Thai Thai Bistro closing doors in Niskayuna; Operators plan Saratoga Springs venture in 2023

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Thai Thai Bistro July 2021

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NISKAYUNA — The Thai Thai Bistro will be closing its doors Saturday.

The restaurant’s operators announced the decision late last week in a Facebook post, but said in 2023 they would be opening an Asian grocery store in Saratoga Springs that will offer prepared foods.

“We would like to take this time to thank all of you who were with us for over five years at this location in Niskayuna,” the post reads. “So there is some sadness in leaving our customers here in the Niskayuna and Schenectady area, but we are enthused about the future and hope to see many of you again in Saratoga.”

Thai Thai moved to ShopRite Plaza off Nott Street in Niskayuna after its previous home — the landmark Nicholaus Building at the corner of State Street and Erie Boulevard in Schenectady — became unstable amid a construction project next door.

The building ultimately was demolished in April 2017.

The swarm of litigation included lawsuits by Thai Thai owner Piyamas Demasi against the contractors who had been doing the construction to the Nicholaus Building, the building’s owner and the city.

Demasi eventually found herself in court on a different matter, however: She was indicted in July 2021 on 13 counts stemming from allegations of mistreatment of a Thai immigrant working for her at the restaurant.

The Schenectady County District Attorney’s office said Demasi pleaded guilty last month to a single count of the top charge in the indictment: labor trafficking.

Terms of the plea agreement call for her to be sentenced to a maximum of one to three years in state prison and a minimum of five years’ probation. She also agreed to pay restitution of more than $8,500 to the victim and $4,000 to the state Department of Labor.

If probation is included in the sentence, it will include a forensic review of the records of DeMasi’s business, at her expense, to ensure compliance with state tax and labor laws.