Bangkok Roti Lady "Puy"

Overview

The Bangkok Roti Lady, also known as Puy the Roti Lady or Benjawan Kaewsaen, is a street food vendor in Sala Deang, Bangkok who became notably popularized on YouTube in late 2022 throughout early 2023 after several food-related YouTube channels posted videos of her making roti at her cart outside of Silom MRT Station. Her specialty is a banana pancake roti. In January 2023, Puy shared that she was being forced out of her location and couldn't afford to pay rent in the new location. As a result, her fans donated money to her through the STREET FOOD JOURNEY YouTube channel, allowing her to continue selling roti from the new location.

History

On October 4th, 2022, the STREET FOOD JOURNEY YouTube^[1] page uploaded a video titled, "Beautiful And Hardworking ! The Most Popular Roti Girl in Bangkok." The video documents a roti street food vendor named Benjawan Kaewsaen working at her food cart and gained over 3.5 million views in five months (shown below). Some viewers also expressed their attraction for Kaewsaen in the comments.

Over the following months, numerous YouTubers uploaded videos visiting The Roti Lady. On December 15th, YouTuber^[2] TASTY DIARY uploaded a video of her working, garnering over 2.1 million views in three months (shown below, left). On January 6th, 2023, YouTuber^[3] Mr. Silverspoon uploaded a video in which he tips her $100, garnering over 609,000 views in two months (shown below, right).

Location Change and Plea for Help

On January 23rd, 2023, the STREET FOOD JOURNEY YouTube^[4] channel uploaded a video titled "She Is In Trouble! The Most Famous Banana Pancake Roti Lady In Bangkok Needs Help 🙏." At the 9:13-minute mark, Puy explains that the municipality told her she has to move her cart to a new location, but the new location has higher rent. She expresses worries about paying the rent, sending her kids to school and taking care of her sick father, then asks for help. The video gained over 2.4 million views in two months (shown below).

On February 21st, YouTuber^[5] REAL STREET FOOD uploaded a video titled "The FAMOUS Roti Queen Of Bangkok Can SMILE Again" where he shows Puy working at her new location, garnering over 2.1 million views in a month (shown below, left). A month later, YouTuber^[6] STREET FOOD JOURNEY uploaded a video revealing that they raised over $6,600 for Puy where Puy thanks viewers for their help, garnering over 150,000 views in a week (shown below, right).

Online Presence

Puy is active on her Instagram^[7] page, roti_lady_thailand, where she posts selfies and photographs of her work life (examples shown below). In March 2023, she started a YouTube^[8] channel @puyrotilady. She is also active on TikTok^[9] @puy988. Her cart is located on Silom Road in Bangkok, Thailand and has been marked on Google Maps.^[12]

On March 5th, 2023, YouTuber^[10] TASTY DIARY posted a vlog-style "day in the life" video with Puy, showing her outside of work, garnering over 376,000 views in two weeks (shown below, left). On March 12th, the same YouTuber^[11] uploaded an interview with Puy. In the interview, she says she started selling roti seven years ago when her father gave the business to her. She explains how 10 years ago she suffered an injury in her arm that required surgery to have a piece of bone removed, leaving her left arm shorter than her right. She also thanks everyone for their support when she had to move locations.

Search Interest

External References