Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
Patrick French reports on Drifters, Conspirators, and Noir in Cambodia’s Capital City for Crime Reads and writes… “Hard-boiled and noir is pretty much the only option on the menu when it comes to Phnom Penh crime writing. Tom Vater, a Bangkok-based writer and publisher, wrote The Cambodian Book of the Dead (2013) which sees German […]
Continue ReadingThe third edition of my guide to the Angkor temples, published by Moon in the US, is out October 2nd. Lots of changes around the Cambodian temples and in Siem Reap which is growing at an extraordinary pace. And lots of new hotels, eateries and other attractions in the new edition. Trip of a lifetime! […]
Continue ReadingFrom a punk rock collective in Borneo to European proto-colonies and ethnic minorities in India, rock stars and a circus from Cambodia, the scourge of development in Laos, female motorcycle taxi drivers in Thailand, Japanese entrepreneurs in France and my eye witness reports of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the Asian Nikkei Review has published some […]
Continue ReadingThis recording is part of the Tom Vater Collection (C799) at the British Library. A longer extract has been published on The Moken: sea gypsies of the Andaman Sea (Topic Records TSCD919, 2001). The full collection also includes recordings from India, Laos and Cambodia. It will be digitally preserved as part of the Unlocking our […]
Continue ReadingSrey Thy aka Kak Channthy , the singer of seminal Cambodian band The Cambodian Space Project, was killed last night when a Lexus smashed into the back of a Tuk-Tuk she was traveling in, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I had the good fortune to meet Srey Thy many times. My brother Marc took me to […]
Continue ReadingIn the final throes of writing the new edition of Moon Angkor Wat, my guide to the Angkor temples in Cambodia. Two trips this year, and I met some great people in Siem Reap, Battambang and Phnom Penh, and of course the monuments remain as magnificent as ever, no matter how vulgar the mass tourist […]
Continue ReadingCambodia: A Journey through the Land of the Khmer by Kraig Lieb, with my text, continues to shift copies in Cambodia. Photo taken at Monument Books, Siem Reap.
Continue ReadingCurrently in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to research the 3rd edition of the Moon guide to Angkor Wat. Just had a gloriously sunny day amongst the monuments, with few other visitors in sight away from the main sites. Adding a chapter on how to beat the crowds….
Continue ReadingGreat write-up by Paul Dorsey in today’s Nation newspaper for the Mekong Shadows anthology with praise for The Cambodian Book of the Dead. The anthology’s best episode, hands down, is actually a long excerpt from “The Cambodian Book of the Dead”, a taut and disturbing novel by Tom Vater (“Sacred Skin – Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos”). […]
Continue ReadingEarlier this week, Saraswati Publishing in Phnom Penh launched Mekong Shadows a new anthology of dark tales from Cambodia. Edited by British journalist Iain Donnelly, this collection includes both Cambodian and ex pat writers, both complete unknowns and widely published authors, including Kosal Khiev, John Burdett and James Newman. Feedback has been positive with coverage […]
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