Sceptres of instability: why spirit mediums haunt Thailand’s junta  

Why are new forms of spirit mediums proliferating under the NCPO's rule? การกลับมาของร่างทรงในยุคขาลงของรัฐบาลทหาร 4.0 สะท้อนความไม่มั่นคงในชีวิตของคนไทย

Assessing the Rohingya crisis

With the expulsion of the Rohingya largely a fait accompli, the world must face up to engaging with a very different Myanmar.

PoP picks @ ASAA

PoP's completely biased top picks for the 2018 Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) conference

What’s behind the “purging” of the Thai sangha?

The reasons behind several recent demotions and arrests of high-ranking Bangkok monks are more politically conniving than simply an attempt to “purify" the sangha.

Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines

New Mandala's Philippines editor talks to Jonathan Miller about his new biography of the president.

Four years of the NCPO, four years of creative resistance—part two

Part two of Anon Chawalawan's compilation of the activist inventiveness that has survived the NCPO's four-year rule.

Timor-Leste is no failing state

Apocalyptic portrayals of the country's future distract us from what its real problems are, and how to address them.

Indonesia: The Years of Building Dangerously

A forgotten cultural frontier reveals Indonesia's version of mid-century modernism

Measuring religious intolerance across Indonesian provinces

Trying out a more sophisticated measure of how religious intolerance varies across Indonesia's provinces.

China and Myanmar: Behind the headlines

The Myanmar-China relationship has a surprisingly volatile history, with much at stake for both parties.

Marrying the Thai monarchy and modernity

While the royal wedding in the United Kingdom was partly extolled in Thailand as a symbol of the British monarchy's adaptability, the royalists’ perception of the Harry-Meghan wedding reflected a desire for their own monarch to be more absolute.

Purging the Thai Sangha

The persecution of one of the junta's most outspoken supporters, Buddha Issara, demands explanation

Sandwiches, 1984 and wristwatches: four years of the NCPO, four years of creative resistance—part one

สี่ปีคสช.: สัญลักษณ์และประดิษฐกรรมแห่งการท้าทายอำนาจรัฐทหาร Activists never intended to use sandwiches during protests—it was the authorities themselves who seized upon sandwiches in 2014, making an unintended contribution to anti-authoritarian emblems.

North Korea and Myanmar: Divergent Paths

Ben Dunant reviews "North Korea and Myanmar: Divergent Paths", which paints Myanmar and North Korea regimes less as outposts of tyranny and more as rational actors.

Dismantling a liberal constitution, one institution at a time

We should worry that the impeachment of the Philippines' chief judge signals a new phase in the sidelining of Duterte critics.

Twenty years of Indonesian democracy—how many more?

Two decades after Suharto’s fall, it’s hard to see a return to dictatorship—or to declare the democratic status quo safe.

Malaysia’s political transformation(s): preliminary reflections

Thinking about the major causes and consequences of Malaysia's historic election result.

First tragedy, then farce: unlearned lessons of reconstructing ravaged cities

The Philippines’ poor track record in reconstructing cities affected by disaster and conflict is manifest in Marawi’s case, a year since the siege.

VIDEO: Bridget Welsh on Malaysia’s political transformation

Public lecture on GE14's implications hosted by the ANU Malaysia Institute on 21 May.

Beyond Indonesianness in Indonesian Contemporary Art

Contemporary art can reveal insights into the friction between cosmopolitanism and tradition in Indonesia

The Khon Kaen Model: eschewing Bangkok-centric development

ขอนแก่นโมเดล: ไม่ยอมซ้ำรอยอนาคตแบบ "กทม." Public services infrastructure in Khon Kaen is being funded and spearheaded by the Khon Kaen Think Tank (KKTT), a group of the province's 20 leading businessmen.

VIDEO: Ivy Josiah on activism and politics in GE14

The Malaysian women's rights activist talks about her experience managing a parliamentary campaign in Malaysia's general election.