| Group: | Thai Americans |
| Native Name: | ชาวอเมริกันเชื้อสายไทย |
| Total: | 329,342 (2020 US Census)[1] |
| Popplace: | Illinois (Chicago), Virginia (Alexandria), California (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Long Beach, Riverside[2]), Nevada (Las Vegas), Wisconsin (Madison), Washington (Seattle), Oregon (Portland), Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), Alaska (Anchorage) |
| Langs: | American English, Thai, Lanna, Isan, Karen, Burmese, Rohingya |
| Rels: | Theravada Buddhism, Tai folk religion, Christianity, Islam |
| Related: | Thai people, Asian Americans |
Thai Americans (Thai: ชาวอเมริกันเชื้อสายไทย; formerly referred to as Siamese Americans) are Americans of Thai ancestry.[3] The Thai American population is racially and ethnically diverse, consisting of many Thais who identify as mixed race and as Thai Chinese.
Siamese people were named as one of the many Asian groups excluded from immigrating to the United States by the Immigration Act of 1917. The law was one of many provisions restricting Asian immigration to the United States in the early 20th century.[4]
The 1930 Census recorded just 18 Siamese Americans. According to the MPI Data Hub, there have been a total of 253,585 Thai people who have immigrated to the United States as of 2016. That year, they were 0.0057% of all immigrants. In comparing data from the MPI Data Hub to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are significant inconsistencies of total current population. According to the U.S. Census, there are currently 300,319 Thai people living in the United States today, with an error margin of +/- 14,326.Thai immigration to the United States proceeded very slowly. It began in earnest during and after the Vietnam War, in which Thailand was an ally of the United States and South Vietnam. Records show that, in the decade between 1960 and 1970, some 5,000 Thais immigrated to the United States. In the following decade, the number increased to 44,000. From 1981 to 1990, approximately 64,400 Thai citizens moved to the United States.
The general trend of Thai immigration can be stated at a relatively steady rising pace save for the peak in 2006, which marks the dissolution of the Thai Parliament in February and a subsequent coup in the following September. From 2007 to 2008, numbers dip back down to regular rate until 2009, which proceeded a year of military and political turmoil due to the disconnect between the monarchic Royal Army and the relatively newly established democratic government in 2006.
According to the 2000 census there were 150,093 Thais in the United States.
In 2009, 304,160 U.S. residents listed themselves as Thais.[5]
Los Angeles, California, has the largest Thai population outside of Asia.[6] It is home to the world's first Thai Town. In 2002, it was estimated that over 80,000 Thais and Thai Americans live in Los Angeles. Other large or sizeable Thai communities are in Clark County, Nevada; Cook County, Illinois; Tarrant County, Texas; Orange County, California; San Bernardino County, California; San Diego County, California; San Francisco, California; Fresno, California; Sacramento, California; King County, Washington; Fairfax County, Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Albuquerque, NM; Queens, New York; Madison, Wisconsin; Seattle, Washington; and Montgomery County, Maryland. The 2010 U.S. census counted 237,629 Thai Americans in the country, of whom 67,707 live in California.[7]
Data from Migration Policy Institute[8]
Data from Pew Research Center[9] Thai-born population:
| Year | Number | Margin of error | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 169,801 | - | |
| 2006 | 186,526 | +10,506 | |
| 2007 | 195,948 | +9,668 | |
| 2008 | 199,075 | +8,633 | |
| 2009 | 203,384 | +8,921 | |
| 2010 | 222,759 | +9,960 | |
| 2011 | 239,942 | +13,087 | |
| 2015 | 295,000 | - | |
| 2019 | 343,000 | - |
New legal permanent residents:
| Year | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3,753 | |
| 2001 | 4,245 | |
| 2002 | 4,144 | |
| 2003 | 3,126 | |
| 2004 | 4,318 | |
| 2005 | 5,505 | |
| 2006 | 11,749 | |
| 2007 | 8,751 | |
| 2008 | 6,637 | |
| 2009 | 10,444 | |
| 2010 | 9,384 | |
| 2011 | 9,962 | |
| 2012 | 9,459 | |
| 2013 | 7,583 | |
| 2014 | 6,197 | |
| 2015 | 7,502 | |
| 2016 | 7,039 |
Thais who acquire US citizenship:
| Year | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5,197 | |
| 2001 | 4,088 | |
| 2002 | 4,013 | |
| 2003 | 3,636 | |
| 2004 | 3,779 | |
| 2005 | 4,314 | |
| 2006 | 4,583 | |
| 2007 | 4,438 | |
| 2008 | 6,930 | |
| 2009 | 4,962 | |
| 2010 | 4,112 | |
| 2011 | 5,299 | |
| 2012 | 6,585 | |
| 2013 | 5,544 | |
| 2014 | 4,805 | |
| 2015 | 5,213 | |
| 2016 | 5,211 |
Thai Americans are famous for bringing Thai cooking to the United States. Thai cuisine is popular across the country. Even non-Thai restaurants may include Thai-influenced dishes on their menu like Pad Thai and Thai tea.
Thai culture's prominence in the United States is disproportionate to their numbers. The stationing of American troops in Thailand during the Vietnam War exposed the GIs to Thai culture and cuisine, and many of them came home with Thai wives.
In 2003, two Thai Americans ran in municipal elections, one in Anaheim, California, the other in Houston, Texas. Both lost.However, on November 7, 2006, Gorpat Henry Charoen became the first U.S. official of Thai origin when he was elected to the La Palma City Council in California. On December 18, 2007, he became the first Thai-American mayor of a U.S. city.
In 2010, Charles Djou became the first Thai American elected to Congress; he had previously served in the Hawaii State House and Honolulu City Council.
Tammy Duckworth, a Thai-American Iraq War veteran, ran for Congress as a Democrat in Illinois's 6th district in the 2006 mid-term election. She was narrowly defeated, and served for two years as Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. She was previously the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. She was considered a likely nominee for appointment to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by Barack Obama's election to the Presidency of the United States; however, Roland Burris was appointed instead. On November 6, 2012 Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent the 8th District of Illinois. On November 8, 2016, she was elected as the junior U.S. senator from Illinois, the seat previously held by Barack Obama.
Bhumibol Adulyadej, the previous King and Head of the State of Thailand, was born at the Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on December 5, 1927.[10] At the time, his father was studying at Harvard University. He is the only American-born monarch in history.
In 2017, Ekamon "Ek" Venin was appointed and later elected to the Borough Council in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey.[11] In 2020, he served as Council President and was re-elected to another 3-year term.[12]