The Thai Minister of Education and his staff should press harder in their campaign to promote the use of English in Thailand

The Minister of Education and his staff should press harder in their campaign to promote the use of English in Thailand. Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat did a terrible, initial job of selling his sudden trial balloon to make English an official language. But then, the proposal to make English an official language is really not a very good idea at present. Perhaps the minister was confused, and instead of "official language" he meant to press more strongly for the use of the most common foreign language, officially. That is a goal worth pursuing, vigorously.

Mr Chinnaworn sprang his idea to establish English as the country's second official language earlier this month. It took many of the officials at the ministry, virtually all teachers and most of the public by surprise. The least surprising reaction was the almost instant, virtually knee-jerk resistance from inside the Ministry of Education to the proposal. But instead of facing the opposition from the bureaucrats forthrightly, Mr Chinnaworn recapitulated. And when he did, he resorted to a jaw-dropping justification. If Thailand were to adopt English as an official language, he claimed, people might think it was because Thailand used to be a foreign colony.

It is not as if there is no room for arguing over adopting English as an official language. A second language can be extremely cumbersome. It requires an entire cadre of civil servants, court and justice officers, military and police officers and others who must be totally and perfectly fluent in the second language. All parliament debates would have to allow speeches in either language, with constant, simultaneous interpreters in both directions. Instead of requiring Thai proficiency for citizenship, civil service examinations and state enterprise employment, either language would be acceptable.

The minister's explanation about colonialism makes no sense. History is clear, taught to all and widely known. It's simply a fact that Thailand was the only country in the region that never was the colony of a Western country. Truth and fiction alike - The King and I an obvious example - are clear about this.

It is as if the minister had not been outside for several years. If the impression of being colonised depended on use of English, the evidence is all around. In Bangkok alone, Thais go to "Siam Square" or Discovery or CentralWorld to watch foreign movies in English. People watch MTV and listen to rap music and drive Hondas and read, yes, that publication with the English name, the Bangkok Post. There is more use of English than ever before, and it is all around us. Yet no one seems to link this to some false logic that Thailand must have been a European colony in the past.

Mr Chinnaworn could have said that the country is probably not ready to have English as an official language. But it is actually advancing fairly quickly in the use of English as an uncontroversial common, second language. And in this, the Education Ministry could play a major role, starting immediately. That English can work in schools is already obvious, from the many successful "international" schools, attended mostly by Thais who use English during classes and extra-curricular activities alike.

Mr Chinnaworn should press harder for both the teaching of English and its use in state-run schools and the entire education system. At some point, the country may feel it is necessary or an advantage to have another official language. For now, it would be enough just to bring English to everyone across the country.