Lao, sometimes referred to as Laotian, is the official language of Laos and a significant language in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Spoken by over 3 million people in Laos and 3.2 million in all countries, it serves as a vital link in the cultural and social fabric of these areas. It is written in the Lao script, an abugida that evolved from ancient Tai scripts.
The Lan Na Kingdom or The Kingdom of Lanna, also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day Northern Thailand from the 13th to the 18th centuries.
Setthathirath or Xaysettha is considered one of the great leaders in Lao history. Throughout the 1560s until his death, he successfully defended his kingdom of Lan Xang against military campaigns of Burmese conqueror Bayinnaung, who had already subdued Xieng Mai in 1558 and Ayutthaya in 1564. Setthathirath was a prolific builder and erected many Buddhist monuments including Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang, Haw Phra Kaew, Wat Ong Teu Mahawihan and the Pha That Luang in Vientiane.
Kam Mueang or Northern Thailanguage is the language of the Northern Thai people of Lanna, Thailand. It is a Southwestern Tai language that is closely related to Tai Lue language. Kam Mueang has approximately six million speakers, most of whom live in the native Northern Thailand, with a smaller community of Lanna speakers in northwestern Laos.
The Northern Thai people or Tai Yuan, self-designation khon mu(e)ang, are a Tai ethnic group, native to nine provinces in Northern Thailand, principally in the area of the former kingdom of Lan Na. As a Tai group, they are closely related to Tai Lü and Tai Khün with regards to common culture, language and history as well as to Thailand's dominant Thai ethnic group. There are approximately 6 million Tai Yuan. Most of them live in Northern Thailand, with a small minority 29,442 living across the border in Bokeo Province of Laos. Their language is called Northern Thai, Lanna or Kham Mueang.
Isan or Northeastern Thai refers to the local development of the Lao language in Thailand, after the political split of the Lao-speaking world at the Mekong River at the conclusion of the Franco-Siamese crisis of 1893. The language is still referred to as Lao by native speakers.
Lao script or Akson Lao is the primary script used to write the Lao language and other minority languages in Laos. Its earlier form, the Tai Noi script, was also used to write the Isan language, but was replaced by the Thai script. It has 27 consonants, 7 consonantal ligatures, 33 vowels, and 4 tone marks.
Khmer script is an abugida (alphasyllabary) script used to write the Khmer language, the official language of Cambodia. It is also used to write Pali in the Buddhist liturgy of Cambodia and Thailand.
Mangrai was the 25th king of Ngoenyang and the first king of Lanna. He established a new city, Chiang Mai, as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom (1296–1558).
Tai Lue or Xishuangbanna Dai is a Tai language of the Lu people, spoken by about 700,000 people in Southeast Asia. This includes 280,000 people in China (Yunnan), 200,000 in Burma, 134,000 in Laos, 83,000 in Thailand and 4,960 in Vietnam. The language is similar to other Tai languages and is closely related to Kham Mueang or Tai Yuan, which is also known as Northern Thai language. In Yunnan, it is spoken in all of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, as well as Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County in Pu'er City.
Nan is a town in northern Thailand. It is 688 km (428 mi) north of Bangkok. It is in the centre of Nan province which bears its name, and of which it is the former administrative capital. It covers tambon Nai Wiang and parts of tambon Pha Sing of Mueang Nan district, an area of 7.60 km2 (2.93 sq mi) divided into 30 chumchon. In 2010 it had a population of 21,333 spread along the Nan River's right bank. Nan is a small city, primarily devoted to commercial, administrative, educational, and hospital activities. The old heart of the city, where Wat Phumin, the national museum and other tourist attractions are found, is being restored.
Tai Tham script is an abugida writing system used mainly for a group of Southwestern Tai languages i.e., Northern Thai, Tai Lü, Khün and Lao; as well as the liturgical languages of Buddhism i.e., Pali and Sanskrit. It is historically known as Tua Tham. In Thailand and Myanmar, the script is often referred to as Lanna script in relation to the historical kingdom of Lan Na situating in the Northern region of modern day Thailand and a part of Shan state in Myanmar. Local people in Northern Thailand also call the script as Tua Mueang in parallel to Kam Mueang, a local name for Northern Thai language. In Laos and Isan region of Thailand, a variation of Tai Tham script, often dubbed Lao Tham, is also known by the locals as To Tham Lao or Yuan script. Tai Tham script is traditionally written on a dried palm leaf as a palm-leaf manuscript.
The Phayao Kingdom was a period in the history of Phayao in Northern Thailand. It began with a revolt against the Chiang Rai rule in the northern Thailand.
The Mon–Burmese script is an abugida that derives from the Pallava Grantha script of southern India and later of Southeast Asia. It is the basis of the alphabets used for modern Burmese, Mon, Shan, Rakhine, Jingpho and Karen.
Tai Tham is a Unicode block containing characters of the Lanna script used for writing the Northern Thai, Tai Lü, and Khün languages.
Yotchiangrai was the tenth monarch of the Mangrai Dynasty that ruled Lan Na in what is now northern Thailand. Ruling between the death of his grandfather Tilokaraj in 1487 and the crowning of his son in 1495, his reign is known as the centre of the Golden Age for the kingdom. During this period, the kingdom saw a flourishing of Buddhist art.
The Tai Noi also spelled Thai Noi or Lao Buhan script is a Brahmic script that has historically been used in Laos and Isan since about 1500 CE. The contemporary Lao script is a direct descendant and has preserved the basic letter shapes. The script has mostly dropped out of use in the Isan region of Thailand, due to the Thaification policies of the Thai government, that imposed Central Thai culture such as the Thai script throughout the country.
The Sukhothai script, also known as the proto-Thai script and Ram Khamhaeng alphabet, is a Brahmic script which originated in the Sukhothai Kingdom. The script is found on the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription and the Lö Thai inscription.
The Shan alphabet is a Brahmic abugida, used for writing the Shan language, which was derived from the Burmese alphabet. Due to its recent reforms, the Shan alphabet is more phonetic than other Burmese-derived alphabets.
The Khom script is a Brahmic script and a variant of the Khmer script used in Thailand and Laos, which is used to write Pali, Sanskrit, Khmer, Thai and Lao (Isan).
