What important countries are there in South-East Asia?

What are the three countries to visit in Southeast Asia if you want to get the heart of Southeast Asia?

• Ok, what are the only theree countries to visit in Southeast Asia? If you have to make choice which countries to visit and you also want to get thet heart of Southeast Asia, which country would you choose? Please give me some advice!

• Answer:

  I divide the South East Asian countries into 3 groups. 1st group consists of Laos, Cambodia ,Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam.Though they speak different languages but they have cultures which are rather quite similar. All of them are pre-dominantly Buddhist countries and buddhist cultures are prominent there eventhough , Vietnam is much more influenced by Chinese cultures. These are countries considered as mainland South East Asian countries. From this group, you may pick Cambodia as it is quite a laid back country unlike Thailand. You'll be to experience what a poor country in South East Asia is like. 2nd group is the Malay archipelago which consists of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei. Malay and Islamic cultures are prominent in these countries eventhough there are big groups of non-Malays and non-Muslims there. The Malay language is widely spoken in all these countries. Overall, these 4 countries are more developed than those in mainland South East Asia ( except Thailand ). From this group, i would suggest that you pick Malaysia as the country is a multi cultural society , modern and has a lot of natural tourists sites to offer. 3rd group is the Chrisitan majority group. I put Philippines and East Timor under this group. Western cultures are prominent here. Philippines has strong Spanish culture while in East Timor , the Portuguese culture.is dominant. From this group, i suggest you choose Philippines as Philippines is a very vibrant society just like Spanish influenced societies whereas East Timor is a new country and is still a little isolated.