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#InternationalMotherLanguageDay 🗣️ Languages in Thailand: Are they all equal?
📍Today is International Mother Language Day! Let's remember that there is more than one language used in Thailand, approximately 71. They cannot be forgotten even if Central Thai is the most spoken one. Read on to know more! ⤵️
➡️ Indeed, even though the Thai language varies in tones and vocabularies depending on the region: there are different Thai dialects. Along the borders, other languages like Lao or Karen are used. You can imagine the diversity of language classes there must be!
❌ And yet, this is not the case. The Thai school system teaches in the Thai language only. Children who do not speak Thai are being discriminated, while they should benefit from the same education opportunities! To enroll in the government school, they have to leave their mother tongue to learn Central Thai. Also, there are high rates of dropout and out-of-school children, particularly from non-Thai, stateless, indigenous, and ethnolinguistic minorities, according to UNICEF and UNESCO’s baseline studies on the situation of education in Thailand.
🚨 At least 14 of the 71 languages used in Thailand are expected to disappear by the end of the century. Abandoning a language is also abandoning a cultural heritage, a way of life, beliefs, history.
#WeAreManushyan ♾️ Equal Human Beings
🗣 We call on the Government to promote diversity in Thai educational system so that ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples are not left behind anymore! Using one's mother language is a human right!
✊ We believe that all languages are equally valuable, and deserve protection.
✊ We believe that language diversity will lead to more acceptance and inclusivity in the world!
👍 Like and share this post to raise awareness about this challenging issue!
🗣️ Say hi in your mother tongue in the comments below! 🙂 ⤵️
#WhatsHappeningInThailand #IndigenousRights #MotherLanguage #MotherTongue #IndigenousPeoples #Indigenous #EmpoweringCommunities #Equality #HumanRights #SaveThaiDemocracy #LocalCommunity #language #InternationalDay #MotherLanguageDay #CulturalHeritage #SocialJustice #EducationForAll #SaveBangkloi #RacialDiscrimination #WorldHeritage #Karen #SaveChana
References:
Babbel Magazine, What language is spoken in Thailand?, October 24, 2019, available at : https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/what-language-is-spoken-in-thailand
Wikipedia, Languages of Thailand, available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Thailand
Cultural Survival, Thailand: Group campaigns to salvage indigenous languages, available at: https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/thailand-group-campaigns-salvage-indigenous-languages