Showing 1 - 10 of 26
Power with no sensitivity
Oped, Editorial, Published on 26/12/2025
» The border may be contested, but the message sent by bulldozing a Hindu god was unmistakable -- and damaging.
The treacherous sycophancy of the populists
Oped, Michael Burleigh, Published on 15/12/2025
» Until a few days ago, it had never crossed my mind that people across Europe -- including Londoners like me -- were living in a strife‑afflicted hell hole, "suffocated" by regulations, stripped of political liberties, and bound for "civilisational erasure". So, it was with some surprise that I read this assessment in the new US National Security Strategy -- a document that echoes pseudo‑intellectual propaganda more than resembling any serious foreign‑policy analysis.
Trickery in the land of tavern trivia
Published on 23/11/2025
» The world of pub quizzes was shaken in Britain recently when a team at The Barking Dog pub in Manchester was kicked out for cheating. Although disputes may occasionally occur in such quizzes it doesn't usually come down to such strong disciplinary action. However the team involved was believed to be clearly in breach of trivia etiquette.
Canny FM averted an earlier land grab
Oped, Kantathi Suphamongkhon, Published on 25/08/2025
» In early 2006, during the Thai prime minister's visit to Cambodia, Cambodia's PM Hun Sen casually said to his visiting counterpart, Thaksin Shinawatra, "Let's visit Preah Vihear temple together, as two friendly prime ministers.
Reflections from a fire-ravaged LA
Holiday Time, Drue Kataoka & Curtis S Chin, Published on 01/02/2025
» Thailand's blockbuster How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (Lahn Mah), directed by Pat Boonnitipat might not have been on the nominees list -- and Putthipong "Billkin" Assaratanakul was not (yet) a Golden Globes winner or presenter -- but when the 82nd Golden Globes Awards ceremony concluded this Jan 5 (local time) in Los Angeles, there were so many Asian and Asian American achievements to celebrate. This included much greater global visibility for actors, directors and creative content from Korea to Japan to India and beyond.
Still plenty of smiles in Thailand
Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/01/2025
» A reader politely questioned a reference to the "Land of Smiles" in last week's column, suggesting the smiles are maybe not as forthcoming as they once were. Perhaps they are not but deep down Thai people remain a cheerful lot. After five decades in the kingdom I still get a kick out of an unsolicited Thai smile whether it be from a shopkeeper, check-out lady, bank cashier or simply someone on the street. Maybe it's because I look a bit funny.
Thailand's cannabis U-turn is a cautionary tale
News, Karishma Vaswani, Published on 20/05/2024
» Turns out you can have too much of a good thing. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ordered a U-turn on the country's landmark cannabis policy, saying the plant should be soon classified as a narcotic again and its use limited to medical and health purposes.
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.
It's getting too hot to vote in India
News, David Fickling, Published on 24/04/2024
» How do you run a democracy when the mercury rises above 40 degrees Celsius? That's the problem faced by voters in India. A swath of the country's east is sweltering under a heatwave. The city centre of Kolkata has emptied out, schools have cancelled classes, and one TV presenter collapsed on air with heat stroke.
Vietnam is in danger of losing its China +1 appeal
News, Karishma Vaswani, Published on 26/03/2024
» Losing one president in a year -- unfortunate. Losing two? A worrying signal for foreign investors. Vietnam, the economic darling of Southeast Asia, has been thrust into the spotlight again because of a series of political earthquakes. The most recent is President Vo Van Thuong's resignation on March 20, making him the latest senior official to step down amid widening probes into some of the country's top leadership.