• OPINION

  In the wake of the not so great debate

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/10/2020

  » While there might have been an element of entertainment in a perverse sort of way watching the US presidential candidates slagging one another off like squabbling children, these politicians still have a lot to learn in the art of insulting behaviour.

• OPINION

  Food for thought and deep pockets

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 17/12/2017

  » Reading about the launch of Bangkok's first-ever Michelin Guide, I felt a little guilty having just consumed my own gourmet dish of baked beans on toast. A generous topping of grated parmesan cheese hardly lifted it into a creation that would win the approval of a Michelin bon vivant. Anyway, congratulations to all the restaurants that get a mention, even though I can't afford them. I wonder if any of them do a chip butty or mushy peas?

• OPINION

  A good time to get the brollies out

  Roger Crutchley, Published on 15/10/2023

  » After having woken up to the sound of thunderclaps and heavy rain the other morning it seems appropriate to continue with the wet weather theme following last week's in depth column on wellies.

• OPINION

  When drones were bores and bees

  Roger Crutchley, Published on 30/07/2023

  » When I was a child the word "drone" was used either as a reference to a lazy male bee or a monotonous dull sound, epitomised by people like teachers, preachers or prime ministers "droning on" in boring fashion.

• OPINION

  The big black door which has no keys

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 30/10/2022

  » In recent weeks whenever I have switched on the TV news bulletins I seem to have been greeted by the sight of the imposing black door at No 10 Downing Street. It must be the most photographed door in history.

• OPINION

  When bombers turned into butterflies

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 18/08/2019

  » There have been an increasing number of news events lately serving as reminders that I am a bit on the ancient side. Last month it was the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing and it was rather disturbing that most of my colleagues were either too young to remember it, or in most cases hadn't even been born.

• OPINION

  Where there's a rhyme there's a reason

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/09/2019

  » Today we welcome in a new month, September. I have a certain attachment for the ninth month of the year for a rather simplistic reason. Whenever I can't remember how many days there are in a particular month, I still resort to the old rhyme "30 days hath September, April, June and November…" and so on. So much for my education.

• OPINION

  Cause enough to drive anyone bananas

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/08/2017

  » While I was stuck in the customary Sukhumvit gridlock last week, a song came on the taxi radio which I vaguely recognised — well, the lyrics anyway. The words "daylight come and me wanna go home" were being repeated against a background of electronic noise. I was being subjected to a hip-hop version of Harry Belafonte's 1957 <i>Banana Boat Song</i>, sometimes called the "Day-O" song.

• OPINION

  A job guaranteed to create a stink

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 25/06/2017

  » You may recall a recent PostScript column concerning unusual occupations which featured "odour sniffers'' who have the delightful job of sniffing human armpits to check whether a deodorant is doing its job. I did not realise that professional sniffers are in such demand. Last week it was announced that Thailand's Pollution Control Department had recruited 167 "smell assessors'' to sniff out factories responsible for some of the more malodourous emissions that upset citizens.

• OPINION

  It’s beginning to look like walking wounded

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/04/2014

  » Being a Thai politician can be a more hazardous occupation than you imagine. For a start they have to put up with all the insults. They may be thick skinned, but after a while being called a “buffalo”, “lizard” or “toad” must get on their nerves.

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