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Thailand

Entrenched illiberalism in Mainland Southeast Asia

ANU conference examines how and why illiberalism remains inherent to political order in mainland Southeast Asia, and what might be done about it.

Pheu Thai won the Facebook Election in Thailand

Online, it was the least active party which proved the most popular during the 2019 Thai election, meaning supporters mobilised with little direction from above.

A historical ‘record’ of Thai elections

During the 1960–70s, Thai government agencies distributed vinyl records to raise awareness of elections. As historical documents, they offer insight into the country's turbulent political history.

Palang Pracharat Party: can old tricks win in a new political landscape?

พรรคพลังประชารัฐ: การเมืองเก่าภายใต้ภูมิทัศน์ใหม่

Liveblog: Thailand’s irregular election, election irregularities

After five years of military rule, Thailand heads to the polling booths. Follow for live updates.

Thailand Unsettled #4: The Deep South (with Deep South Watch)

How will the 2019 elections bear upon violent conflict in the Deep South?

What if Thailand’s junta can’t control the military?

General Prayuth may lead a government after elections this month, but his authority within the armed forces has long been waning.

Thailand Unsettled #3: Political Deadlock (with Jatuporn Prompan and Suriyasai Katasila)

Red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan and former yellow-shirt leader Suriyasai Katasila agree—pessimistically—that Thailand's coming elections are merely one stage in a cycle of political instability.

Ungoogleable questions about Thailand’s elections, with Tewarit Maneechai

Understanding Thailand's elections may require looking beyond national politics.

Will oil hunters destroy Thailand’s biggest ancient city?

A proposal to build oil drilling rigs 100 metres from an archaeological site near Si Thep Historical Park jeopardises what may be Thailand's oldest and biggest ancient city.

Thai politics goes to court. Again.

The Constitutional Court's decision on Thai Raksa Chart is likely to be swift but unlikely to be impartial.

Q&A: Supalak Ganjanakhundee on Thailand’s week of chaos

The editor of "The Nation" talks to New Mandala.

Lesbian history in Thailand: value in traces

To kick off LBGTQ+ history month, Emily Donald looks at lesbian history and women’s sexuality in Thailand.

New networks in Thai royal politics

On Ubolratana's abortive PM candidacy and what it suggests about the fragmentation of the "network monarchy".

LIVE: Thailand Uncharted

Realtime election-related reprisals, reactions and randomness.

A rebuke against a sister and the personalising of monarchical control

Paul Chambers on King Vajiralongkorn's expanding control over state forces

Thailand’s first elections in the post-Bhumibol era

On the prospects for a durable authoritarian politics after the 'Bhumibol Consensus'.

The Khon Kaen Model(s): when terror and transportation infrastructure meet

The two "Khon Kaen Models"—one an alleged red-shirt terrorist plot and the other a transit infrastructure project—effectively model the process by which the junta secures obedience.

Why Thailand’s generals fail to co-opt elections

History and electoral reality suggest that the 2019 elections will deliver another “wasted coup”.

Film Review: Ten Years Thailand

What bleak stories can be told about what Thailand will be like in a decade, when Thais have already lived under nearly five years of military rule? The film Ten Years Thailand grapples with that very question.

New Mandala’s most read in 2018

Revisit the 20 most popular articles published at New Mandala this year.

Corrupting Thailand’s Court of Justice 

The Court of Justice plays no less significant a role in sustaining the military regime, yet has generally kept a much lower profile than the controversial Constitutional Court.

Thailand Unsettled #2: Reconciliation (with Jatuporn Prompan and Suriyasai Katasila)—Part 1

How can Thailand “move on” from a decade of mass political contestation—unrest which was halted, but hardly resolved, by large-scale state violence and the military’s eventual seizure of power?

Lost in literature: the misuse of western sources and perspectives [Part III]

On the the misuse of western historical sources in the search for Suvarnabhumi.