Southeast Asia Globe is member-supported publication featuring in-depth journalism that promotes a more informed, inclusive and sustainable future. Members work with our team to shape our editorial direction and hold us accountable.
Be a part of the story. Subscribe today!
Jack Brook is a reporter for Southeast Asia Globe. He grew up in California and came to Cambodia in 2020 as a Henry Luce Scholar. His writing has been published in The Christian Science Monitor, The Jerusalem Post, The Miami Herald, The Marshall Project and other outlets.
For the first time in decades, an indigenous Bunong community holds a wedding for an elephant and a blessing ceremony for her baby
By Jack Brook - 6 days ago
The nomination of Yohannes Abraham as the first U.S. ambassador to the association in five years signals a renewed agenda and interest in Southeast Asia.
By Jack Brook - Jun 13, 2022
Activists and NGOs worry the proposed law could cause punitive action, intrusive investigations and closures of human rights organisations
By Jack Brook - Jun 01, 2022
A Cambodian rapper who ditched the ruling party, Vietnam suffering under police abuse and concerns over the Philippines election result
By Jack Brook - May 28, 2022
DJ Khla accumulated fame and power in Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit before rewriting his politics, becoming an opposition icon and a target
By Jack Brook - May 25, 2022
Two essays with striking photos highlight the perspectives of youth on Tonle Sap Lake and the impacts of illegal fishing crackdowns, while Cambodia's agriculture industry seeks to improve business
By Jack Brook - May 21, 2022
Even amidst stagnant growth, improved tactics and policies could bring more economic opportunities and profits to farmers and agribusiness
By Jack Brook - May 17, 2022
Inside the unique language shared by Cambodia's LGBTQ+ community, Cambodia’s only explosive harvesting programme and the virtual reality ambitions of Singapore
By Jack Brook - May 14, 2022
Vietnam's cable cars carry environmental concerns, Cambodian microfinance illegally profits from indigenous lands and underregulated Southeast Asian metaverses boom
By Jack Brook - May 07, 2022
Protected indigenous property and forests have become illegal collateral for Cambodian microlenders as institutional investors remain misinformed
By Jack Brook - May 04, 2022
Cambodian farmers struggle as their properties are cleared of buried explosives, dubious megaprojects proliferate in Cambodia and a baby elephant’s birth signals the need for further conservation
By Jack Brook - Apr 30, 2022
The new addition to Cambodia’s captive elephant population highlights the need for habitat preservation and genetic diversity among the species throughout Southeast Asia
By Jack Brook - Apr 29, 2022
Vietnam explores nuclear energy to lower fuel costs, Cambodia's Candlelight opposition party faces tough political prospects and money laundering remains a rampant problem
By Jack Brook - Apr 23, 2022
Southeast Asia celebrates the solar new year, a growing sex toy industry brings empowerment and Malaysia's emerging labour movement demands fair wages
By Jack Brook - Apr 16, 2022
Digital-native ASEAN youth say social media makes them more politically active about the war in Ukraine. Cambodia's garment workers face risky commutes leading to numerous deaths. Filipinos prepare to vote in an upcoming presidential election as online disinformation abounds
By Jack Brook - Apr 09, 2022
Abby Seiff discusses the devastation of Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake and the impact on the communities who rely on it for their livelihood in her latest book
By Jack Brook - Mar 25, 2022
A pair of activists offer differing visions of reform and disruption while sharing a goal to change the Kingdom’s political future
By Jack Brook and Fiona Kelliher - Mar 04, 2022
The entrepreneurial bodybuilders' rise to social media fame and ongoing backlash highlights clashes over cultural norms in Cambodia
By Jack Brook - Feb 24, 2022
Cambodian officials offer few details on internet routing, Vietnamese activists fight child abuse, experts warn against Mekong dams
By Fiona Kelliher and Jack Brook - Feb 19, 2022
A Siem Reap organisation survived by overhauling the expat leadership and rebranding but remaining committed to youth job training
By Jack Brook - Feb 14, 2022
Vietnamese decry Tet international travel ordeals, Thailand mandates facial scans for phone use in the Deep South, Siem Reap's road overhaul
By Jack Brook - Feb 05, 2022
The Cambodian tourism capital’s pandemic makeover paves the way for a new wave of visitors and residents
By Jack Brook - Feb 02, 2022
Human rights groups challenge a biometric data mandate as residents choose between privacy and connectivity
By Jack Brook - Jan 31, 2022
Whistleblowers stay silenced in Cambodia, Vietnamese authorities take sporadic actions on rhino horn and wild animal product sales, Singapore embraces lab-grown meat, why Southeast Asia can improve its anti-human trafficking actions and how regional governments are struggling to find the right balance of freedom and oversight online
By Jack Brook - Jan 22, 2022
Whistleblowers who raise alarms about misconduct and crime can become targets without strong legal protection
By Jack Brook - Jan 20, 2022
Phnom Penh's NagaWorld casino employees enduring strike, rare large-antlered muntjac images and a Malaysian graphic novel about a forgotten Jewish community
By Jack Brook - Jan 15, 2022
NagaWorld employees protest mass layoffs while fighting to preserve one of Cambodia’s remaining independent unions
By Jack Brook - Jan 11, 2022
Companies and the Indonesian government have improved sustainability policies, but a dispute in Sulawesi highlights holes in the grievance process
By Jack Brook - Jan 03, 2022
The Globe details a golden singer’s life story is told in a graphic novel, a gold mining agreement, two examples of failed diplomacy and two environmental activists moving ahead after jail
By Jack Brook - Dec 25, 2021
Jarai villagers remain wary of promises by foreign companies aiming to dig for precious metal
By Jack Brook - Dec 24, 2021
A pair of Cambodian women jailed on charges stemming from their fight for a more sustainable Cambodia described the experience and their future plans
By Jack Brook and Samphors Sao - Dec 21, 2021
Globe explores why hate speech and disinformation persist across Facebook in Southeast Asia, while an interview with a top Angkor park official reveals changes to Cambodia's signature tourism destination
By Jack Brook - Dec 18, 2021
Patchy oversight enables regimes to spread propaganda and silence critics while vulnerable populations and their defenders are targeted
By Jack Brook and Govi Snell - Dec 13, 2021
A Globe reporter reflects on personal connections in a northeast province and the kindness of those who welcome journalists
By Jack Brook - Dec 11, 2021
Three companies are set to enter the Kingdom’s lucrative beer market, heralding more options but stiffer competition
By Jack Brook - Dec 06, 2021
The arrival of December and holiday spirits are slightly dampened by reports of the Omicron Covid-19 variant lurking on the horizon as Thailand and Cambodia open their borders again
By Jack Brook - Dec 04, 2021
Political prisoners were released prior to the Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Phnom Penh, among other events foreshadowing next year’s elections
By Jack Brook - Nov 27, 2021
Even as Cambodia waives quarantine requirements for vaccinated visitors, Covid-19 continues to plague the Kingdom and its pandemic-weary populace
By Jack Brook - Nov 20, 2021
US state department warns businesses about corruption in the Kingdom, while promising to review trade agreements and sanction Cambodian military figures
By Jack Brook - Nov 13, 2021
Collective land titles offer protection to indigenous villages, but restrictions lead some to embrace individual property
By Jack Brook and Borin Sopheavuthtey - Nov 11, 2021
As more journalists in Southeast Asia are killed, their murderers rarely face justice. A People's Tribunal aims to change the culture of impunity
By Jack Brook - Nov 06, 2021
There were few cashew trees in northeast Cambodia 30 years ago, but now the burgeoning nut industry is part of the region’s link to the global economy
By Jack Brook and Borin Sopheavuthtey - Nov 04, 2021
ASEAN holds its summit without Myanmar and promises to push for peace, while world leaders gather in Glasgow for crucial climate change discussions
By Jack Brook - Oct 30, 2021
Faced with low pay, public healthcare workers often moonlight in private practice. Critics allege corruption, but experts say dual practice plays an important role
By Jack Brook - Oct 28, 2021
Peace has brought globalism, comfortable coffee chains and Michael Learns to Rock. This doesn’t necessarily signal democracy and respect for human rights
By Jack Brook - Oct 23, 2021
Cashew crops clustering the hills of Ratanakiri are a sign of the ongoing transition to capitalism in northeast Cambodia
By Jack Brook - Oct 16, 2021
After a Cambodian labourer died on a South Korean farm, migrant worker policies came under renewed scrutiny, propelling reform efforts and inspiring migrants to fight for their rights
By Jack Brook and Samphors Sao - Oct 15, 2021
The UK-based Guardian newspaper retracted a claim stating Hun Sen had purchased Cypriot citizenship, but the Cambodian prime minister remains on the defensive and is calling for a Constitutional amendment to bar anyone with dual citizenship from holding high political office
By Jack Brook - Oct 09, 2021
Kavich Neang has already won international awards for “White Building.” The cinematic examination of his childhood home and city spaces will represent Cambodia at the Academy Awards
By Jack Brook and Anton L. Delgado - Oct 06, 2021
Vietnam attempted to strengthen alliances with Laos and Cambodia, while a new AidData report reveals the extent of Chinese debt to SEA
By Jack Brook - Oct 02, 2021
Handicraft companies in Siem Reap are balancing a service-minded mission against the hard realities of a Covid-19 economy. Without government aid, some are risking bankruptcy by taking employee welfare into their own hands
By Jack Brook - Sep 30, 2021
The two countries push to welcome visitors in select regions, as their citizens are battered by Covid-19, lagging vaccinations and a tourist-starved economy
By Jack Brook - Sep 18, 2021
The National Unity Government urged citizens to engage in a “defensive war” against the military junta, targeting personnel and assets. The international community condemned the calls for violence, pushing instead for peace.
By Jack Brook - Sep 11, 2021
In the Kingdom, most stories are told in Khmer. But the Bophana Centre’s filmmaking programme is training indigenous youth in northeastern Cambodia to document their communities and languages that risk being subsumed by the dominant national culture
By Jack Brook - Sep 02, 2021
This week, we also took a look at why Malaysia’s contract doctors are on strike amidst a surging pandemic, what a sinister enemies list reveals about Thai government paranoia, and how Cambodia could become the centre of the Mekong’s drug trafficking
By Jack Brook - Aug 28, 2021
This week, we’ve also got a fantastic lead story exploring Vietnam’s conflicted views on abortion, a report on the difficult circumstances of garment workers in Myanmar and the finale of the Anakut podcast on the future of Phnom Penh
By Jack Brook - Aug 21, 2021
This week, the Anakut podcast discusses the implications of Cambodia’s increasingly coal-oriented energy policy, while two of our reporters call attention to the dire situation of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand. We’ve also got updates on ASEAN’s new special envoy to Myanmar, a look back at the ethnic riots in Singapore in the 60s and finally a report on the protests and activists pushing for American sanctions against the Tatmadaw
By Jack Brook - Aug 14, 2021