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Issan and others


FAT_AUSSIE

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Hi all,

 

I have allways had this, misguided maybe, belief in my mind about women particularly from the Issan region. I guess it comes about from my wife who from the North tends to cast aspersions upon Issan gals. I have been with plenty of Issan gals and others, along time ago before I became married and never really saw that much difference. The Issan woman I think is more passionate and much more emotional. In my wifes moo bahn we have some Issan folk, mainly women but some men as well. My wife often talks about them like they are from the moon claiming they are different citing all sorts of things they do which are different from the norm in the Northern region. When she see's popular actors from Issan on TV she makes all sorts of claims. She says Issan women are'nt shy like northern women, they love thier men to death (excuse the pun) but then completely switch thier love off and walk away without care. Amongs many other things she says the women work harder and are willing to do many things Northern women won't, they are tough and are dangerous.

 

So as you can see, courtesy of my wife, I [color:blue][color:red]tend[/color][/color] to view Issan women differently to the rest of Thai women. What are your thoughts? Do you think this is right? or would you say the missus has just been flinging mud?

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Hi all,

 

I have allways had this, misguided maybe, belief in my mind about women particularly from the Issan region. I guess it comes about from my wife who from the North tends to cast aspersions upon Issan gals. I have been with plenty of Issan gals and others, along time ago before I became married and never really saw that much difference. The Issan woman I think is more passionate and much more emotional. In my wifes moo bahn we have some Issan folk, mainly women but some men as well. My wife often talks about them like they are from the moon claiming they are different citing all sorts of things they do which are different from the norm in the Northern region. When she see's popular actors from Issan on TV she makes all sorts of claims. She says Issan women are'nt shy like northern women, they love thier men to death (excuse the pun) but then completely switch thier love off and walk away without care. Amongs many other things she says the women work harder and are willing to do many things Northern women won't, they are tough and are dangerous.

 

So as you can see, courtesy of my wife, I [color:blue][color:red]tend[/color][/color] to view Issan women differently to the rest of Thai women. What are your thoughts? Do you think this is right? or would you say the missus has just been flinging mud?

 

 

 

 

 

Well, trying not to generalize too much, and from my own experience, I do think that cultural and some ethnic differences (Lao/Khmer rather than northern Thai Chinese) at work in a broad sense I do find Isaan women can be very emotional and they can love their man strongly with much intensity. Yet when the love burns out (due I think to that intesity) they can easily move on to the next love affair. They are, in my mind, very passionate if in love, yet very practical, which makes for an odd mix at times.

 

Not shy? Baloney! :-) Plenty are, but I imagine the ones many come in contact with in Bangkok and Pattaya have grown out of their natural shyness out of necessity, and many likely never were very shy naturally. Shyness (or the perception of it) is taught to the girls as being a trait men like in a woman, and also seen as polite and proper deportment for a girl/woman. Some can be very crass and open/out-going. They tend to be natural comediens as well and love to party. I think that comes from many coming from such hard backgrounds and taking advantage of any light time to party is a part of the culture of the hard working farmer/argricultural worker environment they grow up in. Village culture. Work hard, party hard.

 

"When she see's popular actors from Issan on TV she makes all sorts of claims."

 

What sort of claims?

 

"Amongs many other things she says the women work harder and are willing to do many things Northern women won't,"

 

They do work harder, out of habit being from a working class society usually, a poor financial status, out of necessity. They'll do what it takes to survive, for themselves and their family. Because they have to, not necessarily because they want to. Pay their bills, help them help their family obligations, and let them live the life of Riley and plenty will adapt like a duck to water to the leisurely life, though many will remain hard working and are so used to working that they find an idle life boring and a bit decadent.

 

"they are tough and are dangerous."

 

Well, I have noticed a lot of these Isaan women do not take too much shit, and are willing to fight for what is theirs (in their mind at least) or for any offense taken (again, in their mind at least). Many, having been brought up working for the family survival in physical labor, are not weaklings, especially if pitted up against some more priviledged background lady that has not been strengthened from hard labor and a hard life. They ARE tough. They have to be, and the weak are/have been over the centuries weeded out and the strong survived and propagated. They are/can be physically tough and tough minded as well. And yes, they can be dangerous if slighted or provoked, and have the muscle power to back up their dangerousness. Some surprisingly very strong women of a very small stature I have seen in the villages. I have had women weighing 80 pounds lift me off my feet to prove their strength to me (joking around). No small feat. They may be small, but they are wirey and strong as hell for their size. The musculature you see on many of the Isaan a-go-go dancers is partly ethnic (many do seem sturdier and naturally more stronger boned and muscled than their Chinese-Thai counterparts), and they have had a life of hard labor (many of them) to build upon that natural physique. If you hit an Isaan Lao or Khmer woman, you'd better knock her ass out and skedaddle quickly, because when she gets up she will come at you with anything handy she can find to even the score and better you one. I don't recommend it. So yeah, for the most part true, they are tough and dangerous when they need to be.

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Thais of each region look down on everyone else. Northern Thais will tell you Bangkok people are dishonest and Isaan folks are stupid. Isaan views northerners as lazy and not willing to take on hard or dangerous jobs. Bangkok Thais say northerners are stupid, but Isaan folks are even stupider. The one thing they all agree on is that southern Thais are hot tempered and untrustworthy. The south in response claims it is better than the rest.

 

But of course the Chinese Thais are superior to everyone and will tell you that whenever they get the chance!

 

 

 

 

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Total load of bollocks F_A.

 

It is, frankly, racist thinking. Period.

 

 

Agree'd, Flashers post following yours basicly says the same thing. Just with better detail.

 

I do think the wife has some good points. I do see Issan woman as hard workers and many Northern women more the housewife/rely on the husband type

 

When my wife see's popular Issan actresses on TV she will tell me they are'nt shy and basicly care less about face. That being how they come to be popular actresses.

 

Of all the Thai/Farang unions I see here in Oz I see more friction in those relationships when Eastern women are involved, the women seem to stand up for themselves unlike Northern women who have the full on jai yen attitude.

 

Please don't get me wrong. I really don't want talk down Issan women. I simply don't get my head around the fact that two different women from the same country and culture can be so different. I do see some differences for myself but my wife makes them out to be foriegners.

 

Racist to a point I do agree.

 

FA..

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Thais of each region look down on everyone else. Northern Thais will tell you Bangkok people are dishonest and Isaan folks are stupid. Isaan views northerners as lazy and not willing to take on hard or dangerous jobs. Bangkok Thais say northerners are stupid, but Isaan folks are even stupider. The one thing they all agree on is that southern Thais are hot tempered and untrustworthy. The south in response claims it is better than the rest.

 

But of course the Chinese Thais are superior to everyone and will tell you that whenever they get the chance!

 

 

 

This is probably truer than not. And shouldn't be considered as a sociological oddity, as one can go anywhere in the world and sub-regions/sub-cultures often look upon their neighbors with skewered eyes. Solipsism is a part of who we are. Stereotypes are even more important towards our make-up.

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Please don't get me wrong. I really don't want talk down Issan women. I simply don't get my head around the fact that [color:red]two different women from the same country and culture can be so different.[/color] I do see some differences for myself but my wife makes them out to be foriegners.

 

Racist to a point I do agree.

 

FA..

 

 

But is it really the same culture? The north has a separate history from the Thais, as does Isaan. Lanna (land of a million rice fields) was a large kingdom that included western Laos and the Shan states of today's Burma. Lan Xan (land of a million elephants) included todays Laos plus all of Isaan and a bit of Vietnam. The two kingdoms were rivals for a time; they had different languages written with different alphabets. Their styles of dress were distinguishable, as still are the cuisine. Even something as simple as the way of cooking sticky rice is different. Some residual local "nationalism" survives in the North and Northeast even today. Consider it sort of like Scottish and Welsh nationalism within the UK.

 

p.s. I'm reminded of years ago, when my then landlord's Isaan servants were fascinated whenever my wife spoke Kham Muang to her sister. One of the guys later tried speaking Kham Muang to her. She ignored him - which she didn't do when he spoke Thai. She said to me, "I only speak Kham Muang to northerners." (Since I'm a Farang, I'm allowed to speak any language or dialect I care to butcher.)

 

 

 

 

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Thais of each region look down on everyone else. Northern Thais will tell you Bangkok people are dishonest and Isaan folks are stupid. Isaan views northerners as lazy and not willing to take on hard or dangerous jobs. Bangkok Thais say northerners are stupid, but Isaan folks are even stupider. The one thing they all agree on is that southern Thais are hot tempered and untrustworthy. The south in response claims it is better than the rest.

 

But of course the Chinese Thais are superior to everyone and will tell you that whenever they get the chance!

 

 

 

 

 

I love pissing off the china men at work...especially when they say "...I am FROM LAO, BUT I AM CHINESE!" or "...I am from Vietnam, BUT I AM Chinese..." To which I reply "oh so you are Lao" or "oh so you are Vietnamese." Fuckers, what is it with those people always thinking their shit doesn't stink?

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