[1] He worked as a secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was a spokesperson of the Central Tibetan Administration, based in Dharamshala.

Born in Lhasa in 1956, Samphel was the son of parents who worked as servants to the mother of the 14th Dalai Lama, Diki Tsering.

[2] Three years after the 1959 Tibetan uprising, Samphel left Tibet with his older brother.

He was among the first group of Tibetan Fulbright Scholars to study in the United States, where he earned a degree in journalism from Columbia University.

[2] Samphel wrote articles for numerous Tibetan, Indian, and foreign newspapers.