New Mandala

Although a handful of overseas “Burma experts,” junta apologists and well-meaning but uninformed humanitarian aid workers will tell you otherwise, Burma is not on the road to recovery after the beating it received over the past two decades. Any impartial Burmese will tell you that the country is still in the throes of social and [...]

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Readers intrigued by Thailand’s international security commitments will enjoy this detailed article from the Bangkok Post. It profiles two Thai police officers who work as government bodyguards in East Timor. One protects Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and the other is a female Border Patrol Police Lieutenant Colonel who is tasked to the Justice Minister, Lucia [...]

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Over coming weeks I will be providing some of our standard “anecdote, analysis and new perspectives” based on a recent visit to Burma. I expect the first of those posts will focus on the 2011 Kachin State Day Manau festival. Previous New Mandala coverage of such (Jinghpaw, Singpho and Jingpo) festivals (in Burma, India and [...]

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In the lead-up to today’s formal commencement of Burma’s hybrid parliamentary-authoritarian system of government, The Irrawaddy offers an interesting summary of (former) General Thura Shwe Mann’s career and prospects.  Peppered with a selection of impossible to verify scuttlebutt it is, nonetheless, probably the best available account of his rise to the top. If New Mandala [...]

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In late October 2010 we reported on the preliminary submission made by Robert Amsterdam, on behalf of the UDD, to the International Criminal Court. Amsterdam will shortly be submitting an updated application to the Court. Amsterdam and his team will conduct a press conference by video link commencing at 11am on Monday, January 31 in [...]

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Over the last year or so there has been a lot of discussion about the extent to which Thailand’s inequality has contributed to political conflict. One line of argument is that the red shirt movement derives some of its political momentum from worsening inequality. So, what do official data suggest about inequality trends over the [...]

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Discarding Dependent Origination, Returning to the Primary Source of the 12-Links (十二因缘) in Theravada Buddhism. Eisel Mazard (大影), 2011. This article broaches the Theravada Buddhist doctrine of “Dependent Origination”, also known by the Sanskrit moniker Pratītyasamutpāda and as the “12 links” or teaching of the “Twelve Nidānas”. The author deals with competing interpretations of the [...]

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BANGKOK, Jan 26 (Bernama) — Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says that his government’s national broadband scheme will yield unprecedented 90 per cent access to the Internet by the Thai public over the next five years with their higher living quality and standards, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported. Abhisit told TNA on Wednesday that the [...]

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Information technology has broken down geographical and cultural barriers and enabled ordinary citizens to keep an eye on what is happening locally and internationally. Text messaging, social networking and the Internet have allowed many to share ideas, hopes and even to unite many in their political aspirations. Countries such as Philippines (2001), Ukraine (2004) and [...]

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Having played a key role in undermining the legitimacy of Thailand’s monarchy, the yellow shirts are now doing their best to discredit the nation. The current campaign by the yellow shirts, and their various rabid and fundamentalist off-shoots, is a reflection of a political movement in crisis. With support dwindling, and with the prospects of [...]

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The above are two recent photographs of Naypyitaw from a government publication, sent by a reader. Roundabouts, low-rise buildings, wide traffic-free streets and artificial water traps… looking out the window at ANU somehow it all seems vaguely familiar…

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