Good morning!
Exactly one year ago yesterday — on July 13, 2025 — I hit “publish” on the very first issue of Soiciety from my apartment in Jersey City. But the project began a few weeks earlier.
Before Soiciety was an award-winning publication, its working title was “The Bangkok Radar.” The idea: Put Bangkok local news on your radar.
I had even mapped out regular sections to say “here are things on the Radar this week,” alongside an “Off the Radar” column.
Under that name, I sent a survey to 50 Thais and non-Thais living in Bangkok, asking them, among other questions: What is broken about English-language news in the city?
💡 The answers I got back became the blueprint for everything I do today:
“A lot of it feels scattered. There’s no consistent place to get detailed, regularly updated city-specific content unless you patch together multiple sources.”
“Local governance. There’s plenty of coverage on national politics; urban development rarely gets the attention it deserves.”
“I’d say I trust some, but many outlets still avoid sensitive topics or lean heavily into sensationalism.”
The thesis: Build a publication that focuses solely on Bangkok and things affecting lives in the city, one that respects your intelligence, your time and journalistic standards.
That’s how Soiciety was born.
The Bangkok Radar wasn’t the right name because it felt like surveillance. But more importantly, I wanted a name that acted as a filter. Soiciety is a blend of “soi” and “society,” a great fit for urban reporting in a city where daily life happens in the sois.
The running joke is that grammar checkers (and non-residents) constantly think I misspelled “society.” But that’s the point. If you don’t know what a soi is, this publication probably isn’t for you — it’s for people who live here.
A working logo for “The Bangkok Radar.”
📊 By the numbers
The first issue last year went out to nine people. Here’s where the publication stands:
1,700+ of you now read this every week.
75 issues published, including weekly briefings, special editions and original features.
2 major industry awards won, including the top spot globally as the world’s Best Emerging News Provider.
3 city walks hosted (with 3 more planned) to bring local news offline.
Countless hours spent reporting on the ground, translating PDFs of legal texts and talking to readers.
🎁 Will you help secure Year Two?
Year One proved this newsroom of one could produce world-class local journalism. Year Two is about making it sustainable.
I’m building Soiciety toward a reader-funded newsroom because it’s the only model that allows me to serve your best interests first as a journalist, not advertisers’ or investors’.
But independent journalism is a grind, and while awards validate the work, readers fund the labor. Yesterday was our first birthday. The best gift you can give is becoming a supporter.
My goal for Year Two is to deepen coverage with more original features and host more in-person events; both need steady funding.
🚀 If you rely on Soiciety to understand Bangkok, will you help fund Year Two today?
By joining the Soi Resident program for $15/month — less than a decent dinner out in Bangkok — you directly buy me the time required to make this city legible. As a thank you, you get:
Soi Blueprint: A monthly paywalled reporter’s notebook column.
Event access: Residents get free access to all ticketed community meetups and city walks.
1-on-1s: You get priority access for a one-on-one chat with me to discuss Bangkok and pitch story ideas directly.
Thank you for an incredible first year!
Chatwan