Not even the penguins were spared

Well, we've just about slithered our way through the Year of the Snake.

- Roger Crutchley

Suffice to say, 2025 wasn’t much fun.At least the previous year we had the “Happy Hippo” which kept us vaguely amused in a daft sort of way.

Taking over the limelight from Moo Deng this year was none other than US President Donald Trump. Hardly a day went by without being treated to words of wisdom from the gentleman in the White House.

Mr Trump can take all the credit for reviving a long-redundant word in the English language, “tariff”. The wide-sweeping tariffs even affected a couple of uninhabited Australian territories populated only by penguins and seals.

It prompted “even the penguins weren’t spared” headlines that went around the world.

Anyway here is a review of the more obscure happenings that you may have missed during the past year.

Bottoms up: After five decades of mulling, probing, pondering, dithering and deliberating Thai authorities finally lift the quirky ban on selling and drinking alcohol from 2pm to 5pm. Cheers!

Pedestrians’ lament: In Pattaya amidst considerable fanfare the mayor opened the resort's first “smart pedestrian crossing”. Brave though he may be he was unable to immediately venture across owing to speeding traffic ignoring the annoying red lights. It only highlights the absurd situation in which zebra crossings are among the most dangerous places to cross the road.