My Story – Noiy's Noodles

I've always had a natural desire to be creative, and over the years, I've found my favourite way to express that creativity is through food.

At the age of just 3, I started helping my family in our rice fields. Growing up in a small village in Thailand, everyone had a part to play, no matter how young. My days were spent helping my parents, looking after my siblings and exploring the farmland for food, from catching frogs in the shallow waters to picking herbs and mushrooms in the small woodlands behind our fields. Looking back, these early experiences taught me responsibility and sparked my curiosity about food.

I remember my mum taking me into the woods to pick herbs. She would encourage me to taste each one, even when I was hesitant. Without realising it at the time, she was teaching me the foundations of flavour and taste. What an eye-opener that was for me!

My mum's priority was always her family. She made countless sacrifices and worked incredibly hard to provide for us. During the growing seasons, she would collect fruits, herbs and wild mushrooms to sell at the market, all while raising her 11 children.

Sadly, my mum passed away at just 35 years old, after giving birth to my younger brother. I was only 10 at the time. Losing her so young was heartbreaking, and there are so many moments in my life I wish she could have been here to see. I would've loved for her to hear this story, but I'm sure she's somewhere watching me.

My dad was a fun man (that's probably why my mum had so many babies!). He was a good father, and after my mum passed away, he suddenly had to take on the responsibility of being both mum and dad to all of us. It couldn't have been easy.

My siblings and I were still young, so there was only so much we could do to help. I had to grow up quickly and do my best to fill a little of the gap my mum had left behind.

When I finished Year 6, my dad couldn't afford to send me to secondary school. I loved education and would've liked to continue, but that wasn't an option for me. Instead, I accepted my circumstances and went to work in the nearby town of Phang Khon, Sakhon Nakhon.

And guess what my first job was? Working in a beef noodle soup restaurant!

A neighbour took me to the restaurant, which was about 6km from my village. It was my first time living away from home, and I had to stay at the noodle shop.

When I arrived, I was taught how to prepare all the ingredients for the noodle soup broth and how to cook the beef until it was perfectly tender. On top of my kitchen duties, I was also responsible for looking after the owner's 4-month-old baby boy.

My days started at 4 in the morning and didn't finish until 10 at night. All of this at just 11 years old!

Next door to the noodle shop was a bicycle shop. Every time I saw the bikes, I dreamed of buying one for my brothers so they wouldn't have to travel roughly five miles to school every day. Looking back, I'm not even sure they knew how to ride a bike, but at the time, I thought it would be a lovely gesture!

After two months, I decided to return home. I missed my friends and family terribly, and as it was the first time I'd ever been away from them, those two months felt like two years.

I spent a few months back in the village before my sister found me another job in the same town, this time selling fruit. I enjoyed this job much more and ended up staying for roughly a year.

By the time I was 13, I had found another job in a village about 30 miles from home, looking after a family's daughter who had a disability. My responsibilities included cooking, cleaning the house and gardening.

However, after a few months, I returned home following the heartbreaking loss of my younger brother, Dan, who passed away from dengue fever at just 10 years old. Shortly afterwards, my grandmother and father also passed away.

Losing three people I loved in such a short space of time was an enormous shock. It was a very difficult period for my family, and one that forced me to grow up even faster.

Just before my 16th birthday, a family friend picked up four other girls and me from our village and took us to Bangkok. By this point, I needed to make a living for myself while also supporting my family back home.

Arriving in Bangkok was overwhelming. It was completely different from the quiet village life I had known. The streets were busy, the people weren't always friendly, and I quickly learnt that you had to keep your wits about you.

I had travelled there expecting to work in a restaurant preparing food. Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan. They only needed four girls, and out of the five of us, I was the one who didn't get the job.

I remember thinking, perhaps I wasn't pretty enough. Well, that's what I thought at the time anyway!

Luckily, there was a tea and coffee shop next door, and I ended up working there instead. Looking back, it was a blessing in disguise. It helped me develop my social skills, build my confidence and learn how to communicate with all sorts of people. These were skills that would become invaluable in the years ahead.

Two years later, my opportunity finally came when one of the girls left the restaurant and a position became available.

How lucky was I!

I began learning more about food preparation, combining ingredients and making the most of fresh produce. I stayed at the restaurant for roughly three years, developing my knowledge and skills before deciding it was time to gain experience elsewhere.

Over the following years, I worked in several factories, including a powder factory, battery factory, soap factory, clothing factory, and factories producing goods for Nike and Reebok.

After saving some money, I decided to try something different. I began buying clothes from the wholesale market and selling them at local markets.

Business wasn't exactly booming, but I made plenty of new friends along the way!

One of those friends was a lady about two years older than me. She was straightforward, kind and always treated me well. She invited me to work alongside her selling socks, and I happily accepted.

Across from where we worked, another lady I had befriended was looking to sell the lease of her small food hut. I saw an opportunity and decided to take it on myself.

This was my first food business, and it was a hit!

Every morning, I would wake up at 3am and head to the market to buy fresh ingredients for the day ahead. I wanted everything to be fresh, and I enjoyed choosing the produce myself.

I ran the business with a partner, although I ended up taking on most of the work. Cooking wasn't really her strength, but that suited me perfectly because I absolutely loved it!

After six months, I decided to move on and went to stay with my brothers.

Not long afterwards, I rented a place of my own nearby and returned to selling socks, this time running things independently.

Working for myself taught me to be confident, resourceful and mentally tough, even in the busiest and most challenging environments.

But being so young and having little guidance, I soon realised that the money I was earning wasn't enough to support myself. I knew I needed to find another path.

Three years later, I met John, who would go on to become the father of my three children, Poppy, Theo and Hugo.

After two years together, we got married, and I made one of the biggest decisions of my life: moving to England.

It was a huge change. I barely spoke the language and everything around me was unfamiliar. However, drawing on my past experiences and keeping an open mind, I gradually found my feet and adapted to my new life.

I started working almost immediately at Paul's Restaurant, which was one of the busiest restaurants in Folkestone at the time.

Just two months into the job, I fell pregnant with my first child, Poppy.

Being pregnant for the first time came with plenty of uncertainty. I also struggled with feeling unwell around fridges and meat, which made working in a restaurant difficult. I decided to take some time off before eventually returning to work at Bar Vasa, a restaurant on Sandgate Beach, where I stayed until I was five months pregnant.

After Poppy was born, I took a year off to care for her. A year later, I fell pregnant with my second child, Theo.

Money was tight during this time, as we were relying on just one income. I wanted to contribute financially while still being there for my children, so when John came home from work at the weekends, I would go out and cater for dinner parties in people's homes.

Little did I know, this would be the first spark of Noiy's Noodles.

After Theo was born, I continued catering. It wasn't easy. Between raising the children, shopping for ingredients, preparing the food and cooking for customers, there were times when everything felt overwhelming, especially while John was away working.

Four years later, we welcomed our third child, Hugo.

By then, my dinner parties were becoming increasingly popular, and I was beginning to build a reputation for my cooking in the local area.

John was busy working in CCTV and often didn't return home until late, so I was juggling the children and my growing catering business.

As demand increased, I started thinking about how I could take things further.

That's when I came up with the idea of buying a catering wagon.

We didn't have much money to invest, so we used funds from a credit card to buy a wagon and the equipment we needed to get started.

In the middle of November 2013, we officially opened for business.

John served breakfasts in the mornings, while I cooked my food throughout the day and into the evening.

Despite opening right at the beginning of winter, we managed to make a living. That's when we realised the business had real potential.

Two years later, we took our next big step and bought a small shop near Folkestone Harbour.

I worked six days a week, from 10 in the morning until 10 at night. They were long, tiring days, but I loved seeing the business grow.

This became a real turning point for us. Noiy's Noodles was gaining popularity, and we began thinking about what the future could hold. We even started looking at potential new locations, including somewhere close to home called the Hope Inn.

However, behind the scenes, I was facing a much bigger challenge.

While I was still working in the catering wagon, I had begun feeling unwell quite frequently. This continued for around two years, during which I made countless visits to the doctors and received several misdiagnoses.

Then, two years into running the shop, I was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer.

It was devastating news for both my family and the business.

Thankfully, I had an incredible team of staff who stepped up and took care of Noiy's Noodles while I underwent treatment. I'll always be grateful to them for that.

I had to undergo major surgery followed by several intense rounds of chemotherapy, which left me incredibly ill.

Even during treatment, I would sometimes go into the shop between chemotherapy sessions. Being there, surrounded by familiar faces and doing what I loved, helped take my mind off everything I was going through.

After my eighth chemotherapy session, my body had reached its limit. I made the difficult decision to stop, despite originally being scheduled for 12 sessions.

It was an incredibly difficult and frightening decision, but thankfully, I'm still here today to tell my story!

Recovery wasn't quick. It took roughly a year before I felt ready to return to working in the shop properly.

But eventually, I was back doing what I loved.

When our five-year lease came to an end, we began looking for somewhere new to call home.

Just up the road from our house in Hythe was a pub that seemed like the perfect opportunity.

It had a restaurant space where we could serve Noiy's Noodles, along with a pub where customers could enjoy a drink and sit down to eat.

We decided to take the chance and moved into the pub just before Christmas 2019.

Once we had the keys, we got straight to work renovating. We ripped out carpets, painted walls, extended the garden and completely changed the restaurant layout to recreate the feeling of a traditional Thai street food hut.

We were excited to finally bring our vision to life.

But just as we opened, the unexpected happened.

The government announced that pubs and restaurants had to close temporarily as COVID-19 began spreading rapidly.

After everything we had worked for, it felt like our future had been taken away overnight.

Our livelihood, our savings and years of hard work suddenly seemed at risk.

I remember thinking, this is it. Everything we've built could be gone.

Or so I thought.

Thankfully, the government allowed food businesses to continue operating as takeaways, giving us a chance to keep going. Pubs also received some financial support, which helped us through a very uncertain time.

We adapted, kept cooking and continued serving our customers however we could.

Around five months later, we finally received the news that we could reopen, and we didn't waste any time getting back to business.

During lockdown, Noiy's Noodles had managed to build an even stronger reputation locally. When we reopened, the business quickly took off.

Thanks to the incredible support of our loyal customers, we didn't just survive one of the most challenging periods we'd ever faced. We found a way to grow.

Looking back, it's been quite a journey. From helping my parents in the rice fields of Thailand, to cooking beef noodle soup at just 11 years old, to building my own business on the other side of the world.

There have been plenty of challenges along the way, but every experience has taught me something and helped shape the person I am today.

Now, after all these years, I'm starting to slow down.

It's time for the next generation to take everything we've built and continue growing Noiy's Noodles.

And as for me?

I think it's finally time to hang up my spatulas!