Cook&Coff is a nice cafe that is managed by Bang Kwang Prison. It’s located beside Chao Phraya River, so you can rest assured that while drinking coffee and eating your meals, you can admire the wonderful view of the Chao Phraya River.
The word “Cook '' of the cafe name has the same sound as "cook" in the Thai language which means prison or jail.
Cook&Coff is situated in the area of Bang Kwang Prison (Jail).
Cook&Coff is under the project, “return good people to society”.
All staff in the Cook&Coff are prisoners who behave well and have a penalty less than 3 years from the Bang Kwang Prison.
They all wear T-shirts which screen the words “return good people to society” in the Thai language on the back.
It’s interesting that more than 80% of the food is prepared behind the walls of Bang Kwang Prison. This is because many chefs and staff members are unable to come out to work at Cook&Coff.
Most of the ingredients for cooking come from prison, such as organic vegetables from the prison’s garden. The baked desserts sold in the Cook&Coff are made by the chef behind the wall.
The profits will be deducted and shared with every prisoner who comes out to help work in the cafe as well as the prisoners who work in the garden and in the kitchen; i.e. growing vegetables, baking, making Thai desserts, and being chefs behind the wall. They all receive money from the profits.
I personally like this idea. It seems that this Cook&Coff gives opportunities for these prisoners and creates jobs and income for them for their future life after being released from prison. I think these can probably prevent them from committing the same crimes again and create a safe society.
The picture below is a board that lets customers write some notes on post-it to encourage the staff of Cook&Coff.
The cafe has both an air-conditioned room and an open-air section with a terrace next to the river.
There is live acoustic music playing as well.
The dishes, drinks or desserts are delicious and at reasonable prices.
The atmosphere is nice with the picturesque view of the Chao Phraya River as I already said at the beginning.
