I have update the Links section in the sidebar.
- New Mandala by Nicholas Farrelly and Dr Andrew Walker. In case you think this is an academic anti-Thaksin blog, well, I suggest you read Dr Walker's first post. Notable posts include a review of "The King Never Smiles" and this description of a pro-Thaksin rally in Chiang Rai. New Mandala is not specifically a Thailand only blog, but there is new material almost every day.
- Newley by Newley Purnell. Newley is a contributor to Gridskipper. Newley posts a selection of interesting Thai and non-Thai related links.
- GooGeek is a news aggregator of Thai language sources (newspapers, TV, web boards etc). Think Google News for Thai news. You can read the latest news, sport, or entertainment news. I primarily use GooGeek for two purposes. First, to check out the latest breaking news in Thailand - this saves you from going to each of the various newspaper and other news sites. Second, GooGeek also has news sorted by different "categories" (new categories are regularly added). Categories include the "Situation in the 3 southern border provinces", "Opening of the New Airport", "Terrorism", "Progress in the Car Bomb Plot", "Bank Bombings in Yala" etc.
- Nor Sor Por is also a news aggregator of Thai language news sources, but is primarily limited to Thai newspapers (Nor Sor Por is the Thai language abbreviation for the word "newspaper"). Nor Sor Por has different categories, including politics, opinion pieces/editorials.
- Prachatai provides an "independent, alternative" news source and was setup by senator Jon Ungphakorn (source). Prachatai is run by a "mixed board of NGO and media representatives" and is (has been?) funded by the Open Society Institute and other organisations. It certainly has a left wing perspective on events, but is not simply an anti-Thaksin website. I find the best articles on Prachatai are its interviews with academics - unlike certain media outlets it publishes the full interview and you don't get the selective quotes pushing the newspaper's agenda. Two good interviews are this interview with Dr Pichit Likitkijsomboon - see this Bookish post for a good explanation - and this recent interview with Dr Srisompob Jitpiromsri.
- Deep South Watch, or more accurately Intellectual Deep South Watch, was founded earlier this year initially by the Pattani Campus Political Science Faculty of Prince of Songkhla University based in Pattani (yes, this this means it includes Dr Srisompob Jitpiromsri), independent TJA News, and Thai Journalist Association. It seems to act as a clearing house for research on the violence in the 3 southern border provinces. Most of the material is in Thai, but there are two papers in English for a recent seminar: (1) "US and Southern Thailand Conflict" (PDF); and (2) "The Southern Thailand Conflict and the Muslim World" (PDF).
- Chut and Kitty - I am not quite sure how to describe Chut's blog or that any description would it do it justice. Kitty's blog is non-political free zone where you can read her "daily rants" (her words not mine) of a Thai student who is studying at a Thai university. She is not afraid to share her opinions on a variety of different subjects.
As Bookish, News Hound, Sarasonteh, and Farang Affairs are no longer active or at least are on a temporary hiatus, they have been removed. Hopefully, with the new election coming up, they will all return to blogging.
No comments yet.