Why Toronto surpassed Vancouver/BC in Asian-Canadian population?

[GKW]

In the early days, one ship would sail from China across the Pacific to the west coast cities in weeks...now planes fly directly from HK to Toronto several times a day...

 

[ehlow]

I find it interesting that most Thai restaurants in North America don't serve authentic Thai food. I always wondered what sparked the Thai food craze here, despite the paucity of Thais in North America.

I don't know what authentic Thai is, but Pai is delicious

 

[TrickyRicky]

My parents rented a space to one of the few Thai restaurants in the city in the 1980's. It was operated by three "Chinese" brothers and was incredibly popular. I say "Chinese" because probably most East Asian restaurants in the city are run by people of Chinese background. These Chinese people may or may not have come from the country of the cuisine's origin (Thailand, Vietnam etc.) and they may or may not self-identify as Chinese. In South-East Asia for instance Chinese communities are or used to be quite distinct and self-identified as outside the dominant ethnic group.

 

[wild goose chase]

I don't know what authentic Thai is, but Pai is delicious

I was wondering how American/Canadian Thai food differs from authentic Thai food. It's well known that there are distinctive westernized versions of many cuisines (eg. American styles of Italian and Chinese food, Tex-Mex cuisine, California rolls and other western styles of sushi, Halifax donair, Anglo-Indian food like chicken tikka masala etc.) but I didn't know that Thai cuisine had developed one too.

 

[prosperegal]

Most Thai restaurants in Toronto seem to be Chinese-run.

 

[wild goose chase]

My parents rented a space to one of the few Thai restaurants in the city in the 1980's. It was operated by three "Chinese" brothers and was incredibly popular. I say "Chinese" because probably most East Asian restaurants in the city are run by people of Chinese background. These Chinese people may or may not have come from the country of the cuisine's origin (Thailand, Vietnam etc.) and they may or may not self-identify as Chinese. In South-East Asia for instance Chinese communities are or used to be quite distinct and self-identified as outside the dominant ethnic group.

Most Thai restaurants in Toronto seem to be Chinese-run.

I know there are Chinese-descended people in countries ranging from Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia), India, the Caribbean (eg. Jamaica) etc. and have met people with such roots in the city, and I know some identify with the country rather than their ancestry, but I wouldn't be surprised, especially if they are many generations removed from the land in the actual country of China today. After all, it's no different than say, a Black or Asian-Canadian moving to another country and identifying as Canadian first.

 

[Johnny Au]

My parents are from Thailand, but are ethnically Chinese.