Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
I just arrived at my fantastically old school guest house in Kolkata, India. I’ve been selected artist in residence for the Goethe Institute’s 2019 Indo-European Artist Residency in Kolkata for the coming eight weeks. A big thanks to the Goethe and to Laure Siegel who pushed me to apply for the program. Very much looking […]
Continue ReadingCambodia: Journey through the Land of the Khmer with photos by Kraig Lieb and my text remains a bestseller in Cambodia. The second edition came out late last year. There’s currently a great light display for the book at Phnom Penh airport.
Continue ReadingSacred Skin -Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos by Tom Vater and Aroon Thaewchatturat, published by Hong Kong imprint Visionary World, was first published 8 years ago. The highly acclaimed best-selling title, currently in its second edition, garnered more than thirty reviews, including a three page spread in TIME Magazine. Sacred tattoos, called ‘sak yant’ in Thailand, have […]
Continue ReadingLeonardo Di Caprio has been here. As have countless young backpackers from the West. Over the past forty years, Khao San Road, once a quiet residential street on the fringes of Bangkok’s historic centre, has morphed into the world’s best-known backpacker hub. Loud, inexpensive, garish and in your face, the 400 meter long strip has […]
Continue ReadingSpotted a couple of books of mine in a second hand shop in Banglamphu, Bangkok, the other day. My first nonfiction Beyond the Pancake Trench (2004) and my second novel The Cambodian Book of the Dead (2013).
Continue ReadingFinally got my hands on the first short novella I wrote with Laure Siegel for Ecoute Magazine. The five parts of Eaux Troubles, a crime story set around the problematic relationship between man and shark on the French island of La Reunion have been published. Our next story, set in 1940s French colonial Cambodia, is […]
Continue ReadingI just finished translating Figures Libres, an incredible book that documents how tattoos morphed from back alley subculture to global pop culture. Published by Noir Meduse, Figures Libres features crazily beautiful portraits by Dom Pichard aka P-mod & a colorful round-the-world-to-follow-the-needle essay by Laure Siegel. Figures Libres is out in September in French and English. […]
Continue ReadingMy latest look at Bangkok in The Daily Telegraph. Welcome to Bangkok – a sprawling, humid metropolis of more than 10 million souls that rose along the eastern banks of the Chao Phraya river a little more than 200 years ago. Today, the Thai capital brims with interesting historic sites, stylish hotels, incredible culinary adventures, and […]
Continue ReadingBangkok is better known for modern skyscrapers than historical hotels but exclusivity can be as much the province of throwback boutiques as luxury big names. Tom Vater visits some heritage properties that hit the spot. Photo by Laure Siegel. Read the full story here….
Continue ReadingI contributed eight pages on Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Thai history and my favorite place in Thailand (can you guess where? See above pic) to MERIAN Magazine. The current issue of Germany’s classic travel publication focuses exclusively on Thailand.
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