New Mandala

With the brother-in-law of Thaksin Shinawatra now serving as Prime-Minister, Thailand’s democracy is set for another round of turmoil. Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat’s personal links with Thaksin will give the election-denying People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) a much needed energy boost. How far they are willing to push their ill-defined agenda remains to be seen.
Sometimes it can [...]

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[The following review of Forest Guardians, Forest Destroyers: The Politics of Environmental Knowledge in Northern Thailand by Tim Forsyth and Andrew Walker appeared in the Bangkok Post on Monday 1 September 2008.]
‘Trees do not create water’
An iconoclastic and provocative study of forests, science and politics in Thailand
Chris Baker
In the key passage of this resolutely iconoclastic [...]

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Amnat phunthi lae attalak thang chatphan: kanmuang watthanatham khong rat chat nai sangkhom thai 2 (Power, space and ethnic identity: cultural politics  of the nation state in Thai society) (2008) by Yot Santasombat et al (ISBN: 9789740541387). Published by the Princess Sirinthorn Anthropology Center, this 339 page volume is the result of field work by a new generation of [...]

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From the TLC list:
I am very excited to announce the publication of the quite monumental “Recherches nouvelles sur le Laos” (New Research on Laos) edited by Yves Goudineau and Michael Lorrillard (Paris and Vientiane: L’École française d’Extrême-Orient, 2008). It has about 29 articles (some in French and some in English) covering many aspects of Lao [...]

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We have an article in the latest issue of Critical Asian Studies that may be of interest to some New Mandala readers. Here is the abstract:
Northern Thailand’s Specter of Eviction
Andrew Walker and Nicholas Farrelly
Critical Asian Studies
40:3 (2008), 373-397
Discussions of resource management and development in northern Thailand often emphasize the threat of eviction faced by uplanders [...]

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Khwamsamphan chao muang nua lang kap thahan yipun samai songkhram lok khrang thi 2 (Relations Between Residents of the Lower North of Thailand and the Japanese Army During World War 2)  (2007) by Jiriporn Stapanawatana (ISBN: 9789749939550). The author studied history at Monash University. The present work reflects research in 2006 and 2007 at Naresuan University in Phitsanulok. Although [...]

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The Asian Development Bank Institute has just put out a new report on contract farming in Thailand.  This is an issue that has, in the past, been discussed at some length on New Mandala.  Previous coverage is available here and here.  Readers who follow debates about the merits of various rural development strategies in mainland Southeast [...]

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In the last few weeks Ashley South’s new book, Ethnic Politics in Burma: States of Conflict, has been published by Routledge.  I’m sure that many New Mandala readers will be keen to digest its insights over the coming months.  We are, as always, very happy to host any reviews, comments or feedback about South’s latest [...]

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The National Library of Australia has recently acquired microfilm of the Lao Nhay newspaper (1941 to 1945). Lao Nhay was the first Lao language newspaper (in the first year it was hand written!). It was published fortnightly during WWII with Vichy French support. The historian Soren Ivarsson noted (in 2000) of its significance, “… 1) the historical narrative advanced to [...]

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Earlier in 2008 I drew New Mandala reader attention to the academic work of Serhat Ãœnaldi.  He has recently finished his (undergraduate) degree at the Southeast Asian Studies program at Humboldt University in Berlin.Â
His final thesis is, like many of his papers, available online.  It discusses the roles of the current Thai and Spanish kings in [...]

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