New Mandala

Slightly more than a year ago, on 22 July 2007, Bangkok saw a violent street protest when the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) protested in front of the compound of General Prem Tinsulanonda, head of the Privy Council. Even today this event is cited as proof of the supposedly uncontrollable violence of Thaksin supporters. Most of the Thai [...]

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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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A nice follow up to the announcement about Phil Taylor’s edited collection on religion in Vietnam …

Here is another nice juxtaposition of images from Leif Jonsson. Both are from Hanoi - one from the entry hall of the Women’s Museum and the other from a Catholic church.
Leif’s previous contribution, also on a religious theme, is available here. I [...]

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One of common themes in new year rituals in northern Thailand is the expulsion of the misfortune and bad luck that has accumulated over the previous year. One of the ways this is done in Baan Tiam, in Chiang Mai province, is by burning khi saay (ขี้สาย) - cotton threads soaked in fragrant olive oil. Cotton thread is commonly [...]

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One of the pleasures of songkran in northern Thailand is the rowdy processions that present decorated maay kam to temples, where they are used to support the sacred bodhi trees. A close look at this particular maay kam will show that amongst the many sponsors there was one particularly auspicious one!

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Prompted by the question from long-time contributor Roger Casas I thought I should put up some pictures of roads in the eastern Shan State.  These shots are all, unfortunately, a bit dated (they were taken between 2002 and 2005) but should give readers a bit more of a feel for road infrastructure in the wedge of Shan territory between Thailand [...]

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A few days ago, regular New Mandala contributor Aiontay asked about the tusks at the Manau ground at Laiza, the Kachin Independence Army/Kachin Independence Organisation stronghold along the Sino-Burmese border.  While I don’t have any further information on the tusks I do have a close-up taken a few years ago.

As an aside, the towers that are [...]

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- The menu for the Singpho food stall at the recent Dehing Patkai Festival held on northeast India’s Assam plain.  The prices are in Indian rupees.  As far as I am aware there are two well-known Singpho (or Kachin) restaurants in India (one in Assam and one in Goa).Â
Readers who come across any unusual menus in other parts of the region [...]

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These photos were taken earlier in February near Miao in the eastern part of India’s Arunachal Pradesh.  The Burmese border is not that far away (see this official map to get a sense of the geography).  The river that stars in these shots is the Dehing.  It starts high in the mountains and, as the huge riverbed [...]

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