President Obama's visit

President Obama hadn't even arrived here in Thailand, but the US Embassy made it appear he had already visited many of the country's most important sites. Rachel Maddow of MSNBC explains how.

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President Obama's "tour" of Thailand

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow speaks very quickly in this two-minute video clip, so, if you are a learner of English, you will probably want to read the transcript. Try watching the video once before your read, however, and see how much you understand. The story itself is not difficult to understand.

(Fact check: It is not correct that President Obama is the first US president to visit Thailand.)

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Best new thing in the world today.

When you are an American diplomat stationed abroad, one of the biggest events in your diplomatic life is a visit from the President of the United States.

The nation of Thailand is about to get its very first visit ever from a president this weekend, President Obama. And so the American Embassy in Bangkok is understandably very excited right now. But they're also a little disappointed and having a hard time disguising it.

They're disappointed because President Obama will be visiting Thailand, but he will not staying very long. That's three countries in less than three days. But because they can't schedule a whole bunch of official stops for the president to go see all of Thailand's most famous sites, the U.S. Embassy in Thailand came up with another idea.

We call it President Faux Bama. They have done a cardboard cutout, lifesize, of President Obama which the embassy has photographed in front of what appears to be a famous Siamese temple with some lovely serpents. 

They have done ten of these photos in all. Flat President Obama posed at famous Thai landmarks. And even though we initially thought they had toted cardboard Obama around the country to do this, the State Department tells us that actually these are theme park replicas of major landmarks across Thailand. So it's Faux Bama visiting faux Thailand which is perfect.

The American Embassy on their Facebook page takes a heartwarmingly aggressive approach to courting good will from the locals. In addition to the cardboard president at the famous sites of Thailand feature, they have lots of pictures of dogs, which they use to explain dog-related American idioms that might not make sense in translation. So this one is accompanied by an explanation of the phrase, dog-eared. This one explains what dog-tired means although this one doesn't look very tired. This one explains what sick as a dog means.

So we wish the fine folks at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok congratulations on their presidential visit and their effort to leverage this visit into maximum online visual effect with a cardboard replica of the president. That is the best new diplomatic thing in the world today. Have a great weekend. Now it's time for "the last word...

transcript – a written or printed copy of words that have been spoken บันทึก
diplomat – an official whose job is to represent their government in a foreign country นักการทูต
station – to cause someone to be in a particular place to do a job ตั้งประจำ
abroad – in or to a foreign country  ในต่างประเทศ
disappointed – unhappy because someone or something was not as good as you hoped or expected, or because something did not happen ผิดหวัง
disguise – to change the way something appears so that people will not recognise what it is ปลอมแปลง
schedule – to arrange for something to happen at a particular time  ทำตารางเวลา, ทำกำหนดการ, กำหนดรายการ
whole bunch – a lot; many
site – a place where something is located  สถานที่
faux – artificial, but intended to look or seem real  ปลอม, เทียม, เก๊
cardboard – very stiff thick paper, used especially for making boxes กระดาษแข็ง
serpent – a snake, especially a large one งูใหญ่
pose – to stay or put in a particular position in order to be photographed วางท่าถ่ายรูป
landmark – a building or place that is easily recognised, especially one which you can use to judge where you are สถานที่ที่เป็นจุดสังเกต
initially – at first ในเบื้องต้น
tote – to carry something, especially something heavy or difficult to carry ยกหรือถือสิ่งของ โดยเฉพาะสิ่งของที่หนักหรือยากต่อการเคลื่อนย้าย
replica – an accurate copy of something งานศิลปะที่จำลองจากของจริง, ของจำลอง
aggressive – determined; wanting to do something very much and not letting anyone or any difficulties stop you ตั้งใจจริง, ซึ่งมุ่งมั่น
approach – a particular way of doing something or thinking about something  วิธีการทำให้ถึงจุดหมาย
court – to try to obtain or get something
good will – a feeling of friendship; a positive feeling towards someone/something สันถวไมตรี
locals – people who live in a particular place ประชาชนที่อาศัยในท้องที่, ชาวบ้าน
congratulations – something you say to praise someone and say that you approve of or are pleased about a special or unusual achievement  ยินดีด้วย
leverage – to get as much advantage or profit as possible from something that you have หาประโยชน์, ใช้กำลังหรือมีอิทธิต่อ
maximum – the most possible ที่สูงสุด ที่มากที่สุด
visual – relating to sight เกี่ยวกับการมองเห็น

Related search: President Obama's visit to Thailand, Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, transcript