The Malaysians were miffed at General Surayud's claim that funds were being raised for the insurgency by extorting money from restaurants selling Thaitom yum kung soup in Malaysia.
They eventually settled but Heinecke took his experience and turned it into a new opportunity, opening his own competing chain, The Pizza Company, that offered middle class Thai consumers dishes, including a tom yum gung flavored pie, to better suit their tastes.