RCSD : The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development

Book Launch and Discussion: Tai Magic with Susan Conway
2026-02-13 13:30 - 15:30 (Asia/Bangkok) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD invites all to join author Susan Conway on Friday, 13 February from 1:30 to 3:30 pm in the Subaltern Meeting Room at RCSD, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University for the launch of the newly revised edition of her book, Tai Magic. This is a superbly illustrated book that introduces manuscripts, textiles and talismans associated with the supernatural. Within the context of Tai cosmology and numerology, Theravada Buddhism and spirit religion, the book examines how good and bad spirits are represented in figurative illustrations and how mystical diagrams and spells are formulated to bring good luck and protection or cause bad luck. Extensive field work studies over a period of four years were conducted in the Shan States and in northern Thailand. Using her field notes and photographs Susan Conway provides a colourful picture of the people who create magic and explains how mystical remedies are prescribed and the rituals involved. The author includes comparative material from museum collections in the USA, UK and Thailand.
About the Author
Susan Conway is an author specializing in the arts and culture of Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand, and Burma (Myanmar). Susan studied fine art as an undergraduate, and her Ph.D. was a study of the history and culture of Lanna (northern Thailand). More recently, she became fascinated with healing practices and the magico-religious power of chants, spells, and rituals. She is an artist whose work is based on Thailand’s landscapes and murals paintings.

Book Launch and Discussion: Young Tigers - Chao Tzang Yawnghwe and the Shan Rebellion in Myanmar
2026-02-24 13:30 - 15:30
RCSD invites all to join a book launch of “Young Tigers: Chao Tzang Yawnghwe and the Shan Rebellion in Myanmar,” along with discussion with author Bertil Lintner, on 24 February from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at the Subaltern meeting room, RCSD, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Young Tigers traces Myanmar’s turbulent post-independence history through the life of Chao Tzang Yawnghwe, son of the country’s first president and last Saohpa of Yawnghwe. Born into aristocratic privilege, he was thrust into political upheaval after the 1962 military coup, which led to his father’s disappearance and his brother’s death. Forced into exile and armed struggle, he joined the Shan resistance, navigating the complex world of ethnic insurgency, shifting alliances, and the political economy of the opium trade.
Drawing on extensive research, the book examines the collapse of the federal promise envisioned in the 1947 Panglong Agreement, the consolidation of military rule, and the enduring struggles of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities. At its core, it presents a contest between authoritarian centralism and the vision of a genuinely federal political order.
The book is written by Bertil Lintner and Hseng Noung Lintner. Bertil is a veteran journalist and the author of twenty books on Asian politics and history, including several published by Silkworm Books. His notable works include Outrage: Burma’s Struggle for Democracy; Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948, Bloodbrothers: Crime, Business and Politics in Asia, Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea Under the Kim Clan, Merchants of Madness: The Methamphetamine Explosion in the Golden Triangle, Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s Struggle for Democracy, and The Wa of Myanmar and China’s Quest for Global Dominance. He resides in Chiang Mai, Thailand. For more information about his work, please visit his website.
