Showing 41 - 50 of 158
The art of being 'greng jai'
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 15/04/2018
» Happy Songkran, dear reader! This is the traditional time I close the windows, draw the blinds and remain ensconced in either my bedroom or, when I'm feeling adventurous, the living room for three whole days.
Set the wheelchairs of change in motion
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 18/03/2018
» Anybody doing business in Thailand has horror stories about red tape. Not a day goes by where I am not responsible for felling at least one tree from somewhere deep within a national park. Page after page, I sign the bottom of these utterly useless photocopied pages, in triplicate, one after the other, all the time either contemplating life or how to end it all and put myself out of this bureaucratic misery.
Thai schools in race to the bottom
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 01/04/2018
» Congratulations to the little boy on page 2 of the Bangkok Post on Wednesday, throwing his hands up with joy at being selected to attend Chulalongkorn University Demonstration Elementary School.
Resigning is for quitters
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 18/02/2018
» The truth and the military make strange bedfellows. This is not, necessarily, a savage indictment on Thailand's current military regime. It's true of any military. When ranked from most important to least, qualities such as courage, fortitude, strategy, strength and unity are considered characteristics way, way more important to the military than trifling, annoying tenets such as truth and honesty and, let's be frank, democracy.
Suppress the insurrection
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 25/02/2018
» This is the story of a Hermes handbag, an ageing academic and an overzealous police force. It is a story that one hopes will end in common sense, but then again I hope to win the lottery on the first of next month.
No sex, please, we're skittish
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 04/03/2018
» I wonder how many of my Sunday readers could pinpoint the country of Gambia on a map.
Civil Service Shocker puts kids in danger
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 28/01/2018
» There is nothing particularly outstanding about the tiny rural school of Wat Ban Pathong Tha Noen Samakee, 360km northeast of Bangkok.
All change at Sukhumvit
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 24/12/2017
» An important high-level meeting this week resulted in my being driven down Sukhumvit Road from the Phloenchit intersection all the way to Asok. This was largely due to my driver taking a wrong turn.
Driven to distraction
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 03/12/2017
» Late Thursday afternoon the silhouette of my driver appeared in the doorway to my office. "Do you need to be driven anywhere special tomorrow?" he asked. What kind of question is that? I'm perfectly capable of driving myself anywhere special I care to go.
Stateless Mong still forced to fly solo
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 17/09/2017
» It is hard to believe nine years have passed since Mong Thongdee hit the media spotlight. Little Mong was big news in September 2009, a few months before violent clashes between anti-government protesters and government troops.