VOA标准英语2010年-Support Spreads Beyond the Poor in Tha

Middle class red shirt supporters Uraiwan Suwannasang, left, and Teerapan Suwannasang, in front of photos of their children at home in Ban Pheu, 17 May 2010

Many of the so-called Red-Shirt protesters who have spent more than two months demonstrating against the government on the streets of Thailand's capital come from the country's rural poor and urban working class. But in the Red-Shirt stronghold in Thailand's northeast, many wealthier Thais also back the movement, and they worry about the violence unfolding in Bangkok.

Housewife Uraiwan Suwannasang lives a comfortable life. Her home in the northeastern town of Ban Pheu is filled with trophies¹ and large photos of her three children, all university graduates working in the United States.

Uraiwan and her husband Teerapon, a retired² school principal, are fervent³ supporters of Thailand's anti-government Red Shirts, who have occupied downtown Bangkok in more than two months of protests.

Sporadic⁴ violence has left more than 60 people dead since the protests began. More than half the deaths have been in violence that began last week as the government began efforts to clear the protesters camp in central Bangkok.

Many of the protesters come from Thailand's northeastern Isaan region, a dry, rural area that is poorer than the rest of the country. But Uraiwan and her husband are not poor.

Uraiwan says she had never had much interest in politics until the 2006 coup⁵ that overthrew⁶ Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Much of Mr. Thaksin's popularity comes from policies such as cheap healthcare and rural loans, which helped many farmers escape poverty. But Uraiwan says she was too wealthy to benefit from that.

She says her support for the Red Shirts is about justice and fairness, although she also says raises for teachers under Mr. Thaksin made her family's life easier.

Thailand's political crisis is often simply characterized as a fight between poor rural Red Shirts and a government led by a royalist, wealthy elite⁷. But it also has a regional dimension. In the country's south, for example, support for the protesters is low, even among the poor. In the northeast, the situation is the opposite, with many middle-class people backing the movement.

Red shirt businessman Narong Meephet at his machine shop in Udon Thani

At a machine shop on the outskirts⁸ of the city of Udon Thani, Narong Meephet sees Mr. Thaksin as a political hero and a business idol⁹.

Narong employs 20 people who repair cars and tractors. He says he was too rich to benefit from Mr. Thaksin's policies. He says the Red-Shirt movement is about better economic management, and the desire of local people for more respect from the Bangkok elite.

Narong says he is a self-made man who rose from being a poor farmer near Bangkok to owning his own business after years of hard work as a mechanic and welder¹⁰ in the Middle East and Japan.

He says Mr. Thaksin's real strength was in teaching people to help themselves through policies like the rural loans program.

Narong says he occasionally contributes between $20 and $40 to the Red-Shirt movement, but is not a major backer. He thinks around half the businesspeople in Udon Thani, many of whom are ethnic¹¹ Chinese, back the Red Shirts. The other half sympathizes with their rivals, the Yellow Shirts, who oppose Mr. Thaksin.

In this region, as elsewhere in the country, many police are Red-Shirt supporters, earning them the nickname "tomatoes".

Red shirt police officer Sakda Muthasin outside the Ban Pheu police stattion, 17 May 2010
Danai Saribot is the police chief in Ban Pheu district.

He says between 60 and 70 percent of his officers are Red Shirts, but he insists they confine their political activities to when they are off-duty.

But out in the parking lot, one of his subordinates, Sakda Muthasin, walks up and talks unprompted. He says most officers back Mr. Thaksin in part because police wages rose under his government.

But he says he is also angry at the government over the deaths in Bangkok. He says if there was a nationwide crackdown, and he was asked to join, he would disobey orders. Instead, he says, he would defend the anti-government protesters.
 

1 trophies   

n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖

参考例句：

• His football trophies were prominently displayed in the kitchen. 他的足球奖杯陈列在厨房里显眼的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hunter kept the lion's skin and head as trophies. 这猎人保存狮子的皮和头作为纪念品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 fervent   

adj.热的，热烈的，热情的

参考例句：

• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。
• Austria was among the most fervent supporters of adolf hitler.奥地利是阿道夫希特勒最狂热的支持者之一。

4 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

5 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。

6 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。

7 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

8 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。

9 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

10 welder   

n电焊工

参考例句：

• He left school at 15 to become an apprentice to a welder.他15岁离开了中学成为一个焊接工人的学徒。
• Welder done at least once a month when the dust handling.焊机时每月至少做一次除尘处理。

11 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。