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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[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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Taken earlier this month in Chiang Mai.

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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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On Friday September 4, at a Red Shirt press conference, two protesters who were shot and injured during the songkhran crackdown at Din Daeng intersection in the early morning hours of April 13th were presented to the media. One of them was shot in the knee with a 9mm bullet. Sawai Thongom, a mechanic from Surin was [...]

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“I am quite worried our country is going into ruin because people have done things their own way”
- Extracted from Bhumibol Adulyadej’s speech, quoted in “King calls for unity in polarized Thailand”, Reuters, 23 August 2009.  Some more details on the speech, and the campaign to “blacken” Privy Council Chairman Prem Tinsulanonda’s upcoming birthday, are [...]

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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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July 26th was Thaksin’s big birthday party, celebrated all over Thailand. Here in Bangkok three main venues of the festivities were chosen – Wat Kaeow Fa, Wat Uthaitharam, and the big Chinese table dinner at Mangkorn Luang Restaurant.
I went at 9 am to Wat Kaeow Fa first. Thousands of Thaksin’s supporters gathered there. The event [...]

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