Although he still carries a Dutch passport, Carool Kersten has mostly lived overseas for the last 15 years or so, and considers himself a citizen of the world. He is now making a sincere effort to stay put in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.

Over the years he has studied Arabic, Islam, International Relations, Philosophy and Southeast Asian Studies. After obtaining master's in Arabic Language & Culture, he embarked on a chequered international career that has taken him to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Thailand -- interrupted by short stints in his home country. Before returning to the world of academia, he has been a professional translator, management assistant, office manager, Arabic language instructor, Middle East consultant and human resourses manager. At present he is a lecturer in Asian history and resident director of a Study Abroad Program at a university in Thailand.

His eclectic research interests include Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian history, Islamic philosophy, comparative religion and travel writing. In the remaining time he likes to indulge in his addiction to reading, sometimes to the despair of his Thai wife Nida and children, Melanie and Christopher.

Carool welcomes reader reactions to his reviews at seekay2000@hotmail.com.

Reviews by Carool include:

Azam Ali
• Portals of Grace

Animus
• self-titled

Severin Browne
• This Twisted Road

Bubba Mac Blues Band
• Just Life

Buddhist Monks of Maitri Vihar Monastery
• Tibetan Mantras & Chants

Cascade Folk Trio
• Old Street

Richard Clayderman & Rahul Sharma
• The Confluence

Gevorg Dabaghyan
• Miniatures: Masterworks for Armenian Duduk

Darvish
• self-titled

Dromedary
• Artifact

Galina Durmushliyska
• The Enchanting Voice of Bulgaria

Ensemble Karot
• Vol. I

Mahmoud Fadl
• The Drummers of the Nile in Town: CairoSonic

Raymond Fairchild
• Plays the Classics

Pandit Kumar Gandharva
• Nirguni Bhajans

Gigi, with Bill Laswell
• Illuminated Audio

David Gogo
• Bare Bones: The Acoustic Blues

Corey Harris
• Mississippi to Mali

Jony Iliev Band
• Ma Maren Ma

Sunny Jain Collective
• As Is

Zohreh Jooya & Madjid Derakhshani
• Music of the Persian Mystics

Salif Keita
• Moffou

Shafqat Ali Khan
• Sublime Sufi: New Perspectives on Ancient Sufi Roots
• Sufi Songs

Habib Koite & Bamada
• Foly! Live Around the World

Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur
• Khayals

Metropolitan Klezmer
• Yiddish for Travelers

Natraj
• The Goat Also Gallops

Rick Neeley
• General Merchandise

La Nef
• Music for Joan the Mad: Spain 1479-1555

NuSound
• World Moods

The Otis Brothers
• Let's Go to Huntin'

Prasant Radhakrishnan
• Swara Sudha

Raj Rangayyan & Utpal Mazumdar
• If You Have the Time

Sarband
• Ballads of the Sephardic Jews

Serah
• Late Harvest

Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw, with Bill Laswell
• Abyssinia Infinite: Zion Roots

James Coberly Smith
• Cocomo

Merja Soria
• Arctic Silence

Victor Spiegel
• Evocation

Talisman
• Music of Russian Princesses: From the Court of Catherine the Great

Tinariwen
• The Radio Tisdas Sessions

various artists
• Festival in the Desert
• Music from Vietnam #5: Minorities from the Central Highlands & Coast
• Reves d'Oasis: Desert Blues 2
• The Rough Guide to Bellydance
• The Rough Guide to the Music of the Himalayas
• Smooth Africa II: Exploring the Soul
• The Sounds of the Western Sahara: Mauritania

Willie & Lobo
• Manana

Les Yeux Noirs
• Live


Jack Cavanaugh
• While Mortals Sleep

Scott C. Davis
• The Road from Damascus: A Journey Through Syria

Amitav Ghosh
• The Glass Palace

Bettye Hammer Givens
• The Diaries of Emily Saidouili

Daisaku Ikeda
• For the Sake of Peace -- Seven Paths to Global Harmony: A Buddhist Perspective

Richard Joseph
• Transcend

Jamal Sleem Nuweihed
• Abu Jmeel's Daughter & Other Stories: Arab Folk Tales from Palestine & Lebanon