New Mandala

The Red Shirts held their fundraising concert at Khao Yai on Saturday, November 15, preparing for their big push to oust the government. In contrast to other news sources, I would put the number of Red Shirts there at about 50,000 to 60,000. The atmosphere was generally very festive, relaxed and happy. There were very few [...]

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Thaksin’s interview is a violation of the monarchy, which is the country’s core pillar and a highly respected institution. It is unacceptable and should have never taken place…Thaksin has also chosen to make a move when the entire nation is joining in wishing His Majesty the King a full recovery and good health. I wonder [...]

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On 6 October 2009, the latest attempt to create a “real” political party in Thailand took a further step with the first general meeting of the New Politics Party (NPP), the formal political arm of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), at the Thunderdome in Mueang Thong Thani. The main purpose of this assembly of [...]

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Today is the first anniversary of one of the more important days in recent Thai political history: 7 October 2008.
Soon after the bloody clashes of that day, a photographic chronicle of events was produced by regular New Mandala contributor Nick Nostitz.  It provides a graphic overview of the injuries that resulted when the People’s Alliance [...]

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Over the past couple of years New Mandala has been proud to feature regular photo-essays by Bangkok-based journalist Nick Nostitz.  Nick’s exposure of the street-level dynamics of Thai protests — Red, Yellow and Blue — has won him well-deserved acclaim.  His unique reports remain among our most popular content.  They have been read by tens [...]

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I arrived at 9 am, 30 000 to 40 000 Red Shirts have already gathered at Sanam Luang and surroundings.

The festivities began with a Brahman ceremony.

Songs were sung on the stage; Red Shirt leaders danced and sang along.  On Sanam Luang a large rectangle was fenced off for the procession.

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Michael J. Montesano, from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, has written an analysis of the April 2009 political showdown in Thailand.  It was just published in Contemporary Southeast Asia and is available here.  Towards the end of the article, Montesano offers some important comparative reflections.  That section begins:

Thailand and many scholars [...]

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In a recent posting about Thaksin Shinawatra’s birthday, there were some marvelous pictures of monks taking part in the festivities.  One pair showed some monks removing a curse, with their begging bowls used to signify the removal of the curse.  Other pictures showed live monks in conjunction with pictures of Thaksin (Actually, Mr. Thaksin was [...]

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A message from Ji Ungpakorn:
Why is trade union bureaucrat David Cockroft of the International Transport Federation supporting the fascist PAD – who want to reduce the number of elected MPs in the Thai parliament to 30%, backed the army coup of 2006 and are extreme Monarchists? These are the guys who have used armed violence [...]

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[This is the text of the talk given by Nick Nostitz last night at the launch of Red vs. Yellow held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand.]
Making a book is the most exciting and at the same time terrifying experience – you live for your subject matter for a very long time, and it [...]

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