#ClubhouseToxic: Thailand’s rural Isaan majority fight back against Bangkok elite stereotypes

Despite being the birthplace of multiple Thai celebrities, agricultural Isaan has long been derided as backward by the country’s Bangkok-focused elite

Recent leaked recordings of Clubhouse users insulting the region sparked a backlash – and spotlight Isaan’s importance in Thailand’s next elections

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The historically underdeveloped rice-producing region of Isaan and its people have long faced discrimination in Thailand. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:30am, 12 Nov 2021Updated: 8:53pm, 12 Nov 2021

Online abuse aimed at Thailand’s northeastern Isaan region on popular audio chat app Clubhouse has provoked a backlash among its people, who make up roughly one-third of the population and have helped swing past elections yet have long been looked down upon by the country’s Bangkok-focused elite.

Despite being the birthplace of many top sports stars, actors, rappers and other Thai celebrities, the historically underdeveloped rice-producing region of 20 provinces has for decades been derided as backward and its people stereotyped as ill-educated and uncouth.

This discrimination reared its head again in a Clubhouse chat on November 4, in which Isaan people – who share a proud culture and dialect closer to neighbouring Laos – were called “dog-eaters”, “lazy … real-life zombies” and incapable of anything more than “growing rice for city folk to eat”. One user even dragged K-pop star Lisa of girl group Blackpink into the discussion, questioning why she had left the region of her birth for South Korea “if Isaan is really that great”.