Let’s start with the north. The northern part of Thailand was once a different country, called the Kingdom of Lanna. Ever go to Chiang Mai and wonder what this Lanna thing was all about? Now you know. Well, Lanna back in its day was just as powerful as the Kingdom of Siam (back then it wasn’t called Thailand). More recently, it’s had significant language influence from the bordering country of Laos. You can tell if a person comes from the north by the springy-ness of the way they speak – almost an over-use of the rising and falling tones. For example, the [over] use of the word เจ้า. The dialect is called Northern Thai,