New Mandala

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately about contract farming, in Thailand and other countries. One interesting case that I came across was that of baby corn. In a report published almost 20 years ago veteran journalist and activist Sanitsuda Ekachai wrote about the fate of Thai peasants who had been caught up in [...]

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In the wake of the April 2009 crushing of the Red Shirts, there was some speculation that Abhisit may be tempted to call an election sooner rather than later. I discussed this with a seasoned inside observer of Thai politics and he assured me that Abhisit would only call an election when he and his [...]

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I have to say it is childish of the Burmese generals to dream about acquiring nuclear technology, since they can’t even provide regular electricity in Burma…
- Extracted from a wide-ranging interview with Thakhin Chan Tun, former Burmese Ambassador to North Korea: “Burma wants the bomb”, The Irrawaddy, 27 June 2009.
New Mandala readers who pay attention [...]

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Remember Visit Myanmar Year? Back in 1996 the regime was touting its country as a new Southeast Asian destination for package tourists and those looking for an exotic alternative to more familiar and popular countries in the region. That year it targeted half-a-million visitors but fell far short at just over 300,000, which by the [...]

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…of reality TV or Thai politics then you will enjoy this latest report from Not The Nation.  Classic.

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I hope that every one of us will keep our Thainess by eating Thai rice, not farang rice…I thank everyone who has worked on the rice patent issue.
- King Bhumibol Adulyadej quoted in “HM King praises Thai rice patent”, Bangkok Post, 25 June 2009.
I don’t spend much time scouting around for this kind of thing [...]

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The International Crisis Group (ICG) has published a new report titled Recruiting Militants in Southern Thailand.  The Executive Summary is available here and the full report, as a PDF, is here.
The following information particularly caught my eye:
Insurgents draw on local culture to invoke traditional oaths to discipline their own ranks, though such practices alienate them [...]

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I know that many New Mandala readers have been waiting for the re-appearance of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn in the news.
He still doesn’t seem to have been out in public but I did notice that the Bangkok Post announced the graduation of his youngest daughter, Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Fine and Applied [...]

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Daranee “Da Torpedo” Charnchoengsilpakul (ดารณี ชาญเชิงศิลปกุล) is currently on trial for lese majeste.  Yesterday the courtroom was closed to the public by a judge who reportedly “guarantee[s] the defendant will get a fair trial”.  I won’t be holding my breath.  In response, Daranee made the simple point that “[t]he speech I am charged with was [...]

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In a recent essay questioning Prime Minister Abhisit’s claim that things have “returned to normal” in Thailand following the suppression of the April red shirt rising, Kevin Hewison (Asia Sentinel, 4 June 2009) refers briefly to state-promoted signboards that have flooded Thailand’s landscape. Here I’d like to build on that important observation more closely.
Since late [...]

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