全球油价冲击泰国消费者

Thai Consumers Feel Impact of Global Oil Prices

全球油价冲击泰国消费者

 

Thailand's energy users are beginning to feel the full impact of rising global oil prices, and economists² warn the effect of energy costs could hurt the country's economy. The Thai government is calling on consumers to cut their use of oil products.

 

Bangkok remains³ a city congested with traffic, even as consumers bemoan⁴ sharp hikes in fuel prices. For Thai commuters, rising oil prices forced some hard decisions of car use. There are signs some drivers are switching to mass transit⁶ and public taxis to save money.

 

Kanachet Ruttavisit, a foreign exchange trader at Bangkok Bank, says people are also cutting back spending on other products as fuel price rises hit across the country.

 

Kanachet Ruttavisit: I should I would say it affects all Thai people. We have to save money for the rising oil price, because every week you see oil price increase at least one or two times based on the prices in the global market.

 

Thailand imports 90 percent of its crude oil, at a cost of about $25 billion last year. That amounts to 15 percent of Thailand's gross national product.

 

Thailand's economy relies heavily on export income, but the growth of exports has slowed as the cost of imported oil has risen -- contributing to trade and current account deficits⁸. Those have the spin-off effects of a weaker Thai baht and pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates.

 

The Thai government hopes voluntary conservation steps will cut oil consumption. But officials have also spoken about the possibility of limiting oil imports to force conservation and reduce the trade deficit⁷.

 

Thai Energy Minister Viset Choopiban has called for measures which include closing petro-stations early and switching off the lights on billboards⁹ and night golf areas after 9 p.m. Thai Government spokesman, Chalermdej Jombunud explains.

 

Chalermdej Jombunud: The first stage the government [will] try to convince the people to save energy by the certain campaign. After three months we will evaluate the result and if it cannot reduce the use of energy then we will go on to the step of control.

 

The Thai government says it is also committed to eliminating its last major energy subsidies¹⁰ - a marked contrast to just over two years ago when it maintained subsidies as global prices rose before the Iraq War. At the time, officials said the government was willing to spend $55 million a month to keep the subsidies in place.

 

But now it has begun phasing out the remaining subsidies for diesel¹¹ fuel and cooking gas, which will be eliminated by the end of the year.

 

Arporn Chewakrengai, the chief economist¹ for the Government Pension Fund, says the rapid phase-out of diesel oil subsidies hit the economy hard, because the cost of transport affects the cost of nearly all goods.

 

Arporn Chewakrengai: For the Thai economy, maybe it even has a higher impact this year. It is because this subsidy¹² program takes too long especially on the diesel prices. I think (since) early this year the diesel price is over 40 percent increase in a short period from March to the end of June.

 

Some foreign investors¹⁴ are re-examining plans for Thailand, as they see costs rising on materials and labor¹⁵ as oil price rises filter through the economy.

 

Kunihiro Okamoto is an investor¹³ from Japan currently assessing whether he will go ahead with a project in Thailand.

 

Kunihiro Okamoto: Maybe if this high price continues, some small companies must go home, go back to Japan, because every company comes to Thailand because of the price of material and cheaper labor cost, and [now] everything is coming up higher, I think for the small company it is very difficult to continue -- like us.

 

The increased energy costs, higher interest rates and slide in consumption translates into slower economic growth for Thailand.

 

Andrew Stotz, a research analyst¹⁶ with Macquarie Securities (Thailand) says the outlook is poor.

 

Andrew Stotz: My feeling is that we have probably got a very weak second quarter and probably a weak third quarter.

 

The five percent forecast growth for 2005 is now being marked down to around three percent by economists and analysts¹⁷.

 

For now, Thais are bracing¹⁸ for more tough times ahead as their economy adjusts to higher global oil prices.

 

Ron Corben for VOA news, Bangkok.

 

注释：

Bangkok [bAN5kCk] n. 曼谷（泰国首都）

congest [kEn5dVest] vt. 使充满，使拥塞

bemoan [bi5mEun] vt. 哀叹，感叹

hike [haik] n. 增加

commuter⁵ [kE5mju:tE] n. 通勤者，经常往返者

spin-off n. 让产易股，抽资脱离

baht [bB:t] n. 铢，泰国货币单位

subsidy [5sQbsidi] n. 补助金，津贴

diesel [5di:zEl] n. 柴油机

outlook [5autluk] n. 前景

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 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》

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 bemoan   

v.悲叹，哀泣，痛哭；惋惜，不满于

参考例句：

• Purists bemoan the corruption of the language.主张语文纯正的人哀叹语言趋于不纯。
• Don't bemoan anything or anyone that you need to leave behind.不要再去抱怨那些你本该忘记的人或事。

5 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

6 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

7 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

8 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

9 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

10 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

12 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

13 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

15 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

16 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。

17 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。

18 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。