Mark Padoongpatt ’11, a professor of Asian American studies, turned his Ph.D. thesis into a book on Thai immigrants that landed him air time on the Hulu show hosted by Padma Lakshmi.

Mark Padoongpatt seems to be asked this question frequently: Where’s the best place to get Thai food in Las Vegas?

Scholars born and raised in the Thai community stand in line with the Black Lives Matter group, including going to rallies.

Thai people in the U.S. show solidarity for equality with African Americans during the Black Lives Matter movement over the past month.

Over 20 years in the food world, I have watched talented chefs and leading restaurants across the country help build a New American cuisine—which often came to mean French technique using Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American ingredients like yuzu and turmeric, berbere, poblanos and zaatar.

When Mark Padoongpatt was first asked to write a book about Thai food in America, he wasn’t interested. But then he began to examine the immigration history between Thailand and Los Angeles, and found a rich story about immigration and cooking. Padoongpatt ultimately wrote “Flavors of Empire: Food and the Making of Thai America,” which examines how cooking was at the heart of the assimilation of Thai Americans.

One of the most important tools in the Taste of Thai kitchen is a white plastic spoon.

When I first moved to Seattle in 2005, I went on a Thai food bender. There seemed to be a Thai restaurant on every corner and the food is delicious and, often, cheap.