Amanda Hodge

Amanda HodgeSouth East Asia Correspondent

Amanda Hodge is The Australian’s South East Asia correspondent, based in Jakarta. She has lived and worked in Asia since 2009, covering social and political upheaval from Afghanistan to East Timor. She has won a Walkley Award, Lowy Institute media award and UN Peace award.

@hodgeamanda

Latest

OUT OF JAILWorld

Troy Smith is facing drugs charges in Bali, 13 May 24 . Picture: 7NEWS

Bali drug accused moved to rehab centre

A South Australian father of two arrested in Bali for drug possession has been moved from police detention to a rehabilitation facility.

syndicatesWorld

May 5, 2024 - Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand. The new Chinese built city known as Shwe KokKo, also called Yatai City, sits on the eastern edge of Kayin State of Myanmar on the Thai-Myanmar border. Â© Luke Duggleby/Redux

Myanmar scam ties to SE Asia kingpins

A new report outlines a transnational network of businesses built by the Myawaddy Border Guard Force in Myanmar that protects and profits from Chinese criminal syndicates operating online scam centres.

exclusiveTechnology

Screenshot of ‘face-swapping’ product advertisements found within Telegram ‘grey and black market’ groups, 2023.

AI rip-offs from Asia ‘terrifying’

Artificial intelligence is transforming the cyberscam landscape and governments are struggling to keep up.

exclusiveWorld

How Asia’s brutal online scam factories reel in Aussies

Chinese-run ‘scam universities’ are training enslaved workers how to fleece Australians out of their life savings. Inside their walls, a modern horror story is unfolding. WARNING: Graphic content

‘Pig-butchering’World

TOPSHOT - This photo taken on December 11, 2023 shows a member of the Mandalay Peopleâs Defense Forces (MDY-PDF) preparing to release a drone near the frontline amid clashes with Myanmar's military in northern Shan State. A squad of Myanmar pro-democracy fighters works quickly to ready drones for an attack on a nearby military base, the latest target in a wave of aerial assaults that has helped turn the war against the junta. (Photo by AFP) / TO GO WITH Myanmar-coup, FOCUS

Slavery scams threaten security

Americans are among the most targeted for pig-butchering scams with anecdotal evidence suggesting more Australians are victims.

DISPUTED poll resultWorld

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto (C), ccompanied by his coalition party leaders, delivers his victory speech at his residence in Jakarta on March 20 2024, shortly after his election was confirmed by the General Election Commission. The fiery defence minister and his vice presidential running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka -- the eldest son of outgoing leader Joko Widodo -- already declared victory last month after unofficial counts showed them winning a majority. They were officially confirmed as winners on March 20, 2024 after receiving more than 96 million votes, commission chairman Hasyim Asy'ari said, roughly 58.6 percent of the total and enough to secure a first-round majority. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP)

Indonesian court upholds Prabowo victory

Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has upheld Prabowo Subianto’s landslide February presidential election win in a divided ruling that will disappoint some but should surprise no one.

‘Extended exclusive access’World

Cambodia's Defence Minister Tea Banh (L) and China's Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian (R) take part in a groundbreaking ceremony at the Ream naval base in Preah Sihanouk province on June 8, 2022. (Photo by Pann Bony / AFP)

China warships at home in Cambodia

Satellite imagery suggests China may have ‘extended and exclusive access’ to the new Beijing-funded deep-sea port.

‘playing geopolitics’World

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) and Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi attend a press conference after their bilateral meeting at the Foreign Ministry office in Jakarta on April 18, 2024. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

China’s top envoy lashes the US

Indonesia and China issue joint call for immediate Gaza ceasefire as a humanitarian disaster unfolds in the enclave.

Level 4World

This handout photograph taken and released by the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation on April 17, 2024, shows Mount Ruang spewing hot lava and smoke as seen from Sitaro, North Sulawesi. A volcano erupted several times in Indonesia's outermost region overnight on April 17, forcing hundreds of people to be evacuated after it spewed lava and a column of smoke more than a mile into the sky. (Photo by Handout / Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT AFP PHOTO / CENTER FOR VOLCANOLOGY AND GEOLOGICAL HAZARD MITIGATION/ PVMBK - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS- DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Indonesia on tsunami watch as volcanic ash billows 3km high

More than 11,000 people have been ordered to evacuate a 6km zone around Mount Ruang.

Nearly 500 deadWorld

(FILES) A member of a health brigade fumigates a street against the dengue virus at a shanty town on the hills of San Juan de Lurigancho district, Lima on May 11, 2023. The Peruvian government will declare a state of health emergency in 20 of its 25 regions as of February 27, 2024, due to a strong outbreak of dengue fever, the chief of staff announced on February 26. (Photo by Cris BOURONCLE / AFP)

Indonesia battling dengue outbreak

Indonesia is battling a raging dengue fever epidemic with close to 500 deaths already recorded this year _ up 180 per cent on 2023 _ and more than 219,000 suspected cases since January.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/amanda-hodge/page/6