The Varsity Lakes founder helping families go beyond “How was your week?” |
Inspired by his work in dementia care, TaleOak founder Thanat Theerabootwongkul wants adult children to learn more about Mum and Dad, one gentle question at a time. |
You might know what your mum did this week.
But do you know her favourite food, the stories she rarely tells, or the small things that make her comfortable?
For Varsity Lakes local Thanat Theerabootwongkul, those gaps are the starting point for TaleOak, a free platform he is building to encourage more meaningful conversations between adult children and their parents.
Thanat works as a personal carer in a nursing home dementia ward.
That experience sparked a desire to help families learn about their parents directly, through their own words, and keep what they discover.
His aim is to make talking with Mum and Dad a habit, without adding guilt or creating another noisy family feed.
One question, once a week
TaleOak uses the idea of a family “house”, created by an adult child around their parents.
Once a week, the child draws a gentle question, asks it in a real conversation and saves what they learn.
The platform calls these steps a “Draw” and a “Keep”.
The questions can explore likes, dislikes, memories and everyday preferences.
They might uncover how Mum likes the light overnight, a food Dad quietly dislikes, or a small detail nobody has thought to ask about.
“One Draw a week stays patient,” Thanat says.
“Enough to learn, not enough to guilt.”
Parents do not need to manage the app.
The adult child asks the question and records the answer, with siblings and a partner able to join the family space later.
The conversation remains the point; the technology gives it a place to start.
The answers we assume we know
Thanat has found that even a question as simple as asking his mum about her favourite food can reveal something unexpected.
He had assumed he knew the answer, only to discover it was something else.
That experience captures the gap TaleOak is trying to address.
Regular updates can make families feel connected, while leaving plenty about each other unexplored.
Asking a different question can feel awkward, especially when conversations have settled into a familiar routine.
Thanat wants a shared prompt to open that door, without turning family connection into homework or a lecture about calling more often.
Starting small, with Australian families
TaleOak is being developed with Australian families first, and Thanat says he is personally guiding early families through the process.
Previous business attempts have shaped his approach: establish one useful routine before expanding the idea.
“Don’t sell the whole vision before one loop works,” he says.
For TaleOak, that means helping someone set up their family space, ask a question and keep the answer.
His next priority is understanding whether families return the following week and find value in what they save.
He says families control what they keep, and he would only share a family’s saved response publicly with permission.
Keeping the words, and eventually the voice
Looking ahead, Thanat wants to introduce a recording function so parents can speak their answers and families can preserve their original voices.
It is a planned feature, with the adult child currently responsible for recording what they learn.
His work in dementia care also informs a longer-term hope: that a collection of someone’s own stories and preferences could help relatives understand them if they later develop dementia.
This is his aspiration for the project, rather than an established clinical benefit.
For now, the goal is immediate and personal: help adult children talk with their parents more often, ask something new and keep the answer.
Over time, Thanat hopes that habit will carry through generations.
TaleOak is available at www.taleoak.com and is free, according to Thanat.
He says iOS and Android releases are planned; no release date has been provided.
Based on written responses supplied by Thanat Theerabootwongkul, founder of TaleOak.
Business details supplied: ABN 16 232 595 236.
Privacy enquiries: privacy@taleoak.com. |
39 Comments
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This made me tear up a bit. Going to call my mum right now and ask her something new.
That is wonderful to hear! We hope you uncover a lovely surprise or two during your chat with her today.
Good on him for taking it slow and testing it with Aussie families first instead of rushing out a broken product.
Reminds me of Storyworth but simpler. I like that you just ask during a normal phone call.
One Draw and Keep a week sounds very calm and unhurried. Keen to give it a spin with my old man.
I bet half the people who sign up forget about it after two weeks. Hope Thanat proves me wrong.
Building lasting habits is definitely a challenge, which is why Thanat is testing whether families return week to week before rolling out bigger features. The gentle once-a-week pace is designed to avoid guilt and fatigue.
Bookmarking the site now. My nan has early stages of memory loss so this timing is perfect for us.
So refreshing to see tech used to bring families closer instead of gluing everyone to a screen.
Emma Watson_gcThat was the best part for me. Mum does not even need to fiddle with downloading anything.
We completely agree! Thanat's focus is firmly on keeping the real conversation at the centre, with the platform simply offering a gentle place to start.
Nice concept, but getting my brothers to join the family space and actually participate will be like herding cats.
Gary P.Sounds like you can just ask the questions yourself. Let them catch up later if they want to.
A very relatable feeling! The nice part is that only one person needs to ask and record the answer, meaning siblings can simply drop in whenever they're ready to read along.
The bit about how someone likes their night light hit home. It really is the tiny details that matter in care.
Lisa_MSo true. When my gran went into respite, nobody knew she hated total darkness until she got upset about it.
Honestly sounds like a really thoughtful project. Varsity Lakes represent!
Keeping it private is so crucial. Glad to read they are not sharing answers publicly without permission.
Thank you for highlighting that. Privacy is a top priority for the platform, and Thanat has made sure families retain complete control over everything they choose to save.
Anita PatelExactly. Nobody wants personal family stories floating around on the internet.
Hope the Android version comes out quickly, sick of everything launching on Apple first.
I asked my mum what her favourite dish was last night and she said something completely different to what she cooked us for 20 years! So true.
Claire SandersNow I need to know what her actual favourite was. My dad did the exact same thing to us with roasts.
Big respect to aged care workers. Hardest job around, so cool he took inspiration from his daily shift.
Robbo82Absolutely. It takes a huge amount of patience to do that job every single day.
Realised recently I have no clue what music my dad listened to when he was twenty. Definitely trying this out.
Just signed up to check it out. My mum loves chatting, I just never know what to ask besides how the weather was.
The voice recording part will be huge when it comes out. Hearing a loved one's actual voice after they pass means everything.
One question a week is actually doable. Anything more than that and it starts feeling like homework.
Kylie D.Spot on. Daily reminder apps always end up muted within a fortnight in my house.
Working in a dementia ward really opens your eyes. Good on Thanat for doing this, it could really help families down the track.
tracey_goldcoastWish we had something like this before my grandfather's memory faded. Great initiative from a local guy.
Thank you for the kind words. Thanat's frontline work in dementia care was a major inspiration, especially his hope that these saved memories might comfort and guide families down the track.
Sounds good in theory, but my dad would look at me weird if I suddenly asked him deep questions on a Sunday afternoon.
That is completely understandable! Thanat actually designed the prompts to be light and gentle, like asking about a favourite food or everyday habit, so it feels natural rather than intense.
I like that the parents do not have to mess around with an app. My dad still struggles with basic text messages.
That was a deliberate design choice to keep things effortless for parents. All your dad has to do is enjoy the conversation while you take care of the rest!
Great to see a local Varsity Lakes guy building something genuinely helpful instead of another crypto scam.
What a lovely idea. I lost my mum last year and I wish I had asked her so much more about her childhood.