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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True to form, the good folk at Liberal Thai have put together a Thai-language translation of Richard Lloyd Parry’s interview with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.  It remains incomplete (with only the first 6 pages of the 12 page interview) but a note at the bottom suggests that the full version will be available soon.

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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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The full transcript of Richard Lloyd Parry’s interview with former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is available here.  It makes for explosive reading.  There is so much in the interview that will be of interest to the average New Mandala reader that all I can do is suggest that you digest it in full.  Thaksin [...]

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He’s not the King yet. He may not be shining [now]…But after he becomes the King I’m confident he can be shining … it’s not his time yet. But when the time comes I think he will be able to perform.
- Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra quoted in Richard Lloyd Parry, “Ousted [...]

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There is an interesting analysis of Thai politics that was just published at Asia Sentinel.  It draws attention to “a feckless heir”, “a muddle-through scenario”, and “anti-monarchy radicalism”, among a large number of other issues.

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Patchara [Kerdsiri, a 32 year old Web program developer] said Twitter opens the chance for users to be close to famous people. Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, or @thaksinlive, veteran politician Chaturon Chaisang, or @chaturon, and Patee Sarasin, or @patee122, have replied to his “tweets”.
- Extracted from Kornchanok Raksaseri, “Calling Twitterers…to Thai coffeeshop”, Asia [...]

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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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Taken earlier this month in Chiang Mai.

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