23 languages that are in danger of disappearing - one language, Phalok (the black dot) is considered extinct.
This is from UNESCO’s Interactive Map of the World’s Languages in Danger (link). I’ve know that “Thai” is not the only native language of Thailand – many of Yui’s friends in Khon Kaen speak the Isan Language which is similar to Laotian – but I did not realize how many native languages Thailand has – and soon they may all be gone, victims to the modern world. But then long before cable television and western ships arrived, Thailand has been a place where cultures mingled, it’s geography is open and accessible and, like Italy, stretches out into the sea, welcoming the world. The fear today is how fast the modern world has arrived and overtaken cultures, faster than global warming has taken the land, it is removing words from the world.
(via Thomas Crampton)