New Mandala

The daily cuts and thrusts of political intrigue in contemporary lowland Southeast Asia aren’t the only stories worth following these days.�
In one of the most unexpected snippets of Burma news to make a big international splash over the past few months, almost everybody seems to be reporting that the world’s oldest bee has been found in the [...]

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Sondhi’s so-called pro-democracy international tour continues. From today’s email inbox:
Mr. Sondhi Limthongkul, long-time critic of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and instigator [!!??] of the recent coup in Thailand will be speaking on “Thailand’s Democracy, Corruption & Coup(s)”

Tuesday, November 14. 6:00pm
Kane Hall, Room 110

Event is free and open [...]

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Visitors to Buddhist festivals in Thailand are often struck by the presence of scantily clad dancing girls who, along with highly amplified bands, provide evening entertainment. This ribald behavior has come to the attention of the Queen. She has voiced concern over televised “lewd dancing” at a Buddhist festival in Nong Khai. According to [...]

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Today, The Nation is running the first in a two part series by Chang Noi on the definition of “sufficiency economy” in the Thai system.  Chang Noi writes, in part, that:
The Sufficiency Economy is not so much a theory about how the world works, more a set of simple maxims about what brings success, based on [...]

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Just briefly, a new website called Burma Gateway has been recently brought to my attention.  It plans to become a clearing house for information on Burma which will “enable online virtual collaboration of all stakeholders relevant and interested in Burma, the website will be instrumental in harnessing, promoting and enhancing common causes and issues”.�
This site, which has been [...]

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Amidst the prolific discussion of the Thai coup is an emerging argument about “Thai-style democracy.” In an eloquent paper presented at the Asia Research Institute in Singapore, Thai scholar Pattana Kitiarsa provides a number of explanations of the “gentle, bloodless” coup in terms of what he calls “Thai-style democracy”. This is a non-western form [...]

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For New Mandala readers with an interest in the languages of mainland Southeast Asia, the fully functioning version of SOAS’ Wa-Chinese-Burmese-English dictionary is certainly worth some hours of exploration.  It contains a great deal that might interest those with specific interests in other, non-Wa, parts of the region.  The dictionary and related sites are impressive pieces of work.
Over [...]

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Even on an overcast day, the glint and glare around the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon can be overwhelming.  If you’re not used to the light, it can, at first, be hard to stop squinting.  Ordinarily the area surrounding the Pagoda is filled with merit-makers and tourists, and people sitting in prayer.  It is a sprawling complex with associated religious sites nestled [...]

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As regular contributor – Patiwat – warns, Surayud’s policy manifesto should not be taken too seriously. But, to my reading, there are a number of issues worth further discussion.
First, the overall social vision. To me, this is a vision of a virtuous and loyal populace united under benign royalist leadership. Harmony is code for limited [...]

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The Nation has an unofficial translation of the policies of the Surayud/Sonthi regime, due to be announced on November 3. If any New Mandala readers can point to the Thai version I would appreciate it. Some high(?)lights:
Writing a blueprint for the utilisation of national communication resources for the benefit of the public and people’s political [...]

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