New Mandala

The situation’s touch and go. Now with the emergency decree, we have moved to the next stage of brinkmanship…They [the People's Alliance for Democracy] want to draw blood and they’ve come to the point where they’re willing to be martyrs in order to achieve their aims.
- Chulalongkorn University’s Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, quoted in “Emergency declared in Thai [...]

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Today I went back, once again, to Paul Handley’s The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej.  In the cut and thrust of the moment it can be easy to forget what has happened in decades past.  I would certainly encourage any New Mandala readers with a copy of Handley’s account near to hand to turn [...]

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Thailand declared a state of emergency in Bangkok Tuesday, banning gatherings of more than five people in a bid to clamp down on anti-government protests that erupted into deadly clashes overnight.
- Extracted from “Thailand declares emergency in Bangkok after clashes leave one dead”, AFP, 2 September 2008.
This may be an opportune time just to reiterate that [...]

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I have taken the liberty of putting together a selection of key quotes from academic commentators who have turned their attention to Thailand’s political standoff in recent days.  If New Mandala readers find other useful insights please feel free to suggest them as comments.
“The People’s Alliance for Democracy is not a pro-democracy movement…The present crisis is [...]

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The best english-language report I have seen of last night’s clash in Bangkok comes from Nirmal Ghosh at The Straits Times.  It is available here.

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