Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
My latest feature story in Nikkei Asia – on the troubled reopening of iconic Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi in southern Thailand, made famous by Leonardo Di Caprio in the movie The Beach & subsequently destroyed by uncontrolled mass tourism. “Oh, it’s so f—ing beautiful,” exclaims Etienne, one of the characters in the Hollywood […]
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My latest story in Nikkei Asia is about Ecoshare, a company that uses a lease scheme to support local people and promote conservation in the face of rampant logging and destruction of biodiversity in one of the planet’s last great natural repositories. A Singapore-based startup is working with people in Papua New Guinea to help […]
Continue ReadingGavin Haines at The Daily Telegraph on whether mass tourism on Thailand‘s holiday islands is sustainable as visitor numbers continue to go up. I get to put in my five cents worth. Read the full story here.
Continue ReadingI was in Tubbataha in 1994. I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. I watched hundreds of sharks pooling around coral ledges at 35 meters, so many they kept bumping into me. I watched giant tuna glitter in the dark 30 meters below me, leading tens of thousands of giant barracuda through the depths. I […]
Continue ReadingIn 2006, I researched and wrote a report for Fauna and Flora International (FFI) on the Bunong, one of Cambodia´s indigenous minorities. The Bunong live mostly in the north eastern province of Mondulkiri, an area of high barren plateaus, dense rainforests and virtually no roads, bordering on Vietnam. Traditionally, the Bunong practice swidden agriculture and […]
Continue ReadingIn 2006, I wrote a report for Fauna and Flora International (FFI) on the Bunong, one of Cambodia´s indigenous minorities. The Bunong live mostly in the north eastern province of Mondulkiri, an area of high barren plateaus, dense rainforests and virtually no roads, bordering on Vietnam. Traditionally, the Bunong practice swidden agriculture and domesticate elephants. […]
Continue ReadingIn 2006, I wrote a report for Fauna and Flora International (FFI) on the Bunong, one of Cambodia´s indigenous minorities. The Bunong live mostly in the north eastern province of Mondulkiri, an area of high barren plateaus, dense rainforests and virtually no roads, bordering on Vietnam. Traditionally, the Bunong practice swidden agriculture and domesticate elephants. […]
Continue ReadingIn 2006, I wrote a report for Fauna and Flora International (FFI) on the Bunong, one of Cambodia´s indigenous minorities. The Bunong live mostly in the north eastern province of Mondulkiri, an area of high barren plateaus, dense rainforests and virtually no roads, bordering on Vietnam. Traditionally, the Bunong practice swidden agriculture and domesticate elephants. […]
Continue ReadingIn The Great Railway Bazaar, published in 1975, best-selling travel writer Paul Theroux described Bangkok as “a hugely preposterous city of temples and brothels”. More than thirty years later, first time visitors to the City of Angels could be forgiven for thinking that Theroux‘s analysis is as valid today as it might have been then, in […]
Continue Reading“I have been in Sonagachi for 25 years. I rent this room for 114 Rupees a month. This is my home.” Champa Das has invited me into her home. Champa Das has been a sex worker all her adult life. Sonagachi is one of Calcutta’s largest red light districts – narrow alleys, lined with small ‘apartments’ […]
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