The news hasn't been particularly uplifting recently, has it? Open the paper, or switch on the television news any morning and there is a good chance you will feel like going straight back to bed and starting the day all over again.
It can get a bit wearying grappling with news reports featuring contradictions, red herrings, cock-ups and cover-ups. These are often accompanied by half-truths, prevarications and porky pies. At least some explanations are so absurd they are actually quite entertaining in a weird sort of way.
Newspapers have long been accused of concentrating on bad news while ignoring the happier aspects of life. With this in mind a publication was launched in the US some years ago which vowed to carry only good news. No more wars, tragedies, murders, muggings or massacres. Not even a mention of rascals, rogues or ragamuffins. And definitely no scandals.
Instead the newspaper provided good, wholesome news about golden-hearted grannies, playful pets and in-depth features on butterfly collections and baking cakes.
The newspaper went out of business after six months.
The Hedgehoppers
Back in 1965 there was a hit song entitled It's Good News Week by the splendidly-named English group Hedgehoppers Anonymous. The song took a satirical look at the depressing world news being reported in newspapers and on television. The opening verse begins:
"It's good news week/someone dropped a bomb somewhere/contaminating atmosphere/and blackening the sky." Well, you get the idea.
Most of the band were serving as ground crew in the RAF in Cambridgeshire and took their name from the high-altitude delta wing Vulcan bombers. The planes were also capable of flying very low, over fields and underneath the radar and were nicknamed "Hedgehoppers". It was the band's only hit but they will always be remembered, if just for their name.
Positive thinking
Even when editors have the best of intentions in presenting cheerful news it doesn't always work. Back in the early 1990s, Pattaya was a target of several unflattering international media reports. Convinced the resort had not been getting a fair press, the editor of one Bangkok publication dispatched a reporter to the resort to write a story emphasising the positive elements of the place.
Later in the day the editor received a phone call from the reporter, now in Pattaya, asking if the paper could send an emergency supply of money. Apparently within minutes of the newshound arriving at the beach resort, a pick-pocket had lifted the reporter's wallet.
Reader power
A few years ago the Post carried a complaint from a reader about there being far too many whining letters from readers and that we should only publish happy missives. That's all very well, but people tend to write when they are upset about something, not when they are full of the joys of life.
PostBag is usually an entertaining read even if you vigorously disagree with what is being said. As an editor in the US once remarked: "The secret of successful journalism is to make the readers so angry they will write half the paper for you."
I still miss the wonderful letters from Edith Clapton (Mrs), who was prolific in the early 1990s. She would enthral readers with her views on such thought- provoking subjects as electric toothbrushes and portable potties, and had no time for what she called "scruffy people''. She also took a very firm stance on elephant dung.
Double trouble
If anything is going to upset expats and visitors to Thailand it is the two-tier pricing at tourist spots. It is a system that is not easy to defend and has prompted many lively letters to PostBag over the years. However, this week there was a report that the authorities are considering ditching the dual pricing for expats, but not tourists. It is a small step forward in that at least they recognise there might be a problem. Whether anything will actually happen is another matter.
I try to to steer clear of places which enforce such unwelcome double standards, but sometimes you cannot escape. But, rather than throw a "farang wobbler", it's probably best to look at these inflated prices as an extension of the bargaining system whereby foreigners usually end up paying more than locals anyway. The two-tier pricing simply cuts out the bargaining process.
Bargaining blues
In the old days in Bangkok you had to bargain for almost everything, but I didn't have the patience or the technique. For major purchases the idea was that you enter a shop, haggle a bit, make your final offer and if that is not accepted, walk out of the shop. In theory, the shopkeeper was supposed to call you back and agree a price. But that rarely happened to me. When I walked out there were no pleas from shopkeepers, so I had to keep on walking, feeling like a total idiot. Being a pathetic bargainer, I was delighted at the introduction of metered taxis in Bangkok back in 1992. In the pre-meter days you were at the taxi drivers' mercy, particularly in foul weather.
If it was pouring with rain, before quoting a fare the taxi driver would take an age pretending to work out which route to take, knowing full well you were getting wetter and wetter and that in the end you would agree to any fare just to get out of the rain.
Contact PostScript via email at oldcrutch@hotmail.com