Standard Thai, also known as Central Thai or Siamese, is the official language of Thailand, spoken by over 20 million people (2000), including speakers of Bangkok Thai (although the latter is sometimes considered a separate dialect). Khorat Thai is spoken by about 400,000 (1984) in Nakhon Ratchasima; it occupies a linguistic position somewhere between Central Thai and Isan on a dialect continuum, and may be considered a variant of either. A majority of the people in the Isan region of Thailand speak a dialect of the Lao language, which has influenced the Central Thai dialect.