Isan people

Not to be confused with Esan people.
Isan people
Isan woman wearing traditional Sinh at Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival
Total population
22 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Northeastern Thailand and Greater Bangkok (Internal migration)
Languages
Isan (Lao), Thai
Religion
Predominantly Theravada Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Other Tai peoples
Isan
Thai name
Thaiคนอีสาน
RTGSKhon Isan
IPA[kʰōn ʔīːsǎːn]
Lao name
Laoຄົນອີສານ
Burmese name
Burmeseအီသန် လူမျိုး
Chart shows the peopling of Thailand.

The Isan people (Thai: คนอีสาน, RTGS: Khon Isan, Thai pronunciation: [kʰōn ʔīːsǎːn]; Northeastern Thai: คนอีสาน, pronounced [kʰo᷇n ʔīː.sǎːn]; Lao: ຄົນອີສານ, pronounced [kʰón ʔìː.sǎːn]; Burmese: အီသန် လူမျိုး) or literally Northeastern people are an ethnic group native to Northeastern Thailand[2] with an estimated population of about 22 million.[1][3] Alternative terms for this group are T(h)ai Isan,[1][4] Thai-Lao,[5] Lao Isan,[1][6] or Isan Lao. Like Central Thai (Siamese) and Lao, they belong to the linguistic family of Tai peoples.

In a broader sense, everyone who comes from the 20 northeastern provinces of Thailand may be called khon isan. In the narrower sense, the term refers only to the ethnic Lao who make up the majority population in most parts of the region. After the failed Lao Rebellion in 1826, the region witnessed mass forced population transfers of ethnic Lao into Isan. Following the separation of Isan from the historical Lao Kingdom, its integration into the Thai nation state and the central government's policy of "Thaification", they have developed a distinct regional identity that differs both from the Laotians of Laos and the Thais of Central Thailand.[2][7][4] Integration of this identity into Thai national identity began around 1900,[8][9][10] accelerated during the fascist era,[11] was aggressively pursued during the Cold War,[2] and is maintained today, although in 2011, Thailand officially recognized the Lao identity to the United Nations.[3][12] Even during the height of the Cold War, the level of this integration was very high,[2] as measured by expression of nationalist sentiments.[13] Even today, the Isan people are some of the most nationalist in Thailand; they are more nationalist than the Central Thai.[14][15] As such, during the height of Thailand's 'color wars' in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the mainly Isan-based Red Shirts were not calling for separatism but a return to democracy, in support of the Pheu Thai party.[16]

Almost all inhabitants of Thailand's Northeast are Thai nationals. Yet a majority of them (approximately 80%)[17] are ethnically Lao and speak a variant of the Lao language when at home (the three main Lao dialects spoken in Northeastern Thailand are summarized as the Isan language).[18] To avoid being subjected to derogatory stereotypes and perceptions associated with Lao-speaking people, most prefer to call themselves khon isan.[19][20]

  1. ^ a b c d Hattaway, Paul, ed. (2004), "Isan", Peoples of the Buddhist World, William Carey Library, p. 103
  2. ^ a b c d Keyes, Charles F. (2014). Finding their voice: Northeastern villagers and the Thai state. Chiang Mai: Silkworm. ISBN 978-616-215-074-6. OCLC 1127266412.
  3. ^ a b International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention : Thailand (PDF) (in English and Thai). United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 28 July 2011. pp. 3, 5, 95. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. ^ a b McCargo, Duncan; Hongladarom, Krisadawan (2004). "Contesting Isan‐ness: discourses of politics and identity in Northeast Thailand". Asian Ethnicity. 5 (2): 219–234. doi:10.1080/1463136042000221898. ISSN 1463-1369. S2CID 30108605.
  5. ^ Hayashi Yukio (2003). Practical Buddhism among the Thai-Lao. Kyoto University Press.
  6. ^ Barbara A. West (2009). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Facts on File. p. 449. ISBN 978-1438119137.
  7. ^ Hesse-Swain, Catherine (2011-01-01). Speaking in Thai, dreaming in Isan: Popular Thai television and emerging identities of Lao Isan youth living in northeast Thailand. Edith Cowan University, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia. OCLC 1029867099.
  8. ^ Iijima, Akiko (2018). "The invention of "Isan" history". Journal of the Siam Society. 106: 171–200.
  9. ^ Streckfuss, David (1993). "The mixed colonial legacy in Siam: Origins of Thai racialist thought, 1890–1910". Autonomous Histories, Particular Truths: Essays in the Honor of John R. W. Smail. Madison, WI: Centre for Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 123–153.
  10. ^ Breazeale, Kennon. (1975). The integration of the Lao States into the Thai Kingdom. Bodleian Library, Oxford University. OCLC 223634347.
  11. ^ Strate, Shane, author. (2015). The lost territories : Thailand's history of national humiliation. ISBN 978-0-8248-6971-7. OCLC 986596797. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Draper, John; Kamnuansilpa, Peerasit (2016-11-22). "The Thai Lao question: the reappearance of Thailand's ethnic Lao community and related policy questions". Asian Ethnicity. 19 (1): 81–105. doi:10.1080/14631369.2016.1258300. ISSN 1463-1369. S2CID 151587930.
  13. ^ Suntaree Komin. (1991). Psychology of the Thai people : values and behavioral patterns. Research Center, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA). ISBN 974-85744-8-2. OCLC 35221306.
  14. ^ Ricks, Jacob I. (2019-06-01). "Proud to be Thai: The Puzzling Absence of Ethnicity-Based Political Cleavages in Northeastern Thailand". Pacific Affairs. 92 (2): 257–285. doi:10.5509/2019922257. ISSN 0030-851X. S2CID 191698473.
  15. ^ Ricks, Jacob (2020). "Integration despite Exclusion: Thai National Identity among Isan People". The Kyoto Review. 27.
  16. ^ Alexander, Saowanee T. (2019). "Identity in Isan and the Return of the Redshirts in the 2019 Elections and Beyond". The Kyoto Review. 27.
  17. ^ Grabowsky: The Isan up to its Integration into the Siamese State. In: Regions and National Integration in Thailand. 1995, S. 108.
  18. ^ Draper, John (2016). "The Isan Culture Maintenance and Revitalisation Programme's multilingual signage attitude survey: Phase II". Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 37 (8): 832–848. doi:10.1080/01434632.2016.1142997. ISSN 0143-4632. S2CID 216112353.
  19. ^ McCargo; Krisadawan (2004). "Contesting Isan-ness": 229–232. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. ^ Alexander, Saowanee T.; McCargo, Duncan (2014). "Diglossia and identity in Northeast Thailand: Linguistic, social, and political hierarchy" (PDF). Journal of Sociolinguistics. 18 (1): 60–86. doi:10.1111/josl.12064. ISSN 1360-6441.