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I have in the past taken issue with the Public Relations Department for using the Thai expression opun raangkaai to mean "warm up" instead of un khrueang, which has been around meaning just that for a long time and is perfectly understandable to most Thais.

Now I've heard another bloomer on the Public Relations Department radio programme. The announcer used raboet khaa tua taai to mean "suicide bomb" or "suicide bombing". It is true that khaa tua taai is a direct translation of "suicide", but it cannot be combined with raboet "bomb" to mean "suicide bomb".

The carrier of the bomb does not simply intend to kill him/herself but to kill others, albeit in a manner which requires him/her to sacrifice his/her own life.

Suicide bombing is really the sacrifice of one's life with the intention of thereby killing others, and I think the expression raboet phlii chiip - phlii "sacrifice" and chiip "life" - which has been used before, is a more accurate translation, but I am told the department thinks it has undesirable overtones of heroism.

In fact the carrier does sacrifice his/her life for an objective believed to serve the interest of his/her group or ideal, so that raboet phlii chiip is perfectly apposite, though if the department does not want the public to regard such people as heroes, which phlii chiip indeed suggests, it should try to come up with somethiong at least more accurate than raboet khaa tua taai. What about raboet phuuk tit tua "bomb bound to the body"? Anything but raboet khaa tua taai. I'd still plump for raboet phlii chiip to be going on with.

Both examples stem from not realising that a perfectly good literal translation such as "warm" = opun and "suicide" = khaa tua taai may undergo a sea change when in combination.

You have to wonder whether the Public Relations Department translator is quite at ease in Thai and not an overseaseducated scholar of English. The director ought, I think, to look into it: the department, as a role model for mass communication, should also be a role model for the correct use of Thai.

Not that that would halt the rot, of course: there are a lot of people out there in mass communications.

There should be some widely accepted authority on the language, watching out for improper use and ready with good advice in order to prevent such mistakes. I have proposed here before that one of the units of the Ministry of Education should take up the burden - it would not cost much in time and manpower - but I have met with no response. The ministry may not deem this to be its duty or may feel the matter to be less pressing than its other tasks, so I must turn to a group of people who do care enough about the proper use of the Thai language.

This is the Thai Language Society. It this expert body agrees to spearhead the movement, it could work wonders without even overtaxing the minds of its members. All it need do is issue a reasoned rebuttal of each solecism it encounters, and people would, I do believe, abide by the dictates of so august an authority. If all of us help one another in this way, our language will be well and properly served.

Until next Monday.