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New Mandala‘s top ten posts for 2013 reflect our relentless drive southwards: three of the top ten were about Malaysia and two featured Singapore. Of the rest, three featured Thailand, two focussing on the recent round of political conflict. Two positions in the top ten went to Cambodia; and one went to an old New Mandala favourite that just keeps on giving.

Here they are, in reverse order:

10. What’s the truth behind Somaly Mam? Featuring controversial claims about Somaly Mam, the global face of the anti-trafficking movement in Cambodia.

9. Malaysian PM should resign, says expert. Greg Lopez’s heroic call for Prime Minister Najib to resign just after his strong election victory in May.

8. Malaysia’s election: An Indonesian comparison. Ed Aspinall’s reflections on the Malaysian election from an Indonesian perspective.

7. Crown Prince’s family update?. New Mandala readers love a story about the Crown Prince and this 2011 post featuring an alleged letter from Vajiralongkorn’s sons remains very popular.

6. A royal intervention? Another story featuring the Crown Prince, this time speculating about a possible intervention into Thailand’s latest political crisis.

5.Ramkhamhaeng: A view from inside the stadium. Photo-journalist Nick Nostitz’s essays never fail to draw in the readers. Here he provides a graphic account of the violence at Ramkhamhaeng on 30 November – 1 December 2013.

4. Linga bell, linga bell, jingle all the way. For some reason “types of penis” is a regular Google search term that draws readers to New Mandala. This 2010 post, by Paul Busbarat, gives them what they are looking for, providing a fascinating insight into penile implants.

3. Stop and think: Lessons from Little India. Eddy Blaxell’s thoughtful post on the “riot” in Little India certainly drew the attention of the Singapore Facebook crowd.

2. Singapore’s insatiable hunger for sand. Another story from Cambodia (and Singapore), this time Chris Coles on massive sand mining operations near the Tatai River and Koh Khong. This post found made its way to the front page of Reddit.

1. Live coverage of Malaysia’s election. Our most popular post by a long shot was our live coverage of the Malaysian election. This post was a big group effort featuring live commentary, links, videos and a dose of humour from the ANU team. Heroic behind-the-scenes efforts were required by the IT team to keep the site up and running!