Thailand in Europe Part II -
Germany

Germany
I remember back during my early travels of Thailand seeing and meeting quite a large number of Germans. Why so many Germans go to Thailand I really don't know . . . but in return there are quite a few Thai in Germany too. Perhaps German-Thai married couples move to Germany? German is one of the major languages taught in Thai schools . . .

Anyway, the first Thai restaurant I accidently ran into:

A some Thai food offered on the street in Berlin next to that big tall tower with a ball on the top (if you have seen Berlin, you know what I'm talking about):

Anyway, there is quite a large Thai population in Germany. Do a quick google search on Thai restaurants in Germany and you will find hundreds of results. Just wandering the city for a single day I found 3 Thai restaurants and even a Thai 'authentic' message parlor!

At the Berlin aquarium I even saw a Thai family with a highly energetic kid yelling out 'mae!!!' (mommy!) every five seconds when it saw a neat fish.

After Berlin I traveled 2.5 hours south by train to another city called Dresden. I'm not entirely sure if there is a single Thai person in the city, but just by walking around I ran into tons of 'Thai' restaurants. During my stay I stayed three nights with someone who is Taiwanese but also speaks English and German fluently. She informed me the city was full of Chinese and Vietnamese pretending to be Japanese and Thai. I trust her asian instinct =P

I noticed a sushi buffet for like 8.50 euros and so decided to check it out. I walked in, saw sushi totally not prepared properly, didn't see a single Japanese person, and the waitress was German. So I quickly walked out =P

My friend also said that in many of these 'sushi' restaurants I'd be lucky to have rice vinegar in my rice . . . (gasp!)

Anyway, here is a pic of Vietnamese pretending to be Thai:

And Chinese pretending to be Thai:

There were two others I found . . .

Also of some note, I saw a tram (cross between a street bus and train) with advertising on it's side face for 'Sala Thai' written directly below an advertisement for sushi . . .

Click to continue to Part 3 of Thailand in Europe