The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand expresses its deepest condolences to the family and many friends of Colin Hastings, a longtime FCCT journalist member.
Colin died suddenly on Monday afternoon in Bang Saray near Sattahip in Chonburi province when he suffered heart failure and the car he was driving collided with a wall. Emergency services were unable to revive him, and he was declared dead at the scene of the accident at around 3:15 pm. There were no other casualties, and his body was taken for autopsy from Sattahip Police Station to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Bangkok Police Hospital, where the cause of death was confirmed.
He was 73 and had always appeared in great shape, so his sudden demise was the cause of widespread dismay. It was reported in The Sun and Daily Mail in London, and even the Le Petit Journal in Bangkok took note: “Colin Hastings, le papa du magazine Big Chilli nous a quittés,” it announced.
“We boxed a charity boxing match at the Dusit Thani (he won),” posted Dean Barrett, the author and former editor of Sawasdee, Thai International’s old inflight. “And when the final bell rang and the referee got us together for a brief hug before the decision, Colin whispered in my ear, ‘Thank God that's over,’ and I replied, ‘You know it, brother.’ Colin, you are 8 years younger than me and had no business passing before me. I will miss you greatly.
Colin had been his usual cheery self, circulating among Sunday diners at Chesa, Bangkok’s popular Swiss restaurant, the day before. He was a member of the Sunday club, an informal group of long-term expat residents who gather every Sunday afternoon in the nearby Royal Oak. “I'm not sure Sundays will ever be the same,” said one.
A superb squash player, Colin was an outstanding all-round sportsman and highly clubbable – he got into the Bangkok Sports Club immediately on his sporting credentials. He served on the general committees of the British Club and the British Chamber of Commerce in Thailand on a number of occasions, and moved as easily in Thai society as he did in foreign circles.
A veteran British journalist with early Fleet Street experience, Colin arrived in Bangkok in 1973, and worked on numerous publications with the Bangkok Post and in the Media Transasia stable. At Media Transasia, he edited travel trade and listings publications, battling a chaotic art room where typesetting was done with an IBM Golfball machine by a typesetter called ‘Buert’ who did not speak a word of English.
“It was 1982, and everybody still worked on typewriters,” recalled Dominic Faulder, a former FCCT president and Nikkei Asia associate editor, who at that time was editing Living in Thailand, a monthly general interest/lifestyle magazine. “We worked in windowless offices down a narrow corridor, and had all acquired multiple pseudonyms to make up for the acute shortage of writers. I had ten, at least.”
Lunchtimes more than made up for the relentless deadlines and steep, multicultural learning curves. Other Media Transasia colleagues included Ken Barrett who decades later produced the seminal ’22 walks in Bangkok: Exploring the city’s back lanes and byways’; travel guru Vijay Verghese who moved to Business Traveler and greater things in travel publishing in Hong Kong; Italian photographers Luca Invernizzi Tettoni and Alberto Cassio with their medium format Pentaxes and almost mafia grip on fashion, arts and culture photography in Bangkok; prolific travel writer John Hoskin; and remarkable art director Kristiaan Inwood.
It was probably Colin who came up with the irreverent acronym VOMIT for Veterans of Media Transasia, but that scene was actually in many ways part of a much happier media time. Southeast Asia and Hong Kong were awash with English-language publications where young, ambitious journalists could get work experience, some income and the vital bylines that would transport them to better things.
“Indeed, the list of English language magazines that once packed local bookshops and graced countless coffee tables is long, and now a distant memory,” Colin reminisced in 2021. “Who remembers Caravan, Metro, Living in Thailand, Time Out, The Magazine, Farang, Look East, Travel & Leisure, Sport, Traversing the Orient and AsiaLife?” he asked.
“All of these were home to some great editors, writers, designers and a host of creative minds, not to mention the many behind-the-scenes people such as printers, messengers, sales teams and office staff. Have they all found new employment in the online media revolution? I doubt it.”
Colin always moved surefootedly from one journalistic stepping stone to the next. An exceptionally hard worker, he multitasked with tremendous efficiency and understatement, taking on not just writing and editing, but layout and design, and in his later years, managing sales and marketing. He nevertheless ended up with four Facebook pages, so evidently found aspects of social media vexing. He was also curiously susceptible to online conspiracy theories, for which he was frequently ribbed by his old friend Richard Holt, a former FCCT general manager, and others.
Colin was part of the founding editorial team of the regional publication Tourism Asia in the 1990s, the forerunner of today’s TravelWeekly Asia. “Well-known in travel media circles, he covered the annual ASEAN Tourism Forums in [the] early days, played a pivotal role in promoting various Visit Thailand Year campaigns through his Big Chilli magazine, and was a familiar figure covering the annual marketing conferences of Thai International and the Tourism Authority of Thailand,” wrote Don Ross, editor of TTR Weekly.
He launched Thailand Tatler in September 1991 after the Bangkok Post acquired the local license, and served as its managing editor for the next seven years. “It was a challenge I relished, particularly as Tatler was the first of many local versions of international magazines like Elle, Cleo and Vogue to enter the Thai market soon after. It was an exciting period for magazine publishers, and we all expected it to last forever.”
In late 1999, Colin struck out on his own, launching Big Chilli. “It was a slightly irreverent monthly magazine with lots of gossip, edgy news, tongue-in-cheek articles, parties, profiles and restaurant reviews,” Colin later recalled.“Big Chilli was quickly adopted by foreigners who didn’t identify with the local hiso scene,” said Colin. “I think it’s fair to say that Big Chilli is very much part of the fabric of expat society in Thailand. An institution, if you like.” “I knew Colin over several decades and through various incarnations as a journalist,” recalled Denis Gray, a former FCCT president and longtime bureau chief of The Associated Press in Bangkok.
“I don't ever remember him losing his cheerfulness, zest for life and appetite for hard work. When he launched Big Chilli, I predicted that at a time when print media was on a downward slope the magazine would soon expire. How wrong I was. It did change my mind seeing Colin racing around town doing the work of half a dozen with boyish enthusiasm. Good-bye, Colin and hope you'll find a great pub up yonder."
Funeral arrangements at Wat That Thong, Sala 32
Buddhist rites, Thursday, 2 May, 6 pm
Buddhist rites, Friday, 3 May, 6 pm
Cremation Saturday, 4 May from 4 pm
Wake at FCCT from 6 pm, open to all
Wat That Thong, 1325 Sukhumvit Road, is near the junction at the bottom of Ekkamai Road, and next to the Ekkamai BTS SkyTrain Station. If you plan to attend the wake at the FCCT Clubhouse afterwards, we recommend you park at the Maneeya Center and travel to the temple and back on the SkyTrain to minimize time in traffic on what will be a hot, busy afternoon.
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