Showing 1 - 10 of 74
Surviving the collapse of the population
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/02/2026
» 'To them that hath shall [more] be given" is generally a reliable guide, especially in economic matters, but it doesn't work if the beneficiaries are too stupid to take advantage of the gift. The scarce and precious commodity in this case being people, who are in increasingly short supply.
Beneath Tak Bai's calm, scars remain
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/10/2025
» 'I went out after dark to help my friend. Luckily, his phone still worked when he called. On the way from my house, there were corpses floating in the water, face down, shot dead. I'm sure there were more deaths than what they reported. The sound of gunfire kept going late into the night. I remember earlier that day, when the soldiers opened fire, I'd seen people's heads blown to bits as I was running home. I'd never forget what I saw."
New words I probably won't be using
Roger Crutchley, Published on 31/08/2025
» The Cambridge Dictionary recently announced the inclusion of 6,000 new words mainly derived from their common usage in social media. I fear those words will simply be added to an already lengthy list of vocabulary I am totally unfamiliar with. As one observer noted "internet culture is changing the English language."
In Isan it's all just a matter of taste
Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/08/2025
» There has been too much depressing news lately so let's lighten things up a bit. There was an article in the Post a few weeks ago concerning a shop in Khon Khaen that is serving ice cream heavily topped with grilled chicken. I haven't tried it and to be frank have no intention of doing so, but by all accounts it is going down very well amongst people in Isan.
Taking a journey into the unknown
Roger Crutchley, Published on 13/07/2025
» According to newspaper reports Bulgaria will next year become the 21st country to adopt the euro. Admittedly it's hardly earth-shattering news and is possibly the first time Bulgaria has ever been mentioned in PostScript, let alone its currency, the "lev". But it reinforces my feeling that the European Union and the euro is partly responsible for taking the fun and romance out of travel.
Can't be much fun being a lame duck
Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/12/2024
» From Washington we've been hearing the expression "lame duck" quite a bit lately, but it has not of course been a discussion about the health of the waterfowl population in the American capital but a reference to Joe Biden as he completes his final term as president.
Exploding pagers: What was the point?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 20/09/2024
» The exploding pagers that killed at least 12 people and injured 2,800 others in Lebanon and some adjacent places on Tuesday were mostly just a new wrinkle on the exploding cellphones that Israel has used to assassinate its opponents in the past, but there was one major innovation.
New Caledonia pragmatism pips nationalism
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/09/2024
» With the sole exception of the fifty people on Pitcairn Island, the United Kingdom (once known as the British Empire) liquidated its holdings in the Pacific Ocean long ago. France, by contrast, has a half million citizens in the Pacific (and another two million living in other bits of its former empire on islands in all the world's major oceans).
Olympic fairness
Oped, Postbag, Published on 08/08/2024
» Re: "Fair play achievable?", (PostBag, Aug 7).
Education for 'war kids'
Oped, Editorial, Published on 27/06/2024
» The fighting in Myanmar resumed this week after a five-month ceasefire brokered by China between junta forces and ethnic minority insurgents apparently fell to bits. Ironically, the renewed strife took place a few days after the world marked World Refugee Day last Thursday.