New Mandala

The voters in Sakon Nakhon have overwhelmingly chosen to elect an MP who will sit on the opposition side of parliament. The by-election in Sakon Nakhon (3) was bought about when one of the sitting Pheua Thai members, Pongsak Boonsol, was disqualified for alleged electoral misconduct. The by-election, held yesterday, was a contest between Pongsak’s wife, Anurak [...]

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No. 1 on our list, for the second year in a row, is Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He is worth $30 billion, $5 billion less than last year, as a result of double-digit declines in real estate and stocks owned via the Crown Property Bureau, the state investment vehicle of which he is a trustee. [...]

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If you’re a regular at a Yangon teashop, you might like to ask the owner where he buys his leaves. While foreign correspondents concern themselves with the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, talk in local media, marketplaces and street stalls has been preoccupied with reports about harmful chemicals and parasites in tea, chili, fish [...]

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I have recently learned that the Study Abroad in Laos (SAIL) program organised by the Center for Laos Studies has a blog to complement their exciting activities on the ground in mainland Southeast Asia.  More details on the program and its participants are available here.  They even have a short video presentation that gives some [...]

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Over at East Asia Forum I have a piece marking Aung San Suu Kyi’s 64th birthday and reflecting on some of the wider political context of June 2009.  It is available here.  I also noticed that The Irrawaddy has a selection of interesting Aung San Suu Kyi portraits to mark the occasion.
I’m sure I join [...]

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Today I attended another Canberra event staged by the Australian National University’s National Thai Studies Centre (NTSC). The speaker was political scientist Professor Suchit Bunbongkarn. His topic was “Thailand: Building Unity Amidst Internal Division”. Suchit’s talk covered a range of issues, including:

The multi-dimensional complexity of the current political division in Thailand. It is not just a manifestation of class conflict (between [...]

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Not Not The Nation but The Nation itself:

I’m off to have mine checked!

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The Shan Herald Agency for News has a report on the International Conference on Shan Studies that will be held in Bangkok in October 2009.  More details about the conference are available here.

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Those who pay attention to developments in the Kachin State haven’t seen a report like this for some time.  According to this report the Kachin Independence Army is preparing for “possible war” (i.e. the end of the 15-year ceasefire) with the Burmese Army.  Sabre rattling?  Sure.  But also a sign of things to come?  I [...]

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Earlier in June, Bangkok Pundit caused quite a stir when he tantalisingly offered up the faintest sketch of a rumour and the intriguing idea that the clue was 15 June.
15 June?  15 June?  We scratched our collective heads at New Mandala HQ and failed to come up with anything that resembled a breakthrough.  Royal promotions, [...]

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