New Mandala

New perspectives on mainland Southeast Asia

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Defending the sufficiency line

February 2nd, 2007 by Nicholas Farrelly · 27 Comments

In a fiery rebuke to the Asian Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and The Economist, The Nation’s Thanong Khanthong pleads for the global media to “stop distorting the facts” about “sufficiency economy”.
According to Thanong:
…these three publications have slammed the Sufficiency Theory, as if it would turn the clock backward and lead Thailand down the drain. They tried to [...]

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Tags: Sufficiency Economy · Surayud regime · Thailand

Surayud on the ‘philosophy of life’

February 2nd, 2007 by Nicholas Farrelly · 2 Comments

Through his ongoing efforts to clarify “sufficiency economy“, junta-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has inspired a brief article by MCOT.  It reads, in part:
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont on Thursday reiterated the sufficiency economy concept is not only an economic theory, but it is also a philosophy of life that could be applied to various matters.
The premier’s remark was [...]

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Tags: Sufficiency Economy · Surayud regime · Thailand

Debating tours to Naga country, and other topics

February 2nd, 2007 by Nicholas Farrelly · 2 Comments

The position of tourism in the economies and societies of mainland Southeast Asia has been a common theme since we started New Mandala in June 2006.  Back in November, I instigated a discussion on the Burma tourism “boycott” debate.  This debate touches on a raft of related topics that I feel are worth much further reflection.  Of course, academic analysis of tourism requires, at all times, [...]

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Tags: Burma · Trans-Border Issues