Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Let's hope 2026 is not too amazing
Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/01/2026
» Well here we are on the fourth day of a brand new year. I trust everyone is holding up well after the festivities because it can be quite gruelling pretending to behave in a jovial fashion if you are not feeling jovial at all.
Not even the penguins were spared
Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/12/2025
» Well, we've just about slithered our way through the Year of the Snake. Suffice to say, 2025 wasn't much fun. At least the previous year we had the "Happy Hippo" which kept us vaguely amused in a daft sort of way.
Lonely sheep survives real cliffhanger
Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/11/2023
» Some rare good news last week was the rescue of the "world's loneliest sheep" from a rugged beach in northeastern Scotland. The sheep, a ewe named Fiona, had been stuck on the beach at the foot of a steep cliff in an isolated spot of the Moray Firth for the past two years without any woolly friends or non-woolly humans for company.
Those elusive influential persons
Roger Crutchley, Published on 29/10/2023
» Most intriguing news of the week is that according to a parliamentary House committee there are only 180 "influential people" in the kingdom and in 10 provinces there are none at all. For those unfamiliar with the term "influential person" in Thailand, it is usually interpreted as someone who is powerful enough not to worry about the "long arm of the law" and can go about their sometimes shady business without fear of arrest.
Words you don't really want to hear
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/12/2022
» It's that time of the year when publishers of major dictionaries bombard us with what they regard as the "words of the year". They rarely agree on the same offering, but there is one common theme -- nearly all words selected are frankly rather depressing.
Mushrooms make their presence felt
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 16/10/2022
» The most exciting news of the week is that mushrooms were found growing on a seat of an active Bangkok bus. In addition to carrying passengers on the No 82 route from Phra Pradaeng to Phahurat, the bus featured a battered seat covered in newly sprouted mushrooms. Alas, the seat has now been replaced by spoilsport officials following complaints from passengers unimpressed by sitting next to a seat covered in fast-growing fungi.
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 could be fun, in a strange sort of way
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/01/2021
» A number of readers -- well, three -- have asked why last week's column did not contain the usual predictions for the coming year. My feeling at the time was that with the dark cloud of Covid-19 hovering over us it seemed a bit inappropriate to carry the usual frivolous PostScript predictions. However, I have had a change of heart and considering we are only 10 days into the New Year it is not too late to make silly forecasts.
We need to look after creepy-crawlies
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 17/02/2019
» There was a disturbing report this week that the world is running out of insects, primarily due to pesticide poisoning. Having just read an article in which a scientist warned "if insects were to disappear, the world would fall apart", I suspect this is not good news. However, the world already seems to be falling apart without any help from absent insects. Admittedly the declining insect population is difficult to appreciate in Thailand where it is hard to experience a day without an encounter with some kind of bug. In my small garden there are plenty of crawling things creeping about, ready to sneakily bite me at the first opportunity.