New Mandala

Back in July I highlighted the 3rd International Conference on Gross National Happiness that will be held in Nongkhai and Bangkok in November 2007.
The organisers of the conference have now released a general call for “innovative” papers that will be of interest to some New Mandala readers.  According to the website:�
Striking elements of academic work will be presented [...]

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New Mandala readers who are looking to understand the local dynamics of the 2007 constitution referendum will find much value in Michael H. Nelson’s series of posts from Chachoengsao.  The posts start with the first efforts to generate interest in the vote and go right through to the final moments when the results were tallied up.  The posts include dozens of [...]

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This post is part of New Mandala’s month-long feature on Thailand’s constitution referendum.  The referendum was held on 19 August 2007. �
Compared to the weeks immediately before the voting in elections or, in this case, the referendum, polling day usually is a rather boring affair. It mainly concerns the processes in polling stations, which may be located [...]

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Here is a statement from the Asian Human Rights Commission following the referendum in Thailand:
THAILAND: A long road back to human rights and the rule of law
Predictably, the military junta in Thailand has coerced, threatened, bought and cajoled part of the electorate into passing its 309-article constitution on August 19. From results to date, just over 14 [...]

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Recently the National Thai Studies Centre (NTSC) at the ANU decided to host an official delegation despatched by the military junta’s public relations “war room” (not my term, but one used by the Thai press). The event will be held tomorrow (Wednesday 22 August) at 10.30 in Sparke Helmore Law Theatre 1 (Law Faculty). The [...]

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I have taken the liberty of putting together a small selection of great content from around the Southeast Asia blogs.  I hope New Mandala readers find it a useful resource for today and the week ahead.

Bangkok Pundit: As expected, the Pundit’s comprehensive coverage of referendum day is superb.  New Mandala readers hoping to digest his distinctive analysis will find this [...]

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Political analyst Michael H. Nelson has spent the last few weeks observing the constitution referendum in Chachoengsao province.  Here on New Mandala, he will be providing more coverage and pictures from voting day.  For now he has provided this short update for our series on the 2007 referendum.
He writes:
I stayed at the Provincial Election Commission (PEC) [...]

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Here is a “quick and dirty” map of the referendum result provided by Chris Baker. Thanks Chris! [UPDATE (21 August): I have replaced the original map with a revised map that reflects the final vote count.]

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In the controversial April 2006 election the Thai Rak Thai party received almost 16 million votes. Many argued that this was an illegitimate election victory, largely because of the boycott by the main opposition parties and the low voter turnout.  What was the result in yesterday’s referendum?

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Over the coming months, New Mandala will publish a series of interviews with academics, activists and writers who contribute to major debates in mainland Southeast Asian Studies.  These interviews are designed to probe the experiences, arguments and ideas that have helped shape the field.
The third in New Mandala’s series of discussions with prominent personalities is with the University of North [...]

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