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

the philippines

• Swipe in the name of love? Filipina agency in interracial digital dating about 2 weeks ago

  Despite built-in power disadvantages, women are still asserting themselves in online matchmaking.

• Campaigning and killing: violence against politicians in the Southern Philippines about 2 weeks ago

  Data on killings reconfirm how pervasive electoral violence remains.

• When illiberal social media takes over democratic Philippines about 1 month ago

  Social media has amplified, rather than created, an existing culture of disinformation.

• Did Duterte change the rules of Philippine elections? about 2 months ago

  Dutertismo still hasn’t fundamentally changed how political power is sought and won.

• New Mandala’s most read in 2018 about 3 months ago

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

THAILAND AT NEW MANDALA

• Thailand Unsettled #4: The Deep South (with Deep South Watch) about 2 hours ago

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

• What if Thailand’s junta can’t control the military? about 6 days ago

  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) about 2 weeks ago

  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 about 2 weeks ago

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

• Will oil hunters destroy Thailand’s biggest ancient city? about 3 weeks ago

  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.

SOUTH ASIA AT 'NEAR WEST'

• Performing pluralism: why the BJP wants Muslim friends about 4 weeks ago

  In our guest series on South Asia, a look at how the BJP tries to detoxify its Hindu nationalist image with calculated appeals to select Muslim groups.

• Women at the Water’s Edge: lives of women in a climate changed world about 4 months ago

  In India's Sundarbans, climate change is fundamentally transforming the everyday lives of women living in remote chars, or river islands.

• Welcoming ‘Near West’ to New Mandala about 4 months ago

  New Mandala will be home to a South Asia guest section in the lead up to India's general elections.

• Death by sewage: clean-ups, caste and contracts in India about 4 months ago

  A lasting, cleaner India depends on undermining the enduring belief that removal of tainted things is the responsibility of people who are born to the task.

PERSPECTIVES ON THE PAST

• Exhibition review: “Bali: Welcome to Paradise about 1 day ago

  Vannessa Hearman on a Dutch exhibition on Bali that "packs a punch".

• The Singapore Bicentennial: it was never going to work about 2 weeks ago

  On the unstable historical foundations of Singapore's (supposed) two-hundredth birthday.

• Will oil hunters destroy Thailand’s biggest ancient city? about 3 weeks ago

  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.

• Queer theory: a note from Indonesia about 4 weeks ago

  Perspectives on the Past's LGBTQ+ history month continues with a reflection on queer theory's portability.

• Lesbian history in Thailand: value in traces about 1 month ago

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

• When illiberal social media takes over democratic Philippines about 1 month ago

  Social media has amplified, rather than created, an existing culture of disinformation.

• Thailand’s first elections in the post-Bhumibol era about 2 months ago

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

• Did Duterte change the rules of Philippine elections? about 2 months ago

  Dutertismo still hasn’t fundamentally changed how political power is sought and won.

• Why Thailand’s generals fail to co-opt elections about 2 months ago

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

• A new electoral system for a new Malaysia about 4 months ago

  The majoritarian first-past-the-post system has had its day. It’s time to think about bold options for reform.