The ethnic Lao of northeastern Thailand have found cultural empowerment through other means as well. Lao/Isan food is very popular all over the country. In the traffic jams of Bangkok, trucks sport bumper stickers saying, "I'm glad that the car driver behind me is also Lao"-"Lao" referring to the ethnic Lao of northeastern Thailand. The mere fact that the ethnic label "Lao" is being increasingly used as a label of self-identification is significant; in the not-so-distant past, when social discrimination against northeasterners was widespread, "Lao" was virtually a pejorative term.