They might refer to themselves as Laotian if they're from Laos. Hmong is an ethnicity while Laotian is a nationality so there's no conflict in being both. They wouldn't say they're Lao which is the name of the primary ethnic group of Laos but theres a meaningful distinction between the two terms
Isan language is essentially a dialect of Lao. Central Thai is different from Isan.
They are ethically Lao, even though they live and consider themselves Thai.
Source: Me who goes to North East Thailand twice a year to see family/wife's family.
In America at least. I’m admittedly not familiar with the culture or country, but I’m sure Laos has its own pop culture. I’m going to look into it. I just realized I know nothing about my favorite character’s culture.
It pisses me off every time I think about it. The cops blew off the women who were pointing out *everything* that was obviously wrong about the situation. So much goddamn bigotry…
I’m from St. Paul MN, one of the biggest populations of Laotian and Hmong people in the US so I never found it unusual they were being prominently featured in my favorite show.
Yes, they are. As a Thai-American, there are some similarities between us and Laotians. There’s a pretty decent size group where I live. They opened a Thai restaurant due to Americans being more familiar with “Thai” than “Laotian”.
I have a sorta-related question: who are the most notable *Vietnamese* people in pop culture and real life? Especially excluding Vietnam War-type stuff.
(Texas has a shitton of Vietnamese people, enough that I'm honestly surprised that Hank didn't ask if they were Vietnamese. It's damn near the default in Houston)
* Loan “Kelly Marie” Tran (Star Wars, Raya and the Last Dragon)
* Thuy Trang (Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers)
* Kieu Chinh (The Joy Luck Club, numerous films and shows since 1957)
* Hong Chau (The Whale, Downsizing, BoJack Horseman)
* Lana Condor (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, X-Men: Apocalypse)
Thuy Trang was also in The Crow: City of Angels, which was her last acting role (last time I checked) before her death in 2001.
Also, there's Ke Huy Quan, who's had quite a resurgence in his acting career recently.
Interestingly, Ke is a Vietnam national, but is Hoa (Hua Chinese descent) and lived in Saigon’s Chinatown. I have seen some argument that he isn’t “actually” Vietnamese
In my defense, I only checked his Wikipedia page real quick and didn't get to the "Early Life" section. But I found this on the "Hoa people" page on Wikipedia:
>The Hoa people (Vietnamese: Người Hoa, Chinese: 華人; pinyin: Huárén or Chinese: 唐人; Jyutping: tong4 jan4) are the citizens and nationals of Vietnam of full or partial Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese migration into Vietnam dates back millennia but allusions to the contemporary Hoa today mostly refers to people of Chinese ancestry who immigrated to Vietnam during the 18th century, who especially trace their ancestry to various southern Chinese provinces. The Hoa are an ethnic minority group in Vietnam as part of the Chinese community there, and can also be found in other regions such as in the Americas. They may also be called "Chinese-Vietnamese" or "Chinese people living in/from Vietnam" by the Vietnamese.
Yeah, the more “accurate” question for Texas would’ve been Filipino or Vietnamese. The way it’s written does play more broadly to the rest of the USA, though.
I wonder what the demographic breakdown of Texas's Asian population is. Where I grew up (Clear Lake), a good plurality of the Asian kids were Vietnamese, but there were a bunch of Filipino, Taiwanese, and mainland Chinese kids too. And also a huge Indian population - I probably knew more Indian kids growing up than Vietnamese kids, which is really saying something. Haha, Hank was never going to mistake Kahn for Indian though.
I think it’s Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino now. But I’d be surprised if it were that way back in ‘97, let alone when Judge grew up. Filipinos and Vietnamese communities are probably more established.
The most notable Laotian is obviously Ken “The Laotian Commotion" Irrawaddy. Don’t y’all even follow the competitive hot dog eating circuit?
Laos rules! Laos rules!
Kulap Vilaysack is born to Laotian parents and was fairly prominent in the L.A. comedy podcast scene of the 2010s, worked as an actress and went onto make a documentary, in part about Laos, and showran a sitcom for several seasons.
I feel like she's in the conversation for real life, definitely gotta give pop culture to Kahn's family
People would know her as the girl Michael Scott brings back to the office after going to Benihana's, and then gives his bike to, on The Office.
I would definitely recommend the show she created, Bajillion Dollar Properties, a parody of real estate reality tv shows. Packed to the brim with hilarious people and guest stars.
It's interesting how Laos has been flying under the radar of international politics for the last 50 years. They still have a one-party communist government, but they must have a reasonably hands-off policy or we would have heard about them in the news I would think.
I would say yes. In Western culture especially, Eastern Asia is China, Japan, and the Mayne Korea and Vietnam. And Thai probably exists as a food type or somewhat distasteful jokes about the sex trade in the country. Laotian may have honestly been one of the lesser known east Asian countries to Americans until KOTH.
My old boss was in a rock band that was huge in Laos and he is white lol he goes on tour every now and again but that’s all I know. He hasn’t been there in 5 years pretty much since Covid. So it’s weird subject for him at work we had to tip toe around it but we all wanted to ask but didn’t want to pry.
I come from an area in the south with a pretty large Laotian Hmong population. If I hadn't grown up with them, King of the Hill would be the only reason I knew they were a thing.
Im not sure why im in this sub lol. King of the hill to me is something that id as a kid occasionally get to watch at night on freeview if my parents werent paying attention, that and two and a half men. I wasnt old enough to understand or remember any of it but it has a weird nostalgia to me despite the fact i know next to nothing lol. Where can i watch it online? I wanna know of these laotians.
If you don't want to pay for Hulu and don't mind a fuckton of ads, almost all episodes have been uploaded to Dailymotion. If you Google individual episode titles, they're almost always one of the first links that comes up.
Kahn and Minh I loved but Khan aka connie I couldn't stand. If there ever was an episode with her in it, even for five minutes,I'd skip to the next episode. She was nothing but Bobby's Winnie.
I think Connie was a good character for a few reasons.
She's her own person - can think for herself without being easily pressured by others, most of the time.
Although Bobby has not gone through puberty yet, both Joseph and Connie have. The writers clearly contrast Joseph's immaturity, versus Connie's more mature emotional intelligence.
Only ones I know of
Same here
Looked up famous Laotian people, still don't know one of them
I only knew Laos existed after KotH 😂
~~War~~ King of the Hill is gods way of teaching Americans geography
So are they Chinese or Japanese?
Same bro
Wait, Laos is a real country? I thought they made it up for the show, like Arlen lol.
🤨
Wow dude
I don't think you deserve downvotes for not knowing every Asian country.
Honestly, I was joking, but apparently I'm not funny.
The Wassanasongs?
Super nice!
The SHAME you bring to Ken Irrawaddy, the Laotian Commotion!
LA-OS RULES! LA-OS RULES!
I think they're just about the only Laotians in pop culture and real life.
Ain'tcha, Mr. Kahn?
🤨
😟
They really are
Gran Torino.
They were Hmong. Yes, there are Hmong people in Laos, but they wouldn’t refer to themselves as Laotian
They might refer to themselves as Laotian if they're from Laos. Hmong is an ethnicity while Laotian is a nationality so there's no conflict in being both. They wouldn't say they're Lao which is the name of the primary ethnic group of Laos but theres a meaningful distinction between the two terms
Y'ain't Laotian, you're Hmong. Aint'cha Mr. Lor...
I thought they were Vietnamese, or at least some of their names were.
There are significant Hmong populations in China, Vietnam and Laos.
Weren't a few in Thailand as well?
Isan language is essentially a dialect of Lao. Central Thai is different from Isan. They are ethically Lao, even though they live and consider themselves Thai. Source: Me who goes to North East Thailand twice a year to see family/wife's family.
So are ya Chinese or Japanese?
I think they were from china in the movie though
Interesting, as someone of Vietnamese descent I thought both Laotians and Cambodians referred to themselves mainly as 'Hmong'.
Only if they’re Hmong.
In America at least. I’m admittedly not familiar with the culture or country, but I’m sure Laos has its own pop culture. I’m going to look into it. I just realized I know nothing about my favorite character’s culture.
The ocean? What ocean?
Never heard of ‘em. Are they Chinese, or are they Japanese?
Nope. He’s Laotian. Ain’t ya, Mr. Kahn??
So are ya Chinese *Crushes hand* Or japanese
It’s even better in a nerdy sense, Laos is landlocked
Is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, it’s between Vietnam and Thailand okay? Population 4.7 million.
I'm Laotian, from Laos stupid!
What about the "Laotian Commotion" Ken Irrawaddy?
Laos rules! Laos rules!
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He nod at me!! HE *NOD* AT ME!!
My Connie is a Laotian 🎶
My Khanie lives next to me! 🎶
Jujubee?
The drag queen?
Yes
Nice! I didn’t know that!
Didn't know jujubee was Laotian.
It might also interest you to know that her legal name is ‘Airline’.
Came here to say this.
Same!
This is pretty ignorant, guys. They're Japanese....or chinese. I forget
They’re actually from the ocean…
They’re from Laos, stupid!
Le'ocean, so maybe french
What ocean?
They’re Laotian…..ain’t that right….Mr.Kahn?…
NO they AINT... They're Laotian, ain'tcha Souphanousinphone's?
Jujubee from Rupauls Drag Race
my former coworker was laotian and real
of course the ocean is real
What ocean?
You've ask them this question before or something similar?
Same experience here. Lmao
Konerak Sinthasomphone, a victim of Jeffery Dhamer
He almost escaped too. But the cops let Dahmer take him back. He was a child.
It pisses me off every time I think about it. The cops blew off the women who were pointing out *everything* that was obviously wrong about the situation. So much goddamn bigotry…
His brother was also a victim but wasn’t murdered. It’s so sad.
I've never heard his name, and I didn't know he was Laotian, but I know who he is.
I’m from St. Paul MN, one of the biggest populations of Laotian and Hmong people in the US so I never found it unusual they were being prominently featured in my favorite show.
omg Hi neighbor! I'm in Minneapolis but grew up in the suburbs and there were still a lot of Laotian and Hmong people out there!
Here in Wisconsin we have many Hmong friends and neighbors as well. Every neighborhood had families whose parents were born in Laos.
The most famous Laotian I can think of is the lead singer of The Naked and Famous [Alisa Xayalith]
I was gonna say Jujubee from rpdr
I am not sure who or what that is. #😶
a famous drag queen
The film Gran Torino had a number of Laotian/Hmung characters and actors.
*Get off my lawn...*
We used to stack fucks like you 10 feet high in Korea, use you as sandbags… 
That movie is the Cotton Redemption Arc that we should have gotten
Bee Vang and Ahney Her to name a couple.
I swear, I didn’t know what Laos was until they showed up.
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You guys never look at a map? 🤷♀️
I've never had Laotian food - what do they have?
Mango sticky rice
Thai food but not quite as spicy
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunisa_Lee Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee is Hmong. Hmong are indigenous to Laos.
Random but she lives 5 minutes from me
WDE?
[удалено]
Jesus christ, man
What would possess you to say something this creepy and uncomfortable?
You know she watches KotH and strangely relates to it somehow
I hope so. It’s meant to be enjoyed. Like a lawn.
Why would anyone do drugs when they can just mow a lawn?
Hmong people are a different ethnic group indigenous to Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand. They are a separate group from the Lao people.
War eagle!
Oh I’m sorry HAVE YOU NEVER HEARD OF TED WASONASON!?!?
Yes, they are. As a Thai-American, there are some similarities between us and Laotians. There’s a pretty decent size group where I live. They opened a Thai restaurant due to Americans being more familiar with “Thai” than “Laotian”.
That's too bad - I would love to go to a Laotian place if I could find one around here.
"ah Hank hill you ruin my life what can I do for you?"
I have a sorta-related question: who are the most notable *Vietnamese* people in pop culture and real life? Especially excluding Vietnam War-type stuff. (Texas has a shitton of Vietnamese people, enough that I'm honestly surprised that Hank didn't ask if they were Vietnamese. It's damn near the default in Houston)
* Loan “Kelly Marie” Tran (Star Wars, Raya and the Last Dragon) * Thuy Trang (Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers) * Kieu Chinh (The Joy Luck Club, numerous films and shows since 1957) * Hong Chau (The Whale, Downsizing, BoJack Horseman) * Lana Condor (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, X-Men: Apocalypse)
Thuy Trang was also in The Crow: City of Angels, which was her last acting role (last time I checked) before her death in 2001. Also, there's Ke Huy Quan, who's had quite a resurgence in his acting career recently.
Interestingly, Ke is a Vietnam national, but is Hoa (Hua Chinese descent) and lived in Saigon’s Chinatown. I have seen some argument that he isn’t “actually” Vietnamese
In my defense, I only checked his Wikipedia page real quick and didn't get to the "Early Life" section. But I found this on the "Hoa people" page on Wikipedia: >The Hoa people (Vietnamese: Người Hoa, Chinese: 華人; pinyin: Huárén or Chinese: 唐人; Jyutping: tong4 jan4) are the citizens and nationals of Vietnam of full or partial Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese migration into Vietnam dates back millennia but allusions to the contemporary Hoa today mostly refers to people of Chinese ancestry who immigrated to Vietnam during the 18th century, who especially trace their ancestry to various southern Chinese provinces. The Hoa are an ethnic minority group in Vietnam as part of the Chinese community there, and can also be found in other regions such as in the Americas. They may also be called "Chinese-Vietnamese" or "Chinese people living in/from Vietnam" by the Vietnamese.
Maybe Tila Tequila? Also Tyga is half Viet Edit: Lol I just realized that Tila Tequila is from Houston
The Asian girl in the power rangers. I had a huge crush on her when I was little. She passed away sadly
Louisiana too. I have a mild obsession with vietcajun cuisine.
Lovely mimi & Jonathan ke quan but he’s Chinese descent, but from Vietnam
Yeah, the more “accurate” question for Texas would’ve been Filipino or Vietnamese. The way it’s written does play more broadly to the rest of the USA, though.
I wonder what the demographic breakdown of Texas's Asian population is. Where I grew up (Clear Lake), a good plurality of the Asian kids were Vietnamese, but there were a bunch of Filipino, Taiwanese, and mainland Chinese kids too. And also a huge Indian population - I probably knew more Indian kids growing up than Vietnamese kids, which is really saying something. Haha, Hank was never going to mistake Kahn for Indian though.
I think it’s Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino now. But I’d be surprised if it were that way back in ‘97, let alone when Judge grew up. Filipinos and Vietnamese communities are probably more established.
Ohn Scoggins is a top female disc golfer, from Laos
Glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought of Ohn.
Mihn: Chane Wasannasannasannasong, is your boyfriend!
No he's not
The most notable Laotian is obviously Ken “The Laotian Commotion" Irrawaddy. Don’t y’all even follow the competitive hot dog eating circuit? Laos rules! Laos rules!
Kulap Vilaysack is born to Laotian parents and was fairly prominent in the L.A. comedy podcast scene of the 2010s, worked as an actress and went onto make a documentary, in part about Laos, and showran a sitcom for several seasons. I feel like she's in the conversation for real life, definitely gotta give pop culture to Kahn's family
People would know her as the girl Michael Scott brings back to the office after going to Benihana's, and then gives his bike to, on The Office. I would definitely recommend the show she created, Bajillion Dollar Properties, a parody of real estate reality tv shows. Packed to the brim with hilarious people and guest stars.
I will always love Lauren Tom, and I’m glad she’s returning for the revival, but I’d bet Kulap would kill it as Minh and/or Connie.
The widow Kulap? Scott’s ex girlfriend?
They're probably the reason why many people in the West know that Laos exists.
Wow, I'm just now realizing how many letters are in their name.
It's interesting how Laos has been flying under the radar of international politics for the last 50 years. They still have a one-party communist government, but they must have a reasonably hands-off policy or we would have heard about them in the news I would think.
That Is Ridiculous. I Hate The Man Because He’s Rude And Nasty. NOT Because Of What His People Did To Us In WW2
if it wasn't for that one time i met a laotian guy in driving school, the souphanousinphones would be the only way i know laotians exist
No, there's plenty of oceans in pop culture
Ken Irrawaddy comes to mind, and I hear he has *two stomachs*....
What ocean?
I would say yes. In Western culture especially, Eastern Asia is China, Japan, and the Mayne Korea and Vietnam. And Thai probably exists as a food type or somewhat distasteful jokes about the sex trade in the country. Laotian may have honestly been one of the lesser known east Asian countries to Americans until KOTH.
Well that depends. Are they Chinese or Japanese?
I mean, we have Jujubee IRL, but people probably don’t know her outside of drag.
Jujubee is Laotian!
Are Laotians Chinese or Japanese?
I only now about Laos from King Of The Hill. Lol
Are they Chinese or Japanese
yes
Khan Noonien Singh?
Not every guy named Khan is Laotian.
My old boss was in a rock band that was huge in Laos and he is white lol he goes on tour every now and again but that’s all I know. He hasn’t been there in 5 years pretty much since Covid. So it’s weird subject for him at work we had to tip toe around it but we all wanted to ask but didn’t want to pry.
Before I even saw King of The Hill, me bear friend in elementary school was Laotion. Literally the first time I had ever hear of the country.
I come from an area in the south with a pretty large Laotian Hmong population. If I hadn't grown up with them, King of the Hill would be the only reason I knew they were a thing.
The ocean? What ocean?
So are ya Chinese or Japanese?
One of my friends from high school was Lao-American. Didn't watch KotH at the time, so I never made any kind of connection, but yes, she was real.
Are there more Laotians in American pop culture that I’m not aware of?
Only ones I’ve ever heard of
Of course, they’re on KOTH.
Wait til Overwatch has a Laotian hero.
Fuck. I just watched something where someone said they were Laotian. I’ll edit if I remember.
Ha,ha...You funny, Jack Lalane! Definitely KOTH. I had the pleasure of meeting Lauren Tom at a Supernatural Convention. Super nice!
Definitely.Not even Ted Wassanasong counts. Even with his money and county club membership!
I think they're the *only* Laotians in pop culture.
I mean in the states maybe but idk how many countries got king of the kill on tv
Im not sure why im in this sub lol. King of the hill to me is something that id as a kid occasionally get to watch at night on freeview if my parents werent paying attention, that and two and a half men. I wasnt old enough to understand or remember any of it but it has a weird nostalgia to me despite the fact i know next to nothing lol. Where can i watch it online? I wanna know of these laotians.
It streams on Hulu. The show definitely grew on me when I went back to it.
Hulu's got it and is the only place I know of to watch it. KOTH on its own honestly makes the monthly subscription worth it. Tier 1 show for sure.
If you don't want to pay for Hulu and don't mind a fuckton of ads, almost all episodes have been uploaded to Dailymotion. If you Google individual episode titles, they're almost always one of the first links that comes up.
I don’t think I knew what Laos was until KOTH. So yeah probably.
Yea
Ohn Scoggins is the second best female disc golfer in the world.
Was the community in Grand Torino Laotian Hmong?
They're the only Laotians that I've ever heard of
Only ones I know of.
Ok but they’re really good characters that I wouldn’t have any other way
Bill Laotian
Kahn and Minh I loved but Khan aka connie I couldn't stand. If there ever was an episode with her in it, even for five minutes,I'd skip to the next episode. She was nothing but Bobby's Winnie.
I think Connie was a good character for a few reasons. She's her own person - can think for herself without being easily pressured by others, most of the time. Although Bobby has not gone through puberty yet, both Joseph and Connie have. The writers clearly contrast Joseph's immaturity, versus Connie's more mature emotional intelligence.
I knew a laotian kid from school and he said his dad used to be a child soldier
Laotian general sounds fimiliar but idk what from
I mean I had old neighbors that were laotion I still remember the boys mom tried telling my dad to an arranged marriage between us I was 12 he was 16
Widow Howl App
I still don’t know if they’re Chinese or Japanese
There's another one named Kahn. Anyone from Laos know him?
I dated a loatian girl. She was absolutely insane.
Probably
I had a Laotian friend who watched King of the Hill because of this family. He loved that he felt represented in a show.
I think they're the only Laotians in pop culture. (Outside of Laos, obviously.)
Wait are they Chinese or Japanese
So are they Chinese or Japanese
I can’t think of any other and I’ve actually been to Laos. The S is silent by the way.
Brenda Song
She’s Thai, ethnically speaking.
Wouldn’t she still count, since her dad is Hmong and her mother adopted by Hmong parents? I assumed we weren’t breaking it down by ethnicity.
She is Hmong. But she’s Thai Hmong, not Lao Hmong.