10.19經濟學人考研精讀| 泰國需要真正的民主

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Do you hear the people, king?

Daring Thais march to the palace to demand royal reform

Several of the protesters parading through Bangkok wore tiny crop tops and tight bicycle shorts, revealing torsos covered in elaborate temporary tattoos. Others mockingly prostrated themselves before the half-clad cyclists. 

The performance was a reference to the man they were marching against, Maha Vajiralongkorn, Thailand’s king since 2016. King Vajiralongkorn spends most of his time in Germany, where paparazzi occasionally manage to take snaps of him and members of his harem in the sort of get-up the marchers were mimicking. 

Not only were the demonstrations on September 19th and 20th, in which tens of thousands took part, the largest since the present bout of protests began in July; they also revealed how opposition to the government of Prayuth Chan-ocha, a coup-leader turned prime minister, is evolving into an unprecedented attack on the monarchy.

King Vajiralongkorn lacks the popularity of his late father, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned for 70 years. His personal life is as colourful as his tattoos. In addition to his current (fourth) wife, he has a concubine whom he has officially designated as 「royal consort」 (a title not used in Thailand for nearly a century). 

More troublingly, he has meddled in politics, taken control of 「crown property」 worth perhaps $40bn and assumed direct command of thousands of soldiers based in Bangkok.

Although Thailand is in theory a constitutional monarchy, criticism of the king has long been taboo. King Vajiralongkorn, in a show of graciousness, has instructed the government not to prosecute people under the fierce law on lèse-majesté, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years for insulting the king, queen, heir apparent or regent. 

But those who denigrate royalty often find themselves charged with sedition instead, or computer crimes if they do so online. In July one man was taken to a psychiatric hospital after wearing a T-shirt that stated: 「I have lost all faith in the institution of the monarchy.」

Such incidents make the protesters』 audacity all the more striking. 「This country belongs to the people, and not the king,」 read a plaque installed in the pavement by some of the organisers. 「Down with feudalism, long live the people!」 many shouted as they marched towards the royal palace. 

On arrival, they handed ten demands for reform of the monarchy to a hapless policeman guarding the empty building. These included curbs on the king’s interference in politics, the disbandment of his guards, the revocation of the lèse-majesté law and the dismissal of the current government.

point out that the protests were allowed to proceed and that there was no descent into violence, as has often been the case with demonstrations in Thailand in recent years. The stoutly monarchist army has kept quiet. But there are bigger tests to come. The protesters have called for a general strike next month.
長難句分析：

Mockingly：副詞有時候碰到放在句子中比較難翻譯時，可以單獨翻譯。

half-clad：--clad表示穿…衣服的，如warmly-clad意思是衣著暖和，half-clad就是穿了一半的衣服，可理解為衣著不整。

Harem：這個詞本義是指舊時某些穆斯林社會中富人的女眷，哈萊姆，也可以表示後宮，生活中不太常用。

get-up：N-COUNT If you refer to a set of clothes as a get-up, you think that they are unusual or ridiculous. 奇裝異服 [非正式]

The performance was a reference to the man they were marching against, Maha Vajiralongkorn, Thailand’s king since 2016. King Vajiralongkorn spends most of his time in Germany,  where  paparazzi occasionally manage to take snaps of him and members of his harem in the sort of get-up the marchers were mimicking.

這句話where開始是個定語從句，修飾Germany，表示是在德國，國王被拍了很多照片。

Not only were the demonstrations on September 19th and 20th, in which  tens of thousands took part, the largest since the present bout of protests began in July; they also revealed how opposition to the government of Prayuth Chan-ocha,a coup-leader turned prime minister, is evolving into an unprecedented attack on the monarchy.

這句話是個倒裝句，not only,(but) also的句式，in which的which指的是demonstrations，分號後面的they也指的是demonstrations，，in which跟一個定語從句，表示遊行示威有幾萬人參與其中，分號後面自成一句，其中a coup-leader turned prime minister,做個同位語插入，解釋巴育總理怎麼當上總理的。

King Vajiralongkorn lacks the popularity of his late father, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned for 70 years. His personal life is as colourful as his tattoos. In addition to his current (fourth) wife, he has a concubine whom he has officially designated as 「royal consort」 (a title not used in Thailand for nearly a century).

這句話中popularity一般取其常見形式，即形容詞性受歡迎會比較好翻譯，聽起來也更像漢語行文。Who後面是個定語從句，形容Bhumibol Adulyadej。

lèse-majesté：不敬罪

Carry：have as a feature or consequence.，帶有，帶來（某種結果或後果）

Denigrate：V-T If you denigrate someone or something, you criticize them unfairly or insult them. 詆毀; 玷汙

psychiatric hospital：精神病院

On arrival, they handed ten demands for reform of the monarchy to a hapless policeman guarding the empty building. These included curbs on the king’s interference in politics, the disbandment of his guards, the revocation of the lèse-majesté law and the dismissal of the current government.這句話中因為是要求，所以在英文中通常以名詞形式出現，但是翻譯成漢語時，可以類比我們以前學過的某某條約，中文行文會以動詞為主，這個涉及到英文用名詞多，中文用動詞多的特點。所以將interference，disbandment，revocation和dismissal等詞均用動詞翻譯出來。

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