The Bulletin

Stephff's world

An evening with Barry Broman, retired American spy and writer

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Monday, 9 February, 7pm

Barry Broman, a graduate of the University of Washington in political science and Southeast Asian studies, first came to Asia in 1962 as an Associated Press photographer covering Thailand, Cambodia and South Vietnam. He joined the FCCT at that time, and rejoined in the 1970s. In between, he served as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam war, and was a liaison officer in Bangkok.

Broman went on to a 26-year career in the CIA with postings in Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, France and Myanmar. He retired in 1996, and returned to writing and photography. He has written and/or photographed more than a dozen books on Asian themes, including Old Homes of Bangkok and Spiritual Abodes of Thailand with the late William Warren, and has produced nearly a dozen documentaries, including ‘Burma: A human tragedy’.

Last year, Broman published a memoir, ‘Indochina hand: Tales of a CIA case officer’, the second in a trilogy and set in Thailand and Cambodia in the early 1990s. It is a compilation of 62 short stories, most of which relate to the CIA.

‘Risk taker, spy maker: Tales of a CIA case officer’, the first in the three-part memoir was published some years ago. It covers Broman’s life from his school years in England,where his father was stationed at RAF Manston, a fighter base in Kent, his stint in the early 60s stringing for the Associated Press in Bangkok with assignments in Cambodia and South Vietnam, and his clandestine career with the CIA.

Broman also published a second novel last year, ‘The spy from Sukhumvit Road’, set in Thailand and Cambodia in 1991. It followed ‘The spy from Place Saint-Sulpice’, set in Paris in the 1980s. According to Broman, the CIA has recently cleared a third novel for publication, ‘The spy from Golden Valley’ set in Burma in 1994. It deals with chasing a Burmese drug lord and involves the Thai army and police.

All of the books are available on Amazon, and Broman will bring some copies to the event.

Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.

Broman cover 1/3

Broman cover 2/3 & Broman cover 3/3

Members free, non-members 300 baht, students and Thai press with ID 150 baht.

Bar and restaurant open.

Co-working at the FCCT

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Tuesday, 10 February, 10am

Need a change of scenery from your home office? Join us for a coworking day at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) -- a perfect space for working professionals, digital nomads and anyone looking to break free from the home-office routine.Enjoy a spacious, comfortable workspace with dedicated tables, a full restaurant, café and bar and exclusive lunch specials just for this event.Whether you're tackling deadlines or networking with like-minded professionals, this is an opportunity to be productive in a collaborative, social environment. Come work, connect, and enjoy great food because working remotely doesn’t have to mean working alone.Hosted by Tommy Walker, FCCT board member and digital nomad.

Free and open to all.Bar and restaurant open.

Board games night

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Tuesday, 10 February, 7pm

Join us for a chilled night of board games with The Boring Club. Try your luck with classics like chess and backgammon or modern games including Catan and Pandemic.The bar and restaurant will be open. Try our pizzas from the new pizza oven. The Boring Club meets at the FCCT clubhouse for games every Tuesday at 7pm.

Free and open to all.Bar and restaurant open.

Thailand’s dugongs in danger of extinction -- confronting a crisis

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Film and panel discussion
Thursday, 12 February, 7pm

Over the past few years, an environmental crisis has been unfolding in Thailand  with an alarming number of dugongs washing up dead.

In 2024, 42 dead dugongs were retrieved from Thailand’s shores, and some experts believe there may be fewer than 120 left alive in Thai waters. Scientists say the animals are starving due to a massive die-off of seagrass, their only source of food.  

Join us to watch Payuun: Thailand's Last Dugongs, produced by Mailee Osten-Tan and Nicolas Axelrod, which follows the efforts of Theerasak 'Pop' Saksritawee, a conservation influencer who is using his voice, and his social media platforms, to sound the alarm and call for urgent action.

After the documentary, which is published by the Guardian Documentaries and supported by the Pulitzer Centre, there be a panel discussion about the film’s production, why the seagrass is disappearing, and what urgently needs to be done to save Thailand's last dugongs.

The panel will feature:

Theerasak 'Pop' Saksritawee, environmental activist and the film’s protagonist.

Mailee Osten-Tan, producer, Payun: Thailand’s Last Dugongs.

Assistant Professor Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine biologist and lecturer at Kasetsart University.

Moderator, Rebecca Ratcliffe, Southeast Asia correspondent, The Guardian, and FCCT board member

Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.

Members free, non-members 250 baht, students and Thai press with ID 150 baht.

Bar and restaurant open.

The global press crisis -- can it get worse? ‍

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Panel discussion,
Wednesday, 18 February, 7pm

2025 was not a good year for the legacy media in Southeast Asia with the closure of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia compounding the damage already done by press-averse governments in countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Vital funding for other besieged media outlets also disappeared with the closure of USAID and the reassessment of assistance priorities by other governments.

The news last week that the Washington Post, is laying off 300 journalists augurs poorly for the coming year. Last September, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in Stockholm, which monitors 174 countries around the world, reported the largest fall in global press freedom in its 50-year existence. According to IDEA, Myanmar saw one of the three largest declines, while the US started backsliding in 2021.

Social media and artificial intelligence are among the commonly cited threats to the journalist profession. Indeed, this is what one AI search has to say about the situation:

“The global press is experiencing a profound, multi-faceted crisis characterized by a sharp decline in press freedom, widespread economic collapse of media outlets, and increased safety risks for journalists. Roughly 85% of the world's population has experienced a decline in media freedom, with rising authoritarianism, censorship, and disinformation campaigns severely limiting, independent journalism.

“Traditional media is losing revenue, leading to massive layoffs, widespread media closures, and the disappearance of local news, with fewer than 1,000 daily print newspapers remaining in the US by late 2025. Social media, which often monetizes outrage, has eroded trust in professional journalism, allowing misinformation to flourish and shrinking the space for independent, fact-based reporting.”

The FCCT will have a panel of flesh and blood journalists to ponder the gloomy situation. Confirmed panelists:

Keith Richburg has been a member of the Washington Post’s editorial board since 2023. His storied career as a foreign correspondent includes postings as the Post’s bureau chief in Beijing and Hong Kong. He was president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong from 2021 to 2023.

British-American photographer Gary Knight was born in England in 1964, and launched his career from Bangkok in the late 1980s. He moved his working base to the former Yugoslavia in 1993, and was a contract photographer for Newsweek from 1999 to 2009. He cofounded the influential VII Photo Agency in 2000, and chaired the World Press Photo contest in 2008 and 2014. He has a long involvement in training young journalists, including with the UK branch of the Bangkok-founded Indochina Media Memorial Foundation.

Moderator, Dominic Faulder, FCCT board member and Nikkei Asia associate editor.

Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.

Members free, non-members 450 baht, students and Thai press with ID 150 baht.

Bar and restaurant open.

Asia 2026: Riding the fire horse - fault lines, flashpoints and the battle for influence

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Panel discussion
Thursday, 26 February, 7pm

Asia enters 2026 facing one of its most complex and consequential geopolitical landscapes in decades. From intensifying rivalry between the United States and China to regional security flashpoints and domestic political transitions, the balance of power across Asia isshifting in ways that will shape global politics, trade, security and human rights in the years ahead.

Conflict and instability remain central concerns. Myanmar’s ongoing civil war continues to destabilise the region, driving humanitarian crises and cross-border tensions. Thailand faces political uncertainty at home while navigating its position between major powers. Across Southeast Asia, the South China Sea remains a persistent security flashpoint, while tensions around Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and broader Indo-Pacific military dynamics add further layers of risk and uncertainty. Region-wide nations big and small are needing to decide whether to stand up to Donald Trump’s tariff baton or resist retaliatory actions. It’s a troubling era which Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong described as “more volatile, with more frequent and unpredictable shocks. One where the risks are real and the stakes are high.”

Environmental instability is also increasingly shaping political realities across the region, as climate-driven disasters, resource pressures and displacement intersect with governance, security and economic resilience.

At the same time, Asia remains pivotal to global economic growth, climate strategy and technological competition. How will the non-interventionist region bloc, ASEAN, respond to deepening divisions among major powers? What role will middle powers play in a more fragmented global order? And where do human rights, democratic movements and civil society fit into a region increasingly shaped by hard-power politics?

In the year of the fire horse - traditionally associated with turbulence and transformation – our panel of experts and journalists will unpack the forces reshaping Asia in 2026 and what they mean for the region and the wider world.

This event is curated by The Media Connector, a London-based media and events consultancy working across global affairs, journalism and public dialogue.

Join us in the FCCT clubhouse, to hear from:

Michael Bociurkiw, Global affairs analyst, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and Founder of World Briefing report on Substack.

Additional speakers to be announced.

Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.

Members free, non-members 450 baht, students and Thai press with ID 150 baht.

Bar and restaurant open.

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