Thai Town, Los Angeles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Thai Town
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Thai Town neighborhood sign
located at the intersection of Normandie Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard. |
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 Thai Town
Location in Los Angeles
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| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| City | Los Angeles |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
Thai Town (Thai: ไทยทาวน์) is a special area in Central Los Angeles, California. It's a place where many Thai people live and work. In 2008, it became one of five Asian Pacific Islander neighborhoods in the city to get a special award called "Preserve America." This award means the neighborhood is important for its culture and history. Thai Town is the only official Thai Town in the United States!
Contents
History of Thai Town
How Thai Town Got Its Name
On October 27, 1999, the Los Angeles City Council (which is like the city's government) voted to officially call this area "Thai Town." This was the first time any place in the United States got this name. A council member named Jackie Goldberg suggested it. She believed it would make the community proud, help local businesses, and bring more visitors to the area. After the vote, signs were put up to show where Thai Town begins.
Growing the Community
The Thai Community Development Center, a local group, worked hard to make Thai Town better. They even included people from other backgrounds, like Asians, Latinos, and white people, to help improve the business area. The president of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Niphun Rojanasopondist, joked that Thai Town was like the "77th province" of Thailand, showing how important it was to Thai people.
In 2000, the center received money to create a garden. They also brought four golden statues of kinnari from Thailand. Kinnari are mythical creatures that are half angel and half bird. These statues were placed to mark the edges of Thai Town.
National Recognition for Thai Town
In 2008, the Thai Community Development Center teamed up with four other Asian Pacific Islander communities in Los Angeles. These were Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Historic Filipinotown, and Koreatown. Together, they asked the White House to recognize all five areas as "Preserve America" neighborhoods.
First Lady Laura Bush gave them this special "Preserve America" award. This award meant that Thai Town was seen as a valuable cultural and historical place. It also made Thai Town able to get special grants, which are like money, to help preserve and improve the neighborhood.
Where is Thai Town Located?
Thai Town is a neighborhood that stretches for six blocks. It is located along Hollywood Boulevard between Normandie Avenue and Western Avenue. You can tell you're entering Thai Town because there are two statues of apsonsi at its entrances. An apson is a mythical creature that is half human and half lion angel from Thai stories.
Thai Town is surrounded by other neighborhoods. To the north and east is Los Feliz. To the west is central Hollywood, and to the south is Little Armenia.
What Can You Find in Thai Town?
Thai Town is a lively place with many unique shops and restaurants. In 2000, a writer for the Los Angeles Times described it as a place where:
- You can buy special ingredients like bitter melon and round Thai eggplant for cooking.
- A Thai dessert shop sells treats like preserved jackfruit, Pandan cookies, and Kring Krang, which are sweet, crispy rice snacks.
- The large Silom supermarket is a central spot. It has a rose-colored outside with fancy decorations.
- Outside the supermarket, there's a spirit house. This is a small shrine, often decorated with colorful garlands, and it has a stone Buddha image. It's believed to protect the entrance from bad things.
Who Lives in Thai Town?
This neighborhood has been home to different groups of immigrants for a long time, including Armenians and Latinos. Thai Americans started moving to this area in the 1960s.
Many Thai people came to East Hollywood, making it a main entry point for the estimated 80,000 Thais living in Southern California. A lot of them came to attend universities in Southern California.
Getting Around Thai Town
You can easily get to Thai Town using public transportation. The Metro B Line subway has a station at Hollywood/Western. There are also several Metro Local bus lines that serve the area, including lines 2, 180, 206, 207, and 217.
Thai Town Celebrations
Every year, on the first Sunday in April, Thai Town celebrates Songkran. This is the Thai New Year! During this celebration, Hollywood Boulevard is closed off within Thai Town. People set up food stands and entertainment right on the street. There's also a parade that goes from New Hampshire Avenue to Winona Boulevard.
