My parents have been dead for many years, and when your folks are gone there is nobody standing between you and eternity.

Tattoos are so widespread, so ugly and so very, very permanent. You can, in theory, have them removed - but a large chunk of your living flesh will go with it.

A tattoo doesn't make you look like an individual.

I've been visiting Thailand for more than 20 years but didn't fall in love with it until I visited Phuket Town in Phuket. The northern part of Phuket is one of the most fascinating places I've ever been, and largely unspoilt and unknown.

You have to give kids from ordinary families a ladder. You have to show them there's a way out.

I can't think of a bigger waste of police time than chasing somebody who has said something offensive on Twitter.

There are a handful of barbecue seafood shacks on the beach at Hat Nai Yang, which is a fabulous place to have dinner. It's very much run for locals and they serve the catch of the day, which might be lobster, white snapper or squid. It's ridiculously reasonable, too.