New Mandala

New Mandala readers who have yet to check it out may be interested in the wiki-style innovation launched by The Nation.  They have invited readers to edit two competing  essays on Thailand’s political situation.  One, titled “Thaksin, we miss you like crazy“, is for Thaksin “supporters and opponents of the coup who believe he’s a ‘lesser devil’”.  The other is titled [...]

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The Irrawaddy is carrying a short report on opium cultivation in Thailand.  Apparently, some 320 acres of the crop have been destroyed by Thai officials since late 2006.  The Thai authorities are concerned about an estimated 80 acres that they have yet to eradicate. 
On the odd occasions that I have seen or heard of opium [...]

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From today’s Nation:
A shrimp farmer holds a banner in front of Australian Embassy on Sathorn Road to protest Australia’s newly-issued measures which they claimed block Thai shrimp to Australian market.

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เส้นทางเหล็ก พล.อ. สุรยุทธ์ จุลานนท์ นายกรัฐมนตรีคนที่ 24 (The iron road: General Surayud Chulanont, the 24th Prime Minister of Thailand) by Wasana Nanuam (5th edition, 2006) provides a useful coverage of Surayud’s early life: from his communist father, through his military and political careers. It also touches on his monastic life and finally his term as Interim [...]

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Here (mccargo.pdf) is Duncan McCargo’s review of The King Never Smiles (from the New Left Review).
UPDATE: And here is another review (buruma.pdf), from the New York Review of Books, by Ian Buruma. (Apologies for some problems with the fonts and format.)

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