Ngawang Trinley was born in a mountain farm in Provence, France. As a young child, he was enrolled in a Buddhist school there, where he also looked after cows for several years. When he was 16, he left behind his cows and went to India...

Tom’s first major job in Bangkok, after moving to the city from Kamphaeng Phet, the province where he was born, was as a file clerk at the Orderly Departure Program for Vietnamese refugees, which operated under the auspices of the Embassy of the United States....