* Funeral of Late Thai King May Not Be for Tourists; Here’s How to Pay Respects—South China Morning Post

Estimates that one million people might gather here during the period are probably conservative, says Tongthong Chandransu, a law professor and expert on Thai royal funeral ceremonies. “After all, 500,000 people showed up last year on October 14 to observe when the king’s body was transferred across the river from Siriraj Hospital to the Grand Palace,” he says.

* Thai Elections Postponed As Violence Hits Tourist Territory—Forbes

If you're already ensconced there, give these rally sites a very wide berth. You can even take a "taxi boat" from Phra Athit pier to piers near the Grand Palace, Wat Po and the National Museum. Don't take the San Saeb Canal boats which run eastward from Wat Saket. Get back to your hotel area by dark and don't wander out to the Democracy Monument area.

* Burma’s Last Royals—Los Angeles Review of Books

Along with the stories of King Thibaw and Queen Supayalat, The King in Exile tells of the strange, twisted lives of their four daughters and seven grandchildren. As foreign visitors surge in, drawn by the idea of a new frontier, the book erodes the mythology, so pervasive in the region, of a happier, fairer era when white European men kept the grateful dumb natives gently in place.

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