New Mandala

An interesting seminar this morning at ANU by historian Peter Jackson on the deva-raja (god-king) in Thailand. Too late for NewMandala readers to go to the seminar but the circulated abstract makes interesting reading in the light of some of our earlier discussion:

[Read more →]

News reports from Thailand feature representatives of the Democrat Party (soon to be renamed as Democratexceptwhenwecannotwinanelectionandthenacoupisok Party) suggesting that a coup was the only way out of the political impasse. This argument is based, in part, on the claim that elections under the Thaksin government did not provide a free and fair basis for expression [...]

[Read more →]

During my recent stint in Burma, the Chinese influence was more apparent than ever before.  A new report that is being carried by Narinjara provides a reasonable English-language overview of Chinese involvement in the Burmese scene.  It includes a large and relevant bibliography.
�
Good micro-level information on the contemporary economic and social interactions between Burma and China can [...]

[Read more →]

There is much talk of vote buying in relation to Thailand’s political crisis. Hard evidence is hard to come by but dark rumours persist of electoral handouts in return for votes. Well, New Mandala has some firm evidence due to the eagle eye of Nich Farrelly. Have a look at these snaps from the February [...]

[Read more →]

Yesterday afternoon and evening usual television programming was interrupted (again) for proclamation 22 of Thailand’s new military government. The proclamation notes that despite the previous proclamation (number 7) banning political assemblies of more than 5 people, there have been political activities undertaken by sub-district administrative organisations, provincial administrative organisations and other local organisations. Local [...]

[Read more →]

Another statement about the coup, this time from Thongchai Winichakul.
Thongchai – bad excuses for the coup

[Read more →]

I have received, via forwarded email, the following statement by Giles Ji Ungpakorn who, at this stage, seems to be emerging as one of the key public intellectuals opposed to the coup.
There was a democratic alternative to the coup
Giles Ji Ungpakorn

It is a sad sight to see many Thai liberals today backing the coup and [...]

[Read more →]

The web site of The Council for the Democratic Reform under the Constitutional Monarchy (Thailand’s new government) is available here. There is an English language page, but with limited material.

[Read more →]

The Nation is quoting a former Bangkok senator, Sophon Suphapong, on the coup-makers – the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) – and the decisions they are currently facing.
Suphon said:
The CDRM has to make sure that no persons with close links to the former Thaksin regime are named to the new Cabinet. I [...]

[Read more →]

Whatever you think about the politics or academic analysis of Giles Ungpakorn you have to admire his courage in fronting the first protest against the coup. Bangkok Pundit has a very useful summary of his recent (pre-coup) statements about the political situation in Thailand. And an interesting statement by Giles can be found here. I [...]

[Read more →]