今回の記事は「タイ、授業料を米で」という内容です。さていったいどういう内容なのでしょうか。

音声

今回の記事の音声です。まずは音声を聴いてみて下さい。

本日のSentence

One of them, Witsanu Sukmoonsiri, plans to pay 20,620 baht ($574) for the January-April semester with rice from his family’s farm.

。そのうちの1人であるWitsanu Sukmoonsiri氏は、1月～4月の学期の20,620バーツ（574ドル）を家族の農場の米で支払う予定だ。

take advantage of=～をうまく利用する、～を生かす

in bid to=～しようとして、～することを目指して

severely=【副】激しく、ひどく、深刻な

タイのRichard. A先生からのコメント

You might wish to know a few facts about Thailand's rice production.

1. For at least 40 years, Thailand has been either the 1st or 2nd largest rice exporter in the world. In that time, Thailand's population has only grown from about 40 million to 68 million. In addition, its natural environment (water and fertile soil) results in at least two crops a year and sometimes three. Actually, this agricultural surplus in the Seventies and Eighties provided surplus capital for Thailand's economic growth. At hat time, Thailand was seen as a future Asian Tiger and a rapidly developing country. However,........

2. Three or four years ago, the government instituted a rice buying (subsidy) scheme for farmers before the election to get their votes. This system was very corrupt. Because the price was above market prices, Thai surplus rice was kept in large warehouses. Rice merchants were paid the subsidy price. Then, they sold the rice in neighboring countries at a higher price and replaced the warehoused rice with a lower quality rice even just bags of dirt.

3. The result was Thai rice was expensive on the world market, so Thailand lost market share to Vietnam, India, the Philippines, and maybe even China. For the first time, Thailand was not the 1st or 2nd largest exporter in the world. It was fourth or fifth. In addition, Thai rice now has a bad reputation and supply is seen as being unreliable, so old customers are not buying as much Thai rice even though its price has fallen.

4. The Thai economy has not grown for three years now, so domestic demand for rice has fallen. As a result, Thai farmers are growing less rice. Bad weather (not much rain) has also affected rice production.

This year the weather has improved and the Thai government subsidy is finally getting to the farmers. Therefore, rice production is up, but prices are weak because of consumer demand. As a result, the surpluses have grown. Also, the warehoused rice is beginning to rot, so the government is trying to put it on the market as quickly as possible, but the consumer is staying away because of the quality and anger over the rice scheme.

This is a long way of saying Thailand produces a large surplus of rice while the farmers face falling rices because of its favorable natural environment, the government's rice buying scheme, weak domestic demand, and lost market share in the international market.

ボキャブラリー

• suburb : [noun] 郊外、近郊。都市や街の端にある住宅地域
• dean : [noun] 学部長。大学教職員または部門の長
• bid : [noun] 努力、試み。試み、企て、努力
• semester : [noun] 学期。学校や大学での1年を区分した一定の期間
• fund : [verb] 資金を調達する、財源を確保する。イベント、活動、または組織のために支払うお金を提供すること

日本語訳

バンコク北の郊外にある私立大学、ランシット大学は、授業料の支払いとして学生から米を受け付け始めた。これはバンコクで米の供給過多が発生しているからだ。この供給過多は農業従事者の収入に深刻な影響を与えた。

この制度を導入することに協力したWorachat Churdchomjan学部長の発表によると、学生は来期の教育を米で支払うことで支えることができるという。費用を支払うことができない、米の供給過多になっている農家を支援する試みとして、同大学は市場価格より高い料金で米を受け取る。

AG Webは、これまで19人の学生が「授業料を米で支払う」制度を利用したと報じている。そのうちの1人であるWitsanu Sukmoonsiri氏は、1月～4月の学期の20,620バーツ（574ドル）を家族の農場の米で支払う予定だ。それによって、彼の家族は教育資金を融通するために高利貸しに行かずに済んだ。