Thailand, burma, cambodia, laos all seem to have the same culture

[louse1953]

I think the Thais are a step above the Laos and Cambodians. It shows in their cities.

Thailand never got the bombed back to the stone age,as did the other 2.So much for being neutral.

[bendejo]

I think the Thais are a step above the Laos and Cambodians. It shows in their cities.

Not true. The Cambodian and Laotians are victims of their past. The American War greatly enriched Thailand and set them on a course for strategic development. However, now their neighbors are outpacing them in growth, education and eventually infrastructure.

These days Cambodia is Uncle Sam's favored child in the region.

Laos, or at least Vientiane, has come up in recent years. Unfortunately a lot of quaint old colonial era buildings have been torn down and replaced with ugly concrete structures. Until maybe five or six years ago there were no ATMs with international access in the country. Part of my monthly visa runs was hitting the Thai ATM machines (as well as Tesco, to stock up on modern world items).

The Lao people, generally, do not have the Thai level of xenophobia. Of the people of the region I like the Lao the best. The food is another story. Just think, the French traveled to the other side of the world and found a culture that enjoyed eating innards just as much as themselves.

You can get away with speaking Thai in Laos, they'll understand you and will know you're speaking in Thai. Cambodia forget it, completely different language. I had a shopping bag from a shop in Cambodia, the advert written in their language, and asked a Thai what it said: she just shook her head, no clue.

[balo]

The culture has several similarities , but they have changed over many centuries , Thailand is in the middle of SE Asia so you will see many things that are the same all over this region . But still very different.

[h90]

Yes, and most northern look and act the same too....in fact, they all use the same currency...don't they?

And think about it..aren't most Africans pretty much the same?

Maybe we are on to something here?

Everything same same....

[Tai777]

As someone who can speak Thai, Lao and Khmer, I'll tell you that the cultures ARE very similar, but also very different.

Lao and Thai people are essentially almost the same ethnic group, as in Serbs and Croats, the language is only a tad bit different. They could be considered dialects.

Lao and Thai people emphasize manners a lot, especially when eating. If you eat loudly you will be looked down upon and trash will be talked about you. Most Lao and Thai people only take small bites of food at a time.

I have heard from Lao people that lower class Khmers are known to spit on the floor even INSIDE of restaurants ( vietnamese too), which is something a Lao or Thai person would never do.

All of the cultures emphasize respecting your elders and social hierarchy. There are more similarities than there are differences.

Most of this shared culture between Burmese, Thai, Lao and Khmer comes from Theravada Buddhism, though I don't speak Burmese and I don't know much about Burmese culture.

A Thai-Isaan person and a Lao person in 1900 or so would've been virtually identical. Style of dress, mannerisms, language. The Thai Isaan have been getting more assimilated into mainstream (Bangkok) Thai culture.

I've noticed that the Lao people from Lao PDR look more mongoloid/east asian than the people of Isaan. I believe that this is because Isaan people are culturally Lao but racially "Mon-Khmer." The Tai armies moved down from Southern China and colonized the Mon-Khmer people and made them speak their language, though the original Thai people were light-skinned like Chinese, the Thais now look dark like Khmers because they mostly brought their language and culture with them but their numbers were not greater than the indigenous people.

Sorry for the long reply, but I think this is also the case with the Burmese. They came from Southern China and brought their language and culture but their genes are largely made up of the indigenous Pyu people of the area.

[phuketrichard]

as most of Essan was inhabited by Laotians that were "stolen/kidnapped" by the thais to populate the region, its no wonder their culture is similar. :-)

[Jessi]

I have lived & worked in Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines and the three cultures are very different.