Community Relief · Bangkok, Thailand
No Bucks Coffee
On a Bangkok street corner, an elderly couple opens their little coffee stand before dawn, every single day. This September, we stopped by — and asked a whole community to stop by too.
The couple on the corner
Right where Sukhumvit Soi 34 meets Sukhumvit Road, under a cluster of pink umbrellas, Grandma Ounjai (73) and Grandpa Jamnong (81) run a small coffee stand. They open before four in the morning and pour until around noon, day after day, quietly working to pay down a debt that has followed them for years.
We came by the stand to meet Ounjai and Jamnong, buy a coffee, and simply spend a little time with them. Beyond a cash gift, we brought supplies they can resell from the stand — a small, dignified way to add to what they earn each morning without changing a thing about the work they’re proud of.
Then we did the one thing a coffee stand on a quiet corner can’t do for itself: we told people it was there. We filmed a short series about the stand and invited anyone nearby to come and buy a cup. It found its way to hundreds of thousands of people, and something lovely happened — strangers started writing in, wanting to help.
What we brought & did
- Met Grandma Ounjai and Grandpa Jamnong, and bought a coffee
- Gave a cash gift toward the debt they’re working to pay down
- Brought supplies they can resell from the stand for extra income
- Filmed a short series inviting the community to stop by
- Returned with additional supplies and support as donations came in
As messages and donations arrived, we went back— with more supplies and more support to pass along. What started as one quiet visit became a small wave of people showing up for a couple who have shown up, before dawn, for years.
“Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for someone working hard is simply to send the whole neighborhood their way.”
The series
A few short visits to the stand on Soi 34 — the couple, the corner, and the invitation that brought a whole community along.
About the stand
Corner of Sukhumvit Soi 34 & Sukhumvit Road · Bangkok, Thailand · open daily, roughly 4 a.m. to noon
The team has an affectionate nickname for the place — “No Bucks Coffee”— a fond nod to a very different kind of coffee shop. But there’s nothing small about what Ounjai and Jamnong do here. In their seventies and eighties, they still open before dawn and keep their corner going by hand.
They aren’t asking for a handout. They’re asking, in the quietest possible way, for a fair chance to keep working toward paying off what they owe. The best support is the simplest: buy a coffee, say hello, and if you can, help spread the word so more people find their corner.
Where this is
The stand sits right on the corner where Sukhumvit Soi 34 meets Sukhumvit Road, in Bangkok’s Khlong Tan · Khlong Toei district.
Sukhumvit Soi 34, Bangkok, Thailand · View on Google Maps
How we hope to help
If you’re in Bangkok, the best help is the easiest: stop by the corner of Soi 34, order a coffee, and say hello to Ounjai and Jamnong. If you’d like to support the work Spirit Bright is doing alongside them — more supplies to resell and help toward their debt — reach out and we’ll share what’s next. Spirit Bright is a registered 501(c)(3).
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