DavidHouston Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 From the newspaper: บ้านเมืองตอนนี้ไม่ได้เป็นประชาธิปไตยอย่างแท้จริง หากแต่เป็นเผด็จการซ่อนรูปภายใต้การปกครองของในระบอบประชาธิปไตย I am having some difficulty parsing out this sentence. The easiest rendering would be: "Our current polity does not reflect a true democracy [or "Our current system of government is not truly democratic ]; rather, it is a dictatorship posing as a democracy." Alternatively, the second clause could be, "rather it is a dictatorship using the mechanisms and trappings of a democracy." While the firs rendering is nice and compact (กะทัดรัด), I am not sure whether the last part of the translation accurately reflects the phraseology, ". . . ภายใต้การปกครองของในระบอบประชาธิปไตย", and especially what seems to be a compound preposition "ของใน". Any thoughts? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thongkorn Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 It says Thailand is not democratic, (The army does not want Democracy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchan42 Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 I would pick "Our current system of government is not truly democratic rather, it is a dictatorship posing as a democracy." ผด็จการซ่อนรูปภายใต้.... dictatorship shape-hidden under...... Not sure if it make sense in English. ของใน is a bit redundant. you can take one out and leave the other. The meaning of the sentence would not change one bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgeezer Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 The country is not a genuine democracy now, except that it is a dictatorship looking more normal than it is, taking care of affairs within the democratic system. Which country is this about do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaewmala Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Khun David, Your translation is fine, but it can be more precise, I think. บ้านเมืองตอนนี้ไม่ได้เป็นประชาธิปไตยอย่างแท้จริง หากแต่เป็นเผด็จการซ่อนรูปภายใต้การปกครองของในระบอบประชาธิปไตย Some variations of translation: "Our country is not genuinely democratic but a dictatorship hidden behind a democracy." "Our country is not genuinely democratic but a dictatorship concealed underneath a democracy." "Our country is not genuinely democratic but a dictatorship posing as a democracy." cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgeezer Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Khun David, Your translation is fine, but it can be more precise, I think. บ้านเมืองตอนนี้ไม่ได้เป็นประชาธิปไตยอย่างแท้จริง หากแต่เป็นเผด็จการซ่อนรูปภายใต้การปกครองของในระบอบประชาธิปไตย Some variations of translation: "Our country is not genuinely democratic but a dictatorship hidden behind a democracy." "Our country is not genuinely democratic but a dictatorship concealed underneath a democracy." "Our country is not genuinely democratic but a dictatorship posing as a democracy." Just a thought; I asked on another website how much should be translated and couldn't get a satisfactory answer. I don't know how fussy we need to be but this piece is all about nouns; บ้านเมือง ประชาธิปไดย เผด็จการ country, democracy, dictatorship. There will always be discussion about the English, in fact English is discussed more than Thai. Shouldn't we recognise the Thai words in order to be true to the original? I suspect that fundementally, Thai is: same page, same way, same font, but attempts have been made to catagorise words and I think it makes comprehension easier, so what about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now