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Published on July 28, 2007

Ab-beaw is a slang term created by Thai youngsters recently while chatting on the Internet. The adjective is a combination of the English "abnormal", and the Thai "bong-baew", meaning cute. Ab-beaw literally means abnormal/cute.

The Culture Ministry became concerned a few weeks ago that the growing popularity of this bit of Thai/English slang among Thai teens, especially those chatting in the virtual world via MSN, blogs or email, would soon destroy Thai culture, especially the Thai language, a major part of the national identity.

A major debate started then on this issue. Many Thai linguists, child psychologists and sociologists think that teenagers come up with slang terms within their own community in order to create a unique sense of identity for themselves. This is a normal part of teen culture, a means of establishing a separate identity from the adult world. Thinking "out of the box" is best for them. However, these academics think that eventually this slang will not work for them anymore and that teens will find it outdated and stop using it.

On the other hand, the Culture Ministry's officers found this trend to be very dangerous and alerted academics, encouraging a national policy of preserving the Thai language.

The ministries of education and culture co-hosted the national symposium "How to solve the crisis on Thai language" on Thursday. Chaired by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, the symposium was an attempt to push the proper use of the Thai language as an urgent national policy. Further study of the Thai language at the university level may soon be a mandatory subject, instead of the elective it is now.

According to the symposium, the poor language skills of Thai youth are the result of three main causes: the ignorance of their parents, society (or government) influence and the lack of reading among youth. Many teenagers imitate TV hosts and stars as well as singers who commonly mix Thai and English together.

However, the study presented at the symposium is nothing new. These academics and government officers have been talking about these topics for decades - long before ab-baew cropped up in Thai culture - and many slang Thai terms have disappeared. Indeed, it reflects where the future of Thai education should be going. We should thank the person who came up with 'ab-baew' and Web users for shaking dinosaur government officers out of their complacency.

Many linguists say that slang is not as much of a concern as the dialects that are disappearing and being replaced by the central Thai language throughout the country. Natives of Isaan, and provinces in the North and South who immigrate to Bangkok, are reticent to speak in their own dialects. This reflects a weakness of anthropological development, and shows a lack of esteem for their roots. Dialect also reflects subcultures. Respecting different subcultures and learning about them is the best way to preserve our national culture.

A campaign to preserve the Thai language should not only focus on ensuring that Thai is spoken, read and written correctly; it also should focus on a deep study of the Thai language in different contexts, including youth culture, Web culture as well as in subcultures. It's a long-term practice - long enough for new slang terms to come and go from our society.

Phatarawadee Phataramawik