Green papaya salad is a spicy salad made from shredded unripe papaya. It is generally believed to have been created by the Lao people and is considered one of the national dishes of Laos. Green papaya salad is also popular in neighbouring Thailand's Isan region, whose population is mainly composed of ethnic Lao and from where it spread to the rest of Thailand. Green papaya salad has also spread to the rest of the continental Southeast Asia, as well as Xishuangbanna (China).

Northeast Thailand or Isan consists of 20 provinces in northeastern Thailand. Isan is Thailand's largest region, on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Sankamphaeng Range south of Nakhon Ratchasima. To the west it is separated from northern and central Thailand by the Phetchabun Mountains. Isan covers 167,718 km2 (64,756 sq mi), making it about half the size of Germany and roughly the size of England and Wales. The total forest area is 25,203 km2 (9,731 sq mi) or 15 percent of Isan's area.