Yai Kham’s Kitchen · Homemade Isan Chilli Paste

Every jar of our chilli paste is made by hand in Roi Et, using a recipe that has been passed through four generations of our family. We use only local ingredients: smoked fish from the Chi River, roasted chillies, garlic and shallots by our neighbours.

Our paste contains no artificial colours or preservatives. , it should be kept in the fridge after opening and eaten within one month.

Orders received before 2 p.m. are posted the day. Delivery within Thailand usually takes two to four days. If your jar arrives damaged, please send us a photo within 48 hours and we will send a replacement charge.

Part of every sale goes to our village fund, which helps older people live alone. Thank you for supporting a small family business and the community it belongs.

From Market Stall to Online Shop · a school project report by Fah Wongsri

Six months ago, my grandmother sold her chilli paste only at the Saturday market in our district. She earned about 2,000 baht a week, depended heavily on the weather and the number of visitors.

For my business studies project, I set up an online shop. My cousin designed the labels, and I photographs and descriptions in both Thai and English. In the first month we sold 40 jars, mostly to people from Roi Et in Bangkok.

The biggest challenge was not technology trust. Customers cannot taste food through a screen, so we had to show them that our paste was clean and safe. We posted videos of my grandmother cooking, answered every message within a few hours, and broken jars without argument.

Last month, a shop in Bangkok asked us to supply 200 jars a month. To meet this order, my grandmother has started teaching five women in our village. She checks every batch herself, because she the taste to change.

Our next step is food safety registration, which the shop requires. It will take several months, but it will us to sell in more places. Whatever happens, this project has taught me that a business is not only about profit. done well, it can also keep a village and its traditions alive.

Yai Kham’s Kitchen · Delivery and Returns

Delivery fees: 40 baht for one to three jars. Free delivery on orders of four jars or more.

Delivery times: Orders received by 14:00 Monday to Friday are posted the same day. Orders received at weekends are posted on Monday.

Damaged items: Glass jars are carefully wrapped, but accidents happen. If a jar arrives broken, send us a photo within 48 hours of delivery for a free replacement. We cannot accept claims after 48 hours.

Returns: For food safety reasons, we cannot accept returns of opened jars. Unopened jars may be returned within seven days for a full refund, but the customer pays the return postage.

Allergy information: All our products contain fish. Some are made in a kitchen that also handles peanuts.

Villages Go Online

Not long ago, a farmer in a remote Thai village had few ways to sell her products beyond the nearest market. Today, a smartphone and a delivery service can connect her kitchen to customers across the country. In recent years, thousands of rural households have begun selling food, crafts and clothing online, and many report higher incomes than they earned from markets alone.

The benefits are not only financial. Young people who once had to leave their villages to find work in cities now have reasons to stay, or even to return. Some manage the online side of a family business while their parents and grandparents handle production. In this way, traditional skills that might have disappeared are finding new customers.

However, the move online also brings risks. Online sellers face strong competition, and prices can fall quickly when many people sell similar products. Fraud is a growing problem: sellers receive fake payment slips, and messages pretending to come from banks or delivery companies try to steal account details. Older sellers, who may be less familiar with technology, are especially vulnerable.

There are also questions of fairness. Large platforms charge fees on every sale, and they can change their rules at any time. A small seller who depends entirely on one platform has little power if the fees rise.

Experts suggest that rural sellers should build direct relationships with loyal customers, keep records carefully, and learn to recognise common scams. Community groups and local schools, they argue, can play an important role in teaching these skills.

A message to Yai Kham’s Kitchen

Dear Yai Kham and Fah,

I am writing to thank you for the chilli paste that arrived last week. I grew up in Selaphum, not far from your village, but I have lived in Bangkok for twenty-two years. I work long hours as a nurse, and I rarely have time to go home.

When I opened the jar, the smell took me straight back to my mother’s kitchen. She passed away three years ago, and I had not tasted anything like her cooking since. I sat in my small apartment and ate a whole plate of sticky rice with your paste, and I am not ashamed to say that I cried a little.

I also want to say how much I appreciated the handwritten note in the box. It was a small thing, but it made me feel that a real person had packed my order, not a machine.

I have shared your page with the other nurses from Isan at my hospital. There are eleven of us, and I suspect you will receive several orders soon. Please do not let your paste change as your business grows. Some of us need it to taste exactly like home.

With gratitude,
Somjai Phansri