Mr Ake holds up his now-famous sign saying "Respect my vote" during his outburst at the Democrat party's press conference on combatting corruption yesterday. APICHART JINAKUL
By Terry Fredrickson
His "public appearance" lasted only about 30 seconds, but young Ake Auttagorn is getting more attention today than the man he interrupted, Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.
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Ake steals the show from Abhisit
Abhisit Vejjajiva compares the corruption in Thailand with the Black Hole. APICHART JINAKUL
His "public appearance" lasted only about 30 seconds, but young Ake Auttagorn is getting more attention today than the man he interrupted Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Mr Abhisit was speaking at his party's press conference yesterday afternoon to unveil its plan for a reform blueprint at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.
Suddenly, the 34-year-old business man from Bangkok blew a whistle at the Democrat leader and held up an English language sign saying "Respect my vote."
Mr Abhisit's party, of course, is boycotting the Feb 2 general election and former members are leading protests intended to derail it.
Mr Ake shouted “If you still cannot reform yourself, how can you reform the country.”
A bit stunned at the outburst Mr Abhisit, first replied only "Thank you".
Mr Ake continued to shout, saying, “When you were the government, why didn’t you do it. You should stop the lie You can threaten others but others cannot threaten you, can they?”
As Mr Ake was being hustled out of the room by party staff Mr Abhisit then said “This is the example that needs reform This is the pattern of the competitor of the Democrat Party.”
“I am not a competitor I am (a member of) the people,” Mr Ake replied, his last words before he was forced outside.
Mr Abhisit then turned to the audience and said, “This shows that people can express opinions at one of our activities. But there is always some disturbance at our forums This is the reason why we cannot say that the election will be fair.”
The former premier carried on with the press conference that focused on the eradication of corruption which the Democrats view as the origin of problems in Thailand.
He compared corruption to a black hole costing the economy on average 300 billion baht a year.
"With this money we could build 5,000 high schools and 177 one hundred-bed hospitals," he said. It would also be enough to construct subway lines and dual-track train systems for the entire country, he added.
Adapted from Bangkok Post stories.
Vocabulary
attention: interest, especially interest that the public has in a person, event, situation etc - ความสนใจ
audience: the group of people gathered in one place to watch or listen to a play, film, someone speaking, etc. - ผู้ชม
blueprint: an early plan or design which explains how something might be achieved - แผนงานที่ละเอียด
boycott: to refuse to take part in an activity or to buy a product as a way of expressing strong disapproval - คว่ำบาตร
carry on: to continue doing something - ดำเนินต่อไป
combat: to try to stop something unpleasant or harmful from happening or increasing - ต่อต้าน
competitor: a person, team or company that is competing against others - ผู้แข่งขัน, คู่แข่ง
construct: to build or make something, especially buildings, bridges, etc. - สร้าง
derail: to prevent something from continuing in the way that it was planned - ทำให้ล้มเหลว
disturbance: actions/events that upset the normal state that something is in - การรบกวน, การทำให้ไม่สงบ
dual: having two parts or aspects - ประกอบด้วยสองส่วน, เป็นคู่
entire: including everything, everyone or every part - ทั้งหมด
eradication: getting rid of something completely, especially something bad - การทำลาย,การถอนรากถอนโคน,การกำจัด
express: to tell someone about a feeling, opinion, or aim by speaking or writing about it - แสดงออก (ทางความคิดหรือความรู้สึก) โดยใช้คำพูดหรือการเขียน, พูดออกมา
famous: very well known - มีชื่อเสียง
forum: a place where people can express their ideas and opinions - การประชุมแสดงความคิดเห็น
hustle: to make somebody move quickly by pushing them in a rough aggressive way - เร่ง, ดัน, ผลัก
intended: planned; wanted to happen - ที่ได้วางแผนไว้ ที่ตั้งใจให้เกิดขึ้น
interrupt: to say or do something that makes somebody stop what they are saying or doing - ขัดจังหว
lie: saying or writing something that you know is not true โกหก, พูดเท็จ - การโกหก, การพูดเท็จ
opinion: your feelings or thoughts about somebody/something, rather than a fact - ความเห็น, ความคิดเห็น, ทัศนคติ
origin: the point from which something starts or comes from - ที่มา, ต้นกำเนิด, จุดเริ่มต้น
outburst: a sudden strong expression of an emotion - การระเบิดออก,การเดือดพล่าน,การหลั่งออก
pattern: a series of actions or events that together show how things normally happen or are done - แบบฉบับ, แบบแผน
press conference: an official meeting where someone makes a formal statement about a particular issue or event to journalists and answers their questions about it - การแถลงข่าว
protest: a meeting or rally, sometimes forceful or violent, of people who strongly disagree with something - ชุมนุมประท้วง
public appearance: coming to a place where other people can see you - การปรากฏตัว
reform: a change that is intended to correct a situation that is wrong or unfair - การแก้ไข การปฏิรูป
respect: to accept the importance of someone's rights or customs - เคารพ
staff: all the workers employed by a person or organisation considered as a group - คณะผู้ทำงาน, คนงาน
steal the show: to take attention away from a person or event thought to be more important - ดึงความสนใจของผู้ชม
stunned: very shocked or surprised - มึน, ตกตะลึง, งงงัน
suddenly: quickly and unexpectedly - อย่างกะทันหัน
threaten: to say that you might do something bad or harmful, especially in order to make someone do something - ขู่เข็ญ คุกคาม ทำให้กลัว
unveil: to show or introduce a new plan, product, etc. to the public for the first time - เปิดเผย, ประกาศให้รู้ทั่วไป
whistle: a small metal or plastic tube that you blow to make a loud high sound, used to attract attention or as a signal - นกหวีด
