You like bawdy storytelling? The mother of all Asia expat books is out now ...

Colonel Ken rides again! The latest Hardship Posting book - Vol 5 (which some are nicknaming Sexpat in the City) is now on the shelves.

Stu Lloyd, the creator of the “Hardship Posting – True Tales of Expat Misadventure in Asia” series has finally delivered on his promise for the next volume in the series, Volume 5.

The Hardship Posting series collects contributed stories from expat readers in all parts of Asia, with each book containing about 400 amusing and amazing stories, covering all topics from airline experiences, to dodgy immigration officials, work stories, to language and miscommunication faux pas, to hotel and holidays gone wrong, maids and drivers, and of course stories about girly bars and ladyboys.

“For years readers have been hounding me for the next volume, and for 10, 11, 12 years I kept saying ‘Next year, next year …’. Suddenly we find ourselves 15 years down the track and here it is,” the author admits. “In the meantime, there’s a whole new generation of expats who’ve never even heard of these books – whereas once it was impossible to miss them at every Asian airport. Now we’re working hard to re-find that audience.”

Hardship Posting kick-started the whole Asia expat books genre in 1999, and even outsold Harry Potter in Thailand. “Briefly!” adds Lloyd.

“I’m pleased that the expert on all such matters, the one and only Colonel Ken was again up for the challenge again, and colourfully links each chapter with his unique perspective as a barstool philosopher,” says Lloyd.

“Volume 5 is the biggest and the best one yet is what you’d expect me to say, but technically it is – 500 stories coming in at a whopping 488 pages, submitted by everyone from the CEO of a global Wall St listed company, to a Bangkok ladyboy bitching and moaning about her foreign customers. This volume really offers the full 360-degree perspective of expat life for the first time.”

There are also a dozen specially commissioned cartoons by Pattaya-based English cartoonist Mike Baird, whose humourous insights grace newspapers in the region. “We adapted a few of the existing thousands he’s done over the years, and the rest I gave him the stories and he fit the cartoon to that.” Previous contributors have included Hong Kong-based cartoonist, Larry Feign.

One of the things that makes this one of the funniest ex-pat books you'll ever read
are the 12 cartoons by "Cartoonman" Mike Baird.

Legendary photographer Patrick ‘Shrimp’ Gauvain was once again the go-to photographer for the captivating front cover image. “People say don’t judge a book by its cover. I say, it’s ALL about the cover,” jokes Lloyd, who’s lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and China since 1987.

Reviews have included Liz Davies, from the Alabang Ladies Auxiliary, Manila saying: “There should be a warning on the cover not to read it in airports – I laughed like a drain.” And Nury Vittachi from the HK Standard: “Sleazy, disgusting, politically incorrect and shockingly insensitive – I loved it!” So it’s for those with an open-minded sense of humour.

Stu Lloyd has notched up 30 years as an expat in Asia now since arriving in Hong Kong in 1987, and since having lived in Singapore, Thailand and China. “I was thinking of calling it Crazy Poor White Folks after the great success of Crazy Rich Asians,” he jokes. His other books cover colonial history, the Hash House Harriers, military history and travel, and have sold over 100,000 copies to date.

Hardship Posting Vol 5 is now available from bookstores in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, or from the author’s own site at www.stulloyd.com and www.amazon.com/author/stulloyd.

For the first time, the entire Asian expat books series is also available in eBook formats.