New Mandala

“We look at the people who are mid-career working for us and we find we have people who speak fluent Bahasa, fluent Japanese or even fluent Mandarin; but if I look at the youngsters that are joining us now it almost feels like we have gone backwards.”
- Marius Kloppers, Chief Executive Officer, BHP Billiton Limited, [...]

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New Mandala is very pleased to announce a new series of essays.  In a departure from previous practice these essays are in Thai.  They have been written for the benefit of the native Thai speaking portion of our audience and, even more so, for those New Mandala readers who have some grasp of the language [...]

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“His Majesty the King is revered by Thais and admired by foreigners from afar because of his intrinsic goodness and dedication to improving the people’s livelihood, yet many foreign friends of Thailand are now casting doubt on the broad application of lese majeste.
Authorities may have intended to achieve deterrence from offending and disrespecting the revered [...]

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Anyone who has spent time in the Yangon suburbs will be familiar with the main water pipe that runs from the Gyohpyu Reservoir to the center of the city. The colonial-era pipe snakes its way along ditches, through gardens and under roads and the railway line before disappearing into the ground at Yankin, to supply [...]

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Following some of the events that are filling up the calendars of New Mandala readers in the UK Giles Ji Ungpakorn has released a statement.  Like some of his other statements the English is not an exact translation of the Thai.  The two versions read:
*จดหมายถึงทูตไทยประจำลอนดอน Open Letter to Thai Embassy in London*
ผมยินดีที่สถานทูตไทยพร้อมจะแสดงจุดยืนทางการเมืองที่แตกต่างจากจุดยืนผมและผมยินดีที่มีการจัดประชุมที่สามัคคีสมาคมเพื่อให้ทูตไทยแสดงความเห็นของฝ่ายรัฐบาล
เพื่อพัฒนาการแลกเปลี่ยนและการใช้ปัญญาต่อไป ผมจึงขอเชิญทูตไทยประจำลอนดอนร่วมโต้วาทีวิชาการ สองต่อสอง กับผมในเวทีสาธารณะ [...]

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