My Stories

I have covered technology in Asia for The Wall Street Journal since early 2014. Below are links to a selection of my work. (It’s current through 2018; I’m working to update the list.)

Among the journalism awards I have won with colleagues:

2021 George Polk Award (for our “Facebook Files” series)
2021 Loeb Award international finalist (“Facebook’s Struggle to Police Hate in India” series)
2021 Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Excellence in Business Reporting Award and honorable mention, Excellence in Human Rights Reporting Award (“Facebook: A Conduit for Hate in India” series)
2020 Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) “Best in Business” award (Facebook India series)

You can view my most recent stories on WSJ.com here.

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From 2016 until early 2020 I reported from our bureau in New Delhi.

There, I wrote page one stories about: Huawei and 5G in India; Apple’s struggles in the country; how India’s Reliance Jio triggered a mobile internet revolution; how false news has spread on WhatsApp; how a new breed of lending apps are employing aggressive collection techniques; and how India’s policymakers are changing tech regulations, partially inspired by China. I also penned a lighthearted front-page story, known as an A-hed, on Indians sending millions of “Good Morning” messages on WhatsApp.

I broke news on Amazon’s plans for Southeast Asia, Uber knowingly leasing unsafe cars in Singapore, and more. I also contributed reporting on the 2019 Indian elections and traveled to Sri Lanka to cover the Easter suicide bombings.

I joined the Journal in Singapore in 2014. In one of my first stories, I contributed to a front-page story about some of the passengers who went missing on Malaysia Airlines flight 370.

Here are links to some of my stories, organized by year:

2018

Enterprise: A Browser You’ve Never Heard of Is Dethroning Google in Asia
Page One/A-hed: The Internet Is Filling Up Because Indians Are Sending Millions of ‘Good Morning!’ Texts
Enterprise: Why the iPhone Is Losing Out to Chinese Devices in Asia
Enterprise: China’s Huawei Is Determined to Lead the Way on 5G Despite U.S. Concerns
Page One/enterprise: Uber Battles Ride-Sharing Startups in SoftBank ‘Family’
Enterprise: Why Tech Titans Are Betting on India, in 14 Charts
Enterprise: Walmart Bets $15 Billion on an E-Commerce Passage to India
Scoop: App Traps: How Cheap Smartphones Siphon User Data in Developing Countries
Enterprise: India Looks to Curb U.S. Tech Giants’ Power
Page One/enterprise: Two Years Ago, India Lacked Fast, Cheap Internet — One Billionaire Changed All That
Page One/enterprise: ‘It’s Been a Rout’: Apple’s iPhones Fall Flat in World’s Largest Untapped Market
Enterprise: India’s Biometric Feat: Big Boon or Big Brother?

2017

Enterprise: Amazon, SoftBank Battle for One of Last Untapped Internet Markets
Page one/scoop: Smoke, Then Fire: Uber Knowingly Leased Unsafe Cars to Drivers
Scoop: India’s Biggest Mobile Wallet Takes Aim at WhatsApp
Scoop: Uber Rival Grab in Talks for Up to $2 Billion from SoftBank, China’s Didi
Scoop: China Bike-Sharing Titan Mobike Sets Sights on Washington, D.C.
Enterprise: Political Lines Shape U.S. College Picks of Some Foreign Students
Enterprise: CEO’s Resignation Is the Least of Uber’s Problems in Asia
Enterprise: Apple Scraps Like an Underdog in Second Biggest Mobile Market
Enterprise: Mobile Wallet Paytm Hits Pay Dirt Amid India’s Cash Crackdown
Scoop: As Allegations Swirl Around SoftBank, It Calls Them ‘Sabotage’
Scoop: Apple Assembles First iPhones in India
Enterprise: Indian Firms Face Shifting Landscape as Trump Cracks Down on Immigration
Scoop: SoftBank Set to Invest Over $1.5 Billion in India’s Paytm
Scoop: Uber’s Indonesia Rival in Talks to Raise $1 Billion
Enterprise: Amazon and Facebook Hit Unexpected Obstacle in India: China
Enterprise: Indian Outsourcing Firms Look to Get Ahead of Immigration Curbs
Enterprise: Indian Workers in U.S. Fear Trump H-1B Visa Crackdown

2016

Enterprise: Uber’s Drive Into India Relies on Raw Recruits
Enterprise: Facebook at 30,000 Feet? Not Above India
Enterprise: Inside India’s Unprecedented Assault on Cash
Enterprise: Jeff Bezos Invests Billions to Make Amazon a Top E-Commerce Player in India
How Google’s Bicycle-Riding Internet Tutors Are Getting Rural Indian Women Online
Enterprise: Google Searches for New Users in India
Scoop: Facebook Hires Executive With India Ties for Messenger App Push
Enterprise: Uber Rival Grab Gains Ground in Southeast Asia
Apple’s Tim Cook Samples Bollywood, Cricket, in Bid to Woo India
Enterprise/interactive: Singapore Is Taking the ‘Smart City’ to a Whole New Level
Scoop: Singapore’s Garena Raises New Funds, Valuing It at $3.75 Billion
Enterprise: Online Auctioning Made Easier With Asia-Based Apps
Enterprise: India Welcomes Home Technology Talent
Page one/A-hed: A McDonald’s Foodie Dishes on Chain’s Foreign Fare

2015

Google’s Sundar Pichai on How India Can Produce More Tech Leaders Like Him
Enterprise: Google’s Sundar Pichai Reaches Out to India
Four Uber Rivals Are Now in International Alliance
Enterprise/scoop: Chinese Drone Maker Plows Into Agriculture
Scoop: Facebook Prepares for Instant Articles Push in Asia
Enterprise: Flush Indian Startups Face Shortage of Skilled Workers
Enterprise/scoop: Alphabet’s Google to Try Again With Low-Cost Smartphone for India
Enterprise: Mark Zuckerberg Promotes Facebook Growth in India
Interactive: Interactive: Indian Startups Vie to Win E-Commerce Battle. More: India’s Great Parcel Race
Enterprise: Facebook’s Free Internet Access Program in Developing Countries Provokes Backlash
Scoop: Singapore’s GrabTaxi Rides High With Over $200 Million Investment
CEO interview: Q&A: Symantec CEO on Planned Split, New Products, and Misconceptions
The Taj Mahal Just Got Free Wi-Fi
Scoop: Twitter Plans to Double Singapore Staff
CEO interview: Antivirus Firm Avast Mulls Acquisitions, Listing Amid Expansion Plans
Enterprise: Drone Startups Take Flight in Asia
Interactive: Despite Challenges, Hong Kong Startups Begin to Take Off. More here.
Enterprise: Nepal Aid Workers Helped by Drones, Crowdsourcing
Tech Giants Help Track Nepal Earthquake Survivors as Communications Are Hit
Google Website Access Disrupted in Malaysia
China’s Hackers Run 10-Year Spy Campaign in Asia, Report Finds
Enterprise: Cyberdefense Spending Rises Amid High-Profile Hacks
Enterprise: Myanmar Tests Foreign Telecom Entrants
CEO interview: FireEye Wants Faster Growth, But Focused on Earnings
Facebook Denies ‘Lizard Squad’ Hacking Claim
Twitter Buys Indian Mobile Startup ZipDial
Facebook’s Asia Push Focuses on Mobile

2014

Prior to working at the Journal, I was a Bangkok-based freelance journalist.

Here are some of the stories I wrote as a freelancer:

For NewYorker.com

2013 09 16 newyorker

Images Spark Racism Debate in Thailand (NewYorker.com, Nov. 1, 2013)
Singapore and Aung San Suu Kyi (NewYorker.com, Oct. 8, 2013)
The Red Bull Heir and Inequality in Thailand (NewYorker.com, Sept. 12, 2013)

For Quartz

A Chinese province is trying to solve its labor problems with robots (Nov. 15, 2013)
Thailand’s latest political crisis is ratings gold for its many partisan TV stations (Nov. 14, 2013)
How do you disrupt the finances of an Islamist group whose name means “Western education is sinful?” (Nov. 13, 2013)
As protests rage, Thailand admits its rice subsidy scheme was perhaps a terrible idea (Nov. 12, 2013)
Why a Thai noodlemaker is feeling Hungary (Oct. 17, 2013)
What the fatal plane crash in Laos tells us about the rapid growth of aviation in Southeast Asia (Oct. 17, 2013)
Who’s behind the mysterious string of bombings in Myanmar? (Oct. 16, 2013)
A Thai beer tycoon wants to build a massive indoor snow park in Bangkok (Oct. 14, 2013)
Today’s IHT is officially an artifact. Here are 8 memorable front pages (Oct. 14, 2013)
Why Thailand gave up its dream of becoming a duty-free “Shopper’s Paradise” (Oct. 2, 2013)
Car-crazy Thailand, the “Detroit of Southeast Asia,” emulates the Motor City in more ways than one (Sept. 25)

For Bloomberg News:

Bloomberg news

Slim’s Frisco Surges as Gold Mine Strike Ends (Bloomberg News, Aug. 16, 2013)
‘Fragile Five’ currencies unravel as developing economies suffer (Bloomberg News, Aug. 8, 2013)
Give Us Your Real Dollars for Our Fake Dollars: Argentina Credit (Bloomberg News, July 2, 2013)
China Out of 10 Biggest Stocks as PetroChina Ousted (Bloomberg News, June 27, 2013)

In CoveringBusiness:

How to Get Inside the Government’s File Cabinet (CoveringBusiness, March 19, 2013)
How to Write About Shocks to the Tourism Industry (CoveringBusiness, Dec. 12, 2012)
Freelancing Abroad: 5 Tips for Business Journalists (CoveringBusiness, Oct. 19, 2012)

In The Wall Street Journal:

Exploring Thailand’s Taste for Nostalgia (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia and Weekend Journal, Aug. 2, 2012)
A Victorian-Era Home in Australia (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia, July 12, 2012)
Bangkok’s Creative Watering Holes (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia, July 11, 2012)
Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport Flies Again (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, July 5, 2012)
NASA Cancels Thailand Project Amid Controversy (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, June 29, 2012)
U.S. Plans for U-Tapao Airfield Cause Stir (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, June 25, 2012)
Bangkok Airport Draws New Complaints (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, June 20, 2012)
Room for the Helidpad in Thailand (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia, June 12, 2012)
Thai MPs Scuffle Over Reconciliation Bills (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, May 31, 2012)
Ban on Thai Politicians Set to Expire (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, May 29, 2012)
Bangkok Tops Global Facebook City List (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, May 23, 2012)
U.S. Unlikely to Ease Restrictions on Myanmar’s Gems (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, April 6, 2012)
Myanmar Reforms Could Mean Tighter SE Asia Labor Market (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, April 2, 2012)
Google’s Street View Debuts in Thailand (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, March 23, 2012)
A Golfer’s Retreat in Thailand (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia, March 21, 2012)
Thai Cheerleaders Documentary Draws Applause (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, Feb. 23, 2012)
As Rainy Season Approaches, Thailand Focuses on Floods (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, Feb., 2012)
Despite Floods, Thailand Poised for Tourism Record (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, Dec., 2011)
Repairing Ayutthaya’s Ancient Temples (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, Dec., 2011)
Floating Lantern Festival Continues Despite Thai Floods (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, Nov., 2011)
Thai Flooding Raises Dilemmas For Travelers (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, Nov., 2011)
Another Bangkok Zoo Gets Hit By Flooding (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, Nov., 2011)
Will Bangkok’s International Airport Stay Dry? (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, Nov., 2011)
Confused About Thailand’s Floods? Watch the Whales (The Wall Street Journal/Southeast Asia Real Time, Nov. 2011)
A Phuket Villa on the Sea (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia, Sept., 2011)
Where to Get Caffeinated in Thailand (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia, Sept., 2011)
No. 1, Naturally (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia, Aug., 2011)
Where to Carb-Load in Bangkok (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia, Aug., 2011)
On a Quest for Bangkok’s Best Burgers. (The Wall Street Journal/Scene Asia, May, 2011)
Molecular Masala (The Wall Street Journal in print, online, and at Scene Asia; Feb., 2011)