A combination of their Buddhist beliefs and a long history of disregard by central Thai governments has produced an extremely tolerant attitude to life amongst the Isaan. Throughout the Isaan (and Thailand) you will often hear the phrase "mai pen rai" (loosely translated as - it's nothing).
The conversational use is more often translated to "it doesn't matter" but should, perhaps, be translated as "don't worry about it". Annoyingly (to the Farang struggling with the Thai language) "mai pen rai" is often used by the Isaan as a cover in response to a question to which the answer is not known, and is often perceived as meaning "it doesn't matter, so why are you asking".
As trivial as this may seen, "mai pen rai" is a common response, and can be quite annoying when encountered in monotonous regularity as part of the Buddhist desire to maintain a calm perspective and not openly react in provocative situations. Often the Isaan will also use the term as a means to convey the idea that something is not really something that you should be worried about or, in a western vernacular, "take it easy, don't worry".
Combine this with a historically harsh life and the lack of will to act instilled from continually being ignored as inferior (by the less tolerant mainstream, Bangkok based governing bodies) it is easy to begin to understand the roots of the easy going Isaan's "mai pen rai" attitude (if you can't do anything about it, why worry about it).
In the modern Isaan "mai pen rai" has evolved into what is possibly the clearest insight into the Isaan culture of hospitality and laid back acceptance of life and the real enjoyment to be gained by not worrying too much about the wrong things.
It may take a little perseverance for a farang to accept the "mai pen rai" as not being a personal affront from the Isaan. Remembering that the Buddhist basis of the Isaan culture teaches a non aggressive (particularly in a one on one situation) approach may help to accept "mai pen rai" as a friendly avoidance of losing "face" rather than a personal rebuke.
