Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
Known for her “dystopian pop”, Pyra has been driven out by Thailand’s conservatism The video is captioned “UGLY TRUTH ABOUT THAILAND”. Peeralada Sukawat—better known by her stage name, Pyra—looks into the camera and rolls her eyes. “Bangkok babies in Mercedes,” she raps over looping drums and a synth beat. “Rich gets richer, poor gets poorer,/Inequality’s […]
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The world has lost half of its coral reefs in 30 years. Malaysian oceanographer Anuar Abdullah has developed a simple, yet effective way to restore coral. He tells Eco-Business that no reef is the same, and successful reef rehabilitation depends on cooperation with local communities. Over the past 30 years, more than 50 per cent of […]
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My latest story in Nikkei Asia follows a Canadian/French couple who set out to walk from Europe to Australia to remind the world that travel is more than a commodity. They sometimes walked up to 14 hours a day, got lost in the jungles of Laos and were involved in a fatal bus crash in […]
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Climate change is just one of the causes of severe flooding in Jakarta and Bangkok. Subsidence and over-construction also contribute to the slow drowning of these and other Asian capitals. There are solutions, but they are hampered by lack of funds, politics, cultural issues and obstructive legislation. Read my latest story in Eco-Business.
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A museum tells the history of one of Bangkok’s notorious districts – Patpong has hosted artists, spies, serial killers and sex workers. “There’s a lot more to Patpong than sex,” Michael Messner says. The district lies east of the Chao Phraya river in Thailand’s capital city; two parallel streets host night markets, bars, clubs and […]
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I interviewed the fantabulous pop star Hugo for Roadbook the other day… Hugo Chakrabongse Levy is a warm, otherworldly, and handsome presence – a man of bell-bottom trousers, ornate shirts, wide-brimmed hats, and hand-rolled orange-flavoured cigarettes. He’s also a rock star. Born in the UK, Hugo, as he’s known, attended school in London until he […]
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A museum tells the history of one of Bangkok’s notorious districts – Patpong has hosted artists, spies, serial killers and sex workers “There’s a lot more to Patpong than sex,” Michael Messner says. The district lies east of the Chao Phraya river in Thailand’s capital city; two parallel streets host night markets, bars, clubs and […]
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… but how green will the kingdom’s ganja trade be? In July, Thailand is set to remove cannabis and hemp from the country’s narcotics list. Eco-Business explores the likely environmental and social impacts of the cannabis trade in the first Southeast Asian country to legalise weed. Thailand’s high-end hotels serve cannabis cocktails, spas work with cannabis […]
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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 examines an illustrated book that traces the history of political street art and graffiti in Thailand. “In 2013, a friend took me down the railway tracks behind Klong Prem prison. I saw this forest of cement columns covered in artwork and I was instantly attracted,” says photographer Rupert Mann, author of “Bangkok […]
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