New Mandala

Writers and commentators on the sex trade of Southeast Asia sometimes like to refer to the complicity of culture in driving the sex trade. Examples of female self-sacrifice for the good of the family can be found and a case made that not all sex tourism is entirely forced but can instead lie in a [...]

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Some new year’s reading for Thailand’s new Foreign Minister.
New Bookabout Preah Vihear (Reinhard Hohler, Chiang Mai 27.12.2008)
According to the Khmer newspaper Kampuchea Thmey, a commentary book about the history of Preah Vihear from the time of its construction up to the present time, including the Thai invasion, will be published soon. The book was written by [...]

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I was reminded today of a blog post I was in the midst of writing for New Mandala by an article in the International Herald Tribune on orphanages
The article cautions those would be Brangelina’s against adoption of children from poor countries as a means to alleviating child poverty in the Third World.
It’s true that, sometimes, [...]

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A recent interview in the Phnom Penh Post with the Cambodian Minister of Women’s Affairs reveals the embattled position of anyone championing women’s rights and gender inequality in the country.
Are your male Cabinet colleagues interested in women’s affairs?
Should I lie to you? I would be lying if I said they are all interested. They are [...]

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The Cambodian Blogger (or Clogger) summit, which began earnestly in 2007 brought together a nascent group of Cambodian and foreign bloggers to explore the possibilities, technologies and contentions of blogging in Cambodia. Unfortunately I was unable to attend, but more details can be found here.
Despite the alleged murder of particularly outspoken journalists, and Cambodia’s continued [...]

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A recent article in the Asia Times states that Cambodia is about to overhaul its laws that deal with NGOs.
In late September he [Hun Sen] called for the revival of a controversial law which would require the country’s more than 2,000 associations and NGOs to complete a complex registration process and submit to stringent financial [...]

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Cambodian provincial and military officials said they are recruiting militias along the border with Thailand to protect frontier villages if hostilities erupt again amid a territory dispute between the two countries…
- Extracted from “Cambodia recruiting militias on border with Thailand”, Xinhua, 23 October 2008.

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In late 2005 I made my first trip to Cambodia. Before my departure from Australia I’d bought myself a guidebook to the region. Instead of being stranded and needing to survive in an unfamiliar environment, the theory was that all I would have to do is turn to the guidebook of laziness for warmth and [...]

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It is hard to see this conflict being settled quickly.
- The final flourish in Jonathan Head’s “Modern conflict near ancient ruins”, BBC News, 15 October 2008.

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In the beginning, I was not opposed to the Khmer revolution: having lived with the Cambodian peasants from 1965 to 1970, I was painfully aware of their exploitation at the hands of the administration under the corrupt Sihanouk regime….So I welcomed the revolutionaries’ victory as the only possible means of bringing Cambodia out of its [...]

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