Thai Town () is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California. In 2008, it was one of the five Asian Pacific Islander neighborhoods in the city—along with

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

, Little Tokyo, Historic Filipinotown, and

Koreatown A Koreatown (), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have only been in existence s ...

—that received federal recognition as a Preserve America neighborhood. It is the only officially recognized ''Thai Town'' in the United States. Frances Kai-Hwa Wang
America's Only Thai Town Celebrates 15 Years in Los Angeles
NBCNews.com, October 30, 2014

History

The

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

voted unanimously on October 27, 1999, to designate the neighborhood as "Thai Town," the first place in the United States with that name. The designation was proposed by Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who said the move would bring neighborhood pride, economic development and promotion of tourism to the area."City Council Designates Area as 'Thai Town,'" ''Los Angeles Times,'' October 28, 1999
/ref> At that time, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) was instructed to install

signage Signage is the design or use of signs and symbols to communicate a message. Signage also means signs ''collectively'' or being considered as a group. The term ''signage'' is documented to have been popularized in 1975 to 1980. Signs are any ki ...

to identify Thai Town. It was significant to Goldberg that the staff of the Thai Community Development Center includes other Asians, Latinos and whites, all intent on improving the East Hollywood business community in general. "They're already calling Thai Town the 77th province," said Thai Chamber of Commerce President Niphun Rojanasopondist, referring to the 76 provinces that made up Thailand at the time. In 2000, the center won a $15,000 Department of Public Works matching grant to create a garden and to bring from Thailand four golden statues of kinnari (mythical creatures who are half angel, half bird) to mark Thai Town's borders. In 2008, the Thai Community Development Center expanded its partnership with the four Asian Pacific Islander communities in Los Angeles to pursue a national designation by the White House of all five API towns as a Preserve America Neighborhood. The other communities are

, Little Tokyo, Historic Filipinotown and

. They formed the API Preserve America Neighborhood Coalition. First Lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (née Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American educator who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 as the wife of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. Bush was previously the fir ...

presented the "Preserve America" designation, signifying value as a cultural and historic asset. The designation made Thai Town eligible for up to $250,000 in Preserve America grants, along with $250,000 in other public and private matching funds.Teresa Watanabe, "A Boost for Thai Town," ''Los Angeles Times,'' August 3, 2008
/ref>

Geography

Thai Town is a six-block neighborhood flanking

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

between Normandie Avenue and Western Avenue, its entrances being marked by two statues of '' apsonsi'' (a mythical half human, half lion angel in Thai folklore). Thai Town is bordered by the neighborhoods of

Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

to the north and east, central Hollywood to the west, and Little Armenia to the south.

Neighborhood

In 2000 a ''Los Angeles Times'' writer said Thai Town was a place where

gourmands can stock up on
bitter melon ''Momordica charantia'' (commonly called bitter melon, cerassee, goya, bitter apple, bitter gourd, bitter squash, balsam-pear, karela, karavila and many more #Uses, names listed below) is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitac ...
and round Thai eggplant. A Thai dessert shop offers preserved
jackfruit The jackfruit or ''nangka'' (''Artocarpus heterophyllus'') is a species of tree in the Common fig, fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). The jackfruit is the largest tree fruit, reaching as much as in weight, in length, and in d ...
, Pandan cookies and Kring Krang, crisply sweetened rice. The large Silom supermarket occupies the middle of a block near Hobart Boulevard, its exterior the rose-hued color of dusk with ornate trimming and a spirit house, draped with colorful garlands and a stone-faced Buddha image, guarding the entrance from destructive forces.

Demographics

The neighborhood has been the home to immigrant groups, including

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

and

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...

, for a long time, and Thai Americans began settling there in the 1960s. The influx of Thai people into East Hollywood made the neighborhood a "point of entry" for the 80,000 Thais estimated to be living in Southern California.Carla Rivera, "L.A.'s Newest Place: Thai Town," ''Los Angeles Times,'' January 29, 2000
/ref> Many came with the intention to attend Southern California universities. Data for the area show that 27% of households live below the poverty line—a rate 12 percentage points higher than the county average. Fueling the persistent poverty has been the arrival of thousands of working-class Thai immigrants in the last two decades who have flooded sweatshops, restaurant kitchens and, most recently, massage parlors, said Chancee Martorell, executive director of the Thai Community Development Center, which has conducted several studies on the plight of Thai Town.David Pierson and Anna Gorman, "A New Take on Thai Town," ''Los Angeles Times,'' August 2, 2007
/ref>

Public transport

The area is served by the Metro B Line subway at the Hollywood/Western station in addition to

Metro Local The Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Metro Bus operates in the Los Angeles Basin, the San Fernando Valley, and th ...

bus lines 2, 180, 206, 207, & 217.

Holidays

On the first Sunday in April, Thai Town celebrates Songkran, the Thai New Year, by closing off

within its boundaries, and setting up food stands and entertainment on the street along with a parade on the street from New Hampshire Avenue to Winona Boulevard.
Thai Community Development Center

References

External links

Google maps link

{{coord, 34.10000, N, 118.304522, W, display=title Asian-American culture in Los Angeles Ethnic enclaves in California Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Thai-American culture in California East Hollywood, Los Angeles Thai Towns