Laos - Lao Language

Laos is really funny. Lao and Thai languages are similar - but not the same. But Lao people seem to believe and therefore tried to convince me that they are, in fact, the same langauge. My friend Jeff believes this is because they are exposed to so much Thai TV, books, and music, they hear it as the same language, without thinking about it too much. But, when they speak or write, they don't use Thai, they just use Lao.

Therefore, you speak Thai to them, they understand, but they respond to you in Lao, which you don't understand. When you say you don't understand, they tell you it's the same language. Then you say, "Well, they're close, but they're not really the same because some things are not the same" and then you get strange looks, then laughed at.

Then they ask something if you are in Laos with any 'moo' which you only recognize as the word pork or pig in Thai but with a rising tone. So you ask if they said 'moo' with a rising tone and get laughed at again. "No, not moo (rising tone) - moo (high tone)! Ha ha ha! You said 'pork!'"

Then another person chimes in to say that 'moo' with a high tone is the same as 'peuan' which is the Thai word for friend which makes more sense (No, I'm not in Laos with any pigs, but I am here with some friends).

You confirm - 'moo' and 'peuan' have the same meaning. Then you get laughed at again as they respond with a sort of Lao "Duh!" They say, "You can say 'moo' or you can say 'peuan' - it doesn't matter, it's the same word. Thai, Laos - it's the same language"

I get that one has the option of saying either one, but from the people I talked to after that, not one person ever used the word 'peuan' - they only used the word 'moo'. This leads me to believe that 'peuan' is just the Thai word and 'moo' is just the Lao word and that's that. I mean - in America you could say 'amigo' and most likely everyone would understand you, but that doesn't mean that 'amigo' is English or that English and Spanish are the same language, right?

Things are feeling a little rocky, so to smooth things over, and to shut you up, they offer you some Lao whiskey. And you drink it. And then they ask, "So Lao and Thai are the same, right?" And you nod your head in agreement.