Isaan . . . where The Land of Smiles gets its name from

[Yinn]

27 minutes ago, Chaimai said:

The snakes will be happy.......

Yes have a lot snake here. In the rain season see every week.

 

[Fluke]

1 minute ago, Yinn said:

Yes have a lot snake here. In the rain season see every week.

Maybe you could take some photos and make a thread about it ?

[billybob]

On 9/17/2021 at 5:17 PM, Yinn said:

“Typical” 

Issan,= friendly, fun, like to lie, primitive

North=  friendly, lazy, beautiful skin the most

Central = Educated, selfish, fatty.

South = ruthless, dark skin

These are of course gross generalizations but fun to make.  I would add another Thai/Chinese everywhere ruthless and kineeo (tight) and your next door cousins (Lao) which is really Issan before Thailand nicked it shy, honest, big hearted and happy !

[Marc26]

10 hours ago, LoongFred said:

I agree that in the 80 and 90s. and before people would sunbath a lot. However, if you like health outdoor activities your skin gets darker. 

Some people in Thailand go to extremes to avoid sunlight. I don't think thats healthy either. 

I agree with you, a healthy balance is good

 

I remember growing up, going to the beach people would put tanning oil on themselves to get darker 

They were literally cooking themselves 5555

 

I tan very easily, rarely get burnt 

But these days, I try to stay under an umbrella as much as possible when at the beach and wear a hat 

I still get plenty of sun when walking around and in the water but not overly tanned 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Marc26

[JamesE]

13 hours ago, Fluke said:

Its quite common in  many parts of Thailand and there are numerous local dialects , they converse with each other in their local dialect and converse in Thai with people who cannot understand their local dialect 

Cunning linguists, indeed!

[TukTuk]

On 9/19/2021 at 7:30 AM, Yinn said:

All Issan people can speak Thai. Learn at school. Official language. 

Issan Laos and Laos Laos language is similar, but different.

Northern Issan is similar, but different southern issan. 

Thai writing and Laos writing is similar, but different.
 

Issan Laos use Thais writing, Laos use Laos writing.  

Understand?
 

Are you from Isaan?

You assume all Isaan people can speak Thai and learn at school.

<offensive comments removed>

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by KaptainRob
Refer Forum Guidelines regarding abuse of members

[Yinn]

3 hours ago, TukTuk said:

Are you from Isaan?

Can you speak Issan. Can you read Thai?

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by KaptainRob
Offensive comment/quotes deleted

[MrStretch]

It's a battle shaping up...

I have never considered the people of the South ruthless, aside from the insurgency issue.

I do think the reason, that one poster commented on, that there are "larger" people here is due to the influence of Malay food in the region.  Yes, we have wonderful Thai variations of food here and the South is known for it's spicy food, but also the amount of sugar put in some dishes horrifies me.  It was the same when I worked in many areas of Northern Malaysia, and that influence has "ballooned" up some of the Thai population here.

I envy you, King Cotton.  That sounds like a great life you have going there.  It reminds me of living in small villages or communities in Brasil and Africa.  I miss that.  Living in Hat Yai, it's really too big for the moo bahn feel.

[Faraday]

I think Yinn is 100% more qualified than you, to talk about Thailand.

Calm down please.

Edited September 20, 2021 by KaptainRob
Quote deleted

[Fluke]

3 hours ago, TukTuk said:

You assume all Isaan people can speak Thai and learn at school.

 

Anyone who was born in Thailand has to go to school, its a legal requirement .

Even if your Parents are not Thai and you are not a Thai citizen , if you were born in Thailand , you are legally required to attend a school  five years old 

[Smithydog]

I live in a village in rural Ubon Ratchathani province. Generally the only people in my village speaking Isaan now are the oldest generation or those speaking to a member of that generation. I know my Mother-in-law generally only speaks Isaan, my wife and step-daughter speak Isaan to her but Thai to everyone else.

To me I fear that Isaan as a dialect will slowly disappear as it seems the schools my daughter has been to only teach Thai now. My daughter only learnt it because in her formative early years, my wife was away from the farm working and my mother-in-law cared for her granddaughter like so many Thai families seem to do. Hence she learnt it first hand from her Grandmother.

My village most days is full of smiles. I am sure some of them are smiles of amusement as I struggle with the right tonal inflection when speaking Thai! Still can't seem to get it right!

But most are simply the way people are, something that I continue to love and admire.

 

 

[Lowseasonlover]

3 minutes ago, Fluke said:

Anyone who was born in Thailand has to go to school, its a legal requirement .

Even if your Parents are not Thai and you are not a Thai citizen , if you were born in Thailand , you are legally required to attend a school  five years old 

Dont they have to do at least 1 hour a day learning Thai?

[Fluke]

5 minutes ago, Lowseasonlover said:

Dont they have to do at least 1 hour a day learning Thai?

Whatever the Thai School curriculum is , as they go to the same Schools as everyone else .

They get given homework to do and if they are not up to standard, they get held down for another year  (they don't progress to the next year if they cannot speak, read and write Thai)

[Lowseasonlover]

6 minutes ago, Fluke said:

Whatever the Thai School curriculum is , as they go to the same Schools as everyone else .

They get given homework to do and if they are not up to standard, they get held down for another year  (they don't progress to the next year if they cannot speak, read and write Thai)

I should have said the hour a day applies to the international schools, I was always lead to believe nobody fails even if you get a grade "F"

[Fluke]

4 minutes ago, Lowseasonlover said:

I should have said the hour a day applies to the international schools, I was always lead to believe nobody fails even if you get a grade "F"

I was talking about the local village schools where many kids who are not Thai citizens/Nationals  attend  . 

[TukTuk]

9 hours ago, Faraday said:

I think Yinn is 100% more qualified than you, to talk about Thailand.

Calm down please.

So you know Yinn personally? No you don't. You have no idea of her qualifications.

She has never lived in Isaan and has no clue.

So calm down yourself.

[RobMuir]

11 hours ago, TukTuk said:

You assume all Isaan people can speak Thai and learn at school

Yes that is correct. "Thai" is a compulsory subject at all schools.

[TukTuk]

9 hours ago, Fluke said:

Anyone who was born in Thailand has to go to school, its a legal requirement .

Even if your Parents are not Thai and you are not a Thai citizen , if you were born in Thailand , you are legally required to attend a school  five years old 

You half to laugh at all the posters who think Thailand is such a righteous, lawful country that follows the law.

Legal requirement? This is Thailand, remember? 

My father in law and many in his family never went to school at all.

Brother in law went to 3 grades.

Who enforces that law in rural Thailand? No one. I have never seen even 1 policeman in our village ever.

If you had half a clue about RURAL Isaan you would know many struggle on 200 baht a day from doing manual labor in the fields. Many folks bring their kids along at a very young age to help make some extra money. They are NOT in school. It is probably more important to them to eat and survive.

Do you have any idea how many people in rural Isaan are this poor or do you consider down town Udon Thani Rural Isaan?

The nearest 7/11 is 38km from our village. No stores, no restaurants, nothing. RURAL Thailand. Got it now?

For many families it is quite a challenge just to put food on the table.

Maybe you can never understand being hungry enough to eat rats? 

You should educate yourself before you speak, that way you won't look so foolish.

If you want to see 1000 more photos about this life in Rural Isaan, left me know.

 

 

 

 

[gummy]

2 minutes ago, TukTuk said:

You half to laugh at all the posters who think Thailand is such a righteous, lawful country that follows the law.

Legal requirement? This is Thailand, remember? 

My father in law and many in his family never went to school at all.

Brother in law went to 3 grades.

Who enforces that law in rural Thailand? No one. I have never seen even 1 policeman in our village ever.

If you had half a clue about RURAL Isaan you would know many struggle on 200 baht a day from doing manual labor in the fields. Many folks bring their kids along at a very young age to help make some extra money. They are NOT in school. It is probably more important to them to eat and survive.

Do you have any idea how many people in rural Isaan are this poor or do you consider down town Udon Thani Rural Isaan?

The nearest 7/11 is 38km from our village. No stores, no restaurants, nothing. RURAL Thailand. Got it now?

For many families it is quite a challenge just to put food on the table.

Maybe you can never understand being hungry enough to eat rats? 

You should educate yourself before you speak, that way you won't look so foolish.

If you want to see 1000 more photos about this life in Rural Isaan, left me know.

Well said.

[billybob]

After the Lao Rebellion where Siamese expansionism annexed large chunks of the Kingdom of Lao - Lao people became  effectively slaves, forcibly tattooed sold into bonded labour , their language suppressed and their King brutally tortured and murdered in Bangkok and their capital Vientiane raised to the ground. 

 

Thirty years after the event, John Bowring published The Kingdom and People of Siam in 1857 that mentioned this event;

[The king] was confined in a large iron cage exposed to a burning sun, and obliged to proclaim to everyone that the King of Siam was great and merciful, that he himself had committed a great error and deserved his present punishment. In this cage were placed with the prisoner, a large mortar to pound him in, a large boiler to boil him in, a hook to hang him by, and a sword to decapitate him; also a sharp-pointed spike for him to sit on. His children were sometimes put in along with him. He was a mild, respectable-looking, old grey-haired man, and did not live long to gratify his tormentors, death having put an end to his sufferings. His body was taken and hung in chains on the bank of the river, about two or three miles below Bangkok.^[8]

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_rebellion_(1826–1828)

Edited September 20, 2021 by billybob

[TukTuk]

Rural Thailand, this is the real life for these folks. Actual inside of a house in our village.

 

[Chaimai]

I don't see much rice being cut by hand these days.

[Andrew Reeve]

 

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[RobMuir]

1 hour ago, TukTuk said:

The nearest 7/11 is 38km from our village. No stores, no restaurants, nothing. RURAL Thailand. Got it now?

How did you end up living out there mate? 

They eat field rats because they taste good.

[RobMuir]

1 hour ago, TukTuk said:

Who enforces that law in rural Thailand? No one. I have never seen even 1 policeman in our village ever.

The Pooyai baan.

Who has connections with the closest police. It is part of their job.