Southeast Asia: Same Same but Different

Ok, so as promised, some closing thoughts on Southeast Asia, but first a world geography refresher in case you are like me...


Prior to buying our "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring" guidebook I thought Southeast Asia was Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  Flipping through the pages, however, I quickly learned that it is those four countries PLUS the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Myanmar/Burma, all of which we visited, as well as East Timor and Brunei, which we did not visit.  

And now my closing thoughts:

There's this saying in several Southeast Asian countries: "Same same but different."  We heard it used in a number of different contexts and situations.  Some were hilarious like when a girl tried to sell us a bracelet after we purchased some postcards and told us that the bracelet was same same but different.  Others were tragic like when our guide showed us before and after pictures of a village that had been bombed and explained that it was same same but different.

After spending four and a half months in Southeast Asian countries, we realized that the saying also applied to the region.  

There were things that were same same, like rice being a major staple and some countries had overlaps in traditions, language, cuisine, and architecture.  But there was so much that was different, like the economies, the dominant religions, and each country's history.  For example, Malaysia and Singapore have strong economies, especially in contrast with the rest of the region.  The Philippines is predominantly Catholic while Malaysia and Indonesia (which is the fourth largest country in the world) are largely Muslim countries.  Among the Buddhist countries (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar/Burma) we observed differences in practice.  The longer we were in the area, the more nuances we observed. 

Although we've been out of Southeast Asia for almost two months now, I still find myself using the phrase.  I guess the whole world is same same but different.