New Mandala

New perspectives on mainland Southeast Asia

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On the GMS bandwagon. Australians and Laos – Part II

December 5th, 2006 by Jonathan Cornford, Guest Contributor · 1 Comment

In 1994, amid great fanfare, Paul Keating attended the opening of the Australian built and funded Friendship Bridge, linking Vientiane to Thailand directly by road. There was a lot of hype at the time about the impact of the bridge, both by the proponents and opponents. But perhaps the longer term signficance of the bridge [...]

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Tags: Focus on Laos · Laos · The Mekong · Trans-Border Issues

“…in accordance with the Asian way”

December 5th, 2006 by Nicholas Farrelly · 1 Comment

For students of Southeast Asian politics and political communication, this extract, from a longer official Burmese article denouncing the National League for Democracy, is a good example of some well-used rhetorical devices.  It comes from Maung Cetana, “She who turned alien or danger to the nation”, The New Light of Myanmar, 5 July 2006, page [...]

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Tags: Burma

“Politics is boring”

December 5th, 2006 by Andrew Walker · 58 Comments

From The Nation on the occasion of the king’s birthday:
King Bhumibol Adulyadej last night expressed his support for Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and pointed out that old age is an advantage over the young and inexperienced, which could be turned into great benefits for the country. Although the country has faced a year of political [...]

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Tags: Coup · Surayud regime · Thailand