New Mandala is now old enough to have traditions.
At the end of 2006 we introduced Thailand’s Christmas elf. It was, of course, Thaksin Shinawatra. At the end of 2007 we had no choice but to feature a proxy-elf, Samak Sundaravej. Today it is one year since Samak’s People Power Party fell just short of an absolute majority in the general election. How times have changed.
This year, of course, we have a brand new elf. No proxy this time! This one has achieved his elevation to elf-dom all on his own! But being a modest elf he insisted on bringing along a couple of his friends. One of his friends was no surprise at all. But the other? Who could it possibly be?
Turn up the volume and enjoy!
New Mandala wishes all our readers a very Merry Christmas. Over the next few weeks we will be having a break. There may be occasional posts and we will be checking comments (but not as regularly as usual). We would love to receive guest posts during the holiday period and will do our best to post them.
We will be back with another year of anecdote, analysis and new perspectives some time in January 2009.
Best wishes to all!
Andrew and Nicholas
9 responses so far ↓
1 David Brown // Dec 23, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year
enjoy your break and thanks for all the fish
2 Chatoa Branch // Dec 23, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Merry Christmas & Happy New Years
Thanks for brand new elf clips.
3 Dorm // Dec 23, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Hobgoblins rather than elves!
4 Dickie Simpkins // Dec 23, 2008 at 4:58 pm
My guess is that the 2nd elf is the Invisible Hand!!!
Do I get invisible candy for getting that right?
5 Land of Snarls. // Dec 23, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Is there a prize for guessing the identity of Elf No. 3? My guess is that he’s an ex-MP, still very involved in parliamentary skullduggery, and named after a notorious Burmese general.
6 doctorJ // Dec 24, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Merry Christmas and happy holidays
looking forward for your new posts after the holidays
BTW,save these elves for yourself, I’m fed up with them.
7 Jipjoy // Dec 26, 2008 at 11:45 pm
invisible hand and the invisible smile?
8 Thobphon // Dec 29, 2008 at 11:11 pm
To Land of Snarl
There is no need to mosaic the face if the elf no.3 is just a mere northeastern ex-MP. I believe that person must be the one and the only lord Voldemort (you know who….)
9 Constant Petit // Jan 6, 2009 at 11:52 am
I am sure several of those you depict as Christmas elves are either Buddhists or adherents of other religions than Christianity. It seems that year after year some non-Buddhists have taken liberty with Thailand. A productive way to make Christianity known in Thailand would be to show what good it has done to the world; for example, Christianity has done a lot for the Western civilization. It is this that should be made known, not making Christmas a tool of poking fun.
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Please note: New Mandala encourages vigorous debate. However, for the moment we will only be publishing high-quality comments that make original contributions to discussion. There will, of course, still be space for pithy, humorous, eccentric and cheeky input. Short and sweet will usually trump long and involved. Repetitive ranting, unimaginative point-scoring and idle abuse will not be entertained. Comments which carry a real name are also more likely to be approved. Thank you for your ongoing interest and contributions.