Japanese chef closes ramen shop after online fame reveals permit issue
A Japanese chef temporarily closed his ramen shop in Samut Prakan after a work permit issue came to light following the shop’s rise to fame on Thai social media.
The story began when a Thai woman posted a review in the Facebook group Ramen Lover Association of Thailand about a shop called Kham Sanya Kub Moo Tua Nan, or The Promise to the Pig. She wrote that she found the shop by chance on Google Maps and was impressed by it.
According to her post, the ramen shop was located at the Bangchak petrol station branch on Srinakarin Road in Samut Prakan. She said the Japanese owner had been running the business for around eight months.
The unusual name drew attention from group members. Her post received more than 2,500 reactions and nearly 1,000 shares, while many commenters said the ramen’s quality and taste were impressive.
More members of the group later visited the shop and shared positive reviews. It was not clear how the matter reached the police, but officers carried out a raid at the shop on April 20.
A Thai customer who visited that day wrote on Facebook that he had ordered two bowls of ramen and was eating when immigration police arrived. He initially believed the officers had come after seeing the viral reviews, but said they were there to question the chef instead.
According to the customer, immigration police spoke with the Japanese restaurant owner through an interpreter for some time before the chef closed the shop and went with officers to the immigration office.
The customer said he later heard that the chef could not present a work permit to officers and might have to shut the business. He added that the sudden closure left around 10 customers unable to try the ramen.
He ended his post by praising the food and saying he hoped the chef would be able to reopen the shop.
On the shop’s Instagram account, the chef later announced that the store would be temporarily closed from today, April 21. He said customers would be informed when the shop reopens. The chef did not disclose details of the legal proceedings or any penalty he may face.
In a similar case in Chiang Mai in January, a Japanese man was arrested for running a food stall without a permit after his matcha ice cream became widely popular on Thai social media.
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