Categories
Journalism

Self promotion: New CS Monitor story about southern Thailand insurgency

I have a story in the Christian Science Monitor about Thailand’s deep south. The headline is “Muslim insurgency in Thailand’s restive south heats up.”

Categories
Journalism

Self-promotion: New WSJ Scene Asia story about Bangkok’s Hansar Hotel

Self-promotion: I had a story over at the Wall Street Journal‘s Scene Asia blog on Tuesday about Bangkok’s new Hansar Hotel. It’s called “No. 1, Naturally.”

Categories
Bangkok

Self-promotion: New WSJ Scene Asia story about bread in Bangkok

Self-promotion: I have a story today at the WSJ‘s Scene Asia blog about new options for bread in the Thai capital. It’s called “Where to Carb-Load in Bangkok.”

Categories
Misc.

Self-promotion: a few Newley.com programming notes

2011 07 12 cartoon

A few quick programming notes, now that things have slowed down a bit following Thailand’s recent election.

The vote attracted global attention, and Newley.com has some new readers.

So here’s a reminder of what you can find here, and as well as a few ways to connect with me elsewhere.

Recent work

  • You can find links to some of my recent stories on my Journalism page.

    I’ve also started linking to many of my pieces on the right side of every page, under the “selected recent stories” heading.

Elsewhere on Newley.com

  • The Popular Posts page contains some greatest hits, organized by topic.
  • I maintain a list of Thailand-related blogs and other sites I like on my Links page.

Get in touch

  • The About/Contact page contains my bio and lists ways to get in touch. I’m always happy to hear from folks, and enjoy getting feedback — negative or positive — on the site.
  • My email address is newley AT gmail.com.
  • You can also get in touch on Twitter. I’m @newley.
  • All Newley.com posts can be found at: @newleydotcom.
  • And there’s a Newley.com Facebook page.

Subscribe via email or RSS

That’s it for now. Thanks, as ever, for reading.

(Cartoon via The New Yorker‘s Cartoonbank.com.)

Categories
Bangkok

My new WSJ Scene Asia piece: Bangkok’s best burgers

Quick note: I recently put together a fun piece for the Wall Street Journal‘s Scene Asia blog. It’s called “On a Quest for Bangkok’s Best Burgers.”

Thanks to Peter Oh, at the excellent new Bangkok Burger Blog, for providing his insight.

Categories
Sports Thailand

Apropos of nothing…

Apropos of nothing, check out this fish I caught here in Bangkok on Saturday.

IMG 0066

Happy birthday to my friend P, and thanks for organizing the expedition.

That is all.

Posting on Thailand and other matters will resume shortly…

Categories
Bangkok Journalism

New WSJ story on Indian molecular gastronomy in Bangkok

I have a story in today’s Wall Street Journal about Gaggan, a new Indian molecular gastronomy restaurant here in Bangkok. The piece is online and also appears in print in today’s Asia edition.

Categories
Bangkok Journalism

All about Pantip Plaza

Just for kicks: Here’s a lighthearted CNNGo story I wrote recently. It’s called “8 things you might not know about Pantip Plaza.”

From the intro:

Pantip Plaza is Bangkok’s most infamous IT-related shopping center. Located in a drab, five-story building on Petchaburi Road, it houses hundreds of shops selling computer hardware, software –- both pirated and legit — accessories and other tech-related gadgets.

Nearly every Bangkok resident, not to mention tech-loving tourists who have done even a tiny bit of research, knows that if you need new gear for cheap, go to Pantip. But while the shopping center is well-known to many, the fluorescent and neon-lit space still holds a few surprises.

Here are some of Pantip Plaza’s lesser-known qualities.

And one of my favorite tidbits:

8. Pantip is featured in the chorus of a popular Thai rock song

Several years ago, Thai band Loso — as in, the opposite of “high so,” or “high society” — recorded a popular tune called “Pantip.” In the chorus, the singer says he’ll go shopping with his girlfriend anywhere in Bangkok — except Pantip, since an ex-girlfriend works there.

Check out the video above. An english translation of the lyrics can be found at www.ethaimusic.com.

RSS readers: If the embedded video doesn’t show up here, you can find it on YouTube.

Categories
Misc.

New Chronicle story on fund raising in Singapore

I’ve got a new story in the global edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education. It’s called “Starting From Scratch: Fund-Raising Lessons Learned in Singapore.”

The first few graphs:

Mention fund raising in Singapore, and one person’s name inevitably comes up: Kheng Chuan Chew. He has become practically synonymous with big donations to the country’s finest universities and is widely considered to have pioneered a practice that was virtually nonexistent a decade ago in much of Southeast Asia.

In 2003 Mr. Chew, known as K.C., opened the first fund-raising office for the National University of Singapore. In just five years, the university raked in more than $1-billion from philanthropists and a government program that matched donations to universities. This was four times the amount raised in the 12 previous years.

Mr. Chew joined Nanyang Technological University in 2009 to bolster its efforts to raise private funds. The institution this month received roughly $117-million from the Lee Foundation, which was established by a Singaporean businessman. The private donation is reportedly the largest ever to a Singapore university.

Compared with university fund raising in the West, “we’re relative novices,” says the soft-spoken Mr. Chew. “But 10 years ago, and especially in the last five years, we have suddenly made remarkable advances in programs from a very low base.”

Historically, Singapore’s alumni and wealthy donors have tended not to support higher education because it was largely viewed as the responsibility of the government. But thanks to Mr. Chew and others, that attitude is changing.

Categories
Misc.

Some of this year’s most popular posts

As 2010 comes to a close, here’s a quick re-cap of this year’s most popular Newley.com posts.

Due to the events in Thailand over the past several months, it will come as no surprise that many of the more than 61,000 people who visited Newley.com in 2010 accessed material related to the red shirt protests and Thai politics. Some of these posts included:

Some of the most popular non-red shirt-related posts included:

Thanks, as ever, for reading.