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Topic: Spray and pray - Thais celebrate Songkran

Thailand’s traditional New Year, as known as Songkran, is celebrated on April 13 to 15 every year. It is a time when people splash or spray one another with water, to symbolize washing away the old and welcoming the new. The word Songkran derives from the Sanskrit word for “passage” or “cross over,” representing moving into a new year. Songkran is also celebrated in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
「宋干」一詞來自梵文，有「通過、跨越」的意思，代表進入新的一年。除了泰國，緬甸、柬埔寨和寮國也都會慶祝宋干節。

Known by the Taiwanese as the “splashing festival,” Songkran conjures up images of street water fights, with participants using water pistols or buckets. It originated from a traditional Buddhist ritual, and the water represents purification and blessing.
被台灣人稱為「潑水節」的宋干節，最出名的景象就是大家在街上拿水槍或水桶打水仗。潑水的起源是佛教傳統儀式，因為水代表淨化和祝福。

Songkran is about more than water fights. Traditionally, Thais also go to Buddhist temples to donate money or goods to the temple or monks during the festival, and the monks sprinkle holy water, symbolizing blessings, on them. People also bathe statues of the Buddha by pouring water over them. Thais will also sprinkle water in the hands of family elders, symbolizing respect and the receipt of the elders’ blessings.
不過宋干節可不是只有狂潑水而已。泰國人傳統上會在這幾天到佛寺裡奉獻金錢或物品給寺方或僧
侶，僧侶們再以聖水灑向民眾，象徵祝福之意，民眾也會以水淋佛像，稱為「浴佛」。此外，泰國人也會把水輕灑在家族長輩手中，象徵尊敬並獲得長輩的祝福。

Miss Songkran beauty contests are also held throughout Thailand, as a way to preserve traditional Thai costumes. There are around 700,000 migrant workers in Taiwan. Of these, just over 60,000 are from Thailand.
此外，為了要保存傳統的泰式服飾，泰國各地也會舉辦宋干小姐選美比賽。
在台灣，來台的移工人數已達到七十多萬人，其中來自泰國的移工有六萬人。

In order to make Thai workers in Taiwan feel at home, Songkran was celebrated on Sunday at the ASEAN Square in Taichung, organized by the Ministry of Labor and the Taichung government. There will be another Songkran celebration held this coming Sunday at City Hall Square in New Taipei City.
為了讓在台灣的泰籍移工一解鄉愁，勞動部與地方政府合作舉辦潑水節活動，十四日已於台中東協廣場舉行，二十一日則將在新北市政府市民廣場舉辦。
Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/04/17/2003713497

Next Article

Topic: The Price of Recycling Old Laptops: Toxic Fumes in Thailand’s Lungs

婦女們蹲伏在一間燈光昏暗的工廠的地上，整理被現代世界棄置的一些內容物：電池、電路板和成綑的電線。
Crouched on the ground in a dimly lit factory, women picked through the discarded innards of the modern world: batteries, circuit boards and bundles of wires.

她們或者用鐵鎚，或者徒手，拆解這些被稱作有害電子廢棄物或電子垃圾的廢品，再由男性工人鏟進一台鏗鏘作響的機器，以回收有用的金屬。有些男工用碎布包住臉來隔擋煙塵。
They broke down the scrap — known as hazardous electronic-waste, or e-waste — with hammers and raw hands. Men, some with faces wrapped in rags to repel the fumes, shoveled the refuse into a clanking machine that salvages usable metal.

當他們賣力工作之時，煙霧飄散至鄰近的村莊和工廠，居民對煙霧中有什麼物質一無所知—塑膠？金屬？誰知道！他們只知道聞起來很臭，讓人惡心。
As they toiled, smoke spewed over nearby villages and farms. Residents have no idea what is in the smoke — plastic, metal, who knows? All they know is that it stinks and they feel sick.

這間名為「新天空金屬」的工廠，是東南亞正蓬勃發展的電子垃圾業的一部分，是在中國大陸決定停止接收毒害其土地人民的全球電子垃圾後，應運而生。泰國特別成為這項產業的中心，過程中社運人士大力阻擋，政府則在公共安全與可觀的收益之間謀取平衡。
The factory, New Sky Metal, is part of a thriving e-waste industry across Southeast Asia, born of China’s decision to stop accepting the world’s electronic refuse, which was poisoning its land and people. Thailand in particular has become a center of the industry even as activists push back and its government wrestles to balance competing interests of public safety with the profits to be made from the lucrative trade.

去年泰國禁止外國電子垃圾進口，然而環境監控人員和產業專家說，新工廠仍然在國內各地開設，處理成噸的電子垃圾。
Last year, Thailand banned the import of foreign e-waste. Yet new factories are opening across the country, and tons of e-waste are being processed, environmental monitors and industry experts said.

「電子垃圾必須有去處。」以反對將垃圾傾倒至窮國為訴求的「巴塞爾行動網路」執行長吉姆．帕其特說，「中國就是把整個作業搬到東南亞。」
“E-waste has to go somewhere,” said Jim Puckett, executive director of the Basel Action Network, which campaigns against trash dumping in poor countries, “and the Chinese are simply moving their entire operations to Southeast Asia.”

他說：「賺錢的唯一方法，是用便宜、非法的勞力處理極為龐大的數量，而且大肆汙染環境。」
“The only way to make money is to get huge volume with cheap, illegal labor and pollute the hell out of the environment,” he added.

根據聯合國的統計，全球每年製造出5000萬噸電子垃圾，消費者習慣了丟掉前一年的機型，入手新款式。回收這些小電器的觀念聽起來道德高尚：科技便利的無限循環。
Each year, 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally, according to the United Nations, as consumers grow accustomed to throwing away last year’s model and acquiring the next new thing.The notion of recycling these gadgets sounds virtuous: an infinite loop of technological utility.

但是，從廢棄的手機、電腦和電視中採集微量的金銀銅之類貴金屬，其實是骯髒且危險的工作。
But it is dirty and dangerous work to extract the tiny quantities of precious metals — like gold, silver and copper — from castoff phones, computers and televisions.

曾經有許多年，中國大陸大量接收世界各地的電子廢棄物。然後在2018年，北京對外來電子垃圾關閉了大門。泰國和其他東南亞國家看到了機會，因為它們環境法律執行寬鬆，勞動力剝削容易，而且商界和政府間關係緊密。
For years, China took in much of the world’s electronic refuse. Then in 2018, Beijing closed its borders to foreign e-waste. Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia — with their lax enforcement of environmental laws, easily exploited labor force and cozy nexus between business and government — saw an opportunity.

「每一片電路板和每一條電線都能讓你賺不少錢，特別是毋須考慮環境或勞工時。」環境監督組織「泰國生態警示復甦」領導人潘重．沙也譚說。
“Every circuit and every cable is very lucrative, especially if there is no concern for the environment or for workers,” said Penchom Saetang, head of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand, an environmental watchdog.
Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/349813/web/

Next Article

About Thailand - Thailand’s pet groomer reopens as new coronavirus cases slow

Chewy and Miley, both two-year-old Schnauzer dogs, are getting their hair cut at a groomer in Bangkok for the first time since the new coronavirus outbreak began in Thailand in January.
都是2歲的雪納瑞楚伊和麥莉，從新型冠狀病毒1月開始在泰國爆發以來，第1次在曼谷讓美容師剪毛。

Pet grooming shops are among a handful of businesses that the Thai government allowed to reopen this week, following the decline in the number of new coronavirus cases.
冠狀病毒新增病例數下降後，寵物美容店成了泰國政府允許本週恢復營業的少數商業活動之一。

Extra precautionary measures that accompanied the reopening to prevent a new round of outbreak mean that the owners of Chewy and Miley are no longer allowed inside the shop.
用來防止新一波爆發的額外預防措施隨重新開業上路，意謂著楚伊和麥莉的主人不再獲准進入店裡。

Instead, they have to make an appointment and pick a hairstyle for their dogs in advance. They then drop off their pooches in a sterilised basket behind a plastic barrier in front of the shop. None of the dogs’ personal accessories are allowed into the shop.
取而代之，他們必須預約並先幫愛犬挑個髮型。然後，他們把狗狗放在店舖前方一道塑膠柵欄後面一個消毒過的籃子裡。狗狗自己的配件都不准進店裡。

“Instead of being able to groom more than 10 dogs during the whole day, we can only take about five in order for us to practise social distancing,” said Sukhum Nuangjanpat, the owner of Modern Dog Grooming and School shop.
「摩登狗狗美容與學校」商店老闆蘇坤．努恩姜峇說，「不再是一整天可幫超過10隻狗理毛，我們為了執行社交距離，大概只能接5隻。」

Next Article

Clawing back normality: Bangkok cat cafe reopens after virus shutdown 回到常態：曼谷貓咖啡廳在因病毒歇業後重新開放

As Thailand’s capital cautiously reopens many restaurants shuttered over coronavirus fears, the feline “employees” of the Caturday Cafe are back at work.
隨著泰國首都謹慎恢復許多先前在冠狀病毒恐懼下關閉的餐廳營業，「貓週末咖啡廳」的貓「員工們」返回工作崗位了。

The few dozen friendly cats typically lounge around the cafe, breaking up naptime to saunter over to human customers for snuggles and belly rubs.
幾十隻親切貓咪通常在咖啡廳周圍閒晃，午睡時間結束就漫步走向人類顧客，討抱抱或摸肚肚。

The friendly furballs give some much-needed outside contact for Thais who have mostly been confined to home during weeks of semi-lockdown with most non-essential businesses closed.
這些友善的小毛球提供給好幾週以來大多關在家的泰國人，一些亟需的外在接觸，那段期間半封城，多數非必須商業活動不營業。

Like other businesses across Thailand, the cafe has new rules aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. Before entering, customers must have their temperature checked and wash their hands, and...