Bangkok’s House of Golden Teardrops is a dessert factory — and a badminton champion factory, too:
Thailand’s teenage world champion Ratchanok Inthanon first picked up a badminton racket here as a young child, after her parents moved to the plant from their home near the border with Cambodia to help make sweet dumplings and other Thai treats. The owner, Kamala Thongkorn, worried that young Ratchanok might run into vats of boiling water and super-heated sugar dotting the factory. She suggested that the girl might like to play badminton at the court built off to the side of the plant. Ms. Kamala’s sons were already showing promise and went on to represent their country.
Today, one of Ms. Kamala’s sons, Pattapol Ngernsrisuk, 33, is Ms. Ratchanok’s coach. And the single badminton court attached to the factory has mushroomed into an 18-court badminton school that has attracted players from around the world–and is giving Thailand hope that it can churn out a slew of new players to compete at the highest levels of one of Asia’s most popular sports.