Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
In 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 ReadingFünf Rezensionen sind inzwischen bei Amazon Deutschland über mein Buch In Heiligen Höhen – Unterwegs zur Wiege des Ganges gelandet. Anbei die Meinungen glücklicher Leser! hochoben – 24. Mai 2008, Von le_pröf In Heiligen Höhen von Tom Vater ist eine packende und aktuelle Bestandaufnahme des indischen Subkontinents. Pflichtlektüre also für Leser, die etwas über das […]
Continue ReadingI shot this very early in the morning in a public square in Penang. Both of them were fast asleep in the back of the rickshaw, and there was no on else about yet. Maybe they were lovers, or maybe they simply had no where else to go, but there was something touching about it. […]
Continue ReadingIch bin gerade mit dem Lektorat des demnächst erscheinenden City Trip Angkor beschäftigt. 150 Seiten voller Geschichte, Hintergrundsinfos, praktischer Reisetipps und einem großen Faltplan der Tempel machen diesen Führer für alle die die nach Kambodscha fliegen um Angkor zu sehen, unentbehrlich. City Trip Angkor erscheint Ende November im Reise Know How Verlag. Über den Amazon […]
Continue ReadingThis city pulsates. We cruise into town from the airport, Ahmed at the wheel of an old beaten up Peugeot. The traffic is a crazy as anything anywhere, fast, furious and jerky, a sea of cars, old and new, antique and flash, barely functional and elegant, weaving along three aside on a two lane road. […]
Continue ReadingDas Thailand Handbuch, von Rainer Krack und Tom Vater, veröffentlicht im Reise Know How Verlag und derzeit in der 14. Ausgabe, gibt es jetzt auch auf Polnisch bei Bezdroza. Ich habe gerade eine Kopie erhalten. Das Buch sieht sehr schön aus, die Fotoreproduktion ist gut, und es ist 100 Seiten kürzer als die deutsche Ausgabe, […]
Continue ReadingA smoker’s lounge at Cairo International turns multi-cultural hang-out as the pale disk of the sun rises above the eternal sands beyond the runways. No matter how I stretch at the bull´s eye windows, I can´t see the pyramids, but know they´re out there. Young women in mini-skirts and tank-tops on the way home from […]
Continue ReadingCanadian singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen is playing a one-off concert in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on November 27th. To introduce Cambodians to Mr. Cohen´s body of work, Bayon TV will show excerpts of Leonard Cohen´s Live in London concert as part of the channel´s Music Box show. This may seem hardly newsworthy, but Mr. Cohen´s […]
Continue ReadingMarc Eberle’s The Most Secret Place on Earth (The CIA Covert War in Laos), co-written by Tom Vater, has been nominated for the prestigious “Jade Kunlun” Awards of the 2010 World Mountain Documentary Festival of Qinghai, China. The film has been nominated for the “Best Director” category. The Most Secret Place on Earth (The CIA […]
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