Showing 1 - 10 of 12
Welcome to the really silly season
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/12/2023
» It's Christmas Eve and we are well into the Jinger Ben season in Thailand (Jingle Bells to the uninitiated). But in these dodgy times one suspects there might not be too much jingling going on. Nonetheless, considering all the gloomy news of late, a couple of weeks of being a bit daft offers a welcome break. So we might as well make the most of the Jinger Ben jollity, like a lady teller at my bank who was sporting some rather cute rabbit ears.
Sharing good times and hard times
Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/08/2023
» Earlier this week the Bangkok Post marked its 77th anniversary which is quite an achievement really considering what the country has experienced since the newspaper was established in 1946. Any paper that has displayed such longevity, surviving countless coups and assorted other upheavals deserves a nod of acknowledgement.
Going bananas over the 'Day-O' song
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 07/05/2023
» The recent death of the gifted Jamaican-American singer Harry Belafonte at the age of 96 inevitably sparked memories of when his biggest hit "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" swept the globe, including Britain.
Shaking off the laundromat blues
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/03/2023
» In last week's item concerning boutiques I wondered whether their influence could extend as far as the world of laundromats. My thanks to reader Jenifer Divine in Hamburg for informing me that in the German city's St Pauli district there is a laundromat dedicated to Jimi Hendrix which just about gives it boutique status.
It's time to get the winter woolies out
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/10/2019
» According to the Meteorological Department, the "cold season" in Thailand officially started last Thursday, although "cool season" is perhaps more accurate. It is helpful that they are so precise about it. A cautious "in the coming weeks" might have been safer, just in case a nasty hot spell pops up and we find tourists flaking out in the streets. You just can't be sure these days of climate change and weird weather.
Tuning up for another festive season
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/12/2018
» As we hurtle into the Jinger Ben mayhem (Jingle Bells to the uninitiated), it certainly helps if you have a bit of stamina. It is the time you prepare yourself for wearing silly hats, singing even sillier songs and acting in jovial fashion when the last thing you feel like is being jovial. You might even be subjected to inebriated gentlemen singing Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.
A tale of wasted days and wasted nights
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/02/2017
» One of my New Year's resolutions was not to write about Bangkok's traffic woes, a thankless topic. I held out for 57 days, which is not a bad effort considering the hours already wasted this year sitting in the Big Mango's gridlock.
Thailand through the looking glass
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/01/2017
» Well, here we are on the first day of a brand new year. It is customary at this time for newspaper columnists and other bores to predict what's going to happen in the world in the coming 12 months. Let's just hope it's a bit more cheery than the past year, which has been quite awful.
There must be something about Hawaii
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/10/2016
» The most reassuring news of the week was that the leader of a much-discussed Thai delegation to the US-Asean conference in Hawaii only ate noodles and rice aboard the chartered aircraft.
Let us hope 2016 is not too amazing
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/01/2016
» I trust everyone is holding up well as we battle our way through the silly hats and hangovers season. Soon it will be back to grim reality — hangovers without the silly hats.