Tom Vater first visited Cambodia in 2001 to document the indigenous minorities in Mondulkiri for the British Library's International Sound Archive, and instantly fell in love with the country. A year later, Tom co-wrote and production-managed a documentary on Angkor for German-French television, which gave him the opportunity to spend several weeks among the country's temples. Since then, he has returned to Cambodia several times each year to cover its politics and culture for various publications. On his journeys around the country, he has encountered kings, pilgrims, soldiers, secret agents, pirates, hippies, policemen, and prophets. Every one of them put up with him for longer than he deserved.

Tom has been writing and traveling in Southeast Asia since 1993. He is the author of numerous books, and has co-written several documentary screenplays for European television. He is a regular contributor to the South Eastern Globe, one of Cambodia's English-language magazines. His feature articles, mostly on Asian subjects and destinations, have appeared around the world in publications such as The Asia Wall Street Journal, The South China Morning Post, The Far Eastern Economic Review, and Marie Claire.

Tom often works with his wife, photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat, with whom he shares a home in Bangkok and has published three photo books on South Asia. Visit his website at www.tomvater.com.