"Welcome to Isaan, please set your clocks back five hundred years"

Imagine if you will a small hamlet in England, say Sherwood for ease of reference, around the time of Robin Hood. We've all seen the movies so you can picture the scene.

Simple folk who all work the land, raise their own chickens and cows, use oxen to plough the fields and their main form of transport. They live in wooden dwellings with straw roofs and cook on open fires . The common folk pay homage to the village elder, the elder pays homage to the Sheriff who lives in a brick built structure, and the Sheriff pays homage to the King who lives in a palace.

It wasn't that long ago that the North East of Thailand was just like that, certainly much less than the number of years I have spent on this earth so far.

Now imagine the the same place, but almost overnight, give them motorbikes, pick-up trucks, fridge freezers, colour TVs and mobile phones. It makes for a very interesting mix and one that can give you severe brain strain when you first experience it.

But the people, the ordinary people, are still essentially the same, Ok there are some bad eggs but they are in the minority, one of the first things that made me fall in love with the place was their sense of the family unit, and more importantly the sense of community spirit, no one goes hungry here, ever, the attitude is 'we have it today so we can share, as we may not have it tomorrow'

In fact the standard Thai greeting of "Sawasdee Khrap/Kha" that you will read all over the internet and Thai TV is relatively recent, it was decided on and promoted by the powers that be, it is what you will hear in the more urban parts of Isaan, but out in the sticks you will more likely hear "Kin khao rien" which literally means "have you eaten yet?" and even if you say that you have, you will in all probability be handed a plate of Som Tam or Larb Moo with rice.

There is a saying that states "If you've never been to Isaan, you've never been to Thailand" which of course is true, you can't experience all that England has to offer by just visiting London.

This area is about as diverse as you can get, Thai culture mixes with Laos, Khmer and others. They claim to be Buddhist but they have elements of Animism, Hinduism and other much darker stuff in their beliefs. Most of the locals can speak at least two languages, unfortunately English isn't usually one of them. Most important they are amongst the friendliest people I have ever met.

But times are changing, you can't stop progress once it has started, farming is becoming more mechanised (can't say I blame them, I joined in with harvesting the rice, just for one day, damn near killed me) more of the younger people are are moving to Bangkok to work in factories or to the tourist areas for employment there, and I somehow get the feeling that the sense of community spirit is being eroded, albeit very slowly.

I'm happy to be here at this moment in time to experience, what is in my opinion. The best that Thailand has to offer.

Sam B. Chang