VOA慢速英語:泰國停止有爭議的大米補貼計劃（雙語）

[ti:Thailand Ends Controversial Rice Support Program] [ar:Christopher Cruise] [al:Agriculture Report] [00:00.00]From the VOA Learning English, [00:01.23]this is the Agriculture Report. [00:04.62]The military government of Thailand [00:07.96]is ending payments to rice farmers [00:10.39]to support the price of their crop. [00:13.99]The policy was put in place by the civilian government [00:19.28]ousted recently by the military. [00:21.64]Officials are investigating charges of corruption [00:26.47]and the possible loss of billions of dollars. [00:31.15]The military government says different measures [00:35.72]are needed to increase agricultural development and support farmers. [00:42.11]The rice support program was one of the most important policies [00:48.96]of the government of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. [00:53.92]It helped her party win the 2011 election. [00:58.55]Under the policy, the government [01:02.27]paid farmers 50 percent more than world market rice prices. [01:08.80]The government said because Thailand was then the largest exporter of rice, [01:15.65]it could use its power to increase the price of rice around the world. [01:22.66]But problems affected the program, which cost more than $19 billion. [01:30.63]India became the world's largest rice exporter. [01:35.65]The Thai government angered people by refusing [01:40.27]to release information about the payments. [01:43.57]And the program failed. [01:46.69]Thailand was not able to force an increase in the price of rice, [01:52.13]and millions of tons of rice are now in storage buildings. [01:57.86]Reports say 18 million tons of rice are being stored in Thailand, [02:05.57]that is twice as many as normal levels. [02:10.69]The payments to rice farmers ended last year. [02:15.31]Hundreds of thousands of farmers were not paid. [02:20.11]Reports said about 20 farmers killed themselves [02:25.53]because of financial problems. [02:28.12]Others protested, gathering on the streets [02:33.31]of the capital Bangkok to demand payments. [02:36.85]In March, the government tried to make money [02:41.46]by selling rice on the world market at lower prices. [02:47.00]David Dawe is a senior economist at the Food [02:51.78]and Agriculture Organization -- a United Nations agency. [02:56.55]"One of the ways that they were raising money [02:58.97]is they realized that they were going to [03:00.66]have to sell some of the huge stocks that they had. [03:03.24]They just couldn't continue to borrow money [03:06.79]and sit on all these stocks [03:09.08]and so they just started selling stocks," Dawe said. [03:12.83]There is some good news. [03:15.05]The U.S. Agriculture Department predicts Thailand [03:19.10]will be the world's biggest exporter of rice by next year. [03:24.88]The department says Thailand will export almost 10 million tons, [03:31.52]that is the largest amount [03:34.26]since the country exported 10.6 million tons in 2011. [03:40.05]And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English. [03:54.82]I'm Christopher Cruise.

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Thailand Ends Controversial Rice Support Program

泰國停止有爭議的大米補貼計劃

From the VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語農(nóng)業(yè)報道。

The military government of Thailand is ending payments to rice farmers to support the price of their crop. The policy was put in place by the civilian government ousted recently by the military. Officials are investigating charges of corruption and the possible loss of billions of dollars.

泰國軍政府停止了對稻農(nóng)進行補貼來支持他們所種植農(nóng)作物價格的計劃。這政策是最近被軍政府趕下臺的文政府所實施的?，F(xiàn)在官員們正在對貪污腐敗和數(shù)十億美元可能損失的指控進行審查。

The military government says different measures are needed to increase agricultural development and support farmers. The rice support program was one of the most important policies of the government of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. It helped her party win the 2011 election.

軍政府稱需要實施不同的措施來提高農(nóng)業(yè)的發(fā)展和加大對農(nóng)民的支持。這個大米補貼計劃是前任總理英拉·西那瓦所領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的政府最重要的政策之一。這項計劃還幫助她的政黨贏得了2011年大選。

Under the policy, the government paid farmers 50 percent more than world market rice prices. The government said because Thailand was then the largest exporter of rice, it could use its power to increase the price of rice around the world.

根據(jù)這一規(guī)定，政府支付給農(nóng)民高于國際市場大米價格50%的價格。政府稱，因為泰國當(dāng)時是世界上最大的大米出口國，它可以利用這一優(yōu)勢來提高世界大米的價格。

But problems affected the program, which cost more than $19 billion. India became the world's largest rice exporter. The Thai government angered people by refusing to release information about the payments. And the program failed.

但是這個耗資190億美元的計劃被一些問題所影響。印度變成了世界上最大的大米出口國。泰國政府因拒絕發(fā)布有關(guān)大米補貼的信息而激怒了人民，該計劃宣告失敗。

Thailand was not able to force an increase in the price of rice, and millions of tons of rice are now in storage buildings. Reports say 18 million tons of rice are being stored in Thailand, that is twice as many as normal levels.

泰國無力推動大米價格的上漲，致使現(xiàn)在數(shù)百萬噸大米堆積在糧倉里。據(jù)報道稱，有1800萬噸大米被堆積在泰國，是其正常儲藏量的兩倍。

The payments to rice farmers ended last year. Hundreds of thousands of farmers were not paid. Reports said about 20 farmers killed themselves because of financial problems. Others protested, gathering on the streets of the capital Bangkok to demand payments. In March, the government tried to make money by selling rice on the world market at lower prices.

對稻農(nóng)的補貼計劃在去年已經(jīng)結(jié)束，幾十萬農(nóng)民未得到補貼。據(jù)報道稱，有大約20個農(nóng)民因經(jīng)濟問題而自殺。其他人則聚集在首都曼谷的街道上進行抗議，要求補貼。今年3月份，政府試著在國際市場上以較低的價格出售大米來籌集資金。

David Dawe is a senior economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization -- a United Nations agency.

David Dawe是聯(lián)合國糧食農(nóng)業(yè)組織機構(gòu)的高級經(jīng)濟師。

"One of the ways that they were raising money is they realized that they were going to have to sell some of the huge stocks that they had. They just couldn't continue to borrow money and sit on all these stocks and so they just started selling stocks," Dawe said.

Dawe說：“他們籌集資金的方法之一是他們意識到他們不得不去銷售他們所擁有的大量庫存。他們只是不能再坐擁這些庫存而繼續(xù)去借錢，所以他們開始出售庫存。”

There is some good news. The U.S. Agriculture Department predicts Thailand will be the world's biggest exporter of rice by next year. The department says Thailand will export almost 10 million tons, that is the largest amount since the country exported 10.6 million tons in 2011.

這也有一些好消息稱，美國農(nóng)業(yè)部預(yù)測明年泰國將會成為世界上最大的大米出口國。該農(nóng)業(yè)部稱，泰國將會出口大約1000萬噸的大米，這將會是自2011年該國出口了1060萬噸大米后至今最大的出口量。

And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Christopher Cruise.

這就是今天的美國之音慢速英語農(nóng)業(yè)報道，我是克里斯多夫·克魯斯。

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Thailand Ends Controversial Rice Support Program

From the VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

The military government of Thailand is ending payments to rice farmers to support the price of their crop. The policy was put in place by the civilian government ousted recently by the military. Officials are investigating charges of corruption and the possible loss of billions of dollars.

The military government says different measures are needed to increase agricultural development and support farmers. The rice support program was one of the most important policies of the government of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. It helped her party win the 2011 election.

Under the policy, the government paid farmers 50 percent more than world market rice prices. The government said because Thailand was then the largest exporter of rice, it could use its power to increase the price of rice around the world.

But problems affected the program, which cost more than $19 billion. India became the world's largest rice exporter. The Thai government angered people by refusing to release information about the payments. And the program failed.

Thailand was not able to force an increase in the price of rice, and millions of tons of rice are now in storage buildings. Reports say 18 million tons of rice are being stored in Thailand, that is twice as many as normal levels.

The payments to rice farmers ended last year. Hundreds of thousands of farmers were not paid. Reports said about 20 farmers killed themselves because of financial problems. Others protested, gathering on the streets of the capital Bangkok to demand payments. In March, the government tried to make money by selling rice on the world market at lower prices.

David Dawe is a senior economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization -- a United Nations agency.

"One of the ways that they were raising money is they realized that they were going to have to sell some of the huge stocks that they had. They just couldn't continue to borrow money and sit on all these stocks and so they just started selling stocks," Dawe said.

There is some good news. The U.S. Agriculture Department predicts Thailand will be the world's biggest exporter of rice by next year. The department says Thailand will export almost 10 million tons, that is the largest amount since the country exported 10.6 million tons in 2011.

And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Christopher Cruise.