New Mandala

I have been sent this draft translation of Thailand’s proposed post-coup constitution: 2007-constitution-english.pdf

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I don’t want to turn New Mandala into a positions vacant column, but I would like to draw attention to two great job opportunities currently being advertised at ANU. In my own section (RMAP) we are advertising for a Research and Teaching Fellow to contribute to our Masters in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development (MAAPD) program [...]

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Anthropologist Grant Evans has written an interesting review (for the Bangkok Post) of Charles Tripp’s Islam and the Moral Economy [evans-on-tripp.doc].  He links Tripp’s argument about an Islamic moral economy, with Thailand’s ongoing southern violence:
In his erudite examination of Islam Charles Tripp shows that Muslims have a long scholastic and legal tradition that attempts to grapple with [...]

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A New Mandala reader has sent me the following in relation to our previous post on the Khmer Krom:
Following a series of  highly politicised worldwide protests  aimed at drawing public attention to the suppression of Khmer Krom in Vietnam and their implicit independence claims, and after a particularly bloody stand off between monks in Phnom Penh it is with [...]

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Thanks to Chut for pointing out that the deadline for submitting paper and panel proposals to the 10th International Conference on Thai Studies has been extended to 15 June 2007. So it will be quite a wait to see how liberal the organisers are in accepting panel and paper proposals which stray into sensitive areas.

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Those interested in doing business in Laos might find Target a useful resource. Target is a monthly magazine that commenced publication in July 2006. It has parallel English and Lao text with an emphasis on business, public administration and law reform. It even has its own website.
[This post is provided by the National Library of Australia as part [...]

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Regular New Mandala reader, Patiwat, has provided some useful comments on the post-coup draft constitution. Here they are:
Some brief thoughts on the constitution. In short, it’ll take us back to the 1970s/1980s. I’ll save time and focus only on the bad and neutral points:
Bad
- Weakening of the political party system will produce short-sighted unstable coalition [...]

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This is a wonderful image from Burma of the Buddhist saint/spirit Upakhut (thanks very much to the photographer Ampika Rattanapitak). Here are two other images: upakhut-2.JPG and here upakhut-3.JPG.
Upakhut is an important figure in local belief in many areas of Burma, northern Thailand and Laos. The stories of his origins are numerous. (For those interested, The Legend [...]

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I am currently working on an edited collection that examines contemporary ideas about “community” in the Thai/Tai world. Tentatively titled “Modern Tai Community”, the book is an attempt to rescue the concept of “community” from its immersion in notions of tradition, subsistence livelihoods and local wisdom. All too often “community” is seen as standing opposed [...]

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New Mandala reader Rungnapa Kasemrat has sent me this image from the Vietnamese town of Van Phuc (famous for its silk production.) Travellers in Rungnapa’s group were pleased to learn that, given the high price of dog meat, substitution in any of the nearby restaurants was very unlikely! From my experience they were missing out on a treat.

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