I can read and write lao. I don't think it is that hard, maybe just for the beginning. I learnt it when i was very young, after learning how to read and write thai. Then i asked my mother to tell me how we spell the lao alphabet 'kor kai'... and i took a lao newspaper and then i began to learn myself...I was too slow for the reading and my mom always laughed at me, hahaha
I think with time and much work it is possible to learn how to write and read. Maybe going to Laos can help lol i dunno. I just come back from Laos where i stayed for six months, for me it helped me much to familiarize with the language every day.
I never learnt with books and there's no lao classes where i live, so everyone can manage.
Now i'm a lao-thai translator for courts, police and sometimes i translate english or french reports into lao writting. But i can't tell i'm 100% lao, cos when u go to Laos, u realize that ur speaking or writing is not the same, maybe because we left the country many years ago and that the language has changed. Now they use words which are similar to thai words. When i was there, the first month, people there told me 'hey you speak an old lao, a lao speaking before 1975, lol'...But living there made me improve it much lol but i know i still have to improve it.
If u guys need some help, u can pm me !