CANADA’S THAI community come from what today is a constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia but formerly was the Kingdom of Siam. Census data for 1996 record the presence of only 5,015 Thais in Canada (single and multiple responses).  Although small in number, Canadians of Thai origin have settled in the provinces of Ontario (1,965), British Columbia (1,205), Quebec (855), and Alberta (680). Couples and small groups reside primarily in the major city centres of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Thai Canadians are mostly well-educated professionals working as bankers, dentists, doctors, nurses, computer from Thailand
technicians, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Thai women – exceptionally competent and hard working – can also be found in the community’s professional ranks. More recently, young Thai women have come to Canada to work as artists and entertainers, night club dancers, child care nannies, even as seam stresses in illegal enterprises. Thai restaurateurs have carved out an important and popular niche in Canada’s food service and hospitality industry. As more Canadians have become familiar with and knowledgeable about Thai cuisine through tourism and positive media accounts, Thai restaurants have increased greatly in number. It is believed that the first Thai restaurant in Canada opened in Toronto in 1978. There are now more than 30 Thai restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Thai restaurants, many family-owned and operated, have proven to be important stepping stones into the entrepreneurial ranks.

The Thai Community Association of British Columbia, the Friends of Thailand in Vancouver, the Thai Association of Ontario, the Thai Buddhist Community of Toronto, and the Thai Buddhist Association, Toronto, are all voluntary associations that meet regularly for social gatherings and religious celebrations. They teach Thai classical dance, raise money for relief and cultural efforts and Thai charities, and entertain visiting officials, including political leaders and monks. To those non-Thai Canadians who wish to understand and appreciate Thai culture, these Associations all have a welcome mat and an open door.

Group professional associations, in turn, are often North American in membership and governance. The Association of Thai Professionals Working in America and Canada, for example, is a Texas-based organization dedicated to linking Thai who are working in the scientific and technological fields.

Theravada Buddhism also shapes Thai religious, ethnic, and cultural identity in Canada as it does in Thailand. Thai temples in Toronto and Vancouver also help to provide group solidarity. With the exception of the new pan-Buddhist celebrations such as Wesak, rituals in Canada often become occasions of community celebrations where weekend events promote social and cultural group awareness as much as religious identity.