ABSTRACT
For centuries storytelling has been important in all levels of society among the Isaan people of northeast Thailand, who speak a related group of dialects. When a baby is born fellow villagers visit, entertaining themselves by reading stories from palm-leaf manuscripts, reciting or singing verse stories, or narrating tales in prose. Mothers sing lullabies that often tell stories. Grandparents and parents recount folktales to entertain children and to teach them proper conduct and morals. Children tell stories to each other. At social gatherings such as Buddhist merit-making ceremonies, wedding receptions, ordination ceremonies, and wakes, storytelling or story-singing is a major form of entertainment.
