Ron Emmons          Writer & Photographer
  • Blog
    • Introduction
  • Teaklord
    • Description and buying options
    • News of Teak Lord
    • The Making of a Book Cover
    • Tracking the Teak Lord 1
    • Tracking the Teak Lord 2
    • Tracking the Teak Lord 3
    • Review of Teak Lord
    • Teak Talk
    • Audiobook launch
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Periodicals >
      • On the road to hell
      • Vietnam's World Heritage Sites
      • Teatime in Thailand
      • Thailand's Highway 101
      • Reading the chicken bones
      • Motoring by the Mekong
      • Vietnam war sites
      • Thailand's wild west
      • Koh Mak BBC
      • Thailand's world heritage sites
      • Thai elephant camps
      • Floating Festivals
      • Thailand's 'Lost Kingdom'
      • Teak of the Town
      • Delve into Thai rice culture
      • Book review: The Social Life of Teak
      • Conquering Doi Luang Chiang Dao
      • Teak Trails
      • A Culture Blossoms
      • Black, White and Blue
      • Deep in the Delta
      • Strange Town
      • Blissful Bloom
      • The Wonder of Water
      • Striking Signs
      • A Hike up Chiang Dao Mountain
      • Quirky Chiang Mai
      • Trailblazer
      • On the Road to Rio
    • Digital content
  • Portfolio
    • Searching for Shangri-La
    • Travel
    • Biography
    • Nature
    • Buddhism
    • Photography
    • Article List
  • Short Stories
    • Beyond the End of the Road
    • The Green Monkey's Tale
    • The Red Lion's Tale
    • Eruption in Ethiopia
    • First Flight
    • As Dawn Breaks over Choroni
    • The Hungry Eye
    • On Spirit Mountain
  • Biography
    • Ron's CV

Welcome!

What an amazing world we live in...to watch an audio slideshow introducing my website, please click here.
Open slideshow

Walking with Nature

2/12/2025

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One reason I love living in North Thailand (apart from the super-friendly people, benign climate and scrumptious food) is the chance to go wandering along trails in the foothills of the Himalaya. In the last three decades, I've hiked many of them, and now I've curated six of the best for Nikkei Asia. Enjoy walking with Nature!
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Heritage sites, hell and the great grain

29/9/2025

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September has been a busy month for publications. First came A tour of Vietnam's World Heritage Sites, with a bumper 20 images, including a welcome contribution from photographer friend David Henley in the form of images of the Yen Tu Monuments, inscribed on UNESCO's list in July 2025. Then came On the Road to Hell, a description of a wacky garden of hell in a temple near Chiang Mai, and finally The Great Grain, which delves into Thai rice culture and is now probably my best-selling story ever, having been published in various forms over the years. 
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Thailand's ancient trees

31/8/2025

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I'm really pleased to see my work featured in Mongabay, a highly respected website that focuses exclusively on the environment. If you're in Chiang Mai, check out Changthong Heritage Park; you won't be disappointed. The story is here.
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Thai Tea Takes Off

19/7/2025

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I've just completed an interesting assignment for an inflight magazine – writing a story about Thai tea culture. As a photographer, my favourite subject is nature, so I was only too happy to take on the task.

I was even happier when perplexity.ai provided all the background I needed about the tea-making process as well as a short list of tea plantations in North Thailand that are accessible and welcoming. 

I set off on my travels and was delighted to find that all the plantations I visited have won prestigious international awards in recent years for new varieties of tea.
​
The story will appear in September, but in the meantime, here's a sneak preview of images from my research trip.
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On a roll...

2/5/2025

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I've been on a roll lately with stories on Thailand's Wild West, Vietnam's War Sites and a Mekong Road Trip published in the New Zealand Herald and Nikkei Asia. You can see the complete stories here.
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An ambition realized

27/2/2025

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Like many writers and photographers, I have often hoped to see my work published in top publications like Nat Geo and the BBC. Got into Nat 'Geo some years ago and now have my first story in BBC Travel. Come and savour the delights of slow-life tourism on a tiny island in the Gulf of Thailand. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250220-koh-mak-the-tiny-island-thats-redefining-travel-to-thailand

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Teak Treat for Christmas

12/12/2024

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How about throwing a log on the fire and snuggling up with a gripping tale of a teak boom this Christmas, all for FREE?


For 5 DAYS ONLY, from 12 to 16 DECEMBER (Pacific Standard Time), the ebook of TEAK LORD is completely free on Amazon. So don't delay – download today!

If you prefer to listen to audiobooks, please email me to request a redemption code for a FREE COPY of the TEAK LORD audiobook on Spotify.

If you’d rather read the hugely popular paperback version (over 500 copies sold in Thailand alone), go here for buying and reviewing options.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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It never rains...

23/7/2024

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...(yes, you know the rest)...but it pours. After months of few publications, suddenly it's all happening, so I'm catching up by posting PDFs of three recently published stories on my publications page. They are:
– Delve into Thai rice culture
– Teak of the town
– Thailand's 'Lost Kingdom' (of Wiang Kum Kam)
Enjoy!
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Still searching...

30/4/2024

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My first self-published book was Searching for Shangri-La, a collection of a dozen travelogues that are more about myself than the locations they describe. Occasionally I have changed the story that features on my website, and now it’s time for another change. Since we’re deep into the smog season in Chiang Mai, when the city frequently ranks as the most polluted on Earth, I thought it would be a good time to share the title story. There’s an audio version too, so to read about or listen to a lifetime of Searching for Shangri-La in just 15 minutes, just go here.
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Want a Better Book Experience? Try Whispersync, with Teak Lord!

1/12/2023

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If you’re someone who gets through a lot of books, chances are you a) read printed books, b) read ebooks, or c) listen to audiobooks. Yet these days we can tailor our requirements to suit our routine, by using Whispersync for Voice. 
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And here is how it's typically used:
And now a tempting offer for you to try it out. For FIVE DAYS ONLY, from 1–5 December 2023 (PST), the ebook of TEAK LORD will be completely FREE on Amazon, and once you’ve downloaded that, click on the audiobook version and you should find it at a greatly reduced price.
This offer is only for Amazon, but if it seems too complicated and you'd rather just try the audiobook experience for free, email me to request a code to download the audiobook on SPOTIFY, and I'll send a link to nearly 10 hours of exciting adventures in the teak forests of Lanna.
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    Ron Emmons 

    is a British writer and photographer based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

    Categories

    All
    Buddhism
    Hiking
    Historical
    Myanmar
    Nature
    Personal
    Photography
    Post Apocalypse
    Publishing
    Reviews
    Social Issues
    Thailand
    UK
    Vietnam
    Writing

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Text and images copyright © Ron Emmons 2000-2025

Contact details:

Ron Emmons
122 Moo 7, San Pisua,
Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand.

Tel/Fax: (66-53) 115150
Mobile: +66-841758104
[email protected]

amazon.com/author/ronemmons
Contact Ron
  • Blog
    • Introduction
  • Teaklord
    • Description and buying options
    • News of Teak Lord
    • The Making of a Book Cover
    • Tracking the Teak Lord 1
    • Tracking the Teak Lord 2
    • Tracking the Teak Lord 3
    • Review of Teak Lord
    • Teak Talk
    • Audiobook launch
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Periodicals >
      • On the road to hell
      • Vietnam's World Heritage Sites
      • Teatime in Thailand
      • Thailand's Highway 101
      • Reading the chicken bones
      • Motoring by the Mekong
      • Vietnam war sites
      • Thailand's wild west
      • Koh Mak BBC
      • Thailand's world heritage sites
      • Thai elephant camps
      • Floating Festivals
      • Thailand's 'Lost Kingdom'
      • Teak of the Town
      • Delve into Thai rice culture
      • Book review: The Social Life of Teak
      • Conquering Doi Luang Chiang Dao
      • Teak Trails
      • A Culture Blossoms
      • Black, White and Blue
      • Deep in the Delta
      • Strange Town
      • Blissful Bloom
      • The Wonder of Water
      • Striking Signs
      • A Hike up Chiang Dao Mountain
      • Quirky Chiang Mai
      • Trailblazer
      • On the Road to Rio
    • Digital content
  • Portfolio
    • Searching for Shangri-La
    • Travel
    • Biography
    • Nature
    • Buddhism
    • Photography
    • Article List
  • Short Stories
    • Beyond the End of the Road
    • The Green Monkey's Tale
    • The Red Lion's Tale
    • Eruption in Ethiopia
    • First Flight
    • As Dawn Breaks over Choroni
    • The Hungry Eye
    • On Spirit Mountain
  • Biography
    • Ron's CV