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A hefty lineup of chefs and entertainers is donating time, food and music to help chef Chai Chaowasaree pay his legal bills. Event Sunday supports
Chai Chaowasaree
Star-BulletinPeople Against Chai's Deportation, set for 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Aloha Tower Marketplace, will showcase entertainers Robert Cazimero, Melveen Leed, Jerry Santos and Ho'okena against a gourmet backdrop.
Serving food will be the organizer, Beth Ann Nishijima of Nori's Saimin and Snacks in Hilo, joined by Hiroshi Fukui of L'Uraku, Wayne Hirabayashi of Hoku's, D.K. Kodama of Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar, Colin Nishida of Side Street Inn and Dean Okimoto of Nalo Farms, with more chefs still to be added to the list. Host chef will be Rodney Uyehara of Chai's Island Bistro.
Chaowasaree, owner of Chai's and Singha Thai Cuisine, has been held in the Oahu Community Correctional Center for three weeks as he fights deportation to his native Thailand. His case has been under appeal since 1991, since the Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled that his marriage to a U.S. citizen was a sham. But when Chaowasaree left the country last January to visit his ailing father in Thailand, the INS declared that he had abandoned his appeal and ordered him deported.
"His legal fees have skyrocketed, and the fight has just begun," Nishijima said.
Sunday's event is being hastily put together out of necessity, she said.
Chaowasaree could be forced to leave March 16 if an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals fails. "If we don't make a statement and do it by Sunday, we'll be out of time."
Tickets to the event are $45 and include visits to food stations set up by the chefs on the second floor of the Aloha Tower Marketplace, overlooking Chai's. Tickets are available at the participating restaurants. For information on the event or on making donations, call Chai's, 585-0011.
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