Thomas Bird
@thejourneybird.bsky.social
Author of Harmony Express: Travels by Train Through China. Words for SCMP, Nikkei Asia, Rough Guides and Insight Guides. Covers travel and culture in East and Southeast Asia. Enjoys gin & tonic and the teachings of Zhuangzi.
For the attention of Bangkok bookworms…
December 3, 2025 at 10:29 PM
For the attention of Bangkok bookworms…
River Kwai Bridge Week returns… my latest for Time Out. www.timeout.com/bangkok/trav...
Your ultimate guide to Kanchanaburi and the River Kwai Bridge Week Festival
How this scenic river town became synonymous with World War Two and home to Thailand’s most famous railway
www.timeout.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:50 AM
River Kwai Bridge Week returns… my latest for Time Out. www.timeout.com/bangkok/trav...
Went on a food tour of Bangkok's other Chinatown, my latest for Time Out. www.timeout.com/bangkok/rest...
Navigating Huai Kwang, Bangkok’s new Chinatown
So the story goes, before there was Bangkok, there was Chinatown – a colony of Teochew merchants
www.timeout.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Went on a food tour of Bangkok's other Chinatown, my latest for Time Out. www.timeout.com/bangkok/rest...
Attention Bangkokians, here are some neat weekend railway trips you can take from the capital. www.timeout.com/bangkok/trav...
6 best weekend railway journeys from Bangkok
From historic ruins and floating markets to beachside sunsets, these incredible rail adventures are the perfect way to escape the city for the weekend
www.timeout.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Attention Bangkokians, here are some neat weekend railway trips you can take from the capital. www.timeout.com/bangkok/trav...
My latest feature for #scmp about the #Chinese travel writer Zhou Daguan who visited #Cambodia during the Yuan Dynasty. www.scmp.com/postmag/trav...
Insights into ancient Khmer society from a forgotten Yuan dynasty visitor
Long before the Europeans arrived in Angkor, a Chinese explorer had documented the magnificence of modern Cambodia’s ancient pride and joy.
www.scmp.com
September 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
My latest feature for #scmp about the #Chinese travel writer Zhou Daguan who visited #Cambodia during the Yuan Dynasty. www.scmp.com/postmag/trav...
My interview with novelist and (anti) travel writer Lawrence Osborne ahead of the Netflix adaptation of Ballad of a Small Player. www.timeout.com/bangkok/movi...
Bangkok’s bard, Lawrence Osborne
The elusive writer talks about Netflix, anti-travel writing and why he sees ghosts in Asia
www.timeout.com
September 21, 2025 at 12:34 AM
My interview with novelist and (anti) travel writer Lawrence Osborne ahead of the Netflix adaptation of Ballad of a Small Player. www.timeout.com/bangkok/movi...
My Bankok feature out now. www.scmp.com/postmag/trav...
Insiders’ guide to Bangkok: eat, shop and socialise like a local
Bangkok’s coolest corners, from neon-lit alleys and punk bars to canalside islands, Song Wat vintage finds and Talat Phlu noodles.
www.scmp.com
September 15, 2025 at 11:22 PM
My Bankok feature out now. www.scmp.com/postmag/trav...
Reposted by Thomas Bird
At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed. We join with more than 150 other media outlets across the world to condemn these crimes.
Read more: interc.pt/3HS71C2
Read more: interc.pt/3HS71C2
September 1, 2025 at 2:35 PM
At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed. We join with more than 150 other media outlets across the world to condemn these crimes.
Read more: interc.pt/3HS71C2
Read more: interc.pt/3HS71C2
Reposted by Thomas Bird
At @chinabooksreview.com, @thejourneybird.bsky.social writes about the boom-and-bust cycles of China travel guides, from their first heyday in the 1920s to the "extinction event" of Covid shutdowns.
What Happened to China Travel Guides? | China Books Review
Guidebooks for China boomed from the 1980s to the 2010s. Then the Covid pandemic hit. With fewer visitors, and travel guides going out of print in the digital age, what are we missing?
chinabooksreview.com
August 1, 2025 at 11:15 AM
At @chinabooksreview.com, @thejourneybird.bsky.social writes about the boom-and-bust cycles of China travel guides, from their first heyday in the 1920s to the "extinction event" of Covid shutdowns.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... But when men, women and children were being massacred wholesale in Gaza, schools and hospitals turned to rubble, journalists targeted, Sir Kier scarcely flinched.
UK moves jets to Middle East as Starmer refuses to rule out defending Israel
Military assets to provide ‘contingency support’ as PM repeats call for de-escalation after Iran’s retaliatory strikes
www.theguardian.com
June 14, 2025 at 11:49 PM
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... But when men, women and children were being massacred wholesale in Gaza, schools and hospitals turned to rubble, journalists targeted, Sir Kier scarcely flinched.
My latest travel feature www.scmp.com/postmag/trav...
Insiders’ guide to Kunming: what to eat, drink and do in Yunnan’s capital
Enjoy a vegetarian meal at a Buddhist temple, local beer at Chaba Brewing and a hot springs dip at Yunshang Spring.
www.scmp.com
June 4, 2025 at 7:27 AM
My latest travel feature www.scmp.com/postmag/trav...
Nice of the mighty Paul Theroux to share my latest travel feature on Instagram. #travelwriting #chinatravel #railway
May 18, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Nice of the mighty Paul Theroux to share my latest travel feature on Instagram. #travelwriting #chinatravel #railway
See you soon at Royal Geographical Society - Hong Kong for a talk about train travel with Chinese characteristics. For this one, I'll take a bit of deep dive into Qing / Republican-era history to ask, why is modern China so mad about trains? Hope to see you there HK friends & comrades!!!
Royal Geographical Society (Hong Kong) RGS HK - How Railway Imperialism Inspired Modern China's Railway Mania
Popular repeat speaker Thomas Bird looks back at the arc of railway development in China. He discusses his amazing experiences riding the “Iron Rooste...
www.rgshk.org.hk
April 10, 2025 at 1:41 PM
See you soon at Royal Geographical Society - Hong Kong for a talk about train travel with Chinese characteristics. For this one, I'll take a bit of deep dive into Qing / Republican-era history to ask, why is modern China so mad about trains? Hope to see you there HK friends & comrades!!!
My interview with Mark Kitto about his new novel China Running Dog was published today by Nikkei Asia.
Books: Karaoke, concubines and chaos in Shanghai
Mark Kitto's 'China Running Dog' revisits the wild times of the 'roaring 2000s'
asia.nikkei.com
April 10, 2025 at 10:07 AM
My interview with Mark Kitto about his new novel China Running Dog was published today by Nikkei Asia.
My story about Qian Heifeng, veteran Chinese railway shutterbug, who has recently trained his lens on Thai trains. asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Li...
Unique visual account of life on Thai trains
After rise to fame, Chinese photographer Qian Haifeng turns lens on kingdom's railways
asia.nikkei.com
March 27, 2025 at 8:03 AM
My story about Qian Heifeng, veteran Chinese railway shutterbug, who has recently trained his lens on Thai trains. asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Li...
Unbelievable. Donald Trump has been invited to a state visit to the UK. We should not be rolling out the red carpet to celebrate this man. Agree? Add your name to the petition today.
No second state visit for Trump
Unbelievable. Keir Starmer has handed Donald Trump a letter from King Charles, inviting him for a second state visit to the UK. It’s totally unprecedented, and should not go ahead.
This is the...
you.38degrees.org.uk
March 2, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Unbelievable. Donald Trump has been invited to a state visit to the UK. We should not be rolling out the red carpet to celebrate this man. Agree? Add your name to the petition today.
It’s rare to find myself aligned withe The Mail but if Trump & company are succeeding at anything it’s uniting the left & right of British politics.
March 2, 2025 at 6:43 AM
It’s rare to find myself aligned withe The Mail but if Trump & company are succeeding at anything it’s uniting the left & right of British politics.
Reposted by Thomas Bird
Zelensky has thanked the United States on numerous occasions since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 – expressing gratitude to Trump and Biden, to members of Congress from both parties, to US defense companies and their employees, and to the American people.
Fact check: 33 times Zelensky thanked Americans and US leaders | CNN Politics
Zelensky has thanked the United States on numerous occasions since Russian launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 – expressing gratitude to Trump and President Joe Biden, to members of Cong...
cnn.it
March 1, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Zelensky has thanked the United States on numerous occasions since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 – expressing gratitude to Trump and Biden, to members of Congress from both parties, to US defense companies and their employees, and to the American people.
I’ve loathed bullying school and recognise it immediately. The way Orange Jesus and The Hillbilly spoke to #Velensky was nothing short of it: two morons ganging up on a brave individual, browbeating him and taking cheap shots because they had the ‘power.’ How low the US has sunk. #betrayal
March 1, 2025 at 1:21 AM
So pleased to see my Hua Hin travel feature online. Thanks to all the locals & expats who made it happen: ‘We actually have a vineyard’: an insiders’ guide to Thai hidden gem Hua Hin
‘We actually have a vineyard’: an insiders’ guide to Thai hidden gem Hua Hin
The Thai royal family ‘discovered’ it in the early 20th century, but what does the resort destination have to offer today’s travellers?
www.scmp.com
February 27, 2025 at 4:57 AM
So pleased to see my Hua Hin travel feature online. Thanks to all the locals & expats who made it happen: ‘We actually have a vineyard’: an insiders’ guide to Thai hidden gem Hua Hin
Had great fun talking at SOAS, University of London. Thanks to all the friends, scribes & comrades who braved the cold to attend.
February 19, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Had great fun talking at SOAS, University of London. Thanks to all the friends, scribes & comrades who braved the cold to attend.
Reposted by Thomas Bird
18/2/25 - @soasuni.bsky.social - @thomasbird.bsky.social on Harmony Express: Travels by Train through China, a travelogue that recounts the years he spent railway-wayfaring in China, from 2014 until late-2019. www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/...
Harmony Express: Travels by Train through China
Thomas Bird will introduce his latest publication Harmony Express: Travels by Train through China, a travelogue that recounts the years he spent railway-wayfaring in China, from 2014 until late-2019, ...
www.soas.ac.uk
February 12, 2025 at 10:15 AM
18/2/25 - @soasuni.bsky.social - @thomasbird.bsky.social on Harmony Express: Travels by Train through China, a travelogue that recounts the years he spent railway-wayfaring in China, from 2014 until late-2019. www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/...
Reposted by Thomas Bird
We're looking forward to welcoming @thejourneybird.bsky.social to Leeds on Wednesday, to discuss his book Harmony Express! In association with the East Asian Research Society. All welcome! writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk/events/harmo...
February 9, 2025 at 12:11 PM
We're looking forward to welcoming @thejourneybird.bsky.social to Leeds on Wednesday, to discuss his book Harmony Express! In association with the East Asian Research Society. All welcome! writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk/events/harmo...
Reposted by Thomas Bird
It’s important to know that a lot of productive activity is happening in person and offline, too.
Not all of it can be broadcast online, but we’ve had hundreds of people showing up to our trainings, mobilizations, and more.
Keep going. Tyranny is eroded by a sea of small acts. Everything matters.
Not all of it can be broadcast online, but we’ve had hundreds of people showing up to our trainings, mobilizations, and more.
Keep going. Tyranny is eroded by a sea of small acts. Everything matters.
January 30, 2025 at 4:03 AM
It’s important to know that a lot of productive activity is happening in person and offline, too.
Not all of it can be broadcast online, but we’ve had hundreds of people showing up to our trainings, mobilizations, and more.
Keep going. Tyranny is eroded by a sea of small acts. Everything matters.
Not all of it can be broadcast online, but we’ve had hundreds of people showing up to our trainings, mobilizations, and more.
Keep going. Tyranny is eroded by a sea of small acts. Everything matters.
