Asia correspondent for international media
Reporting from Asia since 6/78 - today: based in Hong Kong, New Delhi and now Bangkok
Assignments have included:
- Blockade of Bangkok's airports by royalist "yellow shirt" protesters
- Thailand's bloodless coup
- Burma's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi
- Bird flu in Asia
- Former CIA-backed Hmong rebels in Laos
- US and Russian weapons sales in Southeast Asia
- AIDS and the sex industry in Thailand
- Tsunami-hit Thailand
- Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge war crimes evidence in Cambodia
- Political and economic changes in Vietnam
- President Bush's visit to the APEC forum in Bangkok
- The Marriott Hotel terrorist bombing in Indonesia
- Southeast Asia's handling of the SARS virus
- Jalalabad, Kabul and Bagram Air Base at the start of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan
- The Taliban government's last efforts to defend itself
- Pakistan's crackdown on Islamic militants
- Ground Zero in New York City
- The massacre of Nepal's royal family
- Philippines President Arroyo's "People's Power" victory
- Indonesia's slaughter in East Timor
- Life in Tibet's Lhasa, Xigatse and Gyantse
- Malaysia's Mahathir imprisoning Anwar
- The toppling of Indonesia's Suharto
- Tribal opium addicts in the mountains of Laos
- Islamic guerrillas in India's Kashmir
- The Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan, and the U.S.-backed mujahideen victory
- The Tamils' rebel war on the island of Sri Lanka
- Sikh insurgents fighting for Khalistan in India's Punjab
- Interviews with the Dalai Lama
I also reported from Tibet for three weeks in 1984, one week in 1989 and for the month of May, 1999.
Earlier, I traveled to the end of China's Silk Road -- to the Chinese outpost of Kashgar near the Afghan border -- to report on Muslim dissent.
United Press International (UPI)
UPI staff correspondent for 6 years (7/78 - 4/84) based in Hong Kong and New Delhi, India.
UPI New Delhi, India (1/80 - 4/84)
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, UPI immediately posted me from Hong Kong to be based in New Delhi as their staff correspondent for South Asia.
My reporting for UPI (1/80 - 4/84) included:
- the Soviet invasion and war to remain in Afghanistan
- Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's re-election and rule
- Pakistan's martial law and Islamic shift under President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq
- coups in Bangladesh
- democracy and tourism in Nepal
- the birth of Sri Lanka's civil war
In 1983, I was the first UPI correspondent in seven years to be invited by King Jigme Wangchuk into the tiny, secretive Himalayan nation of Bhutan
UPI Hong Kong (7/78 - 12/79) Editor for Asia and the Pacific during:
- the establishment of U.S.-China diplomatic relations
- China's brief war with Vietnam
- the escalation of Vietnam's "boat people" exodus
Photography
More than 20,000 color photos shot during assignments in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam and elsewhere.
All photographs are available for purchase by curators, collectors and news media.
In addition to rituals, revolutions, and other events, I also photographed the Queen of England / the Dalai Lama / Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev / Margaret Thatcher / Rajiv Gandhi / the King of Bhutan / Cambodia's Hun Sen, King Norodom Sihanouk, Queen Monique and Prince Rannaridh / Aung San Suu Kyi in her home in Burma / Afghanistan's U.S.-installed President Hamid Karzai, warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum and Soviet-backed President Najibullah / Moscow's Chief of Soviet Ground Troops General Valentin Varennikov / Yassar Arafat / Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines / Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam guerrillas and President Junius Jayewardene / India's "Bandit Queen" Phoolan Devi / Asia's convicted "Bikini Killer" Charles Sobhraj / Khalistan guerrilla leader "Saint" Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale / American singer Gwen Stefani / author Norman Mailer / U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld / Homeland Security's Tom Ridge / New York City in September 2001 / U.S. President George W. Bush
Click *here* to see more than 2,000 of my photographs on Flickr
Reporting
I have freelanced for:
Absolute Phuket magazine, Thailand / Aftonbladet, Sweden / American Reporter, on-line, Internet / Asia Magazine, Hong Kong / Asia InPlay magazine, California / Asia Pacific Broadcasting magazine, Singapore / Asian Medical News, Hong Kong / Asian Pacific Post, Canada / Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia / The Australian / Bangkok Post, Thailand / BBC Worldservice Radio / B International magazine, Hong Kong / Bizarre magazine, England / Brisbane Courier-Mail, Australia / Cable and Satellite Asia magazine, England / China Hospital magazine, Hong Kong / Compass News syndication / Daily Yomiuri, Japan / Dawn, Pakistan / Dynasty in-flight magazine, China Airlines / e-Asia Cable and Satellite, on-line, Internet / Eastern Express, Hong Kong / 89 Rock magazine, Brazil / Electronic Times, on-line, Internet / Elle magazine, England / ELLEgirl magazine, New York / Encyclopedia Mediasat (in Polish), Poland / English Zone magazine, Japan / EscapeArtist.com, on-line, Internet / European Press Network / Farang magazine, Thailand / Fate magazine, Wisconsin / Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand's Dateline magazine / Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas / Freedom Review magazine, New York / Free Press, Ohio, USA / Gavroche magazine (in French), Thailand / Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish), Poland / Getty Images, USA / Global Politician, on-line, Internet / Globe and Mail, Canada / Going Places in-flight magazine, Malaysia Airlines / Hindustan Times, India / Hong Kong Standard, China / Ice magazine, England / Illustrated Science magazine, Denmark / Insight magazine, Washington DC / Inter Press Service syndication / Irish Times, Ireland / Kompas, Indonesia / Laissez Faire City Times, on-line, Internet / London Observer News Service syndication / Lonely Planet, Travel Guides / MacLean's magazine, Canada / Macmillan Language House books, Japan / Melbourne Herald-Sun, Australia / Metro magazine, Thailand / Mini World magazine, Japan / The Nation, Kenya / The Nation, Thailand / National Post, Canada / National Public Radio, Washington / News-Times, Florida / Newsday, New York, USA / Newsweek magazine, Japan / Nose magazine, California / Orange County Register, California / Patriot Ledger, Massachusetts / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania / Planet Syndication, England / Reader's Digest magazine / San Francisco Bay Guardian, California / San Francisco Chronicle, California / San Francisco Phoenix, California / Silk Road in-flight magazine, Dragon Air in-flight magazine / South China Morning Post, Hong Kong / Sunday Herald, Scotland / Sunday Star-Times, New Zealand / Taipei Times, Taiwan / Television Business International magazine, England / Tempo magazine, Indonesia / Thailand's Best Restaurants Guide, Tatler / Toronto Star, Canada / TravelAsia magazine, Singapore / TV Technology and Production Asia-Pacific magazine, New York / Untamed Travel magazine, Thailand / Vancouver Sun, Canada / Voici magazine, France / West Australian, Perth, Australia / World and I magazine, Washington DC
Accredited as a foreign correspondent resident in:
Hong Kong (7/78 - 12/79)
New Delhi (1/80 - 4/84)
Hong Kong (4/84 - 9/85)
Bangkok (10/85 - 10/86)
New Delhi (11/86 - 3/89)
Bangkok (4/89 - today)
Earlier reporting:
9/75 - 8/76 freelance from England, Ireland and Egypt
1/75 - 9/75 freelance from South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, Burma, India, Nepal, Italy and Greece
4/74 - 12/74 San Francisco-based correspondent for The San Francisco Phoenix, San Francisco, California
3/72 - 8/72 freelance from Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Kenya, Tanzania and Israel
5/71 - 8/71 freelance from the Netherlands, West Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France and Spain
Books:
I am one of the main researchers and writers of the non-fiction book about Thailand's history titled,
published in 2009 by the Bangkok Post and Editions Didier Millet.
The book documents, among other events, America's often brutal involvement in Thailand during the widening U.S.-Vietnam War, plus Thailand's military dictators who napalmed their own northern hill tribes and hunted down suspected Chinese and other communists while this Southeast Asian nation was roiled by multiple coups and attempted putsches.
I was also one of the reporters who did interviews for the non-fiction book titled,
portraying descendents of Thailand's royal family, which was published in Bangkok in 2008.
ISBN: 9789743835582
Co-author of a non-fiction book of documentary journalism titled,
"Hello My Big Big Honey!" Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews
Published in San Francisco, this 252-page book includes 25 color photographs.
ISBN: 0867194731
TIME magazine hailed its interviews, documentation and investigative journalism as "...an intimate portrait..." of Bangkok's West-meets-East sex industry and added, "Does love conquer poverty, cultural barriers and the fear of AIDS? Sometimes..."
A "masterwork" of "feminist research"
-- The British Library
The Far Eastern Economic Review magazine said it uncovered "a Freudian whirlpool of sexual fantasies and frustration, of damaged egos and haunting super-egos, of dreams of pure love and acts of cold calculation, and a milieu of cross-cultural mayhem."
The Lonely Planet Guide to Thailand, and the Lonely Planet Guide to Bangkok, both recommended this book in their "Culture and Society" section.
Lonely Planet said: "'Hello My Big Big Honey!' Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews delivers exactly what the title describes. This collection of letters between Thai bar workers and their 'farang' -- foreigners of European (and American) descent -- clients, and the verbatim question-and-answer interviews with the women, discloses more about the complex nature of these encounters than 10 academic treatises of similar size."
Three 172-page translations of this book, sans photos, are also available in German, Italian and French.
Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism Library, in New York City, has placed an early Bangkok edition of "Hello My Big Big Honey!" in their permanent collection. It can be requested by author, title, subject, or by Call Number: HQ 810.3.H455 1993g.
Another copy is in Columbia University's Lehman Social Science Library at the same Call Number.
The University of California Berkeley keeps "Hello My Big Big Honey!" in its Doe (Main) Library.
This book is also available in the University of California Berkeley's Southeast Asia Library, in its Reference Center for Social Sciences and Humanities.
The British Library's Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, in London, has acquired "Hello My Big Big Honey!" for consultation by scholars, academic researchers and others in the Reading Rooms, at Shelfmark YD.2004.a.1805.
Amazon.com and other Internet websites sell this book worldwide. It can also be ordered through any bookshop.
Columbia University Mentor:
9/04 - today: Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism appointed me for their Mentor Program. Each academic year, the university pairs me with a student at their New York City campus to answer -- via e-mail correspondence -- their students' questions about the profession.
Columbia University Proctor:
12/03 - today: Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism also appointed me as their Thailand-based proctor for administering, overseeing, and securing the school's entrance examination, for applicants in this part of the world who need to take the supervised test in Bangkok during the winter examination period.
Media Consultant to Leonardo DiCaprio:
1/99 - 4/99 I was the Bangkok-based Media Consultant to Leonardo DiCaprio, handling the worldwide release of DiCaprio's quotes, photographs and TV video to local and international newspapers, magazines, television stations and internet websites -- plus personally advising and consulting the actor on subjects and word usage for his written published statements and his relations with local and international media -- while he was here in Thailand filming the movie, "The Beach."
Printing experience:
Operator of flatbed newspaper presses. Cylindrical offset presses. Vertical platen presses. Manual "furniture" lockup. Photochemical processor of line-cut metal plates for letterpress printing. Liquid hot-lead Linotype compositor. Teletype operator. Telex operator. Half-tone dot photography. Black-and-white photo developing, enlarging and printing. Negative duplicating. Negative opaquing. Industrial and graphics photography. Xylography. Stone lithography. Linocutting. Silk-screening. Book binding. Book jacket ink-gum marbling. Galley proofreader. Layout artist. Pen-and-ink illustrator. Setter of 18th century, cold-lead "movable type" by hand. Digital photography. Internet HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) website construction.
Teaching:
1/76 - 6/76 taught English as a Second Language at the Oxford School of English and Foreign Languages, London, England
Education:
5/78 Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism, New York City: Scholarship, Master's of Science degree cum laude. Received Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism's Foreign Correspondent's Award in 1978 which included $2,500, plus an air ticket to Hong Kong and a position in United Press International (UPI) as Editor for Asia and the Pacific based in Hong Kong.
5/78 Barnard College, New York City: Anthropology of Southeast Asia, course elective in conjunction with Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
9/76 - 5/77 University of Hull, Yorkshire, England: Senior undergraduate year studying Shakespeare, Commonwealth Literature, Modern British Literature and Women's Literature under San Francisco State University's "Special Study" and "Independent Study" programs while in England.
5/77 San Francisco State University, California: Bachelor's of Arts degree cum laude, English and Creative Writing, including "Special Study" and "Independent Study" programs during 1975 while in South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, Burma, India and Nepal, plus "Special Study" and "Independent Study" programs during 1976-1977 while in London and Hull, England.
I am from San Francisco and speak some Mandarin, Hindustani, Urdu, Thai, Spanish and French.
website:
http://www.asia-correspondent.110mb.com
animists *at* yahoo *dot* com