Doualy Xaykaothao
Doualy Xaykaothao is a newscaster and reporter for NPR, based in Culver City. She returned to NPR for this role in 2018, and is responsible for writing, producing, and delivering national newscasts. She also reports on breaking news stories for NPR.
Before she came to NPR, Xaykaothao was a correspondent at Minnesota Public Radio, where she covered race, culture, and immigration. She also served as a senior reporter at KERA, NPR's Member station in Dallas and was an Annenberg Fellow at Member station KPCC in Pasadena.
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. For many years, Xaykaothao was also 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 South Korea, she reported on rising tensions between the two Koreas, including Pyongyang's attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. In Nepal, as a 2006 International Reporting Project Fellow, she reported on the effects of war on children and women. In 2011, she was the first NPR reporter to reach northern Japan to cover 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 is a member of the ethnic Hmong hill tribe, born in Laos, but raised in France and the United States. She attended college in upstate New York, where she specialized in ethnic studies, television, radio, and political science.
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President Obama is visiting South Korea for a nuclear security summit just three months after new leader has come to power in North Korea. All parties are looking to see if the atmosphere is changing, but for now, tensions are still running high along the armistice line. -
Japan's Miyage prefecture was one of the hardest hit by last year's earthquake and tsunami. There, the coastal community of Yuriage remains practically deserted. What was once a beautiful harbor filled with boats and a bustling community is now a desolate and deserted place, Doualy Xaykaothao reports.
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A year after the earthquake and tsunami that killed almost 20,000 people in northeast Japan, schoolchildren are moving on, but have not forgotten. The students and their teachers talk about the effect the quake and its aftermath has had on them. -
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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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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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.
