fanaticgrl
sarNie Hatchling
this may sound really stupid, but im obviously clueless... when thai people say, esan or isan.. does that mean lao people.. and who are exactly esan people, like where they live and etc..
A quick question about lao people
- Thread starter fanaticgrl
- Start date
iamnowhere
sarNie Adult
No... it's not really stupid.... I for one don't know either. Guess I wasn't really aware of it, but now I am.fanaticgrl said:
dfemc
sarNie Adult
it's a debated issue...hahaha...this will lead to many historical and anthropological debates. let's just say the lao ppl from laos would say the isans are laotians, as for the thais they would say the isans are thai.
but for the most part the isans live in an area that's been in the territorial tug-o-war between laos and thailand. i guess nation state concept is a very complex one in the region of southeast asia, as back in the days, there was no such a thing as nations or map boundaries. these are concepts introduced by the french. it was always kingdom-based.
however, if u talk to most isans, many of them were freedom fighters who chose to settle along the borders between thailand and laos, they would tell you that they are lao. the way they speak and their dialect as well as way of life are practically if not closer to the lao people from laos than central thai.
but hey, history is written by people and it's always open to discussions, no final answers and do not take what i say as gospel
but for the most part the isans live in an area that's been in the territorial tug-o-war between laos and thailand. i guess nation state concept is a very complex one in the region of southeast asia, as back in the days, there was no such a thing as nations or map boundaries. these are concepts introduced by the french. it was always kingdom-based.
however, if u talk to most isans, many of them were freedom fighters who chose to settle along the borders between thailand and laos, they would tell you that they are lao. the way they speak and their dialect as well as way of life are practically if not closer to the lao people from laos than central thai.
but hey, history is written by people and it's always open to discussions, no final answers and do not take what i say as gospel
saobomp
sarNie Adult
:lmao: from what i understood. fmec is pretty much right about the geographic boundries of laos and thailand. the border closer to laos that belongs to thailand use to be laos. usually thai peeps call that area or the peeps from there esan. it's more probably to say esan than lao. so many jokes made in comedy about being esan not lao.
tye-niranh
sarNie Adult
from my understanding, esan are lao people...when thailand took over that part of the land, they became esan...i don't know...that's just what i've heard...when esan people speak, they sound like kon lao though, huh?
esarn and laos are not big difference they like one family just some of them lived in thailand so the thai people saying they thai too which the truth from old generation laos/esarn are exactly same thing just accent alittle diffferent but food same i pretty sure thai and esarn food are so different and laos som tum are esarn etc along with the intrusment I don't understand why people don't understand and keep saying they totally different
fanaticgrl
sarNie Hatchling
ohh okay i get it..thanks everybody.. haha, just curious cuz i remembered watching kob and por's talkshow with stephan as the guest speak and he mentioned something about esarn and por asked if he can speak laos... so it got me thinkin..hehe
L
lalalek
Vanida said:
I agree with what you have to say girl, i think that it is stupid where we think that their is a difference thai and laos..it's just the way you present your self...like for example the thai when they speak, it's much more proper and all but as for the laos, we say what ever the hell we want and i like that too....I tried speaking both either laos and thai and i really enjoyed it....i am more fluent with laos beause of the environment!!
lol pee i think e-sarn and laos are same just accent alttle different but just because e-sarn people lived in thailand they look and sound more laos to me I can't tell the different in the words but accent are different plus only the not being mean but stupid ones dont understand e-sarn (as in some laos people like my friend over here dont understand e-sarn i was like omg) i mean its same only like 97% different
sweetbabe
sarNie Egg
talking about language, how thai don't understand lao... that is not true. From what i think why thai don't understand what lao people is saying is because they dont' want to know . they don't put their mind into it. I can tell you guy this half of the lao and thai people they don't understand each other and the other half do. My mom friend she so call the real thai people.. man to be honest when she was talking to my mom, i don't understand what she way saying. but the thai lady and my mom they understand each other. My mom talk lao to her and she would talk in her thai language. I ask my mom why is her thai lauguage is different then in thai lakorn. She told me that thai lauguage in the lakorn speak in lauguage that lao can understand.
noungning
Heartless
hmm... i dunno, now well the language thing. hahah i have a bf that is Essarn and i can't understand him when he talks essarn. so i make him speak in the thai dialect... or they call it the middle accent.
yeah so after staying in thai for 2 months and having a boyfriend that is Essarn, i now can say that lao and essarn is about 25% different, certain words used in lao, cannot be understood by essarns lol... hahah i know this because i tend to mix my lao and thai when i speak [well in the beginning] and they were like huh? what is that lol, talk about embarrassing. :blush:
but yeah when i listen to people speak in Essarn i ask that they repeat themselves over and over again because i find that it's hard to understand.
yeah so after staying in thai for 2 months and having a boyfriend that is Essarn, i now can say that lao and essarn is about 25% different, certain words used in lao, cannot be understood by essarns lol... hahah i know this because i tend to mix my lao and thai when i speak [well in the beginning] and they were like huh? what is that lol, talk about embarrassing. :blush:
but yeah when i listen to people speak in Essarn i ask that they repeat themselves over and over again because i find that it's hard to understand.
well what i understand is
esan people live in thailand (dah)
but they are originally from laos or have ancestorship of some kind of lao
they are a mix between thai and lao culture wise
lao and thai is almost the same but there are distince differences
i can understand both by just knowing thai
i actully am starting to learn lao from already knowing thai
when i go to the asain stores/or listen to my mom talk to people
i translate it to myself n if i don't know i ask my mom later
so i guess its personal where u stand on the issues
esan people live in thailand (dah)
but they are originally from laos or have ancestorship of some kind of lao
they are a mix between thai and lao culture wise
lao and thai is almost the same but there are distince differences
i can understand both by just knowing thai
i actully am starting to learn lao from already knowing thai
when i go to the asain stores/or listen to my mom talk to people
i translate it to myself n if i don't know i ask my mom later
so i guess its personal where u stand on the issues
lilxgxriah
sarNie Adult
funny..i learned some or atleast most of thai from already knowing laos lol
but yeah, i guess there will never be a settlement about this topic haha
You guys can kill me for this but...
It seems like Thais (the ones living in Bangkok) don't want to try to speak our language, I guess it's because we don't have 'krup' nor 'ka' at the end of our sentences. imo, they think it's rude. I also guess that is why Laos say 'jao' at the end of their sentences just so that Thais will nod their heads at them.
I don't say 'jao', if talking with the elderly I usually say 'doi ka-noi'.
I find Isaan people speak faster than we do. lol
It seems like Thais (the ones living in Bangkok) don't want to try to speak our language, I guess it's because we don't have 'krup' nor 'ka' at the end of our sentences. imo, they think it's rude. I also guess that is why Laos say 'jao' at the end of their sentences just so that Thais will nod their heads at them.
I don't say 'jao', if talking with the elderly I usually say 'doi ka-noi'.
I find Isaan people speak faster than we do. lol