The only officially designated Thai neighborhood in the US, on Hollywood Boulevard in East Hollywood. Dense with Thai restaurants, grocery stores, and cultural businesses.

The largest Thai Buddhist temple in the US, in North Hollywood. Famous for its weekend food market with dozens of vendors selling authentic Thai food.

The Thai New Year, celebrated in mid-April with water rituals, temple visits, and a massive water fight festival that shuts down Hollywood Boulevard in Thai Town.

Green papaya salad — pounded in a mortar with chili, lime, fish sauce, peanuts, and dried shrimp. An iconic Thai dish that balances sour, sweet, salty, and spicy.

Thai Diaspora in Los Angeles — DiasporaDays | Thai Town, East Hollywood, North Hollywood

Q: Where can I find the best Thai food in Los Angeles?

Thai Town on Hollywood Boulevard and the Wat Thai weekend market in North Hollywood. Also excellent options in Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and the San Fernando Valley.

Los Angeles is home to the largest Thai community in the United States, with an estimated 80,000 Thai Americans living in the Greater LA area. The epicenter is Thai Town -- a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard in East Hollywood, roughly between Western Avenue and Normandie Avenue, that was officially designated as "Thai Town" by the Los Angeles City Council in 1999. It remains the only officially recognized Thai neighborhood in the country. Walk this stretch of boulevard and you will find Thai restaurants, grocery stores, massage parlors, beauty salons, travel agencies, and businesses with signage in Thai script -- a complete Thai commercial ecosystem transplanted to the urban fabric of Los Angeles.

Thai immigration to Los Angeles began in earnest after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened the doors to Asian immigrants. The community grew steadily through the 1970s and 1980s, with many Thai immigrants settling in the affordable apartments of East Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley. Unlike some diaspora communities that have dispersed over the generations, Thai Town has remained a vital center -- partly because of the restaurants and businesses, but also because of the Buddhist temples that anchor community life. Wat Thai of Los Angeles, in North Hollywood, is the community's spiritual and social heart -- a temple complex that hosts not only religious services but also one of the most famous weekend food markets in all of Los Angeles.

What defines the Thai diaspora in LA is the centrality of food and faith. Thai cuisine -- with its intricate balance of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and spicy -- is among the most complex and beloved in the world, and Thai Town's restaurants serve it with an authenticity that rivals Bangkok. Theravada Buddhism structures the community's spiritual life, from the daily alms rounds of monks to the elaborate celebrations of Songkran (Thai New Year), Loy Krathong (the lantern festival), and Makha Bucha Day. Thai massage parlors, grocery stores stocked with imported Thai products, and community organizations round out a neighborhood that is, in its own quiet way, one of the most culturally complete diaspora enclaves in America.

East Hollywood

Thai Town (East Hollywood)

Thai Town stretches along Hollywood Boulevard between Western and Normandie Avenues. It is the commercial and cultural heart of the Thai community in LA -- and in all of America. The boulevard is lined with Thai restaurants serving everything from street-food-style pad thai and boat noodles to elaborate royal Thai cuisine. Thai grocery stores stock imported ingredients: fish sauce, shrimp paste, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and dozens of varieties of chili. Thai massage parlors, beauty salons, and karaoke bars complete the neighborhood. On weekends, the sidewalks hum with Thai families, and the smell of grilled satay and green curry fills the air.

North Hollywood & Wat Thai

North Hollywood, in the San Fernando Valley, is home to Wat Thai of Los Angeles -- the largest and most important Thai Buddhist temple in the Western Hemisphere. The temple complex, with its ornate golden roofs and Buddha statues, hosts daily religious services, meditation classes, and Thai language school. But its most famous attraction is the weekend food market, where Thai grandmothers and experienced cooks sell home-cooked Thai food -- pad thai, som tum, khao soi, mango sticky rice, and dozens of other dishes -- at unbeatable prices. The Wat Thai market is considered one of the best places to eat Thai food in all of Los Angeles.

East Hollywood & Surrounding Areas

Beyond the main Thai Town strip, the broader East Hollywood area and nearby neighborhoods of Los Feliz, Silver Lake, and Hollywood host Thai restaurants that range from hole-in-the-wall noodle shops to trendy modern Thai dining. Many of these restaurants are run by Thai families who have been cooking in LA for decades. Thai-owned businesses extend into massage parlors, tailoring shops, and small grocers scattered throughout these neighborhoods. The Thai community here is deeply woven into the multicultural fabric of central Los Angeles.

The Wider Valley & Beyond

Thai families have settled throughout the San Fernando Valley and into other parts of Greater LA -- Glendale, Pasadena, and the South Bay all have Thai restaurants and small community presences. Several smaller Thai temples serve these dispersed communities. Thai grocery stores in the Valley carry ingredients that cannot be found at mainstream supermarkets, and Thai community organizations host cultural events, Thai dance performances, and Muay Thai exhibitions. The community may be less concentrated outside Thai Town, but it is active and culturally vibrant.

Essential Dish

Pad Thai

Thai restaurants across Thai Town & LA

Pad thai -- stir-fried rice noodles with tamarind sauce, shrimp (or chicken or tofu), bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, chives, and a squeeze of lime -- is Thailand's most famous dish and the gateway to Thai cuisine for millions. But the pad thai served in Thai Town is different from the westernized versions found elsewhere: the noodles are cooked in a searing-hot wok until slightly charred, the tamarind sauce is complex (not just sweet), and the balance of flavors -- sour, sweet, salty, umami -- is precise. Served with a wedge of lime, a handful of bean sprouts, and chili flakes on the side. When made right, pad thai is a masterpiece of street food.

Essential Dish

Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)

Thai Town restaurants & Wat Thai market

Som tum is the soul of Isan (northeastern Thai) cooking -- shredded green papaya pounded in a clay mortar with garlic, chili, long beans, cherry tomatoes, dried shrimp, peanuts, fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar. The pounding is rhythmic and percussive, and the result is a salad that hits every flavor note simultaneously: sour, spicy, sweet, salty, and crunchy. In Thai Town, som tum is made to order -- you can specify the number of chilies, and the cook will pound it fresh in front of you. The Isan version with fermented crab (som tum poo plara) is for the brave. It is addictive, incendiary, and unforgettable.

Thai green curry with coconut milk, Thai basil, bamboo shoots, and jasmine rice

Essential Dish

Thai Curries (Green, Red, Massaman)

Thai Town & restaurants across LA

Thai curries are built on freshly pounded paste -- a foundation of lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, and chilies, ground in a mortar until smooth. Green curry (gaeng keow wan) is the most iconic: fiery green from fresh green chilies, enriched with coconut milk, fragrant with Thai basil, and loaded with chicken, eggplant, and bamboo shoots. Red curry (gaeng phet) uses dried red chilies for a deeper, earthier heat. Massaman curry, influenced by Muslim traders, is a rich, warming stew with potatoes, peanuts, and warm spices like cinnamon and cardamom. Each is served over jasmine rice -- fragrant, fluffy, and essential.

Boat noodles — rich, dark broth with pork or beef, Thai herbs, and rice noodles

Classic Dish

Boat Noodles (Kuay Teow Reua)

Thai Town noodle shops

Boat noodles are a Thai street food tradition -- small bowls of intensely flavored noodle soup with a dark, aromatic broth made from pork or beef blood, soy sauce, five-spice, and a complex blend of herbs. Originally sold from boats on Bangkok's canals, they are served in small portions meant to be eaten multiple bowls at a time. In Thai Town, several restaurants specialize in boat noodles, serving them with pork crackling, morning glory, bean sprouts, and fresh herbs. The broth is deep, complex, and almost meaty in its intensity. It is one of the most authentic Thai dishes you can find in America.

Mango sticky rice — sweet coconut sticky rice with ripe mango slices

Dessert

Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Niao Mamuang)

Thai Town & Wat Thai market

Mango sticky rice is the quintessential Thai dessert -- and one of the most perfect fruit-and-grain combinations in the world. Glutinous (sticky) rice is steamed, then soaked in sweetened coconut milk until rich and creamy. It is served alongside slices of perfectly ripe Thai mango (the small, golden, intensely fragrant variety) and drizzled with more coconut cream and a sprinkle of toasted mung beans. The combination of warm, sweet, coconutty rice and cool, silky mango is transcendent. At Wat Thai's weekend market, mango sticky rice is one of the most popular items -- wrapped in banana leaves and sold by the plate.

Thai iced tea — bright orange sweet tea with condensed milk over ice

Drink

Thai Iced Tea & Thai Coffee

Thai restaurants & cafes across LA

Thai iced tea (cha yen) is instantly recognizable by its vivid orange color -- a strong brew of Thai tea leaves (often with star anise and tamarind seed), sweetened with sugar and condensed milk, poured over ice. It is sweet, creamy, and cooling -- the perfect counterpoint to spicy Thai food. Thai iced coffee (oliang) is equally beloved: a dark, strong coffee brewed with roasted grains and sweetened with condensed milk. Both are served in tall glasses and are essential accompaniments to any Thai meal. In Thai Town, every restaurant serves these drinks, and they are as much a part of the experience as the food itself.

Temple

Wat Thai of Los Angeles

Wat Thai of Los Angeles, located in North Hollywood, is the largest and most important Thai Buddhist temple in the United States. Founded in 1972, the temple complex features ornate Thai architecture with golden spires, multiple Buddha images, and elaborately decorated meditation halls. Monks in saffron robes conduct daily services, meditation classes, and dharma talks. The temple also runs a Thai language school and cultural programs. But Wat Thai is most famous for its weekend food market -- held every Saturday and Sunday -- where dozens of vendors sell home-cooked Thai food that is widely considered the most authentic Thai food in all of Los Angeles. The market draws Thai families, food lovers, and tourists from across the city.

Festival

Songkran (Thai New Year)

Songkran -- the Thai New Year -- is celebrated in mid-April and is the community's most joyful and visible event. Traditionally, Songkran involves the gentle pouring of water over Buddha images and the hands of elders as a gesture of respect and purification. But it has also evolved into a massive, exuberant water fight -- in Bangkok and in Thai Town alike. The Songkran Festival in Thai Town shuts down Hollywood Boulevard for a day of water splashing, Thai food, live music, Muay Thai demonstrations, traditional dance performances, and a parade of beauty queens and Thai cultural organizations. At Wat Thai, Songkran is celebrated with religious ceremonies, merit-making, and elaborate community feasts. It is the one day when Thai Town becomes the center of Thai culture in America.

Traditional Thai massage with skilled practitioner in a serene setting

Wellness

Thai Massage & Wellness

Traditional Thai massage (nuad thai) is a 2,500-year-old healing art that combines acupressure, assisted yoga stretching, and energy line work. Unlike Western massage, Thai massage is performed fully clothed on a mat on the floor, with the practitioner using hands, elbows, knees, and feet to apply pressure along the body's energy lines (sen). In Thai Town, numerous Thai massage parlors offer authentic treatments -- from one-hour sessions to full traditional two-hour therapies. Thai massage was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2019, recognizing it as one of Thailand's most significant cultural exports. In Thai Town, it is both a wellness practice and a cultural experience.

Market

Night Markets & Thai Grocery Stores

Thai night markets -- inspired by the legendary night markets of Bangkok's Yaowarat (Chinatown) and Chatuchak -- bring the atmosphere of Thai street food culture to Los Angeles. These evening events feature dozens of food stalls selling grilled meats on sticks, papaya salad, coconut ice cream, roti with condensed milk, and every manner of Thai snack. Thai grocery stores in Thai Town and across LA stock the essential ingredients for Thai cooking: fish sauce (nam pla), shrimp paste (kapi), galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil, holy basil, fresh chilies, and an astonishing variety of curry pastes. These stores are essential for home cooks and serve as community gathering points.

9:30 AM -- Morning

Wat Thai Weekend Food Market

Begin your day at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in North Hollywood. The weekend food market is in full swing by 9:30 AM, with dozens of vendors selling freshly made Thai dishes from folding tables and makeshift stalls. Start with khao tom (rice porridge with pork and ginger), or go straight to the pad thai -- made in a wok over a portable burner by a Thai grandmother who has been cooking it for fifty years. Try the som tum, the boat noodles, the grilled pork skewers with sticky rice. Walk through the temple grounds, admire the golden Buddha statues, and observe the monks receiving morning alms. The atmosphere is joyful, devout, and deeply Thai.

Wat Thai temple and weekend food market in North Hollywood

12:30 PM -- Midday

Thai Town Restaurant Lunch

Drive to Thai Town on Hollywood Boulevard for a proper restaurant lunch. Choose a spot known for its curries and order a green curry with chicken, Thai basil, and eggplant -- the coconut broth rich and fragrant, the chilies providing a slow, building heat. Add a plate of larb (minced meat salad with lime, fish sauce, chili, and toasted rice powder) and a bowl of tom yum goong (hot and sour shrimp soup with lemongrass and galangal). Wash it down with a Thai iced tea -- sweet, creamy, and orange, the perfect counterpoint to the spice. The restaurant is modest, the flavors are extraordinary. This is Thai food as it should be.

Green curry and Thai dishes at a Thai Town restaurant

3:00 PM -- Afternoon

Thai Massage & Thai Grocery Shopping

Walk down Hollywood Boulevard and stop at a Thai massage parlor for a one-hour traditional Thai massage. The practitioner will work your body with practiced intensity -- stretching, pressing, and realigning your energy lines until you feel like a new person. Afterward, visit a Thai grocery store on the boulevard. Browse the aisles of imported Thai products: fish sauce, shrimp paste, curry pastes in every color, bags of jasmine rice, dried chilies, tamarind paste, coconut milk, and fresh Thai herbs -- lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and bundles of Thai basil. Pick up ingredients to recreate the dishes you have eaten today.

Traditional Thai massage session at a Thai Town parlor

7:30 PM -- Evening

Dinner, Night Market & Mango Sticky Rice

End your day with an evening meal at a Thai Town restaurant specializing in Isan (northeastern Thai) cuisine. Order the grilled whole fish (pla pao), wrapped in salt crust and served with a spicy dipping sauce. Add a plate of crying tiger (grilled beef with a roasted chili and lime dipping sauce) and a bowl of khao soi (northern Thai curry noodles with crispy egg noodles on top). If there is a night market happening, stroll through the food stalls for grilled satay, coconut pancakes, and Thai tea. Finish with mango sticky rice -- warm, coconutty rice with slices of golden mango. The evening is warm, the food is extraordinary, and Thai Town glows with neon and the hum of community.

Mango sticky rice and Thai desserts at a night market

Thai Town Dining

Wat Thai Temple

Green Curry

Mango Sticky Rice

Songkran Festival

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Start at Wat Thai's food market, end with green curry and mango sticky rice in Thai Town. The Thai diaspora in Los Angeles is waiting to welcome you. Sawasdee kha.

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What is Thai Town?

Thai Town is a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard in East Hollywood, between Western and Normandie Avenues, officially designated by the Los Angeles City Council in 1999. It is the only officially recognized Thai neighborhood in the United States. The area is dense with Thai restaurants, grocery stores, massage parlors, and businesses -- a complete Thai commercial ecosystem in the heart of LA.

What is Wat Thai?

Wat Thai of Los Angeles is the largest Thai Buddhist temple in the United States, located in North Hollywood. Founded in 1972, it serves as the spiritual and cultural center of the Thai community. Its weekend food market -- held every Saturday and Sunday -- is one of the most famous food markets in LA, with dozens of vendors selling authentic, home-cooked Thai food at affordable prices.

What is Songkran?

Songkran is the Thai New Year, celebrated in mid-April (typically April 13-15). It is traditionally a time of water-pouring rituals, temple visits, and merit-making. It has also become famous as a massive, joyful water fight. In Thai Town, the Songkran Festival shuts down Hollywood Boulevard for a day of water splashing, Thai food, music, Muay Thai demonstrations, and cultural performances. At Wat Thai, Songkran is celebrated with religious ceremonies and community feasts.

What is som tum?

Som tum is green papaya salad -- an iconic Thai dish (especially from the Isan/northeastern region). Shredded unripe papaya is pounded in a mortar with garlic, chili, long beans, tomatoes, dried shrimp, peanuts, fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar. It is made to order, and you can request your preferred spice level. It hits every flavor note -- sour, sweet, salty, spicy, and crunchy -- in a single bite.

Where can I find the best Thai food in Los Angeles?

Thai Town on Hollywood Boulevard (East Hollywood) has the densest concentration of authentic Thai restaurants. The Wat Thai weekend food market in North Hollywood is widely considered the best single destination for Thai food in all of LA. Beyond these, excellent Thai restaurants can be found in Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and across the San Fernando Valley. For the most authentic experience, look for restaurants where Thai families are eating.

Thai Diaspora
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Bangkok on Hollywood Boulevard

Thai Los Angeles

Thai Town

North Hollywood

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