Showing 1 - 10 of 37
A fond farewell to the poster people
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 08/02/2026
» For a couple of months the streets in Bangkok and throughout Thailand have been decorated with posters of political candidates. But now the Big Day has arrived and soon the posters will disappear. In a strange sort of way, I will miss their presence as they were at least something to look at when stuck in the traffic. They generally appeared to be a cheerful lot, beaming at us with big cheesy grins as one would expect in the Land of Smiles.
I heard it on the radio, a long time ago
Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/03/2025
» News reports suggest the future of Voice of America (VOA) is seriously in doubt. I haven’t listened to VOA in five decades but there was a time I tuned in during my teenage years back in the Stone Age. It might seem strange for a spotty English kid to switch on VOA so I will attempt to explain.
It's time to jive on the old six-five
Roger Crutchley, Published on 16/02/2025
» Today is Feb 16, admittedly not a date that would resonate amongst most people. But this day 68 years ago witnessed the first time British television launched a programme dedicated to pop music or rather rock-and-roll. Not exactly earth-shattering news, but it was a start.
A cheap room with a precious view
Roger Crutchley, Published on 02/02/2025
» I have just spent a month in Chaiyaphum and during that time visited Loei province and the Mekong River town of Chiang Khan on the border with Laos. It prompted memories of my first trip to Loei many moons ago.
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:
Those acronyms can be bit of a pain
Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/05/2024
» One of my pet peeves with newspapers around the globe has always been the proliferation of acronyms, especially in headlines. Apart from the fact that no one really has the faintest idea what they stand for there's something about them that's just plain ugly.
Leaping lizards on a Sunday afternoon
Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/03/2024
» Last Sunday I was sitting on the garden porch of my Bangkok abode grappling with the crossword and watching the birds hopping around the garden. My wife, who was away in Chaiyaphum, had just called and I had reassured her that everything was fine and very tranquil... a perfect Sunday afternoon.
There ain't no mountain high enough
Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/01/2024
» In the final weeks of 2023 the old chestnut of introducing a cable car system on Phu Kradeung (Bell Mountain) national park resurfaced. It came as no surprise when a Bangkok Post headline concluded on the very last day of the year that the project "faces uncertainty".
Commander in White House doghouse
Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/10/2023
» It was Harry Truman who reportedly advised would-be presidents: "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." Perhaps he should have added "as long as it doesn't bite".
Audience of one is better than none
Roger Crutchley, Published on 13/08/2023
» There was a story from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last week concerning English actress Georgie Grier whose one-woman show Sunsets attracted a grand audience of one. A tweet with pictures of a tearful Grier after the show prompted considerable sympathy and the following night she found herself performing to a near full-house which she joked felt the equivalent of "Wembley".