I expect many New Mandala readers were in the audience at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit last night for “Thailand in Transition: A Historic Challenge and What’s Next?”.

Carsten Wiggum has provided this short review:

I was present at this well-attended “debate”. Tickets were very expensive [2,000-3,000 baht], so, as expected, those present were generally “hi-so”. Most of the speakers seemed to be using recycled material, nothing much new, and much of it irrelevant.

It was as if the theme of the seminar was not really addressed — in some cases probably avoided for fear of repercussions. Jon Ungpakorn was quite refreshing in his welcome speech, and he and Thongchai perhaps were the most interesting speakers, but of course probably had to modify their content. Very telling was the fact that in the short time available for a Q and A at the end, there were no questions!

Comments from other audience members are, of course, very welcome here.