Man who interviewed The Serpent in 2003 recalls how ‘consistently upbeat’ serial killer Charles Sobhraj spoke of his prison experience – or how the Daily Mail rewrites me & the Daily Telegraph

The Daily Mail Chloe Morgan has published a feature on Charles Sobhraj which essentially uses my recent Telegraph story I wrote about my encounter with the infamous serial killer, adds a bit more background and puts it out there as something new. A writer who interviewed serial killer Charles Sobhraj while he was behind bars […]

Continue Reading

My chilling encounter with serial killer Charles Sobhraj in The Daily Telegraph

In December 2003, Central Jail in the Nepali capital Kathmandu was everything one might expect from a prison in a developing country. Its high walls, interspersed by watchtowers topped with barbed wire, were patrolled by armed guards. The visitor’s room was a cold, dirty, rectangular cell, divided by a chest-high wall topped with a wire […]

Continue Reading

Thailand’s holiday hotspots have become dystopian ghost towns in The Daily Telegraph

The white sands of Bo Phut Beach on Koh Samui, a popular tourist island in the Gulf of Thailand that usually sees more than two million visitors a year, lie deserted. A couple of jet skis and kayaks bake in the sun, looking more like beached whales than sports equipment waiting for sunbathers. Following the […]

Continue Reading

Interviewed on Travel Safety in Cambodia in The Daily Telegraph

My thoughts on travel safety in Cambodia in his Telegraph piece. Behind the paywall, unfortunately. Tom Vater, one of Telegraph’s south-east Asian experts who travels frequently in Cambodia, says the recent boom in investment in Sihanoukville from China has led to the arrival of violent gangs and a rising crime rate. “Since 2018, the Cambodian […]

Continue Reading

Will cleaning up Thailand’s most famous party street improve it, or kill its soul? – in The Daily Telegraph

Leonardo 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 Reading

48 hours in . . . Bangkok, an insider guide to Thailand’s colourful capital in The Daily Telegraph

My 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 Reading

Vang Vieng Boutique Riverside in The Daily Telegraph

Set on the banks of the Song River and facing spectacular limestone mountain ridges, Vang Vieng’s swankiest hotel resort offers a winning combination of Laotian culture and French colonial era ambience, with fantastic service, excellent facilities, great tours and a good restaurant… I am just back from Laos, where I was researching articles for the […]

Continue Reading

The Bangkok Publishing House in The Daily Telegraph

I recently reviewed the quite unique Bangkok Publishing House in The Daily Telegraph. The Bangkok Publishing Residence is a unique property, a one-off, and a very personable hotel experience. The building started as a row of 1960s shophouses, though most of the walls and floors have been removed, creating a beautifully open ground-floor space that’s […]

Continue Reading

The Death of Bangkok’s Amazing Streetfood in The Daily Telegraph

My 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 Reading