A Few Words From Me Lampang doesn’t get that much attention – even from people like myself who’ve spent years in Thailand. This week its lac-dyed textiles earned official protected status, the same kind Champagne has, which feels overdue in the best way, a craft that could easily have been left to fade (no pun
There are 8,582 registered tuk-tuks in Bangkok. As of the end of May this year, 1,056 of them, nationwide, were electric. Hold those two numbers next to each other for a second, because they explain almost everything about what’s actually happening across Southeast Asia right now, and why I think the region’s sudden enthusiasm for
A Few Words From Me Three governments seem to have landed on the same idea this week: that how people move through a place matters as much as where they go. Thailand has started training its first proper hiking guides, launched at Khao Yai, one of the national parks that together see more than ten
Around the Region There is a particular kind of trip I keep thinking about this week: the one you take somewhere precisely because it is quiet, not despite it. Siem Reap is having a hard year for reasons that have nothing to do with Angkor Wat itself, and everything to do with jet fuel prices
Around the Region Monsoon rain has put five eastern Thai provinces on flood watch this week, with harvests at real risk, while much of Western Europe swelters through drought conditions. Against that backdrop, this issue leans on recovery and renewal. Southeast Asia’s mangroves have quietly flipped from decline to regrowth, driven mainly by Indonesia and
Around the Region Hello from Europe, where I’m currently trading Bangkok’s humidity and incessant rain for a rather more restrained kind of summer, though I won’t pretend I don’t miss the smell of a night market and being able to grab a bite to eat from a street stall at 9pm. Westerners do have stricter
Around the Region We’re well into the wet season here in Bangkok and the city has settled into its slow, sweaty rhythm. The roads are always busy but the streets are much quieter, the afternoon rain is reliable, and anyone who knows Southeast Asia knows this is actually a good time to be paying attention
Around the Region For those of us in Bangkok who found ourselves knee-deep in flood water this week, this is merely a sign of things to come. Briefly, messily, typically a storm can see the water table in Thailand’s capital rise quickly. And this is why you’ll find many older Bangkok residents seeking retirement in
Your Insider Guide to Southeast Asia Around The Region That low season feel is upon us here in Bangkok. Heat, humidity and daily downpours is the norm as the monsoon sweeps Southeast Asia. A strange time then, one would have thought, for the government to announce it’s ending the 60-day visa exempt trial and increasing
Issue No. 5 | Thursday 24 April 2026 Your insider guide to Southeast Asia asiaunmasked.com Your Week in Southeast Asia This week the region produced a mix of wins and warnings worth paying attention to. Two bear cubs were pulled from a Facebook listing in Laos within 24 hours of it going live – a
Thailand Built a Sustainable Tourism Model in Krabi. Now It’s Rolling It Out in Chiang Mai.
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They Were Feeding Wild Sharks to Give Tourists Their Insta Moment. Bohol Just Put a Stop to It.
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Vietnam’s Best Michelin Restaurants in 2026: The Practical Guide for Conscious Travellers
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