INTERVIEW: ROGER CRUTCHLEY Crutch gets a new Script

Interview by Colin Hastings

AFTER 42 years at the Bangkok Post, working mostly behind the scenes but popping up occasionally to amuse readers of many nationalities with his quirky tales of Thailand, veteran British journalist Roger Crutchley has decided to call it a day.
 
Now aged 65, ‘Crutch’ is moving aside for a new generation of subs and writers to edit and guide the daily.
 
Having been with the Post for most of his adult life, Roger reckons it’s time for retirement.  “I’ve got to be honest and accept that I’m slowing down and ready for a quieter life,” says the Reading-born journo, whose unheralded backroom work at the newspaper is often overshadowed by his popular weekly columns, PostScript and the soccer commentary he writes under the name Nobby Piles.
 
Roger’s immense contribution and loyalty to his employers can be gauged by the fact that Bangkok Post pre-dates him by a mere 23 years. Put another way, he’s been a permanent fixture of the newspaper for about two-thirds of its existence.

Not surprisingly, there’s not much he doesn’t know about the Post and its coverage of events here in Thailand and the region. Over the past four decades, he’s worked in virtually all of its editorial departments – news, features and, perhaps his personal favorite, sport.

 
Since 1969, the year he joined the Post, Roger has been witness to some of this country’s most tumultuous events and memorable times - the coups and political shenanigans, the US military presence in Thailand, the rise and fall of the Khmer Rouge, as well as the countless personalities, good and bad, who have helped to shape the kingdom’s fascinating modern history. He’s also known some outstanding reporters and cameramen, brave individuals who would regularly put their lives on the line to get a good story.

He recalls it all with amazing clarity and the sensible perspective of a long-term observer - not the snap judgment of a cable TV instant expert.
 
When Roger sits back and recounts his experiences as a journalist and long-term resident of Thailand, you realize they’re great material for a book, which is exactly what he plans to write in the months ahead.
 
Roger’s retirement runs parallel with sweeping changes in traditional newspaper publishing. Virtually every aspect of the business is a far cry from what he encountered at the Post all those decades ago. Back then it was basically a typewriter and paste-up operation, prone to breakdowns and human errors, but with an intrepid bunch of editors who somehow always managed to get the news out there every morning. Today’s newspapers are slick, high-tech, computer-driven and faceless organizations by comparison.
 
Of course Thailand, particularly Bangkok, has also changed beyond recognition since 1969. Although he misses a few things from that era, especially the innocence of the Thai people and the novelty of being in an exotic country so different from his homeland, he’s not complaining.
 
Roger’s view of life is reflected in his Postscript column – constantly amused by life’s oddities, never too serious and always respectful. Despite 42 years in Thailand, he’s still a bit of an old-fashioned Englishman.

Roger shares here some of his memories from a long and fascinating career.

Q. Over the years you’ve worked with many editors at the Post. Who was the best, and why?
A. There have been so many editors it’s unfair to mention individuals. In the old days the editor was a foreigner but for the past two decades it has been a Thai, which is how it should be. Most of them have done a good job in often difficult circumstances. It’s a very tough job and unfortunately little editing is involved these days, but there’s lots of meetings.

Q. In the past, the Post and other newspapers appeared to be fairly heavily censored, and even followed the government line. Is that fair?A. The only time there was direct censorship was in a couple of coups in the 1970s and 80s. We did have one issue with some blank spaces where the stories should have been. There were ways around censorship though, and a lot could be learned from “reading between the lines’’.

Q. Is there less (self) censorship today than before?
A. Self censorship is a very grey area. You basically know what you can write and what you can’t. It comes down to being pragmatic. You’ve got more than a thousand jobs at stake for a start. Libel laws are also very strict so you have to be sure you’ve got it right. But today editors and reporters are a lot bolder concerning criticism of the government and military and our editorials regularly back that up.

Q. You’ve worked with many journalists at the Post and the various news agencies. Who stands out?
A. Again too many names to be fair to everyone. I didn’t work with him, but one real character was the Australian cameraman Neil Davis who was tragically killed in the failed coup of 1985. He was a fearless photographer and a lovely chap. John McBeth, who I worked with at the Post, was a close friend of Davis and gives a moving account of his last moments in his excellent book `Reporter’.

Someone else who deserves mention, although he will hate me for this, is Peter Finucane who was chief sub-editor at the Post when I arrived in 1969 and has been the backbone of the newsdesk for 40 years  in his roles as deputy editor and night editor. His knowledge of Thai news stories is unsurpassed. He also has a good sense of humour, which is essential in his job or else you would go mad. Peter is retiring in September and the Post will miss him more than they know.

Of our younger writers I am impressed by Voranai Vanijaka whose Sunday column is essential reading. He tackles tricky topics in a refreshing manner.

Q. Can you describe what it was like to be at the forefront, if you like, of news reporting during such turbulent times in the 70s as the Vietnam War, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, the threat of communism in SE Asia and Thailand etc.
A. I wasn’t exactly at the forefront of anything. A lot braver people did that.  The only time I got close to the action was a couple of days in Siem Reap with colleague Tony Waltham when the Khmer Rouge were battling Lon Nol’s forces just outside the town near Angkor Wat. I don’t think I slept a wink because of the gunfire and mortars. Our taxi was caught up in the fighting when we were leaving. Very scary.
 On a broader front, Thailand was regarded as a potential domino after Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia fell. Fortunately the Thai people remained very united thanks to their love for His Majesty the King.

Q. Any special memories of the American military presence in
Thailand? Were they a force for good, or not?
A. Most memories of the American military presence come from  US servicemen I met in the bars on New Petchaburi Road. I also went on the base at Nakhon Phanom a couple of times and they were all incredibly friendly apart from one officer who didn’t like my long hair.  Watching the B52s taking off and landing at U-tapao on their bombing runs to North Vietnam was a humbling experience. I wasn’t enthusiastic about US policy on Vietnam and it was just as well they left Thailand when they did. The main beneficial legacy to Thailand of the US presence was the excellent highway network in the Northeast.

Q. Has new media technology made your job easier/harder? Will newspapers, as you know them, exist in 20 years’ time?
A. It’s certainly speeded things up and you have a lot more information at your fingertips.  I struggle to keep up with it all and can’t see the point of Twitter. But, much as I enjoyed the days of typewriters, hard copy and drunk paste-up men, I wouldn’t want to go back to them. I love print journalism and believe some newspapers  will survive, but there won’t be many.

Q.How has Bangkok changed over the years, better or worse?
A. Generally for the better. There are the obvious physical changes with all the high-rise buildings. Shopping is a lot easier now, although less colourful. There were no malls in those days and just one small Central department store.  You had to go to different parts of the city for different items which could be quite exhausting in the heat, especially as you had to bargain, which I wasn’t any good at. Traffic has always been terrible and always will be. At least taxis have air conditioning now. In the old days you had those Bluebird rattletraps. To avoid being baked to death you had to roll down the windows only to get a lungful of fumes or, at Songkran, a lapful of water.

Q. What are your favourite memories of Bangkok back then?
A. There are many but I particularly liked the story of the Government official who was transferred to an inactive post because of lack of productivity. When asked why he had done nothing he replied frankly that nobody had asked him to do anything.

Then there was a young lady down on her luck who went to see a fortune teller. He told her luck would improve if she had sex with him. So she obliged on a regular basis, but her luck didn’t improve. So she sued him, not for sexual harassment but for being a lousy fortune teller!
On a more serious note, the tumultuous events leading to the October 14th uprising in 1973 are unforgettable. Up to that point the only major political excitement had been a rather strange incident in 1971 when the then prime minister Thanom Kittikachorn staged a coup against himself. That’s when I realized I would never figure out Thai politics and that sentiment has remained true to this day.

A few days before October  14th bloodshed came the amazing sight of an estimated 100,000 university students in their uniforms filling up every inch of space of Ratachadamnoen Avenue as they marched peacefully. It was an eloquent protest and an unforgettable sight.  

Q. Bangkok’s nightlife: better back then? If so,why?
A. It seemed more exciting in the old days, but that was primarily because it was all new to me. I particularly enjoyed the bars on New Petchaburi Road, which catered for GIs on R & R from Vietnam. They all had dance floors and local bands launching into Hendrix, the Animals, the Doors and the Beatles. There were also plenty of girls, of course, and a large bottle of Singha was 20 baht. Absolute magic. The first bar I ever went into was the Mosquito down by the docks in Klong Toey. It was like something out of a Humphrey Bogart movie.

One big improvement these days is the emergence of pubs so there are places you can go with the wife or girlfriend.

Q. Your all-time favourite bars and late night venues?
A. Bars come and go but I enjoyed the  Safari on Patpong in the 1970s, while the Grand Prix was a good place to have a yarn with other journalists. But my all-time favourite was the Green Dragon on New Petchaburi Road. I got to know the band and they specialized in Dylan and the Beatles. When they sang ‘A Day In The Life’ they changed the lyrics to “the Thailand Army won the war’’ which prompted much mirth amongst the American servicemen.

Okay, I have to mention the original Thermae. We used to go there after work in the 1970s about 1am. My excuse is that I lived just across the road on Soi 8. I haven’t been to the place in more than 20 years.

Q. Can you still be seen, occasionally, in Soi Cowboy? And to settle a few arguments, what was the street’s first bar?
A. I drop in the Moonshine every now and again and spend hours yakking about sport  and listening to some decent music, which is generally hard to find.   In the early 70s there was a cocktail lounge called the Gold Label on what is now called Soi Cowboy. It was run by a Middle Eastern guy who called himself the Sheikh.  That closed and for a while there was nothing. I think the first bar in the late Seventies of what then became known as Soi Cowboy (thanks to Bernard Trink), was called the Ratree and was little more than a shophouse. 

In the early years the most popular was Lorettas, owned by the Thai wife (and soon to become ex-wife) of an African-American nicknamed Cowboy who had worked with the US military. But I do remember on Royal birthdays at 8pm, all the girls would line the entire street holding candles and singing the Royal anthem. That was quite a sight. There’s far too much neon now.

Q. In your experience, which Thais and expatriates stand out as true characters over the years?
A. My goodness, we’re talking about 42 years.  I’ll settle for one person and that has to be my late maid Tong, who I called Ms Yasothon in the PostScript column. A salt of the earth Isan lady, she was my maid for an amazing 30 years. When I wrote a piece about her after she passed away from cancer in 2003  I was flooded with emails from readers offering  condolences. It was quite moving. I still miss her.

Q. You must have seen tremendous changes not just in Bangkok but upcountry too. Are you happy with the way they’ve developed? What are your favourite upcountry destinations?
A. I find it hard to go back to places which were near-pristine when I first visited. In the early 1970s I went to Patong beach in Phuket. It was difficult to access down a steep unpaved track and there was nothing there but a beautiful beach and a couple of stalls selling soft drinks. Not a soul on the beach nor a hint of a hotel.

The same goes for Kho Phi Phi. On that same trip we arrived there on a fishing boat. A storm blew up and we had to stay on the island for the night sleeping on straw mats at the headman’s hut. The only people living there were villagers. It was the nearest I’ve been to a tropical paradise.

I still like Nakhon Phanom and that magical view across the Mekong into Laos.

Q. Have the Thai people changed over the years?
A. Some say the Thais are not the fun-loving people they once were, but I don’t go along with that. They have certainly become more materialistic, but that is inevitable. Even in Bangkok I still find most Thais polite, courteous and friendly. I couldn’t have stayed here so long if that wasn’t the case.

Q. You’ve spent many years on the Post’s sport desk. Are you still as interested in sport as you were back in the days when you used to tune into the World Service?
A. I was brought up on football and cricket and they are still my favourite sports, although I also enjoy golf, rugby and NFL. I hung up my boots some time ago and admit to missing the camaraderie of being in a team and getting drunk with them after a match.  We are spoiled now with TV sports coverage. Twenty years ago the only source of football results on a Saturday night was listening to Paddy Feeny drifting through on the BBC shortwave radio. I loved that programme.

Q. Any general thoughts on Thailand over the past 40 years?
A. Thailand has been through a lot in the last 40 years, but has always landed on its feet. I’m optimistic, sort of, this will continue to be the case, but there are some  really difficult times ahead.

Q. Do you regard yourself as being fortunate in arriving in Thailand when you did?
A. Most definitely. When I first arrived here, back home more people had heard of Siam than Thailand and many thought it was two different places. Friends could not understand why I was living here. Ten years later they were all coming here on holiday.

Foreigners were relatively rare in those days and you were greeted with genuine warmth wherever you went. On upcountry trips kids would run away giggling at the sight of me. Can’t say I blame them, it must have been a scary sight.

Q. Despite spending most of your life here, do you remain resolutely English (as some people have suggested!)
A. I spent the first 22 years of my life in England, so some of it must have rubbed off on me. I love the English sense of humour and the ability to make fun of themselves. And okay, I still occasionally enjoy baked beans on toast. And I can’t function until I’ve had my morning cup of tea.

Q. The England you left, has it changed much compared to today?
A. There have been considerable social changes, but I haven’t spent enough time there to speak with any authority.  Unlike Thailand, there doesn’t seem to be much respect for older people.

Q. Finally, Beatles or Oasis?
A. You know the answer to that one.  On my wall I have a tin piggy bank with the faces of the Beatles on it.  It was a present from Rodney Bain for my 40th birthday. Rodney, who sadly is no longer with us, would be surprised to know it’s one of my most treasured possessions.