BOOKS

The published are written in Italian

Independently published (2026)

Nord Thailandia on the road

Three thousand kilometres in the saddle of a Kawasaki KLR 650, across asphalt, people and borders.

Reporter Fabio Polese, who has been covering Southeast Asia for more than fifteen years, delves into the stories of former drug traffickers, monks fighting drugs by teaching the ancient martial art of Muay Thai, and today's Golden Triangle, caught between scam cities and waters polluted by illegal mining.
He meets fishermen living far from the modern world, a woman who has devoted her life to children fleeing the war in Myanmar, a couple of shamans and ordinary people encountered along the way.
Against this backdrop, the motorcycle journey crosses mountains, rivers, villages, ancient traditions and borders that sometimes seem invisible. Through reportage, personal reflections and the occasional flashback, the author takes the reader into Thailand's most hidden and fascinating side.
The book includes a black-and-white photo section and a selection of motorcycle routes through Northern Thailand.

Eclettica edizioni (2019)

Borderline. Storie dai confini del mondo

Through the unexplored roads of Thailand aboard battered pick-up trucks, or in old Mercedes cars with Palestinian militiamen in southern Lebanon. In the jungles of Eastern Burma, following the Karen guerrilla, or with Muslim rebels on the Philippine island of Mindanao. In the suburbs of Belfast, alongside former IRA fighters, over pints of Guinness and explosive tales. Or in the front-line trenches of Donbass, on payday for pro-Russian soldiers, amid rivers of vodka, fried pork, and a hail of bullets. With a would-be jihadist in Brussels, the capital of Europe. Or with a courageous missionary who has spent forty years living among radicalism and corrupt soldiers... These – and many others – are the stories the reporter immerses us in. A book without rhetoric, authentic, that brings us up close to the world’s edges.

Eclettica edizioni (2019)

Sak Yant. Inchiostro magico

Journey inside the world of Sak Yant, the Thai magical tattoos. Originally worn by warriors, who used them as a "protective armor" in battle, they have a high spiritual value and an ancient tradition. According to local culture, they are a connection between the physical world and the world of spirits, and are even capable of determining or changing the course of one's existence. The author managed to come into contact with some Ajarn, who revealed to him the most occult secrets hidden behind the Sak Yant. He himself got tattooed by several masters, to truly understand how and why certain things can happen.

Eclettica edizioni (2018)

Terra sacra e guerriglia

The second release in the photographic series "Diaframmi" features the shots of photojournalist Fabio Polese, dedicated to the Karen people. There are still untouched peoples. Ancestral. Who still believe that the earth is something sacred. To be defended. At all costs. One of them is the Karen, who live in Eastern Burma, where the world’s longest and most unknown war is being fought. To reach their territory, one must start from the city of Mae Sot, in Thailand. Six hours of travel heading south, skirting the endless natural border between the two Asian countries. The border that does not exist is crossed clandestinely, entering the thick vegetation of the jungle, leaving behind the main road made of dangerous bends and Thai army checkpoints. The Burmese government has defined it a “black area.” A black zone where journalists are not allowed to enter, but where anything is possible. They shoot on sight, and the violence — which began back in 1949 and has caused thousands of victims — has never ended.

MURSIA (2017)

I guerrieri di Dio

More than thirty years after its founding, the Party of God represents a political-military organization about which much has been said and written — often inaccurately — being described at times as a fundamentalist movement, a Shiite terrorist group, or a creation of revolutionary Iran serving Syria. Equipped with a sprawling structure that has made it active in the social, cultural, welfare, and military fields, from its very origins a determined opponent of imperialism and already a key player in the liberation of Lebanon from Israel, Hezbollah is known as the Islamic Resistance. To understand its complex history, this essay starts from the Lebanese and Middle Eastern context in which the Party of God was born and grew, guiding the reader through the knowledge of the people, ideas, political actions, and military campaigns of an entity that has made pragmatism and secrecy one of its key strengths.

ECLETTICA (2016)

Strade di Belfast

More than 17 years have passed since the Good Friday Agreement — the peace accords signed in April 1998 by the British and Irish governments — and 10 years since the Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced the beginning of the destruction of its weapons. But does the IRA really no longer exist? This book, through the stories of direct witnesses, interviews, and photographs, attempts to tell the current situation of a still rebellious Belfast without filters. Because, while it is true that the situation has calmed down, in this land scarred by decades of war, the past is hard to forget, and the desire for freedom is still etched in the heart of every Irish republican.

ECLETTICA (2012)

Le voci del silenzio

How many fellow Italians are aware of the conditions in which around three thousand nationals are forced to live while imprisoned abroad — sometimes in defiance of international law and amid the negligence of our own consulates? How many would ever imagine that the "American dream" could turn into a nightmare lived behind bars for years, with the risk of a fatal outcome? Or that behind the mirage of the exotic beaches of Santo Domingo a deadly twist of fate could be hiding? Or that the charm of countries like India and Thailand might conceal dark and dangerous aspects? This investigation was carried out together with the families and direct witnesses of this vast and hidden Italian underworld abroad, whose voices are all too often condemned to the silence of indifference.