Irreverent, informed and downright eclectic crime fiction and reportage from Southeast Asia and beyond
I will be talking, from the hip and to the hippest at tonight’s Bombyx Stories, a regular spoken word even at the WTF (what the fuck) Bar (on Sukhumvit Soi 51) in Bangkok tonight. Other performers include John Gartland, Aaron Grieser, Wesley Hsu, Andrew Kingham, Donald Quist, Mrigaa Sethi, Chris Wise and James Yu. Show [...]
Last month, we had a visit from veteran tattooist Bruce Bart and his wife Jennifer. They were on an Asian road trip and were looking for a tattoo master in Thailand. Their search, quite an adventure, eventually led them to Sacred Skin and to the house I share with my wife, photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat. This [...]
Natalie Paris reports in The Daily Telegraph on the state of Phuket, Thai holiday island, long in the grip of mafias and gangsters. I add my two Baht worth. Read the full story here. Tom Vater, Telegraph Travel’s expert in Bangkok, said that while Thailand remains a safe and attractive destination overall, visitors to Phuket [...]
Professor Kinski remixes Pussy & The Learjets from Bangkok! Bangkok based writer and journalist Tom Vater’s Garage Rock band in a very loungy trip hoppy easy listening version! Nothing Can Bring Me Down! Stay tuned for 2 more punchy mixes soon!
After having one of our titles, Mindfulness and Murder in the Top 100 Crime novels on Amazon this week, Crime Wave Press introduces it’s latest thriller: Gaijin Cowgirl by Jame DiBiasio. Gaijin Cowgirl is a high octane adventure introducing Val Benson, flaky Tokyo hostess and utterly unreliable protagonist who stumbles across a map to one [...]
In 1999, I first visited the Moken sea nomads/sea gypsies in Ko Surin Marine National Park in Thailand. I had been recording indigenous music around Asia for the British Library for some years. Thailand had not been on my usual routes, I spent most of my time in India, Pakistan and Nepal in the 90s. [...]
Sister Suicide is the second Father Ananda Mystery, written by acclaimed American author Nick Wilgus and published by Crime Wave Press. A nun is torn apart by crocodiles in a Buddhist theme park. Is it a case of suicide or does a monastic community in the Thai provinces harbor a vicious killer? Father Ananda, Buddhist [...]
Sacred Skin receives a great review from Danny Keens, Producer of 60 Minutes, on Amazon. Wonderful!!! When I stumbled upon this print collaboration between author Tom Vater and photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat I was taken completely by surprised and totally mesmerized. You see, I’m not the sort of person who would have considered a tattoo and [...]
Just got back from the 3rd annual reading competition that my wife, photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat organizes in Banphed Village, Issan, Thailand. This year, three publishers and several donors took part. 25 students won prizes and the school library was restocked with new titles. I got to read a short story, The Monkey in a Murder [...]