Lao people in the context of "Tai peoples"

Tai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thai, Isan, Lao, Shan, Ahom, Zhuang, Tày, Nùng, Táy, and some Northern Thai peoples.

The Tai are scattered through much of South China and Mainland Southeast Asia, with some (e.g. Tai Ahom, Tai Khamti, Tai Phake, Tai Aiton) inhabiting parts of Northeast India. Tai peoples are both culturally and genetically very similar and therefore primarily identified through their language.

Suphan Buri (Thai: สุพรรณบุรี, pronounced [sù.pʰān būrīː]), located in the central region of Thailand, is one of the country's 76 provinces (จังหวัด, changwat), its first-level administrative divisions. Suphan Buri's neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Uthai Thani, Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Nakhon Pathom and Kanchanaburi. In 2018, the province had a population of around 848,700, making up about 1.28% of the Thailand's total.

Suphan Buri Province has a moderately diverse ethnic population, the majority of which are of Tai, Mon, Lao, Chinese, and Khmer descent.

Lan Xang (Lao: ລ້ານຊ້າງ, pronounced [lâːn sâːŋ]), also spelled Lan Sang, was a Lao kingdom that held the area of present-day Laos from 1353 to 1707. For three and a half centuries, Lan Xang was one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. The kingdom is the basis for Laos's national historic and cultural identity.

The Kingdom of Champasak (Lao: ຈຳປາສັກ [tɕàmpàːsák]) or Bassac, (1713–1904) was a Lao kingdom that emerged under King Nokasad, a grandson of King Sourigna Vongsa, the last king of Lan Xang. Bassac and the neighboring principalities of Attapeu and Stung Treng emerged as power centers as a mandala.

The kingdom was sited on the eastern or Left Bank of the Mekong, south of the Right Bank principality of Khong Chiam where the Mun River joins; and east of where the Mekong makes a sharp bend to the west to return abruptly and flow southeasterly down to what is now Cambodia.

The Thonburi Kingdom was a major Siamese kingdom which existed in Southeast Asia from 1767 to 1782, centred on the city of Thonburi, in Siam or present-day Thailand. The kingdom was founded by Taksin, who reunited Siam following the collapse of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, which saw the country separate into five warring regional states. The Thonburi Kingdom oversaw the rapid reunification and reestablishment of Siam as a preeminient military power within mainland Southeast Asia, overseeing the country's expansion to its greatest territorial extent up to that point in its history, incorporating Lan Na, the Laotian kingdoms (Luang Phrabang, Vientiane, Champasak), and Cambodia under the Siamese sphere of influence.

The Thonburi Kingdom saw the consolidation and continued growth of Chinese trade from Qing China, a continuation from the late Ayutthaya period (1688-1767), and the increased influence of the Chinese community in Siam, with Taksin and later monarchs sharing close connections and close family ties with the Sino-Siamese community.

Lao names (Lao: ຊື່ [sɯː]), like Thai ones, are given in Western order, where the family name goes after the first given name. On official documents, both first given name and surname are written, but it is customary to refer to people in formal situations by their first name, plus titles and honorifics, alone.

In daily life, outside of formal, international, or academic spheres, Lao people generally refer to themselves and others by nicknames, or seu lin—literally "playnames" (Lao: ຊື່ຫຼິ້ນ [sɯː lin]). Much like the nicknames of Thai people (with whom the Lao share a great deal of cultural similarity), the names are often unflattering, although some are based on onomatopoeia, nonsense syllables, or peculiar characteristics. This is largely based on old superstitions from times when health care was not available and there was high infant mortality, as many of these names were supposed to ward off evil spirits from claiming the child.

The Indochina refugee crisis was the large outflow of people from the former French colonies of Indochina, comprising the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, after communist governments were established in 1975. Over the next 25 years and out of a total Indochinese population in 1975 of 56 million, more than 3 million people would undertake the dangerous journey to become refugees in other countries of Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, or China. More than 2.5 million Indochinese were resettled, mostly in North America, Australia, and Europe. More than 525,000 were repatriated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, mainly from Cambodia.

The Indochinese refugees consisted of a number of different peoples, including the Vietnamese, the Sino-Vietnamese Hoa, Cambodians fleeing the Khmer Rouge and hunger, ethnic Laotians, Iu Mien, Hmong, other highland peoples of Laos, and Montagnard, the highland peoples of Vietnam. They fled to nearby countries to seek temporary asylum and most requested permanent resettlement in third countries. The refugee outflow and humanitarian crisis was especially acute in 1979 and 1980.

Summit-University is a neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that stretches roughly from University Avenue in the north, Lexington Parkway to the west, Summit Avenue to the south and to the east along John Ireland Boulevard, Kellogg Boulevard and Marion Street. Summit-University, Selby-Dale, St. Anthony Hill, Cathedral Hill, Woodland Park, Crocus Hill, Ramsey Hill, Hill District, Historic Hill District, Uni-Dale, North Quadrant, and Central Village all refer to parts of the neighborhood that is broadly known as Summit-University.

The neighborhood is an ethnically and economically diverse community. In 1983 the neighborhood was home to Saint Paul's largest concentration of minority residents. Among the many groups living in Summit-University are the Hmong community as well as the city's other Asian communities, of whom Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians are represented in large numbers. Summit-University also includes the historic Cathedral Hill neighborhood, as well as what remains of "old Rondo" - a former neighborhood of the city. Rondo was the center of Saint Paul's African-American community since the Civil War, but was broken apart by the construction of Interstate 94 in the 1960s. Famous Summit-University natives include baseball great Dave Winfield. Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in this neighborhood, although he is generally associated with the Summit Hill neighborhood where he later lived.

The Haw Wars (Thai: สงครามปราบฮ่อ) were fought against Chinese quasi-military refugee gangs invading parts of Tonkin and Laos from 1865–1890. Forces invading Lao domains were ill-disciplined and freely demolished Buddhist temples. Not knowing these were remnants of secret societies, the invaders were wrongly called Haw (Lao: ຫໍ້; Thai: ฮ่อ; Chinese: Hao). Forces sent by King Rama V failed to suppress the various groups, the last of which eventually disbanded in 1890.