Prior to the consolidation of the various Lao meuang (principalities) in the 14th cen­tury, there was little demand for a written language. When a written language was deemed necessary by the Lan Xang monar­chy, Lao scholars based their script on an early alphabet devised by the Thais (which in turn had been created by Khmer scholars who used south Indian scripts as models!). The alphabet used in Laos is closer to the original prototype; the original Thai script was later extensively revised (which is why Lao looks 'older' than Thai, even though it is newer as a written language).

Before 1975 at least four spelling systems were in use. Because modern printing never really got established in Laos (most of the advanced textbooks being in Thai, French, or Vietnamese before the Revolution), Lao spelling wasn't standardised until after the Pathet Lao takeover. The current system has been highly simplified by transliterating all foreign loan words according to their sound only, and not their written form.

Lao script can therefore be learned much more quickly than Thai or Khmer, both of which typically attempt to transcribe for­eign borrowings letter for letter, regardless of the actual pronunciation.

One peculiarity of the post-1975 system is that it forbade the use of the Lao letter V in words where it was more commonly pro­nounced as an T, reportedly because of the association of the Y with classical Thai; al­though the Y was virtually lost in Laos (converting to 'h' in some cases and to T in others), in many parts of Thailand it is still quite strong. Hence the names of former Lao kings Setthathirat and Phothisarat came to be rendered as Setthathilat and Phothisalat in post-1975 Lao script. Even­tually the government loosened its restric­tions and although the nasty Y is still not taught in the school system, it is once again allowed to be used in signage and in histori­cal documents.

Other scripts still in use include Ida thatn (dhamma Lao), used for writing Pali scrip­tures, and various Thai tribal scripts, the most popular and widespread being that of the Thai Neua (which has become stan­dardised via Xishuangbanna, China).

The Lao script today consists of 30 con­sonants (formed from 20 basic sounds) and 28 vowels and diphthongs (15 individual symbols used in varying combinations). Complementing the consonant and vowel symbols are four tone marks, only two of which are commonly used in creating the six different tones (in combination with all the other symbols). Written Lao proceeds from left to right, though vowel-signs may appear in a number of positions relative to consonants: before, after, above, below or 'around' (ie before, above and after).

Although learning the alphabet isn't dif­ficult, the writing system itself is fairly com­plex, so unless you are planning to have a lengthy stay in Laos you should perhaps make learning to speak the language your main priority.