Tag Archives: LA Times
- 2-7-2002
A Thai-Style Piece of the American Pie
Community Shop lets immigrants accomplish together what they can’t individually: own their own business. July 02, 2002|MARIA ELENA FERNANDEZ | STAFF WRITER Talk of the future comes up a lot in this small, new Hollywood Boulevard storefront that is not part of the Hollywood business boom but offers a boost of a different kind. Here Continue Reading
- 25-10-2001
From Virtual Slavery to Being Boss Entrepreneurs
Couple once indentured in a garment sweatshop now run their own successful restaurant October 25, 2001|KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS | TIMES STAFF WRITER Desperate to end four years of virtual slavery at a now-infamous garment factory in El Monte, Win Chuai Ngan climbed the perimeter wall, jumped down and hurried off into the darkness, uncertain where the Continue Reading
- 29-3-1999
Thai Health Fair Provides Free Medical Screenings
VALLEY ROUNDUP | North Hollywood March 29, 1999|ANDREW BLANKSTEIN The crowds began forming at Wat Thai Temple hours before the start of the first Thai Health Fair Sunday. And before the event ended in late afternoon, nearly 1,000 people had turned out. As with many cultural events at Wat Thai, people were treated to a Continue Reading
- 23-11-1998
Best of Both Worlds
November 23, 1998|ROBERTO J. MANZANO | TIMES STAFF WRITER NORTH HOLLYWOOD — The name tag reads Iddhi, but that’s because Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Woody Iddhi’s real name is way too long to fit. Few attempt to pronounce Woravoth Iddhibhakdibongse. Yet his surname is a royal gift. Twelve years ago, Thailand’s king bestowed it Continue Reading
- 3-4-1998
Servitude a Fact of Life, Thais Say
Cultures: Alleged mistreatment of two immigrant women is unfortunate, but not an unusual fate for the ‘lower class,’ many contend. April 03, 1998|ERIC SLATER and CLAIRE VITUCCI and JULIE TAMAKI | TIMES STAFF WRITERS Early on the morning of Jan. 14, as the rest of the Woodland Hills household slept, the two Thai women hurried Continue Reading
- 2-4-1998
Envoy’s Companion Accused of Holding Immigrants in Slavery
Courts: Woman is charged with forcing two servants smuggled in from Thailand to work at her home and restaurant for 18 hours every day. Suspect vehemently denies the allegations. April 02, 1998|DAVID ROSENZWEIG and CLAIRE VITUCCI | TIMES STAFF WRITERS The female companion of a ranking Thai diplomat was accused in a federal indictment Wednesday Continue Reading
- 24-10-1997
Sweatshop Workers to Get $2 Million
Labor: Five firms settle with 150 Thai and Latino employees of notorious El Monte apparel facility and its sister plant in L.A. October 24, 1997|GEORGE WHITE and PATRICK McDONNELL | TIMES STAFF WRITERS Five major companies, including Mervyn’s and Montgomery Ward, have agreed to pay more than $2 million to 150 workers who labored under Continue Reading
- 11-9-1997
Plan for Sweatshop Exhibition Draws Fire
Museums: Apparel industry says Smithsonian re-creation of El Monte facility would be unfair. September 11, 1997|GEORGE WHITE | STAFF WRITER In an echo of the politically charged uproar that killed the Smithsonian Institution’s planned 1995 exhibit on the dropping of the atom bomb, several apparel and retailing industry groups are protesting a new plan by Continue Reading
- 13-1-1997
Often, the Workers Pay
EASY PREY: EXPLOITING IMMIGRANTS When disputes with employers arise, many have little recourse but to turn to the state labor office. It can take years to settle their claims. January 13, 1997|DON LEE | TIMES STAFF WRITER Immigrant workers by the thousands file through the doors of the state labor commissioner’s office every year, hoping Continue Reading
- 13-1-1997
Recruiters’ Lies Lure Workers; Debts Serve to Trap Them
EASY PREY: EXPLOITING IMMIGRANTS Day Two January 13, 1997|DON LEE | TIMES STAFF WRITER He was farming rice in a poor village in Thailand when recruiters came calling with a tempting offer: Work overseas and send your family hundreds of dollars a month. The 48-year-old man, who asked that he be identified by a nickname, Continue Reading