Book Reviews
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Review of Ideal Man
24 May 2013 9:12 AM | No CommentsNew Mandala book review editor Michael Montesano reviews this new work on a key figure in Southeast Asian history.
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Review of Misalliance
17 May 2013 1:00 PM | 2 CommentsKeith Weller Taylor argues that this new book is thoughtful, lucid, original, analytical, and readable
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Review of Thailand’s Hidden Workforce
05 April 2013 9:15 AM | 3 CommentsInga Gruß reviews a book about the work conditions of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand at this time of immense change.
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Review of Gender, Emotions and Labour Markets
21 February 2013 9:10 AM | 1 CommentSri Ranjani Mei Hua reviews a book dealing with experiences of women in Southeast Asia.
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Review of Authority of Influence
06 January 2013 5:31 AM | 3 CommentsScholarly treatments of gender in Myanmar, past or present, remain scarce. Jessica Harriden’s book thus fills a gap in our understanding of an important and controversial topic.
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Review of The King in Exile
04 December 2012 8:35 AM | 4 CommentsDonald M. Seekins argues that this book is the story of a dynasty that belongs truly to Burma’s past.
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Review of Buddhist Fury
13 November 2012 7:57 AM | 21 CommentsThis book explores the relationship between religion and violence in far southern Thailand, where Buddhist monks are a marginalized local minority.
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Review of Revisiting Rural Places
30 October 2012 7:54 AM | 2 CommentsRevisiting Rural Places should become an essential reference text for researchers who work on social, cultural, political and economic change in Asia.
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Review of The Institutional Imperative
16 October 2012 7:00 AM | 9 CommentsDe-agrarianisation often isn’t very pretty, but economic disparity may well be the price to be paid for pursuing it as slowly as Thailand has over the past 50 years.
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Review of Imagining Gay Paradise
09 October 2012 6:55 AM | 2 CommentsThe creation of make-shift, idiosyncratic queer paradises provides shelter, community, and belonging for many who have refused to fit into standard narratives of Southeast Asia.
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Review of The Fate of Rural Hell
12 September 2012 7:56 AM | 6 CommentsThe models of eroticism and faith in the Hell Garden have been left behind by the robust urban bourgeois consumerist culture increasingly prominent across contemporary Thai society.
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Review of Revolution Interrupted
24 July 2012 11:46 AM | 6 CommentsQuestioning received notions of revolution, this book offers a passionate and rigorous reconsideration of the period in Thailand between October 1973 and October 1976.
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Review of Land and Loyalty
17 July 2012 9:18 AM | 9 Comments
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Review of The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk
11 July 2012 3:44 PM | 9 Comments
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Review of Saying the Unsayable
19 June 2012 6:27 AM | 19 Comments
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Royal family
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Not so Happy Birthdays
Posted on 3 September 2012 | 29 CommentsWith two significant royal celebrations in mid-2012, Prince Vajiralongkorn’s 60th birthday was also a reminder of the fact the he too is no longer a young man. -
Thaksin and the palace
Posted on 20 August 2012 | 30 CommentsThaksin has a track record of indestructibility. It makes sense that in the difficult years to come the palace will want him on their side. -
Developing the monarchy
Posted on 7 August 2012 | 29 CommentsThe relevance of the Thai monarchy has increasingly been questioned, if not so loudly, in the country’s current discourse. Over... -
Reconciliation games
Posted on 5 June 2012 | 76 CommentsA confusing multitude of different protest groups are out on the streets again, suddenly changing the high stakes game over... -
Why the compromise game?
Posted on 22 May 2012 | 78 CommentsInspired by Nicholas Farrelly’s recent post, “Analysing Thailand’s détente”, in this essay I will try to make some sense of... -
Talk on royal cremation ceremony
Posted on 22 May 2012 | 9 CommentsAn upcoming talk at the Siam Society will be of interest to many New Mandala readers. Thanks to a very long-time... -
Vajiralongkorn on “roll of dishonour”
Posted on 21 May 2012 | 6 CommentsTrue to form, parts of the British media have not been shy with critical commentary about the foreign royals who... -
Analysing Thailand’s détente
Posted on 16 May 2012 | 11 CommentsSince the coup of 19 September 2006 analysis of Thai politics has gone through phases. Army politics, Thaksin politics, Yellow... -
Ar Kong dead
Posted on 8 May 2012 | 108 CommentsEarlier today it was announced that Ampon Tangnoppakul, also known as “Ar Kong”, has passed away. The 62-year-old grandfather was serving a 20... -
Rama VII and Hitler
Posted on 2 May 2012 | 30 CommentsI came across this stunning photo of King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) of Siam visiting Germany on 6 July 1934. He...