VOA慢速英语2015 联合国质疑泰国航空的安全性

AS IT IS 2015-04-01 UN Agency Questions Thailand’s Air Safety 联合国质疑泰国航空的安全性

Update: China and Singapore have joined Japan and South Korea in restricting flights by Thailand's airlines.

The UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reported “significant safety concerns” with Thailand’s air safety practices last week.  The negative report may prevent some flights from coming out of the kingdom and forced Thailand’s government to deal quickly with the results on Monday. 

Responding to the ICAO’s negative review, Japan and South Korea decided¹ to block new charter and scheduled flights from Thailand. This means existing flights can still land in Japan and Korea. However, they cannot change their equipment or schedules.

Thailand is concern that other countries, including the United States, will take similar action. That action might come if the ICAO changes the rating of air safety in Thailand from Category 1 to Category 2. The ICAO’s Category 1 rating means the country does obey ICAO standards. A Category 2 rating means the country does not follow ICAO standards for airline safety.

A U.S. government source - speaking off the record – said the ICAO report would probably cause the Federal Aviation Administration to review Thailand's flight safety practices. He said the ICAO review results were a serious warning signal for the FAA.

Thailand’s government quickly met to review the report

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha met on Monday with Civil Aviation department Director-General Somchai Piputvat and officials of the Thai transport ministry² to discuss the report.

The prime minister was the army chief when he overthrew³ Thailand's government in a military coup⁴ last May.  He said he discussed the Japanese and South Korean bans on new flights with the leaders of both countries. The prime minister said they promised to further consider the problem.

Prime Minister Prayuth also said he would use powers under Section 44 of the interim⁵ constitution to fix the problems of Thailand's airlines. Section 44 allows the leader of the junta⁶ to issue any orders he thinks are needed without asking a judge or lawmakers for support.

“This is a national issue. The transport ministry will quickly solve the problem" because "dominos are starting to fall," transport Minister Prajin Juntong told reporters after the meeting.

Officials blame previous governments

Thailand's officials are blaming previous administrations for not paying attention to the problem. "The ICAO has warned us since 2005 about our aviation management and asked us to improve our systems," Prajin said.

On March 2, the civil aviation department gave the ICAO its plan for improving safety. It was reported that the ICAO rejected the plan because it proposed a two-year period to fix problems.

The ICAO's regional office in Bangkok said it could not comment on the report. It has not yet been made public. The office referred all questions to its headquarters in Montreal, Canada.

Some media reports Monday said that in the review by ICAO, Thailand passed only 21 out of 100 areas. This mean Thailand’s overall score was lower than any other ASEAN nation.

Critics have said there are many reasons for the problems in Thailand's civil aviation sector⁷. Among these are frequent changes of government and corruption⁸.

ICAO concerns

Industry sources said the most serious concerns involve weaknesses in safety regulations for low-cost airline companies. These include permission to operate flights and to move dangerous goods.

On professional pilots' forums⁹ on the Internet, there have been comments about the ICAO safety warning. Some industry workers say that government inspectors¹⁰ took bribes¹². That is, they accepted cash and massages¹³ to sign off on paperwork.

One comment came from an employee of a "substandard" Thai charter airline. He quit when he heard that executives had decided to not purchase any more parts for maintenance. He refused to fly planes that were not fixed¹⁴.

The effect of a lower FAA rating

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is an agency that oversees¹⁵ airline regulation for the United States. The FAA will probably carry out its own review of Thailand’s air safety practices.

A lower rating by FAA for Thailand would mean, among other things, that Thai airlines could no longer have code share operations with U.S. airlines. With a code share operation, one airline can operate the planes while another airline sells tickets and markets the flights.

In addition to the kingdom's main airline, Thai Airways¹⁶, the ICAO safety warning is also affecting low-cost carriers Thai Air Asia X, NokScoot and Asia Atlantic Airlines.

Travel industry officials in Thailand worry that people will get the idea that the country's airlines are now unsafe. That could hurt tourism. Tourism is very important to the Thai economy, because it employs millions of people. Over the past 18 months, tourism has decreased because of concerns about tourists' safety and political unrest.

Words in This Story

charter - adj. hired for temporary use

aviation - n. the business or practice of flying airplanes, helicopters, etc.

coup (coup d’etat) - n. a sudden attempt by a small group of people to take over the government usually through violence

junta - n. a military group controlling a government after taking control of it by force

interim - adj. used or accepted for a limited time; not permanent

sector - n.  an area of an economy : a part of an economy that includes certain kinds of jobs

bribe¹¹ - n. something valuable (such as money) that is given in order to get someone to do something

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

4 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。

5 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

6 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 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。

9 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

10 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

12 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

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。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

13 massages   

按摩，推拿( massage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At present the doctor is giving him daily massages to help restore the function of his limbs. 目前医生每天在给他按摩，帮助他恢复腿臂的功能。
• His father massages his nose and chin. 他爸爸揉了揉鼻子和下巴。

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

15 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

16 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。