To me, South East Asia is just a geographical term to describe a region lying on the soutern-east part of Asia. Actually, it means a lot more than that. South East Asia is truly rich in its culture. It may also be considered as one of the under-developed part of the World. So, what does History have got to do with Southeast Asia? Well, the history of Southeast Asia is quite complex. I've learned a little about the history of Indonesia and Malaysia. I've learned a lot about the History of Singapore. However, region such as Siam(currently Thailand) and Burma is a new topic to me. I'm absolutely unfamiliar with its history.
Let's start off with the countries in Southeast Asia.
1. Indonesia
2. Singapore
3.Timor Leste
4. Malaysia
5. Brunei
6. Myanmar
7. Thailand
8. Phillipines
9. Vietnam
10. Cambodia
11. Laos
From what I have learned, Southeast Asia was dominated and ruled mainly by Europeans in the past. As an Indonesian, I am fully aware that the Dutch colonised my country for approximately 300 years. My grandparents told me that it was a dark period. But it was nothing comapred to the Invasion of the Japanese. My grandparents told me the Japanese were extremely cruel and thrice as harsh as the Dutch. I couldn't really tell the reliability of these sources. i was young then. What do you expect!!! I have no idea of telling how reliable a source is!
Anyways, Southeast Asia has been a tourism spot for these past few years. It has attracted many tourists mainly from Europe and America. This is due to their rich cultures and ethnicities. This makes Southeast Asia unique.