Language
Lao is the national language of Laos, spoken by over four million people there. It is also spoken by a minority in Northeast Cambodia, and a large minority (at least ten million) in Northeast Thailand (in areas bordering lowland Laos). There are also scattered Lao-speaking villages in Western Cambodia and Central and Eastern Thailand. The dialects spoken in Thailand are undergoing rapid change under the influence of central Thai. Lao is also spoken in sizeable expatriate communities in the US, Australia, and France.