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Siegenthaler visits the town, which is the home of his mother and her side of the family, every year or two. And he loves reconnecting with his heritage.
"I even go through that small, little town where my mom grew up and it's just awesome to see," Siegenthaler said. "The people don't have a lot of money there, but you know, they're still so happy to just enjoy being alive with actually nothing."
And any time the Devils' defenseman returns, he sees the sport he plays, hockey, increasing in popularity.
"I think that's pretty cool to see Thailand growing in hockey," he said. "Thailand is not a rich country, I would say. People live pretty simple, pretty easy. It's nice to see guys putting so much effort in hockey. Even though hockey is not that big right now in Thailand, it's growing, but it's not there yet. For me, it's nice to see, it makes me happy too."
Siegenthaler doesn't just visit the town and country as a tourist. He arrives as an ambassador. He is the first player of Thai decent to ever play in the National Hockey League.
"I'm proud to be Swiss and Thai. You don't see that every day, a Swiss and Thai guy that plays hockey," Siegenthaler said. "It's something special for sure. I'm just trying to represent Switzerland and Thailand as best as I can, and make them proud."
Part of making his native country proud, is giving back.
"I think in the future I'm going to try to do something like a little charity or something," he said. "Because I have so many hockey sticks back home that I don't use. So I was thinking to donate them, maybe go there for a quick visit and let them see that there's a Thai hockey player in the NHL.
"Even being a Swiss guy, hockey is growing there as well. Every year, it gets bigger and bigger. I hope for Thailand it's going to be the same. They're going to go the same way of Switzerland."
Though Siegenthaler grew up in Zurich, Thai culture is embedded in his life. He lost some of his Thai tongue with age, but understands it enough when his mother speaks to him in her native language - though he often replies to her in Swiss-German.
Siegenthaler has a special affinity for Thai food, particularly his mother's massaman - a yellow curry with peanuts, potatoes, chicken and rice.
"That's one of my favorite meals," he said. "When mom cooks it, it's the best. I'm looking forward to it when I get back home."
Siegenthaler has even taken in some of the customary street vending. On a trip to Bangkok, the nation's capital, Siegenthaler partook in buying some of the nationa's delicacies - fried scorpions, grasshoppers and bugs.
"It actually tastes kind of like potato chips," he said. "It's like crunchy and there's seasoning on it. So, it just looks scarier than it tastes. It tastes actually pretty good."
Siegenthaler's parents bought a home in Thailand and spend most of their time in the country. Though they do visit Switzerland in the summers to see their son. That is, when he isn't drawing the ogles of his Asian brethren.
"It's special. It's kind of cool," he said of being the first Thai NHL player. "You've never seen it before in the NHL. I've seen it in Switzerland juniors, Swiss players that are half Thai. But now I'm here in the NHL, and I'm the only one.
"It makes it special I'm proud of it as well."
