New Mandala

In Thailand’s northernmost Chiang Rai province, language learning is seen as crucial for greater regional economic and social success.  For people in Chiang Rai, learning Mandarin Chinese is the flavour of the decade.  It is a priority for the local university and school system, and nowadays street signs in downtown Chiang Rai are commonly in Thai, English and Chinese.  The [...]

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The so-called pro-democracy movement’s concerns about Thaksin’s trips to the Northeast and the North are bizarre. Of course in a parliamentary democracy there is always the danger of blurring the line between government business and party political business (in Australia we are very familiar with that!). But surely a serving Prime Minister has every right [...]

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