I cannot say numbers, because I don't watch for them... So I took a blog I read regularly, and counted top level comments to some post, I got 10 people used it, 4 didn't use, and 8 didn't use words with "ั", so I cannot say, do they use "ั" or not.
So, it seems people use it pretty often. But books "for adults" for some reason use "ั" only when replacing it with "ะต" leads to ambiguity.
So, it seems people use it pretty often. But books "for adults" for some reason use "ั" only when replacing it with "ะต" leads to ambiguity.