The grand opening of Thai Commons restaurant on Monday Dec. 8, 2025 quickly established popularity within Poolesville when the restaurant sold out by 3 p.m. on its first two days open.

Thai Commons is located in the business complex next to Whalen Commons, 19635 Fisher Avenue. Their restaurant now occupies a portion of the building that was previously vacant.

Thai Commons is a takeout based restaurant where customers may place orders online or in person. They offer everything from starters and main courses, such as stir fried and fried rice dishes, to desserts and lunch specials.

Wicha Soontornpipit and Sineenuch Paitoon are the owners of Thai Commons. Not only is their restaurant new to the Poolesville community, but Soontornpipit and Paitoon’s family is new to Poolesville as well. This husband-wife duo moved here from Thailand for the hope of creating a better future for their two children. While Soontornpipit faced initial challenges, such as learning new social norms, culture, and daily living, he and his family were able to make it through the settling process.

While staying with friends in Frederick after their initial move from Thailand, Soontornpipit was introduced to Poolesville and immediately felt a strong connection to the town due to the kind people and atmosphere he was met with.

“We made the decision to move to Poolesville and settle here before we even knew whether we would be able to lease a space for our restaurant,” Soontornpipit claimed.

Due to the warm welcoming he described receiving from the community, Soontornpipit and Paitoon moved forward with their business plans. 

Currently, Thai Commons operates from 11:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day, except when closed on Wednesdays.

Senior student Santiago Torres Espina believes it was necessary for Thai Commons to move into this previously empty space to help support the community.

“I think it’s good for new businesses to take root in Poolesville since there’s a huge market of student customers, especially for food,” asserted Torres Espina.

Once starting Thai Commons, Soontornpipit and Paitoon shared that their Thai creations were a blend of creativity and tradition.

“For us, food is both an art form and a way of storytelling…every ingredient has a purpose, and every choice tells part of the story,” described Soontornpipit.

To create this fusion, he believes that quality ingredients mixed with thoughtful preparation is of utmost importance. In choosing what to include on their menu, Soontornpipit and Paitoon chose dishes that shared ingredients so that customers could try a variety of the owners favorite Thai food, while also enabling the restaurant to create food as quickly as possible. 

Due to the fact that it is just Soontornpipit and Paitoon cooking, they believed it was necessary to create streamlined dishes without compromising quality.

“I would definitely go again to try their other dishes and recommend it to everyone!” Torres Espina claimed.

The community’s excitement over this new restaurant was clear when Thai Commons sold out of food the first day that they were open. Soontornpipit reported that they ran out of prepared ingredients, they were training a new employee, and also had issues with their online ordering system. Due to these unexpected challenges, it led them to close earlier than they had wished. Regardless, the community showed up the following day and bought enough food to sell out Thai Commons for the second day in a row.

“If this town has helped build who I am today, I feel it is only right to return that support in any way I can,” said Soontornpipit.

This pre-established sense of community has been spread throughout Poolesville.

Lisa Nachman, librarian at the Maggie Nightingale Library, has seen an increase in library customers once Thai Commons opened due to the fact that the two businesses are located right next to each other.

“Some Thai Commons customers come into the library while they are waiting for their food order to be ready, and check out books,” described Nachman.

Because they are in the same shopping center, Thai Commons provides Maggie Nightingale staff members with a 10% discount and label it as the “Neighbor Discount.”

“I am so thrilled to see how busy they have been, and how they want to share their love of Thai food with the Poolesville community,” Nachman stated.

Soontornpipit believes that the restaurant will remain a part of Poolesville not solely based on the quality of food, but their quality of care.

“As a small, family-run business, we focus on care—care in how we cook, how we manage our operations, and how we interact with our customers,” Soontornpipit asserted. “Over time, we hope that this sense of care and sincerity is what truly makes Thai Commons feel unique in the community.”

At the end of the day, Soontornpipit believes that the success of a business depends on their ability to provide for their surrounding town.

“We never imagined receiving such an overwhelming level of support from the community, and we are deeply grateful for it,” concluded Soontornpipit.