[olivelappers]

Can someone share some thoughts on Thailand's relationship with Laos and this concept of Laos being Thailand's "little brother".

I had never heard that term before. It was used in a book I'm reading...and the example used was that during the tsunami there were many kinds of patients at the hospital ... and the doctor was talking about how people from all over were connecting (or not) to each other. He gave a list of other nationalitiies, but for Loatians, he said that Thais think of them as their "little brother" and then wait for the Laotians to show respect to the Thais first.

??? Is this true?

I have certainly heard stereotypes and jokes about Laotians and Thai's with Laotian ancestry, but I have never heard it formalized in this phrase.

I just googled the phrase and there were a lot of matches. Some of them were neutral, but most were very derogatory. ...and the phrase was in formal articles as well as informal articles.

Does anyone have experience with this phrase? Do we know where it originated?

[olivelappers]

I'm also curious about the gender of the term. "Little Brother" vs. "Little Sister" Are other countries masculine in Thai? I know linguistically there is no difference, but in English, we often say things like, "Thailand is great, she is the perfect vacation destination."

[zueqhbyhp]

Hi Pailin

I have certainly heard this term "little brother" used when referring to Laos. I am sure that I have never heard of any country referred to as "little sister" and believe that all countries would be regarded as masculine. I don't base this on any concrete evidence, it just feels right to me when I try to think in Thai language as opposed to English where we would, as you point out, use the feminine when referring to a country. Similarly I cannot think of any country we would use the masculine "he" in English language.

Await others thoughts with interest.