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 […]
Continue ReadingHad a great time interviewing Pyra, a Thai pop diva with things to say about her country and culture. “A few years ago, I had the chance to meet Jack Marr. I told him I had met a lot of rich people who were very unhappy. He agreed with me. He said he’d given all […]
Continue ReadingMy latest story with Laure Siegel in the Nikkei Asian Review on how highways, bridges and dams flow from Chinese infrastructure bonanza in Nepal. A hard truck ride to the Nepal/China/Tibet border, the proverbial end of the world. Some 140 km to the north of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, China’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan is in […]
Continue ReadingMy thoughts on the imminent demise of Bangkok’s incredibly varied, often delicious and pretty cheap streetfood in today’s Daily Telegraph. “Since the May 2014 military coup, Bangkok has been gradually changing from a chaotic, bustling happy-go-lucky south-east Asian capital with a hedonistic bent into an increasingly drab and orderly bargain basement version of Singapore,” said […]
Continue ReadingMy latest article with Laure Siegel in the Nikkei Asian Review looks at how women enter the motorcycle taxi workforce in Bangkok, a traditionally male bastion. With fewer and fewer job opportunities for unskilled Thai women, riding a motorcycle taxi remains one profession that promises a degree of independence and freedom. Read Bangkok’s ‘motorcycle mamas’ […]
Continue ReadingUsually a matter of choice, Indian state takes political tattoos to new level. Check out my new feature, with Laure Siegel, on one of India’s enduring personality cults. For decades, the followers of six times state minister and recently deceased Jayalalithaa Jayaram, have been wearing their political idol’s face on their skins, acquired in mass […]
Continue ReadingMy latest story with Laure Siegel on government censorship and the arts in India, focusing on theater on Mumbai and Delhi. MUMBAI/NEW DELHI — “First they come for the movies. Then for the books. Theater will be the last to be hit, but the clamp-down is coming,” said Anish Victor, a founder of Rafiki, a […]
Continue ReadingHere’s an account of my visit to Sittwe, home of many Rohingya, in August 2012. This is not a particularly hands-on story, nor did it involve any courage on my part. Better reportages on the same subject have surfaced in the media in recent days. But as Sittwe is now sealed off and as no […]
Continue ReadingI was recently interviewed for an article on Thailand’s punk rock scene for Noisey/Vice. Read the full story Thai Hardcore Bands Are Risking Prison Just To Thrash by April Welsh here.
Continue ReadingI have just published a feature in the Friday supplement of The Rising Nepal, one of the country’s Eng;ish language newspapers. Why? Well, The Rising Nepal helped me start my career in 1997. The paper graciously offered me the use of a typewriter and I hammered out a series of feature stories on Nepali culture […]
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