Showing 1 - 10 of 16
A missing item in the rural soundtrack
Roger Crutchley, Published on 18/01/2026
» As usual at this time of the year I have been enjoying life in the Northeastern province of Chaiyaphum for several weeks. However on this visit there was something slightly different which I couldn't immediately put my finger on. It took a few days before realising I was not being woken up by the usual early morning chorus of roosters or chickens of any sort.
It's a bit on the warm side in the UK
Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/07/2025
» It seems a trifle strange to be sitting in Bangkok and reading about a heatwave in London, but at times last week it's been hotter in Britain than Thailand, while the rest of Europe has also been sizzling. You know something is wrong when at Wimbledon the umbrellas have been going up not for the rain but to protect spectators from the sun.
Thai police officer becomes the bee's knees
Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/04/2025
» The feel-good story this week involves a most unlikely hero, a Thai policeman. It is not often that the local gendarmerie are the subject of uplifting news, but that was the case in the Northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom when an alert policeman rescued a woman from a swarm of attacking bees.
A country full of Eastern promise
Roger Crutchley, Published on 30/06/2024
» Watching the current Euro football championships has served as a reminder that the official name of the country known to most of us as Turkey, is now Turkiye, pronounced "Turkiya". This name was approved by the UN in 2022. The change was believed to have been made partly to disassociate the country from the large bird of the same name and other negative interpretations of the word "turkey". You can understand why Turks could be irritated by silly newspaper football headlines such as "England roast Turkey".
It can't be worse than last year, can it?
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/01/2023
» Well, here we are on the very first day of a brand new year. There has to be something auspicious about that. A good day to purchase lottery tickets with a few number ones perhaps?
Nuan is the cat's whiskers at Apec
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/11/2022
» The most important news emerging from the Apec summit in Bangkok is that it looks like Downing Street's Larry the Cat has finally got some competition in the ranks of feline celebrities. Catching the eye in the Big Mango this week has been Nuan -- a lady cat who has been adopted as the unofficial mascot for the Apec meet.
There's nothing wrong in shedding a tear
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 25/09/2022
» I admit to spending the best part of Monday afternoon stoically trying to fight off the teardrops -- and almost managing it. I was watching the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on TV and for an ancient Brit like me it was emotionally exhausting. Please excuse me for the sentimentality.
There have probably been better years
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/12/2021
» Well we've just about scraped through the Year of the Ox. It was a strange time, rather like living in a vacuum, not entirely sure what would happen next. Nothing could have been worse than 2020, but 2021 wasn't far off. At the start of the year there was hope that the cloud of Covid could be shaken off and we would all become happy folks in the Land of Smiles again, but it didn't quite work out that way -- it's the hope that kills you.
It comes down to a matter of opinion
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/10/2021
» There was a thought-provoking letter to the Bangkok Post last week from "Ye Olde Bloviator" suggesting there should be a contest for the best letters of the year to PostBag, with assorted categories including "most boring" and so on. Not a bad idea really. If Edith Clampton (Mrs) was still contributing I'm convinced she would sweep every category.
Home alone … a case of bad timing
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 18/07/2021
» The emotional events at Wembley Stadium last Sunday inevitably stirred personal memories of a similar happening with a different outcome 55 years previously in the summer of 1966.