Chat Thai restaurant chain family feud over Amy Chant’s will

The breakdown of a multimillion-dollar fortune left behind by the founder of the Chat Thai restaurant chain has been decided, after a court battle between her two children.

Amy Chant died in 2021, with two of her children ending up in court over her will.

The breakdown of a multimillion-dollar fortune left behind by the founder of the Chat Thai restaurant chain has been decided, after a court battle between her two children.

Amy Chant opened her first Chat Thai restaurant on Liverpool St in Darlinghurst in 1989, and over the years that followed expanded the business to eight other stores, including in Manly and Randwick.

But when the woman known as the “Queen of Thai” died of brain cancer in 2021, she left two wills – one in NSW and another in Thailand – dividing up her property and financial holdings between her children Palissa Anderson and Pat Laoyont.

However the siblings have spent the past two years before the courts fighting over whether their mother lacked the mental capacity to execute the Thai will because of her brain cancer.

The two wills included part ownership of a farm near Byron Bay and a property in Mosman, as well as $446,000 in cash, shares in the Chat Thai restaurants worth an estimated $1.46 million, and real estate in Thailand.

Under both wills, Palissa received the Byron Bay farm and Mosman property, while Pat was given the real estate in Thailand.

The biggest difference between the two wills was that the Thai will gave Pat all the shares in the “CT Group”, which she used to run her Chat Thai restaurants, and the rest of the estate.

When Sydney’s “Queen of Thai” died in 2021, she divided her holdings between children Pat Laoyant and Palissa Anderson.

That was different to the NSW will, which stated that other than the Chat Thai CBD restaurant – which would go totally to Pat – the two siblings would have an equal share in the “CT Group” shares.

The family feud landed in the NSW Supreme Court last year with Acting Judge John Griffiths finding in favour of Pat, before Palissa appealed that decision to the Court of Appeal.

The court heard that since 2010 when Palissa and Pat began working together at Chat Thai, they had not always seen “eye-to-eye”.

Palissa Anderson appealed NSW Supreme Court Acting Judge John Griffiths’ descision in favour of Pat Laoyant. Picture: Ness Vanderburgh

But according to the evidence of one family friend, another issue that led to the creation of the Thai will was a lack of “trust” by Ms Chant in her son-in-law – Palissa’s husband Matt.

“My daughter’s husband is a foreigner, I believe he wants to take control of all of my business,” Ms Chant told her Thai lawyer, the court heard.

Palissa told the court that in the lead up to the creation of the Thai will, her mother became “scatter brained”.

But in his initial ruling, Acting Judge Griffiths found Ms Chant had a “clear understanding” of the value of her estate and how she was distributing it between her children in the Thai will.

The three judges on the bench of the Court of Appeal last week handed down their decision to dismiss Palissa’s appeal against that initial finding, meaning the Thai will and its distribution of assets to Pat was allowed.