VOA标准英语2009年-Thai Army Hopes Economic Projects Ease Ins

Thailand's armed forces have turned to economic development programs to win over Muslim communities and ease the insurgency¹ in the country's southern provinces.
　
Thai soldiers carry their weapons as they patrol down a street in Thailand's restive² southern Narathiwat province (2007 file photo)

In the village of Baan Sa-e in Thailand's troubled Yala province, children display local products and food created in projects encouraging economic self-sufficiency.

The projects, backed by the military's Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC), are designed to raise crop yields for farmers.

Colonel Attadet Mattanom, a spokesman for the ISOC in southern Thailand, hopes the region's sectarian violence will ease if the economy improves.

"In this area we try to look after the local people here which are the majority of the population," he said. "They have a sufficient way of living - we try to make it more complete. If they have sufficient [means] to live and they live according to their religion then they think they are happy enough."

Thailand's southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani and Songkhla, are among the nation's poorest. The residents are predominantly ethnic³ Malay Muslims; overall, about 95 percent of Thais are Buddhists⁴.

Since 2004, the region has been wracked with violence, as the army battles an Islamist insurgency. More than 3,500 people have died, mostly civilians⁵.

The government has spent more than $3 billion to build up the economy and provide security in the south.
　
Yala Army Village Training Center, Southern Thailand

At a training center near the main army base in Yala, hundreds of people learn to improve their crops, oversee⁶ fish ponds, look after chickens and produce organic fertilizer.

The army says more than 7,000 families have already benefited from the program.

The center also offers a drug rehabilitation⁷ program that has treated more than 10,000 youth. Authorities say most villages in the south face problems with drug abuse, especially methamphetamines.

Winning "hearts and minds"

Such programs are central to the government's goal of winning "hearts and minds" in the region.

In the village Baan Mae Tinah in Pattani province a furniture factory is working at full capacity. It employs 20 men in a village that is home to a mix of Muslims and Buddhists.
　
Baan Mae Tinah Village Headman Nai Prayon Pumgow

Village headman Nai Prayon Pumgow says he has sympathy for Buddhists who feel threatened by the insurgency elsewhere in the south.

"I would like them to give the moral support so that they continue to live and fight," he said. "But in this area, there is peace. Here we live in peaceful coexistence. I would like to give my message to the Thais in other areas for them to live together in peace."

The Thai military points to this village as an example of its success in securing local support.

Professor Surachart Bamrungsuk is a political scientist from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. He says the new strategy helps build community confidence and also provides intelligence about the Islamist insurgents⁹.

"For me it would be better if we accept that counter-insurgency needs to win at the people level not at the military level - so the concept of winning the hearts and minds would be applicable to the Thai army," he said. "Then it becomes something new. That's why at this time the military has to adjust to a new kind of war."

The army, however, is tainted¹⁰ by accusations¹¹ of human rights abuses. Few cases have been fully¹² investigated and scores of deaths remain unexplained.

The Appeals Court recently rebuffed efforts to identify those responsible for the deaths of more than 70 men in 2004 in army detention¹³. The court ruled that security officials are protected from prosecution¹⁴ because the government has imposed emergency laws in the south.

Surachart says admitting its mistakes is difficult for the army.

"This is a problem because when we talk about the mistakes in the past they feel that they would like to move further into the future," he said. "That is to say, try to go away from what has happened in the past. But as you know sometimes it's not easy."

The insurgent⁸ violence goes on almost unabated, despite improved security in some areas.

But the army thinks it is on the right path. Colonel Kicha Srithongkul, is a deputy general commander of Songkhla Combined Task Force.
　
Colonel Kicha Srithongkul, Songkhla Combined Task Force

"That's why we come to this area - we want to open the village," he said. "We didn't talk together [with] the people, the villages didn't understand about the soldier, after we have to work together, they understand about the soldier. After we have to work together they understand much more."

Control over the southern border provinces has largely been in the hands of the army since emergency powers came into effect in 2004.

The army says such powers give it the flexibility¹⁵ needed to administer the region. There is considerable opposition¹⁶, however, among rights groups and community leaders in the south, who think it would be better if civilians administered the troubled region.

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 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。

3 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。

4 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

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

7 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

8 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

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 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

14 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。

15 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

16 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。