I think that is what Clint Eastwood, in the movie Gran Torino, discovered about the Laotians - Hmong who lived next door to him.
Hmong. Yes, right. But they’re not, strictly speaking, Lao - they have settlements in Laos, Vietnam, and China, with scattered populations in Thailand, as well.
There are, in addition, more Hmong in Minnesota than anywhere else on the planet except Laos.