Thai Town, Los Angeles, for the best authentic Thai food west of Chiang Mai and a Southern California spin – think healthy, vegan and (gulp!) non-spicy
The biggest expat Thai population anywhere is in East Hollywood – making it a paradise for Thai cooks and people who love authentic Thai food. A new food hall hopes to provide opportunities for migrants stuck in poverty and lacking access to health care
In the 1950s, America was the land of dreams. American culture was in the ascendancy, but to many around the world still reeling from the impact of the second world war, its prosperity, optimism and glamour must have seemed so out of reach as to be unimaginable.
Not all countries had this problem though, with ties between the US and Thailand thriving.
The US flooded Thailand with capital and development expertise, hoping to strengthen an ally it saw as a democratic bulwark in the region. It opened its doors to members of Thailand’s elite and academics, welcoming technocrats and development workers to study for advanced degrees and to learn skills they could apply when they returned home.
For Thais with the opportunity to relocate to America, there was only one place to go, dreamland itself: they were headed to Hollywood.
Today the Thai population in Southern California has swollen to more than 100,000 people. It is the largest population of Thais outside of Thailand, and most of them still settle in East Hollywood, an area which in 1999 was officially designated “Thai Town”.
Thai Town is a dining destination, a paradise for Thai cooks and people who love to eat authentic Thai food. East Hollywood markets boast a bounty of fresh produce and ingredients unrivalled anywhere west of Chiang Mai.
