In Reply to: "Bahasa Indonesia, not Bahasa" posted by thomas indoeasy on Saturday, 8. April 2006 at 05:51 Bali Time:
99.999% of all Indonesians refer to the Indonesian language as Bahasa. So, it stands to reason that if you say to an Indonesia: I can't speak bahasa well, they'll probably work out what you mean. It's the same in Malaysia, though!
I don't know any Indonesians who have got het up because a tourist says bahasa instead of bahasa Indonesia, but perhaps you know a few more than me.