Spicy lovers must be amazed! This week’s episode of “Born to Talk” will introduce the story of “Ees Isan Pasop”, a famous food influencer who went from a Roi Et kid who fought for his life, working in the bathroom, taking care of patients in the hospital, to the owner of a famous Isan restaurant business, along with revealing a special menu that even “BamBam-Mark Tuan” would like to eat.
What province are you from?
Ees Isan Pasop: I come from Roi Et.
What was life like in the past before becoming Isan Pasaw?
Is Isan Pasop: At first, I was just a kid in the countryside who wanted money and a job quickly. I earned money on the weekends, doing everything that was available. Cutting sugarcane, digging cassava, farming, finding crabs, doing everything. Life wasn’t about living hand to mouth, but rather, whenever I could find something, I could eat. It went around like that. I never thought about the future, I just let things happen and did everything.
Before this, you used to work collecting money at the bathroom, cleaning toilets, is that true?
Is Isan Pasop: Yes, it was my life as a child when I first came to work in Bangkok. At the beginning, I was 11-12 years old. I went to work in Bang Kwai and got 50 baht a day. I fought on for a while and then came to guard the restrooms in Bang Khun Thian. I guarded the restrooms and collected 2-5 baht entrance fees to clean the restrooms. If you ask if it was difficult, it was difficult, but we had to accept it.
How did you come to make this clip? What was the turning point?
Is Isan Pasuap: I studied in Mathayom 6 and passed the engineering exam at Mahasarakham University, but I didn’t study because my family didn’t have money to support me. If I kept borrowing money, I would have a lot of debt. There was a nursing school (nursing assistant). They came to advise me and I went to work at the hospital. I went to work in the sick ward. It was my internship. On the first day of work, someone died. I wasn’t afraid because it was my job. Some people came at noon and died in the afternoon. Life is really uncertain. We bathed the patients and fed them through a tube. For the elderly who had a tracheostomy, we did everything. After that, I got to work for real. I worked in the operating room. There were cesarean sections, appendix operations, and brain surgeries. When I left the hospital, I was afraid of brain surgery cases because the doctors were fierce. The equipment was very difficult. I really didn’t want to see them. I was on duty late at night and there was a brain surgery case. I had to operate. Medical personnel don’t have fixed days off. There are no festivals. If there’s an emergency, we have to run around. Later, I moved to work at a beauty clinic.
Have you ever been looked down on?
Is Isan Pasop: He made a mockery of country people saying, “Country people, when you go home, don’t come back to Bangkok again. You’re causing traffic jams in Bangkok and spoiling the air.” This was the first post we saw when Facebook was first popular. At that time, I was just playing normally. I had never posted a clip before. That day, I got a new tattoo, so I took a picture and posted it. Then I heard a notification sound from my phone. Many people shared it.
Once the clip becomes popular, what do you do next?
Is Isan Pasup: When I became famous, people approached me. There was a contest for Thais who looked like Indians. I wanted to do something new and accepted anything that came my way, but I tried my best first, so I got third place. When I started to get noticed, I started wanting to do more and more. I did live broadcasts of dancing and singing for the audience, and I named the show “Isan Phamuan.” I wanted to be a singer, and I wrote and sang my own songs. When I started to become famous, I got to know Kong Huayrai and Boen Pathumrat, so we got to act in movies together. Kong Huayrai invited me to do music, but it turned out that it wasn’t my style. My style was “eating.” How could I name a food show so that when you say this name, people would know who this person was? That’s how I got the name Isan Pasup, which comes from a little boy who was chased by a dog and went to watch a movie at night. He ran away from the dog, but I ran fast, so the owner took a big bite. I ate spicy food. That’s where the name came from.
Why did you say you joined the Aghase (GOT7 fan club name) industry?
Is Isan Pasup: I didn’t know Bambam before. I did a live broadcast on IG and Bambam commented, “Hyung, I like you so much. I want to eat your cockles.“I also told Phi Mark that I wanted to eat them too. I wondered who Bambam was. Now I know him. Agase fans also said, “Wow, why do you have so much merit?” I didn’t know anything. I said, “Oh, you want to eat them, Bambam? I can go make them for you, but they have to prepare them. I won’t bring them. I said it like that because back then, we didn’t know each other since we were first famous in 2017. After that, we followed each other until we met at a concert and Bambam announced on stage, “Today I have a surprise. My dream has come true. Today, Phi Is Isan Pasup will come to make some papaya salad for me at the hotel. Today, I surprised Phi Mark. Phi Mark likes cockles. People screamed. I got goosebumps.
Opening a papaya salad shop like this, has anyone ever blocked your rise?
Is Isan Pasaow: Yes, no matter how spicy it is, they say it’s not delicious. I mean, when I sit down to eat, no matter how delicious it is, they say it’s salty and unclean. The shop is dusty and there’s no parking. The latest is the tissue paper in the tom zap that made news nationwide. I have a CCTV clip that I didn’t delete. There was a woman who scooped the tom zap 2-3 times, scooped it and filmed it. Is that abnormal? After filming, I watched the clip of her scooping it and filming it. When she was full, the man took a tissue paper to wipe his mouth. After wiping it, he put it down. When he was about to open the tom zap to take another picture, he put the pot lid down into the tissue paper and put it back on. It rotted into the tom zap. That day, I was sweeping the floor. A customer called me. I thought he was calling me to take a picture. He said, “I didn’t call you to take a picture. Do you think it’s tissue paper?” I scrunched it up and it was tissue paper. I don’t know if it was used or not. He looked disappointed. “I’ve eaten here many times. How can it be like this? It’s so dirty.” Then he ran away. So I went to get the evidence and checked the CCTV. The pot lid caught the tissue paper and it fell into the tom zap. That’s the origin of the tissue paper tom zap. After that, he disappeared. He didn’t apologize.
When we make clips like this, what’s fun about making clips?
Ees Isan Pasop: The fun part of us is that we have viewers. It’s not only famous in Thailand, but it can also build our reputation abroad. We also have foreign fans on IG. 80% are from Indonesia. They fly to sell fermented fish abroad.
What is the charm of being Isan?
Isan Pasaow: The charm of being Isan is “Mak Muen” (likes to have fun). Eating delicious food, Isan people are also kind-hearted.
