Heydays with Hayes

Published on Jul 7, 2022 by Luke Hunt

Thirty years ago Michael Hayes arrived in Cambodia with his life savings of about US$50,000 and his then-wife Kathleen just as the United Nations began pouring into the Southeast Asian nation to oversee elections and hopefully end decades of war. Luke Hunt writes for the Phnom Penh Post.Armed with a royal seal from King Norodom Sihanouk Hayes founded the Phnom Penh Post from scratch, and for the next 16 years was responsible for a newspaper that enjoyed a reputation for telling the truth while maintaining a sympathetic ear for this country’s plight and its tragic history.But this reputation came at a price. Several Khmer contemporaries were assassinated and there were many sleepless nights from the top floor of his home....

Ashes from Annam

Published on Mar 14, 2022 by Luke Hunt

Author Thierry de Roland Peel, revisits the slaughter of French Catholics is Saigon as WWII drew to a close, and how the Japanese gave rise to the Khmer Rouge, Viet Cong and Pathet Laoby LUKE HUNT / Phnom PenhFor decades author Thierry de Roland Peel was spell-bound by the stories his grandparents told of how their family, and their dog named Mephisto, had survived the slaughter in Saigon as World War II was drawing to its close in 1945, when the Japanese realized they had lost.Hitler had been defeated and in Japanese occupied Southeast Asia local communists were attempting to assert independence with Tokyo’s encouragement before the inevitable arrival of the British and French.“Before the Japanese surrendered it was total....

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....

Sri Lanka's Easter Bombings

Published on May 5, 2019 by Luke Hunt

Luke Hunt examines Islamic militancy in the wake of the 2019 Easter bombings in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which claimed 269 lives. The story was initially published by La Croix and UCA News before syndication. Ever since the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS) emerged as a ruthless, rampaging force to be reckoned with more than five years ago, the question that has haunted intelligence circles has been: If home is an option for foreign jihadists, what will they do if they return?IS has claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that left more than *250 people dead and hundreds more wounded, confirming what many had feared.IS, al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and affiliates such as Jemaah....

A Chinese Takeaway

Published on Oct 3, 2018 by Luke Hunt

Rarely have Beijing and its minions been seen in such a dreadful light. The arrival of mainland Chinese in Cambodia as developers, financiers, restaurateurs, boiler room operators, gamblers, construction workers and tourists is sorely testing the patience of locals in Cambodia. This story was originally published by La Croix after syndication by UCA News.by LUKE HUNT / Phnom PenhEven Cambodia's government-compliant press is picking up the baton. 'Chinese behaving badly' is the stuff of daily headlines, particularly in the southern port town of Sihanoukville where Beijing's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are investing heavily.Pristine beaches and rainforests are being carved up by big business, driving up property prices that locals can ill afford, amid stories of Cambodians being denied access to their....