From Morlam to Alba: Isaan’s Soft Power Struts onto the Global Stage


In Thailand’s northeast, the Isaan Creative Festival 2025 is doing more than spotlighting traditional music and fermented delicacies—it’s redrawing the map of Thai identity and foreign policy. With over 200 programs spanning Khon Kaen, the festival pulses with the rhythm of morlam, the scent of pla ra, and a vision that stretches from village to global village.

This isn’t nostalgia—it’s strategy that can align Thai soft power with UK.

Soft Power in a Borderland Era

The festival lands amid rising tensions along the Thai–Cambodian border, where territorial disputes flare intermittently. Yet instead of sabre-rattling, Thailand is investing in cultural cohesion, with Isaan’s multilingual, multi-ethnic identity at the forefront. Here, Lao and Northern Khmer identities are no longer divides—they’re increasingly seen as diplomatic assets in the once alien corridors of BKK power and retail.

This aligns with the UK’s soft power in its Celtic peripheries. From BBC Alba’s Gaelic dramas to Scots tartan initiatives, London wields culture as currency. Gaelic may have fewer speakers than Isaan’s Lao dialect, but both are seeing revival through state-backed media, fashion, and festivals. Add in a Celt resurgence in all Ireland and Isan soft power starts to resonate like a temple bell.

From “Buffaloes in Bangkok” to Leaders on the National Stage

Forget the old slur about “buffaloes in Bangkok.” Today’s Isaan leaders are not just speaking for the region—they’re shaping national discourse.

Take Jiraporn Sindhuprai (@j_sinduprai), University/Innovation/Water Minister attached to the heart of the PM’s Office, who opened this year’s festival with a confident appeal for decentralization and creative-led development. Her presence, and that of many Isaan-born MPs, and Move Forward/People's Party surge, represents a paradigm shift in how power is distributed and represented in Thai politics.

And it builds on 2024’s theme: “Sa-on De”—pride in the return of over 320,000 Isaan workers post-COVID, many now entrepreneurs in textiles, cuisine, and digital services. Politicians increasingly keen on photo-ops wearing Isan textiles. A fashion surge not dissimilar to Queen Victoria in The Bowring Era championing Scots tartan.

CPTPP, Pla Ra, and the Pivot to Trade

With Thailand formally entering the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Isaan’s creative economy has export potential.

  • Handwoven silk, reimagined through the ISAN Soul Proud Fashion Show, can access niche textile markets in Canada, Peru, and the UK.

  • Fermented foods like pla ra and som pak kad (pickled greens) could follow kimchi’s path to global cool.

  • And morlam music digital content—podcasts, YouTube series, and VR heritage tours—could find new audiences through UK–Thailand co-productions.

With the UK eager to deepen Mekong Basin ties—particularly in green tech and cultural collaboration—Isaan becomes a natural bridge.

The Naomi Moment: Tartan Meets Mudmee

Speaking of bridges: remember Naomi Campbell’s now-iconic stumble in Vivienne Westwood’s 1993 Anglomania show? That tartan platform heel moment became a symbol of daring heritage reinterpreted.

Isaan’s mudmee silk, shown at this year’s fashion show, has similar swagger. Why not dream of a Lochcarron–Ubon Ratchathani collaboration? Imagine a tartan that maps both Highland glens and Mekong rice paddies—ready for the global runway.

While fellow supermodel and fashionista @noellacc translates fashion as a Global Fund Ambassador into Malaika skools in DRC Congo not dissimilar to my Surin Village School Charity with the 1st Isan skool built.

101 Meters of Confidence

While the 101 Roi Et Tower, rising 101 meters above the Isan plateau like a bamboo wot flute, is more than a photo-op. It’s architectural proof that rural pride isn’t small-town—it's skyscraper-tall. Visitors don’t just see panoramic views around Isan—they see a region claiming altitude, literally and figuratively.

From the Mekong to the Highlands

Whether it’s morlam lyrics echoing across the Mekong or Gaelic on BBC Alba, one truth holds: culture is power. Not hard power. Not coercive diplomacy. But soft power rooted in story, song, and style.

And if those stories come wrapped in silk or tartan? Even better.

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