October 8, 2019
While King Bhumibol has clearly been the defining figure in post-war Thai history, the men behind him, such as Prem Tinsulanonda, have also been immensely important in themselves. Coming from a relatively humble background (his father was a prison warden) Prem joined the army and would eventually rise to prominence as King Bhumibol's most trusted advisor and aide.
October 8, 2019
For much of Asia, August the month for flag-waving, patriotic songs and emotive nationalist videos. But what is a nation? If it’s just a random grouping of people – what brings and then keeps them together? Is it a shared history, religion, geography, culture or language? Almost everyone resides in one of 186 nation-states that exist. But as they have strengthened, life for those who are excluded has become infinitely more difficult.
October 7, 2019
Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee producer—exporting an estimated USD3.5 billion of the commodity in 2018. They are second only to Brazilians, who exported USD5.2 billion worth of coffee in the same year. However, just over thirty years ago (back in 1986), the republic only managed to grow some 300,000 60kg bags of coffee beans. In 2018, volumes had sky-rocketed to over 30 million bags: a hundredfold increase. What changed?
August 23, 2019
“Back then, girls were not allowed to mix with boys. During movie dates, us girls would enter one at a time. Then the boys would wait a few minutes before coming in as a group. When the theatre turned dark, everyone swapped seats. The whole community knew my father was a police officer, so we couldn’t raise suspicion!”