New Mandala

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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With this recent New Mandala post in mind, a report in today’s New York Times caught my attention.

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Over at Asia Sentinel, Pavin Chachavalpongpun provides some tips for royal endurance in Southeast Asia:
[T]hese guides to longevity of the monarchies in Southeast Asia do not automatically offer a rosy picture for their future. New factors emerge periodically to challenge the integrity of their rule. Using illegitimate weapons, such as manipulating the legal system to [...]

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Less than forty-eight hours before he died the First Queen had reported that “His Majesty has improved in all respects.”
- Extracted from Vella and Vella 1978. Chaiyo! King Vajiravudh and the development of Thai Nationalism, p1.

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From where I sit, I sense an increasing willingness on the part of many journalists to report potentially risky stories about Thailand’s future.  The Independent has joined the chorus with today’s “Thai taboo: what happens when the king has gone?“�
Little in this particular story will be news to regular New Mandala readers, but it is [...]

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A couple of days ago Reuters put together a summary of “five key Asian political risk themes”.�
Hidden among the consolidated insights on Japan’s new government, Chinese trade, corruption in Indonesia, and India-Pakistan relations, is a short blurb about the “health of Thailand’s king”.  Reuters reports that “[m]any Thais and political risk analysts fear a focus on [...]

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[A New Mandala reader has provided the following translation of “State within the state” by Jakrapob Penkair, Thai Red News Weekly Magazine, Year 1, Volume 16, 21 September 2009. The source for the translation is here.  Translator notes are added in square brackets. ]
State within the state
This concept does not appear in progressive political science literature or research. It [...]

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[Dr. Paul Chambers is currently the Senior Research Fellow at the Politics Institute, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.  His research interests are civil-military relations, democratization, and Southeast Asian politics. His articles have appeared in the Journal of East Asian Studies, Contemporary Southeast Asia, and the Asian Journal of Political Science, among others.]
The Thai armed forces have [...]

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His son, the Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, has been married three times and in the past two years scandalous film footage has been distributed on the Internet and on clandestine CDs, featuring him and his current wife, Princess Srirasmi.
- Extracted from Richard Lloyd Parry, “King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand ill in hospital”, [...]

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