I realize that some letters are virtually identical in both languages. But there is a significant overall difference between the written alphabets (for example, the word for the capital city of Vientiane looks very different in Lao script than it does in Thai script).  

 

About what percent of Thais can read Lao script to any meaningful level (able to comprehend street signs, newspaper headlines, advertisements) ?    

 

 

On the flip side, I've been told that about 50 percent of people in Laos can read Thai script. 

 

Does that sound about right?

 

(I assume it's probably closer to 100 percent among college kids, and probably closer to 0 percent among old ladies pushing carts of charcoal.) 

Thai and Lao script are both derived from the South Indic script so they should be quite similar, they are just using different fonts.

 

Once I learn the Lao set of characters, I can already do a one-to-one mapping.

 

However, Lao people are more exposed to Thai TV series than the other way around. The Lao and Thai languages are similar but are not the same language, so some words are different.

 

 

Edited April 18, 20206 yr by EricTh

no inherent/ hidden vowel sounds in Laos. easier to read (kinda) but an extra hihi tone to learn

If you take a Thai who can speak Laos to a reasonable degree (many Thais will tell you "i can speak Laos", but when trying to have a conversation with a native speaker about a topic more difficult than "what did you have for lunch today?", many will fail), then i think if you give them some time and at least a complete sentence (a single word might be difficult), they should be able to figure out what it says. Many Laos characters are quite similar to Thai characters.

For same-ish words, Thai person can decipher the letter,

but totally different vocabulary or sentence structure can trip up Thais not exposed to Isan/Lao