isan history

Isan has a number of important Bronze Age sites, with cliff paintings, artifacts and early evidence of rice cultivation. Iron and tools, such as found at Ban Chiang, may predate similar tools from Mesopotamia. The region later came under the influence first of the Dvaravati culture and then of the Khmer empire, which left temples at Phimai and Phanom Rung.
After the Khmer empire began to decline from the 13th century, Isan was dominated by the Lao Lan Xang kingdom, that had been established by Fa Ngum. Thereafter the region was increasingly settled by Lao and Thai migrants. Siam held sway from the 17 th century, and carried out forced population transfers from Laos to Isan in the 18th and 19th centuries. Franco-Siamese treaties of 1893 and 1904 made Isan the frontier between Siam and French Indochina.
In the 20th century a policy of "Thaification" promoted the incorporation of Isan as an integral part of Thailand and de-emphasised the Lao origins of the population. This policy extended to the use of the name "Isan" itself: the name is derived from that of Iśāna (Sanskrit: ईशान), a manifestation of Shiva as deity of the northeast, and the Sanskrit word for northeast. The name therefore reinforces the area's identity as the northeast of Thailand, rather than as a part of the Lao world. Before the central government forcibly introduced the Thai alphabet and language in schools, the people of Isan wrote in the Lao alphabet. Most Isan people still speak the Isan language which is closely related to the Lao language.

Rocket Festival

Near the beginning of the rainy season throughout much of northeast Thailand and Laos, villages and municipalities commonly celebrate rocket festivals (called in Thai: ประเพณีบุญบั้งไฟ Prapheni Bun Bang Fai Tradition of Boon of Bong of Fire). The celebration typically includes three days of music and dance performances, parades, and at least one competitive firing of home-made rockets. In recent years the Tourism Authority of Thailand has helped promote these events, particularly the festivals in the Thai provinces of Nong Khai and Yasothon -- the latter boasting the largest and most elaborate of these festivals. However, local participants and sponsors use the occasion to enhance their social prestige, as is customary in traditional Buddhist folk festivals throughout Southeast Asia. See also Gift culture[1].
Scholars study the centuries old rocket festival tradition today as it may be significant to the history of rocketry in the East,and perhaps also significant in the postcolonial socio-political development of the Southeast Asian nation states.

Economy

Agriculture is the largest sector of the economy, generating around 22% of the Gross Regional Product (compared to 8.5% for Thailand as a whole). Rice is the main crop (accounting for about 60% of the cultivated land), but farmers are increasingly diversifying into cassava (manioc), sugar cane and other cash crops. The long narrow province of Nong Khai Province which stretches along the Mekong River is also noted for the production of pineapples, tobacco (which is dried, cured and shredded by the families before collection by the cigarette manufacturers) and tomatoes which are grown on an industrial scale, particularly around the town of Sri Chiang Mai.

Geography

Isan covers 160,000 km² (62,000 square miles). It is roughly coterminous with the Khorat Plateau, which tilts from the Phetchabun Mountain range in the west of the region (the location of several national parks) down towards the Mekong River. The plateau consists of two main plains: the southern Khorat plain is drained by the Mun and Chi rivers, while the northern Sakon Nakhon plain is drained by the Loei and Songkhram rivers. The two plains are separated by the Phu Phan mountains. The soil is mostly sandy, with substantial salt deposits.

The Mekong forms a large part of the border between Thailand and Laos to the north and east of Isan, while the south of the region borders on Cambodia. The Mekong's main Thai tributary is the Mun River, which rises in the Khao Yai National Park near Khorat and runs east, joining the Mekong in Ubon Ratchathani Province. The other main river in Isan is the Chi River, which flows through central Isan before turning south to meet the Mun in Sisaket Province. The smaller Loei and Songkhram rivers are also tributaries of the Mekong, the former flowing north through Loei province and the latter flowing east through Udon Thani, Sakon Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, and Nong Khai Provinces.
The average temperature range is from 30.2 °C to 19.6 °C. The highest temperature recorded was 43.9 °C in Udon Thani, the lowest -1.4 °C at Sakhon Nakhon Agro Station.
Rainfall is unpredictable, but is concentrated in the rainy season from May to October. Average annual Precipitation varies from 2000 mm in some areas to 1270 mm in the southwestern provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima, Buriram, Maha Sarakham, Khon Kaen and Chaiyaphum.

The rainy season begins with occasional but heavy showers, eventually raining very heavily for longer periods almost every day, usually in the late afternoon or at night until it ends abruptly at the onset of the cool season.
The other seasons are the cool season from October to February, when the people sit outside around fires in the evenings, and the hot season from February to May with its sudden peak of high temperatures in April.