self-hating thai food

November 19, 2007 at 8:03 am · Filed under a2, eating

So, there’s an amazing article you should read in the Michigan Daily. dm’s certainly aware, as are we all, of the pathetic state of Thai food in the Ann Arbor area. I had some masaman curry yesterday that cost close to $15. FIFTEEN DOLLARS  (?!?!) for extremely mediocre curry served in the restaurant portion of a nearly-abandoned hotel out by the highway.

Anyway, maybe part of the difficulty Thai places are having in Washtenaw county is related to issues like these:

Rackham student Sirarat Sarntivijai said she was confused and offended when a restaurant called No Thai! opened on South University Avenue in September 2005. She thought the name suggested that Thai people were not welcome in the restaurant.

Members of the Thai Student Association, including Sarntivijai, its president, said they find the name deeply offensive.

I could go into a lot of the details of the article, but the gist is that the Thai Student Association thinks that the (admittedly stupid) name of a Thai-owned Thai restaurant signals that Thai people are discouraged from eating there. The TSA helpfully suggested some (even more insipid) names for the place, including “No Thai!: by Mr. No”.

As long as we’re suggesting bad names for a crypto-racist Thai restaurant, how about “White Thai” or “Black Thai” (depending on how formal the table service is), or maybe “Colombian Neck Thai” (for the forthcoming Latin-Thai fusion endeavor).

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4 Comments

  1. maya said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 5:01 pm

    I actually like the warehouse-like restaurant in the hotel out by the highway. Or I like their food anyway. What little I’ve had of it. It is expensive, yeah, but practically everything in A2 is. I’ve never been to No Thai! but I know some Asians who do like their food. Did the article question the owner on the choice of the name? I’m not even sure what it means.

  2. dm said,

    November 20, 2007 @ 3:21 pm

    The owner’s nickname is No.
    hence, No Thai!
    perhaps No’s Thai?
    or Nose Thai?
    or how about my favorite: No Knows Thai!

    I’ve also heard that No Thai actually pretty good.
    but i’m not getting my hopes up.
    i’m sure it’ll also cost me a small fortune.

  3. dm said,

    November 20, 2007 @ 3:21 pm

    also, what is it with thai restaurants in a2 not delivering?

    jeez.

  4. maya said,

    November 25, 2007 @ 8:10 pm

    Reflecting on this post, I also think that the word “Thai” helps create some really silly names that people think will be funny when they name the restaurant, but actually are not funny or clever. My favorite Thai restaurant in my home city is called Thai One On.

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