{"id":269364,"date":"2026-06-17T10:08:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269364\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:08:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:08:31","slug":"entrepreneur-pivots-from-tech-to-truck-in-long-island-city-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269364\/","title":{"rendered":"Entrepreneur pivots from tech to truck in Long Island City \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nadhipat Vaniyapun has worked in tech, from Amazon to various startups, including some he helped launch, but his latest startup, Bangkok Bro, literally starts up every day in Long Island City<\/a> \u2013 with a key.<\/p>\n

A graduate with an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, his latest startup is a Thai food truck based in Queens.\n<\/p>\n

He was born in Thailand, where he lived until 15, coming to the United States for high school and college, as well as working as a product director at a manufacturer and for the Thai government to help startups.<\/p>\n

He launched several startups and has now launched a business that brings the food he grew up with to customers in Queens and across New York City.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking, why not try the food we actually eat, and that was the beginning of Bangkok Bro,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew I loved cooking. I worked in tech, but I wasn\u2019t a professional chef, so learning the systems and what\u2019s needed to get the truck going took a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bangkok Bro, a Thai restaurant on wheels, or at least a mobile kitchen, was designed and built in Long Island City, and is based at a Long Island City garage that also includes commercial kitchens that serve a small fleet of food trucks.<\/p>\n

In addition to Vaniyapun\u2019s Thai truck, two Mexican trucks, Greek, Chinese and Korean trucks, Indian carts and hotdog carts operate out of this home base for mobile meals.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where we store our ingredients, prep our food and clean at night,\u201d Vaniyapun said. \u201cWe leave from there and return there every day.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

In addition to other locations, as well as private events, Bangkok Bro is a regular in Queens, setting up twice monthly outside Fifth Hammer Brewing<\/a> in Long Island City, and every other Friday evening near Judy and Punch<\/a> and Maggie Hall\u2019s<\/a> (side by side) in Astoria.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a following, a crowd who likes us,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re excited to see us.\u201d
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Claude Solnik\n<\/p>\n

Tech is still part of the picture for Vaniyapun, but not the way it had been. They\u2019re online at bangkokbro.com<\/a>, and use delivery services such as GrubHub, Uber Eats and Door Dash. You can order online as well as by walking up to the truck.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegulars order ahead before they get there,\u201d he said, noting Bangkok Bro also communicates with customers via Instagram, TikTok and other platforms. \u201cWe have a schedule, but the best way to find us is social media.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bright red truck has the words \u201cLet me tell you about my startup. I\u2019ve pivoted from tech to truck\u201d written across it and greeting customers who sometimes get to know him as a company founder with food as the mission.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo by Claude Solnik<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in Bangkok on two different occasions and I fell in love with Thai food for decades, but this is as good as anything I\u2019ve had,\u201d said Rudy Lucas, a regular customer, as he ordered. \u201cI like being able to see it prepared and having a bit of a relationship with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rudy Lucas and Nadhipat Vaniyapun. Photo by Claude Solnik<\/p>\n

If mobile food was once a hodgepodge of hot dogs and pretzels, New York City\u2019s mobile food menu and market has gone global.<\/p>\n

The New York Food Truck Association<\/a> includes more than 100 food trucks, such as Yumbro Filipino and Hawaiian dishes; El Asado Mexicano, El Toro Rojo and El Gallo Negro; Nao\u2019s Caribbean Flavors; Utopia Bagels; Vegan on the Fly; Shake Shack; Van Leeuwen Ice Cream and many more.<\/p>\n

Vaniyapun comes from tech, having started and gotten grants for startups, including a 3-D manufacturing company that leveraged his knowledge of the footwear industry. \u201cI couldn\u2019t find the right team to grow it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also launched a company designed to use Zoom for education when Zoom was catching on.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest thing about doing a business is having the right people,\u201d Vaniyapun said. \u201cFinding people you know will stick with you in the beginning when you\u2019re not necessarily making money.\u201d<\/p>\n

He worked for Amazon and several other companies before launching this startup in the form of a Thai food truck. Since it wasn\u2019t easy to get investors, he tapped his savings and sold a family home in Thailand.<\/p>\n

He got permits, had the truck built in Queens and hit the road around 10 months ago with a vehicle blanketed by a graphic based on his image as logo.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted my face on it because I believe in accountability,\u201d Vaniyapun said. \u201cThis is who that represents. This is the food I miss from growing up in Bangkok. I couldn\u2019t get it here. That\u2019s the food I wanted to introduce to America.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo by Claude Solnik<\/p>\n

He has an E-2 visa for entrepreneurs and investors that lets him bring Thai food to town and is finding a good reaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been going back-and-forth since I was 15,\u201d Vaniyapun said. \u201cOne of the things that I missed living in the U.S. was authentic Thai food, the kind I ate back in Bangkok.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He said a lot of tech skills are \u201cnot transferable,\u201d but certain things are, such as hard work, tech, marketing and business training.\n<\/p>\n

Bangkok Bro uses various apps and platforms, as well as a QR code menu so people can order without being there, as well as an ordering kiosk at the truck.
\n\"\"<\/a>A QR code menu is available at Bangkok Bro. Photo by Claude Solnik\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI ping them whenever it\u2019s ready, so it just makes life easier for everyone,\u201d Vaniyapun said. \u201cI have customers I know by name who come by for lunch and dinner almost every day that I\u2019m on the same spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since he self-funded the business without deep-pocketed investors, he needed to be in the black quicker than many startups might.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of investors might expect you to be losing money for years with a lot of startups,\u201d Vaniyapun said, \u201cbut in a food truck, you have to prove that you can make revenue almost right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were doing well for the first few months until \u201cthe worst winter in 10 years in New York.\u201d Better weather means better business.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we can\u2019t do the dinner as we want, because we are out of stock,\u201d Vaniyapun said. \u201cSo right now we\u2019re focusing on not selling out.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

BangkokBro has been attracting crowds, including people at work, tourists and those who love Thai food.
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Claude Solnik\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truck is a good conversation piece, but we are restricted by a lot of things here,\u201d Vaniyapun added. \u201cI can\u2019t make food as fast as I want to in a truck.\u201d<\/p>\n

He would love to operate a ghost kitchen where people order online for delivery. \u201cThat will be step three of the plan,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

He has worked on startups, although this is more about soft drinks (or mango shakes) than software and real cars, not clicks as traffic.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I never thought I would do food,\u201d Vaniyapun said. \u201cI love food. I love eating, I love cooking, but I never thought I\u2019d do a food business.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nadhipat Vaniyapun has worked in tech, from Amazon to various startups, including some he helped launch, but his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[103929,103930,9,24,63,122,124,123,89172],"class_list":["post-269364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-bangkok-bro","tag-nadhipat-vaniyapun","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-startup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}