October 2017 Quick intro: This social enterprise aims to familiarize condoms, educate the customers about protected sex and family planning, and provide jobs. Location: BTS Asok station, Bangkok For more info: http://www.pda.or.th/restaurant "Condoms have to be made more available. They must not be only a girls's best friend but society's best friend, society's life saver." -Mechai Viravaidya The first reaction of almost all customers entering this restaurant is probably to giggle with their friends. But that is kind of the point. "We were initially an organization that educated about family planning, protected sex, and provided any necessities, like condoms." said Mr.Sriruwat, the restaurant's manager. "So when we were starting a restaurant, we came up with 'condoms' first, then we wanted people to make everyone feels like buying condoms is normal like buying 'cabbages'," he explained, "and that's how we got the name". Mr.Sriruwat explained that Mr.Viravaida has been working with the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) on family planning especially for families in rural areas of Thailand. While the organization was funded by generous philanthropists, Mr.Viravaida realized the risks of being dependent on outside sources of income, hence the beginning of Cabbages&Condoms. The restaurant was decorated to initiate conversations about protected sex, yet also to generate income for PDA. "The income from this restaurant funds many projects of the PDA," said Mr.Sriruwat, "we are building a school in Buriram, conducting workshops for farmers who would like to launch their own businesses, providing health care for STD patients, and more." After the restaurant started to earn some profit, the business expanded to other provinces of Thailand. "The first reason was, of course, to deliver this idea to other cities, but we were also determined to bring jobs to those areas," Mr.Sriruwat pointed out, "we did not want any more employees in Bangkok with more children or elderly left at home." So far, Cabbages&condoms is popular among both thai people and tourists, but not only because they have great concepts, the food is delicious! First (my companion of the day) and I decided to go with the chef's recommendation and ordered chicken yellow curry served with roti (Indian flatbread), deep-fried salmon served with fish mango sauce, and two coconuts. The chicken yellow curry arrives with its own unique scent of spices. The chicken meat was cooked nicely. The roti was very crispy which complements the curry perfectly. Take a dip and enjoy! I was very excited for the salmon. Again, it was cooked to perfection and the sauce completes the whole dish. Big thumbs up! And they say, this place never fails to surprise you. The receipt comes with a souvenir from the restaurant, and you guessed it, it is a condom!
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