Rough day on the road
December 20, 2007
Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva's BMW sedan was damaged when it was hit by a truck in Saraburi's Kaeng Khoi district in the early hours of yesterday. Mr Abhisit, who was being driven back to Bangkok after campaigning in Nakhon Ratchasima, was not hurt. SOMJAR BOONTAP
Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva must be hoping his next campaign trip will begin and end in the same vehicle. As you will see from the story below, he hasn't had much luck with the vehicles transporting him from place to place. Do you think his misfortunes are ominious signs of more bad things to come on Election Day?
This story is probably one of the easiest we have read in general news. I suggest that you take advantage of this to try to read a little faster than you normally do. From my experience in the classroom, most people read far too slowly in a second language, making it difficult for them to connect ideas from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph. Listen to the soundfiles and then see if you can read at a similar pace.
ominous – suggesting that something unpleasant is likely to happen ลางร้าย
pace – speed; rate อัตราความเร็ว
Abhisit in string of road mishaps
Photo: Mr Abhisit
shows the Phra Kring
Chaiwat
amulet he was wearing.Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva suffered a string of mishaps yesterday, having to change several cars during election campaigning, only hours after he escaped unhurt from a car accident.
Mr Abhisit was in the back seat of a BMW sedan travelling through Saraburi province when his vehicle was hit by a small truck pulling out of a gas station in Kaeng Khoi district 10 minutes after midnight.
Mr Abhisit was asleep in the car and had woken up shortly before the crash. He was not wearing a seat belt.
"I got a bit of a knock," Mr Abhisit told AP Television News. "I think I was lucky because the car was hit very hard."
The Democrat leader, who is among the front-runners to be the next prime minister, complained of a minor headache but had no other serious injuries.
The accident occurred as Mr Abhisit was on his way back from a campaign stop in the Northeast.
He continued on with his election campaigning in Bangkok where the bad luck appear to following him.
After the accident, Mr Abhisit was transferred to the van of party chief adviser Chuan Leekpai heading back to Bangkok. The van broke down a little later and he had to be driven to the capital in another car.
In the morning, another van which the party had prepared for taking him to meet voters in Bangkok developed engine problems. Mr Abhisit was forced to switch to his Mercedes-Benz. While driving along the expressway, his car's brakes jammed, prompting Mr Abhisit to change cars again.
string – a series of related things or events ระลอกหนึ่ง
mishap –an unlucky event or accident เหตุร้าย
transferred – moved from one place, vehicle, person or group to another ถูกส่งตัวไปยังอีกที่หนึ่ง
jammed – unable to move or be moved ติด ค้าง
prompting – causing ทำให้เกิด
Some Bhuddhist amulet collectors have already been asking what amulet Mr Abhisit was wearing, which they think may have helped save the politician's life in the accident. Mr Abhisit said he was wearing an amulet, but did not know which temple it came from.
Meanwhile, Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana party leader Chettha Thanajaro was yesterday diagnosed with herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, probably caused by a hectic campaigning schedule and lack of rest.
A high fever and a rash prompted Gen Chettha to cut short the party executive meeting early yesterday afternoon. He had just returned from election campainging in Nakhon Ratchasima province.
subsequent – happening after something else ที่ตามมา
upcoming – happening soon ที่กำลังจะมีขึ้น
diagnosed – (of an illness or problems) – recognised and named from an examination วินิจฉัยโรค
shingles – a disease caused by a virus that infects particular nerves and that produces a line or lines of painful red spots, especially around the waist โรคงูสวัสดิ์ หรือ เริม
hectic – very busy and fast; full of activity ยุ่ง วุ่นวาย
fever – a medical condition in which your body อาการไข้ temperature is unusually high อาการไข้
rash – a lot of small red spots on the skin, resulting from an illness or from touching a harmful substance ผื่นแดง