Episodes

Greg and Ed tackle the uncomfortable topic of self-censorship in Thailand, especially as it pertains to the podcast itself, and the churning, roiling issue of what you can say, when, and how, which seem to be in the news every day. Although it is unfortunate, the reality of working and living in Thailand is that the laws and culture are not the same as back home in the U.S. and Canada. Obviously, this means no discussion of the monarchy, and Ed explains how he always advises visiting friends to ...

Greg and Ed consider the tricky question of Thailand’s role in the global order. Sparked by a question from one of his students about what Thailand’s response to the war in Ukraine should be, Ed realized that he’s never really thought about the world from the perspective of the Thai government or even a Thai person. The guys do their best as non-Thais but long term expats to imagine what the world looks like to most Thais. Ed discusses King Rama V’s clever diplomatic maneuverings between the Fre...

Greg interviews ‘Bangkok Pat,’ whose uncover the hidden layers of this fascinating city. Pat begins with a bit of personal background, growing up in the UK with a Thai mother, and eventually losing touch with that part of his history....

Greg and Ed discuss the significance of the recent decision by the Thai parliament to accept a change to the official English name of Bangkok that was proposed by the Royal Society of Thailand. Initially, it was announced as a major change from ‘Bangkok’ to ‘Krung Thep Maha Nakhon,’ (that’s กรุงเทพมหานคร for you Thai readers), but Greg clarifies that the change really was just a matter of punctuation. Nevertheless, the announcement kicked off a huge debate on social media over what Thailand’s ca...

One of the great things about Thai culture is the many facets that make up the whole. One of them is the Indian community, and Greg is happy to welcome Ram Sachdev, a first generation Thai-Indian and founder of Masala Magazine , a leading voice of the Thai-Indian community, to talk about it. We begin by going over the many historical cultural connections between India and Thailand, from Sanskrit’s influence on Thai language to Buddhism’s origin in India, in addition to the myriad Thai holidays w...

As Thailand starts to get back to bid-ness, there will likely be a whole lot of n00bs coming in to tour, work and live. Most who have been here for a while already remember what an overwhelming experience Bangkok was in the early days, and how helpful it was to make a network of friends that you could turn to for advice. Of course, not all advice is great, especially when you’re talking with random people about how your new foreign home works. We think it’s fair to say that most advice you get i...

We recount the fascinating story of George DuPont, the only Thai person who fought in the American Civil War. The first record of George in the U.S. is in 1859, but almost nothing is known of how or why he ended up in the United States. We know that in 1862 he volunteered for a New Jersey regiment to fight for the North in the American Civil War. Shockingly, he fought in and survived the battles of Antietam, Chancellorville, and Gettysburg, three of the bloodiest battles of the war. He was event...

Greg interviews Benjamin Lord, an American who moved to Asia straight out of college at NYU. He is on the show to discuss life as a gay man in Thailand. After spending several years in Vietnam, where the pressure to hide his status was suffocating, he eventually relocated to Bangkok. At first, the prevalence of gay bars, trans people, and apparent acceptance of a gay lifestyle led Benjamin to believe that Thailand was a kind of gay paradise, a moniker often placed on the Land of Smiles. However,...

With Ed being stuck in the US, he relates ten experiences he has had during his stay in Ohio that he doesn’t think he would ever have in Thailand, introducing them with his characteristic wit and charm. (Ed wrote this). From overly aggressive nazi guards at the airport to overly aggressive kindness from fellow shoppers, and all the way down to Covid carelessness, vaxxers of all types, and the sweet, sweet siren call to consume, consume, consume at all costs. While some of them may be trivial or ...

Greg interviews Phra Pandit, the resident Bangkok Podcast expert on all things Buddhism, about negative emotions such as anxiety and anger and how Buddhism deals with them. Displaying his deep knowledge of Western psychology, Phra Pandit begins first by discussing the Freudian approach to anxiety, which separates out reasonable negative emotions from neuroticism, which is defined as anxiety that is irrational or inappropriate given the context. Greg brings up the sometimes casual attitude that T...

It’s a COVID Christmas Craptacular! The guys discuss all the ways that COVID has made the holiday season difficult for expats and travelers to Thailand. To start things off, Greg plays a quick conversation with podcast supporter Ash, who is now more or less locked out of Thailand due to the recent tightening of restrictions. So much for planning ahead! Next, Ed details his absolutely epic adventure to Ohio. Despite a successful last-minute scramble to get the right health insurance and beat the ...

When Greg and guest-host Scott moved here at the turn of the century, Bangkok had about 22km of train lines (not counting the SRT diesel trains). Now there are 210km in operation with a further 250km under construction. That’s huge! But it presents a problem - Bangkok is evolving very quickly, and unless you ride the trains A LOT, you are probably, like us, becoming more and more unfamiliar with how to get around the city you live in. Greg and Scott set out to change this, and spent a day riding...

The show welcomes back Dr. Jessica Vechbanyongratana, an economist at Chulalongkorn University, to discuss the cold, hard data on Thailand’s demographics. It sounds vague and geeky at first, but the more you look into it, the more you realize just how much you can tell about Thailand by observing things like the age that people are getting married and retiring at, how many kids they’re having, the rate of household debt, and how all of these things will affect the next generation. Jessica discus...

Greg and Ed finish up the Seven Deadly Sins series with a discussion of ‘gluttony’ in the context of Bangkok - in this case, wanting to eat the largest quantity of food for the least amount of money. While we all know that Bangkok is one of the best places to eat in the world, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best city to eat A LOT for CHEAP. Ed begins by showing off his farang nature: pizza in general in Bangkok is good but not cheap. However, several delivery companies (shout out to The Pi...

Greg interviews Belgian Ambassador to Thailand, Madam Sybille de Cartier, formerly Ambassador to Egypt and Sudan, with plenty of diplomatic experience in other posts around the world. She discusses the long history that Belgium and Thailand share, going back all the way to 1839, which is pretty amazing since Belgium itself was founded in 1830. Belgium also played a key role in the modernization of Thailand under King Chulalongkorn, providing advisors that aided in maintaining the Kingdom’s indep...

In a very topical show Greg and Ed discuss the role that alcohol plays in Thai culture. For a country that seems to love restricting alcohol consumption, be it for religious holidays or even election days, Thails love to drink (the most in SEA, actually). But there’s a rather huge gulf between the way Thai people actually behave and the image that the Thai government would like to project to the world, which is of a ‘conservative Buddhist country.’ This leads to a discussion of the partial re-op...

The boys address the big story of the day: Thailand’s long-delayed reopening to tourists, at least from certain low-risk countries. Ed begins by recounting the current (at the time of the show) rules for tourists: COVID medical insurance, a negative test within 72 hours of departure, and a negative test after touching down which MAY require a night in a government-approved hotel. Note that the info in this show was accurate at the time of recording, but things change fast - check here for more d...

Greg interviews Tristan Knowles, an Australian expat in Thailand working for the Asian Development Bank, specializing in infrastructure finance in the Mekong region, including alternative energy such as solar power. Greg begins by asking the obvious question: Thailand is practically constantly sunny, so why aren’t there solar panels on every rooftop? Tristan gives a detailed answer focusing on incentives. Obviously there’s an upfront cost to investing in solar power, whether you are a residence ...

On today’s show Greg and Ed address a pretty simple question: When you see Bangkok in movies and in series, are you actually seeing an accurate portrayal of the way Bangkok REALLY is? The guys decide that the short answer is probably not (certainly not in Thai lakorn), but there are some interesting exceptions. For example, even big-budget movies such as “Hangover 2” and “Raya and the Last Dragon” get many details right, such as Fanta served in a plastic bag or ‘toilet paper’ (to Westerners) use...

Greg interviews Lindsay Kiptiness, the Kenyan Ambassador to Thailand. Ambassador Kiptiness begins by introducing himself and explains his responsibilities as ambassador to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma. He explains his unfortunate arrival during COVID times, and his desire to really explore Thailand when it fully re-opens. The Kenyan healthcare system is behind Thailand’s, but he notes that Nairobi did serve as the center of COVID treatment for UN officials. Greg asks the Ambassado...

Greg and Ed confess to their past as Dungeons and Dragons-loving young geeks. Who would have thought? The boys take inspiration from an old blog post of Greg’s where he applied D&D’s famous moral alignment chart to Bangkok. Moving through the list, Ed provides his feedback as each example is presented. Greg begins by explaining the system (for those of you who were less geeky or simply missed D&D generationally). Then Greg gets into his examples. Who best represents ‘Lawful Good’ in Thai society...

On this episode Greg chats with his buddy Jesse Davis. You might not know Jesse’s name, but if you have kids, chances are they know his daughter. About four years ago Jesse and his daughter started Brianna’s Secret Club , a YouTube channel aimed at kids where Brianna and her pals do things like unwrap gifts, play with toys, build stuff, and do other kid-related things. The channel took off, and soon became a full-fledged family business, with budgets, schedules, assistants, and studio time. As o...

Greg and Ed discuss the concept of expat ‘merit badges’: those experiences that all long-time expats in Thailand tend to have that really remind you that you are in a unique place, distinct from where you grew up. These ‘badges,’ for lack of a better term, function as a loose type of seniority system. They are generally earned after some amount of time in the Kingdom, when you become comfortable with something that was once alien. In the first few months you might get caught in a flood, but it w...