Nine-point reform plan for political, economic and social change | Bangkok Post: learning

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Nine high-level goals and ideals to further national harmony and increase communication and transparency.

Some may express their disappointment that the reform plan announced yesterday is such a high-level plan leaving most details for future elaboration. One letter to the editor published in the Bangkok Post expresses this dissatisfaction with great eloquence:

"The overall tenor of the proposal seems idealistic in the extreme. Oriented toward creating a utopian vision of national harmony, it strives to restore income parity through socialist tax measures that have no chance whatsoever to be practically and effectively implemented" (Read letter).

But this is just the beginning of the reform process.

In today's Bangkok Post, editor-in-chief Pichai Chuensuksawadi has some suggestions on how to put these high level principles into action (Read article).

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Reform assembly hands in report, Nine-point plan includes amnesty bill, tax reform by Pradit Ruangdit

The National Reform Assembly has finalised its nine-point proposal calling for widespread political, economic and social change, and forwarded it to the government for action.

The proposals cover a wide area - from drafting a new amnesty bill to help people facing injustice to reforming the taxation system.

The assembly's chairman, [Prawase Wasi,] yesterday handed the proposals to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during a forum on national reform in Bangkok.

In its first proposal, the assembly suggests that state media communicate with the public in a way that can help the country achieve national reform.

The second proposal is that members of the public be encouraged to participate in brainstorming sessions on all issues that concern them.

The third proposal is for the National Economic and Social Development Board to adjust its goals and indices with the main emphasis on how to help people live together peacefully

The fourth proposal is for government agencies to decentralise administrative power.

The fifth proposal is for public universities to empower communities and support their development in an integrated manner so all parties in each province can take part.

In the sixth proposal, the Justice Ministry is called on to draft an amnesty bill to help people facing injustice, set up a community justice operations centre, push for legal reform for the poor, and conduct research and development for the entire judicial system.

In the seventh proposal, the Finance Ministry is urged to spearhead the reform of the taxation, social welfare and finance and budgetary systems to improve fairness and decrease the disparity between rich and poor.

The assembly said the reforms could generate about 500 billion baht in state tax revenue which could be spent on funding social welfare projects.

The eighth proposal is for the Education Ministry to upgrade the national education structure for the sake of community strength, promoting honest livelihoods and academic strength.

The ninth proposal is that the previous eight proposals be adopted by relevant agencies and turned into action..

Dr Prawase said his assembly would work with government agencies to monitor the implementation of the proposals and create a mechanism to form permanent public-private cooperation in policy making.

Mr Abhisit said the government would turn the list of proposals into an operation plan and take action.

Dr Prawase said the government alone would not be able to achieve the goal of national reform. Money and social pressure would be needed for the reform effort to succeed, he said. The government, meanwhile, says it wants to achieve national reconciliation before a new election is held.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Reform assembly hands in report, Nine-point plan includes amnesty bill, tax reform, 20/12/2010, Pradit Ruangdit, link)

nine-point plan - a plan with nine items in it
ideal (noun) -  the best according to your imagination (may not be practical in reality) ตัวอย่างที่สมบูรณ์
idealistic (adjective) - guided in actions by ideals (rather than practical everyday reality)

harmony - living and working well with other people ความสามัคคี
national harmony - when all the people in a country are able to live and work well with each other
communication - giving information or expressing thoughts and feelings to other people by speaking or writing การติดต่อสื่อสาร
transparency - when the public can see what is going on (politicians are not able to hide what they are doing, especially when they are engaged in corruption)

reform - a change that is intended to correct a situation that is wrong or unfair การแก้ไข การปฏิรูป
high-level plan - a plan that gives broad goals but does not provide the details on how they will be achieved

elaborate (verb) - give more details (for an idea you have already given)
elaboration (noun) - the act giving more details

letter to the editor - " a letter sent to a publication about issues of concern from its readers. Usually, letters are intended for publication" (See Wikipedia)
satisfaction - the pleasurable feeling you get when you achieve a goal or
dissatisfaction -
eloquence - using clear language that is a pleasure to read or listen to in order to express what you  want to say
tenor - the main message, feeling or mood that you get from some writing or text (article, book, report, presentation)
oriented toward -

utopia - an imaginary ideal and perfect society or state (See Wikipedia)
utopian (adjective) - about a perfect society or state
vision - an idea or dream of what something will be in the future การวาดภาพในใจ เกี่ยวกับอนาคต ที่เกิดจากจินตนาการ

parity - when things are equal
income parity - when the incomes of different people are equal
restore income parity - when the incomes of different people are equal as they were once in the past (have they ever been equal?)

socialism (noun) - a political theory advocating state ownership of industry or at least great government control of the economy (See Wikipedia)
socialist (adjective)
socialist tax measures - presumably: extreme progressive taxation and income redistribution
progressive taxation - when percentage of income paid as tax increases as income increases, the more rish you are the greater the percentage tax you pay
income redistribution - taking income from the rish and giving it to the poor
effectively implemented - actually doing what you plan to do (successfully in a way that works, not a failure)

National Reform Assembly - a group of high-ranking polticians, senior statesmen, intellectuals and experts who were appointed to come with a plan to reform Thailand's government (Read critical letter to the editor)

amnesty - a situation in which a government agrees not to punish, or to no longer punish, people who have committed a particular crime กฎอัยการศึก
bill - a written document containing a proposal for a new law ญัตติ

proposal - a plan or suggestion for a group to consider ข้อเสนอ
nine-point proposal - a proposal that proposes nine things
widespread - happening or existing in many places, or affecting many people อย่างแพร่หลาย
forwarded - send something you receive to other people who might need it or be interested in it
drafting - writing
injustice - failure to treat someone fairly and to respect their rights ความไม่ยุติธรรม
reforming - making improvements to
forum - a place where people can express their ideas and opinions การประชุมแสดงความคิดเห็น
national - for the whole country (not just a part of the country)

state - government รัฐ
media - radio, television, newspaper, the Internet, considered as a group สื่อ
communicate - to give information or express thoughts and feelings to other people by speaking or writing ติดต่อสื่อสาร
encouraged - be enthusiastic, have more confidence and hope about something มีกำลังใจ
participate - to take part in or become involved in an activity มีส่วน
brainstorm - try to solve a problem by thinking intensely about it การระดมความคิด, การถกเถียงอย่างเปิดเผย (See Wikipedia)
issues - subjects that need to be considered ประเด็น
concern - to be about or be relevant to เกี่ยวกับ

National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB, Sa-pa-pat) - Thai government planning agency for economic development, creates five year plans with an agenda of: 1. Alleviation of Poverty and Income Distribution problems, 2. Enhancing Thailand’s Competitiveness, 3. Promoting Social Capital Development, 4. Promoting Sustainable Development (See Wikipedia)

adjust - to change something slightly, especially to make it more correct, effective, or suitable ปรับ
indices - numbers that measures something (example: stock market indices measure the overall level of stock prices in the stock market)
emphasis - special importance or attention that is given to one thing in particular การเน้นย้ำ
decentralise administrative power - move the power to make decisions from Bangkok to provincial and local government 
public universities - universities owned and operated by the government
empower - to give someone the legal power to do something ทำให้มีอำนาจ
support - help, by giving money, for example สนับสนุน
development - the gradual growth and formation of something
integrated - combining things of different types in one effective system ที่รวมเข้าด้วยกัน
manner - way วิธีการ
parties - people or companies entering into some arrangement or business deal

draft - writing up and creating a document, not yet in its final form ฉบับร่าง
community - the people living in one particular area ชุมชน
justice - when people are treated fairly and equally (See Wikipedia) ความยุติธรรม
conduct - to do something in an organised way; to carry out
judicial system - the system of law courts in a country that makes decisions on legal cases (See Wikipedia) เกี่ยวกับการศาล,  เกี่ยวกับการพิจารณาคดี, เกี่ยวกับฝ่ายตุลาการ

urged - advised someone very strongly about what action should be taken วิงวอน
spearhead - lead (be the one who makes things happen, who achieves goals and gets results)
social welfare - help given, especially by the state or an organization, to people who need it; good care and living conditions สวัสดิภาพ
finance - to provide money for something จัดหาเงินทุนให้
budget (noun) - the plan for how money is to be spent in a company or organization, project and by department งบประมาณ
budgetary (adjective) - having to do with budgets
improve - to make better ทำให้ดีขึ้น
disparity - a big difference between two things

reforms - improvements in the way that government works
generate - create สร้าง กระตุ้นให้เิกิด
revenue - income from taxes or business activities รายได้
spent - used ที่ใช้ไป
funding - money given for a particular purpose การให้เงินสนับสนุน
upgrade - improve; make new, modern, and up-to-date
livelihood - ways to earn money to support a family, sources of money and income such as a job that allows you to buy the things that you need (See glossary)
academic - someone who teaches at a college, or who studies as part of their job นักวิชาการ
X adopts Y - when X accepts Y and starts using Y
relevant - directly connected and important to what is being discussed or considered ที่เกี่ยวข้อง

monitor - to watch and check for problems while something happens, to regularly check something or watch someone in order to find out what is happening ตรวจสอบ ตรวจตรา เฝ้าจับตาดู
implementation - making a plan into reality,actually do or carry out a plan, the process of making something such as a plan, system, idea or law start to work and be used การบังคับใช้ (กฎหมาย) (See glossary) นำ (แผนการ) มาบังคับใช้
permanent - happening or existing for a long time or for all time in the future ถาวร
cooperation - work together towards a goal ความร่วมมือกัน
public-private cooperation - when the government and privately owned companies work together on projects
policy - a plan of action to guide decisions and achieveoutcomes (See Wikipedia) นโยบาย
pressure - when people are being pushed or forced to so something
effort - an attempt to do something ความพยายาม

reconciliation - a new and friendly relationship with someone who you argued with or fought with การทำให้ปรองดองกันอีก,การคืนดี, ประสานสัมพันธ์
election - the process of choosing a person or a group of person for a position, especially by voting elect (v) electoral (adj) synonym: the polls การเลือกตั้ง

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