New Mandala

Forget the political posturing of People Power Party spokesmen from Thaksin Shinawatra’s former Thai Rak Thai Party; ignore the false impressions created by simplistic analysis of the number of seats won by the PPP in the December 23 General Election – many by an exceedingly narrow margin.
After more than a year of political upheaval in [...]

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For anyone interested, here I am on Radio Australia’s Connect Asia this morning, commenting on the post-election mischief in Thailand. (Here is an alternative link to the story.)

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Given the death of Princess Galyani I thought it would be interesting to provide New Mandala readers with an account of royal funerary rites. I have read an account somewhere (perhaps in Siamese State Ceremonies by H. G. Quaritch Wales) but not having access to a library I cannot lay my hands on anything right now. [...]

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Incidental Ethnographers: French Catholic Missions on the Tonkin-Yunnan Frontier, 1880-1930 by Jean Michaud.
Here is a fascinating addition to the early ethnography of mainland southeast Asia. The authour, Jean Michaud, has provided this short account of the book’s creation:
Over the 2 years I spent away from teaching in Dunedin, New Zealand, I endeavoured to work on [...]

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