Award-winning Chef Pam is expanding to Australia in 2027 with two new restaurants coming to Crown Perth and Crown Sydney.

After a complete renovation and menu overhaul at POTONG, award-winning chef Pichaya ‘Pam’ Soontornyanakij is taking an ambitious step down under: launching two restaurants in Australia, one in Perth and the other in Sydney, in 2027.

Chef Pam is bringing her hit venture, Khao San Sek, to the Crown Perth Hotel early next year. If you’ve been to its original home – a 70-year-old house on Song Wat Road run by chef Worakarn “Grace” Krittisirikul – you will know the drill: every single menu is built around rice, chilli, coconut, fish sauce and palm sugar.

Next on the horizon is Sek at the Crown Sydney, introducing a completely new concept. While full details are still emerging, it is bound to showcase Chef Pam’s knack for fusing memory, sensory depth and Thai pride, a style most famously captured in her twist on pad Thai featuring a solo tiger prawn swaddled in a Thai flag noodle blanket.

Both POTONG and Khao San Sek picked up Koktail Dining Guide awards last year: POTONG bagged Thailand’s Best, while Khao San Sek earned Opening of the Year. For anyone in Australia eager to experience progressive Thai dining, the wait is almost over. 

Safe to say, this expansion speaks to how exciting Thai gastronomy is right now, in no small part because of Chef Pam’s mission to share her cooking with an international audience. It’s one we’ll be eagerly watching and we’ll keep you updated every step of the way.