The Thais are in the central Panhandle because of Eglin AFB- lots of Vietnam-era Thai 'War Brides' ended up in the area with their American spouses after he retired from active duty. Then they've often daisy-chained other family members over here under family reunification visas since that first woman in the family set up shop, I mean restaurant. The first Thai restaurant in the area opened in something like 1966, and since that worked out well, many others have followed over the years. Considering how Ft. Walton Beach effectively didn't exist before WW2, the Thais have now been part of the food of the metro area for more than half of its history.

We've also got a good-sized Filipino population from the days of bases over there, but they don't seem to have the same culture of restaurant entrepreneurship as the Thais.

Not sure about Filipinos in New Orleans, but southern Louisiana does have a pretty large Vietnamese population, and a lot of the shrimping boats in the Mississippi Gulf Coast and coastal Alabama are also now run by the Vietnamese these days.