Irreverent, informed and downright eclectic books and reportage from South Asia and beyond
The UN tribunal in Cambodia, set up to investigate crimes against humanity allegedly (a very small allegedly, the accused are all guilty) committed by the Khmer Rouge, finally passed its first judgment today.
The Khmer Rouge, a radical communist rebel movement, are responsible for the death of some 1.7 million people. Between 1975 and [...]
The seers have been consulted, the dotted lines are signed, the back-line is being oiled and squeaked as I write this.
Leonard Cohen, poet, writer, singer, sometimes zen monk and full-time visionary is opening The Mekong Sessions, a concert series to be held in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, on November 27th 2010.
Proceeds from this concert [...]
It’s official!
Legendary songsmith and Canadian national treasure Leonard Cohen is playing a one-off show in Phnom Penh, on November 27th 2010, likely to add a positive footnote to Cambodia’s turbulent history and present the re-emerging Cambodian capital as a stage for international events for the first time in decades - probably since King Norodom [...]
Late Night Party Dog circles the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
I was just trawling through my archives and found this story - City of Fakes - from 2006, about Cambodia`s refusal to enforce international copyright laws. Of course, Cambodia is known to be a country where everything is for sale, if only one puts the right amount of dollars on the table. One glorious consequence [...]
South East Asia has a pretty dismal reputation when it comes to pedophelia and foreign sex abusers are regularly arrested by local authorities in the region (and after the payment of a handsome bribe, they are often let go again). But the western media’s obsession with eastern sleaze might be well over-cooked now, and there [...]
Tom Vater’s guide to Cambodia by Moon is out now and available via Amazon. Copies will reach stores across the US in the coming weeks.
Read the publisher’s web page on this brand new title.
Or read an introduction here:
Author, journalist, screenwriter, and researcher Tom Vater leads you on an adventure through Cambodia, from the bustling markets [...]
Tom Vater’s up-coming travel guide to Cambodia, a Moon Handbook, will be published in February 2010. For this first edition title, Tom spent almost six months traveling to every corner of the South East Asian kingdom, covering all major and many minor sites - from Angkor Wat to remote temple ruins lost in the jungle, [...]
For years, American presidents have been telling us that the ‘Axis of Evil’ is spreading its evil wings across the globe, slowly suffocating us with, well, evil.
North Korea has long been mentioned as one of these evil states. But as we push further into the 21st century, old certainties are eroding, and with Libya dropping [...]