New Mandala

Insulting the monarchy, or lese majeste, is a common feature of Thailand’s fractious political scene, with anybody able to file a complaint against an opponent no matter how trivial or tangential the alleged disrespect to the royal family.
- Extracted from “Thai protest chief arrested over royal insult”, Reuters, 24 July 2008.

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Believe it or not, our small group of about 50 students from the RIT’s First Year Section-D unknowingly started the 1974 student uprising. The beginning of the so-called “U Thant Uprising” was the day I will never forget even though, nowadays, I can’t really recall the exact date. Then in 1974, I was a first [...]

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A couple of weeks ago I commented on Thailand’s impressive performance on the Millennium Development Goals. I suggested that the Thai state – in its various democratic and less than democratic forms – has achieved a lot in terms of basic service provision to its population. As some readers commented in response to my post, [...]

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Over at Papaya in Thailand, there is an interesting essay from the perspective of a foreign lecturer at a Thai university.  It outlines what the author sees as the failings of the education sector and emphasises what he calls “strong evidence of malnutrition of the mind”.  I’m sure the author of this piece would appreciate comments from the many New Mandala [...]

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If you want to get yourself into the nationalist mood while on your way to a PAD rally, here is some current reading from the PAD reading list. Technical constraints prevent me from scanning it all, but the Preface and the “list of Thai territories lost to France” should be enough to get you hot [...]

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I don’t know the area that well but I had wondered how long it would be before some of the more obvious ghosts along the Thailand-Cambodia border started to rear their heads.�
According to this Voice of America report somewhere in the order of 500 former Khmer Rouge fighters have been brought to the Preah Vihear area [...]

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The Asian Development Bank Institute has just put out a new report on contract farming in Thailand.  This is an issue that has, in the past, been discussed at some length on New Mandala.  Previous coverage is available here and here.  Readers who follow debates about the merits of various rural development strategies in mainland Southeast [...]

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Thanks to prolific New Mandala commentator, Grasshopper, I have learned of some interesting geographic information system work done by the US government on cyclone-affected areas of the Irrawaddy Delta.  A contextual article is available here and a very useful, but slightly dated, map is available here.
Other maps, including one that deals with livestock impact, are online at [...]

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On the weekend I often try to find something a bit different for New Mandala fans seeking a provocative take on current affairs.  Today my digital foraging took me far and wide, but I have settled on a comment attributed to General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff of the British Army.
Tom Griffin’s blog [...]

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My dream was always to go to Laos before it got Starbucked to death by my people, before a great deluge of tourism washed over its enchantment. I was told to get there fast, before the crowds came. But you can’t reach Laos directly from the UK…
- The opening gambit of Ruby Wax’s “Serene Dream: [...]

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