An artist’s impression of the Bangkok Futsal Arena; the stadium as it appeared last week.
By Terry Fredrickson
An artist's impression of the finished Bangkok Futsal Arena (inset) is just a dream at the moment. The reality is more like the photo taken just a week ago.
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Futsal stadium handover delayed
Thailand played Egypt at the Thai-Japanese Stadium yesterday. APICHIT JINAKUL
Thailand beat Egypt yesterday in a warmup match for the Fifa Futsal World Cup to be held in Thailand from November 1-18.
The question that everyone is asking, however, is not the score (it was 4-3) but where the match was played. Well, it was played at the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Din Daeng, definitely not at the Bangkok Futsal Arena in Nong Chok which was is supposed to be the showpiece venue for the World Cup.
This weekend, city officials failed to turn over the new stadium to Fifa officials as promised only days earlier. Instead, the stadium handover has been rescheduled for October 29.
According to Bangkok governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the latest in a long series of construction delays was due to customs clearance problems in China involving the wooden floor that is being imported from that country.
Previous setbacks were due to last year’s flooding which delayed the start of construction to January of this year and, according to city officials, drastic budget cuts by the incoming Yingluck Shinawatra government. Bringing the Futsal tournament to Thailand was an initiative of the opposition Democrat party.
The location of the new sports facility has also been criticised as inappropriate. Nong Chok is in a flood-prone area and it is also far from the city centre, critics say.
Meanwhile, workers are continuing to toil around the clock with about 2,500 employees for the day shift and 600-700 at night.
MR Sukhumbhand insists that Fifa will have its new stadium in time for use during the quarter-final rounds.
"It is up to Fifa whether it wants the Bangkok Futsal Arena to be a host venue for the Futsal World Cup," he said. "What the BMA has promised is the stadium will definitely be able to be used as a venue for the tournament, although the whole project will not be complete because of several problems."
Adapted from a story by Supoj Wancharoen and Tor Chittinand in Sunday's Bangkok Post. You can read the full story, much longer story, here: http://bit.ly/T60v4g
You can read previous article at http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/books/313641/introducing-thailand-submerged.
Vocabulary
impression – a drawing showing what a person looks like or what a place or a building will look like in the future
handover – offiicially giving somebody else control or the responsibility for something การมอบ
delay – to make something happen at a later time than originally planned or expected เลื่อน
futsal – an indoor version of football (soccer), played on a smaller playing area.
definitely – certain; having no doubts about something อย่างแน่นอน
arena – a large area that is surrounded by seats, used for sports or entertainment สังเวียน, สนามกีฬา
showpiece – the most impressive feature of something or the most impressive thing of its type ตัวอย่างที่ดีที่สุด
venue – the place where an activity or event happens สถานที่ที่จัดงาน
reschedule – to change the time at which something has been arranged to happen, especially so that it takes place later จัดตารางเวลาใหม่, เปลี่ยนตารางใหม่
series – several events or things of a similar kind that happen one after the other สิ่งที่ต่อเนื่องกัน, อนุกรม, ลำดับ
construction – the work of building or making something, especially buildings, bridges, etc. การก่อสร้าง
customs – the checks and collects taxes on goods leaving or entering the country, carried out by the customs department งานที่เกี่ยวข้องกับภาษีศุลกากร
import – to buy or bring in products from another country นำเข้า
setback – something that happens which delays or prevents a process from advancing การหยุดยั้งการก้าวหน้า,ความล้มเหลว,การถอยหลัง
due to – because of เนื่องจาก
drastic – having a very big effect มีผลกระทบอย่างใหญ่หลวง
budget – an amount of money able to be spent on something งบประมาณ
incoming – recently elected or chosen ใหม่
initiative – a new action or movement, often intended to solve a problem ความคิดริเริ่ม
opposition – of a political party that is not part of the government ฝ่ายค้าน
location – where someone or something is ที่ตั้ง,ทำเล
criticise – to say that you disapprove of somebody/something; to say what you do not like or think is wrong about somebody/something วิจารณ์, ติเตียน,จับผิด
inappropriate – unsuitable ซึ่งไม่เหมาะสม
-prone – (suffix) likely to experience a particular problem more often than is usual ที่มีแนวโน้ม
critics – people who don’t like something and who state their opinion about it นักวิจารณ์
toil – to work very hard and/or for a long time, usually doing hard physical work ทำงานหนัก
shift – a period of work time in a factory, hospital or other place where some people work during the day and some work at night เวร, กะ หรือระยะเวลาทำงานเป็นช่วงๆ,
insist – to keep saying very firmly that something is true ยืนกราน ยืนยัน
quarter-final (or quarterfinal) – a competition between two of the last eight competitors remaining in a tournament การแข่งขันก่อนรอบบรองชนะเลิศ
be up to – having the choice to do something or not to do it
host – a country, city, group, person, etc. which provides the space and other things necessary for a special event เจ้าภาพ
