Showing 1 - 10 of 24
Keeping in step with ballroom moves
Roger Crutchley, Published on 02/11/2025
» The most entertaining news of the week was the response to President Donald Trump's demolition of the East Wing of the White House so he can build a "big, beautiful ballroom". It is probably fair to say it prompted a "mixed reaction" -- many being totally horrified.
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.
The loveliness of a flying beetle
Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/07/2025
» The recent cricket match between England and India at Lord's was reportedly briefly delayed by a swarm of ladybirds which were bothering the players. It is believed to be the first recorded instance of "ladybirds stopped play". More importantly, swarm is not the correct term for these flying beetles. The collective noun for ladybirds (ladybugs for our American friends) is a "loveliness".
Stingy on students
Oped, Postbag, Published on 13/01/2024
» Re: "PM pledges new drive for 'zero dropouts'", (BP, Jan 11) and "Revamping child policy", (Editorial, Jan 10).
Short-term thinking
Oped, Postbag, Published on 04/01/2024
» Re: "Govt vows cut in energy prices", (BP, Jan 2). Instead of temporarily cutting energy prices, PM Srettha should heed Lao Tzu's wise words: "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." For example, Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga is mulling subsidising oil for farmers. But when the handout ends, farmers will revert to their old ways.
'Insect apocalypse' coming to your neighbourhood
Oped, Adam Minter, Published on 03/08/2023
» An unusually large influx of tiny insects called aphids have been sucking on Dallas-area pecan trees in recent weeks. After they've had their fill, they "excrete" the waste out their back ends and onto cars, driveways and sidewalks. "Texas is covered in a sticky, icky goo," declared a Dallas Morning News headline. Other news outlets offered tips on how to clean up the mess.
Journalism on trial in Guatemala
Oped, Christophe Deloire & Jose C Zamora, Published on 01/08/2023
» July 29 marks the first anniversary of the arrest of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora. As the founder and editor of the newspaper elPeriódico, Zamora spent decades uncovering political corruption before being arrested on fabricated money-laundering charges. In June, he was handed a six-year prison sentence, but the prosecution, insisting on a 40-year term, is expected to appeal. The harsher punishment, prosecutors say, would compensate those whose "name and reputation" have been tarnished by Zamora and his publication. Their real goal is to deter other journalists from following in Zamora's footsteps.
Why malaria still persists in much of Africa
News, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 12/06/2023
» We think of malaria as a problem faced only by humid, hot countries. But just over a century ago, the disease thrived as far north as Siberia and the Arctic Circle, and was endemic in 36 states of the US. We don't have specific data that far back for Thailand, but back then, malaria is estimated to have killed 2.5 million people each year in the Western Pacific, Middle East and South Asia.
IPCC report appeals to all to salvage 1.5C goal
News, Alister Doyle, Published on 28/03/2023
» Climate scientists on March 20 appealed directly to everyone on the planet to seize a dwindling chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or risk harming people living today and their descendants for thousands of years.