VOA标准英语2009年-Thailand Struggles to Contain Southern Vio

By Daniel Schearf
Bangkok
21 September 2009

Since 2004 Thailand has seen an upswing in violence in its troubled south, where an insurgency¹ has resulted in close to 4,000 deaths. The attacks seemed to be slowing down until June when a massacre² at a mosque³ renewed tensions between ethnic⁴ Thai Buddhists⁶ and Malay Muslims.

Soldiers in an armored vehicle are driving up to a military checkpoint on a road lined with barbed wire and sandbags.

They are all on guard, armed with M16 assault rifles and wearing body armor and helmets.

 
Thai soldiers examine the site where a bomb exploded outside a row of open-air shops and restaurants in the city of Pattani Province Thailand, 03 Sep 2009
There are an estimated 60,000 security personnel in southern Thailand's Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces. They are struggling to put down daily violence from an insurgency.

Some political analysts⁸ say the ethnic Malay rebels are seeking some form of independence from the Thai kingdom. But Colonel Parinya Chaidilok, a spokesman for the Thai military's Internal Security Operations Command, says the insurgents⁹ and their objectives are still a mystery.

"What they want...there are many problems behind the violence - drugs, smuggling¹⁰, influential¹¹ people - the problem of unrest is another one," he said.

A century ago, this majority ethnic Malay Muslim region was an independent sultanate until Thailand seized it.

The insurgents active in southern Thailand have never said who they are and what they want. However, they usually kill people viewed as symbols of the Thai Buddhist⁵ state or their collaborators.

Buddhist farmers, teachers, and monks¹³ collecting their daily alms require constant security or they risk being shot and beheaded.

 

 
Phra Palat Manat, a Buddhist monk¹² who has lived in Pattani his whole life, says the Buddhist and Muslim communities used to have friendly relations. But he says when the violence broke out they became suspicious of each other.

"In the past we depended on each other, helped each other. When Muslims had a wedding they would invite Buddhists to attend," he said. "But after the violence, the visits were few and far between. Sometimes we would attend, but there was always fear when we went out."

Incidents of violence declined early this year. Then in June masked gunmen stormed the Al-Furqan mosque in Narathiwat province during evening prayers, killing¹⁴ 12 people, including the imam.

Ayub Cheangoh was injured in the attack and says his wounds are still painful.

"After the incident we didn't trust the authorities," he said. "As Muslims, we don't trust the authorities. I recommend an independent organization investigate the Thai government."

One reason Thailand's Muslim Malays do not trust the government is because it has put the military in charge of security.

Rights groups say in its efforts to end the insurgency, security forces have committed extrajudicial killings¹⁵ and torture. Some victims of the military just disappear.

In 2004, Thai security forces were responsible for an attack on Pattani's 400-year-old Krue Se mosque, where a group of Muslim militants¹⁶ had sought refuge.

Analyst⁷ Ahmad Somboon Bualuang says Thai soldiers ignored orders from Bangkok to negotiate and instead bombarded the mosque, killing 32 insurgents.

A few months later, 78 anti-government demonstrators died of suffocation¹⁷ after they were arrested and packed into trucks.

Bualuang says the excessive use of force is still felt bitterly by Muslims.

"The situation is not at all resolved, and the incidents created more pain and made people angrier," he said.

Analysts and rights groups say the Thai government needs to punish those responsible for past abuses and eliminate emergency laws that allow the military to avoid prosecution¹⁸.

They say if Thai authorities restore a sense of justice for ordinary Malays they will prevent more sympathizers from joining the insurgency.

1 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

2 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

3 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

4 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。

5 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

6 Buddhists   

n.佛教徒( Buddhist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Jesuits in a phase of ascendancy, persecuted and insulted the Buddhists with great acrimony. 处于地位上升阶段的耶稣会修士迫害佛教徒，用尖刻的语言辱骂他们。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The return of Saivite rule to central Java had brought no antagonism between Buddhists and Hindus. 湿婆教在中爪哇恢复统治后，并没有导致佛教徒与印度教徒之间的对立。 来自辞典例句

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

10 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

11 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

12 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

13 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

16 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

17 suffocation   

n.窒息

参考例句：

• The greatest dangers of pyroclastic avalanches are probably heat and suffocation. 火成碎屑崩落的最大危害可能是炽热和窒息作用。 来自辞典例句
• The room was hot to suffocation. 房间热得闷人。 来自辞典例句

18 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。