VOA标准英语2009年-Internet, Satellite Communications Widen P

Thailand has undergone a quiet revolution as satellite broadcasters and the Internet have challenged traditional broadcast outlets¹ to lead the political debate. There are concerns the government now wants to undercut these new challengers.

Back in 2005, when Thai media magnate Sondhi Limthongkul began airing his rallies against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, like this one, he led a technical revolution in Thailand's political debate.

Sondhi used his ASTV network to place his speeches on the Internet, and then re-fed it to Thailand via satellite television, taking politics to a wider segment of the population.

Chris Baker², an author and commentator³ on Thai politics, says Sondhi took advantage of loopholes in Thailand's broadcast laws. Baker says that placed the message beyond the government's control.

"The ability to broadcast a signal over the Internet outside Thailand, so that it could be uploaded legally to a satellite, and that really made a huge change because the government didn't have the legal means to control that," he said. "Suddenly you had a level of political debate on television you had never seen before."

The government has almost total control over the broadcast airwaves. And during Mr. Thaksin's government, he set about putting limits on the print media, which had for decades set the tone for political debate.
　
Anti-Thaksin rally, Thailand (2006 file photo)

Sondhi's ASTV galvanized support for his effort to oust⁴ Mr. Thaksin, especially among the urban middle class, which considered the prime minister corrupt⁵ and authoritarian⁶. Eventually, Mr. Thaksin was removed in a coup⁷ in 2006 and now lives in exile.

But Mr. Thaksin remains⁸ influential⁹ in Thai politics. And the former telecommunications entrepreneur in turn uses technology to encourage his supporters - primarily rural residents and the urban poor. Frequently in the past six months he has addressed rallies via satellite and Internet connections, urging his backers, known as Red Shirts, to press for new elections.

Some of those backers have created Democratic TV - DTV - to broadcast their rallies via the Internet and small community radio stations.

Thepchai Yong, a director of the Thailand Public Broadcast Service, says while ASTV and DTV are at extreme points of the political spectrum¹⁰, their existence is positive.

"They have helped raise the people's awareness¹¹ of what is going on politically," said Thepchai. "Certain people believe the mainstream¹² media are not doing a good enough job, so this is why they have to turn to this alternative media."
　
Anti-government protesters and supporters of ousted¹³ PM Thaksin Shinawatra set a bus afire during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, 13 Apr 2009

But the government has grown wary¹⁴ of satellite transmissions and the Internet, particularly after Red Shirt riots rocked Bangkok in April, and forced the cancellation¹⁵ of regional summit meeting.

Immediately after the riots, the authorities blocked transmissions on DTV, community radio stations and several websites.

But by mid-June pro-Thaksin groups had set up a new satellite channel, while community radio stations were again transmitting. A new newspaper has even been introduced.

Despite the use of technology to spread political debate, Thailand's reputation for independent media has fallen over recent years. In 2009, the civic¹⁶ advocacy group Freedom House in New York ranked Thailand's media freedoms as 122nd in a survey of 195 countries. In 2000, Thailand was 29th.

In 2007, laws governing the Internet were toughened, and thousands of Web sites accused of insulting the Thai monarchy¹⁷ have been blocked or shutdown.

Authorities also have blocked Web sites favorable to Mr. Thaksin.

Media activist¹⁸ Supinya Klangnarong says the fight over media freedom has shifted away from print to the Internet. She says about 1,000 Web sites have been blocked, and that people convicted of breaching¹⁹ the Internet laws could face prison.

"I think the climate of fear and the way to control them in the online media is increasing," said Supinya.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said he wants to promote Thailand as a hub of regional press freedom. Mr. Abhisit says the government will try to avoid shutting down Web sites - especially those deemed offensive to the monarchy - but instead take legal action against them.

The struggle over political debate in Thailand having shifted to the Internet, Supinya sees Thai governments in the future coming under growing pressure as more people go on-line to air their views, which many felt have been overlooked by traditional broadcast media.

1 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 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。

3 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。

4 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

5 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

6 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

11 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

12 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

13 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

14 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

15 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

16 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。

17 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

18 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

19 breaching   

攻破( breach的过去式 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。
• Third, an agency can abuse its discretion by breaching certain principles of judge-made law. 第三，行政机关会因违反某些法官制定的法律原则而构成滥用自由裁量权。