On International Women’s Day, a few days ago, I watched an interview with two women ultra-runners, which was recorded by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA). It’s about their experiences in trail running, and the disparity between how men and women are treated in sport. I couldn’t believe some of…

A storm over Koh Tao, a small island in the Gulf of Thailand — but is it passing over or just arriving? Which way will it go? To a calm, brighter day or into darkness over brooding seas? And so my relentless scrolling and clicking on US election night continued…

I walked through the bushes and trees. Along beside the rice paddies. I walked among the green. A once daily scene from a different past, an old friend. Four months after the virus began disrupting, then ravaging humanity’s routine, my first glimpse of freedom proper. Four months mostly confined to…

This year, the Buddhist New Year festival Songkran and Easter Sunday almost coincided — something that very rarely happens. As with Easter, Songkran — meaning “pass into” — has historical links to the beginning of springtime. A time when ancient peoples across South and Southeast Asia marked the sun’s transit…

UPDATE 16/01/2021: This piece was originally posted in April 2020, but after recent “political” events in the US, it’s suddenly attracting an influx of new traffic. Much of the content remains relevant and will do so into the future. Particularly the second half on disinformation and conspiracy theories. Because ever…

We’ve read it and heard it over and over again. These are unprecedented times. A period that will pass without any serious health problems for most of us. But during which we all have a family member or friend who’ll need to be taken extra care of. Social distancing is…

The coronavirus pandemic is having a very significant impact around the world. Both directly for health reasons and indirectly on our everyday doings and livelihoods. As always, it’s the vulnerable, physically and economically, who are most at risk. Tourism, like no other economic activity with social impact, is based on…

No buffalo, no AK47, no porn stars, no sheepdog… The entertainment limitations of an airport bound taxi in Bangkok. Where taxi colours have become synonymous with cities around the world — black with London, yellow with New York, green with Mexico City, in a country of frequent contradictions, Bangkok taxis…

Beyond Focus — The gate slowly creaked open, drawing faint echoes from dimly lit, ancient passageways. With every sense heightened, a shiver as the unknown beckoned me forward. Only then, surrounded by an enduring stillness, I began to touch the very essence of a bygone age. From the height of the Kingdom of…