At first glance, Yimsoo Cafe seems no different from the multitude of coffee shops that have mushroomed around town over the past few years. The air is fragrant with the aroma of coffee, the decor is modern, the ambience friendly and the Wi-Fi free. Walk up to the counter to place an order, however, and you realise that Yimsoo is unique.

“I’m deaf but happy to take care of you. Please point to the menu to order,” reads the handwritten sign towards which the young barista gestures.

Opened last December, Yimsoo Cafe is in Soi Arun Amarin 39, on the first floor of the building belonging to the Universal Foundation for Persons with Disabilities (1999), which is led by the non-sighted and highly respected former senator Professor Wiriya Namsiripongpan. The coffee shop is yet another milestone in Wiriya’s mission to create an equal society and help persons with disabilities live a happy and fulfilling life alongside the ablebodied.

The professor has agreed to meet us here – he is currently giving a lecture in law at Thammasat University – and we take the opportunity to interview the staff of this cafe with a difference. In this, we’re ably assisted by visual language interpreter Chanakan Pittayapoovanai.

Three baristas, all hearing impaired, run the coffee shop. One is on her day off but Sujira Chaiyasuriyong and Inthira Patcharaharuthai are more than happy to communicate with us. Deaf from birth and now 25 years old, Sujira, comes from Mukdaharn province and completed junior high school. She tells us that she’s been a barista at Yimsoo Cafe since it opened and has learnt so much that she thinks she will someday open her own coffee shop. She enjoys living in the busy capital, she signs, because she has lots of friends among Bangkok’s sizeable deaf community.

“When the foundation opened Yimsoo, it was quite difficult at first to communicate with customers but those problems went away when the coffeeshop introduced the touch screen ordering system, which also calculates and checks bills and balances,” she says through Chanakan.

“Now it’s easy and I love making coffee.”

Asking what she used to dream of when she was young. Sujira shrugs her shoulders. She tells us that she always lived with her mother and being deaf found it impossible to dream of a job especially one in the service sector. But she did want to be independent. “I know I am lucky to work for the foundation and haven’t ended up like so many disabled people who are upset at not having found a place in society,” she signs.

Inthira too says she wishes that other people would treat her well like a normal person and give her a chance to work. Also 25 and deaf since birth, Inthira lives in Bangkok with her mother and completed a diploma course at Don Bosco Technological Collage. She says that when she was young, her family worried about her very much and was so afraid at harm coming to her but she wasn’t allowed to do anything.

“Today I’m more confident and like to meet people when they come to order a coffee,” she signs, adding that at first it was quite difficult for her to remember not only the menu but also the recipes.

“The deaf can understand visual language but their vocabulary is very limited,” says Chanakan, one of the very few Thais to hold a bachelor’s degree in visual language from Mahidol University.

“The learning process is from pictures. Unless the family teaches them to read and write, then they will have nothing more than the basics and be unable to follow a complicated text. Reading a book is almost impossible. When she makes coffee, the deaf barista has to visualise the picture. Visual language has a different kind of grammar and hand signing has to be learned, so there are obstacles to smooth communication with society and even family members. Also since the hearing impaired show no outward sign of disability, they tend to be very shy and keep to themselves,” she notes.

“Ideally, I would like Yimsoo Cafe to be run by the deaf without any help from the hearing,” adds Wiriya, who has now joined the discussion.

Blinded at the age of 15 following an explosion. Wiriya has never let his disability hold him back. A hardworking student, he graduated with First Class Honours from Thammasat University’s Faculty of Law before going on to Harvard University to earn his LLM (Taxation).

He is the president of the foundation and actively involved in its work.

“Throughout my life, I have been trying to promote better quality living for the blind and other persons with disabilities. I see opportunities for the deaf too. By helping them to train for a career, I believe they can do anything and live a happy life as well,” he says.

The foundation recently ran a training course on coffee making for five youngsters with autism.

“We’ve learned from the work done in other countries on career training for the disabled that in the urban area running a food and beverage business is possible. In the countryside, a job in agriculture is more appropriate. Today’s urbanites love coffee and while we are not trying to make a profit with Yimsoo, we do want to set an example for others. At the foundation we already have services for visual language interpretation, so we would like to try out this project here first and also improve and develop new technology to help with ordering and the accounts. Next we aim to teach all our customers the simple visual signs so that they can communicate with our deaf baristas,” he says.

“When I became blind, I quickly learnt that there is little point in asking why or blaming the past. The foundation’s first mission is to set up a special learning centre for blind children. It’s important to help blind kids as early as possible because they tend to have multiple disabilities. I visited a family with a blind child and found that the little one couldn’t walk because his mother carried him all the time to keep him from danger. His muscles therefore didn’t develop properly. That’s a major problem here but at least now there are special learning centres all over the country.

“Another project that the foundation works on is a documentary featuring inspirational disabled persons. We’ve opened an art gallery on the second floor that showcases the works of disabled artist Thanong Kotchompoo, who paints by holding the brush in his mouth. He became ill and so the foundation bought his paintings for exhibition,” Wiraya explains.

“I think that everybody wants to be independent. They don’t want to be burden. The person I admire the most is Sister Rosemore, the dean of the School for Blind Bangkok. She constantly told me: ‘Always remember that the blind can do anything and that in every problem, there’s a good opportunity. Don’t ask for help. Secondly, always smile. A smile from can help prevent people from committing suicide. And lastly, donate blood. It can save another person’s life.’ That’s why on every birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and His Majesty the late King Bhumibol, blind people join the blood donation campaign. Even if you are disabled, you can help others. It’s just a matter of wanting to,” he says.

FULL OF BEANS

– Yimsoo Cafe is open everyday from 7.30 to 6. It’s on Soi Arun Amarin 39, Bangkok Noi district, Bangkok 10700. Call (02) 055 1901 or visit Facebook: yimsoocafe

– Coffee and other beverages are priced between Bt35 and Bt65. A small selection of food and bakery items is also available. WiFi is free.