Author Luke Hunt.
Why I like Chopper Pilots
A chopper pilot snapped this mid-flight somewhere in Southeast Asia. He also said it was a good read. Many thanks, Luke.
Reviewed in Magical Cambodia
Long before arriving in Cambodia, I was reading whatever I could find from the journalist Luke Hunt, the Southeast Asian Correspondent and author who has covered so many of the challenging issues and events in the area. Hailing from Australia, Hunt has been frequently living in Cambodia since 2000. He began his Khmer encounters in the early 1990s as a reporter in Saigon following the Khmer Rouge’s kidnapping and murder of three Western backpackers.
Khmer Sight Foundation
Thierry De Roland Peel sold many a copy of my book the Punji Trap to raise money for the Khmer Sight Foundation and that’s me handing the money over to Lois Joy Evans recently at The Exchange in Phnom Penh during an exhibition, which we do every third Thursday of the month. Next to her is chief ophthalmologist Dr Mukesh Taneja and Oso Kuma, among others. B&W by Steve Porte and color byJeff Perigois, who had some fantastic shots exhibited.
RTHK Podcast with Luke Hunt
On Hong Kong Heritage this weekend… As a student, longtime Hongkonger and Australian veteran journalist Luke Hunt first learned about Pham Xuan An, a South Vietnamese who spied for the Communist north during the Vietnam War. An worked as a journalist for Time and Reuters and through propaganda this spy for north Vietnam helped convince the Americans that it was time for their troops to go home. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, Pham Xuan An became disenchanted with the Communist government but continued to live in Vietnam until his death in 2006. He told Luke that he could write a book about his life, once he was dead. On Hong Kong Heritage this weekend, Luke tells me about his book Punji Trap, Pham Xuan An: The Spy Who Didn’t Love Us. Listen here.
First Class
Reader Howard Hughes flies first class with the Punji Trap. He writes: “I thought to take Luke Hunt’s book out for a spin. On page 30 so far, excellent read.”
Latest Review
From Angkor John: “I’ve read this magnificent book (got it at Monument think its available elsewhere in PP as well) , the Punji Trap by the Australian journalist Luke Hunt.
“A great read backed with a solid historical narrative as to how the Vietnam war came to be alongside a great true story. I can highly recommend for those interested in the genre.”
Latest Reads
Little did they know that their self-deprecating colleague was a top espionage agent for the Communist regime in North Vietnam. An was first recruited as a spy in 1952. Five years later, his intelligence unit sent him to study journalism in California, believing that masquerading as a reporter would be the perfect cover. During his two years in America, he worked for his campus paper at Orange Coast College and interned at The Sacramento Bee. With journalism as his cover, he was ordered to return to Vietnam in 1960 on a mission to infiltrate the American press.
“An made a lot of friends, but he was ultimately committed to ensuring that the Americans lost the war,” says Luke Hunt, author of Punji Trap — Pham Xuan An: The Spy Who Didn’t Love Us, a book about An’s life.
Read more from Mat Nashed at Ozy magazine:
Kinokuniya book store in Bangkok
Photo from James Burke in Bangkok. Meanwhile, Shirley Shackleton in Melbourne writes: “It’s fascinating especially since I’m addicted to the Great War and 2nd World War.”
Phnom Penh Fund Raiser
The Punji Trap is now on sale at the Est Bar on Street 214 in Phnom Penh as part of a fund raiser for charity.