Showing 1 - 10 of 43
Time to rethink the casino debate
Oped, Andrew W Scott, Published on 13/06/2025
» I've been visiting and studying the world's casinos since 1986, particularly those in Asia. And boy, have they changed a lot in the past 40 years.
Even Warren Buffett makes statistical errors
News, Marty Fridson, Published on 24/05/2025
» One person you wouldn't expect to hear tout a statistical fallacy is Warren Buffett, but the legendary investor appeared to do just that at the recent Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, a reminder of just how easy it is to fall into statistical traps. While speaking at the annual meeting in early May, Mr Buffett commented while holding up a can of sugar-laden soda: "For 94 years I've been able to drink whatever I want to drink. They predict all kinds of terrible things for me, but it hasn't happened yet ... Charlie [Munger] and I never really exercised that much or did anything -- we were carefully preserving ourselves for these years."
Thai police officer becomes the bee's knees
Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/04/2025
» The feel-good story this week involves a most unlikely hero, a Thai policeman. It is not often that the local gendarmerie are the subject of uplifting news, but that was the case in the Northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom when an alert policeman rescued a woman from a swarm of attacking bees.
How the world can escape the new Gilded Age
News, Daron Acemoglu, Published on 25/10/2024
» Tech billionaires such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are not just among the richest people in human history. They also are exceptionally powerful -- socially, culturally and politically. While this is partly a reflection of the social status that our society attaches to wealth in general, that is not the whole story.
Ban Kanchanapisek's healing lessons
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 04/09/2024
» How do you heal hardcore young criminals and turn them into active citizens? Ask Thicha Nanakorn -- she has the answer.
City's anti-rat crusade has never been this normal
News, Stephen Mihm, Published on 13/08/2024
» New York City's mayor, Eric Adams, has opened up a new front of his war on rats. Mr Adams, who already made headlines for appointing a "rat czar" last year, has escalated his campaign against the city's ubiquitous rodents. Last week, he announced the creation of the "Rat Pack", which he billed as an "elite squad of anti-rat activists" who will take the fight to the enemy.
Commander in White House doghouse
Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/10/2023
» It was Harry Truman who reportedly advised would-be presidents: "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." Perhaps he should have added "as long as it doesn't bite".
House must police perks
Oped, Editorial, Published on 23/08/2023
» The case of a deputy House speaker using the entertainment budget to treat parliament maids to moo krata (barbecued pork buffet) throws much-needed light on how elected lawmakers and officials spend position perks financed by taxpayers. The case is a reminder that a better mechanism is needed to monitor how these lawmakers spend taxpayers' money.
Songs for life as it's no longer lived
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 17/04/2023
» Ad Carabao's new song Prachathipatung revives the myth of vote-buying and ignorance in rural society. The title is a coinage blending prachathipatai (democracy) and tung (money). On the track, parents ask children to return to their home village to vote for local politicians who give them money. It puts into song from the political discourse of an urban middle class that expresses disdain for villagers along with antipathy for one type of money politics as well as full-fledged democracy.
The curious case of the missing column
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 16/04/2023
» Many thanks to readers who expressed concern about the non-appearance of PostScript last Sunday. Some feared Crutch might have been under the weather or had even departed for the Great Typewriter in the Sky. Others thought I had fled the scene in a bid to escape Songkran, which in retrospect would not have been a bad idea.