"Old" usually (though the locals will try to convince you that "We really mean "respected" because China has a long and ancient history of respecting elders and blah...blah...blah..." This explanation starts to get " Lao" about three days after you've lived here. See the next few entries for different variations on this theme.
a Tai (Dai) people related to the Shan of Burma and the Thai of Thailand, originally from southern China (Yunnan and Szechuan provinces), which settled in the upper Mekong River valley, in present-day Laos.
a member of a Buddhist people inhabiting the area of the Mekong River in Laos and Thailand and speaking the Lao language; related to the Thais