New Mandala

It must be a quiet season for news as the Sydney Morning Herald has just got hold of Thailand’s coyote dancing crisis:
… Queen Sirikit intervened after a recent performance [by coyote girls] near a Buddhist temple on one of the religion’s holiest days. That prompted a crackdown that has turned Coyote Girls into a subject [...]

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Thailand’s military junta has gained significant credibility from the squeaky-clean image of Surayud Chulanont, its appointed prime minister. In recent days there have been concerted attempts to challenge that image in relation to Surayud’s land holdings in Nakhon Ratchasima. Today’s Nation reports:
Two political pressure groups yesterday called on Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to step down [...]

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Australian journalist Phil Thornton has written an article in The Nation about recently deceased Karen National Union leader, General Bo Mya.  The article is based on interviews conducted for Thornton’s book, Restless Souls.�
Thornton writes:
I asked Bo Mya if he was a “warlord”. The question started a laugh deep inside him that continued until it finally erupted. “It seems [...]

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Since June 2006, New Mandala has been providing anecdote and analysis on mainland Southeast Asia.  This period has, as you know, been punctuated by the political eruptions in Thailand.  Over this time, we have also endeavoured to provide regular coverage of significant issues elsewhere in the region.  There is always so much that we could cover.�
In 2006 New [...]

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In an article published last week in The Nation Aviva Imhof and Shannon Lawrence discuss recent hydropower developments in Laos. They argue that:
Dam builders, the Lao government and the financial institutions that support these projects are to blame for their failures…[and] Thai power consumers are unwitting parties to the destruction of Lao rivers and [...]

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Some time ago I wrote about the post-coup emergence of “sufficiency democracy” thinking. Some readers were, quite rightly, skeptical. But I am pleased to say that the idea has now been taken up by the Election Commission of Thailand.

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For a Merry New Mandala Christmas, click here (and make sure your volume is turned right up).
Our posts may not be as regular as usual over the next few days, but New Mandala will be back in force in 2007.
Merry Christmas!

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The Mekong River bridge between Mukdahan and Savannakhet is now open.

Infrastructure is one thing, but smoothing the regulatory way to regional integration is a very long road, despite more than a decade of Greater Mekong Subregion hype. A Bangkok Post report from 17 December highlights some of the practical difficulties to be resolved:
While the bridge [...]

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Under the headline “India Seeks New Rail Link through Burma, China, Russia”, The Irrawaddy’s William Boot reports:
The Indian Railways Board has a plan to build 150 kilometers of rail track across its northeastern Mizoram state and another 200 kilometers inside Burma to hook up with a line the Chinese are said to be planning which [...]

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For those reluctant, for whatever reason, to read Paul Handley’s The King Never Smiles here is an alternative perspective on the Thai king. Written by Police General Vasit Dejkunjorn (12 years service in the royal court police) this English language translation provides an up-close look at royal travels and travails. I am only half way [...]

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