Reds & Whites in Asia

Published on Jan 15, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Darren Gall who left Australia more than two decades ago and has since established himself as a wine producer, taster, importer, and writer and played an integral part in promoting an industry which is now worth billions of dollars a year.That includes his stake in vineyards and wine-making facilities in Myanmar where businesses have been punished by the pandemic and last year’s military coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.In 2005 Gall oversaw the selection and importation of 15,000 vine and 2,500 Olive tree rootlings from Australia into Thailand for the further development of the Chateau des Brumes winery in Wang Nam Keow, in the Mekong Plateau highlands of eastern Thailand.He says the....

Cambodia Backs Vaccinations

Published on Jul 24, 2021 by Luke Hunt

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – Amid rising caseloads of coronavirus infections as it emerges from a strict COVID lockdown, Cambodia is pinning its hopes on a vaccination rollout that will help the nation reach herd immunity, even as the nation confronts unique challenges that could hamper that effort. Luke Hunt reports. Produced by David Potter and Luke Hunt for Voice of America.Watch, read, listen here..

Mud Between Your Toes, a podcast with Peter Wood

Published on Jun 2, 2021 by Luke Hunt

Peter Wood, the author and producer of the Mud Between Your Toes podcasts, interviews Luke Hunt, author of the Punji Trap. They discuss their work and surviving frontlines. Listen here. .

Breathing Life into Art

Published on Apr 3, 2021 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with artist Tyta Buth. At just 24 years of age, Tyta Buth has already established herself at the center of Cambodia’s arts scene. A portrait photographer who attracts hundreds of people to her exhibitions, she encapsulates the rise of a new generation of artists in a country which is rapidly moving away from a past overshadowed by war and genocide.Buth, who trades under the brand name TytaArt, studied Global Business & Design Management at Regent’s University London and Strategic Design Management at Parsons School of Design, The New School, in New York.With a keen eye, she captures the nature of humans in their rawest state or, as she describes it, an exposure of the soul. She spoke with....

Miss Grand Myanmar

Published on Apr 3, 2021 by Luke Hunt

Han Lay, Myanmar’s representative in the Miss Grand International beauty pageant, will remain in Thailand for security reasons after winning widespread applause for using the event to speak up for the atrocities being committed by the military in her home country.As she was crowned Miss Grand Myanmar 2020 at Saturday’s final in Bangkok, a tearful Han Lay drew thunderous applause as she sang “Heal the World” and pleaded for help, ignoring the pageant’s mantra that contestants remain apolitical.Read more here..

Dancing with Mortality

Published on Sep 19, 2020 by Luke Hunt

Excerpts from Face Masks & Hand Gels; A Year of Living Covidly. These works were first published by Howl in Siem Reap, 2021, in response to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.A near-death experience raises a question for Luke Hunt—international correspondent and author—’should I stay or should I go?’ “… my life review – a euphemism for near death experience or NDE – really didn’t do it for me.”As the new coronavirus took hold about 100 people were doing what they do best, sorting a barbecue, the last to be held in the garden of House Nine on Street 830 in Phnom Penh, my home for the last eight years.Old friends and the odd luminary – famed correspondent Jim Pringle....

Traveling in Southeast Asia

Published on Jun 29, 2020 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Marissa Carruthers, a British journalist who spent 10 years working on newspapers in England before moving to Cambodia in 2012. Since then she has edited various publications in Cambodia and contributed to many regional publications.She currently freelances for various newspapers and magazines, specializing in travel, lifestyle and culture, is the Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnamese correspondent for travel trade publisher TTG Asia and often writes for the South China Morning Post.But the travel industry has taken an unprecedented hit from the new coronavirus and Carruthers says the challenges facing destinations, hotels and small business operators are daunting but could be overcome if there’s no second spike with the COVID-19 virus.She says a lack of coherency over what’s....

Reclaiming Angkor

Published on Jun 15, 2020 by Luke Hunt

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA – The new coronavirus has left its mark on Angkor Wat, the world’s top tourist attraction. Foreign visitors are rare, the elephants are being rehoused and local businesses have gone bankrupt, but for Cambodians it’s a chance to reclaim their heritage. Authorities say the number of paying visitors have been measured by the dozens on any given day and all are among those who remained in the country after the coronavirus began crossing borders in late January, forcing lockdowns around the world and ending international travel. Read more from VoA. .

The Good, The Bad & George Pell

Published on May 10, 2020 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Michael Parer, former Catholic cleric, who is forthright on the Church, George Pell and his work in Cambodia. He also talks about how he got to Southeast Asia, and his family — Damien Parer, the World War II combat cameraman was his uncle and but one of the Parers with strong ties to the region. Listen here..

The Last Reel

Published on Apr 17, 2020 by Luke Hunt

For everyone on the planet; locked down, bored, tired of planning home renos that will never get done once the pandemic is over? Then watch this terrific award winning movie, The Last Reel, from Cambodia by Hanuman Films who are offering a free watch. Click Here.Directed by Kulikar Sotho. With Rous Mony, Ma Rynet, Dy Saveth, Hun Sophy.