Isan people
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 |
The Isan people (Template:Lang-th, RTGS: Khon Isan, Thai pronunciation: [kʰōn ʔīːsǎːn]; Template:Lang-lo; Template:Lang-my) or literally Northeastern people are an ethno-regional 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]
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 Central Thai people. This successfully downplayed the majority Lao ethnicity and led to the development of a distinct regional Isan identity,[21] 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.[22] 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[23] 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.[24] 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."[25] He has, nonetheless, 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.[26] 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[20] due to the low social prestige.[27] Many Central Thais, but also some Isan speakers, associate the Isan language with being uneducated and backward.[27] Therefore, many Isan practice diglossia (i.e. Isan in familiar and informal contexts, standard Thai in public and official ones)[28] or code-switching in their everyday lives.[29] 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,[30] including political discourses,[31] and there has been a recent resurgence in assertion of the Lao identity, including language.[32]
Process of acculturation
From the late nineteenth century into the 1930s, the Siamese and then Thai states employed diverse means to integrate the people of the former Lao principalities into the Thai state, including military conscription, forced labour, the introduction of Thai provincial administrative systems,[33] the Siamese monarchy, the Siamese religious sangha and Buddhist calendar (as opposed to the Lao sangha and religious calendar or hit sipsong khong sipsii), and a national education system and bureaucracy.[10] Thai sociopolitical integration of the Isan people into Siam was in some cases met with insurrection in the form of the Holy Men's Rebellions.[34] In the late 1930s, the Thai Cultural Mandates were deployed; by this period, acculturation included the burning of ancient Lao Buddhist manuscripts and records, in order to eliminate Lao culture, especially Lao literacy.[35] In the 1950s, during the Cold War, acculturation accelerated, incorporating more determined and institutionalized state development that included a sacralized bureaucracy,[36] economic development, mandatory primary and then secondary education, health programs, infrastructure (roads and rail) and media (print and radio, followed by television) programs, inspired by Thai nationalism and utilizing the Thai monarchy as a unifying symbol. The overall result was a significant shift towards the Thai language and Thai dress norms, combined with a greater awareness of Thai national identity as defined by adoption of national symbols (e.g., the Thai flag and photographs of the Thai monarch in homes) and reverence towards the Thai Sangha and the Thai monarchy.[37] The integration of Isan people into Thai national identity was generally successful, though with significant structural inequalities remaining, meaning socioeconomic and political integration remain problematic.[38] However, cultural assimilation in terms of, for example, food,[39] music[40] and language[41] was never complete, more hybridized, and in more recent years, there has been a resurgence in some of the local Isan regional and ethnic cultural identities, such as Phu Thai[42] and Lao.[32] This has been due in part to greater multiculturalism and political decentralization beginning in the late 1990s, following the 1997 Constitution and 1999 Education Act, as well as the work of institutes working on language and cultural maintenance and revitalization, such as Mahidol University's Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia (RILCA).[43]
Around the 1990s, although the perceived political oppression continues and Thaification policies remain, attitudes towards regional languages relaxed. Academics at Isan universities began exploring the local language, history, culture and other folklore, publishing works that helped bring serious attention to preserving the Lao features of the language and landscape, albeit under an Isan banner. Students can participate in clubs that promote the local music, sung in the local Lao language, or local dances native to the area. Knowledge about the history of the region and its long neglect and abuse by Siamese authorities and resurrection of pride in local culture are coming to the fore, increasing expressions of 'Isan-ness' in the region. However, Thaification policies and the language shift to Thai continue unabated. Recognition of the Isan language as an important regional language of Thailand did not provide any funding for its preservation or maintenance other than a token of acknowledgement of its existence.[44][45]
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.[46][47] 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]
Migrant workers from Isan in Bangkok filled the role of construction workers, taxi drivers, cleaners, vendors, dishwashers, domestics, sex workers and other menial professions, often settling in shanty towns on the outskirts of the city. The Isan people faced discrimination for their humble, Lao origins, funny accents, darker features and low-class professions but the extra money earned was sent to support family back home, and remittances such as these remain an important part of the Isan Region's GDP today. The seasonal migrations were also spurned by the economic crash at the end of the Vietnam War, when large air bases were built in Isan and large numbers of US military stationed there provided a brief window of prosperity in the region.
Politics
Air bases built in Isan and US troops stationed there exposed the Isan people to direct westernisation and adoption of more liberal social attitudes, helping foment a unique identity. Identification with 'Lao' identity became even more problematic, as the Isan people were always viewed as a fifth column ready to support their Lao brethren. Although the fear was exaggerated, members of the Lao Issara were able to find refuge in Isan during World War II, and communist supporters of the Pathét Lao often crossed and gained recruitments from the local Isan people.
Isan politicians tended to be mistrustful of Bangkok, believed in decentralisation of government and promoted strong development of regional economies and tended to be more leftist than the parties in power. Political repression of Isan included the assassination of political leaders in the 1930s and 1950s, the disrobement of monks in the 1970s critical of the government's role in the sangha and the return of military leaders. Crackdowns of political dissidents occurred throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s until the threat of communism was diminished. The continued outlawing of parties supported by or purportedly funded by Thaksin Shinawatra, who was widely popular in Isan, was seen as continued affront to both democracy in Thailand and representation of Isan people in Thai politics, thus many Isan people were avid supporters of the Red Shirts.[48][49]
Discrimination
Until the 1980s, when the road infrastructure and more relaxed attitudes towards regional cultural awareness began to take root, it was common for Isan people to face severe prejudice and discrimination. Isan culture, although similar, was at the same time quite exotic, with the pungent foods and rural people referred to as 'stinky' and the people 'stupid' and 'lazy'. The isolated rural region continues to be Thailand's least educated, least urban, least developed and least integrated region of the country, which can be seen in the numbers. More than three-fourths of Isan's people are engaged in agriculture despite the challenges of floods, droughts and infertile soils but only generated 10.9 per cent of Thailand's gross domestic product in 2013. Isan culture and language immediately conjure up images of ignorant yokels, backwards traditionalists and country bumpkins.[50]
Beginning in the mid twentieth century, as new lands to develop were no longer available, Isan people began to migrate to Bangkok and other tourist areas or major cities to seek work during the dry season, when there was little activity on the farms, or permanently, sending occasional remittances to family members back home. Restricted by prejudice and lack of skills and education beyond farming, Isan people competed with migrant workers for jobs in construction crews, street sweepers, janitors, domestics, nannies, taxicab drivers, porters, shoeshine boys, vendors and the sex industry. Many establish residences on the outskirts of the city in unofficial shanty towns and urban slums. As a result of their rural roots and the ranks of Bangkok's urban poor, Isan people are often depicted as ignorant buffoons, naïve rural people, domestics in a Thai home or dimwitted, petty criminals.[51][52]
Socioeconomic position
The socioeconomic integration of the Isan people is an unfinished and ongoing project, and the ethnic minorities of Northeast Thailand are heavily affected by the regional disparities that plague Thailand in terms of, for instance, socioeconomic and educational outcomes.[38] For the period of the 1970s and 1980s, the lower outcomes experienced by the Isan people has been described as internal colonialism due to Isan people filling a cultural class role as construction workers, gardeners, and maids for the Central Thai.[53] More recently, it has led to the integration of Isan people being characterized as 'integration without inclusion'.[54][55][56] A 2019 Asia Foundation report highlighted that Isan people were less affected by poverty than in the past, except in rural areas; that their incomes were stagnant, though they were optimistic for the future; that most people still owned land, but that it was unproductive; they experienced extremely high levels of household debt; that fewer of them were now migrating to other regions of Thailand; that a high percentage of survey respondents supported greater development and industrialization in the region; that most were actually satisfied with educational quality; and that Thailand's universal health courage scheme was greatly benefiting them. The report concludes by pointing out that, contrary to stigma, Isan people are not "unsophisticated peasants".[57]
See also
Further reading
- Asia Foundation (2019). Thailand's Inequality: Myths & Reality of Isan. The Asia Foundation.
- David Brown (1994). "Internal colonialism and ethnic rebellion in Thailand". The State and Ethnic Politics in Southeast Asia. Routledge. pp. 109–142.
- The Isaan Record (online magazine).
- 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. S2CID 30108605.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Hattaway, Paul, ed. (2004), "Isan", Peoples of the Buddhist World, William Carey Library, p. 103
- ^ a b c d e Keyes, Charles F. (2014). Finding their voice: Northeastern villagers and the Thai state. Chiang Mai: Silkworm. ISBN 978-616-215-074-6. OCLC 1127266412.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ Hayashi Yukio (2003). Practical Buddhism among the Thai-Lao. Kyoto University Press.
- ^ Barbara A. West (2009). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Facts on File. p. 449. ISBN 978-1438119137.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Iijima, Akiko (2018). "The invention of "Isan" history". Journal of the Siam Society. 106: 171–200.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Breazeale, Kennon. (1975). The integration of the Lao States into the Thai Kingdom. Bodleian Library, Oxford University. OCLC 223634347.
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- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Ricks, Jacob (2020). "Integration despite Exclusion: Thai National Identity among Isan People". The Kyoto Review. 27.
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- ^ Grabowsky: The Isan up to its Integration into the Siamese State. In: Regions and National Integration in Thailand. 1995, S. 108.
- ^ 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.
- ^ McCargo; Krisadawan (2004). "Contesting Isan-ness": 229–232.
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(help) - ^ a b 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.
- ^ Sadan, Mandy (2004), "Lao", Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, ABC-CLIO, p. 766
- ^ แผนที่ภาษาของกลุ่มชาติพันธุ์ต่าง ๆ ในประเทศไทย [Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand] (PDF) (in Thai). Bangkok: Office of the National Culture Commission. 2004. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
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(help) - ^ 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
- ^ N.J. (Nick) Enfield. "How to define 'Lao', 'Thai', and 'Isan' language?: A view from linguistic science". Tai Culture. 7 (1): 62–67.
- ^ a b 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. S2CID 145258391.
- ^ 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.
- ^ McCargo; Krisadawan (2004). "Contesting Isan-ness": 224–227.
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(help) - ^ 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.
- ^ Ricks, Jacob I. (2018-07-21). "The Effect of Language on Political Appeal: Results from a Survey Experiment in Thailand". Political Behavior. 42: 83–104. doi:10.1007/s11109-018-9487-z. ISSN 0190-9320. S2CID 149767687.
- ^ a b 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. S2CID 151296807.
- ^ Tej Bunnag. (1977). The provincial administration of Siam from 1892 to 1915 : the Ministry of the Interior under Prince Damrong Rachanuphap. Oxford University Press. OCLC 74928295.
- ^ Baird, Ian G. (2013). "Millenarian Movements in Southern Laos and North Eastern Siam (Thailand) at the Turn of the Twentieth Century". South East Asia Research. 21 (2): 257–279. doi:10.5367/sear.2013.0147. ISSN 0967-828X. S2CID 147417749.
- ^ Ngaosyvathn, Mayoury, author. (6 August 2018). Paths to Conflagration : Fifty Years of Diplomacy and Warfare in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. ISBN 978-1-5017-3254-6. OCLC 1091682779.
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Gray, Christine, 1951- (1986). Thailand : the soteriological state in the 1970s. Department of Anthropology, Faculty of the Division of Social Sciences. OCLC 680180428.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Carter, Paul T. (2020-06-25). "Thai Nation-Building: Assimilating Upcountry Peasantry to Develop Security". East Asia. 37 (4): 331–348. doi:10.1007/s12140-020-09340-z. ISSN 1096-6838. S2CID 220508228.
- ^ a b Draper, John; Selway, Joel Sawat (2019). "A New Dataset on Horizontal Structural Ethnic Inequalities in Thailand in Order to Address Sustainable Development Goal 10". Social Indicators Research. 141 (1): 275–297. doi:10.1007/s11205-019-02065-4. ISSN 0303-8300. S2CID 149845432.
- ^ Lefferts, Leedom (2005). "Sticky rice, fermented fish, and the course of a kingdom: The politics of food in Northeast Thailand". Asian Studies Review. 29 (3): 247–258. doi:10.1080/10357820500270136. ISSN 1035-7823. S2CID 146999793.
- ^ Mitchell, James Leonard, author. (2015). Luk thung : the culture and politics of Thailand's most popular music. ISBN 978-616-215-106-4. OCLC 907657499.
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Draper, John; Tan, Mitchell (2017-03-31). "Report on the Completion of the Isan Culture Maintenance and Revitalization Programme". Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia. 32 (1): 200–220. doi:10.1355/sj32-1n. ISSN 0217-9520.
- ^ Sunanta, Sirijit (2013). "Negotiating with the center: Diversity and local cultures in Thailand". In Barry, Coeli Maria (ed.). Rights to culture : heritage, language, and community in Thailand. ISBN 978-616-215-062-3. OCLC 837138803.
- ^ Jory, Patrick (1999). "Political Decentralisation and the Resurgence of Regional Identities in Thailand". Australian Journal of Social Issues. 34 (4): 337–352. doi:10.1002/j.1839-4655.1999.tb01084.x. ISSN 0157-6321.
- ^ Draper, John (2004). "Isan: The planning context for language maintenance and revitalization". Second Language Learning and Teaching. 4. Archived from the original on 2014-03-11.
- ^ Keyes, C. (1967). Isan: Regionalism in Northeastern Thailand. New York: Cornell. Thailand Project.
- ^ 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
- ^ Goodman, Jim (2004), "People of the Isan", Cultures of the World: Thailand, Times Books International, p. 52
- ^ Keyes, C. F. (1995). "Hegemony and Resistance in Northeastern Thailand". In V. Grabowski (Ed.), Regions and National Integration in Thailand: 1892 - 1992, (pp. 154–182). Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag.
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- ^ Tossa, Wajuppa (2007). STORYTELLING, A MEANS TO REVITALIZE A DISAPPEARING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN NORTHEAST THAILAND (ISAN) (PDF). Bangkok: The 3rd International Conference on Gross National Happiness 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ Lee, Hugo, Y.-H. (2014). 'Speaking like a love entrepreneur: Language choices and ideologies of social mobility among daughters of peasants in Thailand’s tourist sites'. Language, Discourse and Society, 3(1), pp. 110-143. Madrid, Spain: International Sociological Association.
- ^ "Internal colonialism and ethnic rebellion in Thailand", The state and ethnic politics in Southeast Asia, Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis, pp. 158–205, 1994, doi:10.4324/9780203209097_chapter_5, ISBN 978-0-203-28891-7
- ^ "Integration despite Exclusion: Thai National Identity among Isan People | | Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia". kyotoreview.org. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
- ^ Draper, John (2019-07-30). "Statistical Report on a Poll in Northeast Thailand on Aspects of Inclusion". Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia. 34 (2): 463–490. doi:10.1355/sj34-2p. ISSN 0217-9520. S2CID 201765341.
- ^ Draper, John; Kamnuansilpa, Peerasit; Streckfuss, David (2020-06-23). "An Exploration of the Social, Economic, and Political Inclusion of the Thai Lao, Thailand's Largest Ethnic Minority Community". doi:10.31235/osf.io/94rvf. S2CID 226507492.
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(help) - ^ Thailand's Inequality: Myths & Reality of Isan (PDF). The Asia Foundation. 2019.