New Mandala

Today New Mandala is not immediately in a position to add much to the analysis of the current standoff in central Bangkok between the PA(S)D and the Royal Thai Police. 
What I can do, of course, is provide links to some of the best “live” coverage.  Bangkok Pundit leads the charge, as usual, with a characteristically well-chosen mix [...]

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Garlic growers in Mae Hong Son were encamped outside the city and blocked two roads in their protest to urge the government to buy garlic at a guaranteed price on Wednesday. The protesters gathered at city hall and moved to block a second road in Mae Sarieng district. Garlic farmers have encamped the Mae Hong [...]

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A few weeks ago, as part of my songkran sortie in northern Thailand, I visited one of the more remote villages in Chiang Mai province to look at a local agricultural project. While I was there I heard that a new temple had been established nearby by some monks keen to spread the work about [...]

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One of the aims of this volume is to suggest that sufficiency economy does not just apply to the “remote agricultural sector” but also to contemporary business management. So why did they put such an agrarian photo on the cover? Probably because a photo of the king striding through a cement factory, shopping mall or luxury [...]

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Some may have read news stories of celebrity chefs pulling out of a Bangkok event at which 50 guests pay US$ 300,000 each to eat a ten-course meal preceded by a trip to a hardscrabble Isan village to witness poverty. Many New Mandala fans will not have had a chance to see the ad for [...]

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Australia’s ABC is always onto the top breaking stories. Here’s one of the latest:
Thailands dogs are now eligible for life insurance, under a new policy that offers payouts to owners if their pets die. Veterinarian Sombat Pipattanamatha says about 2,000 dogs have already been granted life insurance policies since the program began last year. “Dogs [...]

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Those foreign academics who continue to criticise sufficiency economy just don’t understand Thai values! Here is some compelling data from Assumption University:
One in five teenagers will likely end up having sex on Valentine’s Day this year, according to a survey by Assumption University.  The university polled 2,384 youths aged 12 to 19 and living in [...]

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Since the International Conference on Thai Studies, I have received a number of requests for the paper I presented on sufficiency economy. The paper was not included on the conference CD because I did not have time to submit it. So, here is the full text of my presentation. This is an edited version of a longer and much more detailed [...]

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