New Mandala

Every time somebody is convicted of lese majeste Thailand’s monarchy ends up looking bad.
After over six decades on the throne King Bhumibol Adulyadej has yet to really push for reform of a law that makes his rule seem fragile and even a little vindictive.  We are still, somewhat bizarrely, supposed to believe that the palace [...]

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Like all previous cases, the only way to rescue Suwicha’s family from the quagmire confronting them is by a royal pardon. His lawyer said that he would seek one.
This is a matter of urgency as lives are at stake here. It is hoped that common sense will prevail in our country with its long tradition [...]

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Dipping into old ethnographies is sometimes good fun. William Carlson Smith’s The Ao Naga Tribe of Assam (1925) is one of those mostly-forgotten books that take a while to find. Smith went from Christian missionary work to sociology/anthropology, and his book carries over some interesting ambivalence about his former line of work. He suggests that [...]

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