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Home » Reader question » Reader question: Why is the Isaan considered an inferior area?
Reader question: Why is the Isaan considered an inferior area?
Dear readers,
Readers' reactions often show that the Isaan and its inhabitants are regarded as lesser people. This is a normal phenomenon in Bangkok where most work, but I do not understand comments from Dutch readers.
Recently one reader called the Isaan: the lair of Pluto, another thought that the Isani did not like to work hard. Well I live here deep in the lair of Pluto, but do not recognize the negative of the Isanis. They are a proud, poor but contented people.
Why is Isan considered an inferior area?
Regards,
Jacobus
My heart is in Isan. In fact, I live there, with an Isan.
I have learned that most of the complainants have had a relationship with an Isan beauty.
And didn't understand it at all.
Because they don't want to empathize or adapt. On the contrary, they had/have conditions, even demands, especially if they dare to come and live here.
And they get what they asked for: problems.
Dixit my own partner (read the relevant blog)
problems that they later, in the pubs and on forums, explain at length – to their own advantage. Do they even offend, Westerners who are happy present themselves as 'rose-colored glasses'.
They are allowed to complain. That's what forums are for. But the truth is hard on them.
Isaaners are ethnically Lao - not Thai. Their 'real' Thai compatriots look down on them because of their skin color (racism) and lack of education (enforced by all regimes in Bangkok).
But the aversion is mutual. Here they don't like "Bangkok".
Yes, Isaaners are proud, stubborn.
But share everything they have with anyone, if this is mutual and possible.
Isaaners are happy people, despite what we call their poverty.
They are only materially poor, in spirit they are ten times richer than us Westerners.
I am legally married to my Isan partner, so my surname is on her ID card. Based on this, she arranges everything for me, hotels, doctor visits and hospitalization. She is getting better and better and gives her self-confidence, and that's perfect!
Nicely worded Inquisitor, and of course I agree with you “because” I myself have been married for 40 years to a woman from Isan. We have been living in the countryside of Ubon for 5 years now and our children come to visit us here every now and then…
But some farangs do have reason to complain, although they are sometimes very easy to cheat. For example, I know a farang (not Dutch or Belgian) who married a few years ago with a woman who was 40 years younger than him. That doesn't have to be a problem, of course, but it is in this case. She made it very furry. She supposedly went to an expensive university for which he of course provided the money, but that university was also a nice cover to stay away during the day and very often at night and on weekends and to go to her boyfriend. She made no secret of this to others. But if you carefully tried to make him understand that, he wouldn't believe it. It was only years later that he found out.
But fortunately, such women are the exception in Isan. And to end on a more positive note: I know, for example, many families in the countryside here, where the parents do everything they can to make it financially possible for their offspring to study in the city. They also have to pay for the extra travel costs. Even families who have almost nothing and live in a hut without interior walls and without windows succeed in this. Incredible…
Moderator: Comments without punctuation marks, such as initial capitals and periods after a sentence, will not be posted.
Moderator: Please do not chat.
Anyone who says that most Isaners work in Bangkok can take a look at the map; the Isan will be 4x the Netherlands and a good 21 million people live there and they really don't all work in Bangkok. That there is a lot of unemployment in Isan, I also live there, is indeed the case and there is labor migration, but there is also this in other regions in this country.
The isan has for centuries been less developed than Siam, say the central part in which Bangkok and Ayutthaya, and than the more developed Lanna areas in the north. But there is fertile soil and rice cultivation. The Isan, the plateau of Khorat, was a dry area and that is still the case here and there, but there are large cities and there is development. For centuries the Isan was considered to be “Laos” and referred to in books as such.
And that certain "Bangkok people" see the isan as "our village" from the monopoly game, well, the periphery in the Netherlands has also been disadvantaged for centuries and the relocation of state services to Groningen and Limburg was seen as exile to the Gulag...... We know better now.
The backlog is sometimes made up, but the Isan does not have the appeal of the big city and the centers of certain entertainment and that prevents tourists from visiting but it ensures my peace.
Eric, don't worry so much
i am also married for the law with a lady from isaan
I have been living there for 4 years
I like that silence
and in pattaya i lived first
I thought that was just a carnival town
now i live in yasothon to my liking
Hello Erik, those 21 million people are not the working population, but the entire population, yes, a child still understands that they do not all work in Bangkok, but here the majority work in Bangkok, or they have bought a job in the Middle East and work there for several years.
That's an interesting question. I think there are a number of reasons:
Many people think they look better when they look down on other people. That is a common human trait that we encounter all over the world. Usually this concerns minority groups.
2 there is a whole current in Thailand that portrays the Isaners as ugly, lazy and retarded. Those ideas mainly come from the 'civilized' Bangkokians and Southerners. They are called, especially during Suthep's demonstrations, 'ai khwaai', bloody buffaloes and the 'ignorant peasant proletariat'. Some expats think that they will look better if they adopt these ideas.
3 a lack of knowledge of the Isan society, you mentioned that yourself. If you do not master the language, chances are that you will misunderstand all kinds of phenomena. Illness and mental problems are mistaken for laziness.
4 a lack of empathy for the situation in the Isaan, their low purchasing power (1/3 of Bangkok), inadequate education and health facilities (one doctor per 4.000 people; in Bangkok one per 800 people.
Maybe other people can name more.
I married an Isan and she is a super woman, not stupid, but stubborn and does not meet the standards that I read here on the forum. Perhaps the Dutch are the wrong thinkers and not the people from the Isaan. On the other hand, comparing with your preconceived Dutch way of thinking always goes wrong, ergo I like the people from Isaan a lot, they have a better heart than many Farang and they consider me an equal and are treated as such. Even when I go out alone, they protect me because they consider me one of them. And that I have 2 daughters who call me Poh and what I do everything for they find the end, that's how it can be! Be yourself Farang but have respect for someone from the Isaan!
That view of inferiority stems from the poverty, the lower wages. I myself find the ladies coming from the Isaan, and those are most of the barladies and massage ladies, very nice girls, love fun and exciting music. Really nice to be surrounded by them during your holiday period in Thailand. (Even if you live there)
However, as a marriage partner I deliberately did not look for an Isan beauty, but one from Bangkok.
My choice indeed has to do with the financial situation of the family, the self-sufficiency.
In Flanders they say…love is BLIND…but I kept my eyes open!
Inferior people?? Not at all! Inferior region ??… hope that the government will help them in training the farmers to grow other crops, which are more profitable today.
I love the people…I love the region…but am soooo happy in Cha am…don't want to trade it!
That kind of thinking, of course, says everything about the people who said such things. Generalizing is stupid, be it positive or negative. Denouncing an entire group (Isaaners, Bangkokians, Thai, Dutch, Randstad residents, Flemings, …) is just pathetic. Fortunately, the moderator here stops the worst stereotypes about groups. I think the moderator should occasionally fall off his chair in surprise or almost laugh at extremely stupid generalizations and stereotypes.
It will be largely from Tino. People who want to feel better than someone else, who lack putting yourself in someone else's shoes, lack of respect and tolerance. I do understand that for some people life in Isaan must be a real hell. If you only know life in a European city and can't deal with the (Thai) countryside, fine. But then just say “not my thing, too primitive” and go where you feel at home. Blaming the other person is just a sign of weakness. You are nothing better, you are different. We are all different, individuals with our own preferences. I don't understand that negative, if you hear someone tarring a group over a brush then I would distance myself from that instead of jumping on the bandwagon and agreeing with this in the hope that you will earn points with the elitist / lofty.
And no, I don't think it's possible the other way around. You can portray a group, whether Isaaners, Bankokians, or anyone else, as "better." That may be with the best of intentions, intended as a compliment, but it is impossible to say that another group is better than, for example, your 'own' group.
Isaan, Bangkok, the Netherlands, or wherever I will not lump those pranks and the people together. See the individual, visit areas where you feel comfortable, have fun, laugh. Nothing or no one is better than anyone else. And avoid the negatives, whoever or whatever they criticize. They are not worth your time let alone anything to annoy you. You can only hope that those people will come around and get off their high horse.
I have been married for years to a lady from Isaan, to both full satisfaction and love. We still live in the Netherlands but every year we go to the Isaan (Khorat). To both full satisfaction. We are there in our own house surrounded by relatives, all sisters. we do quite a few trips there with the family and for the rest I enjoy myself there as well.
If you treat people with respect, you will get it in return. They are indeed poorer than us in terms of materialism, but in dealing with each other, and also with me, they are much richer. Many Farang can learn something from that. And yes, they have different values and customs, but where in the world doesn't?
Moving permanently to the Isaan in a few years, I'm already looking forward to it.
Paid for the university for the son, both daughters are going to high school. They have already said: Now you take care of us, later we take care of you. So looks good.
People from Isaan dom ??? My wife speaks much better Dutch than I do Thai, without school. She works, so earns her own money (for vacation) and has completely settled here.
That image is indeed an image, an image and a stereotype. For both, they never actually cover the truth. As Thais and perhaps also foreigners talk about Isaners, there are also stereotypes in the Netherlands about Limburgers (actually Germans if you hear their language), Achterhoekers (stupid and retarded drunkards), Rotterdammers (opposite Amsterdammers), Zeelanders (us are zunig) etc.etc .
By the way, don't forget how Isamers talk about Bangkokians….
Humanity must choose. Either we open our hearts and minds to other people's way of life, appreciate our similarities and celebrate our differences through which we all thrive or we fall prey to hatred and ignorance and destroy ourselves.
People always need someone to turn against.
The more Lo-So someone else is, the more Hi-So you are yourself.
The reason why the Thai do not like the Isan and its people, and the ethnic Khmer in particular, is that they make up 37% of the population, but contribute less than 17% of the resources, and are always the exception and financial support measures, but according to them, are not prepared to change course. The populist gifts tailored to the Isan by successive S. governments, coupled with massive corruption that has cost the country billions, have further reinforced this aversion.
It bothers the Bangkokiand that with 12% of the population they contribute 37% to the income of the state. The same is true for the Central Plains, which is the only region to be a net contributor. What the ultra nationalistic royalist southerners think is not fit to post on a forum. In fact, the Isanese, both Lao and Khmer, are a population group that is historically, culturally and even language and music very different from the rest of the Thai population.
It is very striking that there are few social contacts between ethnic Thai and Isanese (Khmer) in the workplace in Bangkok and certainly beyond. They are just 2 separate worlds.
I want to emphasize that I am not making a value judgment here.
'The reason why the Thai don't like the Isaan and its people… and 'aversion'
This quote says it all. The Isan people are not Thai. Only the Bangkokians are real Thais. And, oh how terrible, those rich real Thais in Bangkok have to contribute something to help those poor half Thais in Isaan.
I say this. It is the cheap labor and tax revenue from the Isan that go to Bangkok to make the real Thais rich there and then they look down on the Isaners.
The daughters from the Isan and the North have made many Bangkokians rich………
The workplace that Henry mentions in Bangkok therefore largely consists of people from the Isan.
If there is a fence with numbers, please clarify. 17% of what do they contribute? And other regions how much do they contribute? And where will it be spent again? Still mainly in Bangkok when we talk about the income of the Thai state.
And I find it stigmatizing to relate contribution to something to origin, after all they are all Thai citizens.
It is precisely because of this kind of poorly substantiated figures and wrong positions and assumptions that a region in Thailand is wrongly considered too low.
Take the example of gas revenues in Groningen, which are distributed centrally and the people of Groningen do not look down on the townspeople who lend their hand to these gas revenues.
Thai society is very focused on status appearance and very quick to pigeonhole someone lighter skin color is more status etc lighter skin color has more status, isan is mainly agricultural Poverty driven many ladies from the Isan work in the notorious bar circuit
I have a wife from Isaan (Udonthani) and we have a beautiful daughter of 7 years old. My wife never asks for money because she works very hard. young (2 yrs) The parents never ask for money and if they do they borrow it and pay it back every month. My father-in-law converted his house into a small 34-room resort to make ends meet and mother-in-law works and owns a laundromat. My daughter understands Dutch well and also speaks it a bit and speaks English and Thai and mother-in-law speaks Isaan to her haha.
I can go wherever I want I often go after Hua Hin where I first lived and sometimes I go after Bangkok (horse race) my wife also has the freedom from me she sometimes goes out after a Thai disco in Udon and I go 1 x play pool every week.
We go on holiday twice a year when schools are closed in March and October.
I say you just have to hit it because you have bad and good people everywhere, even outside Thailand.
Isaan people are very polite and friendly.
My wife does not gamble or play cards while I do play the black lottery and horse race every Saturday in Udon.
i would say enjoy life while you are here.
mzzl Pekasu
I have also been happily married to a female of Isaan for 9 years and want to grow old with her. i don't need hiso from bangkok. She does everything for me and I for her. Never asks for money and doesn't have to go to the hair salon every day. Pure nature.
I think about 80% of the farangs who are married to a Thai are married to an Isaan lady. Also Van Kampen! Van Kampen thinks that this has to do with the poverty in the Isaan. How do you get out of poverty?; Marry a Farang!
What I still miss here is this: Isaan's population consists largely of farmers who grow the rice that is eaten by the Thai. (difference between Thai and Isaan ??).
So …… if the people in Isaan were really as lazy as the Thai claim then there would be no/very little rice and the 12% Thai would starve.
So nothing beats…
In Isaa, sticky rice is mainly grown, and the Bankokians don't eat sticky rice LOL
It is not in Isan that most rice is grown, but in the Central Plains
Hello. all. All well and good, every country has its culture. Ignorance does not mean you are stupid, But if you interfere or comment on something without knowing what you are doing, you are stupid…. (seen enough).
The same applies to Thailand and the whole world… Live and let live, and let everyone be their worth.
Harmen.