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
'Allah doesn't care if you are transgender': the Indonesian school fighting a backlash

‘Allah doesn’t care if you are transgender’: the Indonesian school fighting a backlash

An Islamic boarding school for transgender people in Yogyakarta is providing a safe haven amid a harsh crackdown on LGBT rights.
The Fall of Aung San Suu Kyi, Democracy Icon

The Fall of Aung San Suu Kyi, Democracy Icon

Turning “The Lady” into a secular saint only helped Myanmar’s junta.
Cambodia's Crumbling Democracy

Cambodia’s Crumbling Democracy

Behind the growing repression of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government
After Ahok: Indonesia Grapples with the Rise of Political Islam

After Ahok: Indonesia Grapples with the Rise of Political Islam

For decades, Indonesian society has experienced a slow process of Islamization. In 2017, the pace picked up.
The Past Isn't Past

The Past Isn’t Past

Lumphat seemed forsaken by time. Stretched out along a bend of the Srepok River, this former town was now little more than a village, a mere sprinkling of civilisation in a landscape of red earth and pantone blue skies.
Ghosts of Pogroms Past Haunt Indonesia

Ghosts of Pogroms Past Haunt Indonesia

After the jailing of Jakarta’s former governor, Chinese Indonesians find themselves caught between age-old prejudice and fears of a rising China.
Myanmar refugees find a foothold in North Carolina

Myanmar refugees find a foothold in North Carolina

For the Myanmar residents of Chapel Hill, hopes of a return home are tempered by fears of continued ethnic tensions
What a High-Level Sacking in Vietnam Reveals About Communist Party Rifts

What a High-Level Sacking in Vietnam Reveals About Communist Party Rifts

Vietnam’s campaign against corruption notched a significant victory earlier this month with the removal of a top Politburo official for “very serious mistakes and violations” while he was chair of PetroVietnam, the state-owned oil and gas company. But analysts say that there is a more complicated story behind the rare Politburo sacking—just the fourth in...
Cambodian Democracy Makes Its Last Gasps

Cambodian Democracy Makes Its Last Gasps

An indifferent United States and assertive China have emboldened one of Asia’s longest-serving leaders to embrace outright authoritarianism.
Welcome to the Post-Human Rights World

Welcome to the Post-Human Rights World

Geopolitical realignments and the rise of populist nationalism have unleashed a global backlash against human rights.
Power and Democracy

Power and Democracy

The late historian Benedict Anderson once reflected that voting was a peculiar form of political action.
Reading Burma

Reading Burma

On four new books that complicate the international image of Burma’s emergence from a half-century of military rule.