|
This article is about the Lao ethnic group. Lao can also refer to the Lao language. It is the adjectival form of Laos, and is also sometimes used as an alternative word for Laos. Lao (ພາສາລາວ phaasaa laao) is the official language of Laos. ...
The Lao are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The vast majority of Lao people live in either Laos (approximately 3 million) or Thailand (approximately 15 million). The Lao of Thailand are concentrated in the Isan region, although there are many migrant workers from Isan working in other parts of the country, such as Bangkok. The Lao speak various dialects of Lao and Isan, which are in turn often considered to be a single language. Many people in Isan prefer the term Isan to Lao as a result of the "Thaification" campaigns of the 20th century, but there remain many close cultural bonds between the Lao people as a whole. Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...
Isan is the northeastern region of Thailand Pak Isan (also written as Isaan, Issan, or Esarn; Thai/Isan อีสาน) is the northeast region of Thailand. ...
Bangkok from the Chao Phraya River at sunset, July 2004 Bangkok, (in Thai กรุงเทพฯ, กรุงเทพมหานคร, or Krung Thep, Krung Thep Mahanakhon), population 8,538,610 (1990), is the capital and largest city of Thailand. ...
A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ...
Isan (or Isaan or Esarn) is the language of the Isan region of Thailand. ...
Thaification is the process by which groups at the fringe of the Thai state become (or are made) more similar to the Central Thai heartland. ...
(19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...
History
The history of the Lao is the history of Laos and the history of Isan. These histories diverged in the 19th century, when the defeat of Vientiane's rebellion against Siam in 1827 led to large-scale population transfers from modern Laos to Isan, leaving Laos itself underpopulated. The breach was formalised by the Franco-Siamese treaties of 1893 and 1904, which made Isan and Laos the frontier between Siam and French Indochina. Laos traces its formal history (also see Early History of Laos) to the establishment of the Kingdom of Lan Xang (literally, million elephants) by King Fa Ngum in 1353. ...
The history of Isan has been determined by its geography: situated between Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, it has been dominated by each in turn, although its relative infertility meant it was more often a battleground than a prize. ...
Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Vientiane, is the common name used in western countries for a province, prefecture, and city pronounced Wiang Chan by its residents, and situated in the Mekong Valley, of Laos. ...
The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in southeast Asia, bordering Laos and Cambodia to the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia to the south, and the Andaman Sea and Myanmar to the west. ...
1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...
The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ...
1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...
1904 is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Border has several different, but related meanings: Generic borders A border can consist of a margin around the edge of something, such as a lawn, garden, photograph, or sheet of paper. ...
Indochina, or French Indochina, was a federation of French colonies and protectorates in south-east Asia, part of the French colonial empire. ...
Since then, both Thailand and Laos have carried out sustained campaigns to transform themselves into nation states centred on the Thai and Lao people respectively. In Isan this has meant the strengthening of the people's loyalties to Thailand, a process known as "Thaification". Many younger people in particular therefore prefer to consider themselves Isan rather than Lao: "Isan", literally meaning "northeast" implies belonging to Thailand, while "Lao" connotes instead a loyalty to Laos. In Laos, by contrast, the same process has resulted in the promotion of the Lao language and culture as the national language and culture.-1...
Thaification is the process by which groups at the fringe of the Thai state become (or are made) more similar to the Central Thai heartland. ...
The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ...
Distribution There are around 3.6 million Lao in Laos, constituting approximately 60% of the population (the remainder are largely hill tribe people). The ethnic Lao of Laos form the bulk of the Lao Loum ("Lowland Lao"). The Lao make up around a third of the population of Thailand: the main concentrations are in Isan (about 15 million people) and in Bangkok (where there are thought to be at least one million migrant Lao from Isan). There are other populations of ethnic Lao throughout Central Thailand, but these have been increasingly incorporated into the general Thai population. Small Lao communities exist in Cambodia, residing primarily in the former Lao territory of Stung Treng (Xieng Teng in Lao), and Vietnam, and there are also substantial, unknown numbers of Lao overseas. 500,000 people would be a rough estimate. Most of the latter were refugees from Laos who fled the Second Indochina War and the Pathet Lao. A hill tribe is any one of around twenty ethnic groups living in Northern Thailand. ...
Central Thailand is a region of Thailand, covering the broad alluvial plain of the Chao Phraya River. ...
Categories: Southeast Asia geography stubs | Provinces of Cambodia | Cities in Cambodia ...
The Vietnam War was a war fought between 1957 and 1975 on the ground in South Vietnam and bordering areas of Cambodia and Laos (See Secret War) and in bombing runs (Rolling Thunder) over North Vietnam. ...
Pathet Lao was the name of the Laotian Communist movement from the 1950s to the 1970s and the Laotian equivalent of the Khmer Rouge, Viet Minh and Viet Cong. ...
It bears noting that the last official census conducted in Siam (later Thailand) in which "Lao" was a unique ethnic category showed almost half the population being "Lao." As part of Thaiification the "Lao" category was dropped and today it is unclear what share of the population of Thailand is of Lao origin. The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in southeast Asia, bordering Laos and Cambodia to the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia to the south, and the Andaman Sea and Myanmar to the west. ...
Language The Lao speak Lao and Isan. Each of these exists in various dialects. The Vientiane dialect has been adopted as the standard in Laos; there is no standard dialect of Isan, but most of its dialects are mutually comprehensible with Vientiane Lao. Most of the differences between Lao and Isan are due either to the greater use of Thai loan words in Isan, and to the adoption of different neologisms for concepts introduced since the division of Laos and Isan in the late 19th century (e.g. "motorcycle" is lot motorcy in Isan, but lot jak in Lao). Isan (or Isaan or Esarn) is the language of the Isan region of Thailand. ...
A loanword (or a borrowing) is a word taken in by one language from another. ...
In linguistics, a neologism refers to a recently created (or coined) word, phrase or usage which can sometimes be attributed to a specific individual, publication, period or event. ...
A motorcycle (or motorbike) is a two-wheeled vehicle powered by an engine. ...
Culture Isan and Laos are both extremely poor economically, due to their relatively infertile land and dry climate. The most common lifestyle is therefore that of subsistence farming, with few major urban centres. Subsistence farming is a mode of agriculture in which a plot of land produces only enough food to feed the family working it. ...
Laos and Isan share the Theravada Buddhist religion. The indigenous cuisines of Laos and Isan are very similar, placing much emphasis on fish sauce, chilli and sticky rice. However, Lao cuisine has also absorbed some French and substantial Vietnamese elements, while the greater poverty of the rural areas of Laos has led to a more restricted diet than in most of Isan. Theravada (Pali; Sanskrit: Sthaviravada) is one of the eighteen (or twenty) Nikāya schools that formed early in the history of Buddhism. ...
Fish sauce is a condiment derived from fish that have been allowed to ferment. ...
The chile pepper (also chili or chilli; from Spanish chile) is the fruit of the plant Capsicum from the nightshade family (Solanaceae). ...
Sticky rice or glutinous rice is the main type of rice grown and consumed by the Lao of Laos and Northeast Thailand, areas which are considered to be the primary center of origin and domestication of Asian rice (). It has been cultivated in this area for 4,000 years. ...
Laos and Isan share the mor lam style of folk music. Since the 1980s mor lam from Isan has been a major cultural influence on Laos. A khene player in Isan. ...
Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ...
Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ...
Further reading - Thongchai Winichakul. Siam Mapped. University of Hawaii Press, 1984.
- Wyatt, David. Thailand: A Short History. Yale University Press, 1984.
External link |
Feeds |
Contact