Filed under: Culture, media, Outside Thailand, Travel, work | Tags: atolls, Beer, beer tasting, boxing, Butaritari, Central Pacific, China, Hong Kong, islands, Kiribati, newspaper, paradise, porn, porn star, Republic of Kiribati, SCMP, South China Morning Post, South Pacific, South Pacific islands, sports, sports reporting, Travel, travel writing
Butaritari, Kiribati
As far as desirable jobs go, travel writer must be up there with sports reporter, beer taster or porn star – in other words, what could be better than to be paid for doing something you love?
So you can imagine how pleased I am to finally get published as a travel writer, in yesterday’s South China Morning Post. The piece covers a wonderful adventure I had on the remote island of Butaritari in the Republic of Kiribati.
It was a real buzz when I got the message that they had bought my article, and even more so when it was printed yesterday. While I have never (not yet?) been a porn star, and while my beer-tasting experience is extensive but never recompensed, I have done my fair share of sports reporting, namely in boxing, which is a sport I love. There was a big buzz when I made my paid-for boxing writing debut, too, but travel writing is an even bigger deal.
There are several reasons for this. First of all, obviously, I love to travel, and especially to more unusual destinations. Kiribati was the most fascinating and rewarding trip I have ever taken, and so I am very pleased to be able to share my experiences there.
Secondly, travel writing is exceedingly competitive, even for a trained and experienced writer such as myself. Hopefully now I have been published in the genre, it will be easier to sell further articles. I certainly have some interesting tales to tell.
Finally, the most exciting part is the possibilities. I won’t be getting carried away at merely selling one article , but it’s a start, and not to mention that the Hong Kong-based SCMP is a very prestigious newspaper. If I can start building a travel writing portfolio, and with it a reputation, then some very good times could lay ahead.
For now, here is my debut: ATOLL STORY – The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is a fragile paradise with acquired tastes.
Unfortunately access to the article requires registration with the site, but you can get a free 14-day trial without credit card details, so for the sake of one article you may as well do that.
Filed under: Expat life, Thai news, work | Tags: arts, Bangkok, Bangkok Post, business, CV, Database, editing, English language, geography, information technology, IT, lifestyle, News, newspapers, nightshift, politics, Real Time, reporters, sub-editors, technology, Thai, Thai business, Thai language, Thai news, Thai newspapers, Thai politics, Thailand
Bangkok Post
The first item on the agenda is to fill in the gaps between September 2008 and September 2009, before I will start writing about more timely stuff, as and when it happens. I will be concise, because 12 months is a long time to chronicle, and will perhaps return to certain points in more detail at a later date.
I work for the Bangkok Post, the leading English-language newspaper in Thailand. I edit the stories, which are mostly written by Thai reporters. They write in English, to varying standards, but require native speakers to polish their work to native quality. It’s essentially the same role as a sub-editor on any newspaper back home, but with the added task of dealing with non-native English. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s difficult, but it’s a rewarding job with nice hours on a publication that has a good reputation and a nationwide readership. In that regard, it’s the best job I’ve had so far.
I started out on the national news desk. This is the “front end” of the newspaper and therefore the most prestigious. It was a great start and also an invaluable experience for me in my formative months in Thailand, as it helped me get up to speed on Thai politics, business, geography and so on. It was a nightshift, which a lot of people don’t like, but which suited me because I’m not a morning person! Also it was nice to have the majority of the daytime to myself.
But six months later I was asked if I’d be interested in a move to the features department. The Real Time supplement, which covers arts and lifestyle, and Database, which covers IT, were short-staffed, so I agreed to the move, because while I did enjoy the newsdesk, I figured experience on other sections would further boost my CV. Furthermore, it’s a Monday-Friday role during normal office hours, which means I get normal weekends and evenings off. No, I still don’t like getting up in the mornings, but the upside is that my social schedule now falls in line with most other people’s – including my girlfriend’s.
