New Mandala

Several New Mandala readers have emailed me asking where they can get a transcript of Jakrapob’s speech at the FCCT. The only transcript I can find at this stage is that provided on Bangkok Pundit as a series of comments on this post. There are also some video extracts on You Tube.
Bangkok Pundit also has a [...]

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Well, if that heading doesn’t give us a Google boost, nothing will! But the objective is art not advertisement. It is the title of the following painting by artist Chris Coles.

Chris tells us that he has “painted a lot of shabby, evil and badly intentioned people in a series of paintings called Bangkok Noir.”
I’m no artiste but this [...]

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Today I noticed that lèse majesté proceedings against Thai Prime Minister’s Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair seem to have ratcheted up a notch or two.
What most intrigued me about this news was the fresh complaint made by a Masters degree student at Mahamakut Buddhist University.  I’m sure many New Mandala readers would be keen to learn more [...]

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A well-placed New Mandala reader has made this important guest contribution:
On Wednesday, May 28th 2008, the Australian television station SBS broadcast an interview on Dateline with Karenna Laklem, spokesperson for the Chiang Mai-based Christian organisation Asian Tribal Ministries (ATM). The interview included video footage of a recent trip to the Irrawaddy Delta by members of ATM and the Karen [...]

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A regular New Mandala reader has drawn our attention to this shocking Los Angeles Times report from behind the army perimeter in Burma, inside the Irrawaddy Delta. As the reader states:
The article seems credible, the reporter pretty thorough, the LA Times fairly reputable. If the same content were on a rebellious blog site, it would be [...]

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I was recently given a digital copy of the Thai translation of the Devil’s Discus by Rayne Kruger. The translation (กงจักรปีศาจ) was undertaken by Chalit Chaisithiwet and the publication, according to the back cover, was arranged by the “History Students Association.” I can’t see any date of publication on the version I have been sent. My brief research [...]

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Whoever is launching the attacks on the rallies held by the People’s Alliance for (Sufficiency) Democracy in Bangkok is doing the PA(S)D a big favour. With their cause looking increasingly tawdry and discredited, the most the PA(S)D can hope for is that their credibility will be boosted by the impression that they are standing firm [...]

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Bertil Lintner and Andrew Marshall - who have penned, between them, some of the more interesting books on modern Burma - have both come to the (renewed) attention of the Burmese authorities in recent days.  The Irrawaddy has the details.
On the topic of journalistic access to Burma, I noticed in this Saturday’s The Guardian that Cathy Scott-Clark and [...]

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A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the discussion being held at the ANU in relation to Cyclone Nargis. I didn’t write up a report immediately after the event as the organisers chose to hold it under what is called the Chatham House rule. Under this rule “participants are free to use the information received, [...]

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This new study by Soren Ivarsson is an important contribution to the growing body of academic literature on Laos. Challenging conventional nationalist histories that seek to trace the origins of the nation back into the mists of time, Ivarsson argues that the origins of Laos can be found in the colonial contact zone between Thailand [...]

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