Lao Language Display Issue

[kasiah23686906]

Hello!
I am trying to flow in Lao to a document for a translation. 
The language has been changed to Lao (Laos) and i have tried numerous fonts, however it doesn't render the characters correctly.

I can copy and paste from word into InDesign, and it displays wrong, and I can copy from InDesign back to word and it displays correctly.

Any ideas what can solve this issue?

Many thanks

[The Accessible Dezinah · Accepted solution]

Hello. Sabaidi. ສະບາຍດີ.

Most likely this is a font problem:

• OpenType/Unicode fonts were not used in Word and/or in InDesign. Check your Lao fonts; are they Unicode versions? (Unicode is the standard character set used worldwide. It allows us to retain the characters as the text moves from one program to another, from one browser to another, etc.)
• If necessary, change the fonts to a Unicode version of Lao. There aren't very many available (lots of old TrueType versions that are not Unicode) so be careful. Look for fonts that specifically say they are Unicode or OpenType (FYI, OpenType is a form of Unicode). Here's one website, but check carefully and use only those labeled as Unicode: http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Lao.html    Lao UI by Microsoft is available at https://www.fonts.com/font/microsoft-corporation/lao-ui 
• Don't copy/paste into InDesign because you'll lose some of the behind-the-scenes coding of the Lao glyphs. Instead, use InDesign's File / Place command and check the box for Import Options to control how the text is imported into your layout.