hai immigration to New York began in the 1960s, after U.S. armed forces arrived in Thailand during the Vietnam War, with many Thai women marrying American soldiers and joining them when they returned home after service. By the 1980s, Thai immigrants were arriving in America at a rate of roughly 6,500 per year, often driven by employment opportunities in major cities like Los Angeles and New York. While the largest Thai communities are concentrated in Woodside, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights in Queens, Thai speakers live throughout the metropolitan area, and there are major temples in Queens, the Bronx, Westchester, and Long Island. Many families own restaurants, with one hub known as Thai Town, along Manhattan's Ninth Avenue, from roughly 45th to 55th Street. Thai New Yorkers from the country's north are most likely to speak Northern Thai, which is related but not mutually intelligible with (Central) Thai, while some northeasterners speak the distinct Isan variety.