HISTORY
History of Thaipark
The story of Thai Park began in 1992 when four German-Thai families started picnicking in Berlin’s Prussia Park. Through word of mouth, the group grew quickly. Thai, Laotian, Cambodian, and Filipino women were soon picnicking there regularly – and a community was formed. Everyone cooked their best dishes at home and brought them along for all to taste.
Our favorite activities were eating and gambling. You could spend the whole day in the park doing that. When everything was eaten, but people were still gambling, the first ones would ask around if anyone had any food left and if they could buy it. That was the beginning of the stalls. And soon the stalls were known all over Berlin and beyond. The Thai Park as we know it today had come into being.
Source: Itirit Hatairatana, The Architectural Ethnography Of Thai-Park: Beyond Food And Color, Master’s thesis, Berlin, 2019.
Community symbol
On May 29, 2021 Somchai Nilkaew won the logo design contest with 534 votes. 96 design were available for choice.
The winner received 100 euros and a certificate from the association.
The curved symbol is reminiscent of the Thai art style “Kanok”. It represents a T and a P at the same time; the T in the Thai national colors stands for Thai, the P in German national colors for Park.
In the background, you can see the pagoda of Wat Arun in Bangkok. It stands for Thai culture and art and is supposed to be a good omen for the park. Next to it, you can see the Berlin Cathedral, which stands for Berlin.
The green color of the background is reminiscent of the park and at the same time stands for nature, fertility, warmth, and happiness. The logo should be a sign of love and solidarity of all Thais in Germany.