New Mandala

This week’s Chiang Mai Mail carries a story on a new tourist-oriented yacht that will ply the Mekong between Chiang Rai and Yunnan. For the New Mandala readership, the article is quoted here in full:
Prince of Mekong yacht launched
By Saksit Meesubkwang
The Prince of Mekong yacht has been launched to serve tourists travelling from Chiang Rai to Jinghong, [...]

[Read more →]

Today’s Sydney Morning Herald reports on the graduation of Soulivanh Pholsena from the University of New South Wales. He is said to be the “the first Laotian doctor to graduate from a Western medical school in 30 years.” The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of NSW reports that it is increasingly difficult to [...]

[Read more →]

A grey wolf that had escaped from Chiang Mai Night Safari has been recaptured. Night Safari boss, Plodprasop Suraswadi (ex-supremo of the Royal Forest Department) led a team into the foothills of Doi Suthep to claim their prize. The Bangkok Post quotes Plodprasop in his moment of triumph: ”After we paid homage and prayed to [...]

[Read more →]

�
This probably doesn’t surprise many of you out there in blogland, but in Burma, unlike Australia, Britain and Thailand, there is no local production of Coca-Cola.  Cheap locally produced soft drinks, such as the delightful Star Cola, vie with expensive imported Coca-Cola for the affection of sweet-toothed drinkers.  It is expensive because it must be “smuggled” in, either [...]

[Read more →]