Los Angeles is home to the largest Thai population outside of Thailand. With a relatively recent history of immigration to the United States dating to 1965, reports estimate that 80,000 Thais make their home in Southern California. In spite of its brief history in the United States, the Thai community in Los Angeles has already left its mark on the city. While the proliferation of Thai-owned businesses and shops has converted East Hollywood and some San Fernando Valley neighborhoods to destinations for cultural tourism, the Thai community in Los Angeles County reverberates still from global attention over the 1995 El Monte human trafficking case. The great popularity of Thai cuisine, textiles, and cultural festivals continues to preserve, enrich, and showcase one of Asias most distinctive cultures.

Colloquial Thai: The Complete Course for Beginners has been carefully developed by an experienced teacher to provide a step-by-step course to Thai as it is written and spoken today. Combining a clear, practical and accessible style with a methodical and thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Thai in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required. Colloquial Thai is exceptional; each unit presents a wealth of grammatical points that are reinforced with a wide range of exercises for regular practice. A full answer key, a grammar summary, bilingual glossaries and English translations of dialogues can be found at the back as well as useful vocabulary lists throughout. Key features include: A clear, user-friendly format designed to help learners progressively build up their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills Jargon-free, succinct and clearly structured explanations of grammar An extensive range of focused and dynamic supportive exercises Realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of narrative situations Helpful cultural points explaining the customs and features of life in Thailand. An overview of the sounds of Thai Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial Thai is an indispensable resource both for independent learners and students taking courses in Thai. Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills.

Making Out in Thai is a fun, accessible and thorough guide to Thai as it's really spoken in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and throughout Thailand. This is your guide to modern spoken Thai as it is used in everyday interactions in Thailand today--including many colorful expressions and informal phrases not found in any other Thai phrasebook. This fully revised edition of Making Out in Thai features a pronunciation guide for beginners to be able to speak like a native speaker, updated notes on Thai language and culture, even more useful phrases for getting around Thailand and for shopping and ordering a meal and handy tips about communicating with Thais on all sorts of levels. The phrases are organized according to typical situations and encounters, including: Starting a Conversation Discussing Likes and Dislikes Sharing a Meal Going Out on the Town Developing a Romantic Relationship The phonetic pronunciation given for each phrase helps you pronounce it correctly; and in a pinch, you can show the Thai script version to the person you are speaking to. An English-Thai dictionary has also been added to vastly increase your vocabulary, while the new manga illustrations bring the phrases to life and show how they can be used in real-life situations. Making Out in Thai brings you to a whole new level of fluency and communication!

This second edition of Colloquial Thai has been revised and updated to make learning Thai easier and more enjoyable than ever before. Specially developed by experienced teachers for self-study or class use, this course offers a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Thai. No prior knowledge of the language is required. Colloquial Thai is your best choice in personal language learning. This new edition features: * progressive and coherent introduction of key vocabulary * use of tone marks throughout * new and lively illustrations in each unit. By the end of this rewarding course you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in a broad range of everyday situations. Accompanying audio material is available to purchase separately on CD/MP3 format, or comes included in the great value Colloquials Pack. Course components: The complete course comprises the book and audio materials. These are available to purchase separately in paperback, ebook, CD and MP3 format. The paperback and CDs can also be purchased together in the great-value Colloquials pack. Paperback: 978-0-415-32959-0 (please note this does not include the audio) CDs : 978-0-415-32979-8 eBook: 978-0-203-31202-5 (please note this does not include the audio, available to purchase from http://ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/audio_viewbooks.aspx) MP3s: 978-0-415-47049-0 (available to purchase from http://ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/audio_viewbooks.aspx) Pack : 978-0-415-42704-3 (paperback and CDs) For the eBook and MP3 pack, please find instructions on how to access the supplementary content for this title in the Prelims section.

Regional characteristics and regional language feature prominently in discussions of Thai identity, but there is little mention of regional literatures. In northeastern Thailand's Isan region, authors write primarily in Thai, but it is possible nonetheless to identify an Isan literature, which played a significant and at times pivotal role in the development of Thai literature in the second half of the twentieth century, as authors grappled with how their origins and experiences related to the Thai centre. Martin Platt's account of Isan literature is an important first step toward a broader study of regional literatures in Thailand, and shapes a model that has relevance for examining literary works in other Asian countries.

"I felt like the luckiest person on earth when I not only met Chawadee, but had her as my personal food navigator through Bangkok. We walked, boated, and ate our way through some of the best food I've ever had, all thanks to Chawadee, her warmth and expertise. And now you get to have the next best thing: her fantastic book. Enjoy every delicious bite." —Phil Rosenthal ("Somebody Feed Phil") Learn the secrets of Thai cooking that only local foodies know about! Real Thai Cooking is a labor of love by Thailand's leading food blogger and street food expert, Chawadee "Chow" Nualkhair and Lauren Lulu Taylor who did the recipe testing and editing and provided many of the photographs. Her book presents the full range of iconic Thai recipes together with fascinating back stories that enable you to truly appreciate what you are cooking and eating! This book presents insider recipes and secrets about Thai food that only local foodies know about: Chef Black's famous Sriracha Sauce recipe (from Blackitch Artisan Kitchen) and the story of how this hot sauce was invented (most people think it is Vietnamese, but it is really 100% Thai!) The world's best Pad Thai and how this dish has come to define Thailand's national identity Minced Chicken Kanom Jeen and the Portuguese Influence on Thai Food Mee Krob (Fried Rice Noodles)—the dish that saved Siam from colonization And many more delicious recipes and nuggets of Thai food lore! With over 75 recipes and 225 color photos, this is the cookbook every Thai food lover will want!