New Mandala

Still Life in Moving Vehicles is a wonderful blog on a very distinctive aspect of urban Thai culture. Enjoy!

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The National Archives of Australia have substantial holdings on Thai Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn’s years in Australia.  One of the files is “Closed”, some are currently “Withheld pending agency advice” or “Not yet examined”, and others are “Open”.  The archival material covers the Crown Prince’s initial time at the King’s School in Sydney and his training [...]

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Yesterday New Mandala’s Andrew Walker was interviewed on the ABC Radio National breakfast program about politics and the palace in Thailand.  The audio of Andrew’s conversation with Fran Kelly is available here.

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Bun Auk Phan Saa, the end of the Buddhist Rains Retreat, is usually accompanied by floating of krathong, formerly banana leaf, now usually styrofoam, individual offerings in a pond or stream.  On Monday night, 5 October, one day after Phan Saa, in Baan Dong Phong, near Khon Kaen City, a traditional, larger, temporary raft, rua [...]

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I have recently finished reading Volume 3 of a wonderful Thai studies trilogy.
Volume 1 Nation, was published in 1994. It is a forensic account of the construction of one of the core symbols of modern Thailand’s nationhood.
It was a long wait until Volume 2, King, emerged in 2006. But the wait was worth it. The author risked all [...]

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The 2009 Thailand Update will be held at the Australian National University on Monday 2 November 2009. The Update is an activity of the National Thai Studies Centre. We are hoping to have some live blogging and twitter from the event. Here are the details that have been released so far:
Thailand in Turmoil: Crisis, Coalition [...]

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For a country with a semi-democracy, semi-feudal political system, the end of the present reign puts everything in uncertainty…As democratic institutions are undermined and all political powers are dependent on the monarchy, the future of the whole country sadly hinges on this transition.
- Professor Thongchai Winichakul quoted in Grant Peck, “Thai king’s illness leaves countrymen [...]

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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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Over at Political Prisoners in Thailand there is a forensic analysis of Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol’s academic career.  The analysis was motivated by the recent award of the Windaus Medal to the princess.  New Mandala readers with interests in academic politics or royal careers will probably find the treatment instructive.

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If you are inclined to follow the rumours about King Bhumibol’s health then you could do worse than start with the meaty synthesis put together by Political Prisoners in Thailand. It includes all of the key sources.
In response to this style of coverage, the editorial team of The Nation has come out firing.  They have [...]

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