Local wine experts become toast of Thailand

BANGKOK -- Three years ago, Kodchakarn Panpotong had never touched alcohol. She has yet to visit a winery. Despite long experience in the restaurant trade, she hardly seemed a promising choice to recommend wines at Eat Me, a mainstay of Bangkok's fine dining scene.

But in a rags-to-riesling story typical of Thailand, this transgender waitress is one of many unlikely candidates to have been certified as a level 2 sommelier, or wine steward, by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, an instructional and testing organization for the wine and spirits industry. "My palate and knowledge expands every day," said Kodchakarn. "I'm sure now this is the path for my future."