Martin Stuart-Fox, in the Historical Dictionary of Laos, states that epic poems appeared in Lao literature in the late 16th century or in the beginning of the 17th century, and that Sang Sinxay is the "finest and best known" epic poem composed in this period [REF].
In his book, Theatre in Southeast Asia, James Brandon underlines the presence of numerous similarities between Sang Sinxay and the Ramayana, known as Phra Lak Phra Lam in Laos, without establishing whether one of the poems influenced the other, or if they were both inspired by a same source [REF].