About me
I have been a journalist and writer throughout what has been a long and adventurous career. Born in London, I have lived at various times in Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong. I have been to 60 countries on assignment, helped by the fact that I can also handle a camera and thereby illustrate my own work. These days I am a little more settled, and provide a range of editorial services to corporate accounts, along with a lengthening list of books on subjects that interest me.
How it began
Starting out as a chief sub on a weekly paper, I progressed to covering the big infrastructural developments in the Middle East in the late 1970s. During the early 1980s I was living in Bangkok and working as editor in chief of a range of travel titles, and then I went on to Singapore where I was editorial director of a new company being launched by Arab interests.
How it continued
After my contract in Singapore was finished, I moved to Hong Kong, where I established myself as a leading freelance writer and did all sorts of interesting things like becoming a well-known restaurant critic, owning a Thai restaurant, and being elected chairman of the Hong Kong Press Club. I moved back to Bangkok in the early 1990s, and I divide my time now between there and London.
I provide an online copywriting and editorial service to corporate interests, and supply anything from promotional campaigns through to websites and publications.
22 Walks in Bangkok
I am happy to say this has been a best seller. Bangkok is a difficult city to understand. To anyone arriving there for the first time it is an immense sprawl, and probably not what they were expecting. Tourists will be taken to the big set-piece sights, but many of the most intriguing places are tucked away, and not easily found.
The guidebooks will only give an outline to the main sites, and there really isn't much information on the city that is easily available. There is nothing that brings the city to life by explaining how it was formed and built, and by describing people and events that place the historic districts and buildings into context.
22 Walks in Bangkok takes each of the historic neighbourhoods and looks at them as a series of villages that can be walked and explored.
Publisher: Tuttle
Arriving in 2025
Heritage Hotels of Asia: Past & Present.
Vol 1: South Asia
Vol 2: Southeast & East Asia
Heritage Hotels of Asia describes both the classic hotels of the region and the new generation of hotels that has emerged in recent years as interest in the conservation of historic buildings has led to many old structures being restored and repurposed for use as luxury or boutique properties.
Country by country throughout Asia, the book explores the legacy of buildings, many from the colonial era, the early development of tourism and the very first hotels, through to the renovation of old structures and their conversion to hotel use.
The buildings have a great diversity in their original purpose, ranging from mansions and private homes through to company offices, government accommodation, law courts, shop houses, warehouses, and even a police station or two.
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Co
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Writing services
My experience ranges across all forms of written communication, and many industries including property development, architecture and construction, tourism and hospitality, textiles and garments, medicine, automotive, and education.
Southeast and East Asia is a specialisation, having lived in the region for so many years. I began to make visits into China as early as the mid 1980s, and have worked in association with European companies in China and also with Chinese publishers.
I am very familiar with India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. South America is also part of my background, having travelled in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru.
Corporate
I can provide anything from press releases through to website text, newsletters, speech writing, official reports, email interviews with the media, and company annual reports. A specialist service is working with organisations that require text for a directory or booklet, and which needs me to undertake online research coupled with raw material provided by the client.
Editorial
Ghosted feature articles, conference reports, transforming of technical papers into popular editorial format. I also write for publications under my own name when commissioned. Working in association with a designer, I can assemble a complete publication, from working the raw material into editorial format through to proofreading the finished publication.
Getting started
To provide you with what you require, generally all I need is background information and bullet points, which can be provided via email. If necessary, briefings can be done via Zoom or Teams, but experience has proven this is effective only for clarification, and that the written word works best.
Contact Me
If you want to know more
You can send me a message or ask me a general question using this form.
I will do my best to get back to you soon!
kenneth barrett
