New Mandala

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For the past three days I have been attending the Critical Transitions in the Mekong Region hosted by Chiang Mai University. Last July I made an early post about this conference, expressing slight scepticism about the ongoing preoccupation with the Mekong region. In some respects I think my concerns were misplaced. The conference has provided a forum [...]

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Over at Deathpower in Cambodia, there is a discussion of capitalism, poverty and economic transformation.  It is certainly worth a look.
Erik Davis warns:
The appropriation of the most important natural resource in mainland Southeast Asia – water – is perhaps the most important story going. The constant damming of the Mekong and other river systems means [...]

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A Finnish website is reporting that “Mika” - a 28 year old who claims to be a former member of both the Finnish Army and the French Foreign Legion - has volunteered to fight in Burma with the Karen National Liberation Army.  The website’s only source is a Bangkok Post article that I cannot find online at the moment.Â
Of [...]

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Christoph Bruemmer, the Ambassador of Germany in Thailand, and Kulkumut Singhara na Ayudhaya, the director-general of the Thai Foreign Ministry’s European Affairs Department, have taken a conversation about Thailand’s political situation to the pages of The Nation.  In my experience, it is more than a bit unusual for this style of exchange to get printed in a newspaper.  I am [...]

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An anonymous correspondent over at Asia Sentinel echoes a number of commentators here on New Mandala by probing the question: “What happens when the King of Thailand dies?”
Much of the subsequent discussion will be familiar to regular readers of New Mandala.  Reader thoughts on this article and its analysis are, as always, very welcome.

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For the past week I have been visiting a village in Chiang Mai province. The cold weather, especially early in the week, made the daily shower rather challenging for a softy like me. In a way it was a pleasant break to go for a two-day walk in the forest with a group of villagers, [...]

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And just for a slight change of pace, I stumbled upon an article in the Tahoe Daily Tribune (not the most common source of anecdotal material for New Mandala) by Rick Gunn.  He is a chap who is cycling around the world.  Titled “Loose in Laos” the article devotes most of its attention to northern Laos and [...]

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Traveling long-distances for more than half the year, many Lao river traders are all too familiar with living onboard their boats. Clambering on to a cargo boat, one can immediately see that boats are not simply a carrier of goods but are also a second home for traders.
All boats allow the creation of a home atmosphere but bigger ones, with more living space, [...]

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In Buriram, The Nation reports that a complaint has been made:
Five local activists, including failed electoral candidates, Thursday filed a complaint calling for police to launch a probe into alleged offending remarks against the monarchy made by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
The activists cited a transcript of Thaksin’s interview released by the cable news station CNN [...]

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Back in July, Andrew Walker posted a short review of Paul Handley’s The King Never Smiles.  This book continues to attract a great deal of interest.  Anybody keen to quickly come up to speed on the issues it raises could do worse than trawl through these New Mandala posts.  Over the past week or more, Andrew’s [...]

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