Artchariya Ward was born and brought up in Nakhon Sri ThammaratNakhon Sri Thammarat  on the East coast of Southern Thailand (across the peninsula from Phuket, being about 180 km to the East) and it is the food from this southern region which influences both her style of cooking and choice of menu in both our restaurants with many of the dishes being unique to our menu. 

       In 1981 Art with her husband Nick came to Australia and both being from a mining background settled in Kalgoorlie. Art who had always been a keen cook had for a long time had the ambition to run a restaurant and offer the culinary delights of her home country. Eventually in 1981 the opportunity arose to start to this dream in Kalgoorlie and "Top End Thai" came into being and proved very popular from the opening.

      The number one rule from the beginning was that the dishes offered should be authentic and not compromised in any way so becoming westernised versions of the real thing.

      The name "Top End Thai" was chosen because Hannan Street (named after the discoverer of gold in Kalgoorlie in 1893) has a noticeable slope and the restaurant is situated at eastern end of the street in what is referred as the Top End Block near the Mount Charlotte gold mine. 
       The restaurant which can seat up to 90 persons is one of the town's oldest buildings dating from 1897. The original facade and balcony have been preserved although the ground floor shop fronts now exhibit an art-deco influence. The building was originally one of Kalgoorlie's numerous pubs being Tattersall's Hotel and later called The Savoy. The restaurant consists of three rooms, one of which is reserved for non-smoking patrons and is both air conditioned and heated to cope with the extremes of Kalgoorlie's climate. The decorative theme in both of our restaurants is centred on a collection of photographs depicting life in Siam during early part of this century. 

       By 1995 Art felt confident enough in the staff she had trained in Kalgoorlie to open a second restaurant in Perth (the state capital of Western Australia). "The Individual Thai Restaurant " was opened in Edward Street, East Perth (an inner city suburb being revitalised). It was a hard decision not to call this restaurant "Top End Thai" but as it is uphill in most directions from the restaurant and Perth is a  long way from the Northern Territory and was the restaurant called "The Individual Garden Restaurant", so we finally settled for "The Individual Thai Restaurant". 

     The word 'Individual' symbolises our goals as restaurateurs. Art's cooks individually as we like to think of our patrons as Individuals not just dollars sitting on seats. 

      "The Individual Thai Restaurant " can seat about 90 people and consists of three rooms. Inside is reserved for non-smoking patrons and the outside garden area with its fish pond and waterfall caters for smoking patrons. Inside the Federation style bungalow it is fully air conditioned for summer and heated in winter by an open fire. The garden area is enclosed and fully screened with heaters which can maintain its semitropical atmosphere even in winter. In summer with the screens up you can enjoy the benefits of "The Fremantle Doctor" (Perth's friendly sea breeze) at lunch time. Alternatively "The Individual Thai Restaurant " is an ideal dinner time setting for Perth's balmy evenings whilst you enjoy the food from our exquisite menu which has helped gain a place in The Catering Instute of Australia's Gold Plate Awards in both 1997 & 1998.