United States
I'm a South African writer based in Minneapolis.
I studied the Undergraduate Diploma in Creative Writing at University of Oxford, and this year, I'll be starting the MA in Creative Writing at Kingston University, London.
My most recent work was longlisted for the Fish Memoir Prize, shortlisted for the New Millennium Writing Awards, and placed as a semi-finalist in the Short(er) Fiction Contest by American Short Fiction. I have also been published online with The Write Launch and Silver Rose Magazine.
I'm currently working on my novel which is set in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, and deals with grief, belonging, and solidarity among class, gender and race.
Climbing higher with you was the first drug, my first rush. I once rolled on a stone as I jumped, and you caught my arms in yours and pulled me up. For a moment, you looked at me deeply. You were only just beginning to hate me.
Once it was June it was hard to remember the despair of March. The winter was always slightly too long, the dark skies and short days lingering just past what was reasonable for any human to endure. It was a despair which infused all former pleasantries with an unexplainable sourness; you could hardly bother with hellos or how are yous.
My travel and food blog about Chiang Mai and the rest of Thailand. This is the place I present my South East Asian world and its many trinkets. Welcome to my Market of Eden.
Magazine - Articles in Print
The latest infamous victim of Thailand's draconian drug laws is a Thai ex-model who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for carrying a small amount of cocaine through a Bangkok airport. Since then, she has attracted thousands of supporters and the attention of the international media, with many calling Thailand's notorious drug penalties unreasonably harsh and outdated.
The sound of 13,000 chickens squawking is far more menacing than I would have imagined. As we get closer to the 90 metre-long warehouse, the cacophony vibrates into a growl.
A beautiful young girl sits before me - her fingers twirling through her hair, her hazel eyes glittering as she reveals the secrets of her past. "I had a monster in my head," she says. "Eating disorders are mental illnesses, and I was sick."
"All the baby boomers have grown up, grown old, and lived longer lives than their parents did before them. Populations are ageing, everywhere in the world, and there are more Alzheimer's sufferers than ever before." Marc Dumur's gaze wanders over the nearly-finished elder care resort beyond the window.
Pluming smoke obscures the path of the speeding van, which brakes into corners and swerves over potholes to make it back to Chiang Mai from Nong Khai in good time. The passengers are groaning behind me; one has already been sick while another has had an alarming outburst: "Slow down, man!
Standing amidst mountains of garbage on a hot day, I wonder to myself, "How green is Chiang Mai?" I am at a cleaning and sorting centre in Sansai, just a short ten minute drive out of Chiang Mai's old city, where I stand beneath chaotic stacks of beer boxes piled up to the warehouse ceiling.
I'm sitting in the lobby of the Imperial Mae Ping with Chris Lowenstein, the producer for The Coup and executive director of Chiang Mai-based Living Films, a dedicated Thai-Western film production company that has achieved passionate praise over the last 17 years.
Website - Opinion Editorials
What inspired me to write this piece is that I want us all to remember that being a good person doesn't come from shedding a tear for a fictional character that's been served up by clever advertisers to evoke your goosebumps.
A checkpoint map and personal stories of encounters with the traffic cops in our city.
Qualms about Little Bangkok becoming overcrowded with mega-malls.
Website - Photographic Features
Feature - There is a lot more to Koh Phangan than drunken foreigners trashing the beach.
Interview with Fern Paradise owner and architect Dr. Niwat Tantayanusorn.
The cheese bar is proud to employ people who possess the enthusiasm for food and the talent to match breads, cheeses and wines based on people's palates. One of the employees mentions that because Thai people don't eat a lot of cheese, canapés are a good way to expose them to the many different tastes of cheeses from around the world.
The inside of Central Festival Mall. Yesterday, I got on my motorbike and made the 1 km journey to newly opened Central Festival Mall. It took me half an hour because there was so much traffic. Nevertheless, I confidently followed the hundreds of cars closer and closer to the enormous building, and was waved into a parking area by a poor harassed-looking security guard.
Website - News Features
A detailed breakdown on Bangkok's political violence so far.
Adrian Fleur CityNews - The latest US State Department report on the issue of global human trafficking, known as Trafficking In Persons Report, has the potential to severely affect Thai-US relations depending on the results revealed next month.
Heavily-indebted Thai Airways International, which is already facing stiff competition from expanding low-cost carriers, has made a drastic decision to offer voluntary retirement to older employees as part of their new programme to stimulate profit and slice their headcount.
Thailand promotes itself as a country accepting of all lifestyles including LGBT people, but a recent article by Time Magazine paints a much darker image of the country's supposed tolerance and accepting attitudes. The article depicts many people's negative perceptions of Thailand in terms of LGBT tolerance and highlights crimes involving LGBT people that have taken place in recent years.
Boon Rawd Brewery has been around since 1933, and is most well-known for Singha brand of beer, soda water, water, as well as other famous products like Leo Beer and Moshi Green Tea. The owners, the Bhirombhakdi family, are the 6th richest of the lot in Thailand , headed by the formidable 86-year-old Chamnong Bhirombhakdi.
CityNews - The London-based Environmental Justice Foundation released a report on Tuesday, 4th March, that accuses the Thai government of doing too little to curb human trafficking and human rights violations in the fishing industry. They have called on the United States, the country where most of the exported seafood ends up, to impose economic sanctions on Thailand until they clean up their act.
On 13th March, police came across a secret jungle camp in Songkhla where more than 200 Uyghur people had been living, and 120 of them were later fined by Thai police despite pressure from human rights groups to help the group of instead of punish them.
We previously reported the case of police coming across a secret jungle camp in Songkhla where more than 200 had been living, and 120 of them were later fined by to help the group of instead of punish them. More were later discovered, bringing the total number of suspected Uyghur refugees brought into Thailand in March alone to over 400.
Website - Daily News
CityNews - The Public Health Ministry of Thailand has reported that there have been 50 deaths from influenza A virus (H1N1) this year so far, and that the illness has already affected over 30,000 people across the country - a 36% increase in flu cases over last year's statistics.
CityNews - Thai parents of a Thai-born woman who has relocated to the United Kingdom have asked police to take legal action against her, saying that she is guilty of violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code (the part that covers lèse majesté).
CityNews - The former monk Phra Yantra Amaro Bikkhu spent the last two decades living in the United States, and has recently been spotted in the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, where he is staying at his sister's house with a small group of old followers.
CityNews - On 27th December 2010, a 16-year-old Orachorn "Praewa" Thephasadin Na Ayudhya drove her Honda Civic into the back of a van on the elevated Don Muang highway in Bangkok. The van tumbled over the safety barrier at the edge of the road and passengers were violently thrown from the vehicle, which landed on the concrete several metres below the road above.
Jamie Foxx Says He Might Retire to Chiang Mai in Thai TV Interview Apr 23, 2014 CityNews - Thai television sensation Woody got the chance to interview the main stars of the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone) but his interview with Hollywood actor, musician, and stand-up comedian Jamie Foxx is by far the most entertaining, and also, relevant - Jamie expresses his love for Chiang Mai and reveals his plans to possibly retire there in the future.
CityNews - The Soi Dog Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Phuket, has been caring for, rehoming and rehabilitating street dogs for years, as well as sterilizing over 60,000 dogs and cats which ultimately keeps them off the streets.
CityNews - Thai officials at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok are fed up with finding smuggled species of wildlife , with over 1,000 animals already discovered in this year alone. The majority of the animals are endangered or protected species, and Thailand is well-known for being a globally significant trade hub for wildlife trafficking.
CityNews - On Sunday and Monday, 6th and 7th April, a string of explosions took place in Yala, Thailand's southernmost province, which killed one person and injured at least 30 people. On Sunday afternoon, bombs detonated at two 7-Eleven convenience stores, a government-run education centre, and a household-goods warehouse (which burnt down).
CityNews - The ASEAN Open Skies Policy is expected to be fully implemented next year, despite concerns that there are still a number of deficiencies in ASEAN's aviation sector, as well as the disappearance of MH370 highlighting the disunity between certain ASEAN countries.
CityNews - The Israeli government has caused a furore with Israeli parents of about babies born or to be born through surrogate mothers in Thailand. The Thai law says that babies born in Thailand are Thai citizens and the Israeli Interior Ministry has stalled on granting the children Israeli citizenship.
On Tuesday, 25th March, hundreds of dog skins and bones were discovered in a forested area of the north-eastern province Sakon Nakhon, where business is booming for dog-smugglers because of their access to the Mekong River and close proximity to the Laos border.
CityNews - The UN Refugee Agency's US resettlement program was initiated in 2005, and for the past 9 years more than 73,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand have been starting their new lives in the United States.
Environment CityNews - On Sunday, 16th March, the headless, charred corpse of agaur (the largest bovine species in current existence) was discovered by Kui Buri National Park officials on a routine patrol of the area. Once the case was reported to the police, the provincial police chief ordered an urgent investigation into the death of the protected animal.
CityNews - The Chirathivat family, owners of the multi-billion baht Central Group and the second-richest family in Thailand, have now taken the top spot in Thailand's list of wealthiest stock portfolios. It is believed that almost 67 billion baht in stocks is collectively held by the 31 heirs.
Interviews with Bloggers
Two expats in a car along with their adorable dog explore Northern Thailand and capture its fascinating beauty with breathtaking films and photographs. Passionate about their work, they share their daily experiences of Thai life filled with magnificent nature, delicious food and spontaneous adventures - read all about these passions here.
Twenty-something married couple Christopher and Angela Scott, both from DC, Washington, sat down with me one afternoon to discuss Chiang Mai, life as an expat, and juggling a flourishing blog with full-time teaching. Christopher grew up in a military family who travelled extensively, allowing him to live in Italy for 6 years and Bahrain for 2, while Angela's first taste of the outside world was Thailand.
Read this interview with Siam and Beyond writer Ryan, who speaks Thai fluently and practices Tibetan Buddhism. At Siam and Beyond, he writes about his life in Chiang Mai and other topical issues like the influx of Chinese visitors and lack of a public transportation system.
Follow Alice while she explores the food scene in Chiang Mai, and navigates her way through Thai, Japanese, Italian and more cuisines in the city. Her blog is filled with helpful information for hungry tummies with empty or bulging wallets, with honest recommendations for everything from cheap eateries to expensive restaurants.
The story goes like this: two solo travellers meet on a beach in South Korea surrounded by friends, and spend the night chatting away while everybody else saunters off to sleep. From then on, the two become inseparable.