Isan people

The Isan people (Thai: คนอีสาน, RTGS: Khon Isan, Thai pronunciation: [kʰōn ʔīːsǎːn]; Lao: ຄົນອີສານ) or Northeastern Thai people are an ethno-regional group native to Northeastern Thailand ("Isan")[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 Thais (Siamese) and Lao, they belong to the linguistic family of Tai peoples.

Isan people
Isan woman wearing traditional Sinh at Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival
Total population
22 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Thailand (Northeastern region and Greater Bangkok)
Languages
Isan (Lao), Thai
Religion
Predominantly Theravada Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Other 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. 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][8] Integration of this identity into Thai national identity began around 1900,[9][10][11] accelerated during the fascist era,[12] 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][13] Even during the height of the Cold War, the level of this integration was very high,[2] as measured by expression of nationalist sentiments.[14] Even today, the Isan people are some of the most nationalist in Thailand; they are more nationalist than the Central Thai.[15][16] During the height of Thailand's color wars, the Isan-based Red Shirts were not calling for separatism but a return to democracy.[17]

Almost all inhabitants of Thailand's Northeast are Thai nationals. Yet a majority of them (approximately 80%)[18] 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).[19] To avoid being subjected to derogatory stereotypes and perceptions associated with Lao-speaking people, most prefer to call themselves khon isan.[20][21]

Official status

Thailand's longstanding policy was not to regard Isan as a separate ethnicity, based on the principle of considering all Tai groups living in Thailand as part of the Thai people. This successfully downplayed the majority Lao ethnicity and led to the development of a distinct regional Isan identity,[22] which is, nonetheless, multi ethnic.

In 2011, Thailand recognized almost all its ethnolinguistic identities. The following table shows all the officially recognized ethnolinguistic groups of Northeast Thailand.[3] The source, a 2011 country report to the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, uses revised (2004) Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data (1997), which provides population numbers for most Northeast Thailand ethnic groups.[23]

Ethnic groups of Northeast Thailand by language family[3]

Language family Ethnic group Persons
Tai Lao Esan / Thai Lao 13,000,000
Tai Central Thai 800,000
Tai Thai Khorat / Tai Beung / Tai Deung 600,000
Tai Thai-Loei 500,000
Tai Phu Thai 500,000
Tai Nyaw 500,000
Tai Kaleung 200,000
Tai Yoy
Tai Phuan
Tai Tai-dam (Song) (not specified)
Tai Total 16,103,000
Austroasiatic Thailand Khmer / Northern Khmer 1,400,000
Austroasiatic Kuy / Kuay 400,000
Austroasiatic So 70,000
Austroasiatic Bru
Austroasiatic Vietnamese 20,000
Austroasiatic Ngeu 10,000
Austroasiatic Ngah Kur / Chao Bon / Khon Dong 7,000
Austroasiatic So (Thavaung) 1,500
Austroasiatic Mon 1,000
Austroasiatic Total 1,909,000
Cannot identify ethnicity and amount 3,288,000
Total Total 21,300,000

Subsequently, in 2015, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's 2015 Master Plan for the Development of Ethnic Groups in Thailand 2015-2017[24] officially recognized the majority of the Northeast's peoples, the main exception being the 'Thai Lao' group. Further, it did not recognize the 'Isan' ethnic identity.

Ethnology

The first Western scholar to identify and study the distinct "ethno-regional" identity of khon isan was the US anthropologist Charles F. Keyes in 1967.[25] He chose to categorize them as a "ethno-regional" group rather than an ethnic minority, given that their "cultural differences have been taken to be characteristic of a particular part of the country rather than of a distinctive people."[26] He has consistently described them as being formed mainly of the ethnic Lao group.[2]

Language

About 88% of the people habitually speak the Isan language at home, while 11% say they speak both Isan and Central Thai among themselves, and only 1% speak Central Thai exclusively.[1] "Isan", "Lao" and "Thai" languages form a dialect continuum, in many cases the linguistic varieties do not coincide with the geographical and political boundaries. Defining and differentiating these three "languages" according to objective, linguistic criteria is impossible. The different terms are rather used for political and emotional reasons.[27] In official contexts as well as in school and university classes, only Standard Thai is allowed. There are hardly any mass media publishing or broadcasting in Isan. Many Isan people, especially the younger and well-educated ones as well as those living in towns or outside their native region, master standard Thai on a native or near-native level. Some of them are even shy to speak their original language with their own parents,[4] and in public or in the presence of Thais from other regions[21] due to the low social prestige.[28] Many Central Thais, but also some Isan speakers, associate the Isan language with being uneducated and backward.[28] Therefore, many Isan practice diglossia (i.e. Isan in familiar and informal contexts, standard Thai in public and official ones)[29] or code-switching in their everyday lives.[30] Despite effectively being banned in official discourse, since at least the 1997 Thai constitution, the Isan language has been used publicly within the Northeast for communicating Thai discourses,[31] including political discourses,[32] and there has been a recent resurgence in assertion of the Lao identity, including language.[33]

Migration

Millions of people have migrated from Isan to the Bangkok agglomeration seeking work and they constitute at least one-fourth of the capital's population.[34][35] About 8,000 from Isan live in Laos on the eastern bank of the Mekong River, which forms much of the border with Thailand. Others have emigrated to Malaysia, Singapore, and western countries such as Australia and the United States.[1]

See also

Further reading

  • David Brown (1994). "Internal colonialism and ethnic rebellion in Thailand". The State and Ethnic Politics in Southeast Asia. Routledge. pp. 109–142.
  • Volker Grabowsky, ed. (1995). "The Northeast (Isan)". Regions and National Integration in Thailand, 1892-1992. Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 105–192.
  • Charles F. Keyes (2014). Finding Their Voice: Northeastern Villagers and the Thai State. Silkworm Books.
  • Duncan McCargo; Krisadawan Hongladarom (June 2004). "Contesting Isan-ness: Discourses of Politics and Identity in Northeast Thailand" (PDF). Asian Ethnicity. 5 (2): 219–234. doi:10.1080/1463136042000221898.

References

  1. Hattaway, Paul (ed.) (2004), "Isan", Peoples of the Buddhist World, William Carey Library, p. 103CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. 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. 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. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. 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.
  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. 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.
  9. Iijima, Akiko (2018). "The invention of "Isan" history". Journal of the Siam Society. 106: 171–200.
  10. 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.
  11. Breazeale, Kennon. (1975). The integration of the Lao States into the Thai Kingdom. Bodleian Library, Oxford University. OCLC 223634347.
  12. Strate, Shane, author. The lost territories : Thailand's history of national humiliation. ISBN 978-0-8248-6971-7. OCLC 986596797.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Ricks, Jacob (2020). "Integration despite Exclusion: Thai National Identity among Isan People". The Kyoto Review. 27.
  17. Alexander, Saowanee T. (2019). "Identity in Isan and the Return of the Redshirts in the 2019 Elections and Beyond". The Kyoto Review. 27.
  18. Grabowsky: The Isan up to its Integration into the Siamese State. In: Regions and National Integration in Thailand. 1995, S. 108.
  19. 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.
  20. McCargo; Krisadawan (2004). "Contesting Isan-ness": 229–232. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. 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.
  22. Sadan, Mandy (2004), "Lao", Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, ABC-CLIO, p. 766
  23. แผนที่ภาษาของกลุ่มชาติพันธุ์ต่าง ๆ ในประเทศไทย [Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand] (PDF) (in Thai). Bangkok: Office of the National Culture Commission. 2004. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  24. แผนแม่บท การพัฒนากลุ่มชาติพันธุ์ในประเทศไทย(พ.ศ.2558-2560) [Master Plan for the Development of Ethnic Groups in Thailand 2015-2017] (PDF) (in Thai). Bangkok: Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. 2015. pp. 1, 29.
  25. Charles F. Keyes (1967). Isan: Regionalism in Northeastern Thailand. Ithaca, N.Y.: Department of Asian Studies, Cornell University.; cited in McCargo; Krisadawan (2004). "Contesting Isan-ness": 220. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  26. Charles F. Keyes (1997), "Cultural Diversity and National Identity in Thailand", Government policies and ethnic relations in Asia and the Pacific, MIT Press, pp. 197–231, at p. 213
  27. N.J. (Nick) Enfield. "How to define 'Lao', 'Thai', and 'Isan' language?: A view from linguistic science". Tai Culture. 7 (1): 62–67.
  28. Draper, John Charles (2010). "Inferring ethnolinguistic vitality in a community of Northeast Thailand". Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 31 (2): 135–147. doi:10.1080/01434630903470845. ISSN 0143-4632.
  29. Saowanee T. Alexander; Duncan McCargo (February 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.
  30. McCargo; Krisadawan (2004). "Contesting Isan-ness": 224–227. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  31. Vail, Peter (2007-02-23). "Exploring Codeswitching in Systemic Functional Linguistics: Languages and Meaning-Making among Lao Speakers in Northeastern Thailand". Linguistics and the Human Sciences. 2 (1). doi:10.1558/lhs.v2i1.133. ISSN 1743-1662.
  32. Ricks, Jacob I. (2018-07-21). "The Effect of Language on Political Appeal: Results from a Survey Experiment in Thailand". Political Behavior. doi:10.1007/s11109-018-9487-z. ISSN 0190-9320.
  33. Draper, John; Garzoli, John; Kamnuansilpa, Peerasit; Lefferts, Leedom; Mitchell, James; Songkünnatham, Peera (2019-04-15). "The Thai Lao – Thailand's largest unrecognized transboundary national ethnicity". Nations and Nationalism. 25 (4): 1131–1152. doi:10.1111/nana.12523. ISSN 1354-5078.
  34. Brody, Alyson (2007), "From the Farm to Bangkok: Shifting Patterns of Migration in Thailand", Livelihoods at the Margins: Surviving the City, Left Coast Press, p. 130
  35. Goodman, Jim (2004), "People of the Isan", Cultures of the World: Thailand, Times Books International, p. 52
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