New Mandala

Here are some thoughts I received yesterday from a journalist and human rights advocate from the Philippines. He is reflecting on his visit to Bangkok. Clearly not a fan of The Nation! 
Since I arrived, I have been asking people of their opinions and thoughts about the coup. Expectedly, none of those I spoke to seems [...]

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A few days ago I reported on research (by Runako Samata) suggesting that the upland rice production of many Karen farmers in northern Thailand does not meet basic consumption requirements.  In response, regular New Mandala reader Johpa made the following important comment:
I have never lived in a Karen village that did not have some padi land. In the [...]

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Early last month I wrote about a Thai fairy tale in which a wise king encourages rural people to return from the city by granting their village the radiant “tree of sufficiency.” Well, in the real world things seem rather different. Today’s Bangkok Post carries this important story about Thailand’s fundamental demographic transition:
More than half [...]

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An abrasive commentary about conditions in Burma recently came to my attention.  Written by Melody Kemp, who describes herself as “a raging granny who lives in Laos”, it laments international indifference to “Burma’s generals [who] go on killing, raping, torturing and maiming” 
Kemp concludes that:
Peace activists and others often feel queasy about supporting an armed struggle, particularly in Burma [...]

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There are a lot of debates surrounding forest resources in Laos. An interesting trend is how these issues are coming out in the mass media, thus revealing the ambiguities of state policies and practice.  The World Bank’s involvement with the Nam Theun 2 dam and SUFORD (Sustainable Upland Forestry and Rural Development Project) intersects with internal jostling over forests, particularly [...]

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New Mandala readers will be keen to know that a new book on highland Southeast Asia has been recently published.  Edited by François Robinne and Mandy Sadan it is titled Social Dynamics in the Highlands of Southeast Asia: Reconsidering Political Systems of Highland Burma by E.R. Leach.  More information about this important collection is available here. 
Robinne [...]

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Discussions of rural life in Thailand often proceed in the absence of good quality local information. This is unfortunate, as local studies often throw up findings that challenge popular misconceptions. Here is a fascinating graph from ANU PhD researcher Runako Samata.
 
Runako has been studying the economy of upland Karen farmers in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son [...]

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Further to my previous comments about the “unrepresentative swill” of Senates, I was interested to read the following snippet from The Nation:
Controversy over the allocation of debating time caused a walkout of some CDA [Constitution Drafting Assembly] members, forcing yesterday’s session to be suspended for two hours. CDA member Chirmsak Pinthong led the walkout after [...]

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Last week The Nation reported:
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is ready to invest at least US$6 billion (Bt208 billion) in two nuclear power plants in line with the power development plan, which includes the generation of 4,000 megawatts of nuclear power.
Perhaps I have not been paying attention, but this important story seems to [...]

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One of the legacies of the Thaksin era is what some regard as an unprecedented level of division among academic commentators on the Thai political scene. Email exchanges and web-board posts reflect both an increase in the level of academic vitriol and some anxiety about the danger of vigorous academic exchange spilling over into more fundamental [...]

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