Showing 1 - 10 of 16
In Isan it's all just a matter of taste
Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/08/2025
» There has been too much depressing news lately so let's lighten things up a bit. There was an article in the Post a few weeks ago concerning a shop in Khon Khaen that is serving ice cream heavily topped with grilled chicken. I haven't tried it and to be frank have no intention of doing so, but by all accounts it is going down very well amongst people in Isan.
Make way for the Bold Gendarmes
Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/08/2024
» The Paris Olympics have sparked memories of the time as an eight-year-old I was dressed up as a French Gendarme for a Christmas concert at a church hall in England. There were four of us and we had to perform The Bold Gendarmes, a popular song in the mid 1950s by French operetta composer Jacques Offenbach. It made gentle fun of the French policemen as the opening lyrics suggest:
When Bangkok bid for the Olympics
Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/07/2024
» It's been 100 years since the last Paris Olympics which was dramatically portrayed in the stirring 1981 film Chariots of Fire. I can still picture that opening scene with the British athletes running along the beach to the sounds of that Vangelis anthem. It's hard to believe that was made 43 years ago. If this year's Olympics are even half as exciting as the 1924 event it will be an achievement.
The art of rolling out the red carpet
Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/06/2024
» Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to enjoy the red carpet treatment he received in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this week. Over the years the Russian leader will have become quite familiar with walking on such plush carpets, but one wonders if he knows why they are red.
The rubber tree and the hopeful ant
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 29/01/2023
» Throughout January PostScript has been written from my house balcony in Chaiyaphum while taking in a view of avenues of rubber trees with the occasional intrusion of stray chickens. In fact, I am surrounded by rubber trees.
The 'best job in the world' takes its toll
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/07/2022
» I am no fan of politicians but occasionally politics creates some splendid theatre, although some might call it pantomime. This was the case in the British Houses of Parliament this past week as Prime Minister Boris Johnson attempted to hold on to what he called "the best job in the world".
Cold War getting too hot for comfort
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/02/2022
» Having been brought up in the 1950s and 60s during what was known as the Cold War, I find it a bit sad that after all the ensuing decades nothing seems to have changed. Russia and the West are at it again, still calling one another names. But as long as it remains name-calling we'll take that.
In Britain it helps to be a little eccentric
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 30/01/2022
» Last week's column concerning traditional British food unfortunately failed to mention one of the highlights of the year, the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships, held every September in Ramsbottom, near Manchester. It dates back to the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century between the House of Lancaster (red rose) and the House of York (white rose).
It's enough to give anyone grey hairs
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/11/2021
» A recent letter to the Bangkok Post from the ever observant Ye Olde Pedant suggested that Bangkok's BTS and MRT executives should display more imagination in the naming of new rail lines and avoid colour coding. He cited the proposed Grey Line which for him immediately conjured up images of passengers with silvery hair, otherwise known as "the elderly".
Tokyo finally reaches the finishing line
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 08/08/2021
» It is no secret that the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics was not exactly plain sailing, primarily due to the Covid pandemic. For a start it was a year late through no fault of its own, and was being held at the hottest and most humid time of the Japanese summer when sensible people retreat into air conditioning. It was not just by chance that when Tokyo hosted the Games in 1964 it was held in October, Japan's autumn.