Legal Status
Lao only enjoys official status in Laos. In Thailand, the local Lao dialects are officially classed as a dialect of the Thai language, and it is absent in most public and official domains. However, Thai has failed to supplant Lao as the mother tongue for the majority of Isan households. Lao features of the language have been stabilised by the shared history and mythology, morlam folk music still sung in Lao, and a steady flow of Lao immigrants, day-labourers, traders, and growing cross-border trade.
Read more about this topic: Isan Language
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