Christopher Johnson

Siamese Dreams (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Two high school buddies leave America and begin a new life of fun and freedom in Thailand. They take new names, learn Thai, and experiment with sex, drugs and radical lifestyles -- from spectacular poverty to salacious stardom -- until a tsunami rolls ashore. Set amid the Asian economic boom, Siamese Dreams is rich with insights into relations across cultures and sexes.

"Great writing style. Other writers couldn't even imagine his front-line experiences." -- Christopher G. Moore, author of 17 novels set in Asia

"Original, brilliant and a very entertaining read. I couldn't put it down once I started." -- Claire Leow, Bloomberg News, Singapore

"Profoundly entertaining. Outstripping the works of Somerset Maugham or Alex Garland in its understanding of Thai people, Siamese Dreams is essential reading for anyone visiting the country." --Colin Donald, The Scotsman, United Kingdom

"A brave dive into the heart of Thailand ... a Thai "On the Road". Like Kerouac, Johnson bounces off the people around him as he tries to discover what makes them tick, and what makes him tick. More light than darkness, it affectionately explores an exquisite country with broad scope and profound appreciation."
--Fred Varcoe, Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan

-----Opening Chapter:

The ocean was lulling him to sleep when a phone buzzed in his pocket.
Pulling out the phone, he recognized the number of his brother, a police officer in Phuket. He never called this early -- 10:18 a.m. -- on a Sunday morning, the day after Christmas.
"Wa ngai, pii?" Jo said in Thai. "What's up, brother?"
"Nam tuam," his brother replied. "Flooding. In Phuket."
"Flooding?" said Jo in disbelief. The morning sky above him in Phang-nga, next to Phuket, was clear and blue.
"A big wave come," said his brother. "Big big wave. They call it sunami."
"A what?"
"Su-na-mi. It means big big wave. Destroy houses, cars, everything. Kill many people in Patong beach. Everybody running away."
"You're joking," Jo said. "I never heard that word before."
The phone line went dead. Jo checked his battery level -- still full. Maybe his brother's battery was low.
Jo waited, then tried ringing again. Still no response. There was also no connection to his brother's home or work numbers at Kathu police station. He thought it was a problem with his phone service. His server was cheap, only one baht a minute during daytime hours. He often had trouble with his answering machine, and receiving calls.
Waiting for his brother to call back, Jo arranged the chairs and tables in his open-air restaurant, the Oceanview. It had the best view in the whole resort area of Khao Lak; maybe the best view in all of southern Thailand. From his perch, Jo could see dozens of resorts hugging the coastline all the way to Laem Pakarang, Coral Point. Thousands of rooms were full for the holidays. Tourists, mostly from Germany and Scandinavia, resembled an army of ants invading the beaches of southern Thailand.

Still unable to reach anybody in Phuket, he began to worry. His wife Maew was at her mother's place in Phuket with their daughter. Maybe his brother wasn't joking about the big big wave.
Jo looked out to sea. The Andaman was a blue marlin in the morning sun.

And then, on the horizon, he saw it. It was a thin line of white, stretching all the way from south to north.
Below on the beach, he also noticed something unusual. The tide was out much farther than normal. Tourists on the expanded sand bar were taking pictures of the bizarre sight. Thai hotel staff were collecting fish stranded on the exposed sea floor. "The water's dry," they called out to each other. "Come and get some fish!"
The crowds on the beach couldn't see what Jo could see from his hilltop viewpoint. The white line was moving fast, and heading straight for the beach, and the hundreds of people still asleep in their rooms.

---

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Christopher Johnson
• Erscheinungstermin: 26. März 2013
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781301429554
• Artikelnr.: 69843264

Autorenporträt

Christopher J. Johnson is a journalist, musician, sports photographer and author of Siamese Dreams (a new life in Thailand), Kobe Blue (set amid Japan's earthquake disaster) and Freedom's Rainbow (a romantic search across Latin America).

Fluent in Japanese, Thai and Spanish, he did hundreds of live TV reports, photos and features from more than 100 countries and 10 wars for CTV, DW, France24, CBC, BBC, CNN.com, AP, New York Times, Toronto Star, CSM, SCMP and others. He photographed mass graves and disasters; reconstructed massacres in Yugoslavia and East Timor; met suicide bombers in Baghdad; and escaped from terrorists and kidnappers in Afghanistan, Aceh and Mindanao. The lone journalist in Lhasa during the 2008 Tibetan Uprising, he moved images that Reuters listed among their Pictures of the Decade. After covering the 2011 tsunami and nuclear meltdown, his detention at Narita airport and expulsion from Japan inspired investigations into its secretive "Gaijin Gulag" for The Economist, Asia Times, DW and others.

An avid tennis player and guitarist/vocalist, Johnson wrote and recorded more than 30 songs and worked with bands Big Sugar, New Kings and Lemon Bucket Orkestra (Canada/USA), Rockestra and Monks on Fire (Thailand), Emperor (Myanmar), Blankey Jet City and Sherbets (Japan).

Johnson's works are collected at

https://cjinasia.bandcamp.com

http://www.globalitemagazine.com

http://www.grandslammagazine.com

Johnson is credited with breaking major stories including the errant bombing of civilians in Afghanistan, the rise of female fedayeen suicide bombers in Baghdad, and the Tibetan Uprising in Lhasa, where he moved images that Reuters named among their Pictures of the Decade. He covered the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster for CTV, DW, France 24 and many others before being jailed and expelled from Japan on Christmas Eve 2011, resulting in his investigative series about Japan's secretive "Gaijin Gulag" for The Economist, Asia Times, DW and others. [1]

Wikipedia uses his photos of soccer star Lionel Messi; NBA players Kevin Durant, Tony Parker, Andrei Kirilenko, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and others; and tennis players Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Caroline Wozniaki, Agnieszka Radwanska, Vera Zvonareva and others. [2]

He covered conflicts around Thailand in 1988, the Japanese asset bubble 1989-91, the Yugoslav war 1991, the Kobe earthquake, 1995,...