2006年VOA标准英语-Thai PM Thaksin Steps Down but Remains Con

By Scott Bobb
Bangkok
05 April 2006

The resignation of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Tuesday ended the tenure¹ of the longest-serving civilian² prime minister in modern Thai history. It was a development that few would have predicted one year ago, following his landslide³ re-election.

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Thaksin Shinawatra, center, is embraced by supporters as he leaves Thai Rak Thai party office,  April 5, 2006  
  

Thaksin Shinawatra announced, in a subdued⁴ tone, Tuesday that he was resigning as prime minister, saying the time had come for unity⁵ and national reconciliation⁶.

The mood was quite different 14 months ago when Mr. Thaksin made history as the first prime minister in modern Thai history to complete his term in office and win re-election.

During a campaign interview then, Mr. Thaksin, one of Thailand's richest men, explained what made him so popular among the poor, rural Thais who make up 70 percent of the population.

"I want to eradicate⁷ poverty. Poverty is very important," he said. "We have to help them [poor people]."

Thaksin Shinawatra was born on July 26, 1949, into a family of silk merchants originally from southern China.

He attended school in his native Chang Mai province, in northern Thailand, and graduated from Thailand's Royal Police Academy in 1973. Five years later he received a doctorate⁸ in criminal justice from Sam Houston University in the United States.

In the mid-1980s, he founded an electronic paging and mobile telephone company that grew into a multi-billion dollar telecommunications empire.

He entered politics only in the mid-1990s, serving in a coalition⁹ government as foreign minister and deputy prime minister before founding his own party in 1998, the Thai Rak Thai, or Thais Love Thais, party.

His party won the 2001 elections by a landslide. After surviving a legal challenge to his victory, Thaksin implemented¹⁰ his populist policies: subsidized public health programs, low-cost loans for rural poor, and village-based micro-industries.

He also lowered interest rates, leading to a consumer-based economic boom, and paid off billions of dollars worth of international loans left over from the 1997 financial crisis.

But economists¹¹ said his fiscal¹² policies were not sustainable. And human rights groups accused his government of heavy-handed tactics in campaigns to suppress the illegal drug trade and a separatist insurgency¹³ in the Muslim-dominated south.

Moreover, media advocates complained that he muzzled¹⁴ criticism in the press. And civic¹⁵ groups accused him of undermining checks-and-balances in Thailand's fledgling democracy while favoring business cronies and political allies with lucrative¹⁶ government contracts.

The author of a book on the Thaksin era, Chris Baker¹⁷, says Mr. Thaksin was an innovative¹⁸ force in Thai politics.

"He had some very good policies indeed, both his social policies and his economic policies," he said. "I think it is a pity that a man who wanted to control the country cannot control himself or his family or his cronies."

Mr. Thaskin resigned after months of protests that intensified¹⁹ after his family's tax free-sale of nearly two billion dollars of stocks in the company he founded.

In resigning, Mr. Thaksin said he would stay on as head of his party and he left open the possibility of rejoining the political fray²⁰ after some time outside Thai politics.

Baker says whatever his future, Thaksin Shinawatra has changed Thai politics.

"He has raised the expectation of the mass of the people in this society who in the past have not expected very much from politics, from government," he added.

Baker says that as a result, millions of Thais, particularly in poor, rural areas, have seen the value of their vote and its importance in a democratic system.

1 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 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。

4 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

7 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

8 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

11 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

13 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

14 muzzled   

给（狗等）戴口套( muzzle的过去式和过去分词 )； 使缄默，钳制…言论

参考例句：

• The newspapers were effectively muzzled by strict censorship laws. 严厉的新闻审查法有效地使那些报纸沉默了下来。
• Whenever in the street our dog is muzzled. 每当上街时，我们的狗总是戴上嘴套。

15 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

16 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

17 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。

18 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

19 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。