2006年VOA标准英语-Thai Prime Minister Counts on Rural Poor i

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
22 March 2006

Thousands of farmers from Thailand's poorest regions have come to Bangkok to provide support for besieged¹ Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.  Mr. Thaksin has long wooed low income voters in villages and cities with populist policies and is counting to them to back his Thai Rak Thai Party in the April 2 election.

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Thaksin Shinawatra  
  

The sounds of northern Thai folk music entertain hundreds of villagers gathered at a park on the outskirts² of Bangkok to support Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thousands of poorer farmers, predominantly from Thailand's poorest provinces in the north and northeast, last week traveled to the city as part of the "Caravan³ of the Poor." They have joined thousands of low income workers from Bangkok to urge people to vote for Mr. Thaksin in the April 2 general election.

The farmers and Mr. Thaksin's supporters from Bangkok are camped at the hastily set up the Village of the Poor People or "Baan Khun Jon."

Kanta Kaenboonjal, an organizer of the village, says many poor people in the provinces are grateful for the prime minister's policies.

Kanta, from the northeastern province of Buri Ram⁴, says Mr. Thaksin's policies, such as low-cost health care and efforts to cut the drug trade have all been welcomed.

Mr. Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (Thai Love Thai) Party built a support base among the country's poor to win elections in 2001. Those voters then gave Mr. Thaksin a landslide⁵ victory in 2005, making him the first prime minister to be re-elected after serving a full term.

Among other initiatives, Mr. Thaksin's government has cut fees at public hospitals to just 75 cents, and has made it easier for farmers to borrow money to expand.
 
 
Thai protester shouts a 'get out' slogan in front of Election Commission in Bangkok 
  
But Mr. Thaksin now faces a challenge from the country's urban middle class. For several months, his critics have campaigned to have him thrown out of office for abuse of power and corruption⁶.  They say his policies have favored his cronies and that he has tried to crack down on dissent⁷ by controlling the media. The campaign has grown in the past few months, with daily opposition⁸ rallies in Bangkok.

Thai Rak Thai responded with a massive rally in Bangkok in early March, gathering⁹ more than 100,000 people.

And at campaign stops across the country, Mr. Thaksin has reached out to his support base.

At rally after rally, Mr. Thaksin has called out to the audience to say if he should carry on as prime minister or quit. Invariably, the crowds respond with "Soon, soon," which means "carry on."

Thepchai Yong, a senior editor and a long-time political commentator¹⁰ for The Nation Media Group, says Mr. Thaksin tapped into poor communities, especially in the rural north, long overlooked by other politicians.

"Politicians in the past only paid lip service to helping¹¹ the poor," said Thepchai Yong.  "The Thai Rak Thai knew that this is one area they can really make an impact. And that's why you see a lot of people from the northeast, which is the poorest region in the country, coming in support of Thaksin."

Chris Baker¹², an author and business consultant¹³ on Thailand, says it is part of the paradox¹⁴ that surrounds Mr. Thaksin, a multi-millionaire businessman popular among the poor and working class.

"Yes, he does remain still very popular. Why? Because one he's done a lot of good things for the little people in Thailand," he explained.  "He is seen by a lot of the little people in Thailand as being like their friend.  He is a politician who is more real to them than the sort of stuffed characters they have had to deal with in the past. Therefore, they love him and they want him to stay."

But Mr. Baker says the government's control of many of the country's television and radio stations, and some publications, is troubling. He says that control means many people, especially in rural areas, may not have heard about the allegations of corruption surrounding the administration.

"His ability to control the media and use them fundamentally as propaganda arms of the government in the way totalitarian governments have used them in the past means the average person doesn't know what he's been doing," he added.

Polls published Wednesday in Bangkok show 46 percent of voters want Mr. Thaksin to stay in office, against 32 percent who want him to resign. While that is an erosion of his strong support in last year's election, the support numbers are enough to give Mr. Thaksin ammunition¹⁵ as he resists calls to quit.

The prime minister regularly says he will not quit because he has the backing of the 19 million voters who re-elected him last year.

At the Village of the Poor People, Noporat, 58, a housewife, is one of those supporters, and intends to vote for him again on April 2.

She says Mr. Thaksin is the first prime minister to care about the poor and she does not want him to step aside.

1 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

2 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

3 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

4 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

5 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

6 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。

7 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

13 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

14 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

15 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。