From Laos to Greenville
Though he no longer lives in his native country of Laos , Outhay Thonginh has brought the cuisine of Laos and Asia to Hunt County .
Outhay , known as Ty to his friends , owns and operates with his wife Rebkah the Nu Dang Pho restaurant on Farm Road 1903 on the edge of Greenville .
The restaurant , open from 11 a . m . until 9 p . m . seven days a week , features Laotian and Asian-style cuisine that Ty learned from his late mother Noudeng . The restaurant is named for her .
“ Back towards the end of the Vietnam War … my country was in a civil war ,” said Ty . “ That was the communist takeover .” Ty ’ s mother and father Sysay were secretly supplying food to the Lao army , which was fighting against a communist takeover . When the communist army approached their village , the Thonginh family , including Ty ’ s father and mother ( who was pregnant with Ty ), a sister and two older brothers , fled the village at night with about 30 other families .
“ On foot ,” said Ty . “ We went across the Mekong River and up into the mountains , over the border and went into the district called Sirinidhorn . It had a large lake . We were hiding on an island at that lake .”
They later made their way to a refugee camp in Thailand .
“ We were there for four years , trying to get our visas and everything ,” said Ty .
In the spring of 1980 , the Thonginh family was sponsored for immigration to the United States by the First Presbyterian Church of Richardson . They settled first in Garland and later moved to Greenville . Ty then went to Crockett Elementary in Greenville and on to Greenville Intermediate and Middle Schools . Later , at Greenville High School , he played football and ran middle distances in track . He graduated from GHS in 1995 .
He went on to graduate from Texas
WINTER 2023 Greenville Life 13