Isan more split than it seems: 48.9% from Isan red shirt heartland oppose red shirt demands for dissolution of House
By Jon Fernquest
Most
people associate "red shirt" with "Isan." Isan is the relatively poor farming region of northeastern Thailand that was historically part of Laos hundreds of years ago and still largely speaks a dialect of Lao as a first language.
(For historical details of Siam's conquest of Isan hundreds of years ago see: Paths to conflagration : fifty years of diplomacy and warfare in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, 1778-1828, Mayoury Ngaosyvathn, 1998,Cornell University, Google Books).
The current red shirt demand is crystal clear: immediate dissolution of the House.
What isn't so clear is whether Isan people as a whole accept and approve of this idea.
They are actually split almost 50-50 on whether this is a good idea.
That is what today's article is about.
The article is taken from the Bangkok Post's "In Print" column which provides a sampling of articles from the Thai language press. Extracts of articles are taken from Thai newspapers such as Thai Rath, Matichon and Post Today.
Today's article begins after the vocabulary:
Isan - the poor
northeastern farming region of Thailand (See Wikipedia)
Isan language - "the collective name for the dialects of the Lao language as they are spoken in Thailand...spoken by approximately 20 million people...nearly one-third of the entire population of Thailand...There are more speakers of Lao (Isan) in Thailand than in Laos" (See Wikipedia)
heartland - the region of a country where a belief or activity is common
dissolve (verb) - when an organisation is ended (broken apart so that it no longer exists)
dissolution (noun) - the act of ending an organisation's existence (breaking it apart)
the House - the lower house of parliament which has elected representatives from relatively small areas (constituencies), as opposed to the Senate which is the upper house of parliament
dissolution of the House - the act of ending the current elected House and then electing a new one
associate X with Y - think of X when you hear or see Y
sampling - a small selection to learn about and get information about the whole thing
the press - newspapers and magazines
Thai language press - newspapers and magazines written with the Thai language for Thai people
extract - a small part taken from a larger text or article
Thai Rath - daily newspaper with greatest circulation in Thailand (See website and Wikipedia)
circulation - number of copies of a newspaper sold each day
Matichon - "newspaper considered essential reading for Thailand's educated classes. Its editorial line is moderate to progressive" (See website and Wikipedia)
Post Today - Thai language newspaper owned by Bangkok Post with a business focus (See website and Wikipedia)
Isan language - "the collective name for the dialects of the Lao language as they are spoken in Thailand...spoken by approximately 20 million people...nearly one-third of the entire population of Thailand...There are more speakers of Lao (Isan) in Thailand than in Laos" (See Wikipedia)
heartland - the region of a country where a belief or activity is common
dissolve (verb) - when an organisation is ended (broken apart so that it no longer exists)
dissolution (noun) - the act of ending an organisation's existence (breaking it apart)
the House - the lower house of parliament which has elected representatives from relatively small areas (constituencies), as opposed to the Senate which is the upper house of parliament
dissolution of the House - the act of ending the current elected House and then electing a new one
associate X with Y - think of X when you hear or see Y
sampling - a small selection to learn about and get information about the whole thing
the press - newspapers and magazines
Thai language press - newspapers and magazines written with the Thai language for Thai people
extract - a small part taken from a larger text or article
Thai Rath - daily newspaper with greatest circulation in Thailand (See website and Wikipedia)
circulation - number of copies of a newspaper sold each day
Matichon - "newspaper considered essential reading for Thailand's educated classes. Its editorial line is moderate to progressive" (See website and Wikipedia)
Post Today - Thai language newspaper owned by Bangkok Post with a business focus (See website and Wikipedia)
Politics
IN Print
The real voice of Isan people
24/04/2010Kamol Hengkietisak
Generally when Thais from other regions talk about Isan people, they dismiss them as "red all over" - meaning Isan people are strong supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's Puea Thai Party.
They also believe that Thais from Isan are the main bulwark of the red shirt rally in Bangkok, noted a Thai Rath editorial.
voice
- expression feelings or opinions ออกความคิด
dismiss - to refuse to accept that someone or something is important มองข้าม, ปฏิเสธ
premier - prime minister
bulwark - people or things that protect and defends a belief or way of life (original meaning: a wall built for defense) กำแพงต้านศัตรู
rally - a large public gathering of people to support someone or to protest against something การชุมนุมประท้วง
editorial - an article in a newspaper that gives the opinion of the author or newspaper
dismiss - to refuse to accept that someone or something is important มองข้าม, ปฏิเสธ
premier - prime minister
bulwark - people or things that protect and defends a belief or way of life (original meaning: a wall built for defense) กำแพงต้านศัตรู
rally - a large public gathering of people to support someone or to protest against something การชุมนุมประท้วง
editorial - an article in a newspaper that gives the opinion of the author or newspaper
However, in reality this may not be so. According to Isan Poll, an opinion survey conducted by Khon Kaen University and released on Monday, about 51.1% of respondents agree with the red shirts' demand for a dissolution of the House. An almost equal number - 48.9% - do not.
Isan people appear closely divided on whether the government should dissolve the House. This is the real voice of the Isan people.
in
reality - what actually is true, what actually happened
ความเป็นจริง
poll, survey - gathering information about what people think about different subjects (public opinion) by asking large numbers of people questions and counting their answers, and then using statistics, graphs, and tables to present results (See Wikipedia)
released - made available to the public
a demand - a request, asking people to do something
dissolve (verb) - when an organisation is ended (broken apart so that it no longer exists)
dissolution (noun) - the act of ending an organisation's existence (breaking it apart)
the House - the lower house of parliament which has elected representatives from relatively small areas (constituencies), as opposed to the Senate which is the upper house of parliament
dissolution of the House - the act of ending the existence of the House
poll, survey - gathering information about what people think about different subjects (public opinion) by asking large numbers of people questions and counting their answers, and then using statistics, graphs, and tables to present results (See Wikipedia)
released - made available to the public
a demand - a request, asking people to do something
dissolve (verb) - when an organisation is ended (broken apart so that it no longer exists)
dissolution (noun) - the act of ending an organisation's existence (breaking it apart)
the House - the lower house of parliament which has elected representatives from relatively small areas (constituencies), as opposed to the Senate which is the upper house of parliament
dissolution of the House - the act of ending the existence of the House
Let's talk about the reasons behind their opinions. Those who agreed with the call for a dissolution said the economy was no good, the government did not work effectively, the political impasse would end if a poll was held, they did not like the government, they wished to see stability return to the country, they wanted a "people's democracy", they wanted to elect their own prime minister, and they wanted a "genuine" democracy.
Those who did not agree with the call for a dissolution gave the following reasons: The economy would stagnate, the government's work on essential projects would be disrupted, social divisions were still too deep for the country to go to the polls now, and the country's image would suffer if the government yielded to the red shirts' demands.
effectively
- working well and producing the results that they wanted
impasse - in a difficult position, impossible to make progress and move forwards no one is willing to change their opinion or decision and compromise ทางตัน
poll - an election (slightly different meaning from above) การเลือกตั้ง
stability - a situation without sudden and unpredictable changes, so people can operate normally and successfully ความมีเสถียรภาพ ความมั่นคง
genuine - real; honest; sincere ซึ่งเป็นของจริง, ซึ่งเป็นของแท
stagnate - stop moving forward, changing, progressing, getting better หยุดไม่เจริญ, ซบเซา
essential - necessary and important ที่จำเป็น ที่สำคัญ
disrupted - interrupted and prevented from continuing smoothly by creating problems ขัดขวาง
social divisions - parts of society that do not agree with each other on issues
image - an opinion that people have about someone or something ภาพลักษณ์
image suffers - opinion that people have of you declines and gets worse
demands - the things that someone is asking you to do
impasse - in a difficult position, impossible to make progress and move forwards no one is willing to change their opinion or decision and compromise ทางตัน
poll - an election (slightly different meaning from above) การเลือกตั้ง
stability - a situation without sudden and unpredictable changes, so people can operate normally and successfully ความมีเสถียรภาพ ความมั่นคง
genuine - real; honest; sincere ซึ่งเป็นของจริง, ซึ่งเป็นของแท
stagnate - stop moving forward, changing, progressing, getting better หยุดไม่เจริญ, ซบเซา
essential - necessary and important ที่จำเป็น ที่สำคัญ
disrupted - interrupted and prevented from continuing smoothly by creating problems ขัดขวาง
social divisions - parts of society that do not agree with each other on issues
image - an opinion that people have about someone or something ภาพลักษณ์
image suffers - opinion that people have of you declines and gets worse
demands - the things that someone is asking you to do
Isan people who wanted a dissolution cited remarks by former prime ministers Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Somchai Wongsawat, who told the media this week that if the country does not have a "genuine" democracy, deep-rooted problems could not be solved.
The pair said the country's problems stemmed from injustice and non-democracy - but did not explain what they meant.
They also failed to tell the public what they had done to tackle those problems when they were in charge.
For the red shirt leaders, the meaning of "genuine" democracy amounts to no more than bringing back the previous constitution with Thaksin restored to power, to do away with the wrongs committed by the 2006 coup-makers, the newspaper argued.
cited
- mentioned as example (to support pr prove a point you are making or
arguing) กล่าวถึง
remarks - a few words said about some issue or topic
media - radio, television, newspaper, the Internet, considered as a group สื่อ
deep-rooted - a strong feeling, belief or idea held for a long time and difficult to change
injustice - failure to treat someone fairly and to respect their rights ความไม่ยุติธรรม
injustice - when something unfair happens to people
tackle, tackle problem - try to solve a problem แก้ปัญหา, จัดการกับปัญหา
in charge - in control, managing a business or supervising some activity (to make sure it goes well)
genuine - real, not pretended, fake or false
restored to power - gain political power again and control government, after losing it in the past
power - energy in the form of electricity produced in large quantities and used to operate lights, machines, and heating
wrongs committed by Y - bad things done by Y
remarks - a few words said about some issue or topic
media - radio, television, newspaper, the Internet, considered as a group สื่อ
deep-rooted - a strong feeling, belief or idea held for a long time and difficult to change
injustice - failure to treat someone fairly and to respect their rights ความไม่ยุติธรรม
injustice - when something unfair happens to people
tackle, tackle problem - try to solve a problem แก้ปัญหา, จัดการกับปัญหา
in charge - in control, managing a business or supervising some activity (to make sure it goes well)
genuine - real, not pretended, fake or false
restored to power - gain political power again and control government, after losing it in the past
power - energy in the form of electricity produced in large quantities and used to operate lights, machines, and heating
wrongs committed by Y - bad things done by Y
(Source: IN Print, The real voice of Isan people, 24/04/2010, Kamol Hengkietisak, link)
