Showing 1 - 10 of 11
Who's directing behind the scenes?
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 13/05/2024
» The speechwriter who wrote the speech delivered by Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra at the party meeting on May 3 did a lousy job which consequently put her in hot water.
It seemed a good idea at the time
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 27/11/2022
» The annual elephant festival in Surin attracted more than the usual attention last week after featuring an attempt to enter the hallowed Guinness Book of Records. Alas, the only record achieved was that hundreds of student "volunteers" roasted in the sun, exposed for hours to high temperatures reaching 39C.
The 'best job in the world' takes its toll
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/07/2022
» I am no fan of politicians but occasionally politics creates some splendid theatre, although some might call it pantomime. This was the case in the British Houses of Parliament this past week as Prime Minister Boris Johnson attempted to hold on to what he called "the best job in the world".
Urgent reforms needed to protect bird numbers
News, Peter Singer & David S Wilcove, Published on 28/12/2021
» Birds are found worldwide, in many different environments, from penguins in Antarctica to pigeons in Trafalgar Square, and from the familiar sparrows on our lawns to the great albatrosses who spend years at sea without ever touching land. There are more than 10,000 species totalling many billions of wild individuals. To this we must add the tens of billions of birds we raise for their meat or eggs, and others we keep as pets.
Cab partitions a hot issue
News, Postbag, Published on 26/09/2021
» Re: "Taxis fitted with safety partitions," (BP, Sept 24).
The Soliloquy of Harold Callahan
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 11/07/2021
» My thanks to former colleague Alan Dawson for alerting me to a scene from the Clint Eastwood film Sudden Impact which may throw some light on the hot dog and ketchup debate which featured in last week's column.
Fuzzy Thai logic
News, Postbag, Published on 19/10/2019
» Historically, fear of communist regimes has been used by politicians to keep them alive, strive and win elections. In the USA, politicians always create a hostile enemy and introduce a powerful fear factor to get elected. For most of the last century, the USA treated China, the Soviet Union, Cuba and Sandinistas as a threat to democracy and the whole world. First, it was Soviets, later China, and in this new century, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State became the new threat. And now they have a new enemy -- immigrants from across the border from Mexico and South America. A whole generation of Americans grew up dreaming about communists taking away their freedom and democracy. Sadly, even today a big lobby of Cuban immigrants in Florida keeps those fears alive.
Dust in the wind and down the throat
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/10/2019
» You know there's something amiss in Bangkok when you wake up to the sounds of birds coughing. Well maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but this week our feathered friends sounded decidedly under the weather. So it came as no surprise to read the gloomy headlines about "toxic smog" returning to Bangkok.
We need to look after creepy-crawlies
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 17/02/2019
» There was a disturbing report this week that the world is running out of insects, primarily due to pesticide poisoning. Having just read an article in which a scientist warned "if insects were to disappear, the world would fall apart", I suspect this is not good news. However, the world already seems to be falling apart without any help from absent insects. Admittedly the declining insect population is difficult to appreciate in Thailand where it is hard to experience a day without an encounter with some kind of bug. In my small garden there are plenty of crawling things creeping about, ready to sneakily bite me at the first opportunity.
Surakiart has a tough task
News, Editorial, Published on 05/02/2018
» The Myanmar government continues to dig itself into deeper trouble over the crisis it created with the Rohingya. Worse, it is rapidly creating an atmosphere of belligerence. There seems plenty of means available to discuss and solve the situation via talks with neighbours and the international community. Instead, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the nation's military have only become more isolated.