New Mandala

The recent discussion here on New Mandala about elephant tusks reminded me of the work of Sarinda Singh, a former PhD student at the ANU (and now at the University of Queensland). Her PhD thesis dealt with the complex relationship forests and state power in Laos. One chapter focussed specifically on the symbolism of elephants. [...]

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The good sense of villagers in southeast Asia is regularly betrayed by the NGOs that claim to represent them.�
Earlier this week, I was amused to read about an expected outbreak of “tree ordination” in Laos (thanks to Holly for bringing this to my attention).
Phongsaly forest ordination to preserve natural resources
Vientiane Times, 22 February 2008
�
The Phongsaly Women’s Union [...]

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[This is a response to the New Mandala post by Holly High published on 3 December 2007.]
Considering internal resettlement and international aid agencies in Laos: a response to Holly High’s critique of Ian Baird and Bruce Shoemaker’s research
While we appreciate that Holly High has taken note of our research regarding internal resettlement and international aid agencies in [...]

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Recent years have seen a highly elaborated controversy erupt within the development industry in Laos over the merit of what has been termed “resettlement”: state or development industry sponsored schemes to move poor people closer to government services or to new lowland fields. While planners argue that settlers will benefit from incorporation with the state [...]

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Two new films about Laos are notable for their radically different depictions of the results of the American intervention there.
Bomb Harvest, the highly acclaimed documentary about the continuing effects of the American war legacy in Laos, is as explosive and as hidden from mainstream media as its subject matter.
The story centres around Australian bomb disposal [...]

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[Martin Rathie is a PhD scholar formerly with the Department of History at the University of Queensland. Currently based in the Lao capital, Martin works as a teacher at Vientiane College.]
In his final days while under house arrest in Anlong Veng, Pol Pot brought attention to a little known Cambodian Communist called Ya, by accusing [...]

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[Song Kinh is a Singaporean writer who lives in Northern Thailand.]�
There is no doubt that she had aged… and not well.  The tin roof is rusty and festooned with debris. The colonnades are cracked, and the rendering fallen in places to reveal the low fired red brick beneath. But it is still as elegant a [...]

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Further to my post on the Nam Tha dam it is interesting to examine some other aspects of development in northwestern Laos, and the extent of Chinese commercial influence.�
According to the statistics of the Bokeo provincial office for tourism, 185,000 persons went through the border post of Huay Sai in 2006, either going to Thailand or [...]

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A Chinese company is currently intending to build a hydroelectric dam on the Nam Tha river in northwestern Laos (other dams are being planned on the Nam Ou, also with Chinese funds). The project is called Nam Tha 1, which means maybe that there will be more dams in the near future(?). Four Chinese experts are currently [...]

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Southeast Asian repression has many facets. Here is a brief account from an informed observer in northern Laos about the local aftermath of the alleged Vang Pao plot:
Last June and July in Huayxai, and in the whole Bokeo province, political and military tensions occurred in the aftermath of the arrest of Vang Pao early June in [...]

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