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Craft, Currencies, and Ritual Orders in a Northern Thai village
Henrik Kloppenborg Møller is an anthropologist and PhD candidate at the Department of Sociology, Lund University. His PhD project examines the organization of the trade in jade between Northern Myanmar and China, and the role of jade in Chinese cosmology. Henrik has done fieldwork among jade traders and carvers in the town of Ruili on China’s […]
Read moreReport from the streets of Bangkok
For safety reasons I am omitting my name from this account. My apologies. I was in my house, when I heard. A friend messaged me, urging me to turn on the television, and so I did. All channels showed the same thing: Thailand’s General Prayuth Chan-ocha declared a total takeover of the country, Thailand was […]
Read moreThe Creeping Coup
Thailand has an impressive track-record in the department of political coups. There has, in the country’s democratic history (since 1932) been 18 more or less successful coups in Thailand. For this reason, whenever there is political instability, Thai media and followers of Thai politics very quickly start using the word “coup”. Will there be a […]
Read moreThe dice that always land on red
About a week ago, Thailand’s capital Bangkok, saw the largest demonstrations since the political turmoil that gripped the country in 2010. Back then, supporters of Thailand’s exiled former Premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, took the streets. That didn’t end well – when the smoke cleared after the demonstrations, 92 people had lost their lives and over 1000 […]
Read moreLady Gaga and the Fake Rolex Affair
By Anya Palm This weekend’s big event in Bangkok was a concert with the colorful pop artist, Lady Gaga. The star is doing her “Born This Way Ball” 2012 tour in Asia, and while Lady Gaga is in the region purely to perform and entertain, her visit has stirred quite a bit of political attention. […]
Read moreA Hero with dirty hands by Anya Palm
Friday was the first time for many Thais to hear Yingluck Shinawatra speak in public. The lady, who by the looks of all polls, is going to be Thailand’s Prime Minister by Sunday, has never really spoken to followers before, and the audience for Friday’s speech came to see “what kind of person she is”, […]
Read moreThai politics costing lives. Again.
Thai politics have been somewhat baffling the past two weeks. So has Cambodian politics. And as always when the two Kingdoms clash and create irrational political atmospheres, people have suffered. In this case, several people have died. But let’s start with the beginning:
Read moreAbandon decency. Abandon morals. Put in the guns and get the TEMPLE! by Anya Palm
Preah Vihear is an unimaginably beautiful place. It is a
province, but it takes it’s name after an 11th Century Khmer
Temple, which towers over
the landscape on a 525-metre high mountain. The temple is stunningly
well-preserved – there are still carvings of dancing Apsaras, Buddha statues
and stone stair cases leading up to a perhaps even more breathtaking view over
unspoiled nature.
That is utterly unimportant, though.
Read moreWhile vacationing in Thailand, we forgot to pay attention by Anya Palm
What just happened in Thailand? Was Thailand not supposed to
be a peaceful vacation paradise with perfect beaches and charming smiles?
Didn’t we just spend a couple of leisurely lazy days looking at stunning
temples and eating delicious street food from the stalls with not a care in the
world? (Yes, we did. In 2009, about 11 million foreigners visited Thailand.)
Thailand coining the definition of non-democracy by Anya Palm
Defining democracy is, if not an impossible, then an
immensely difficult task. However, defining what it is not is easy, very
easy: Amongst other things, it is NOT democracy
to gather a mass rally and declare that the sitting government must dissolve
within 24 hours, or else…
Nevertheless, this explicit threat is exactly what was
brought to the political table in Thailand’s
capital, Bangkok,
this week. Under a rally. For democracy.