A new lease on life

GRAY - The transformation of a key piece of downtown real estate from a shuttered gas station to an ethnic restaurant is a welcome sight, say business and government officials in Gray.

Manee Thai Restaurant, slated to open in early June after extensive remodeling, will jazz up Grays ethnic cuisine landscape and fill a long-vacant building right in the heart of downtown Gray, at the six-way intersection of what is known as the Crossroads of Maine.

The restaurant is owned by Kwone Sanasy, a woman born in Laos but who traveled to America in 1981 as part of the post-Vietnam exodus. She has since opened several Thai restaurants in Maine and New Hampshire, and according to family members, has chosen Gray due to its location.

Shes been doing this since 1991, so shes pretty good at what she does, said Sanasys son, Sourasay Senesombath, who lives in South Portland and came to America with his mother when he was 2.

Speaking on behalf of his mother, whom Senesombath says does not speak English well, he said she opened Thai 9 Restaurant, located next to Cabellas in Scarborough, in 2008. Sanasy also owns Siam Orchid Restaurant, which she opened in Bar Harbor in 2006. And she is soon to open Bodhi Thai Bistro in Portsmouth, N.H.

In Gray, Sanasy will receive help running the operation from her sister, Kaysone Nakummun. Nakummuns husband, Tee Nakummun, will act as head chef.

What led Sanasy to Gray and the location at 11 Main St., next to the monument in downtown, was the high traffic count and lack of similar Thai offerings.

Look at all the traffic. This is a great location. We dont see any other Thai restaurant in this area, said Senesombaths girlfriend, Nonglack Thanephonesy. I know there are a lot of Thai restaurants in Maine, but the nearest restaurant is Freeport and Westbrook. So we want to bring some diversity to this little town. I noticed theres Chinese (restaurants) in town and they are pretty busy. And there are other towns around here, so why not open a Thai restaurant here rather than them having to drive 20 minutes, 30 minutes to have Pad Thai.

Thanephonesy, who works at Sanasys Scarborough restaurant, said customer demand also drove the family to open a restaurant in Gray.

We do have customers that do live in Gray that come to Thai 9 and they are always like, Why dont you open one in Gray because theres no Thai restaurant there, Thanephonesy said.

The rest is here:
A new lease on life