• OPINION

  Another year to remember, or maybe forget

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/12/2014

  » Well, we've just about scraped through another 12 months, although at times things did look a bit on the shaky side. At least all the whistle-blowing has abated. Here are a few reminders of events and characters that graced the year 2014, although some you may prefer to forget.

• OPINION

  The milkman who became a secret agent

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 08/11/2020

  » To briefly escape from the US election mayhem, an appreciation of actor Sean Connery who died last week aged 90, seems to be in order. I had somehow thought Connery would go on forever, just like the Bond films. It is an intriguing tale of an Edinburgh milkman who became the most famous fictional spy in the world.

• OPINION

  You can't beat a good song in the gridlock

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/09/2018

  » Earlier this week a veteran taxi driver told me he was a great fan of Elvis Presley. He proceeded to sing Love Me Tender for most of the journey. He wasn't too bad either -- Elvis would have been proud. The crooner cabbie said singing took his mind off the horrors of Bangkok's traffic.

• OPINION

  Good chance of being caught on the hop

  Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 22/01/2023

  » To mark this weekend's Chinese New Year celebrations for Year of the Rabbit it seems appropriate to dedicate today's column to our cuddly cottontail friends, otherwise known as bunnies. Let's hope not too many of them end up in a pie or stew. As a precaution, just be careful when you order "today's special".

• OPINION

  A commuter's lot is not a happy one

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/07/2018

  » Commuting in Bangkok has never been much fun and last week it got a whole lot worse if you happened to be a regular traveller on the BTS. The word "frustration" springs to mind, with perhaps a touch of "exasperation", "agitation" and a general feeling of "disgruntlement". It was definitely not good for the blood pressure.

• OPINION

  Taxis' long, winding road

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/09/2012

  » In an attempt to resolve the problem of Bangkok taxi drivers who refuse to take passengers, the authorities have announced there will be 1,000 baht fines for uncooperative cabbies. All the passenger has to do if a driver refuses to go anywhere is to remember the licence plate number, the colours of the taxi and the driver's appearance or take a photo or record a video clip.

• OPINION

  A painful ride with a certified horn honker

  Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/02/2024

  » Despite the frustration of sitting in endless jams, I've always felt Bangkok motorists display remarkable restraint when it comes to using horns. Unlike many cities in the world it is rare to hear a chorus of angry car klaxons. Things are admittedly a bit different on the provincial highways with buses and trucks not averse to giving a blast on their air horns with the clear message "Get out of the way."

• OPINION

  It's always 'bath' time in Thailand

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 07/03/2021

  » Flying in to a very quiet Suvarnabhumi recently I noticed the official ticket for the airport taxi still informs us of an additional "50 bath" (sic) you will be required to pay the driver at the end of the journey. The "bath" has been there since the ticket was introduced six years ago, so you can forgive what few tourists there are these days for believing they will be dealing in "baths" during their stay.

• OPINION

  Is Bangkok in danger of getting greener?

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/06/2022

  » There is a decent-sized tree just over the wall at the back of my house in Bangkok which provides welcome shade. So I was a bit concerned the other day when workers from the local administration rolled up armed with a chainsaw, explaining the tree was threatening overhead electricity cables.

• OPINION

  Final curtain call for grand old station

  Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 05/12/2021

  » There is some debate concerning the fate of Bangkok's 105-year-old Hua Lamphong railway station which is scheduled to close at the end of the month. Hopefully a happy compromise can be reached with the station being preserved as a museum and its immediate area a public park. The State Railway of Thailand should also be given leeway to make itself some money, even if it means yet another mall.

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