Isan has a number of important Bronze Age sites, with prehistoric art in the form of cliff paintings, artifacts and early evidence of rice cultivation.

After the Khmer Empire began to decline in the 13th century, Isan was dominated by the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, which had been established by Fa Ngum.

Accordingly, in 1718 the first Lao mueang in the Chi River valley—and indeed anywhere in the interior of the Khorat Plateau—was founded at Suwannaphum District (in present-day Roi Et Province) by an official in the service of King Nokasad of the Kingdom of Champasak.

Except for a few hills in the northeastern corner, the region is primarily gently undulating land, most of it varying in elevation from 90 to 180 m (300–600 feet), tilting from the Phetchabun Mountains in the west down to the Mekong River.

Phu Phan National Park in Sakon Nakhon Province includes the eight meter (26 ft) long Tang Pee Parn natural stone bridge.

[citation needed] Nong Khai Province, which stretches along the Mekong River, is noted for the production of pineapples, tobacco (which is dried, cured and shredded by the families before collection by cigarette manufacturers), and tomatoes, which are grown on an industrial scale, particularly in Si Chiang Mai District.

"vehicle plow field"), colloquially called "kwai lek" (Thai: ควายเหล็ก, or "iron/steel buffalo"), or more generally by its manufacturer's name of "Kobota", a mini-tractor composed of a small diesel engine mounted on two wheels with long wooden or metal handlebars for steering.

[citation needed] By the beginning of 2008, most amphoe had been provided with ADSL by the TOT, leaving the majority of the rural population dependent on dial-up connections for those few who have landline telephones.

They are heavily patronized by primary and secondary school children who come not only to use the Internet but also to play online games, use VOIP, or just to use the computer and printers.

[16] According to the governor of Nakhon Phanom Province, "The entire Northeast [Isan] gained only 2.9 percent of [the] country's tourism income of 2.7 trillion baht [in 2017].

Forty percent of the population is concentrated in the provinces of Khorat, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen, known as "big four of Isan".

There is a substantial Khmer minority, concentrated in the southern provinces of Buriram, Surin, and Sisaket, and some Vietnamese refugees in Mukdahan and Nakhon Phanom.

Other languages spoken in Isan, mainly by tribal minorities, are: Education is well-provided for by the government in terms of numbers of establishments and is supplemented in the larger cities by the private sector (mostly Catholic and international schools).

Universities are found in the major cities of Khon Kaen (one of the country's largest), Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, and the smaller provincial capital of Maha Sarakham.

These dishes have spread to other parts of Thailand, but normally in versions that temper the extreme heat and sourness favored in Isan for the more moderate central Thai palate.

The people of Isan, a mixture of Lao, Vietnamese, Khmer, Mon, Cham, and other Tai groups, famously eat a wide variety of creatures, such as lizards, frogs, and fried insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets, silkworms, and dung beetles.

Soups are a frequent element of any meal, and contain vegetables, herbs, noodles, chunks of fish, balls of ground pork, or a mixture of these.

The fantastic costumes are changed several times throughout the program, and the transitions are bridged by often-raunchy gags, slapstick comedy, and speeches by local dignitaries.

Marriage and courtship in Isan still mainly follows strict tradition, especially in rural areas, and most young women are married by the time they are 20 years old.

Many girls, in spite of the legal requirement, marry as young as 14 to escape poverty, as marriage usually involves a dowry paid by the husband to the bride's family.

In September 2019, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security set a target to reduce the number of unintended teenage pregnancies countrywide to 25 births per 1,000 by 2026.

If a woman is tied to an occupation in a rural area as a farm or business owner, teacher, or similar profession, finding a suitable husband who is prepared to relocate is often not easy.

[citation needed] Even though many Isan people now work in the cities rather than in the fields, many hold lower-status jobs such as construction workers, stall vendors, and tuk-tuk taxi drivers, and discriminatory attitudes have been known to persist among the Thai-Chinese.

The speed with which goods could reach Khorat from Bangkok permitted the introduction into Isan of items previously too expensive or too perishable to transport.

Many roads connecting province capitals to larger district towns are also currently (2008) being widened to four-lane highways with median strips.

Unpaved, graded roads link some of the smaller, more remote villages, but they are comfortably navigable at normal driving speeds for wheeled vehicles.

Fares are cheap by foreign standards, and Udon and Khon Kaen which both opened brand new airport terminals in 2005 and 2006 respectively, are served by many daily flights and also have routes connecting other major destinations in Thailand with some companies operating wide-bodied aircraft.

In this region, rapids and variable flow make navigation difficult on the Mekong River, so large boat traffic is limited in connection with downriver areas.

The Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, spanning the Mekong between the cities of Mukdahan (Thailand) and Savannakhet (Laos), was completed and officially opened for traffic on 20 December 2006.

Improved infrastructure and ease of travel restrictions between Thailand and Laos has allowed the continued movement of thousands of people every day, with people on either side crossing the river to visit relatives, shop, participate in religious festivals, conduct business or day-trip, with the Nong Khai-Vientiane Mukdahan-Savannakhét and Nakhon Phanom-Thakhèk border crossings particularly important due to the construction of bridges.