Isan people

The Isan people (Thai: คนอีสาน, rtgs: Khon Isan, Thai pronunciation: [kʰon iːsǎːn]; Lao: ຄົນອີສານ, or "Northeastern Thai") are an ethno-regional group native to Northeastern Thailand ("Isan") with an estimated population of about 22 million. Like Thais 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. Following the separation of Isan from the state of Laos, 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. Alternative terms for this group are T(h)ai Isan,Thai-Lao,Lao Isan, or Isan Lao.

Almost all inhabitants of Thailand's Northeast are Thai nationals. Yet a majority of them (approximately 80%) are ethnically Lao and speak a variant of the Lao language when at home (the Lao dialects spoken in Northeastern Thailand are summarized as Isan language). At least in the face of outsiders, most of them avoid to identify as "Lao" and prefer to call themselves khon isan.

Thailand's policy is not to regard Isan as a separate ethnicity, but officially to consider all Tai groups living in Thailand as part of the Thai people. This has successfully downplayed their Lao kinship and led to the development of a distinct regional Isan identity.

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