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Today is the national day upon which we celebrate the Thai language. While most Thai citizens use the Thai language to communicate, a recent poll showed that 85.3 per cent of people surveyed in Bangkok and its neighbouring provinces were not aware of Thai language day.

We don't need to spend a huge amount of money or throw a big party to celebrate the language that has been passed down to us from our ancestors. But what we should be aware of is the importance of the Thai language and why we should be taking pains to preserve it.

Language is a training tool for the mind. It affects the way a person views the world. The Thai language is part of our culture, and it should enable us to best express ourselves. Certain expressions, the sound of the language, the way sentences are structured and the unique meaning of words - all are based on local culture and our way of life.

Unfortunately, an increasing number of Thais are taking the importance of using Thai properly for granted. A recent Abac poll showed that 84.9 per cent of people surveyed said they didn't know how many vowels existed in the Thai language. Eighty per cent of people in the same survey said they didn't know the meaning of the word "poem", while 75 per cent did not know the meaning of "prose". A number didn't know how to express the sound of each Thai syllable properly.

If the result of the Abac survey is an indicator, the younger generation does not seem to be using the Thai language properly. The Abac survey showed that the demographic group with the biggest problem using Thai is teenagers (at 80.6 per cent). This group is followed by singers (46 per cent), actors and actresses (44.8 per cent), radio hosts (18.1 per cent), politicians (17.2 per cent), TV hosts (17.2 per cent), newscasters (15.8 per cent) and teachers (8.9 per cent).

Many youngsters are led to believe, by their peers and others, that it is cool to speak incorrect or slang Thai. They have seen radio and TV hosts using such language - and have heard these celebrity hosts mix up Thai with English.

Tongnetr Yangkarieng, a primary school teacher at Premruthai School in Wangnoi, Ayutthaya province, said that, by the primary level, students are normally able to use the Thai language competently. But when these same students go on to middle- or high-school level, the accuracy of their Thai-language knowledge seems to worsen because of an increasing influence from other mediums.

One factor in this is that they do not have proper role models to look up to, as many of the popular celebrities also fail to use the Thai language properly. Several DJs and singers cannot pronounce Thai words properly - and these personalities are seen as heroes by many impressionable youngsters.

The correct and effective use of the Thai language should enable us to better express ourselves. But modern Thai literature does not provide good usage of the language for readers to appreciate and learn from. Nowadays, in all areas of the print media, one sees written articles with numerous grammatical errors. Some are so bad they leave readers wondering what is the subject or noun in the sentence. The words that we choose to express ourselves cause confusion for the other party. Thus, the wrong words that we choose to express ourselves lead to the reader getting the wrong impression.

Sombat Plainoi, a veteran writer, attributes the problem to the fact that schools have abandoned the traditional style of teaching. In the old days, he says, teachers would ask students to read beautiful literary works in front of the class. By practising thus, students learned to use the language correctly. Schools these days tend to focus on rote training, to train students to get through their examinations. So, schools have reduced the time in which students can practise and appreciate the aesthetic side of literature and the arts.

Dr Kanchana Naksakul of the Royal Institute says the most worrying issue is that if children cannot use Thai properly, their learning processes will be negatively affected as they grow up. The result is that they will not be able to structure sentences or translate their ideas into longer essays. The use of words will be incoherent and the train of thought will not be smooth. Readers, and speakers, will not understand what it is they want to communicate. And thus, there will be a deep-rooted learning problem.

The promotion of the Thai language and its correct usage will be achieved through a combination of efforts from parents, schools, teachers and society at large. More attention should be placed on reading and writing in schools, to stimulate the learning process and enable children to choose, and use, words properly.