Remembering an Aussie journalist who broke new ground in Bangkok
Craig Knowles, an Australian journalist who was part of the original Nation TV team, died suddenly in Bangkok recently. He was 52.
Knowles, whose intellect, compassion and joy for life marked a life lived to the full, died in Bangkok on September 25 from complications due to illness.
From the small town of Dapto, New South Wales, his first foray into journalism was with Wollongong regional newspaper, the Illawarra Mercury.
From Wollongong he moved to Sydney, first to consumer watchdog magazine Choice, then to the Australian Associated Press, where he specialised in finance reporting.
Knowles’ razor-sharp wit and intellect was ever present in a varied career that took him overseas, first to London and then onto Hong Kong and finally to Thailand, where he resided for almost two decades, and came to call home.
He arrived in Bangkok in May 1992 and within days was covering the popular uprising and deadly military crackdown that followed, for radio networks in Australia and Hong Kong.
His first foray into television was in Bangkok, where he was part of the original team that started Nation TV and Nation Radio, appearing both on screen and producing TV shows.
Later he worked for Bangkok production company Asiaworks before moving into freelance work running projects for various UN agencies and NGOs.
With Asiaworks, Knowles produced a series of documentaries for RECOFTC, the forest protection NGO. The film from Sulawesi won the top prize at the Green Screen International Film Festival in Canada in 2011.
One of his longstanding concerns was with people living with HIV-Aids. Knowles served a number of terms on the board of the Foreign Correspondent’s Club, which benefited hugely from his time and commitment to raising the club’s profile.
Prayers will be held at Wat Klong Toei Nok, on Friday at 7pm, with a
cremation service to follow on Saturday at 4pm, after which friends will gather for a celebration of his life.
