Tommy Walker is a British international journalist reporting overseas, mostly in Asia. He has covered politics, political unrest, elections, military coups, and war. His work has been recognised and has contributed to award-winning press freedom coverage while reporting in Asia.
In 2019 and 2020, Tommy covered the Hong Kong protests and news on the national security law. As well as reporting from the frontline of dozens of street demonstrations, Tommy has interviewed now-jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai and high profile activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, Tony Chung and Lee Cheuk Yan. In addition, Tommy’s photography work of protests and political figures in Hong Kong has been published by leading media outlets worldwide.
In 2021, Tommy partly relocated to Taipei, Taiwan, a city that has a rapidly growing status as a media hotspot in Asia. He has covered the cross-Strait tensions between Taipei and Beijing.
But amid Myanmar’s military coup Tommy relocated to Thailand to cover the subsequent revolution and civil war. He has interviewed key politicians, activists, journalists and soldiers of Myanmar’s rebel armies, basing in Bangkok, and the Thai/Myanmar border Mae Sot to cover the events.
Press freedom has been a key focus of Tommy’s reportage. For The Telegraph, he interviewed Indonesian journalist Veby Mega Indah – blinded by a rubber bullet in 2019 – during Hong Kong’s anti-government protests.
Tommy has also worked heavily with Voice of America’s press freedom team. He interviewed 2021’s Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Ressa from the Philippines shortly before her award.. In November 2021, Tommy was a part of VOA’s Press Freedom team that won the inaugural Media Freedom Award at the Association for International Broadcaster (AIB) awards.
Russia’s war in Ukraine saw Tommy report on the ground, filing both text and images with newspapers, broadcasters and media agencies. Tommy worked at the Poland border before reporting in Ukraine, covering the war throughout the country including from the frontlines in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv. Tommy has worked in Ukraine several times, mainly for British newspaper The Daily Express, both in 2022 and 2023.
While in Bangkok, Tommy has reported on Thailand’s anti-government youth movement that began in 2020. He has attended several heated clashes between demonstrators and police in the city’s Din Daeng suburb in 2021.
Tommy provided main coverage for Thailand’s general elections in 2023 for VOA News. His reportage also includes hard news on Thailand’s tourism sector, environment, Songkran festival, mass shootings, new cannabis regulations and pending same-sex marriage law for Deutsche Welle. Tommy has also covered news in the Southeast Asia region, include Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Philippines in 2023, 2024.
At the beginning of 2024, Tommy reported on the ground for the Taiwan Presidential Election, as Asia’s top democracy went to the polls to vote for their next leader.
Before transitioning into international journalism, Tommy was a travel writer. His travels are wide and many, having visited dozens of countries within six continents, including several years within the Asia region and 15 months in Latin America.
Tommy has embarked on several sponsored trips to destinations including North Korea, Borneo Malaysia, Singapore, Morocco, and New Zealand. His travel excursions often find Tommy exploring “off the beaten track” destinations, which have included Venezuela, Guyana, and Colombia’s “Lost City”, amongst others.
Tommy has lived in Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico.
As of 2024, Tommy has spent 12 years overseas.
Reporting:
Published | Worked For | Appeared On
Voice of America (VOA), Deutsche Welle (DW), The Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, Byline Times, Daily Mirror, Daily Express, BBC (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Tees), The Northern Echo, Al Jazeera, The Diplomat, VICE Asia, South China Morning Post, Rappler, Nikkei Asia, Coconuts Hong Kong, NewsCorp Australia, Asia Media Centre NZ, SWI (SwissInfo), Salzburger Nachrichten, EBS Korea, Hit FM (QLD).
Republished | Cited In
Independent.ie, The Guardian, New Zealand Herald, Global Asia, Asia Times, News Lens International, South Asian Monitor, WorldAkkam, India Express, MSN.
Photography / Video:
Published | Worked For | Via Agency
BBC News, Voice of America, CNN, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Bloomberg, CNBC, ABC News, TIME, The Atlantic, Forbes, Business Insider, Huffington Post, WIRED, Daily Wire, Axios, The Conversation, Amnesty, Financial Times, The Telegraph, Daily Mail UK, Daily Express UK, Liverpool Echo, Byline Times, The Independent, The Tablet, Yahoo!, Deutsche Welle (DW), Rappler, Nikkei Asia, Asia Times, Le Point FR, TRT World, Malta Times, National Herald India, The Straits Times, 7News Australia.
Travel Articles & Reports
Published | Photography | Featured | Appeared On | Cited
BBC World Service, BBC Tees, South China Morning Post, Deutsche Welle Asia, The Bangkok Post, Rappler, Manila Times, NewsCorp Australia, HIT Radio, Stuff NZ, New Zealand Herald, Business Insider, INC. Magazine, Forbes, Buzzfeed, Matador Network, Travel & Leisure, Conde Naste Traveler, The Travel Magazine, View Magazine, Smile Magazine (Cebu Pacific Air), AWOL (Junkee), Travel Pocket Guide, Guyana Chronicle, Samui Times, The Northern Echo, Daily Express UK, Teesside Gazette.
