Showing 1 - 10 of 68
With Dickens, it was the best of times
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/02/2012
» As a nipper in England, I often went for walks with my father. If rain was threatening he would say: ''We'd better take a 'gamp', and would pick up an umbrella in the doorway.''
In the limelight - reluctantly
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/07/2012
» Not for the first time, U-tapao has found itself thrust into the spotlight, on this occasion over the proposed Nasa climate research project, which has now, as the Americans might put it, gone ''down the tubes''.
A month for the PM to remember
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 18/11/2012
» By any standards, it's been quite a week for Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. On Tuesday, she was given an audience by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. Later this afternoon she will be greeting US President Barack Obama in Bangkok. Later this week it's the Chinese premier. In between all of that she's managed to squeeze in a natter with British PM David Cameron. It certainly sounds a bit more interesting than my week.
The 'bear of very little brain' and wobbly spelling
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 13/01/2013
» Many will say that it is impossible to have a quiet New Year in Isan, but my wife and I somehow managed it, a reflection of getting wrinkly one fears. But to look on the positive side, I am now the proud possessor of a yellow Winnie-the-Pooh mug, courtesy of a couple of farmers' kids who live next door to us in deepest Chaiyaphum.
'Thailand's Mr Bean' makes new friends
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/05/2013
» A Thai reader recently asked me the meaning of the expression ''not the full shilling''. He was referring to remarks by Scottish snooker star Stephen Maguire about Thailand's Dechawat Poomjaeng, who beat Maguire in a huge upset in the world championship a couple of weeks ago. A classic underdog, Dechawat won over the crowd, commentators and TV audience with his unintentionally comical behaviour, prompting references to him as ''Thailand's Mr Bean''.
When it comes to jokes, you can't beat the old ones
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 25/08/2013
» There's an old saying that ''He who laughs last ... doesn't get the joke,'' and I felt a bit that way early last week.
Lost in space, but the view is just heavenly
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 13/10/2013
» Not having really enjoyed a space movie since Stanley Kubrick's <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i>, when I first read about Gravity, I was not convinced. The thought of two Hollywood superstars, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, stranded in space sounded sort of silly.
Always look on the bright side of life
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 02/03/2014
» The news has been so gloomy in Thailand that I admit to have been scratching around in search of something remotely cheerful to write about.
The curious case of the unwanted fire trucks
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/05/2014
» The sorry tale of the unused fire trucks is approaching the doubtful status of a full-blooded Thai saga, with the usual ingredients of high farce, excuses and red herrings, ultimately sinking into a legal morass. And we are still no nearer getting the trucks fighting fires.
The lady who jumped in at the deep end
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 11/05/2014
» It was almost three years ago the headline for this column read: "There could be a lady waiting in the wings." It marked the first indication, however unlikely it seemed at the time, that Yingluck Shinawatra could possibly become the next prime minister, which for Thailand was stepping into unknown territory.