYUT: Buddha, you see the Buddha over there? It's not a picture, it's a
Buddha, look like a gold.ROTH: There's a statue--uh-huh. Gold.
KRONGNYUT: Uh-huh. (bell rings) That's...we protect that. We respect that.
ROTH: Do you um, do you get together with other, other people and...um...well
like, New Years celebration. Do you have, do you celebrate New Years with--KRONGNYUT: Yes.
ROTH: Here in Bowling Green? Or do you go someplace else and...
KRONGNYUT: At home.
ROTH: At home.
KRONGNYUT: Well because we don't have a temple over here. We don't have like a
big place, like Chicago. Got two or three--(tape cuts out)
ROTH: Um...what do, what do you do then at home? For the New Years celebration?
KRONGNYUT: Take, take them, take him to the (indeterminable). (indeterminable)
and pray. And...pray with everything. Pray inside myself. Nobody hear that. That's praying. We pray. You know pray?ROTH: Mhmm. Pray.KRONGNYUT: And here we pray, we never talk like that. We pray we...everything
inside you. Inside your mind. That's we pray. We do like that. Every year. We take my mother, keep the bone. The bone. The bone.ROTH: The bone of your mother? Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: Yeah. The mother or my mother.
ROTH: The actual bone?
KRONGNYUT: Yes.
ROTH: Wow.
KRONGNYUT: And come take shower. And pray with the bone.
ROTH: You're like praying to your ancestors and people...that...to your parents
and grandparents.KRONGNYUT: Yes, yes. Yes. Yes we do that every year.
ROTH: And then, is there a special meal? Like special food that you eat?
KRONGNYUT: No, not special.
ROTH: No. No.
KRONGNYUT: Yes, there is special, but we know what they like in food. What kind
of food they like and cook that. Because we know whatever, what food my father still...(indeterminable)ROTH: Only what?
KRONGNYUT: (indeterminable)
ROTH: Your mother's still--
KRONGNYUT: No. Mother is gone.
ROTH: But your father's still living?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah still living. But they not here. (laughs)
ROTH: Uh-huh.
KRONGNYUT: They back home Thailand.
ROTH: Oh, they're in Thailand?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah.
ROTH: Or your dad's in Thailand.
KRONGNYUT: Yeah, they don't want to come here. (laughs) Just come visit. He
usually come here and he sees us. Chicago. They don't...they don't like. Old. Too, too old.ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: They're too old. They don't like it. No friends (laughs), no, no
talk. They do not talk...neighbor...they don't understand.ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: Then they don't...They want to talk to--they like it. They don't--yeah.
ROTH: I understand.
KRONGNYUT: It's they don't like the U.S. He came here four or five times, he
don't like it here. He like it over there.ROTH: What did your father do in?
KRONGNYUT: Oh, he retired. He retired.
ROTH: Uh-huh. What did he do before he retired?
KRONGNYUT: Oh. He's uh...teacher. Like uh...you know teacher. What do you call
when you...a teacher. It's a follow him--I mean...I don't know over here (indeterminable)ROTH: What did he teach?
KRONGNYUT: He is teacher.
ROTH: A what teacher?
KRONGNYUT: Uh, like a teacher...what do you call in United States? I don't know
you have a...you know teacher? Like...ROTH: Uh-huh.
KRONGNYUT: You have to have somebody control the teacher.
(00:35:02)
ROTH: Oh, a principal.
KRONGNYUT: Principal?
ROTH: Yeah, like that?KRONGNYUT: Uh-huh. That's my father.
ROTH: Supervised other teachers.
KRONGNYUT: Yes. All teacher in the...my city. My county. Had to...control the
teacher. I don't know how to say it (laughs) another way.ROTH: Super, supervise.
KRONGNYUT: Supervise teachers.
ROTH: Supervise the teachers.
KRONGNYUT: Yes. (indeterminable)
ROTH: Do uh...maybe you could tell me um...okay. Like, are there any other Asian
stores in Bowling Green.KRONGNYUT: No, not right now.
ROTH: No. Are there any other restaurants other than the Taste of Thai?
KRONGNYUT: Thai--
ROTH: Go ahead.
KRONGNYUT: I don't know that guy. One in the...what is Chopstick?
ROTH: Oh yeah.
KRONGNYUT: Most people say he from Thailand, but...I never talked to him. I
never see him. I never met him.ROTH: Hmm. But he's cooking Chinese food, right?
KRONGNYUT: Yes.
ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: Boonsong he know. He know well. You talk to him. You ask him and...
ROTH: Mhmm. Okay.
KRONGNYUT: That's Thai. Most people say that he from Thailand.
ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: But we never talk...to each other. We never see each other. We don't
know each other. Most say, most people over here say that.ROTH: Mhmm. Your um, your grandchild...
KRONGNYUT: Yes.
ROTH: Is gonna be...he's, he's learning Thai as well as English and...Do you--
KRONGNYUT: Hmm.
ROTH: Do you know (indeterminable)
KRONGNYUT: That's the problem. That's the problem. Because I seen too many, a
lot in Chicago. Like I mean, I mean like uh, family. Some family came here thirty years ago like that. Twenty years ago. Fifteen years ago. They got the children. That's a problem. That's we talking about. Over there, too. In the family, talking about that. They don't want to be, they don't want to be, they want to be both. Thai and English.ROTH: And how, how's that a problem? What do you see the problem as?
KRONGNYUT: Problem...the problem is...because you're different. American and
Thailand people. When you go back over there...like when the children born over here...go back to Thailand. They will know. They over there will know you...that's not real Thailand. Uh I mean, I mean...people over there (indeterminable) you. (indeterminable) or mother or...aunt, whatever--neighbor. They will know you. You not born Thailand. Because you act uh, American. They say that. (laughs) Different. Different culture.ROTH: So do you hope that your grandchildren--
KRONGNYUT: I want them be both. At least like...(indeterminable) At least say,
tell mom, at least say mom, daddy. That's what I mean. I see it in my...my, my sister. My sister. Her son about 25 year now, 35 years now. The old one, 25. Second one 24. They born here. They talk too badly. (laughs) They fight badly. I don't know why. You have to respect. Father and mother. You cannot fight. You fight with your sister, okay. You fight with...anybody, okay. But you cannot fight with...mom and daddy. You have to respect. That's my (indeterminable). American. (laughs) They fight with mom. No, I don't understand why they fight. I say, "Hey, (indeterminable), you don't respect your mom?" "No, I talking with her. No, I talking," he said.(00:40:38)
ROTH: Let me make sure I--okay. So you were talking about your sister? Your
sister's children? What they--KRONGNYUT: They go by (indeterminable). They born here.
ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: But for me, I want to be, I want there to be both. American and
Thailand. Be American, okay Thailand.ROTH: It sounds like you kind of want the best of both cultures.
KRONGNYUT: Yes.
ROTH: Americans that, you know, we work for ourselves. And the young people get jobs.
KRONGNYUT: Yes.
ROTH: And the Thailand culture, Thai culture where you respect your elders.
People who are, your parents and...KRONGNYUT: Elder respect.
ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: Yeah, you have to work like American. (laughs) Boy. The family got
money when they work. They want to help me sell. That's my...my...(noise from car) (indeterminable). Do it yourself, help yourself. That's (indeterminable). When they came here. Not now. Not now. Before. Before, when they came here. Think about everything. Do everything. Think about everything. (laughs)ROTH: Um, I don't want to keep you much longer but I--feel like, I don't know if
I asked--huh?KRONGNYUT: (indeterminable)
ROTH: Huh? Do you want to listen to it?
KRONGNYUT: No, I mean uh, when you--how you going to do that?
ROTH: How am I gonna...do what?
KRONGNYUT: Uh, how will...(coughs). Sorry. Take home. Okay, take home.
ROTH: Take it home, uh-huh.
KRONGNYUT: And...let the student hear it?
ROTH: Oh well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna listen to it again. I'm gonna type up like,
a summary of what you, of what we said. And then um, and put it in the archive. Into the museum. No one else may ever listen to it. But they might.KRONGNYUT: (laughs)
ROTH: (laughs)
KRONGNYUT: Maybe you don't understand. Maybe you don't understand me on this tape.
ROTH: No, I think so. And, and it'll help because I listened and I can, I'll
type it up so it'll be written out.KRONGNYUT: Oh. Oh, okay.
ROTH: And I think I understood most everything. (laughs)
KRONGNYUT: For the student?
ROTH: Yeah.
KRONGNYUT: Oh, okay. I see. I didn't think you were (indeterminable) tell on,
tell on here and let them...ROTH: Oh no.
KRONGNYUT: No, okay, okay.
ROTH: Um, the--part of this project is to record people's stories. People who
come--like immigrants to Bowling Green. Their story of how they came here. Which is what this tape is kind of about, you know. Like, the story of how you came to Bowling Green.KRONGNYUT: Okay, mhmm.
ROTH: And, but the other part is that we're, we're hoping that we will be able
to do like a tour of different places in Bowling Green. And actually bring people into the store. Maybe bring people into the restaurant. Or, we're going to go to go to some other places, too in Bowling Green. And...this is the big hope is that we would have a, a brochure. That would describe different places in Bowling Green. I mean different businesses. So you're store would be listed with the, with the--like some description of the store. And then hopefully it will help your business. So that people other than the Asian families that know will come here. That's, that's a hope, a hope. (laughs)KRONGNYUT: I got a few--oh, oh thank you. I got a few...students over here. One
guy from Burma.ROTH: From where? Burma?
KRONGNYUT: Burma.
ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: Yeah. And all the way came here. Neighbor, Thailand. Burma, Burma.
Thailand, close. He's--I saw him about two or three years already.(00:45:02)
ROTH: Oh yeah?
KRONGNYUT: He's still here. This morning he came here. He from Burma. Two guys
from India. Two guys from India just came last year. From India. Two guys, two, two guys. And one student from Japanese. From Japanese, too, too. I think one is go back home already. I don't see her a long time. (laughs)ROTH: Yeah, so I bet students--
KRONGNYUT: Oh, we need Asian students come here. Like four or five. Four or five
students I think. Came here.ROTH: You know you might, wanna think about--maybe we should turn off the tape.
I'll turn off--we can turn off the tape now.KRONGNYUT: No, no. (laughs)
ROTH: Thank you very much.
(tape cuts out)
ROTH: Um, I wanted to ask you about the, about your fam--I want to make sure I
got your family all right, all straight. How many of you live here in the United States now? It's you and your--well your sister and her husband moved back to Thailand from Chicago.KRONGNYUT: Mhmm.
ROTH: Are their children still living here then?
KRONGNYUT: Yes. Chicago.
ROTH: In Chicago. And they're grown?
KRONGNYUT: They're working. (laughs)
ROTH: They're working, they're working.
KRONGNYUT: Uh-huh.
ROTH: What do they do in Chicago?
KRONGNYUT: One guy...talk to my wife. My wife she (indeterminable). I talk to my
wife?ROTH: Oh that's okay.KRONGNYUT: I don't remember.
ROTH: Do you have any other brothers or sisters that live here?
KRONGNYUT: Oh my brother he...Chicago. My young brother. My only, only sister
were here.ROTH: In Chicago?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah. And they talk about it. The one go back to Thailand. And...
ROTH: So you have two sisters?KRONGNYUT: No.
ROTH: And a brother--no, one sister.
KRONGNYUT: One, one sister, one brother.
ROTH: One brother.
KRONGNYUT: Three family.
ROTH: Okay.
KRONGNYUT: Over here, in United States. My sister came here thirteen, fifteen
or...almost forty year.ROTH: Really? Wow. Why did she come?
KRONGNYUT: At the time it's uh...American. They open. They need uh...nurse.
Nursing. Nurse. They came here...they came here for work. (laughs) Because they're, forty years ago, they first came here for nursing. After they finish school over there, they came here. Because the nurse there. You come, came to United States.ROTH: That was before the Vietnam War.
KRONGNYUT: Before. Between Vietnam War, I think.
ROTH: Mhmm. Well, when it was...
KRONGNYUT: Between, between, between.
ROTH: Mhmm.
KRONGNYUT: Between Vietnam War.
ROTH: And then your brother came after that?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah.
ROTH: After her?
KRONGNYUT: After her. And then me.
ROTH: And then you.
KRONGNYUT: 1978, 19 May.
ROTH: 19th of, in May.
KRONGNYUT: May yeah--June.
ROTH: 20 years ago.
KRONGNYUT: 20 years ago. 19 May, 1978. That's past me, 19--just past 19.
ROTH: Did you have a celebration for your 20th?
KRONGNYUT: Let me think about that. We all the way--(laughs). We all the way,
but sometimes we think about that, too. Sometimes.ROTH: Do you ever, do you ever regret coming? Do you ever wish that you stayed
in Thailand?KRONGNYUT: Pardon me?ROTH: Do you ever wish that you would have stayed in
Thailand? Or are you happy that you came...here?KRONGNYUT: I came here, I happy with that. Better, better than Thailand. My life
better, you know that. I think. But nobody know maybe. (laughs) I think my life better than over there.ROTH: Your life is better...now?KRONGNYUT: Yeah. Think about it, too. Go back to
(laughs) and retire.ROTH: Like you would, you've thought about going back to retire?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah.
ROTH: In Thailand?
KRONGNYUT: Yeah. Sometimes I miss it. Lived there for long time. Sometime I miss
it. Missing over there too, sometimes. (laughs)(00:50:09)
ROTH: When was the last time you visited?
KRONGNYUT: Couple years. Couple years. Last time, couple years.
ROTH: Sure. Did you ever um, brought your children to get married here in the
United States?KRONGNYUT: Yeah, yeah they get married over here.
ROTH: In Chicago?
KRONGNYUT: Yes, in Chicago. After my daughter married, (indeterminable) she
follow...her husband.ROTH: Where do they live now? Your daughter?
KRONGNYUT: (bell rings) Chicago.
ROTH: Chicago?
KRONGNYUT: Oh yeah, here.
ROTH: Oh, here in Bowling Green?KRONGNYUT: Yeah.
ROTH: And your son lives here in Bowling Green.
KRONGNYUT: Yes.
ROTH: And how many grandchildren do you have?
KRONGNYUT: Four.
ROTH: Four.
KRONGNYUT: Four grandchildren. (laughs) You have to ask me. You don't ask me, I
don't know what to say. (laughs)ROTH: Oh really?
KRONGNYUT: You have to ask me. You don't ask me, I don't know what to say. (laughs)
ROTH: Yeah no, I know. I think, I think I might, might be coming to an end. But
I prob--I may have more questions later.KRONGNYUT: Yes.
ROTH: But um...if you don't mind. (laughs) And I'll try not to take so much time
'cause I know you got--you're pretty busy.KRONGNYUT: Okay, no problem.
ROTH: With the store. Okay, well thank you very much again.
(tape cuts out)
