Doualy Xaykaothao
Doualy Xaykaothao is a newscaster and reporter for NPR.
She is responsible for writing, producing and delivering national newscasts. She also reports on breaking news stories for NPR's All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition.
Xaykaothao first joined NPR in 1999 as a production assistant for Morning Edition, and has since worked as a producer, editor, director and reporter for NPR's award-winning newsmagazines. She's also worked at Minnesota Public Radio, and at NPR Member Stations: KERA, KPCC and KCRW.
For nearly a decade, Xaykaothao was also a correspondent based in Seoul and Bangkok, chasing breaking news in North and Southeast Asia for NPR. In Thailand, she covered the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. In Nepal, as a 2006 International Reporting Project Fellow, she reported on the effects of war on children and women. In South Korea, she reported on rising tensions between the two Koreas, including North Korea's attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. In 2011, she was the first NPR reporter to witness and cover the aftermath of the Tōhoku earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdowns.
Xaykaothao is a multi-platform journalist whose work has won Edward R. Murrow and Peabody Awards. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from SUNY Empire, and she has a Master of Arts (Business and Economics concentration) from Columbia University.
For those curious, Doualy means Shadow-of-the-Moon in her native Hmong language. She is a member of an indigenous hill tribe from Asia, born in Laos, but raised in France and the United States.
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Radiation still leaks from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan after last year's meltdowns. The continuing threats from the disaster go beyond contamination: For farmers, uncertainty can also be toxic. -
The Kaesong Industrial Complex is a joint North Korea and South Korea experiment. Every day hundreds of workers from South Korea go to work in North Korea, and thousands of workers from North Korea go to jobs in South Korean factories at the complex. The atmosphere was heavy after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died.
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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has won the release of an American citizen from a North Korea prison. Boston native Aijalon Gomes had been teaching in South Korea when he crossed illegally into the North and was imprisoned in January.
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The U.S. ambassador to Thailand said an American plane filled with relief supplies was ready to take off for Myanmar on Thursday, but the government there revoked permission. U.S. disaster relief specialists are also having trouble getting in, despite their unique and badly needed skills.
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The most senior woman in Nepal's Maoist insurgency is known as Comrade Parvati. In a rare interview from hiding in India, she explains why women are drawn to the insurgency, how children are used in the insurgency and why killing is sometimes neccessary.
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In Nepal, Maoist rebels have waged a war against the king for a decade. A visit to the heartland of the Maoist rebellion in Nepal reveals more about the roots of this decade-long civil war and its effects on women and children.
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Thailand's beach resort communities have been recovering slowly since the devastating tsunami struck a year ago. Hotels have been rebuilt and tourists have returned. Residents of the resort towns will commemorate the anniversary, but after that, many want to look forward rather than back.
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Six months after a tsunami struck the region, tourism in the Thai resort town of Phuket has yet to rebound. Tourist revenue -- the community's lifeblood -- is down by half. Hotel rooms remain empty, while scores of airlines have ended or cut back service. -
Monday's earthquake did not trigger a tsunami, but it did spark a scare across the region. Several countries along the Indian Ocean received early word of the possibility of a second tsunami, including Thailand, where tens of thousands fled to higher ground.
