有争议的水稻方案使泰国执政党的声望有所影响 Controversial Rice Scheme Risks Thai Ruling Party's Popularity

VOA常速英语2014--Controversial Rice Scheme Risks Thai Ruling Party's Popularity 有争议的水稻方案使泰国执政党的声望有所影响

BANGKOK — Thailand's unfinished election means the current caretaker government cannot create any new debt, leaving rice farmers owed billions of dollars as part of a budget-busting, controversial subsidy 1 program. The ruling party campaigned on the subsidy plan, which analysts 2 now say has become a spectacular failure.

在曼谷郊区Nonthaburi省的商务部外面，农民们在集会中，举着牌子在联合收割机前，要求英拉政府解决延迟支付大米补贴计划的欠款，2014年2月6日 曼谷，——泰国未完成的竞选意味着英拉看守政府不能发行新债，这样，作为破产预算和有争议的补贴计划的一部分，（使得）农民欠了数十亿美元。

The embattled government came to power pledging increased incomes for rice farmers through a plan that pays up to 40 percent above market price for all the grain they can sell.

泰国被围困的政府因保证可增加大米农民收入而上台，它的办法是通过一个计划，以高于市场多达百分之40的价格付给大米农民他们所有能卖出的大米。

The rice pledging program encouraged over-production and made Thai rice uncompetitive for export, ballooning government spending by billions and creating a mountain of stored grain.

这个鼓励超量生产的保证大米价格项目，导致泰国大米不具竞争性，政府支出增加，以及堆积如山的大米存量。

A Chinese company Wednesday pulled out of a deal to buy over a million tons of stockpiled Thai rice.

一家中国公司在星期三撤销了购买上百万吨泰国大米的交易。

The collapsed 3 deal struck a blow to the government's efforts to off-load an estimated 20 million tons in danger of rotting in warehouses 4.

交易的失败让政府解决库存的大约20,000,000吨大米的努力失败。

Ammar Siamwalla of the Thailand Development Research Institute says the program also appears rife 5 with corruption 6.

泰国发展研究所专家阿玛尔.西亚姆瓦拉说，这个项目看来也充满腐败。

“Very shady. And, most of it is in the disposal of the rice, in the sale of the rice," he said. "And, it is not shady, it is completely dark... Because no figures are ever revealed."

西亚姆瓦拉说：“非常可疑。而且它大部分涉及大米的处置、大米的销售。它不只是可疑，它简直是完全在黑暗中，因为从来没有数字被公布。”

The rice pledging scheme in 2012 cost Thailand the title of world's biggest rice exporter, a position it had held for three decades.

Reports of cheaper rice smuggled 7 from neighboring Burma and Cambodia and sold as "Thai rice" further tarnish 8 the program's image.

泰国国家肃贪委员会正在调查总理英拉在大米价格政策上的角色，英拉在其中的角色有可能导致她被弹劾。

Thailand's National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is investigating Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's role in the rice scheme that could see her impeached 9.

泰国反政府示威者认为，大米项目是一个执政党治理政策上的失败，他们鼓励农民加入他们的行列，支持一个未经选举的改革委员会。

Several other officials, including a former commerce minister, are being investigated for corruption over the policy.

包括商业部长在内的一些政府官员因为政策的失败被调查。

The subsidy is an expansion of populist programs by her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, that included cheap loans and affordable 10 health care for the countryside.

补贴是英拉的哥哥前总理他信，为乡下民众提供的受欢迎项目，包括低利贷款和健保的扩大。

Those policies helped Thaksin get elected twice before he was ousted 11 by the military in a 2006 coup 12.

这些政策帮助塔克辛 在2006前被军事政变撤职之前被选举两次。

Ammar Siamwalla says newer policies, including tablet computers for school kids and tax rebates 13 for first time car owners, show mixed results.

新的政策包括给学校孩童的平板电脑，以及给首次购车车主的回馈金。不过泰国发展研究所专家阿玛尔.西亚姆瓦拉说，这些政策结果好坏参半。

“The health care is probably the best policy the Thai government, any Thai government, has ever implemented 14... Just as the rice pledging scheme, the current rice pledging scheme, is the worst policy any Thai government has ever implemented,” he said.

西亚姆瓦拉说：“健保可能是泰国政府，任何泰国政府实施过最好的政策，不过目前的大米保证价格项目，也是任何泰国政府实施过的最糟糕的政策。”

Thailand's anti-government protesters, supported by the opposition 15, cite the rice program as a failure of the ruling party's populist rule. 

由反对党支持的反政府抗议者把稻谷计划视作是执政党的平民项目的失败。

Thousands have occupied major Bangkok intersections 16 since January and are encouraging farmers to join them in calls for an un-elected reform council to take over government and clean up corruption.

自从1月份以来，成千上万的人已经占据Bangkok的主要道路枢纽，并且鼓励农民加入他们，号召一个非选举改革委员会来接任政府，清除腐败。

The protesters tried to stop the February2 national elections by blocking candidate registrations 17 and voters.  Legal challenges and by-elections are expected to take months to complete.

这些抗议者试图通过阻止候选人和选民来阻止在2月进行的国家选举。合法的挑战和补选可能持续数月来完成。

The standoff over elections means rice farmers, not paid in months, have longer to wait.

这种僵持意味着好几个月没有收入的农民还将在等一段时间。

But most are still reluctant to turn on the politicians who supported them.

但大多数人任然对支持他们的政客不感兴趣。

Rice farmer Thitiya Boonkhean is owed $6,000. She now sells anti-government T-shirts to protesters to make a living.

泰国政府积欠大米农民蒂提亚.布恩基恩6千美元，她现在依赖卖T恤衫维生。

She says she is neutral in the political dispute and does not favor any side.  She wishes the two sides would hold talks and come to an understanding.  Farmers are now facing great hardships, she says, as they have not received any money from the rice pledging scheme.

卖T恤衫大米农民蒂提亚.布恩基恩说：“我是中立的，我不偏好任一方。我希望两边能够以对话取得了解。农人现在面临艰苦的日子，因为我们没有从大米保证价格项目上收到任何金钱。”

There are signs farmers are losing patience.  Some are blocking roads in protest against the withheld 18 payments and on Thursday petitioned Thailand's government and the revered 19 monarch 20 for help.

迹象显示农民正在逐渐失去耐心，他们挡住道路并向泰国政府请愿，甚至求助于泰国皇室。

But so far, their numbers are small.

不过他们的人数至今还很少。

Prime Minister Yingluck says, if re-elected, she will revise the rice pledging scheme but has not yet said in what way the bloated program will change.

泰国总理英拉说，如果她取得连任，她将会修改大米保证价格项目，不过她还没有说，将如何改变这个膨胀的项目。