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
Myanmar: God, golfing and guerrilla war

Myanmar: God, golfing and guerrilla war

Life behind the lines of Kachin state’s bloody ethnic conflict.
REVIEW: 'The Orphan Master's Son', by Adam Johnson

REVIEW: ‘The Orphan Master’s Son’, by Adam Johnson

PERHAPS THE BEST way to grasp the sad and desperate state of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is to glance at a satellite photo of Northeast Asia by night.
Myanmar: No end in sight for Kachin conflict

Myanmar: No end in sight for Kachin conflict

Despite reforms elsewhere in the country, Kachin Independence Army troops maintain their tense daily vigil, eyeing off a Myanmar army post across the valley.
Myanmar by-elections a hard sell in Kachin conflict zone

Myanmar by-elections a hard sell in Kachin conflict zone

In Kachin State, ‘reform’ remains a distant concept.
Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi Fever

Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi Fever

Burma’s democratic icon is expected to take a seat in parliament following this weekend’s by-election. But is the junta using her as a fig leaf?
Myanmar: Suu Kyi fever in pre-election Yangon

Myanmar: Suu Kyi fever in pre-election Yangon

Many of Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters view her as a national messiah able to overcome any obstacle.
Cambodia: Cashing in on the Khmer Rouge

Cambodia: Cashing in on the Khmer Rouge

According to a government tourism plan, 14 Khmer Rouge sites are set for a makeover.
In the picture: Burma

In the picture: Burma

More than a year on from the 2010 elections, it’s starting to look as though the Burmese thaw might turn out to be the real thing.
More managed democracy for Cambodia

More managed democracy for Cambodia

PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s senate elections, held on January 29 to select members of the country’s upper house, came and went largely unnoticed. The poll barely registered in the international media, and local critics dismissed it as an undemocratic charade for selecting members to an inert and largely powerless body. Voting for 57 of the...
Cambodia's Jazz Age

Cambodia’s Jazz Age

Excess is the watchword of the ‘Khmer Riche’, writes Sebastian Strangio
Notorious Khmer Rouge jailer gets life sentence

Notorious Khmer Rouge jailer gets life sentence

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, and NEW DELHI – A court in Cambodia on Friday rejected an appeal by a notorious Khmer Rouge jailer and extended his prison sentence to life in a decision welcomed by many in the war-torn country. Kang Kek Ieu, known as Kaing Guek Eav in tribunal filings but more often referred to...
Economy Key to Burma’s Democracy

Economy Key to Burma’s Democracy

Signs that Burma’s economy is opening aren’t just good news for Western firms hoping to make some money – democracy in the country could depend on it.