About

Sebastian Strangio is a journalist and author focusing on Southeast Asia. Since 2008, his reporting from across the region has appeared in more than 30 leading publications in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

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Thai Monuments Are Disappearing in the Dead of Night

Thai Monuments Are Disappearing in the Dead of Night

This week’s student protests are part of a backlash against a monarchist elite trying to erase Thailand’s democratic history.
The Myanmar Mirage: How the West got Burma wrong

The Myanmar Mirage: How the West got Burma wrong

Just few years ago, Myanmar (also called Burma) was widely seen as an international success story.
Malaysia Wrestles With Beijing's One Belt One Road Bonanza

Malaysia Wrestles With Beijing’s One Belt One Road Bonanza

The sales office for Forest City, one of Malaysia’s largest residential property developments, looks less like an office than an airport hangar or a museum atrium: a futuristic dome flooded with noise and light.
Suharto Museum Celebrates a Dictator’s Life, Omitting the Dark Chapters

Suharto Museum Celebrates a Dictator’s Life, Omitting the Dark Chapters

Indonesia’s former dictator looms in bronze over the entrance to the small museum set amid the palm trees and rice fields of central Java.
Pankaj Mishra on the Violent Transition to Modernity

Pankaj Mishra on the Violent Transition to Modernity

At the center of gravity shifts east, Pankaj Mishra argues that the West’s own fateful experience of modernity is playing out globally
'Meet Kill'

‘Meet Kill’

When Kem Ley’s murderer was asked for his name, he offered a chilling sobriquet: ‘Chuob Samlap’ – literally, ‘Meet Kill.’
The Rise, Fall and Possible Renewal of a Town in Laos on China’s Border

The Rise, Fall and Possible Renewal of a Town in Laos on China’s Border

For five years, this remote town on the China-Laos border has lived in the shadow of more prosperous times.
Vietnam: Forty Years Later

Vietnam: Forty Years Later

Forty years after the war, it is the ideals of the former South Vietnam that appear ascendant.
How a Brutal Khmer Rouge Leader Died 'Not Guilty'

How a Brutal Khmer Rouge Leader Died ‘Not Guilty’

A verdict was never reached in Ieng Sary’s human rights abuses case. His story reveals the limitations of international tribunals.
As Asia Rises and Europe Declines, Russia Invests Its Hopes in its Far East

As Asia Rises and Europe Declines, Russia Invests Its Hopes in its Far East

Vladivostok, a Pacific port city long in decline, is being revitalized by Moscow. But the city’s slow integration with China, Japan, and South Korea is clashing with its long-Slavic identity. Can a city be both European and Asian?
Latest entries
The World According to Cambodia’s CPP

The World According to Cambodia’s CPP

If the West truly wants to change Hun Sen’s behavior, it needs to understand how he sees the world.
Don’t hold your breath for a dramatic Southeast Asian pushback against China

Don’t hold your breath for a dramatic Southeast Asian pushback against China

As US-China tensions grow and temperatures rise in the South China Sea, Southeast Asia will only become more tense, anxious and constrained.
City of light

City of light

The backwash from Sihanoukville could be felt most of the way up National Road 4, the dilapidated two-lane highway linking Cambodia’s capital to its southern coast.
European trade threats could backfire in Cambodia

European trade threats could backfire in Cambodia

Pressure from Brussels risks deepening Phnom Penh’s close engagement with China
Why Cambodia yields to China's strategic commands

Why Cambodia yields to China’s strategic commands

The possible establishment of a Chinese naval presence in Cambodia is the logical outcome of long-flawed U.S. policies towards Phnom Penh.
Vietnam learns to live in China's shadow

Vietnam learns to live in China’s shadow

Four decades on, China’s 1979 border war is officially ‘forgotten’ in Hanoi.
Thai Politics Has a Princess but No Storybook Endings

Thai Politics Has a Princess but No Storybook Endings

With elections coming, the junta still fears the specter of Thaksin Shinawatra.
Cambodia's Potemkin election -- what will come next?

Cambodia’s Potemkin election — what will come next?

Despite being free from the friction of meaningful opposition, fresh challenges loom for long-ruling Hun Sen
Sanctions will not resolve the Hun Sen problem

Sanctions will not resolve the Hun Sen problem

China gives Cambodia’s strongman the option to ignore Western pressure
Turning east

Turning east

By most accounts, the past few years have been anni horribiles for human rights and democracy in Southeast Asia.
One-Party Cambodia’s Grim Message

One-Party Cambodia’s Grim Message

China-backed authoritarianism is on the rise in Cambodia as the influence of the US and other Western donor countries retreats
Cambodia Becomes the World’s Newest One-Party State

Cambodia Becomes the World’s Newest One-Party State

With strong Chinese support, Prime Minister Hun Sen has effectively destroyed all opposition to his autocratic rule.