New Mandala

From the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers:
It has come to our attention that their is still continuing debate around the issue of the French Culture Minister,
Frédéric Mitterrand, and his admission that he paid for sex with male sex workers in Thailand. We have seen attacks on him from both the left and the right [...]

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A review of Yos Santasombat (2008), Flexible Peasants: Reconceptualizing the Third World’s Rural Types. RCSD, Chiang Mai University.

[This review appeared recently in Chiang Mai University's Sangkhomsat, 20 (2).]
Like many scholars who study contemporary rural society, Yos Santasombat is seeking to define a new type of peasantry. The challenge appears formidable, not the least because, as [...]

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[This is the text of the talk given by Nick Nostitz last night at the launch of Red vs. Yellow held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand.]
Making a book is the most exciting and at the same time terrifying experience – you live for your subject matter for a very long time, and it [...]

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Today I attended another Canberra event staged by the Australian National University’s National Thai Studies Centre (NTSC). The speaker was political scientist Professor Suchit Bunbongkarn. His topic was “Thailand: Building Unity Amidst Internal Division”. Suchit’s talk covered a range of issues, including:

The multi-dimensional complexity of the current political division in Thailand. It is not just a manifestation of class conflict (between [...]

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The Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter Hartcher has an interesting piece today. He asks how, in political terms, Thailand has turned into Indonesia – and vice versa. Here is an extract of his analysis of the Thai situation.
Thailand’s trajectory changed with the decision to mount an unconstitutional coup against the prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, first elected [...]

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The reactions of Thailand’s commanding northern neighbour have been heavy on the minds of Western media during the events of recent weeks. As the BBC noted in the aftermath of the protests that postponed the ASEAN Summit:
Mr Abhisit had to make a grovelling phone call to apologise to Premier Wen, who, despite diplomatically saying he [...]

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On the morning of Saturday, 14 March 2009, the Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva, spoke to an audience at St.John’s College Auditorium, University of Oxford.
Abhisit’s arrival was greeted by Red Shirt protesters who were waiting for him in front of St.John’s. However, most of the Red Shirts were not allowed to go inside. This [...]

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This is the second part of New Mandala’s interview with Giles Ji Ungpakorn, an academic who recently fled Thailand after being charged with lese majeste.  The first part of the interview is available here.
Thaksin, the red shirt movement, the PAD
New Mandala: The red shirt movement was often seen as a pro-Thaksin movement. Do you think [...]

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Here is a first-hand account of the new phase of anti-government protests in Thailand, written by anthropologist Jim Taylor of the University of Adelaide.
The pro-Democracy Red Army or Nor Por Chor (aka People’s Alliance Against Dictatorship) gathered over the past two days starting at a mass rally at Sanam Laung on 28 December with an [...]

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Thailand: The Cockroaches take over
Giles Ji Ungpakorn
Turn Left Thailand

The appointment of “Democrat” Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva as the new Thai Prime Minister is the final stage of the second coup against an elected government. After the deliberate chaos created by the PAD’s seizure of the airports, the courts stepped in to dissolve the hugely popular [...]

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