The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

Archive for the 'By Country' Category

WoWasis book review: Jerry Hopkins’ ‘Romancing the East’

We’re old fashioned, those of us here at WoWasis. We like books that have left room to include a few blank pages at the end. Author Jerry Hopkins, one of the more prolific writers of the last few years, has written a compelling book that lacks those blank pages. It’s called Romancing the East: A […]

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Bangkok Fiction writers interviewed live by Keith Nolan

Keith Nolan’s a hard guy to miss if you’re around the Bangkok music and writing scene. He’s at the sound board every Sunday afternoon for the jazz jam session at CheckInn 99 on 1/1  Sukhumvit Soi 33, between the Asok and Phrom Pong BTS stations. He also has a regular gig as a blues keyboardist […]

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WoWasis book review ‘Burmese Light’ photo essay by Hans Kemp & Tom Vater

Here at WoWasis, we’re always interested in books on photography focusing on Asian countries, but have gotten to the point where large format coffee table sized books are creating a storage problem in our library. Because of that, they never get read beyond the first opening. We welcomed, therefore, photographer Hans Kemp and writer Tom […]

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“Just go home and make another daughter!” Thai court officials tell murdered woman’s mother

Here at WoWasis, we’ve found that most murder stories in the Thai press have real gems buried deeply inside. But even we were shocked when unnamed Thai officials invoked their interpretation of Theravada Buddhism while making a helpful suggestion to the parents of noted crime victim Hannah Witheridge. According to the Bangkok Post, sister Laura […]

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The Effects of Foreign Culture on Cambodian Culture

Today’s guest blogger is Bora Nikol, writing from Cambodia: Culture reflects the entire image of any region or nation. How the people dress, what they eat, whom they worship and what they dislike are a few of the elements that collaborate to form the definition of culture. Cambodia, being a prominent country in Southeast Asia, […]

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Legendary Thai tourism official charged for corruption, now on hot seat

In an event that many thought would never happen, former Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Juthamas Siriwan will be indicted for allegedly accepting Bt60 million in bribes, as reported by The Nation. She has been ordered to report to Thai authorities within two weeks. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has considered asking her to […]

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Noose tightens on Thai press freedoms with press conference cancellation in Bangkok

People who thought things would be easier for members of Thailand’s domestic and foreign press after the coup of May, 2014 may be re-evaluating their positions. The NCPO (National Council for Peace and Order), who now runs the government, cancelled a discussion that was to be held at Bangkok’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCCT) on June […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘On Holiday’ how your money is reaped by vacation companies

Ever wonder how the travel industry decides how to best take your money? To those of us here at WoWasis, it’s a fascinating topic. It’s not just about how that industry markets to us, either. It’s making sure that we like our vacation experiences enough that we’ll do it again and tell all our friends […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Escape from Camp 14’ a North Korean prison odyssey

In some corners of the world, it’s possible to be born in prison, live and work in prison, and die in prison. One’s entire existence is lived within those fences. And Shin In Geun was slated to be one of those, in North Korea. Against tremendous odds, he escaped his North Korean prison while in […]

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WoWasis book review: Cold case murder solved in China: Paul French’s ‘Midnight in Peking’

Why should anyone today care about solving an expat murder in 1937 Peking? We here at WoWasis were skeptical too. But we took a chance on Paul French’s Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China (2012, ISBN 978-0-14-312100-8) and were richly rewarded. It’s more than […]

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