2007年VOA标准英语-Thai Investigators Probe Allegations of Corrupt

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
09 February 2007

A Thai committee examining alleged¹ corruption² by the deposed³ government of Thaksin Shinawatra says cases involving the country's new international airport will be presented to a criminal court by late May. As Ron Corben reports from Bangkok, the look into the troubled airport is just one of several investigations⁵ into Mr. Thaksin's administration.

 
Baggage car runs during testing at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok (April 2006 file photo)
A committee of auditors⁷ and senior judges says corruption in the construction of the $4 billion Suvarnabhumi International Airport might have cost taxpayers⁸ more than $40 million.

The Assets Investigation⁴ Committee was created by the Thai military after it ousted⁹ Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup¹⁰ last September.

The committee is investigating allegations of corruption during Mr. Thaksin's five-year term. Among the topics of investigation is the sale of his family's telecommunications company to a Singapore investment firm, which earned the family almost $2 billion tax-free.

The immediate¹¹ concern is the new airport, which opened in September southeast of Bangkok.

Auditor⁶ General Jaruvan Maintaka says the committee is "very confident" that the evidence supports allegations of corruption there - although she says uncovering the evidence was not easy.

"The whole thing was very well planned. It makes the whole investigation very much more difficult," she said.

Because of that, she says, the investigations have been painstaking¹².

"We need to be very certain that there would be no hole for them to look out. So we are very, very careful on each of the words we are going to use. That's why we take a certain time here," she said.

Appeals Court Judge Amnuay Phantara says the committee examined an airport contract for U.S.-made luggage scanners, known as CTX scanners, as well as contracts involving companies from Japan, Germany and Thailand.

 
A worker cleans the floor at the check-in lounge of the Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand, in this 21 July 2006 photo
Amnuay says the investigation closely follows the Anti-Corruption Act. He says final documents will be submitted to the Auditor General's office, to allow court hearings to start by late May.

Mr. Thaksin, the former transport minister, the former Airport Authority chairman and other Thaksin government officials have been accused of corruption in the CTX case. Mr. Thaksin and members of his government have repeatedly denied the allegations, which first surfaced while he was still in office.

 
Thaksin Shinawatra (file photo)
Earlier this week, the Democrat¹³ Party, a strong critic of Mr. Thaksin, released a summary of its own investigations into Thaksin-era dealings. The report estimates that corruption and cronyism¹⁴ cost Thailand more than $850 million.

Democrat Party deputy leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot calls the scanner contract central to the party's investigation, which also examined the contract for airport duty-free shops that went to a company called King Power.

"The CTX corruption scandal is one of the major topics in the book, and also about the King Power. We try to pinpoint¹⁵ that there is no transparency to provide such a concession," he said.

The new airport has been plagued by problems. Cracks in the parking ramps¹⁶ for jetliners and other flaws have forced the government to start reopening Bangkok's old airport, which had been closed down. Some domestic and international flights will be routed there until the problems are resolved.

1 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

6 auditor   

n.审计员，旁听着

参考例句：

• The auditor was required to produce his working papers.那个审计员被要求提供其工作底稿。
• The auditor examines the accounts of all county officers and departments.审计员查对所有县官员及各部门的帐目。

7 auditors   

n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生

参考例句：

• The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
• a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议

8 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

9 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

10 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

11 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

12 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

13 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

14 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

15 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

16 ramps   

resources allocation and multiproject scheduling 资源分配和多项目的行程安排

参考例句：

• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。
• He has the upper floor and ramps are fitted everywhere for his convenience. 他住在上面一层，为了他的方便着想，到处设有坡道。