Patrick Winn
Correspondent
The WorldI’m The World’s correspondent based in Bangkok. I like to cover stories on an array of topics but am particularly compelled by narratives that subvert stereotypes about Southeast Asia.
I’m The World’s correspondent based in Bangkok. I like to report on crime syndicates, pop culture trends and any story that has overlooked implications for the United States. I’m particularly compelled by narratives that subvert stereotypes about Southeast Asia.Before joining The World in 2015, I was a senior correspondent with GlobalPost. My work has also appeared on NBC News, The Atlantic, the BBC and other outlets.My investigations and documentaries have earned numerous awards. I’ve received the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (known as the “poor man’s Pulitzer”) as well as a prestigious National Press Club award. I’m also a two-time winner of Amnesty International’s Human Rights Press Awards.Back in 2012, I was an on-the-ground consultant for the debut episode of CNN’s “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.” Filmed in Myanmar, the show won two Emmys.I was raised in Eden, a largely abandoned North Carolina factory town that once mass-produced carpets and cheap beer. I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2003 with a journalism degree.Since 2008, I’ve lived in Thailand, where I eat an inordinate amount of grilled catfish and sticky rice. I read and speak Thai — and occasionally sing it, badly, in upcountry karaoke bars.
In Bangladesh, warning systems help prevent storm casualties
The world is getting stormier, and the UN blames the increase in weather-related disasters on climate change. Bangladesh has been hit especially hard, but these days, cyclones there result in very few casualties — thanks to a homegrown warning system.
Women fight for respect in Japan’s sumo rings
Sumo wrestling in Japan is among the world’s oldest sports, dating back at least 1,500 years. The rules are simple: Square off with an opponent in a ring lined with sand, then try to push the other person out. Another rule: Japanese professional sumo is also off-limits to women. Japanese women wrestlers who achieve champion status at international sumo events are frustrated to face prejudice back home.
Japanese dads struggle to reform fatherhood
Statistically speaking, for every baby born in Japan, two people pass away. The country’s rapidly shrinking population is, according to Japanese officials, a “national emergency” threatening its future prosperity and entire way of life. They’re struggling to reverse this trend but some believe fixing this problem calls for a revolution in Japanese fatherhood. The World’s Patrick Winn reports with Aya Asakura in Tokyo.
Narcs and spies: The drug war’s murky origins in Southeast Asia
In a nationwide address in the 1970s, President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be “public enemy No. 1” and stepped up efforts to shut down the global trade. Much of the initial efforts of the DEA were focused on Southeast Asia where US troops in Vietnam were using heroin.
