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The Foundation

The Mekong Press Foundation was initiated in 2005 by Trasvin Jittidecharak, the publisher of Silkworm Books, with the financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation. Its aim is to encourage and support the work of local scholars, writers, and publishing professionals in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and the other countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It was registered as non-profit organization in 2007.

Books published by Mekong Press are marketed and distributed internationally.

Mekong Press also holds seminars and training workshops on different aspects of book publishing, and helps find ways to overcome some of the huge challenges faced by small book publishers in the region.

Welcome to Mekong Press

The Politics of Decentralization cover

The Politics of Decentralization: Natural Resource Management in Asia

The Politics of Decentralization brings together empirically grounded studies of the decentralization of natural resource management in seven South and Southeast Asian countries. It provides a clear explanation of the key concepts and debates in decentralization relevant to the management of forests, fisheries, and water in the region.

Publications Law in Laos

After one year of deliberation, May 2009 saw the quiet introduction of a publications law to the Lao PDR. More ...

Workshop: Getting Published in the English World

4 November 2009, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Bangkok. Getting published is not always easy. The Mekong Press Foundation invites you to a special workshop that focuses on how authors should review their manuscripts, and how publishers “imagine” books. More information

Looking to begin that long shelf life

UC Riverside has a trove of rare Thai books waiting to finally join its Southeast Asian library. Read the full article

Book Launch: History of Aid to Laos

Wednesday 23 September 2009, at the Madsen Conference Room (449), University of Sydney, Australia. Hosted by the Australian Mekong Resource Centre. Refreshments provided. If you would like to attend please contact Natalia before Tuesday 15 September by email at nscurrah@usyd.edu.au or by phone on (02) 9351-7796.

History of Aid to Laos

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Latest Release History of Aid to Laos is the first comprehensive publication on development assistance to the aid-dependent country of Laos. Written by a former senior Lao official in international cooperation, the book investigates the situation of a country dependent on foreign aid for more than half a century and the ways in which donor nations have shaped Lao development and political relationships through the aid process.

Scanning the Past

At Chiang Mai University in Thailand, pages of history are being digitized as part of a global effort to protect written heritage. Read the full article

Mekong Delta Under Threat

Climate change impacts will force the displacement and migration of large populations in Vietnam, particularly the Mekong Delta, international experts reckon. Read more …

Damming the Mekong

China is now building a series of dams that will restrict its natural flow and threaten the sustenance of tens of millions of Southeast Asians. Read the full article

Recent Book Reviews

Reinhard Hohler reviews The Enduring Sacred Landscapes of the Naga and Hero and Deity: Tran Hung Dao and the Resurgence of Popular Religion in Viet Nam.

On Books, Teaching and Nationalism

Teaching Against the Grain: Benedict Anderson reflects on the modern nation-state as an imagined construct, the value of pedagogy and the nature of being human.

The Riddle of Nationalism: The recent Thai translation of Benedict Anderson's seminal Imagined Communities could help redefine the Thai nation.

IPA Protests Ban on Vietnamese Publisher

Deeply concerned about a three-month ban imposed on the Da Nang Publishing House in Vietnam, the International Publishers Association (IPA) has written to the Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications, seeking clarification and transparency about the motives and circumstances leading to the temporary ban, and on the “severe mistakes” committed by Da Nang, as reported in State media. Read the full press release

Getting Published in the English World

Getting published is not always easy. The Mekong Press Foundation and RCSD (the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development) at Chiang Mai University recently conducted a special workshop that focused on how authors should review their manuscripts, and how publishers “imagine” books.

Update Read what Chiang Maiʼs Northern Thai News thought about the workshop.

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New Titles from Mekong Press

Hero and Deity has been released and is now available for purchase.

“I suddenly understood that I had overlooked the big, bold, and wild Tran Hung Dao who was still ʻaliveʼ in the streets, in dreams, who shook bodies and left them exhausted or energized. . . . Clearly something much more interesting was going on in people’s lives than could be discovered by mapping temple floors.”

The Enduring Sacred Landscape of the Naga cover

Mekong Press is also pleased to announce that The Enduring Sacred Landscape of the Naga has also been released and is available for purchase. Capturing the vanishing memory of ancient rituals, recited texts, and places imbued with echoes of the past, the book recounts the lived texture of human experience in the Mekong River valley.

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2009 Catalog now available

The 2009 Mekong Press catalog has been finalized and is now available for download (PDF, 208 KB). Please contact us if you would prefer a printed copy.

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