Lao Eating Habits and Attitudes to Food

The country of Laos includes about sixty ethnic groups, mostly hill tribes in the north. The ethnic Lao who inhabit the north bank of the river Mekong and its attendant plains and valleys are by far the largest group, and are also to be found in the south of China and the north of Thailand. Indeed, even before the exodus of refugees following the Communist takeover at the end of 1975, the majority of ethnic Lao lived outside Laos. When we talk about ‘the Lao’ it is members of this ethnic group whom we usually mean (Laotian being the corresponding adjective which refers to citizenship of Laos, irrespective of ethnic factors).