AYUTTHAYA: Vendors of roti sai mai have hailed Thai superstar Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban for posting a video that has created major buzz about their sweet snacks.
Sellers of the sweet Indian-inspired treat, in which sugary floss is wrapped in a thin roti, report an uptick in business after the member of the South Korean pop group Blackpink posted a video on her Instagram account showing her rolling up one of the snacks.
Sarayuth Singhka, 48, who sells roti sai mai in front of Ayutthaya Hospital, said on Saturday that customer numbers spiked overnight after the international star from Buri Ram made the post, with teenagers thronging his store the morning after the video was released.
The uptick has been global, he said, with the store’s deliveries to foreign countries jumping from the usual 2,000 or 3,000 baht a day to 5,000 baht, with particular interest in South Korea. Lisa has 80 million followers on Instagram.
The owner of Roti Sai Mai Abeedeen-Pranom Sangaroon, Nusra Meetanan, 36, said she was grateful for the upturn in business, given how slow things had been for a long time during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Natcha Lamta, who sells roti sai mai online, said she had retailers order over 100 sets of her desserts to satisfy demand since the posting. She said she even had to pick up snacks from other local sellers to meet the demand of foreign buyers.
Thananun Suwanphorung, vice-president of the Young Entrepreneurs Chamber of Commerce of Phra Nakorn Sri Ayutthaya, said Lisa’s promotion of roti sai mai was another example of Thailand’s soft power, pointing to the recent viral sensation caused by the rapper Milli when she ate mango and sticky rice onstage at the Coachella festival in California.
The video would be especially beneficial for stimulating Ayutthaya’s economy, he added.