36. Isaan, Thailand, July '99

Staying on the domestic front, took a weekend driving trip to Isaan, the name for the Northeast region of Thailand. Thailand has four regions, each quite distinct in terms of history, language, and food. Bangkok, Ayudhaya and everything generally within driving distance from Bangkok is central, and is generally considered proper Thailand. Lanna, the North, which we've already visited earlier in the blog, speaks a different dialect but is still considered completely Thai. Also the women are famous as the most beautiful in Thailand if you're into this sort of thing. Of course, most importantly, it's also where Somchai is from. The South is an "eclectic" region, containing most of Thailand's most famous beach resorts, such as the already discussed Krabi and soon to be discussed Phuket. It also contains all of Thailand's civil war, bombings etc, hence the eclectic label. It's mostly Muslim, and many of the people speak Malay rather than Thai. Lastly, there's Isaan, which is a minefield to talk about. It's indisputably the poorest part of Thailand, as it's densely populated, rice farming is really the only occupation, but it's usually bone dry and a desert in parts, not a good combination. Most of Bangkok's prostitutes (male and female) come from Isaan, and a lot of the region survives on money sent back by Isaan natives working in Bangkok. Their language is very close to Thai, and in fact is basically Lao (obviously the language of neighboring Laos). The whole Laos thing is another minefield, since in Thais consider it just a poor version of Thailand. So Thais from outside Isaan make fun of Laos all the time for being poor and backward (and worse) but they're also poking fun at Isaan indirectly.

With that as a background, we went off to explore the region, which confusingly, as you'll soon see, meant looking at Cambodian temples. But we started the trip off with one thing all Thais agree on: Isaan food is the spiciest! Pictured here is Somchai playing with his whole fish before he eats everything but the bones, and a big bowl of somtam, basically thousands of fiery chilies in a bowl separated by some slivers of sour unripe papaya. It's his favorite dish, and what he misses most in Sydney.