[14][15] As such, during the height of Thailand's 'color wars' in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the mainly Isan-based Red Shirts were not calling for separatism but a return to democracy, in support of the Pheu Thai party.

[18] To avoid being subjected to derogatory stereotypes and perceptions associated with Lao-speaking people, most prefer to call themselves khon isan.

The first Western scholar to identify and study the distinct "ethno-regional" identity of khon isan was the US anthropologist Charles F. Keyes in 1967.

[24] He chose to categorize them as a "ethno-regional" group rather than an ethnic minority, given that their "cultural differences have been taken to be characteristic of a particular part of the country rather than of a distinctive people.

[1] "Isan", "Lao" and "Thai" languages form a dialect continuum, in many cases the linguistic varieties do not coincide with the geographical and political boundaries.

Some of them are even shy to speak their original language with their own parents,[4] and in public or in the presence of Thais from other regions[20] due to the low social prestige.

[32] From the late nineteenth century into the 1930s, the Siamese and then Thai states employed diverse means to integrate the people of the former Lao principalities into the Thai state, including military conscription, forced labour, the introduction of Thai provincial administrative systems,[33] the Siamese monarchy, the Siamese religious sangha and Buddhist calendar (as opposed to the Lao sangha and religious calendar or hit sipsong khong sipsii), and a national education system and bureaucracy.

[10] Thai sociopolitical integration of the Isan people into Siam was in some cases met with insurrection in the form of the Holy Men's Rebellions.

[35] In the 1950s, during the Cold War, acculturation accelerated, incorporating more determined and institutionalized state development that included a sacralized bureaucracy,[36] economic development, mandatory primary and then secondary education, health programs, infrastructure (roads and rail) and media (print and radio, followed by television) programs, inspired by Thai nationalism and utilizing the Thai monarchy as a unifying symbol.

[44][45] Millions of people have migrated from Isan to the Bangkok agglomeration seeking work and they constitute at least one-fourth of the capital's population.

[48][49] Until the 1980s, when the road infrastructure and more relaxed attitudes towards regional cultural awareness began to take root, it was common for Isan people to face severe prejudice and discrimination.

More than three-fourths of Isan's people are engaged in agriculture despite the challenges of floods, droughts and infertile soils but only generated 10.9 per cent of Thailand's gross domestic product in 2013.

Isan culture and language immediately conjure up images of ignorant yokels, backwards traditionalists and country bumpkins.

[50] Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, as new lands to develop were no longer available, Isan people began to migrate to Bangkok and other tourist areas or major cities to seek work during the dry season, when there was little activity on the farms, or permanently, sending occasional remittances to family members back home.

[54][55][56] A 2019 Asia Foundation report highlighted that Isan people were less affected by poverty than in the past, except in rural areas; that their incomes were stagnant, though they were optimistic for the future; that most people still owned land, but that it was unproductive; they experienced extremely high levels of household debt; that fewer of them were now migrating to other regions of Thailand; that a high percentage of survey respondents supported greater development and industrialization in the region; that most were actually satisfied with educational quality; and that Thailand's universal health courage scheme was greatly benefiting them.