Lao Voices

8 Responses to “Lao New Year 2008 in Himeji”

1. Dallas on May 5th, 2008 at 11:07 am

   I hear a lot of Tai Pakse accent there.
   This is not relate to the blog but someone please help me with this. I don’t live near other Lao family growing up. What is the deal with making fun of other people accent.
   A co-worker of mine from Vientiane keep telling me Tai Tai (Southerner) accent is not normal. He can’t help but laugh at us when we (me at one other co-worker) speak to him. He said Vientiane accent is the proper way for people to speak.
   I think Isan accent is closer to Tai Tai  accent. And it is normal because there are more of us if we consider Isan accent to be closer to Tai Tai.
   What do you all think?

2. Darly on May 5th, 2008 at 11:31 am

   I need to show the vids to my parents so they can pick out our relatives. We have quite a few Tai Pakse relatives that went to Japan rather than to the US or Australia. Tai Tai are everywhere.

   I would think being from Dallas, there would be more Tai Tai for you to hang out with. I have some relatives from Pakse living in Dallas. As for Kansas, there are more people speaking Tai Tai that I noticed than Tai Vieng Chanh, so we (Tai Vieng Chanh) are the minority.

   All the Thai restaurants I went to over here, the workers would speak an accent that is the same as my cousin from Pakse. To me, they are speaking Tai Tai and if I don’t know any better I would be thinking it is my cousin talking to me.

   For some reason I think there are more Tai Tai living in the US than from Vieng Chanh. One reason being closer to Thailand and people could cross the border easier than trying to cross over the Mekong River in Vientiane. I know most of my relatives from Muang Khao area pretty much walked into Thailand and into the refugee camps.

   There is no one “proper” accent for Lao people to speak. Lao is very diverse with so many “phao” and dialects. That co-worker of yours has superiority complex.

3. Ginger on May 5th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

    
   >>A co-worker of mine from Vientiane keep telling me Tai Tai (Southerner) accent is not normal.<<
   Dallas, that’s just ignorance talk, people only speak the dialect that they’re accustom to, if Tai Tai were to speak Tai Vientiane accent and not do it properly, then that’s considered not normal. I know someone like your co-worker, and in comparison, I guess just like buffaloes when they poop, they lift up their tails so it won’t get dirty, must be one of a kind, next time you need to send him my way.

4. Dallas on May 5th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

   Thanks, Nye Ginger and Nye Darly! You know I would hate to see Nye Ginger speaking in Tai Tai when she is upset!

5. Darly on May 5th, 2008 at 4:01 pm

   Dallas,

   You just reminded me of my cousins in Vientiane. They are Tai Tai (parents both from Pakse) and they speak Vieng Chanh accent at school but when they are home they speak Tai Tai accent. In the video clips they would speak Tai Tai to me and also in person. I wonder if there is some sort of pressure to fit in and having to speak Vieng Chanh accent like Isan people having to speak Pala Glang when in Bangkok because Isan language is considered inferior.

   I grew up in Vientiane but has never seen or heard of anyone making fun of Tai Tai people and the relatives from my Papa and my father’s side would speak Tai Tai even though they have been living in Vientiane for more than 10 years.

   If we don’t respect one another and love each other for who we are, then it’s really sad. It’s no wonder Lao was going through a civil war. We are all Khon Lao, unique and special in our own way, like different silk threads combining to make a beautiful Lao textiles.

6. Dallas on May 5th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

   >>We are all Khon Lao, unique and special in our own way, like different silk threads combining to make a beautiful Lao textiles<<
   Couldn’t Have Said It Better Myself.
    

7. Ginger on May 5th, 2008 at 5:15 pm

   Dallas, when I’m around you, I’ll learn the Luang Prabang accent, that way I can greet you, “Pai Sai Ma Dallas”, lol, just kidding. When I was little and attended school in Thailand, we were required to speak Thai accent (Pasa Glang,) so for the first few months, we didn’t speak at all. Then years later when we entered the refugee camp, we spoke with a Thai accent, again, we were told not to speak, it was very confusing for us kids, can’t say anything right. I personally like Thai Champassak accent, I think it’s very soothing but yet forceful at the same time.  I agreed with Darly that our accent is unique and special in our own way.

8. Bounthone on May 6th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

   Darly,

   I am sorry that I disabled those videos. I will ask for permission before republic them again.

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