I like the quality of Isan, I think it is very attractive, but for Bangkok people, "Isan" reminds them of Lao people . I want to remove the word "lao" from Thai society. I am against the meaning of the word "lao", because this word makes people in northeastern Thailand be despised, and slanders the fact that everyone was born in Thailand, and everyone is Thai. (Duncan Mccargo & Krisadawan Hongladarom, 2004, questionnaire interview with young people in northeastern Thailand, note 1) Most Chinese are unfamiliar with ethnic groups in Southeast Asia, because it is beyond the daily experience of many people, but apart from ethnic names, many cultural models in Southeast Asia are similar to Taiwanese society.
This seems to be a formula of "politics + ethnic groups". Different, but the interaction patterns and cultural meanings are the same. Southeast Asia company banner design is connected by land, and the national borders are a bit dangerous and culturally colorful. The borders of Myanmar-Thailand, Thailand-Liao, Thailand-Cambodia and Lao-Vietnam in North Southeast Asia all present different customs due to ethnic diversity. Among these areas, the Mekong River The border culture of Thailand and Laos is special because the main ethnic groups on both sides of the Mekong River are Lao people. Compared with other countries, the ethnic relations on the border between Thailand and Laos are relatively simple, and the humanities are also similar. The only complicated thing is politics.
Northeast Thailand (or Isan, Yishan) and Laobei are bounded by the Mekong River, with one country on each side, but the residents of the two places have always been related to ethnic origin, culture and geography. Going back 150 years, the Lao people here belonged to one family. The differences between the villages on both sides of the Mekong River in the early days were only local, and the residents of each other had no sense of estrangement. Until Thailand signed the Franco-Siamese Treaty in 1893, the ancient country of France and Thailand, Siam, agreed to use the Mekong River as the The Siamese royal family was forced to recognize the French "protected" regime on the east bank of the Mekong, while the west bank of the Mekong remained within the Siamese territory. This treaty turned the Mekong River from a geographical river into a national border, and the Lao people on both sides of the strait were also divided into two, becoming a cross-border ethnic group. Over time, the Lao people in northeastern Thailand began to change their name to Thai Lao due to factors such as national awareness and cultural integration. People or Yishan people added the element of "Thai" to their clan name, and gradually formed a difference from the Lao people in Laos.