Tiger Chef owner Sai Tai left Myanmar in 2005 on the run from the military government. After receiving refugee status, Tai arrived in Columbia, Missouri in 2011 where the majority of refugees come from Myanmar. More than 670 Myanmar refugees have arrived since 2001. In 2019, Tai opened the restaurant with his wife Nang Lont, and since the military coup in February of 2021, Tai has been open in his objection to the government. He supports the fight for freedom by selling t-shirts with messages like “Free Myanmar,’ and sends money raised from t-shirt and restaurant sales back home to help those protesting oppression there. Tai says his life is dedicated to this work and to supporting those fighting the military there.