Will Democracy Monument be next to ‘mysteriously’ disappear?
Re: “Editorial was good, but translation of plaques could have been better”, Have Your Say, yesterday.
The Nation did a great job translating the script on the historic “Memorial plaque” as follows: “Here, on June 24, 1932 at dawn, the Khana Rassadorn started a constitution for the progress of the country.”
Nonetheless, Khun Songdej reckoned the translation was vague, so he suggested the following: “On 24th June 1932, at dawn the Khana Rassadorn has initiated a constitution to attain prosperity for our nation.”
Sounded better all right, but it didn’t preserve the archaic tone and writing style of the Thai language being used four score and five years ago.
Meanwhile, don’t be surprised if you wake up one morning and find the Democracy Monument has been replaced by a sculpture of a life-sized tank guarded by four howitzer cannons, one at each corner. And that nobody knows who did it!
Somsak Pola
