New Mandala

New perspectives on mainland Southeast Asia

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Sepon mine in Laos to be sold to China?

June 10th, 2009 by Andrew Walker · 3 Comments

(Image from here.)
Over recent months there have been a spate of reports in the business pages about the possible sale of the Sepon mine in Laos to the Chinese state-controlled Minmetals Group.  (I am currently putting together a longer post with some of this history.) The Sepon gold and copper mine is owned by an Australian company, Oz [...]

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Tags: China · Laos

Selth on Burmese nationalism

June 10th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 1 Comment

Over at the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter, long-time Burma watcher Andrew Selth provides a fascinating reflection on Burmese nationalism and its relationship to the region’s longue durée.

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Tags: Burma · India · Than Shwe · Trans-Border Issues

Nicolaides on another Thai legal nightmare

June 10th, 2009 by Andrew Walker · 1 Comment

Harry Nicolaides has written a story about Behnam Moafi, an Iranian-Swede, who he met in prison in Bangkok. Here is an extract:
Despite the best efforts of his jailers, Behnam Moafi, an Iranian-Swede born in Tehran in 1968, refuses to die. He is serving a 22-year sentence in a Thai prison for extortion, blackmail and armed [...]

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Tags: Thailand

Imagined land?

June 10th, 2009 by Book Zone, Guest Contributor · Add a Comment

Imagined land?: the state and southern violence in Thailand (2009) Chaiwat Satha-Anand (editor) (ISBN: 9874863370210).
The National Library of Australia is pleased to announce that we have recently acquired an English translation of this significant volume (original title: แผ่นดินจินตนาการ?: รัฐและการแก้ไขปัญหาความรุนแรงในภาคใต้ ) previously featured here.
[This post is provided by the National Library of Australia as part [...]

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Tags: Book Zone · Publications · Southern Thailand · Thailand · Translations