Buddhist blessing at Thai restaurant

Oct 29 2005 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

BUSINESS should be booming at a Huddersfield Thai restaurant after Buddhist monks gave it a special blessing.

Four monks visited Thai Sakon on St John's Road after being invited by owners Mark and Sompong King, who took over the running of the restaurant on August 1.

It was formerly known as Thai Charleda but, after refurbishment, it reopened as Thai Sakon.

Mark and Sompong, who comes from Thailand, invited the monks after hearing about them from fellow Thai restaurant owners.

Two of the monks were from Edinburgh and two from London.

They said prayers at the restaurant, wishing good fortune and happiness on the business and its workers.

Mark said: "It is common for this to happen at Thai restaurants.

"As well as wishing luck on the business, Thai people take it as a chance to be reminded of the Buddhist way and to give donations to temples."

Mark and Sompong met in Thailand five years ago.

Mark was teaching English but decided to move to England to study to become a maths teacher.

While he was studying, the couple worked in Thai restaurants to earn money and so that Sompong could meet fellow Thais.

The couple live in Longwood and Mark is a maths teacher in Sowerby Bridge, but he has not left Sompong to run the restaurant single-handed.

He said: "After working in Thai restaurants we decided to open our own.

"We are both very much involved. It just means I never have a spare minute!

"But we're very pleased with the way the restaurant looks and the way business is going."