hard at his sources, wrote fluently, but he was also transparently un-ideological. Beyond a broad belief in the value of a free press, no theories were built into his typewriter or computer. He had a natural charm, believed in getting along with people while being an acute observer of their foibles. This, together with honest journalism, made him acceptable to ministers, generals and politicians who might otherwise shun the Review – though they still read it. But even more, he was liked by his colleagues – to some of whom he attached nicknames which were accurate as well as endearing. A mentor to many, he was always helpful to newcomers offering names and phone numbers, and advice on dealing with Hong Kong. Never obviously competitive, he did not focus on scoops. They arrived simply because he had good contacts and was trusted. It takes time and personality to build those relationships. Given his years in Bangkok, his Thai contacts were especially good and proved invaluable to other correspondents. They did not save him from an attempt by Thaksin Shinawatra, then prime minister, to expel him. But again, that came to nothing. Rod was simply too well-known and liked for Thaksin to pursue it. Soon Rod was meeting with the prime minister and exchanging memories of 1960s popular songs. As chief correspondent, he was also tasked with helping correspondents in distress, most memorably getting the magazine’s Pakistan correspondent, Salamat Ali, out of jail, and being on hand for the stoic Murray Hiebert’s incarceration in Malaysia. Lesser but more frequent calls were to smooth feathers ruffled by editing decisions in Hong Kong or rivalries within two-person bureaus. At its peak, the Review had some 20 staff correspondents
David Jenkins
OBITUARY
Top, the Review's Bangkok bureau in the 1980s: Rodney Tasker, left, with John McBeth, Paisal Sricharatchanya, and Bertil Lintner; opposite, Tasker in Kent in 2001; bottom left, with his second wife Elvie in the early 1980s; bottom right, with his first wife Joanie in 1970.
based out of Hong Kong and a similar number of stringers and regular contributors. Meanwhile, he was always regarded with esteem by a succession of distinguished Review colleagues in Bangkok and nearby – John McBeth, David Jenkins, Susumu Awanohara, Shim Jae Hoon, Paisal Sricharatchanya, Paul Handley, Celine Fernandez, Bertil Lintner, Michael Vatikiotis, Nate Thayer, Shawn Crispin – and by Asiabased stalwarts for other media such as Keith Richburg, Lindsay Murdoch and Derek Williams, and for those such as Mike Keats, Mike MacLachlan and Tony Clifton now retired elsewhere. All this took its toll on Rod, whose bonhomie hid an acute sensitivity which was the very reason he was so well liked. The earlier suicide of his brother and only sibling, and then the death of his mother, long weighed on him. Despite several relationships, he
never found the partner worthy of his talents and disposition nor had the family life that maybe could have steadied him. He retired to Chiang Mai a decade ago, for a while keeping busy playing golf, helping edit The Irrawaddy, the Chiang Mai-based magazine reporting Myanmar, and enjoying the company of other semi-retired hacks. His last years were spent at his partner’s village in central Thailand, sorely missed by his friends and colleagues in Bangkok, Hong Kong and around Asia and the UK. Sadly he was unable to attend the great Review reunion in Hong Kong in April 2014. He died too young, but his career showed how far a mix of inquisitiveness, sensitivity, clear writing and easy manner could take a cadet from the Kidderminster Times to an honoured place among foreigners with a lifetime of reporting Asia for Asian and international readers. THE CORRESPONDENT
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