Tom Vater is a writer working in South and South East Asia. He writes both in English and German. His articles have been published around the world. He is the author of several books and has co-written a number of documentary screenplays for European television. His books on South Asian themes include a novel , several non-fiction titles, travel guides and photo books.
Tom first visited Asia in 1993. His first destination, India, proved to be a life-changing experience. At the time, Tom was documenting the music of India’s indigenous minorities for the British Library’s International Music Collection. This project continues and has resulted in the collection of hundreds of hours of musical traditions, many of which are slowly fading away in the face of globalization. Because of the unique contact Tom had with many indigenous communities, he began to write about minorities in South Asia.
His first publication (barring a virtually forgotten past as editor of student magazines and music critic for a German daily) was a full page spread on Nepali folk music in Nepal’s biggest English language paper in 1997. Since then, he has never looked back.
Tom’s work has appeared in a wide variety of publications - from well-known dailies to specialist magazines - including The Asia Wall Street Journal, The Far Eastern Economic Review, Discovery, Marie Claire and Penthouse. He has recently been working on several reportage assignments for The Asia Wall Street Journal, and MERIAN (Germany). His feature articles are syndicated by Planet Syndication (www.planetsyndication.com), the UK’s largest feature agency, and he is a regular contributor to the Southeast Asia Globe, a monthly magazine covering politics, culture and trends in the region.
Tom’s stock photography has been published in many magazines and newspapers, such as The Asia Wall Street Journal, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. He is represented by the photo agency OnAsia, while some of his images are also available via Alamy.
Tom often works with Thai photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat, whose images have appeared in GEO, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. For a look at Aroon’s images, visit her website www.aroonthaew.com.
Much of the year, Tom is on the road, researching stories, fulfilling assignments. His travels have led him (on foot) across the Himalayas, given him the opportunity to dive with hundreds of sharks in the Philippines and left him stranded in dozens of train stations, airports and bus terminals around South Asia, Europe and the US. On his journeys, he has joined sea gypsies and nomads, pilgrims and soldiers, secret agents, pirates, hippies, police men and prophets. Everyone put up with him longer than he deserved.
You can also follow Tom on his Facebook page as well as on his flickr page