Lao language is very similar to Thai. Once you learn Thai, you can move onto Lao with some ease but there are many differences in the tones. The are many language guides sold at the book stores in Vientienne but the morning market sells a book and tape set for $35.

The best book that I have seen is sold at Asia books and contains Lao, Isaan and Thai in the same book. The book comes with a cd-rom and mp3 with six hours of pronunciation.

I am learning Lao as a business tool for my law practice but is also good to learn a little Lao because most of the girls you meet in Thailand speak Laotian or Isaan (a Thai/Lao derivitive). If you rattle off some Lao or some Isaan slang to these girls, they go nuts. Once you speak some of their language, you are immediately placed on their side and are trusted immediately. Learning their culture in language will have the girls look at you as one of them and not some walking ATM...not all of the time but this can work in your favor.

I found that my about 20 word Lao vocabulary went very far in Thailand. Not so much for communication as for a fun conversation topic and goodwill builder/ice breaker. Most often the mamasan or one of the older girls at the bar would be most likely to know what the heck I was murdering the pronunciation of, then all the younger girls would gather around and in about 15 minutes of language lessons (mostly mamasan correcting my pronunciation) all of the girls would have mastered my entire vocabulary and would spend the rest of the evening speaking Lao instead of Thai.(at least a few words) They really got a major kick out of the Lao. They even fetched sticky rice( which the Thais did not make correctly or at all to Lao standards), tum buk tum (som tum) and larb which we all ate together to eat to calibrate the impromptu "Lao nights" similar scenes played out at several different beer bars in Pattaya so I assume this is a kind of universal effect. The girls had allot of fun with it.